Ralwus & Me: Ode to a Stormy Night

My good friend Charlie Campbell, a.k.a. “CC” a.k.a. “ralwus” and I talked about poetry writing on the hub. You might remember that I was so in awe of his ability that I wrote “ralwus writings” in honor of his ability as a poet. Well, Charlie’s get a little soft in his years and actually said that he would write a poem with me. So, while things on HubPages have been running normally along, Charlie and I have been collaborating behind the scenes. We finally came up with this one. If you are a ralwus fan, you will easily find the point where CC entered the picture. I get lucky on some stuff but poetry ain’t one of ‘em. Anyway, I am really honored and grateful that Charlie would write with me even if it is just for fun. He even let me publish it…what does that tell you? Enjoy! Thank you CC!! P.S. - Cosette, that first line is for you!

It was a dark and stormy night

A patio sittin', cigar smokin', brandy sippin' sort of night

The claps of thunder, the sheets of lightning, the blasting wind

Driven torrents of rain played music inside my head

Painting momentary madness on it's palette of the sky

The brandy flows warm down my gullet

The sweetness of the cigar plays at my nostrils

Chaos is all around

Yet I bask in peaceful solitude

Long since making treaty with the gods of the atmosphere

My love sleeps safely on the sofa

Long since bored with my idle talk

I tease at the cigar

Marvel as lightnings dances in the heavens

Nothing left to do but recount my past loves

Go ahead and smoke that cigar

and tell me more of

those old nags you

wore out while

your filly of love

sleeps.

If my loving mother

could see me now

sittin' here with a cowpoke

like you, I’m sure

she would say:

"Charlie, I always said

you'd come to no damn good . . .

and there you are

sitting on that deck

with that cowboy

bragging on

your conquests of

lonely hearts."

That brandy is pretty good stuff,

my friend., but the godddamn lightning

is screwin' 'round with my defibrillator

and gives me flashes

of legs straight up. must be the

negative charges.

When in high school all the girls

said I was too negative,

now I am positive, but

I never wanted to

love or marry those kind.

and i now find them all

negative nags.

All these years later

I’m so glad i didn't make love to them

or marry them.

they're embittered and so sad.

Maybe because they were

positive so early on that

it all just wore out for

them.

I think I’ll have another brandy now

Wayne. it's your turn,

what was that you said

about Lucille? fast filly, huh?

you Texian boys sure know how

to stretch a rope.

　

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