LANNY GARLAND

The Alchemist

The Alchemist  - Lanny Garland

I'm sitting here, and it's after ten

Can't figure out what to say

I've played those tapes now once again

You can pick my music any day

i've swept up shit and driven nails

And dug holes in the ground

I'll draw some more if all that fails

Too bad you're not around

I could use a laugh or just a smile

it would help me pass the time

but it is good to sit for a while

and write these words that rhyme

with magic fingers, with brain on fire

you can't tell what he'll use

with cans of paint and bits of wire

he'll tango with the muse

he fluffs, the twists, he pirouettes

with things we've thrown away

he smiles. he glides, he takes all bets

that what he's used, you threw away

composition, texture, style

it's all the same to him

watch his magic for just a while

and take the trip out on his limb

he's daring, artful, droll and wild

he's all these things and more

he's heaven's willful artist/child

magician genius to the core

i saw some things hung in his place 

some people think it's art

but where they are is face to face

with the inner lining of his heart

they  call it work, he calls it play

the term doesn't mean that much

it doesn't matter what you say

only that you have the touch

standback, enthralled and contemplate

and maybe you'll acquire

a piece of history, trash of late

that satisfied your soul's desire

by larry Randolph

Jaroso, colorado

summer of 1995