– Robert Service in The Heart of the Sourdough

– from Robert Service’s poem The Ballad of Hard-Luck Henry

“We staked our ground and our hopes were crowned,
and we hoisted out the pay.
We were rich in a day beyond our dreams,
it was gold from the grass-roots down;
But we weren’t used to such sudden wealth,
and there was the Siren Town.
We were crude and careless frontiersmen,
with much in us of the beast;
We could bear the famine worthily,
but we lost our heads at the feast.”

- Robert Service in The Ballad of the Northern Lights

“There’s a race of men that don’t fit in,
A race that can’t stay still;
So they break the hearts of kith and kin,
And they roam the world at will.
They range the field and they rove the flood,
Theirs is the curse of the gypsy blood,
And they don’t know how to rest.”

October day
delightful in every way
windy, cold, but sunny
the 15th, Wodehouse’s birthday
he’s funny.

We went to Ruthven for apple pickin’
me and my wife
the love of my life
enjoyed the fall celebrations
went to crepe temptations
good food, finger lickin’.

The birds at the feeder as singing
fall colors are ringing
season changes the Lord is bringing.

My love is getting some sleep
I too am pretty beat
but this day was really neat
summer is lovely
but autumn brings days
whose memories you want to keep.

II. Our day is all about choices
diversity, variety, various voices
frankly, though I’m not a fan,
for who do you vote for
if you don’t want to bomb Iran?

III. Obama, the lefts boy, is quite the hawk
I know, I know, some look at that with shock
but I saw it coming from the start
he played the election, then he just plays his part
it isn’t a conspiracy or anything that great
just the thing that comes naturally to the state.

IV. The left and right of distinctions make much
but a new, different foreign policy none will touch
they all want to live in a country that’s the world’s cop
if the election features Obama and mainstream GOP
it’s a setup where there’ll be no alternative scheme
to Hillary Clinton’s Iran-attacking dream.

V. Romney thinks Iran is an “Existential threat”
a nuclear weapon, it is said, they can’t be let to get
so he thinks we should deal with it via surgical strikes
and bombardment, yikes!

VI. Bauchmann and her vision of Iran
is one ruled by Marxists who were in league with Saddam
she thinks to help Iran’s Mujahideen group
the U.S. should stoop
even though they are designated a terrorist group
and their human rights abuses are no soup
and in her view if that fails to change Iran’s ways
perhaps the U.S. will have to nuke ‘em for days.

VII. Perry would attack Iran too
and he condemns businesses for dealing with Iran
in spite of a ban
and yet it is interesting also
that he’s received thousands from company that broke that embargo you know.

VIII. How will this turn out in Iran?
I don’t want to be an alarmist man
but my best guess
is this will be a mess.

IX. I often wonder what would be the case
if American policy on Iran had worked in different ways
what if the the coup was not backed by the CIA
what if the U.S. didn’t support the nuclear program back in day?
What if biological weapons were not provided to Iran’s foe
What if the U.S. saw back then that non-intervention was the way to go?
It seems to me that bad foreign policy tooth and nail
created a country where a tyrannical government would prevail
and when you create a monster for one reason or another
don’t be surprised when it doesn’t follow your druthers.

X. The prevailing politic
won’t quit
piling debt upon debt
basic financial obligations
can’t be met
and yet
they lead us war-ward
prosecuting wars no one can afford
trying to achieve doubtful gains
muddled by ignorance
and immeasurable pains.

Biblical Imagery

• “His inheritance was mine…My father favored Esau, Who was eager to obey…Esau holds a blessing; Brother Esau bears a curse. I would say that the blame is mine But I suspect it’s something worse.” – My Brother Esau
• “The Lord made a lady out of Adam’s rib. Next thing you know you got wimmen’s lib.” – Finance Blues
• “Jehovah’s favorite choir” – The Music Never Stopped
• “I AM” – Let It Grow
• “The sea will part before me…Fire wheel burning in the air” – Estimated Prophet

Epistemic Uncertainty Imagery

• “And I don’t know why I came…I didn’t know a stage-line ran from Hell” – Mexicali Blues
• “I ain’t preaching, cause I don’t know” – Walk In Sunshine
• “But I’d like to know what for” – Bombs Away
• “You don’t know how easy it is.You don’t know how easy it is to love you.” – Easy To Love You
• “They just don’t even know” – Shade of Gray
• “If a reckoning comes, maybe we will know what to do then” – We Can Run But We Can’t Hide
• “Cause I wouldn’t know where to begin” – Hell In A Bucket
• “Maybe they’ll know what to do” – I Need A Miracle
• “Someday I know you’ll satisfy me” – Lazy Lighting
• “If it’s love then how would I know” – Feel Like A Stranger
• “Never could read no road map And I don’t know what the weather might do….Well I never know, Sure don’t know, Never know, Never know,Sure don’t know.” – Saint of Circumstance

Being A Stranger, Being Strange, and Strangeness Imagery

• Feel Like A Stranger
• “A man and a woman come together as strangers.” – Blow Away
• “Little stranger, don’t try to hide now.” – Easy To Love You
• “So strange, you’ll do me all that you do” – Picasso Moon
• “I guess that stranger hadn’t heard the news” – Mexicali Blues
• “We’ll meet strangers and be, together again and again” – Me Without You
• “Too well I know that crowd of strangers.” – Shade of Gray
• “She was a stranger when I woke and saw her face.” – This Time Forever
• “Even though I been a stranger, full of irony and spite ” – A Little Light

 Angel Imagery

• “As well to count the angels dancing on a pin” – Let It Grow
• “As certain as angels Of perpetual flight, When we met, we saw the light.” – This Time Forever
• “You must be the angel I thought I’d never find” – Saint of Circumstance
• “Like an angel, standing in a shaft of light” – Estimated Prophet
• “Fallen Angels of earth have forgotten the sky” – Fly Away

Sky/Fire/Lightning/Thunder Imagery

• “Fallen Angels of earth have forgotten the sky….Fly away, yeah, ride the sky away” – Fly Away
• “But up here in the sky” – Shade of Gray
• “Lord, they’re setting us on fire” – The Music Never Stopped
• “Higher and higher, goin’ straight for the light. Feel the fire, or you’ll feel the fright” – Fly Away
• “Yes Lord, they really light my fire”
• “Like the crack before the thunder, like I really ought to hide” – Picasso Moon
• “There’s a hole in the sky where the light pours in” – We Can Run But We Can’t Hide
• “And I’ll call down thunder and speak the same.As my words fill the sky with flame.” – Estimated Prophet
• “Real as thunder” – Easy To Love You
• “Spinning fire, the lightning calls…Picasso Moon, fall into the sky” – Picasso Moon
• “Like the sound of distant thunder ” – A Little Light
• “Picture a bright blue ball, just spinning, spinnin free, Dizzy with eternity. Paint it with a skin of sky, Brush in some clouds and sea, Call it home for you and me” – Throwing Stones
• “As my words fill the sky with flame” – Estimated Prophet
• “Lazy lightning.Sleepy fire in your eyes.” – Lazy Lighting
• “And listen to the thunder shout” – Let It Grow
• “Water bright as the sky from which it came” – Let It Grow

Sight/Blindness Imagery

• “So I give you my eyes…Please help them to learn as well as to see…Of looking at you looking at me.” – Black-Throated Wind
• “But if we open our eyes, we can open our wings…Hey, and sail out of sight” – Fly Away
• “Maybe a face you’ve never seen” – Lost Sailor
• “So good to see you” – Easy To Love You
• “And I know at a glance you could show me all the sights I’d ever care to see.” – Wrong Way Feelin’
• “I’ve changed the eyes I gaze in” – Bombs Away
• “You can close your eyes, the world is gonna let you” – I Will Take You Home
• “Inside you’re burnin’. I can see clear through” – Feel Like A Stranger
• “Picasso Moon, blinding ball” – Picasso Moon
• “Like a blind man shootin’ pool” – Heaven Help The Fool
• “We’re afraid of our dreams, we’re afraid or too blind….But blindness holds better than chains” – Fly Away
• “We were anything but blind” – This Time Forever

Money Imagery

• “They got ‘em packaged up for love and money…I see your face printed on my money,” – Picasso Moon
• Finance Blues
• “Need that cash to feed that jones” – Throwing Stones

Stones

• “And the politicians throwin’ stones….History’s page will thus be carved in stone….We can leave this place an empty stone” – Throwing Stones
• “Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars” – Black-Throated Wind
• “Mighty day, yeah the stone rolls away” – Fly Away
• “Time sits like a stone” – Shade of Gray
• “You’re as mighty as the flower that will grow the stones away. ” – A Little Light

Roads/Highway/Street Imagery

• “Long is the road” – I Will Take You Home
• “There’s a band out on the highway.They’re high-steppin’ into town.” – The Music Never Stopped
• “Rainbow’s end down that highway,Where ocean breezes blow….Afternoon, the streets turn grey” – Estimated Prophet
• “Never could read no road map” – Saint of Circumstance
• “But I’m here by the road, Bound to the load….The highway, the moon, the clouds, and the stars.” – Black-Throated Wind
• “Just watchin’ flies and children on the street….I went down to those dusty streets” – Mexicali Blues
• “But out in the streets Well it’s night time on Broadway.” – Shade of Gray
• “This could be just another highway, coiled up in the night. ” – A Little Light
• “It strolls the sidewalks and it rolls the streets, Staking turf, dividing up meat” – Throwing Stones

Moon

• “Ooh, where’s the moon?” – Lost Sailor
• “And comes the moonrise, when the dew falls” – Easy To Love you
• “The highway, the moon, the clouds, and the stars” – Black-Throated Wind
• “Blue moon” – Falling
• Picasso Moon
• “Sun went down in honey. Moon came up in wine.” – The Music Never Stopped

Wind Imagery

• “Today I went walking in the amber wind” – We Can Run But We Can’t Hide
• Black-Throated Wind
• “And there’s a ghost wind blowin’” – Lost Sailor
• “While I was chasin’ dreams? Driven by the wind, Like the dust that blows around…When that wind blows, And the darkness starts to fall” – Saint of Circumstance
• “Or it could have been the wind.” – The Music Never Stopped

Blood Imagery

• “You must mean water when you beg for blood” – Blow Away
• “The silent war that bloodied both our hands” – My Brother Esau
• “blood was on my mind” – Mexicali Blues

Town/City Imagery

• “She said her name was Billy Jean and she was fresh in town…Then a man rode into town some thought he was the law” – Mexicali Blues
• “When she’s in town, I’ll never be alone.” – Gloria Monday
• “There’s a band out on the highway.They’re high-steppin’ into town.” – The Music Never Stopped
• “She comes from a town where they call her the woodcutter’s daughter” – Let It Grow
• “I want a mighty city and I think I want it here…Salt Lake City,  that town of righteousness and fame” – Salt Lake City

While this is more thorough than the feature I did on Robert Hunter’s imagery, the following still applies: Please note that this is in no way exhaustive, I’m sure many more examples could be found to back up these common images–this is just a small sampling.

Imagery: Birds

• “Leaving Texas Fourth day of July Sun so hot, clouds so low The eagles filled the sky” – in Jack Straw
• “With the scream of an eagle on the fly” – Black Muddy River
• “wondering where the nuthatch winters Wings a mile long just carried the bird away” – in Eyes of the World
• Bird Song
• “Bird are winging” – Box of Rain

Imagery: Card Games and The Ups an Downs of Gambling

• “All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars I could pay you back with one good hand You can look around about the wide world over You’ll never find another honest man.” – in Loser
  
• “Since it cost a lot to win and even more to lose You and me bound to spend some time wondering what to chose…I been gambling hereabouts for ten good solid years If I told you all that went down it would burn off both your ears” – in Deal
• “Sitting plush with a royal flush Aces back to back” – Ramble on Rose
• “Watch each card you play and play it slow” – Deal
• “Come on, boys and wager if you have got the bind If you got a dollar, boys lay it on the line” – Candyman
• “When all the cards are down there’s nothing left to see” – in Stella Blue

Imagery: Working Men and Working The Land

• “Gone are the days when the ox fall down he’d take up the yoke and plow the fields around” – in Brown-Eyed Woman
• “Been chippin’ up rocks for the great highway Live five years if I take my time” – Easy Wind
• “Gotta go down to the Cumberland Mine That’s where I mainly spend my time Make good money five dollars a day Made any more I might move away” – Cumberland Blues

Imagery: Roads and Rivers

• You can’t overlook the lack, Jack of any other highway to ride” – New Speedway Boogie
• Lazy River Road
• So Many Roads
• Shakedown Street
• “In a bed, in a bed by the waterside I will lay my head Listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock my soul” – Brokedown Palace
• “Sleepin’ by the river just like he usually done….Riding down the river in an  old canoe” – Alligator
• “Chicago, New York, Detroit, it’s all on the same street” – Truckin’
• “Black muddy river roll on forever” – Black Muddy River
• “Till the morning comes like  a highway sign” – Till The Morning Comes
• Shakedown Street

Imagery: Rain and Sun

• “Sun goin’ up and then the sun it goin’ down” – Black Peter
• “Maybe the sun is shining…or rain is falling from a heavy sky….Walk into splintered sunlight….Just a box of rain” – Box of Rain
• “All I know the sun don’t shine, the rain refuse to fall” – So many Roads
• “Ill show you snow and rain” – Bird Song
• “Ran into a rainstorm…It was all night pouring, pouring rain But not a drop on me” – Bertha
• “Sun so hot, clouds so low” – Jack Straw
• Mission in the Rain

Imagery: Poverty

• “Lott poor  man make a five-dollar bill Keep him happy all the time Some other fellow making nothing at all And you can hear him cryin’” – Cumberland Blues
• “Got no dime but I got time to hear this story” – Wharf Rat
• “Take a look at poor peter” – Black Peter
• “Rich man step on my poor head” – Tennessee Jed

Imagery: Flowers

• Scarlet Begonias
• “Wildflower seed in the sand and wind” – Franklin’s Tower
• “Sugar magnolia blossom’s blooming…Sweet blossom come on under the willow” – Sugar Magnolia
• “Blooming like a red rose” – Sunshine Daydream

Imagery: Transportation (Trains and Ships)

• “Now he’s gone Lord, he’s gone Like a steam locomotive rolling down the track” – in He’s Gone
• “Drivin’ that train” – Casey Jones
• Ship of Fools
• “Gotta get to Tulsa First train we can ride” – Jack Straw
• “It like a diesel train…And when that train rolls in” – They Love Each Other

Please note that this is in no way exhaustive, I’m sure many more examples could be found to back up these common images–this is just a small sampling.

The yellow month, the winterfylleth
leaves leaves leaves, a party of leaves
hockey begins and baseball ends

To humble us after July and August
God gave us October
To prepare us for November and December
God gave us October

To learn longsuffering, we got the October frost

First book-end
The 1st of October
274th day of the year
tumultous
Mammon begins trusting in God
and in Model T’s
International day of older persons
why did they pick October
Berkeley wants to be free to speak
Alexander the Great takes action
and defeats Darius

Second book-end
The 15th
rest easy
only 77 more days to go
listen
this day gave us
Tito Jackson
and took away Goering
not crazy about Jackson
but I still like the trade

Third book-end
The 31st of October, multifaceted day
John Candy and Vanilla Ice born
Ghandi assasinated
Reformation Day and Halloween
Stalin’s body removed from Lenin’s tomb

Enigmas wrapped in mysteries
like the Red October
which didn’t start ’til November
communism is so messed up
even its revolutions
aren’t named properly

October crisis
Canadian federalism’s zit
reversals, reversals
providence has some wit
for once the Canadiens subjegate a Brit!

Thus far
I’ve just collected
a bunch of books.