Jeff Kurfess

Past the Midway

2011-12-28T23:50:00.000-05:00

Last night I dreamed I saw you strolling down a sunlit path

Your beauty undefiant as the years of life unmasked

Streaming through the shadows, how bright your splendor shone

Still there was comfort in the darkness as I headed off alone

I resolved to change my treasure to the things believed unseen

From the fallout in the garden to the rising of your king

Now I’m staring past the midway; through the choking dust I ask

For the calming of the tempest as it stretches out so vast

Last to Leave

2011-09-15T23:48:00.001-04:00

Standing in your doorway, I’ve been stranded here so long
Lost inside the notion this is not where I belong
Tonight you're off the table, sleeping sound as I take flight
Reckless as the raindrop on this stormy summer night

With every new beginning, I’ve learned to see the end
It washes out the promise ‘til I can find the truth again
In the stillness of the evening, I question my short sight
How I promised you forever when I could barely clear the night

I’ve wandered lost and loaded on the road that ever ends
Crawling from the wreckage till it’s brought me here again
Should I lose you in the darkness as we struggle to ignite
Bend to keep from breaking, girl, but keep your soul upright

A Christmas Poem

2011-05-14T19:59:00.001-04:00

We all gather 'round the Christmas tree
My ma, my pa, little brother and me
Huddled in a corner, cheek to cheek
Closer than ever since they shut off our heat

We've no other family, never had any friends
We’re slightly unsocial and that's where it ends
No phone calls, no fruit cake, no holiday cheer
Just us and that pine tree, year after year

Our dog sat among us, but he'd thrown us a loop
He stunk like the dickens, must've rolled in some poop
I teetered and tottered, that stench had me drugged
Brother just giggled, for his nose had been plugged

The fireplace crackled as pa started to snore
When all of a sudden, there was a knock at the door
I jumped up to answer, saw before me St. Nick
Forgetting to warn him, the porch may be slick

It no longer mattered if I'd been naughty or nice
As Santa fell over and cracked his head on the ice
"Do it again!", brother shouted with glee
Not quite understanding how still Santa be

We dragged him inside, laid him out on a bed
Considered a doctor, took his wallet instead
There were tens and twenties, and plastic galore
Which we divided among us as a Yuletide encore

Now we all gather 'round that same 'ol pine tree
My parents, my brother, gagged Santa, and me
It just goes to show you can never say never
That turned out to be our best Christmas ever!

Bookmark

2011-01-18T22:47:00.000-05:00

10 Favorite Songs

2008-08-31T01:21:00.005-04:00

I used to do this every year or so, just to see how they changed over time.

In no particular order:

1. "Sad Clown" - Joe Purdy
2. "Fake Plastic Trees" - Radiohead
3. "Feelin' Good Again" - Robert Earl Keen
4. "With or Without You" - U2
5. "Don't Think Twice - It's Alright" - Bob Dylan
6. "Trains" - Ron Sexsmith
7. "Echo" - Tom Petty
8. "Second Hand News" - Fleetwood Mac
9. "Jerusalem" - Steve Earle
10. "Fidelity" - Regina Spektor

Top 10 Favorite Springsteen songs (he's my fav so he gets his own list)

1. "Backstreets" - Born to Run
2. "Matamoros Banks" - Devils & Dust
3. "Incident on 57th Street" - The Wild, the Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle
4. "Stolen Car" - The River
5. "Racing in the Street" - Darkness on the Edge of Town
6. "When You're Alone" - Tunnel of Love
7. "Lucky Town" - Lucky Town
8. "Man at the Top" - Tracks
9. "You're Missing" - The Rising
10. "Wild Billy's Circus Story" - The Wild, Innocent....

With props to "The Promised Land," "Darkness on the Edge of Town," & I'm Goin' Down."

Man, that was harder than I expected.

Oh - new poem on its way. Doug & I are going to write songs again & I'm the lyrics guy. We'll see where it goes.

Charleston, SC

2008-08-20T10:52:00.005-04:00

I was attacked by fire ants outside a Piggly Wiggly, but the beach was nice.

I'll be back as soon as I think of something sad

2008-06-10T18:41:00.001-04:00

Frosty & Me

2007-07-12T22:33:00.001-04:00

Frosty passed away last spring

Back from Japan

2006-08-19T02:59:00.000-04:00

lying next to beauty

2006-05-29T00:54:00.007-04:00

Lying next to beauty with the truth beneath our skin
Lost between the layers, ever-aching to begin
I won't forget the madness, nor the fever in your kiss
As we held on tight together, falling drunken through the mist

You swore our love was ancient, like the scrolls enduring time
And vowed to stand beside me should we suffer for these crimes
With your treasures laid before me, I stole asylum for my grief
And cherished every moment of those nights I was your thief

It was nearly late September by the time my tongue confessed
I'd been haunted by a spirit that you never could possess
For what became thereafter, left my heart a raided tomb
And the emptiest of chambers in these walls still long for you

Jeff Kurfess, 2006

Harvest Hour

2006-03-12T02:16:00.000-05:00

Gather up your roses, love
The sky's begun to crack
Your parading casanova
Says he's never coming back

Be still your restless spirit
There's no need to act in haste
Let your heart not stress beyond
This warm farewell embrace

Close your eyes now, darling
Can you hear the closing song?
It's the whisper in your spirit
From the place where you belong

Jeff Kurfess, 2006

The Sleeping of the Queen

2006-03-12T01:28:00.001-05:00

A grievous plan unraveled
On the eve two hearts entwined
She was lost among the leeches
As I stumbled with the blind

Her love-forsaken spirit
Left us hanging out to dry
Beneath the raging thunder
From an endless aching sky

I led her through the meadow
Laid her down along the crest
Her hair was black as reason
As it spread across my chest

She rolled and suffered softly
I stroked her hair until she dreamed
Then stared in silent wonder at
The sleeping of the queen

Jeff Kurfess, 2004

Bookmark (a thousand fair suitors)

2005-08-23T21:41:00.001-04:00

A thousand fair suitors all stab at your heart
Those poets of movement and jockeys of art
The high-volume vendors who hustle romance
Splashing their canvas with color and dance

The blasters of trumpets, gold banners unfurled
They offer lush gardens in glistening worlds
Yes, bearers of torches and carvers of stone
Who whisper their sonnets, surrender their thrones

And there in your doorway, no shadow is cast
No lingering voices or ghost from the past
Just a cluster of walls and a window of pain
Collecting the heartache like droplets of rain

Still I stand before you with palms to the sky
No gold in my pocket, no thorn in my side
And all I can offer where words have no place
Is a body that trembles and this love that awaits

Jeff Kurfess, 1998

Seconds

2005-08-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

The stranger curls beside me
Body naked for the dance
I'm longing for redemption
From this treason of romance

She asks me what I'm thinking
But these words will never do
And I can't begin to tell her
How much I lost to you

Jeff Kurfess, 1999

ever after all

2005-08-23T00:26:00.012-04:00

The spaces stretch between us in these years of slow decay
Till every road I travel finds me searching for your face
If eyes have gathered wrinkles, I can still recall your grin
Through an ever-fading laughter that I never thought would dim

These remnants of our days enshrined have now returned to dust
They're sifting through the fingers of the only hands I trust
I no longer walk beside you, I can't help you through the vines
Yet I've learned to thank the Maker for each treasure you may find

These pages of hereafter, filled with countless broken rhymes
They're gusting through the ages, briefly passing through our time
In this waning of a season, with the Autumn closing in
I wonder who you think of when you feel the summer wind

Jeff Kurfess, 2005

misread

2005-08-22T22:51:00.000-04:00

It’s been a mighty upset
Since our love was overthrown
The nights have lost their valor
And Gibraltar’s turned to stone

The suitors slung their arrows
Drove their daggers through the mist
I stood there in the fallout
With your letters in my fist

The pages scattered softly
Dying petals to the wind
Drifting off in earnest
Where your words had never been

Jeff Kurfess, 1998

Black

2005-08-22T22:48:00.000-04:00

Black is my wallet
Black are my shoes
Black are the reasons
For the things I do

Black is the rhythm
Black are the blues
Black is the feeling
When I dream of you

Jump a little higher, honey
Jump through the hoops
Dance a little lighter
When I reach for you

Black is the motive
Black are the crimes
Black are the reasons
When I close my eyes

Jeff Kurfess, 2004

Trespassing

2005-08-22T22:40:00.008-04:00

Streetlights on like clockwork
The night was creeping in
Another step from where you are
And where we might have been

My faith, so light and fragile
Soft rising through the air
Chasing rays of daylight
Dropping shadows of despair

Stranded at the crossroads
Of a thousand yesterdays
The ghost of beauty beckons
But her eyes, they turn away

Darkness falls around me
As I fumble for a light
Take a drag, brace myself
And step into the night

Jeff Kurfess, 1997

Back Spaces

2005-08-21T23:41:00.001-04:00

Gazing out my window
I thought of yesterdays
The faces and the gestures
And how the laughter fades

Wondered if you’re happy
Or if you found your way
From long nights in November
And the promise that we made

Jeff Kurfess, 1998

winter passing

2005-06-24T22:39:00.000-04:00

love, she said
is fragile,

and a chore
to keep alive.

I paused a bit
to ponder

as I thought of
past goodbyes.

slowly then
I offered

as I drew
a frosty sigh:

that may be so,
but this I know

it comes to me to die.

Jeff Kurfess, 2004

The One

2005-06-23T00:50:00.000-04:00

In God's country, beyond the mill
Lie forty acres under till
All was level, but there she stood
A knotty statue of leaf and wood

I paused a moment to behold
This tree so rigid, dark, and bold
With branches stretching to the sky
Like spokes to heaven in my eyes

Jeff Kurfess, 1997

1989

2005-06-23T00:44:00.001-04:00

Standing in the sunlight
Behind the shady trees
All my questions answered
By a sundress in the breeze

She filled in all the spaces
She was my comfort dream
My happy ever after
For a boy beyond his means

We never knew the meaning
Of a card game by the pool
Or the fleeting tender moment
Of that summer after school

Her smile, I carry with me
Like an echo through the hall
Chasing down the decades
In this endless, aching fall

Jeff Kurfess, 2004