Things I Found #1

I introduce a new category today: things I found while looking for other things. As I step up my efforts to scale down, and declutter, I find stuff (poems, essays, etc.) that I scribbled, tucked someplace brilliant, and never saw again...until today.

A friend in his 60s was thrilled to find a sparking romance with a wonderful woman who happened to be quite a bit younger. This was pre-Viagra; my friend lamented that, although he wished to woo her all night long, his aging body could not keep up with his youthful mind. What he actually said was, “Well, what are you gonna do? You can’t push a rope...” So I was inspired to write "You Can't Push A Rope," (© LaCootina) a poem that turned into a bluesy song, thanks to a musical friend. It was performed exactly once, at my friend's 63rd birthday party. I wish I’d taped it; a scrap of the melody exists only in a dusty corner of my brain. Circa 1984 or so, I offer...

You Can’t Push A Rope

We hugged some and we kissed some; played around a bit
Now I hope you’re sleepy cause that’s all you’re gonna git
Necking on the sofa is now my idea of fun
Cause you can’t push a rope; nope – it just can’t be done

You can fight city hall, you can swim upstream
You can fool all the people, you can live in a dream
You can walk on water, and my heart is yours to keep
But you can’t push a rope, so let’s just get some sleep

I am still a dashing figure in a cutaway tuxedo
Who would guess I suffer from a cutaway libido?
I hope you love me truly, not just cause I’m a sport,
Cause there’s still lead in the pencil but the pencil’s gettin’ short

You can count your chickens while they’re still in the hen
You can even tell me, “never, never again”
You can have your cake and eat it, and my heart is yours to keep
But you can’t push a rope, so let’s just get some sleep

You’ll have to take a raincheck if you’d like to try for two
Cause once a night is all that I can do – even for you
I would love to love you all night, but in reality,
I am just another victim of reduced virility

You can be in two places; you can get there from here
You can make a silk purse from an old sow’s ear
You can take that to the bank, dear, and my heart is yours to keep
But you can’t push a rope, so let’s just get some sleep

Git some sleep.... git some sleep...
git some...zzzzzz