One man's philosophy is another man's bellylaugh.

Jeff L. Howe

Jeff L. Howe
Location
Lyndon, Pennsylvania,
Birthday
April 19
Company
Visit the website: jeff-howe.net
Bio
Jeff Howe is a bonsai enthusiast and harmonica player who has very good reason to believe that the Universe tastes like a cheap buck-fifty melon. He is a product of Walled Lake and a former Poetry Slam Champion of Milwaukee. He once shook hands with Rocky Colavito, opened for Leon Redbone and took a piss next to Mose Allison (no hands were shaken). All things considered, his best single day was July 4th, 1987 when he marched in the Marmarth, North Dakota parade in the morning, discovered a rare dinosaur skull in the afternoon, and then sat in playing harmonica with a drunken cowboy band until way past tomorrow. It's been downhill ever since. Jeff is a misemployed geologist who specializes in interpreting rock outcrops at 70 miles per hour. It's a gift. His daughter loves cows. ................................................................................................................... FOR MORE STORIES, PHOTOS AND HARMONICA RECORDINGS VISIT: jeff-howe.net

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MARCH 11, 2010 5:20AM

What Awakens Me Sleepless At 4:49 A.M.

Rate: 9 Flag

And tired boys too

Far too often are found

Dead asleep in a pile

Of self pity

In terror they curl

Where the burger bags swirl

In an alley

Unseen in the city

 

But before they breath last

Before present is past

Before finally they can sleep

Like a baby

They remember the one

Before all came undone

Who might..

Who what if…

Or who maybe

 

You see, I’m that bum

That unfortunate sum

Of all of the things

That got scattered

By the chaos that hit

When the fan hit the shit

In a time

Way back when

When it mattered

 

And I arise from my dreams

And the echo of screams

That echo the few parts

That were sleeping

One eye open in fright

Starring out into the night

All alone

In the watch

I am keeping…

 

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poem, jeff howe

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Comments

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Right there with you. -r-
I'm not sure which is scarier, waking up like this every morning or finding out that there is one other person out there doing the same...
Heck, there's more than just one person out there, waking up like that, or heck, not even able to sleep. :)

Rated.
The struggle to sleep an entire night through has been a constant in my life.
Blue Highways. Thanks for that. I think what I find most unsettling is that they ARE unproperly turned and free of restraint and restriction. My mind hasn't had a chance to spin them, to sand off the edges yet... it must be pure information. It might be right.
Rita: I fall asleep exhausted, sleep for a few hours, awake to pee and rapidly sleep fades. Five A.M. is a holy time.
This is great. I'm heading off to read some more of your work!
R.
This slices to the bone of a human existence that grows exponentially each day. I wonder just how long it will take for the world not to be divided into only two groups: Those who are living this nightmare and those who choose to ignore them. It's about time a third group forms and starts to see.
Really felt this one Jeff.
R
This is an incredible description of the human condition and the submerged terror that so many of us secretly harbor. Wow
What cartouche and Walter said.
Thanks. This is "found" art. I woke up terrified this morning with this thing rolling around my head. There are a million verses, these are the four that I was able to grab before dawn. There's a lot of talk about fears going around these days... those are mine: dying alongside a dumpster with my pockets pulled out and my untold stories and unplayed music swirling away in the wind.
I too have sleepless nights, a lot lately, but not quite like this. Instead of the past my sleepless torture is more of the future. Great poem!
Jeff, this was great. If you can wake up with this in your head, you are some kind of writer!
...and then, exhausted, you begin to have those thoughts in the daytime. Jeff, I love this, especially with the comments--a community of lonely fears. We all have them somehow. Thanks.