Rajal is Dead, Long Live Rajal

There is nothing quite so effective
as a little down time
to bring things into focus...
when the dust can settle,
the air can clear,
the noise can fade,
and we are permitted
to have a contiguous
series of quiet moments
wherein we can reacquaint
with our true selves.

My time of disconnection
on an exotic island
has served.

Walking,
running,
on a beach strewn with
starfish, hermit crabs
and conches,
I happened upon myself.
I must have known that I'd be there.

A much needed reunion.

New Year's is a meaningless
Hallmark Holiday, like the others,
but it is true that,
if we are truly alive,
we periodically change,
re-invent ourselves,
survive.

Year's End is as good an occasion
as any other.

In this case, however,
I will simply get back to doing
what I had been doing
before I was so rudely interrupted.

Hello Shelley, Keats, Lord B.
Old Scratch, like Mick,
I'll show some sympathy,
Farewell,
all self-made prisons,
conventions
that kept me
under lock and key.
Libertine,
that's who I'll always be.

Come close, lass,
My fire may burn.
But ev'rything that's giv'n
Must yield something in return.

You had better,
It's essential,
You must.
Before our vessels rust.

And all who cannot fly
Shall be left behind.

Goodbye 2008, the old (new?) Rajal is dead.
Hello 2009, the new (old?) Rajal has arrived.

Let the passions run wild,
my dark flower,
and our juices flow,
my stinger is ready
so "on with the show".

Rajal Debut Crashes Second Life SIM!!!

Saturday, December 20,
for immediate release:

Johnnie Rajal, singer/songwriter,
record producer, jazzman, poet and rocker,
staged an impromptu performance today
at his newly built club, the Palais d'Rajal.

The event drew such a large crowd that the
Banoir Bahoozamoth SIM crashed twice.

Rajal, new to SL, had originally been planning
to begin a series of performances
in February of '09,
but due to popular demand,
and at the urging of his management group,
took the stage by storm and relentlessly,
without mercy,
proceded to inundate the ever-growing
crowd of attendees
with his original jazz, blues,
pop and rock creations.

Not long after Rajal started his set,
members of the audience were jumping
onstage to share in playing the many
musical instruments provided by the Rajal
Organization.

"We wanted this to be a form of
'Performance Art'", said Danielle Gymnast,
Lady of Aurora Town,
(who organized the event in tandem
with her well-known Baroness sister,
Lilliana Corleone),
"with spectators being able to actually
participate in the moment."

Based upon the response observed by this
reporter, they succeeded.

Gymnast, an artist in her own right, created
and built the Palais d'Rajal club.

"It's clear that Johnnie is a
natural," said Lilliana Corleone.
"He's like a magnet."

When pressed to describe what other plans
the organization had for Rajal, Gymnast's
response was short,
but provocative:

"Big," she said. "We have big plans."

(c. 2008 contributed by the wire service)

Eat me, drink and be merry

When I wake with my love in the evening
We'll go running along the sand
Her hair may be gold
The wind will be cold
I will take her face in my hands
We will wander on down to the sleepy town
And mingle with those of the night
We will drift together
And feed forever
Insatiable appetites...
Will you open your mouth as you kiss me...
Can't you see that I'm ready for love?
You must know that I've waited
A lifetime for this...
Now one else ever mattered enough

So eat me, drink and be merry...
Yesterday's gone
Tomorrow is scary
And all that we have
Is this love that we're sharing
So eat me, drink and be merry.

You, Her, Me

I feel ya slippin' away
Slowly changin' inside
Further everyday
She's like the moon and you're the tide
She has a beautiful face
She makes you wait for a sign
Ya say she touches a place
An island I could never find
Ya say we cannot relate
It's like a storm in your head
And ya stare at me with hate
Because she's loving me instead, baby

I'm in love with you
You're in love with her
And she's in love with me

We sing a song of complaint
We're too selfish to share
And it's hard to show restraint
When her scent is in your hair
She wonders where have I been
I wonder what did you wear
I can't tell where she ends
And you begin
Is someone hiding there?

I'm in love with you
You're in love with her
And she's in love with me
(Now what are we gonna do?
The three of us should be only two...)

I am a tramp of the mountain
You are a child of the sun
She is a queen of the ocean
Three sides now...
Who'll be the lonely one?

It's a labor of love
Our little "circle of friends"
It's hard to face what looks like
The beginning of the end
Yeah baby this kind of action
If ya carry it long
Will either bend and break your back
Or make ya twice as stong

I'm in love with you
You're in love with her
And she's in love with me
I'm in love with you
You're in love with her
And she's in love with me
Now what are we gonna do?
The three of us should be only two...

(And she's in love with me...)

Queen Anne's Lace

Queen Anne’s lace
In the latter afternoon,
When I saw your girlish face
Laughing in the curve of my
Lemonade spoon
Did I escort you to my room?
Too soon?
Can you forgive my first advances to you then,
Miss Faerie Elegant,
And will you ever let it go?
If you say, “No…,”
I’ll remind you to remember when you said,
“Man, what’s in your orchard head
That makes you save my hesitations in a jar?”
(Before you kissed me ‘neath the early wishing star).

Aphrodesia, Here

We wander through these jungled fields,
Killers brawl and the lovers stalk…
Unassuming creatures crawl
Crushed under elephant walks
Jive cat, he plugs in his phaser
Scream, Monk, the punks kick your knees in,
Strung-out tigresses fryin’
For a swim in the tropical semen
Yes we wander these many jungled fields
See the grasses evolve with the seasons
Archeozoic to Cenozoic
From instinct we've stumbled to reason
Aphrodesia, here, in the jungle

Yes we wander these endless jungled fields
Gazelle always jumps at the chance
The peaceful river flows to the Valley of the Rogue
Who ignores what is not in his pants
Demelza sleeps on the bubinga tree
She dreams of love
(can’t you hear her sigh?)
The snap of a twig sends her flyin’
'Melza's jungle has too many eyes…
Death flops down from the canopy
He bites her thigh and she fills his cup
Death reprises with a scornful hiss
Then he tries to feel her up…
(He knows she's gay
She slaps his face)
Aphrodesia, here, in the jungle

Lamumba, he flee from Chicago
To the Congo, sharpen dat spear,
See him groove to the beat of the bongos
Fancy Mau-mau is now his career,
I fear,
Mau-mau is catalyzed here.
Life is Aphrodesia here
A roiling, murky rain-forest stew
Check the Phantom, he swings
Through the treetops
Busy learning what he already knew
Yeah he chases the secrets the zebra won't tell
(the porcupine taught him to say it)
Counting Christ's steps upon the Sea of Galilee
Deoxyriboneucleic
Aphrodesia, here, in the jungle

Rommel circles lost in the desert sand
Out of gas in a ’34 Ford
Yeah, he sips Jack Daniels from a flask
Sisyphus, Sex, impossible task,
Der Führer unglued is his only reward
Panzer man,
Panzer man,
Rommel stops to beg some directions
Grease-monkey staggers out,
Rubs his eyes,
"Can you help me find my way
Back to Origin City?"
"Dude, it's somewhere up ahead,
or else it's far behind..."
Aphrodesia, here, in the jungle

Miranda wails by the light o’ the moon
Macaw glides down, they harmonize
She spreads her love on the zebra’s back
Prurience winning the prize
With her microphone so long and warm,
Miranda rocks
She’s a sultry song…
She propositions on thirty-two tracks
But the sax keeps playin’ it wrong
Leowenhoek built his microscope,
Tumblin’ dice, he was born too soon
MC squared equals lifespan cubed,
We’re melting the Jovian moons
(Einstein, Eisenstein)
(I give a rat’s ass)
(So long as you’re mine)
Jungle secrets’ll soon be told
Yeah, it’s time, like a rhyme we must play it
Christ had ice on the Galilee Sea
Dioxyribonucleic, again,
Dioxyribonucleic
Aphrodesia, here, in the jungle

We wander through these jungled fields
Boom-Boom
Dig those rock ‘n’ roll drums…
Reggae on with da Rastaman
And disco until we’re numb
Very glum bums in the slum, but
All is Aphrodesia here
The mating juices,
Competitive knife
(You must be crazy
If you think you’re alright)
Hail, asylum of life
All hail, asylum of life!
Aphrodesia, right here, in the jungle

So it might be said
We're all animals
With no respect for "acceptable" things
(Ka-Ching)
Well, I like my good clean fun,
Alright,
But I like it so I feel the sting
The sting!
And when I wander these fields
I wear a fat chain, yeah,
I keep it slung over my shoulder
See, I wear it in place of a necktie
In case I need to move somebody over
So let those poets all sing about their fire
And air,
But DIG,
I was borne in the sand
I wander the many,
Lonely jungle fields
Somewhat more a creature
Than a man.

The Last Love Letter

We’ve been familiars since the stroke of time,
My love,
I’ve adored you
Since before the creation of God
We’ve shared a million lifespans
And crimes
I was the original sperm
And you,
The egg
With great legs
Sublime
You dubbed me "your verbal prince"
(or vorpal blade?)
With blank sheet of parchment
Or, back then,
Papyrus,
I would philosophize
Scrawled out, then spoken, lines
You said you felt my thoughts "profound"...
I longed so to agree
Conceitedly,
(admittedly),
My wit flowed fresh
The logic, sound
But nevertheless
Such is the travail of a poet:
To write “les pensées” down.
I strove to keep the beat
Maintain a status quo of heat
Between us
(Immodest humping dog, was I)
(you never seemed to mind)
I wrote you sonnets
And triads about your bonnets
Blank verse when you had the curse
We were naughty,
Then angelic (hah)
Love for us was psychedelic
Such a trip
With my hot breath upon your lip
My rough unshaven face
Like some rumble in the jungle ape
You said I was the perfect lover,
And,
“’twas true,”
At least,
'twas true for you
By mutual consent
And to extreme extent
That was our game:
My art was to induce,
My craft, obtuse,
I would pen, and you
Would be seduced,
Aroused,
(and flattered then)
I was verbose, and you,
Un-bloused.
(Those shabby little verses that
We knew no one would see,
Please!
Such scruples never mattered)
We did this for centuries
Love letters
Constantly
I owned your appetite
And you owned me
But now we face the end, my love
This is our final hour
This is my last love letter
I find I must retire
This love, it was my passion,
My food,
My fury,
My fashion,
This love was my best friend,
Sweet heart
But now it’s time
And we must part
Our love must end
My love, my friend,
We could not have done this better…
But at long last,
My last
Final
Love letter.

Nothing lasts forever.

And yet,
as I daydream back,
the night beach sand
was white and cold
but the sky was black,
and its darkness ripe
like a joke half-told
all the way down to the sand
so bright
lo, as we walked
we with care felt through
the thickness of the night
Then the air smelt fresh
and salt
and fish lay dried
'midst the seaweed and the flies
gestalt
we drifted,
sensually
hand-in-hand
barefoot in that sand
(remember the palm fronds,
large fans?)
I remember you,
one in each hand...
You did that dance,
you harem girl,
with brazen looks
with spin and twirl
and just one time
you paused
and blushed
(afraid you'd done too much?)

Extremely Bad Intentions

I’ve got extremely bad intentions
Just one thing on my mind
I’ve got completely bad intentions, babe
Only one thing on my mind
Gon’ do ev’rythang ta get you
I jus’ gotta make you mine…

Ah, well, I made a bed of roses
Babe, I got ta lay you down
Oh yeah, ah made a bed of roses, honey
Lord, I got to lay ya down,
(somehow)
I got ta get my arms around you
I’m gonna love you ‘round and ‘round
and ‘round and ‘round and ‘round…

Oh girl I’ll give ya sparkle diamonds
An’ that flashy car ta drive
And I’ll build you up a mansion
And it will flow with honey wine
Ah’ll come across with all your wishes
(Jes’ be sure ya give me mine…)
This is our night ta make connection…
We got ta step across that line
Goin’ give you my best bad intentions...
Jes’ ONE THANG on my mind

Behind the Chocolate Door

In a dream one night
I came upon a long white picket fence
Surrounding a white wood-frame gingerbread house
With peeling paint
Quaint
(in a visual sense)
Flowers were sleeping outside of the fence
(planted, no doubt, at considerable expense)
Snapdragons, marigolds
Overgrown, with colors bold
Each petal bright as metal, right,
I saw just there in front of me
Large, shoe-sized saffron bumblebees
Wearing off-white painter's caps
And droning, lazily, from flower to flower.
And down the street, (where it was icy cold),
A drift of snow, a soft white she,
Meditated patiently
From hour to hour while
Contemplating the flowery bower.
Two-and-a-half bluebirds scolded to me
From their Scandinavian, high-rise penthouse
At the top of a walnut tree.
The fence, for its part, was jovial,
Though shabby in repair...
"I've spent all my existence surrounding this house,
With no time for painting or care."
Through the gate slightly creaky
A sidewalk ran,
Curved like a girl,
But spoke like a man,
Yes, it dashed right up to the chocolate front door,
'twas a path of distinction
(and, I learned, much more)
Made of bricks, made of gumdrops
Made of emeralds and pearls
Red rubies were scattered like cherries
And sapphires, some,
For September girls addicted to berries.
What a path,
What a walk,
Through the gate
To the house,
Through the yard through the chocolate front door
From the sky that was beryl
And glowing with sun
Straight to a dark curtain'd room
(where I'd soon be undone)
It was there that I fell through the floor
To a cavern
Where gray-gloved hands with palms of sable
grabbed me and held me down
On a table
Many hands
Ugly hands
Grasping hands with no arms
Hundreds of hands,
Cannot fight
(I'm unable!)
No bodies nor heads
Just millions of hands
Squeezing too hard and so strong
With their knives and their saws
And their toothpicks and pliers,
And razors and hoses
Syringes and icepicks
They all came along.
In those hands, those hands,
Those hideous hands
Ah yes, my dear, just slice off my ear
A butcher knife
But SO sincere
See the blood (it's MY blood!)
Must I eat my own feet?
Anon, what is next?
Will they feed me my sex?
And the throat-wrenching screams
Ring like hour-long themes,
Is this reality,
Agony sublime?
Just in time, just in time,
(the screams are mine!)
All this and more
Behind the chocolate door
Inside the frame house
With the white picket fence
And the snapdragons and marigolds
Some dreams make sense
This one made me sweat
(And oh, don't forget),
This house has many rooms
I've seen a few
But for you,
It may be time, I've heard,
To make your debut.
One thing more:
(Don't fall through the floor)

Famous at Night

I ain’ no road-workin’ man
Wit muscles out ta here…
An’ I ain’ no rich investor
Wit a diamond in ‘is ear…
An’ I ain’ no football hero
Kickin’ fifty-yard field goals…
An’ I ain’ no big-time GANGSTA
Flashin’ money wherever he goes…
An’ I ain’ no politician
Talkin’ both sides of my mouth…
Naw, I AIN’ gonna win no elections
That fo’ SHO’ ain’t what I’M about…
An’ I ain’ no Sunday preacher
Spreadin’ manna on his flock…
No, I sho’ ain’ no HOLY TEACHER
‘Cause ya KNOW I was - born ta ROCK!…
An’ I ain’t got no pretty features
Like them BOYS up on my TV…
No, my face ain’t wat you’d call handsome
But, LORD, it done GOOD fo’ me…
Well, the world don’ know my name
No, it ain’ in neon lights…
The world may not know just who I am
But ‘roun’ here I’m FAMOUS AT NIGHT…
(Famous at Night)
In the darkest hours…
(Famous at Night)
When the sun goes down…
(Famous at Night)
In the darkest hours…
(Famous at Night)
When the shapes come out…
(Famous at Night)
When the shadows melt…
(Famous at Night)
When I’m finally myself…
(Famous at Night)
I’ll be makin’ some HOT love…
(Famous at Night)
An’ it’s somethin’ else
(Famous at Night)
So come here, LITTLE LADY…
(Famous at Night)
Got a story ta tell
(Famous at Night)
Gonna sing jus’ like a devil…
(Famous at Night)
Gon’ raise a little Hell…
(Famous at Night)
Naww, the WORLD don’ know my NAME…
(Famous at Night)
My NAME ain’t in neon lights…
(Famous at Night)
The world may not know just WHO I AM…
BUT ‘ROUN’ HERE I’M FAMOUS AT NIGHT

So I ain’ no physician
Who’ll cure yo’ MEASLES an’ yo’ FLU…
But I sho’ nuff am the DOCTOR
Put the steam back inta you…
AN’ I ain’ no plastic surgeon
Keep your wrinkles tightened up…
But I’ll be yo’ MOOD ENHANCER
Watch me keep you HIGH ENOUGH…
Goin’ LOVE YA, LOVE YA, LOVE YA
‘Til the STARS shoot through the sky…
Goin’ LOVE YA ‘til the mornin’
Goin’ LOVE YA ‘til ya cry…
Goin’ make you mine forever
Gonna take you WAY TOO HIGH…
Goin’ lay you DOWN an’ DO YA
Goin’ DO YA ‘til I’m DRY...
‘Cause the world don’ know my name
No, it ain’ in neon lights…
The world may not know just who I am
But ‘roun’ here I’m FAMOUS AT NIGHT…
(Famous at Night)
In the darkest hours…
(Famous at Night)
When the sun goes down…
(Famous at Night)
In the darkest hours…
(Famous at Night)
An’ the voodoo’s aroun’…
(Famous at Night)
When the shadows melt…
(Famous at Night)
When I’m finally myself…
(Famous at Night)
I’ll be makin’ love…
(Famous at Night)
An’ it’s somethin’ else
(Famous at Night)
So come here, LITTLE LADY…
(Famous at Night)
Got a story ta tell
(Famous at Night)
Gonna sing a little Satan…
(Famous at Night)
Gon’ raise a little Hell…
(Famous at Night)
Nawww, the WORLD don’ know my name…
(Famous at Night)
My NAME ain’t in neon lights…
(Famous at Night)
The world may not know just WHO I AM…
BUT ‘ROUN’ HERE I’M FAMOUS AT NIGHT
(So give me)
Your precious love…
(An’ give me)
Your soulful love…
(Yeah, give me)
Your spiritual love…
(An’ give me)
Your faithful love…
(I gotta have it)
That perfect love…
Your secret love
(Famous at Night)
Your physical love…
(Famous at Night)
Your dangerous love…
(Famous at Night)
Your darkest love…
(Famous at Night)
Your sinister love…
Your dirty love…
(Famous at Night)
Your evil love…
(I gotta have it)

Gotta have ALL your love…
(Famous at Night)

The Show's Over an' It's Time to Leave

You only want me for conversation
I need somebody fo’ a trashy vacation
You’re into Shakespeare an’ the genius of Tolstoy
I get my ya-ya’s from the pictures in Playboy
Can’t ya see it’s not meant ta be?
The show’s over an’ it’s time ta leave.

I’m just a rocker, baby, I like ta party
You’re into opera and some guy named Vivaldi
You say I’m crazy, I should try ta forget you
How can I hear ya when I’d rather undress you?
Can’t ya see it’s not meant ta be?
The show’s over an’ it’s time ta leave.

I have my vices, yeah, ya say I’m obsessive
I try ta kiss ya an’ ya say I’m too possessive…
You have a weakness for the beef Bourgogne
I’m just as happy with a burger an’ onions
Can’t ya see it’s not meant ta be?
The show’s over an’ it’s time ta leave.

You like Picasso and the music of Handel
I get my culture from the cartoon channel
You’re into Oprah and self-improvement
I’m only lookin’ fo’ a certain kinda movement…
Can’t ya see it’s not meant ta be?
The show’s over an’ it’s time ta leave.

You like the symphony and stuffy museums
I’d like yer ta-ta’s (if ya’d ever let me see ‘em!)
You wanna meditate on top of Mount Fuji
Why don’t ya strip fo’ me an’ show me yer boojie?
Can’t ya see it’s not meant ta be?
The show’s over an’ it’s time ta leave.

You get up early an’ ya rush to the health club
I need some action, baby, (how 'bout a back rub…!?)
You’d spend eternity applying your rouges
I like to lay in bed and watch the Three Stooges!
Can’t ya see it’s not meant ta be?
The show’s over an’ it’s time ta leave.

Let's NOT Get Married, Baby

Let’s NOT get married, baby
Let’s just be good friends
Oh, let’s NOT get married, baby
Let’s just be good friends
Let’s not wreak the good thing
Make the same mistakes again

Let’s NOT get married, baby
Let’s just have a great time,
Let’s NOT get married, baby
Let’s just have a great time
An’ you can keep your precious freedom
An’ you can bet I’ll cherish mine!

Yeah you were married once…
He broke your heart
Spendin’ all your money down
He ran all over TOWN, baby,
He played ya LIKE A SONG…
Then he had the nerve to leave ya,
‘Cause ya WOULDN’T PLAY ALONG…

Oh, let’s NOT get married, baby
Let’s just FOOL around, oh
Let’s NOT get married, baby
Let’s just FOOL around
Ain’ no sense ta be impulsive
‘Til we KNOW wat’s goin’ down

‘Cause I was married once
It didn’t work out…
She slept in my pajamas an’
I SLEPT ON THE COUCH…
A livin’ doll but her legs were crossed
An exquisite piece of jewelry,
Man’ I really paid the cost

Let’s NOT get married, baby
I guess we never learn, oh
Let’s NOT get married, baby
I guess we never learn,
It don’t make SENSE ta play with matches
If ya know it’s gonna burn

Well, I don’t need no church girls
Don’ need no bobby sox…
I jus’ need me a woman who’s
BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK
Let’s just be REAL good friends
It ain’ no good ta be impulsive
Make the same mistakes again