The Blue Grass Tavern Chronicles(chapter 13)

                                                                    Donnie Bradley

  Donnie Bradley was one of the greatest buddies anyone could ask for. I met Donnie when I was very young, Rusty Bradley was my closest friend from grade school through high school and I met Donnie through Rusty, they were cousins. 

     Donnie was handsome, and the gals flocked to him like living birdseed. Yet Donnie never flaunted his unique prowess or paraded his good looks and charm out at Joe’s Tavern; for one, not too many gals entered Joe’s place, and for two, many patrons were happily married like Donnie. Donnie never cheated on his wife either. Donnie just liked coming out at Joe’s and having a good ol' mug of brew. 

     On those glorious Friday nights, when Donnie walked through that back door, you were in for a treat. He always had a great joke, and he was a master at telling it. Gary Walker seemed to always accompany Donnie; you rarely saw one without the other. They were lifetime buddies. We all loved our Friday nights, we huddled around Joe’s big bar like Jesus’ apostles around Jesus’ Last Supper. 

     Donnie avoided anything that displayed arrogance or grandeur; he abhorred posing for any cause that benefited the wealthy. Donnie was a simple man, not an impoverished person either. 

He was family-oriented and secure. Donnie was loved by all. 

     Donnie loved to play cards on a Friday night, we all did. Joe Lawrence even played a few hands before the crowd became an ambush. I had a heart flush once, and I raised and raised, and the only one who survived my raises was Donnie, I told him, I swear, I have a heart flush, and I'll show it to you, he had two 5s, & two 4s, and a 4 of clubs, a 4 of diamonds, and a 5 of hearts already on the table, and on the last card down he caught the last 5 in the deck. He smiled and I knew he got it. We laughed for hours. 

     Donnie seemed to be happy but many who entered the tavern weren't, that's why many patrons drank themselves into the abyss of misery. Donnie lost his son in a terrible car accident, he carried a heavy heart from then on, this eventually wrecked his marriage. He was seen quite often at Joe’s thereafter, Joe always had the cure and that was a mug of forgetfulness, even if it only lasted a few hours. Donnie had a rare disease, that he never brought up, and he died way before his time. He left this world with a broken heart; goddamn life is brutal. I loved Donnie like my own brother. 

                                

CSN’s Cathedral

 

I bought this CSN album after my Dad committed suicide, and the song Cathedral played for me for the very first time, and clung to me most profoundly, and I almost had an out-of-body experience, smoking some great herb that I personally grew too, but, I was scared, and I realized, that I'm no more stronger or significant than an ant on a crumb of sugar, or a spider in a well-designed web. 

The Bluegrass Tavern Chronicles(chapter 12)

 

                                                      Joe Pat Allen

     I met Joe Pat Allen early in my life; he loved sports and enjoyed playing them, too. Joe Pat worked at Burroughs like most adults at his age, either you took seasonal labor outside or you frolicked at some local factory or distillery here in Bardstown. 

     Joe Pat loved his cold mug of beer at Joe’s and everyone did. Joe’s place was home away from home where all your friends lived after work. Joe Pat was a decent pool shooter but I wouldn't say he was near the best and when he was young before his eyes started to go bad, he won a few bucks. He was decent at foosball, what a game that was; the game was very new to Bardstown, too. The game was invented and patented by Harold Searles Thorton in 1921. A serviceman Lawrence Patterson discovered it in Germany in the 1950s and brought it into the United States. In the 1970s, the game took off like mad! A great game. I practiced endlessly, because I had free access, I cleaned up the tavern. We had some historic games on Joe’s foosball table. The jukebox was right next to it and Joe Lawrence had it loaded up with Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and CSN&Y. The winner got free beer. I played front, but was a great back goalie too. Joe Pat often played goalie as my partner. We played long enough to get drunk, then quit, and watched the World Series, or whatever game was on ESPN, or on the local channels. 

  Joe Pat was a decent person, he came from a strict Catholic family, and they lived less than a mile from St. Joseph’s Church. He was one of the Maple Hill Gang, a neighborhood of many patrons of Joe’s Tavern. The tavern made everyone come together, it was like a human convention of friends. Friday nights came to be everyone’s Mecca; where everyone prayed to the ever-flowing tap of premium beer. 

   I saw many great bands in Louisville, I usually bought 4 tickets, though many times only 2 too. Tickets were cheap back then, I saw so many great bands and always paid $6.50-$7.50 a ticket, YES was a buck extra but nobody griped. The great band that I still love today, YES, was coming to town and I had all their albums. At Joe’s, I told Joe Pat I had 3 tickets to see YES. I misplaced and lost one ticket. Bobby Elmore overheard me, he loved YES, we all did, Joe had the song " Roundabout " on his jukebox. Bobby interrupted me, saying, “Tim, I'll drive us all.” I said, “You are in!” We all met up at Joe’s beforehand, and we jumped in Bobby’s car. He had a Porsche but only two people could fit into it. He borrowed his brother’s big LTD Ford. Freedom Hall was an incredible stadium, not a bad seat in the place! YES had an elaborate setup, placed their huge revolving stage in the heart and center of Freedom Hall, like all bands, they had 2 drummers. Somehow, Bobby talked to the Security police and got all three of us into that sealed-off area where only a few were allowed near the stage, Chris Squire was my hero too, he had his solo before Roundabout and he threw a guitar pick right at me because I was spellbound by his performance, and he saw me and I caught it, yet I gave it to a beautiful gal who was right beside me, to this day, I regret that. She wasn't even impressed by my gesture. Joe Pat and I lit up a joint in the far back, weed aroma filled that place, cops were everywhere too but they usually looked the other way unless you were stupid. Weed and great concerts went hand in hand. What a glorious show. I bought a shirt, even bought one for Joe Pat, who never paid me back, but it was a token he never forgot. I loved Joe Pat. He loved me back too. 

Nodus Tollens

 

Living in constant pain, the

Physical and mental misery,

Leaves one in a multitude of Hells. 

The naivety of ignorant people 

Who justify their youth by

Laughing at the old and 

Disabled, this world was 

Never right for the meek

Where the gentry control

The world. 

To An Outlying Friend

 

Oh, the circling vultures refuse to gnaw out my heart

Though the crows mock me as supreme squires with 

their judicial caws

I've stumbled on this curse again, will not depart,

This meddling with my God;

Gilded cages, silent rages 

Weathered every season

Upon these history pages 

Bourne this unspoken reason

Why thy madness beckons me? 

To this wreckage of wilt

That lures Me back to thee

And this abundance of guilt. 

Look, The Sun Is Coming Up…

 

Look, the sun is coming up…

Watching The Squirrels Fly

Watching the squirrels fly

Through the air with ease

Effortlessly these flying 

Critters on their limb trapezes. 

The bushy-tailed critters love to steal

Every nut that can be heisted

Yet, come the cold wintertime

They become shortsighted. 

The absent-minded rodent

Forgot where he stashed the nuts

Digging through the snow

Reckless and starving like a putz.