“This bridge will only take you halfway there, to those mysterious lands you long to see. Through gypsy camps and swirling Arab fair, and moonlit woods where unicorns run free. So come and walk awhile with me and share the twisting trails and wonderous worlds Ive known. But this bridge will only take you halfway there. The last few steps you have to take alone.” – Shel Silverstein
Category: Notable Quotes
Knick Knack Shelf – by David Wilcox
Years ago I found someone giving away some David Wilcox ‘bootleg’ recordings and one of them included him doing the following poem. I can’t find the recording (cassette) anymore but I did find these lyrics and wanted to post them here.
Knick-Knack Shelf
Written and performed by David Wilcox (http://www.davidwilcox.com/)
Unreleased
The man with the knick-knack shelf turned from the wall
And he smiled to himself as he picked up the maul
He emptied the knick-knackage into the trash
And steadied the sacrifice, ready to smash
Down comes the axe-blade , down through the knicker-knack
Down to the tongue-in-groove flooring below
He picks up the pieces of splinters and kindling
And into the fireplace all of it goes
He says he knows what he’s doing; he’s done it before
He can keep the place warm for eight hours or more
He’s still got the shutters and cabinet doors
And they’ll always be plenty of tongue-in-groove floors
Down comes the banister, down from the second floor
Down to the fireplace , thunk! thunk! thunk!
He says , “Plenty of firewood; look at this banister
It’s an all-night fire here in one big chunk
Hey what do you mean ‘tomorrow’ ? Tomorrow’s another day
I’m sure that when tomorrow comes, we’ll f ind some other way”
Yeah, but back in the early days, the pickings were good
He burned all the kitchen stuff made out of wood
The baskets and bread boards and the beautiful bowls
And the wall-mounted hanger for paper towel rolls
Down came the knife rack, down came the toaster shelf
Down to the bare bones , burnables gone
Oh, but plenty of plastic and metal utensils
Never you worry there’s anything wrong
Hey what do you mean “tomorrow” ? Tomorrow’s another day
I’m sure that when tomorrow comes , we’ll f ind some other way
Yeah, but there used to be furniture, tables and chairs
But the man burned them up when the kitchen was bare
Then came the time when the only thing there
Was his very own personal lazy boy chair
Well up jumped the lazy boy and fired up the chain saw
Cut through the naugahide down to the frame
He severed the beast like a primitive butcher
Threw all the burnables onto the flame
Down came the curtain rods, down came the picture frames
Down came the macrame, plants and ferns
Into the fireplace, he’ll try anything
Maybe the parakeet cage will burn
Yeah, but that’s when he sighed and he gazed about
And feeling the air was a wee bit chill
That’s when he saw the knick-knack shelf
He said, “I knew there’s a way , if we had the will”
Well don’t try to tell him we’re heading for ruin
He’s older than you; he knows what he’s doing
There’s always been plenty of firewood before
There’s bound to be places to find even more
Hey what do you mean “tomorrow” ? Tomorrow’s another day
I’m sure that when–
Don’ try to tell him he’s heading for ruin
He’s older than you; he knows what he’s doing
I’m sure that when tomorrow comes, we’ll find some other way
Right ?