floyd kelley [dot] com

After a funeral someone said to me
You know I only see you at funerals
it’s been 3 since June
been 5 since June for me
He said I’ve made a vow
I only go to death parties if I know someone before
they were sick
Why?
cause - cause - cause I feel I feel so
sad cause I never knew their life
and now I only know their death
And because we are members of the
Black Sheep family -
We are sheep with no shepherd
We are sheep with no straight and narrow
We are sheep with no meadow
We are sheep who take the dangerous
pathway thru the mountain range
to get to the other side of our soul.
We are the black sheep of the family
called Black Sheep folk.
We always speak our mind.
appreciate differences in culture
believe in sexual preferences
believe in no racism no sexism no religionism
and we’ll fight for what we believe
but usually we’re pagans,
There’s always one in every family
Even when we’re surrounded by bodies
we’re always alone
You’re born alone
and you die alone
written by a black sheep.
You can’t take it with you
written by a former black sheep.
Black Sheep folk look different from their family -
The way they look at the world
We’re a quirk of nature
We’re a quirk of fate
Usually our family, our city, our country
never understands us
We knew this from when we were very young
that we were not meant to be understood.
That’s right. That’s our job.
Usually we’re not appreciated
until the next generation.
That’s our life. That’s our story.
Usually we’re outcasts, outsiders
in our own family.
Don’t worry - get used to it.
My sister says I don’t understand you!
But I have hundreds of sisters with me tonight.
My brother says I don’t want you!
But I have hundreds of brothers with me here tonight!
My mother says I don’t know how to love someone like you!
You’re so different from the rest!
But I have hundreds of mamas with me here tonight!
My father says I don’t know how to hold you!
But I have hundreds of daddies with me here tonight!
We’re related to people we love who can’t say
I love you Black Sheep daughter
I love you Black Sheep son
I love you outcast, I love you outsider
But tonight we love each other
That’s why we’re here
to be around others like ourselves
So it doesn’t hurt quite so much
In our world, our temple of difference
I am at my loneliest when I have
something to celebrate and try
to share it with those I love but
who don’t love me back.
There’s always silence at the end
of the phone
There’s always silence at the end
of the phone
Sister - Congratulate me!
NO I CAN’T YOU’RE TOO LOUD
GRANDMA LOVE ME
NO I DON’T KNOW HOW TO LOVE
SOMEONE LIKE YOU
Sometimes the Black Sheep is a soothsayer,
a psychic, a magician of sorts
Black Sheep see the invisible
We know each others thoughts
We feel fear and hatred
Sometimes, some sheep are chosen to be sick
to finally have average, flat, boring
people say I love you.
Sometimes, Black Sheep are chosen to be sick
so families can finally come together
and say I love you.
Sometimes, some Black Sheep are chosen to die
so loved ones, families, countries
and cultures
can finally say
Your life was worth living!
Your life meant something to me!
I loved you all along!
Black Sheep’s destinies are not in
necessarily having families,
having prescribed existences
like the American Dream.
Black Sheep destinies are to give
meaning in life - to be angels,
to be conscience, to be nightmares
to be actors in dreams.
Black Sheep can be family to strangers
We can love each other like MOTHER
FATHER SISTER BROTHER CHILD
We understand universal love
We understand unconditional love.
We feel a unique responsibility
a human responsibility for feelings for others
We can be all things to all people
We are there at 3:30am when you call
We are here tonight cause I just can’t
go to sleep. I have nowhere else to go
I’m a creature of the night
I travel in your dreams
I feel your nightmares
We are your holding hand
We are your pillow, your receiver,
your cuddly toy.
I feel your pain.
I wish I could relieve you of your suffering.
I wish I could relieve you of your pain.
I wish I could relieve you of your death.
Silence at the end of the phone.
Silence at the end of the phone.
Silence at the end of the phone.

The secret of a full life is to live and relate to others as if they might not be there tomorrow, as if you might not be there tomorrow. It eliminates the vice of procrastination, the sin of postponement, failed communications, failed communions. This thought has made me more and more attentive to all encounters. meetings, introductions, which might contain the seed of depth that might be carelessly overlooked. This feeling has become a rarity, and rarer every day now that we have reached a hastier and more superficial rhythm, now that we believe we are in touch with a greater amount of people, more people, more countries. This is the illusion which might cheat us of being in touch deeply with the one breathing next to us. The dangerous time when mechanical voices, radios, telephones, take the place of human intimacies, and the concept of being in touch with millions brings a greater and greater poverty in intimacy and human vision.

A wise man once said that all human activity is a form of play. And the highest form of play is the search for Truth, Beauty and Love. What more is needed? Should there be a ‘meaning’ as well, that will be a bonus?

If we waste time looking for life’s meaning, we may have no time to live — or to play.

You could be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be somebody who hates peaches.

There is only one honest type of relationship status: It’s Complicated.

Whether you’ve been married for decades, are recently single, or are involved in some sort of obtuse polyamorous love triangle, it’s important to understand that relationships—all relationships, intimate or otherwise—are inherently complicated. We are human beings, mixed bags of thoughts and emotions and actions, righteous liars and honest cheats, sinners and saints, walking contradictions, both the darkness and the light.

Ergo, there’re going to be times at which you disagree with your partner, argue with your friends, quarrel with the the guy in the cubicle next to yours. Such is life.

The key, then, is to work through complications with others, to find common ground, to change yourself if you’d like but never—ever—attempt to change someone else. Love and caring and respect don’t work that way. To love someone is to understand them, warts and all. You can provide guidance, but the people you love still have to steer their own boat.