I met him on the cliffs
of twin rocks, oregon
he was sittin on his bedroll
lookin just like richard brautigan
i thought he was an old man,
he wasnand't but 37
he said heand'd been ridin trains
for 15 years
drawin portraits
to keep his belly full of beer
and it looked to me like heand'd died
and missed the plane to heaven
but he was a nice old guy
for a younger man
he had a bottle of mad dog
he held in his hand
that he waved around a lot
to make his point
and i listened as he told his tales
of wine and women and county jails
and we finished off that bottle
and smoked a half a joint
he said andquot;i came here to watch the sun
disappear into the ocean
itand's been years
since i smelled this salty seaandquot;
he turned his bottle up and down
and i saw him lost
and i saw him found
he sadi andquot;i donand't know what iand've been
lookin for, maybe me...andquot;
well, i told him i too had been
travelin around
livin out of my van from town to town
playin for tips and whatever records
i could move
i said andquot;i donand't reckon iand'll be
makin it big,
you know itand's hard to get rich
off a tout of coffee house gigsandquot;
and he said andquot;yeah, but ainand't it a blessin
to do what you wanna do...andquot;
and i told him andquot;yeah, i pulled off here
to watch the sun disappear
into the ocean
and'cause itand's been years
since i smelled this salty seaandquot;
and he turned his bottle up and down
he saw me lost and he saw me found
and i said andquot;i donand't know what iand've
been lookin for, maybe meandquot;
i said andquot;itand's kind of late
better be heading down the interstate
can i give you a lift
to san francisco bay?andquot;
he said andquot;nope, i think iand'm just
going to sit here and rest
and maybe wait on the
tokyo-montana express
i might just lay here
and dream my life away
iand'm going to sit right here,
iand'm going to watch the sun
disappear into the ocean
and'cause itand's been years, itand's been years
iand'm gonna turn my bottle up and down
you can see my lost
and you can see my foundandquot;
i met him on the cliffs
of twin rocks, oregon
he was sitting on his bedroll looking
just like richard brautigan
just like him
