The Perfect Buzz

Though getting loaded by three was me and Ronnie's explicit intent
The perfect buzz was partly strategy and partly accident
Acid gets me heady, and coke makes Ronnie mean
So we were playing safe with THC, alcohol, caffeine
We rose at ten after a good night's sleep and filled
the filter full Of a freshly ground, dark roasted, fair trade Costa Rican blend
Thick and black as oil, we sipped the pot back steady
The cobwebs started clearing and our palms were getting sweaty
It was already 19 degrees, and not a whisper through the trees
In the shade out back I marveled once again at Ronnie's prowess rolling
He was extolling virtues of patience and practice, practice, practice, absolutely no stalks
A sleek and filtered pinner of clean and uncut B.C. bud
I sucked back long, held it longer, Ronnie called me 'Lungs'
Laying in the grass, sighing, exchanging grins
The world was more interesting than it actually is
I went on about the garden and the benefits of outdoor toil
Got on hands and knees, picked the weeds, ran my fingers through the soil
Ronnie left, came back with two cold Becks
Got four more, finished them between noon and one p.m.
A calming swell rose up to meet the heady, frothy crest
The marriage flooded through our blood and brains and came to rest
"For generations", Ronnie mused, "monks have sought such balance"
"But theirs is quite a joyless road
Inhale and Swallow is my code!"

We finally found the perfect buzz
Everybody come and have a hit on us
We wish you all the same
Killing time and killing pain
Take a ride on the perfect buzz
When it's looking harsh and bleak and ominous
Or when it's going great
The perfect buzz will accentuate

Ronnie has a tortoise, we watched him eat a dandelion leaf
We found a half deflated beach ball underneath the porch
Bounced it back and forth against the condo wall next door
"Wall Ball" we called the game, played it until Gordon came
Checking out the Yamaha 250 that he just restored
I got him to explain the relationship between torque range and the intake manifold
He joined us for a blast, topping up the buzz, drained another Becks fast
I talked about how fortunate we were to be living
At this stimulating, fascinating juncture in history
Ronnie said "I see a world less innocent than what you say
Technology overkill, planetary decay"
He said "They've cancelled my insurance, I should probably call Sheree,
After Becky I should probably get checked for HIV"
"Whoa man, don't kill it, you get back to where you was -
Don't you get pulled over to the dark side of the buzz"
I got him on his feet, we headed down to 17th in a saunter
Shades on, casually ogling girls, passed a patio, decided on sight
There's nothing on earth better than a patio pint

The air was still still, so we bought a couple balsa wood planes
A couple double espressos and found a park with a hill
Had a pipe hit, flew the planes until they busted
Played 'Who'd You Rather Sleep with?' until we both got disgusted
The sun was descending, we headed home and past our landlord's house
Wrote on the sidewalk in chalk 'Ernie is a panty sniffer'
Saw the guy who used to do music reviews for the Sun
He'd take all the promotional CDs, pawn them for heroin
Our next door neighbor was a cop, but smoked up when off duty
He asked us for a pinch, we said "Don't go play with guns now, Jeff"
Settling in lawn chairs in the backyard at dusk
A clarity and serenity bathing both of us
We put the speakers on the grass and put on swordfishtrombones
Elected to bring it home with a South African merlot
I remembered I still had a couple Xanax from my Mom
Ronnie rose and shook my hand: "I love this life. I love you man."



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