12 Miles South of Nowhere

By Al Ferber

12 Miles South Of Nowhere is covered by dark unforgiving terrain of the heart, of the soul, of unfulfilled dreams dashed against cruel rock formations. But it bekons to the curious, as do many uncharted territories, with promises of the, as yet, unfound, unexplored - like a bottle of whiskey that promises heaven and oblivion, even though youve been there a thousand times before.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 13, 2005
• ISBN: 9781462844616

Al Ferber

Al Ferber a septuagenerian going on 13. Born. Regrettably… A North Philly kid. Survived education at Temple U., Penn State, Villanova U. Alcoholic 30 years. Sober 23 years. Indenture servant to Catherine the Great 34 years. Learned to love and appreciate cats and one dog. Authored 30 books of poems, 2 novels, 3 chap books. Poems in Magazines in U.S., England, Scotland, France. Still alive, on the downward path of the sliding board, as of this writing. An undocumented alien in the world. Resides Ocean City, NJ surrounded by water with Cathi, Luna, Mitzi, and Opal. So there.

Book preview

12 MILES SOUTHOF NOWHERE

Al Ferber

Copyright © 2006 by Al Ferber.

ISBN : Softcover 1-4257-0240-6

eBook 9781462844616

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by anymeans, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informationstorage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

30003

Contents

The Moon At Their Backs

Hogwash

Canisters

Hauling Ass

First Star

On The Corner

Diner Juke Box

Kingdom Come

Virtuosity

The River Gave Itself A Name

The Walls of Athens

From Inside the Casket

Dead Man Laughing

12 Miles South of Nowhere

Away

Cheap Trix

Whatever Did She Mean

He Went Down Accordion Style

Going Up To New York

Almost Perfect

Mining On The Moon

Swiss Army Knife

Sunday, Again

Cadence

House Broken

Hair Shirt

Butter Sculpture

Getting Nowhere Fast

Fashion Statement

Salome

Interlocking Systems

Alter-s-Pacing

Purple Maze

Marble Dance Floor

Finish Line

Grand Opening

In The Half Dark

How Much Is Too Much

Innuendo

Bad Dreams

Ricochet

For Want Of Love

Frederick Of Hollywood

Jay Silver Heels Is Dead

Fence Walker

Business As Usual

All Along The Watch Tower

Star Quality

Higher Ground

Shaving

Vulgar Brothers

Early Start

Blue Madonna

Desperate Fingers

Fore Score & Seven

The Wine Porter

Leavings

Memoir

Atlas Shrugged

We the Mind

John The Peter

Stretching The Limits Of Time

The Go Between

Silver Bullets

Saturday Night Hot Date

Just Another Fairy’s Tail

Love’s Loves

Oh, Well

addiction or love

Whispered Lyrics

Trading Sins For Souls

Wall Of Pillows

One Night With You

Never Never Land

Stretch Marks

Master Bates

Little Moments/Vast Eternities

Mary Poplin Got Cabin Fever

Where Was He All His Life

Her Royal Hindness

Mary Poplin: The True Story

Homecoming

Looking For Mr. Goober

Reelin’ an a Rockin’

Whale Shit (writ 1974)

Dramatic Tendencies

Blind Side

Open & Closed Case

Fluvia

Windburn

Standing Room Only

Naked Fire Company

Erogenius Zone

Nuts At The city

Cow

(R)evolution

Bad Ice Cream Dream

Flimsy Craft

Another Long Search

Foggy Morning

Prize At The Bottom Of The Box

To Helen Beck

Night Crawler

Pitch And Catch

Another 1 Bites The Dust

Chorus

Sister Strangelove

Gentrified Homesuckle Swine

Breakfast Of Champions

All Of Me

Blasphemy

The Lure Of Advertising

Distraction

On The Dali Exhibition Eve

The Most Famous Irish Musician

Now, Sal

Dali: Unleashed

Dali: From Behind

Dali’s Mission Accomplished

Interloper

Quicksilver

Working Together

Guilt Walls

Man In Black

Saboteur

Masked & Anonymous

La Vague

Watts

Casanowhere

Voyeur

Saboteuse

Despair

Twist & Shout

Dixie Chicks

Lullaby

Cosmetics Counter

Worthless

Little Piece Of My Heart

Parallel Parking

Accountability

So Near And Yet

Coaxial Symmetry

Desserted

Hectic

Forecast

Roadside Carnival

Whiner

Spanning

tight rope walker

Eye To Eye

Leaf Pile Game

Dancing! Dancing! Yeah!

Chef Salad

Finishing Touches

Some Nameless War*

Predawn Massacre

At Certain Peril

Rodeo Clown

Run Through The Jungle

Lunatic Fringe

My Love

Sweet Wine

Thanks Gus

Rain Fall

Magpies & Mugwumps

Almost Always

Roto Rooter Man

Fox And Ail

The Green Monster

Separate Ways

Inequitable Distribution

Alternating Current

Two Stepper

December 1969

Put Asunder

Omens

Hard Questions

Semiconscious

Into The Desert

Hide And Go

Bitch

Soul Mates

Rescue Squad

Truth Serum

dancing on eggs

Good Times

Magic Day

Grandfather, Grandfather

Isolation

Interlocking Break System

City Of Dead Dreams

Sale Of The Century

Island of Qualamafri

Parisian Waltz

Symbiotic

Baby, let me bang your box!

Whether Forecast

Grievance Procedure

Weather Vane

Coconuts 1/18/04

Fly Ointment

At The Edge Of The Inferno

Alternating Current

Penance

The Butcher’s Wife

Mrs. Hoffnagle & The Newsboy

I waited for inspiration

Pissed

Along The Caravan

Drive-Thru Window

The Apologist

Neurology

Some Times

Christmas Play

Marx & Engles in the Catskills

Lenin & Trotsky in Kmart

Examining The Evidence

Swapping Spit

Parting Of The Wheys

The Long And Winding Toad

Denunciation

What’s In A Name?

Her, Eternal Deity 1/5/04

Trout Fishing In The Everglades

Seventh Day Post Adventist

Different Points Of View

Sole Sacrifice

Nightly Prayer

Idol Pursuits

Interpretations

Cool Hand Luke

Before The Flood

Balancing Act

Combustion

Nickname

Flying Fish

Life And Death On The Planet

Night Stalker

Closed Shop

Saline Solution

Contest

Theo-logic

Only The Lonely

Bishop Egan H.S., Class of ‘64

Free Ride

Seditious Acts

All Roads

Submission Hold

A Note From My Cousin

Disintegration

Public Health 1968

Make Over

Shutterspeed

Ode To My Parents

Willow Grove Park

Easter Song

Chivalry

And This, When The Medication is Working

In The Burning Library Of Dyslexia

Mr. Blackwell

Another Ugly Cycle

Collateral Damage

Stubborn Bastard

Three Days Before The Appointment

Aura Of Confidence

Aural Fixation

Flying Fuck

Matte Finish 3-18-04

Clinical Depression 3-7-04

An Open Letter To Shiva

Hands On

My Rogaine Period

Brown Nosing The Big Guy

Redundancy

Den Mother

Looking For Answers

Greatest Show On Earth

Precautions Precautions

Hotel Chelsea

Transmutations

Stubborn

Straight Into Hell

Aunt Phemie (not quite 90)

Phemie’s Driving Legend

Vacation

59 th Birthday Dream

Two Sides Of A Story

Proclamation

Fan Dancer

One Giant Step

Business

Child Of Bacchus

Once Upon A Time In Confession

Strange Affliction

Flip Of A Coin

Ill Wind

There Or Abouts

Summer’s Dirge

Speechless

No Tipping, Please

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

To the memory ofTommy Shields (195_ to 2005)who coined the phraseand ended up12 Miles SouthOf Nowhere

The Moon At Their Backs

The painter said it best—

with full figured

ballerinas

standing, dancing,

bending

in celestial

deep blue night

with the moon

at their backs

and reflected on their

starry starry breasts.

Hogwash

Gus said the sty’dbeen left to festeringfor weeks in its own stinkthe farmer had delusionsof being Franz Kafkabut a giant insectdid swallow him whole.

Canisters

Gus said bare breastedbusiness womenhung out the windowsof a loose foundation