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Jim Hoehn: Music

Live For The Moment

(Jim Hoehn)
February 20, 2010
Jim Hoehn

I worked for a while in college cleaning elementary schools with a guy named
Lyle, who was born with a masters' degree in B.S. When he passed away shortly
after his retirement, someone went into the office and said, "Did you hear
that Lyle died?" The other guy simply said, "No, but when did the son of a bitch
tell you that?"

Most of the nights you'd find him, down at a local bar
Chair and hat both tilted back, 'neath the smoke of day-old cigar
"Did I ever tell you 'bout the time?" Is how his tales would start
And the stories he'd weave out of make believe, Were the truth from the bottom of his heart

You see, he was a storyteller, of the old-fashioned kind,
A nose for rumor, a sense of humor and a dangerously open mind
Cuttin' the cards with his left hand, with his right waved trouble away
And he talked while dealing, his stories revealing, His philosophy to greet
the next day

    He said, keep one eye and one eye only on the future
    One eye and one eye only on the past,
    Split the difference and live for the moment
    Because you never know which day will be your last

He'd sailed around the world three times, seen a couple of Worlds Fairs
Snuck in the back to catch an animal act, I guess you had to be there
Savored the local language, washed it down with a local beer
And his uncensored version of a local legend, left you grinning from ear to ear

He knew all the great one liners, from Bogie to Groucho Marx
When Cagney served that grapefruit, was his all-time favorite part
He knew the words to those barroom songs and he'd sing 'em 'til dawn's early light
Then he'd cook up a storm that was spicy and warm, for the couch-circuit  riders of the night


He'd spent a couple of fortunes on wine, women and song
The rest he guessed he'd wasted on get-rich schemes gone wrong
He never found a single gold doubloon, but that didn't lessen the wealth
'Cause the search for treasure was more than the measure, of the danged ol' treasure itself


    Split the difference and live for the moment
    Because you never know which day may be your last