{"id":2569,"date":"2025-12-14T19:10:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T19:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/?p=2569"},"modified":"2025-12-15T02:15:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T02:15:07","slug":"a-few-flamingos-short","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/14\/a-few-flamingos-short\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA Few Flamingos Short\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Or &#8220;How To Move To Oregon Without Really Trying&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/A-Few-Flamingos-Short.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Dear friend Hope Swann Is Out Of The Hospital!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Verse 1]<\/strong><br>Hope Swann came back from the brink again<br>Heart cracked open, stitched with thread<br>Triple bypass, hospital blues<br>Still outspits fate with a wicked aim, too<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>White coats shaking their careful heads<br>She cracked a joke, said \u201cNot dead yet\u201d<br>IV pole like a dance-floor mic<br>Life of the party on borrowed time<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Chorus]<\/strong><br>She\u2019s feral and free, don\u2019t fence her in<br>Kick-ass pooper scooper with a crooked grin<br>Collector of things the world forgot<br>A few flamingos short of a flamboyance lot<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But she\u2019s got heart \u2014 hell, extra parts<br>Steel-willed laughter and scavenger art<br>If survival\u2019s a sport, she\u2019s still in the lead<br>A few flamingos short\u2026 just what we need<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Verse 2]<\/strong><br>She finds lost keys and busted dreams<br>Bent nails, feathers, broken wings<br>Turns junkyard prayers into shrine-bound truth<br>Makes beauty outta what we refuse<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Spits with precision, don\u2019t stand too near<br>That aim\u2019s been sharpened over years<br>Humor like gravel, grace like rust<br>Trust her once \u2014 you always trust<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Chorus]<\/strong><br>She\u2019s feral and free, don\u2019t polish her shine<br>Heart-surgeon scars look damn near fine<br>She laughs at pain, flips death the bird<br>A few flamingos short of the normal herd<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But she\u2019s got grit where others stall<br>When the lights go out, she throws a ball<br>If living\u2019s an art, she bleeds it true<br>A few flamingos short \u2014 and gloriously so, too<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Bridge]<\/strong><br>They tried to slow her, tried to mend<br>But Hope don\u2019t end \u2014 she bends, then bends again<br>If the reaper knocks, he better bring wine<br>She\u2019ll steal his watch and waste his time<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Verse 3]<\/strong><br>Open-heart scars like a roadmap home<br>Every line says \u201cStill my own\u201d<br>Sculptor of chaos, writer of mess<br>Finder of things we never confess<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If courage had a laugh-track sound<br>It\u2019d be hers, echoing round and round<br>Some folks fade quiet, some go soft<br>Hope goes louder \u2014 and flips you off<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Final Chorus]<\/strong><br>She\u2019s feral and free, hospital or bar<br>Still the brightest wrecking star<br>Artist, finder, party spark<br>Lighting up the wild and dark<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So here\u2019s to Hope and her patched-up heart<br>Still kicking ass, still making art<br>A few flamingos short of a flamboyance spree<br>But damn it all \u2014 that\u2019s the best kind of free<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Outro]<\/strong><br>Raise your glass, don\u2019t count the cost<br>To the things she\u2019s found and the ones she\u2019s lost<br>If you\u2019re looking for proof that life goes on<br>Just follow the feathers\u2026<br>Hope Swann<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Or &ldquo;How To Move To Oregon Without Really Trying&rdquo; Dear friend Hope Swann Is Out Of The Hospital!&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"cs-entry","8":"cs-video-wrap"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2569"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2580,"href":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569\/revisions\/2580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/charlespauljones.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}