writing – bendingtheneedle

“My Porch in Timbuktu” is Live on Streaming Services

“My Porch in Timbuktu,” the latest single from Sapient Rain, is live on Spotify, YouTube Music, and Apple Music.

Sapient Rain is a musical project that blends human creativity with artificial intelligence. It is a collaboration between writer/lyricist Geoffrey Reilly and the AI music engine, Suno.

You can listen to “My Porch in Timbuktu” for free on Suno.

I can barely hear you
your voice muffled by the dirt
Did you bring the children with you?
Is Suzy in her yellow skirt?

Its nothing like they told us
those Catholic teachers lied
It’s just a dark unbroken silence
and a solitude defied

What season are we in
I’ve lost all sense of time
the cohesion of chagrin
dissolving into the sublime
What color is the sky
Is it red or is it blue
I miss the spark inside your eyes
from my porch in Timbuktu

Would it all be different
if I chose to burn to ash
would I pass through gills of minnows
or die in the fire’s flash?

Breathless in the darkness
your heart, a dying dove
dress threads start to loosen
their hold on what was love

I miss the sound of summer thunder
and waves crashing on the beach
Wilson Picket’s midnight hour
and that first bite into a peach

I’m in the chaos of my silence
in the loud loneliness of peace
there is no self-reliance
when you live your life along the crease

Sapient Rain is best categorized as a human–AI hybrid musical project — specifically, a lyric‑driven, politically charged, genre‑fluid collaboration between writer/lyricist Geoffrey Reilly and the AI music engine Suno.

For a free listen, check out the library of publicly available Sapient Rain tracks on Suno.

My Porch in Timbuktu

“My Porch in Timbuktu,” the latest single from Sapient Rain will be available on music streaming platforms on June 12th, 2026, but you can listen to it today on Suno.

My Porch in Timbuktu

I can barely hear you
your voice muffled by the dirt
Did you bring the children with you?
Is Suzy in her yellow skirt?

Its nothing like they told us
those Catholic teachers lied
It’s just a dark unbroken silence
and a solitude defied

Would it all be different
if I chose to burn to ash
would I pass through gills of minnows
or die in the fire’s flash?

Breathless in the darkness
your heart, a dying dove
dress threads start to loosen
their hold on what was love

I miss the sound of summer thunder
and waves crashing on the beach
Wilson Picket’s midnight hour
and that first bite into a peach

I’m in the chaos of my silence
in the loud loneliness of peace
there is no self-reliance
when you live your life along the crease

Sapient Rain is a collaborative music project in which Geoffrey Reilly writes the lyrics, themes, and narrative concepts, and Suno’s AI model generates vocals, instrumentation, and production based on those lyrics. This hybrid workflow allows extremely rapid creation of fully produced songs while maintaining a consistent artistic voice.

Sapient Rain’s music blends political fire (see Liar’s Spit and Gravel), surreal storytelling (see Hawking Talking), and nostalgic autobiography (see Seeped in the Seventies), delivered through lyrics that read more like literary vignettes than conventional songcraft. Sapient Rain’s growing catalog is thematically dense, with each track functioning as a miniature narrative or social critique.

Reilly writes in a style that fuses protest poetry, memoir, and cultural commentary, often using sharp imagery and rhythmic phrasing to create songs that feel like spoken word pieces set to music.

Even with a small publicly documented catalog, the voice is unmistakable: sharp, reflective, and unafraid to confront uncomfortable truths.

Sapient Rain songs are available on music streaming services, Spotify, YouTube Music, and Apple Music.

Words to be Heard – Music for the Midterms

Protest songs don’t pack the societal punch they once did.

In an increasingly fragmented music culture, political activism has moved away from the record studio onto social media platforms. Factor in growing corporate cowardice and social cultural fatigue, and you’ve got an inhospitable landscape for protest songs to take hold and flourish – and that’s a fucking shame, because if there was ever a time for unifying the power of music against political corruption and maleficence, it’s today.

People who follow me on Instagram or subscribe to this blog might know about my musical project “Sapient Rain,” where I use the AI Music Engine Suno to showcase my poetry as song lyrics. They also likely know my deep displeasure with America’s turn towards fascism under the criminal Donald Trump.

For the Sapient Rain project, I’ve dropped two albums and multiple singles on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music, and nearly half of the songs protest the intellectual, emotional, and physical carnage that Donald Trump, his poisonous MAGA minions, and the feckless cowards in Congress have visited upon America and the world.

For me, Donald Trump is the unwanted muse who creeps into my thoughts whenever I hear him babble incoherently about subjects of monumental importance to humanity, forcing me to put my pen to paper.

Believe me, I’d rather be writing about other things.

In the next phase of my Sapient Rain project, which I am calling “Sapient Rain – Humanized,” I’ll be looking to work with actual musicians and singers on these songs, inviting them to take my lyrics and create their own renditions.

Until then, and for the upcoming 2026 midterm election, check out these protest songs (my lyrics, Suno’s music).

Feel free to share them with friends or comment on them here.

Song Title and Links	Overview	Favorite Lyric
Liar’s Spit and Gravel Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	A grunge-infused rap about the callousness of Donald Trump and a cabinet stocked with cronies and sycophants. The song is desperate plea for the emergence of true leaders and strong voices like Dylan, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King.	Autocratic In his tone His swelled-up ego overblown A head that’s crammed with nothing known Cuts lady justice to the bone He snaps her picture with his phone He loves how she’s become so prone to misogyny and testosterone
Weed Killer Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	An unplugged-alternative-rap about the abusive, lying, war criminal-pedophile and the supporters who enable him.	Redacts his name from the files Flips the script like Simone Biles Shames the victims starts a war He’s got no values at his core
Donny on Dementia Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	A post-punk-new-wave ditty about the cognitive decline of our commander in chief and the need to invoke the 25^th amendment to remove his sorry ass from office.	I have no idea what I’m doing You’re all paying a steep price I miss the days when I was screwing Instead of being Jesus Christ
On the Other End of Rockets Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	A dire song about the human consequence of war.	We’re living in a danger that gets darker by the day Drifting further from forgiveness alone inside our passion play
A Message from Michelle Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	A hard rocking song about the need for fresh blood and ethical leaders to counter the explosion of crass grifters and incompetent know-nothings ruining our country and putting the rest of the world in grave danger.	We’re appalled at what he’s normalized the hatred he’s unfurled Embarrassed by the crassness that he vomits on the world We truly feel abandoned Like our voices are not heard As the beatings and harassment strip us from our words
From Maine to Minnesota Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	Inspired by the violence that ICE agents perpetrated on communities in Maine and Minnesota and the need to stand up against the fascist tactics of ICE.	Full mags and clips they carry chips of grievance on their shoulder The hateful raids of ICE brigades turn citizens to soldiers
Strung Along Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	Inspired by the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, this song laments the cowardice of republicans in congress, while preaching on the value and importance of peaceful protest.	It’s remarkable how neatly this all falls apart In a congress full of cowards with hate inside their hearts
What Would Jesus Do? Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	A song about the hijacking of Christianity by the MAGA movement. Shame on those motherfuckers.	We’re bastardizing Jesus ignoring what he said not welcoming the stranger terrorizing them instead
Barbarians at the Gate Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	A warning about what happens after Trump exits the earth for good – because lets face it, he’s provided a blueprint for autocracy in America and there are plenty of crooked politicians waiting in the wings to take over the brand.	The despot is dead he’s pushing up daisies but there’s a fresh bumper-crop of the morally hazy With a blueprint for hate tightly clenched in their hand they arrive at the gate to take over the brand
I Wanna to Bomb Iran Listen free on Suno	I wrote these lyrics originally to be sung to the tune, “I wanna Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles well before Trump launched his illegal war against Iran.	When Bibi hugs me I feel happy inside It’s such a feeling that I scream genocide! genocide! genocide!
The Ballad of New Bobby and Joan Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	If only there were a couple of angry folk-inspired musicians crisscrossing the country, spreading the word about a corrupt administration at small concert halls and clubs where Americans gather – if only.	This is the ballad of new Bobby and Joan Fender guitar-lords with truth microphones This is the ballad of new Bobby and Joan bending their chords to the story they own
Hey Fascist, Catch Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	The lyrics are from a poem I wrote after the Charlie Kirk assassination. It’s about how dangerously divided America is and the potential for spiraling political violence that seems increasingly likely in the second Trump term.	We ought to run from martyrdom not pin it to our chest not canonize the hateful guys who scream that they know best
The Orange King Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	A rockabilly humdinger about the dangers of blind obedience to a power-thirsty politician who cares only about himself. Sound familiar?	A congress full of weaklings’ cowards one and all afraid of the dull shadows that they cast upon the wall
Oligarchic Kings Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	Intended to be belt-out in anger, this classic rock inspired song warns against an oligarchy overtaking American Democracy.	Oligarchic Kings are here to clip your wings to wrap a rope around your throat to cast dark shadows over hope to crush your dreams of better days to dress your colors in shades of greys
The Orange Morass Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	A song about a nation under the control of a bigoted, thin-skinned, criminal liar.	He’s the tear in the fabric that holds us together He’s the kink in the hose, and the blood on the feather He’s the drip in the faucet that keeps us awake He’s the menace in orange a thug on the take
Get a Load of Elon Listen free on Suno Stream on Spotify	I wrote the poem “Get a Load of Elon” after seeing the sickening footage of that smiling dirtbag laughing it up and swinging a chainsaw around like some fake-ass efficiency hero. Fuck that guy and everything he represents.	Killing all the agencies that assist the weak and poor Indiscriminate firings Pushing veterans out the door “Hey this what we sold you no need to be so sore” and he smiled a shitty grin at the blood that’s on the floor

If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my book, My Paper, My Words: Rantings from a Progressive Boomer and Peeved Parent, from Amazon. And if you feel moved to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.

My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.

“Donny on Dementia” by Sapient Rain

Sapient Rain is a musical project that blends human creativity with artificial intelligence. It is a collaboration between lyricist / writer Geoffrey Reilly and the AI music engine Suno

You can listen to “Donny on Dementia” on the Suno App or Website here.

Donny on Dementia

I’m living with dementia
Life’s a grandiose summer cruise
Higher prices at the gas pumps
Let’s take an oval office snooze

I’m making up equations
A percentage paradigm
I got yes men all around me
To cover up the crime

I don’t know what I’m doing
I’m lost and all alone
With me in charge, the world is stewing
CAN’T TURN THE CAPS OFF ON MY PHONE

I’m Donny on Dementia
I don’t know where I am
A Commander in Absentia
My mind is on the lamb
Please invoke the 25th Amendment
To end this tragic scam

We’re trapped in his dementia
Like the tankers in Hormuz
Kash Patel has lost his marbles
Pete Hegseth wants some booze

They call me doctor Jesus
I think that’s kind of cool
The resolute desk
Is my safe place
Where I scribble and I drool

I have no idea what I’m doing
You’re all paying a steep price
I miss the days when I was screwing
Instead of being Jesus Christ

I’m Donny on Dementia
I don’t know where I am
A Commander in Absentia
My mind is on the lamb
Please invoke the 25th Amendment
To end this tragic scam

People try to shoot me
I’m in the Epstein files
Normal thoughts don’t suit me
I dream of glory and Sieg Heils

Phonemic paraphasia
I don’t know what that is
I hate shit holes like Nambia
I aced my IQ quiz

I’m sleeping till eleven
I pace around all night
I often think of heaven
And flying purple kites

I’m Donny on Dementia
I don’t know where I am
A Commander in Absentia
My mind is on the lamb
Please invoke the 25th Amendment
To end this tragic scam

The Writer

I wrote these lyrics this morning in the warm pre-dawn of hope and titled them “The Writer”. I used Suno to set the words to music under the artist profile Sapient Rain.

Sapient Rain is a collaborative musical project that pairs me, the lyricist, with the AI music platform Suno.

The Writer will be available on music streaming platforms on April 19th, 2026, but you can listen to it today on Suno.

The Writer

In a thin solitude of white noise
through a warm pre-dawn of hope
thoughts form in the steam
of his coffee through the haze
of the wine and the dope

An early draft barely breathing
faint notes in the margins await
he approaches with cold trepidation
and a fear that he’ll never be great

He knows he can’t dodge his compulsion
this obsessive desire to write
the rhythmic tap of the keys
a propulsion that’s too hard to fight

He bears witness to the chaos
around him he uncovers
with truthful disdain
a fact of the human condition
that we’re all in emotional pain

Words structured into an arrangement
together they swing and sway
they help him avoid a derangement
and usher the light into day

He knows he can’t dodge his compulsion
this obsessive desire to write
the rhythmic tap of the keys
a propulsion that’s too hard to fight

Weed Killer is Live on Streaming Services

“Weed Killer,” the latest single from Sapient Rain, is live on Spotify.

Sapient Rain is the artistic collaboration of writer/lyricist Geoffrey Reilly and the AI music engine Suno.

You can listen to the full single for free on Suno, here.

Weed Killer

Bondi, Noem,
and Stephen Miller
Spreading lies
like Dow weed killer
Pushing pawns
and playing games
Breaking laws
like Jesse James

Congress cowers
in the corner
Pulling plums
like grown Jack Horners
State their case
loud and clear
Spreading hate
and tilling fear

Pardoned crooks
and forced compliance
assaulting facts
with pseudo-science
Throwing tantrums
hiding crimes
prepping hard
for the end times

When he’s not
abusing children,
he’s dropping bombs
on their school
Let’s turn the corner
On excusing
Stop propping up
this fucking tool

Truth denier
anti-Vaxxer
doesn’t matter
what the facts are
Pedal lies
igniting fires
Hide behind
the razor wire

Chasing migrants
in the street
masks instead
of hoods and sheets
Suppressing votes
and sinking ships
Lies like lipstick
on their lips

Vladimir and Xi Jinping
Bibi, Don, the ding-a-ling
Divvy up the map and riches
Prepping graves
and digging ditches

When he’s not
abusing children,
he’s dropping bombs
on their school
Let’s turn the corner
On excusing
Stop propping up
this fucking tool

Repeat the lie
until its true
Go on Fox
and blame the blue
Hug the flag
promote the bible
Toe the line
and keep it tribal

Redacts his name
from the files
Flips the script
like Simone Biles
Shames the victims
starts a war
He’s got no values
at his core

When he’s not
abusing children,
he’s dropping bombs
on their school
let’s turn the corner
On excusing
Stop propping up
this fucking tool

New Singles from Sapient Rain Coming to Streaming Services

I throw up a little in my mouth every time I watch Pete Hegseth and Donald “Biff Tannen” Trump pumping their fists and boasting (like teenage boys bathed in testosterone) about America’s war with Iran.

I’m infuriated by a Congress of mostly male members sitting on their hands and refusing to hold the Trump administration accountable for continually violating the Constitution and throwing our country and the world into chaos.

More than any time in our history, we need strong and ethical women leaders in government, industry, and education to help turn the tables on the toxic masculinity hurtling humanity towards a dark void of unending violence and oppression.

For the last several months, I’ve been using Suno, an AI Music Engine, to showcase lyrics and poems I’ve written and published to my personal blog, Bending the Needle – Truth Hurts.

I’m releasing several singles next week on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube Music. The singles share a theme of women struggling against the unrelenting pressure of a patriarchal society.

I’m including public links to these new songs on Suno as a preview of their upcoming releases on streaming services.

The Queen’s Gambit

I wrote the lyrics to this song after re-watching “The Queen’s Gambit”, a limited series on Netflix about a troubled female chess prodigy fighting her way to the pinnacle of a profession dominated by men – finding redemption on sixty-four squares of sanctuary.

The Queens Gambit on Suno.

Trapped Inside the Bell Jar

Trapped Inside the Bell Jar is about the poet Sylvia Plath’s struggle with mental illness, patriarchy, and a cheating husband, and how she used emotional pain and public shame to fuel a posthumous rise to literary greatness.

Trapped Inside the Bell Jar on Suno.

New Bobby and Joan (Rap Version)

Originally, I used Suno to select a New Wave musical framework to showcase my poem, The Ballad of New Bobby and Joan.

This rap version tells the story of two fed-up musicians at the top of their game, protesting the greed, authoritarianism, and corruption in American politics today.

New Bobby and Joan (Rap Version) on Suno.

A Message from Michelle

A Message from Michelle is both a tribute and a plea to the former first lady to continue to speak out strongly against the hateful and dangerously authoritarian Trump regime. I know it’s a lot to ask of Michelle Obama, who was crystal clear on what America would become under a Trump presidency.

A Message from Michelle on Suno.

Fury and Flow

Fury and Flow is a fun take on the adventures of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz as she tries to overcome the obstacles that keep her from getting back to her Kansas Kin.

Fury and Flow on Suno

Ode to Sylvia Plath

For me, the biggest perk of retirement by far is time. Time to spend as you see fit, doling it out for reading, learning, creating, or just being available to my kids.

Lately, I’ve been reading essays and biographical pieces about Sylvia Plath, the brilliant and emotionally troubled American poet and author who took her own life in February of 1963.

Plath’s confessional poetry and prose unpacked gender constraints, patriarchy, and mental health with a raw and emotional acuity that made her a feminist icon. Her passionate and tumultuous marriage and very public divorce from poet Ted Hughes was emotionally distressful and humiliating, but also a catalyst for the most creative period of Plath’s career as a writer.

I haven’t read Plath’s most seminal works, “The Bell Jar” and “Ariel”, but with retirement, I have the opportunity to do so.

I wrote the following poem about Sylvia Plath and used the AI music engine Suno to put my words to song. Here is the link to the song, Trapped Inside the Bell Jar.

Trapped Inside the Bell Jar

Sylvie and Ted lie in a bed
of false hope and betrayal
in poems and prose
where no one knows
veracity from portrayal

A suffocating madness
let’s the dullness settle in
a manic wit, the perfect fit
of grit inside her grin

Trapped inside the Bell Jar
skinned knees pulled to her chest
Cracked, she cried and fell far
too far to be addressed

Her pain becomes obsession
A catalyst of sorts
Words explode
in expressions
of poisonous retorts

She digs her knife
into the headboard
etching hearts into the wood
shavings fall
like paper dolls
of misspent womanhood

Trapped inside the Bell Jar
skinned knees pulled to her chest
Cracked, she cried and fell far
Too far to be addressed

With tape and wet tea towels
sealing windows and locked doors
the sad girl that things happen to
dies on the kitchen floor

“Please call Doctor Horder “
Her note said nothing more
Nick and Frieda safe and sound
Behind their bedroom door

Trapped inside the Bell Jar
skinned knees pulled to her chest
Cracked, she cried and fell far
Too far to be addressed

“Wounded” is Now Available on Music Streaming Services

Hello everyone,

“Wounded”, a creative endeavor between me and the AI Music Engine, Suno, and a follow-up to “Wisdom’s Water”, is available on iHeart, Apple Music, and Spotify.

“Wounded” presents an eclectic collection of songs spanning musical genres, from rockabilly and grunge-inflected bangers to melodic country western ballads.

The work appears under the artist profile “Sapient Rain.”

The lyrics are from poems I’ve written that focus on individuals wounded by love, depression, and the whims of demented, power-hungry authoritarians.

I had a lot of fun crafting the lyrics and working with Suno to select the musical score for my poetry.

Wisdom’s Water is Now Available on Music Streaming Services

Hello everyone,

Wisdom’s Water, a creative endeavor between me and the AI Music Engine, Suno, is now available on Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Spotify.

The work appears under the artist profile “Sapient Rain.”

The lyrics on Wisdom’s Water come from poems I’ve written and published over the last few years, and center around themes of religion, violence in America, civic responsibility, and the fragility of democratic ideals.

The music is generated by Suno and adds a second consciousness to the collaboration, shifting from atmospheric tension to rhythmic urgency, mirroring the political and social turbulence the album explores.

I had a lot of fun crafting the lyrics and working with Suno to select the musical score for my poetry.

I’m inspired by all the artists and citizens who are speaking out and protesting in defense of our democracy. I believe this album will resonate with anyone concerned about the troubling direction in which our country is heading under Donald Trump’s fascist regime.

Not all of the songs on Wisdom’s Water are protest songs, but many are. I hope you download, stream, and share them with friends and family. And I hope you enjoy listening to them!

And finally, look for my second collaboration with Suno, titled Wounded, which will be available on streaming services on February 26th, 2026.

Click here to pre-save Wounded on Spotify.