Wishing Chair

Can't Ignore The Train

Steep is the water tower 
painted off blue to match the sky 

can't ignore the train 

night walks in the valley silent 
you could swear the earth just moved 

can't ignore the train 

dust to be kicked up 
in the crack faced 
idle sinister town 
screen door to the rail station 
devil in her shoe 

ran along side the wasted tracks 
hem pins darted her calves 

can't ignore the train 

one spoiled girl with the tidiest apology 
some how wedged inside her throat 

can't ignore the train 

patience their virtue 
but I never could abide by that 
dungeon life with electric light 
a clean towel and a basin 
mantle figures mind their place 
laughs where they belong 

through adventure we are not adventuresome 

rage to share with a wardrobe mirror 
in a room so beige and cold 

can't ignore the train 

window days saw the children pick their 
street games on thirty afternoons 

Molly the boys are 
starting in the rhymic again 
teasing more and more.... 

the second daughter 
how she fell 
young locked in Some Folk's Prison 
made to dwell 
til they're braiding 
her grey hair 

sitting in the wishing chair 
sitting in the wishing chair 
sitting in the wishing chair 

Scorpio Rising

Power
dizzy with it stumble
detail
a chance for us to quarrel
anger
my head is shaken violent

if i could calm or restrain you
for the sake of pity
save the pistol
save the cynics tongue
save the cool white stare
and treat me to an honest face sometime

amaze me now

trust is 
the greatest human error
empty
used me as a vessel
ruthless
you're not known for subtlety

if i could calm or restrain you
for the sake of pity
save the pistol
save the cynic's tongue
save the cool white stare
and treat me to an honest face sometime

amaze me now

artful
well there's quite a skill to torture
half smile 
was it all you could deliver
token
so hard to be pleasant

if you could calm or restrain it
for the sake of pity
save the pistol
save the cynic's tongue
save the cool white stare
and treat me to an honest face sometime

amaze me now

Just As The Tide Was A Flowing

on one morning
in the month of May
when all the birds
were singing

I saw a lovely maiden stray 
across the fields at break of day
she softly sung her roundelay

the tide flows in
the tide flows out
twice every day returning

her cheeks were red
her eyes were brown
her hair in ringlets hanging down
upon her face to hide the frown

just as the tide was a flowing
the tide flows in
the tide flows out
twice everyday returning

a sailor's wife at home must bide
she halted heavily she sighed
"he parted from poor me , a bride
I'm widowed by the sea" she cried

just as the tide was a flowing

the tide flows in
the tide flows out
twice every day returning

Lilydale

come as we go far away
from the noise of the street
walk a path so narrow
to a place where we feel at ease

some think it is haunting
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
there's a stillness here
thankful found

child's pose angelic
a stone lamb at her feet
part the matted overgrowth
to read the carven elegy

some think it so haunting 
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
there's a stillness here
thankful found

born in New Albion
of Rice family elite
wed to Myron Bilowe
thrice with sons
blessed was she
some think it so haunting
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
God's acre is a fenced in
hollow ground

here soon to rise up
Amelia tender and sweet
her last words spoke
all is well
all is peace

some think it so haunting
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
God's acre is a fenced in 
hollow ground

Back O' The Moon

Jenny

Jenny you don't know the nights I hide
below a second story room
to whistle you down
the man who's let to divvy up
time is a miser
he's got a silver coin
only lets it shine for hours
while you sleep it away

there's one rare and odd style of living
part only known to the everybody Jenny
a comical where's the end parade
of the sort people here would think unusual

Jenny

tonight upon the mock brine of a Luna Sea
far off we sail on to Back O' The Moon

Jenny

Jenny you don't know the days I've tried
telling backyard tales
so to maybe amuse
o your mood is never giddy
if you smile I'm delighted
but you'd rather pout
such a lazy child
you dare fold your arms
tisk and say that I lie

there's one rare and odd style of thinking
part only known to the everybody Jenny
the small step and giant leap takers
got the head start in the race toward it

Jenny

tonight upon the mock brine of a Luna Sea
far off we sail on to the Back O' The Moon

that was a sigh
but not meant to envy you
when your age was mine
some things were sworn true
morning would come

and calendar pages had 
new printed seasons on
their opposite sides

Jenny

Jenny you don't know the nights I hide
below a second story room
to whistle you down
o the man who's let to divvy up
time is a miser
he's got a silver coin
lets it shine for hours
while you sleep it away

there's one rare and odd style of living

part only known to the everybody Jenny
out of tin ships jump the bubble head boys
to push their flags into powdered soils and cry
no second placers

no smart looking geese in bonnets
dance with pigs in high button trousers
no milk pail for the farmer's daughter
no merry towns of sweet walled houses

here I've found
Back O' the Moon
not here
I've found
Back O' the Moon

Maddox Table

the legs of Maddox kitchen tables
my whole life twisted on a lathe
in a foreman's torrent
my first English was
"faster boy if you want your pay"
barking commands
loud and simple 
we could all obey

then I was forever pulling silvers
rubbed the sawdust always
deeper in my eye
varnish vapor that could linger
on my skin
it held tight
the whine of spinning blades
still echoes to bother my sleep at night

see that ox
stamped dead center
on the letter head of the company mail
four decades a spitting image
of the animal I portrayed
at Maddox Table a yoke was carved
for my neck

sun through the window oil spattered
and in mason jars
tricked plenty seeds thrive
the standing joke
around the shop was
with my green thumb
anything'd grow
my part was to laugh 
show and ornery jig had
cut it at the knuckle bone

see that ox
trade mark burned
into every stick of furniture
from horn to tail
four decades a spitting image
of the animal I portrayed
at Maddox Table a yoke was carved
for my neck

was tailor made

o my Dolly was a weak 
not a burdened girl
treat her to a piece of vaudville
a Wintergarden moving picture show
Bemus Point on July Sundays
by trolley we'd go

to your benefit we's strike or bargain
with the waving fist a union man
not just for
smokes spirits candy and cologne
but for
automobile keys
cash in the bank
and the deed 
on a place called home

The Colonial Wing

here is the store house of Her Majesty
well guarded by sentry
but looks are free

call this the rayless and benighted age
witches by tallow candles shifted
shifted their shapes
here is the pestle and mortar
that ground the poison seed
a lute, a suit for jousting
and the poems of a balladeer
when all the Latin books were copied off
in golden script
well hoarded away in
a monastery crypt

superstition
superstition beyond belief

over mountain, over dune and over sea
crude map and compass lead the caravan
and lead the fleet
here's the loot and plunder
they bore home
ivory tusk inlaid with precious stone
raw silk and spices by the barrel load
a soft skin drum with mallets 
of human bone

a world wide rampage
rampage of greed

so here the tour concludes
The Colonial Wing
the rooms of the most refined
museum property
an early pair of spectacles
a claw footed divan
ornate clocks with birds that strut
on the half hours and quarter hours

hear them chime

Grey Victory

there was light
and atomic fission
swelling wind and 
rising ash
tide of black rain
cement seared shadow traces
reminiscent of their
last commands

instantly one thousand
flames arising
ill scent of
burning hides surrounding
a settlement
debased entirely

Enola Gay had made a casual delivery

please build a future darling
with our bomb
cherish and love it
for the sake of 
earth bound kingdom come

the undersides of
fallen metal trusses
evil debris of
human bodies
each window's glass
shards pelted
secure confines 
brittle collapse
neighbors lay beside
each other unknowing
faces scorched
of all familiar bearing
too few hands
wounds for closing
marred by thirsting
anguish
fear
lamenting

here we stand
at the door to
Gold Atomic Age
don't spoil your faces with worry
trust in earth bound kingdom come

Among The Americans

dance to the sun
a kiss to the earth
embrace a stone

come the small black book
come the brandy cask
one strange disease
the well worded paper
signed by the drunken
hands of thieves

and suddenly
they were told to leave

as the snake uncoiled on a road
the length was eighty miles
wagons' weary horses
lead the feverish exiles
barefoot in the early snow
on a ridge
where they beheld their home
coarse and barren
not the haven
promised by the Father

Jaksa Chula Harjo * X3

the Red Sticks first and
the Dancing Ghosts were
pierced with arms of fire
and the weeping widows
left could not avenge
so the Western Star manifest its will
drove them clear into the Pacific O

gone the way of flesh
turned pale and died
by your god's decree

for he hated me

     * Cherokee name for Andrew Jackson the 7th president of the U.S.A.

Everyone A Puzzle Lover

why are some men born
with minds that earn degrees
the loving cups
gilded plaques
grace their study walls
hide the cracks
while their genius is turned
to works of tyranny then
off to market to market
go selling these

with words so fiery and persuasive
they steal cunningly
riches no one can exceed

and why are some men born
with a fate of poverty
one firm bed
for a swollen back
year by year
the bodies wracked while
their obedience is had
with gradual defeat
by the pace by the pace
and the urgency

through a muddled thought
they phrase it
God knows we're deceived
barter for
what they need

and where they go
disdain and jeering
for fools to call
the noble peasantry

o how it puzzles me

I pressed flat the accordion pleats
that had gathered in his cotton sleeves
while he thumbed
yes thumbed I wouldn't say caressed

the final piece
a mountain's crest
soon to reply assuredly

o for man aged ninety years
no words to waste on sermons
he'd be pleased to answer
short and sincere

girl there's a nonsense
in all these heaven measures
it's a heathen creed
so your grandma says
but better to live by...
drink it all in before it's dry

he ended there with a rattle
cough cough
I took away the long gone cold coffee cup
as a trail of Camel ashes fell
on the floor

Cotton Alley

one time
you made me cry
be proud that I
remember

my chin is sore
the bruise is gone
but the spot is tender

gave my hand a sister coy
to Cotton Alley where
you did enjoy
your wicked games
you curious boy

tied my laces up together
when I fell
you laughed
until your belly was sore

in the brick laid aisle behind
the five and dime store

that's how
I made you blush
but doubt if you
remember

were my tears genuine
or those of a skilled
pretender

nothing precious
plain to see
don't make a fuss over me
not loud
not soft
but somewhere in between
say sorry
let it be
the word you mean

I was a little pest who
never took a hint
could never
take a hint

you pinched my fingers
in a door
tossed my coloring book in a
rusty barrel

pulled spiders from my hair
fingers in the door

my favorite blue blouse
stained on the back
running from a berry war

can you hear me scream
in Cotton Alley
scream in Cotton Alley
in Cotton Alley

Daktari

like a weasel in the clover
tilt, toss, pop, turn over
sit down
tremble, weave like a moth by flame deceived
sit down

like a weasel in the clover
tilt, toss, pop, turn over
sit down
tremble, weave like a moth by flame deceived
sit down

spill with your words caught
dance in your room
slide like you're buttered up
roll back the tomb
sit down
sit down
sit down

when the thunder clouds sound
ants all scatter to high ground
sit down

bolt scuff jilt chase
circle riddle shake in haste
sit down
bolt scuff jilt chase
circle riddle shake in haste
sit down
sit down

when the thunder clouds sound
ants all scatter to high ground
sit down

like a weasel in the clover
tilt, toss, pop, turn over
sit down
tremble, weave like a moth by flame deceived
sit down

spill with your words caught
dance in your room
slide like you're buttered up
roll back the tomb
sit down
sit down
sit down

when the thunder clouds sound
ants all scatter to high ground

bolt scuff jilt chase
circle riddle shake in haste
sit down
sit down
sit down

like a weasel and
like a weasel and
sit down

My Mother the War

she borders the pavement
flanks avenues
the parades pass
white glove attended by

my mother the war

she'll raise a shaft
lift a banner
toss a rose

my mother the war

she knows every neighbor
chats at their doors
compare
econosize electric appliances
come share tea
and a seat by my
cradle with

my mother the war

forsaken vigil
three years each tour
hands of God enfold him
prayed mother of the war
haunt a doorway
beg a postman
is there word
for mother the war

5 black stars

in bitter defiance
she's spitting the corps
wet a brood
short league for combat

my mother the war

well acquainted
with sorrow
with grief

my mother the war

folded lace
carrion and
blood soaked robes
folded lace
carrion
blood soaked
shroud

my mother the war

Tension Makes a Tangle

as frail hinges
pivot on a case's door
commemorative
souvenirs from places
containers change
with each occasion

a cellophane encased
display of paper
certificate
to credit years of service
a tool of central enterprises
the early hope
for permanence
the words
the rings
consistency
the social security
a miracle is high tragedy

thought mistaken
for a memory
clear the dust from
smiles in boxes
pass a patterned wall
recall their voices

a local post
will list your friends
in order of
disappearance
the lawn scattered

tins feed birds
a portion baked for
absent guests
and the mass edition icon
God sent comfort
your salvation
but who grants absolution
for sins that
never were committed

tension makes a tangle
of each thought
becomes an inconvenience
sound as it never penetrates
as servile edges
break and
feint

thought mistaken
for a memory
a dress length
assassination
a fractured family tie
another christening

christening
christening
christening

Arbor Day

wide open falsehood
the clan destine truths
rival till the end
in a series of duels
pardon the drapery language I choose

Waltz in Vienna has taught me to use
every tall room a fiction
leather bound treasure books
up to the ceiling
gold spine upon spine

the guile and the treason
the faith and allegiance

wide open falsehood
the clan destine truths
rival till the end
in a series of duels
pardon the drapery language I choose

the author grew fat to imagine
his lead pen careening
gave voice to the scheming
an Aryan cabale to dethrone

the guile and the treason
the faith and allegiance
to the empire unknown

the baron and his mistress
dine in fine banquet hall
as rebel insurgents plot in
the attic space crawl

wide open falsehood
the clan destine truths
rival till the end
in a series of duels
pardon the drapery language I choose

his small hand did strive
to explain all the
rants and raves of
a people enslaved

by the cant of the shrewdest
capable men

the guile and the treason
the faith and allegiance
now lie in my hand

the guile and the treason
the faith and allegiance
now lie in my hand

In my tribe

What's The Matter Here?

     That young boy without a name I'd know his face. 
In this city the kid's my favorite. 
I've seen him. I see him every day. 
Seen him run outside looking for a place to hide from his father, 
the kid half naked and said to myself "O, what's the matter here?" 
I'm tired of the excuses everbody uses, he's their kid I stay out of it, 
but who gave you the right to do this? 

We live on Morgan Street; 
just ten feet between and his mother, I never see her, 
but her screams and cussing, I hear them every day. 
Threats like: "If you don't mind I will beat on your behind," 
"Slap you, slap you silly." 
made me say, "O, what's the matter here?" 
I'm tired of the excuses everybody uses, he's your kid, do as you see fit, 
but get this through that I don't approve of what you did to you own flesh and blood. 

"If you don't sit on this chair straight 
I'll take this belt from around my waist and don't think that I won't use it!" 

Answer me and take your time, 
what could be the awful crime he could do at such young an age? 
If I'm the only witness to your madness offer me some words to balance out what I see and what I hear. 
All these cold and rude things that you do I suppose you do because he belongs to you 
and instead of love, the feel of warmth you've given him these cuts and sores won't heal with time or age. 

I want to say "What's the Matter here?" 
But I don't dare say. 

Hey Jack Kerouac

Hey Jack Kerouac, I think of your mother 
and the tears she cried, she cried for none other 
than her little boy lost in our little world that hated 
and that dared to drag him down. Her little boy courageous 
who chose his words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood. 
Hip flask slinging madman, steaming cafe flirts, 
they all spoke through you. 

Hey Jack, now for the tricky part, 
when you were the brightest star who were the shadows? 
Of the San Francisco beat boys you were the favorite. 
Now they sit and rattle their bones and think of their blood stoned days. 
You chose your words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood. 
The hip flask slinging madman, steaming cafe flirts, 
nights in Chinatown howling at night. 

Allen baby, why so jaded? 
Have the boys all grown up and their beauty faded? 
Billy, what a saint they've made you, 
just like Mary down in Mexico on All Souls' Day. 

You chose your words from mouths of babes got lost in the wood. 
Cool junk booting madmen, street minded girls 
in Harlem howling at night. 
What a tear stained shock of the world, 
you've gone away without saying goodbye. 

Like The Weather

The color of the sky as far as I can see is coal grey. 
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again. 
With a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather. 
A quiver in my lips as if I might cry. 

Well by the force of will my lungs are filled and so I breathe. 
Lately it seems this big bed is where I never leave. 
Shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather. 
Quiver in my voice as I cry, 

"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away." 

I hear the sound of a noon bell chime. 
Now I'm far behind. 
You've put in 'bout half a day 
while here I lie 
with a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather. 
A quiver in my lip as if I might cry, 

"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away?" 

Do I need someone here to scold me 
or do I need someone who'll grab and pull me out of this four poster dull torpor pulling downward. 
For it is such a long time since my better days. 
I say my prayers nightly this will pass away. 

The color of the sky is grey as I can see through the blinds. 
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again 
with a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather. 
A quiver in my voice as I cry, 

"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away?" 
I shiver, quiver, and try to wake. 

Cherry Tree

Over your shoulder, please don't mind me 
if my eyes have fallen onto your magazine 
for I've been watching and wondering 
why your face is changing with every line you read. 

All those lines and circles, to me, a mystery. 
Eve pull down the apple and give taste to me. 
If she would be wonderful, but my pride is in the way. 
I cannot read to save my life, I'm so ashamed to say. 

I live in silence, afraid to speak 
of my life of darkness because I cannot read. 

For all those lines and circles, to me, a mystery. 
Eve pull down the apple and give taste to me. 
If she could it would be wonderful. 
Then I wouldn't need someone else's eyes to see what's in front of me. 
No one guiding me. 

It makes me humble to be so green 
at what every kid can do when he learns A to Z, 

but all those lines and circles just frighten me 
and I fear that I'll be trampled if you don't reach for me. 
Before I run I'll have to take a fall. 
And then pick myself up, so slowly I'll devour every one of those books in the Tower of Knowledge. 

The Painted Desert

The Painted Desert can wait till summer. 
We've played this game of just imagine long enough. 
Wait till summer? 
When I'm sure the rains have ended, the blooms have gone, 
everyone killed by the morning frost. 
Is a cactus blooming there in every roadside stand 
where the big deal is cowboy gear won in Japan? 

The Painted Desert can wait till summer. 
We've played this game of just imagine long enough. 
Wait till summer? 
When I'm sure the rains have ended and the blooms have gone, 
everyone killed by the morning frost. 
Is a cactus blooming there upon the Northern rim 
or in the ruins of the Hopi mesa dens? 

You met a new friend in the Canyon, or so you wrote. 
On a blanket in the cooling sand you and your friend agreed that 
the stars were so many there they seemed to overlap. 

The Painted Desert can wait till summer. 
We've played this game of just imagine long enough. 
Wait till summer? 
When I am sure the rain has ended, the blooms have gone, 
everyone killed by the morning frost. 
Was a cactus blooming there as you watched the Native boy? 
In Flagstaff trailer court, you wrote the line: 
"He kicked a tumbleweed and his mother called him home where the Arizona moon met the Arizona sun." 

I wanted to be there by May at the latest time. 
Isn't that the plan we had or have you changed your mind?
I haven't read a word from you since Phoenix or Tucson. 
April is over will you tell me how long before I can be there? 

Don't Talk

Don't talk, I will listen. 
Don't talk, you keep your distance 
for I'd rather hear some truth tonight than entertain your lies, 
so take you poison silently. 
Let me be. Let me close my eyes. 

Don't talk, I'll believe it. 
Don't talk, listen to me instead, 
I know that if you think of it, both long enough and hard 
the drink you drown your troubles in is the trouble you're in now. 

Talk talk talk about it, if you talk as if you care 
but when your talk is over tilt that bottle in the air, 
tossing back more than your share. 

Don't talk, I can guess it. 
Don't talk, well now your restless 
and you need somewhere to put the blame for how you feel inside. 
You'll look for a close and easy mark and you'll see me as fair game. 

Talk talk talk about it, talk as if you care 
but when your talk is over tilt that bottle in the air 
tossing back more than your share. 
You talk talk talk about it, you talk as if you care. 
I'm marking every word and can tell this time for sure, 
your talk is the finest I have heard. 

So don't talk, let me go on dreaming. 
How your eyes they glow so fiercely I can tell your inspired 
by the name you chose for me. Now what was it? O, never mind it. 
We will talk talk talk about this when your head is clear. 
I'll discuss this in the morning, but until then you may talk but I won't hear. 

Peace Train

( Cat Stevens )

Now I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come 
And I believe it could be, something good has begun 

Oh I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one 
And I believe it could be, some day it's going to come 

Cos out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train 
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again 

Now I've been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come 
And I believe it could be, something good has begun 

Oh peace train sounding louder 
Glide on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah 
Come on now peace train 
Yes, peace train holy roller 
Everyone jump on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah 
Come on now peace train 

Get your bags together, go bring your good friends too 
Cos it's getting nearer, it soon will be with you 

Now come and join the living, it's not so far from you 
And it's getting nearer, soon it will all be true 

Oh peace train sounding louder 
Glide on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah 
Come on now peace train, peace train 

Now I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is 
Why must we go on hating, why can't we live in bliss 

Cos out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train 
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again 

Oh peace train sounding louder 
Glide on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah 
Come on now the peace train 
Yes peace train holy roller 
Everyone jump on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah 
Come on, come on, come on 
Yes come on peace train 
Yes it's the peace train 
Oh ah ee ah oh ah 
Come on now peace train 
Oh peace train 

Gun Shy

I always knew that you would take yourself far from home 
as soon as, as far as you could go. 
By the 1/4 inch cut of your hair and the Army issue green, 
for the past eight weeks I can tell where you've been. 
For I knew, I could see, it was all cut and dried to me 
there was soldier's blue blood streaming inside your veins. 
There is a world outside of this room and when you meet it promise me 
you won't meet it with your gun. 

So now you are one of the brave few, it's awful sad we need boys like you. 
I hope the day never comes for 
"Here's your live round son. Stock and barrel, safety, trigger, here's your gun." 
Well I knew, I could see, it was all cut and dried to me 
there was soldiers blue blood streaming inside your veins. 
There is a world outside of this room and when you meet it promise me 
you won't meet it with your gun taking aim. 
For I don't mean to argue, they've made a decent boy of you 
and I don't mean to spoil your home coming, 
but baby brother you should expect me to. 

"Stock and barrel, safety, trigger, here's your gun." 

So now does your heart pitter pat with a patriotic song 
when you see the stripes of Old Glory waving? 
Well I knew, I could see, it was all cut and dried to me 
there was soldier's blue blood streaming inside your veins. 
There is a world outside of this room and when you meet it promise me 
you won't meet it with your gun taking aim. 
I don't mean to argue, they've made a decent boy of you 
and I don't mean to spoil your homecoming my baby brother Jude 
and I don't mean to hurt you by saying this again, 
they're so good at making soldiers but they're not so good at making men. 

My Sister Rose

Big plans are being made for my sisters wedding day. 
We'll have a ball at the Sons of Roma Hall. 
Family, friends come one and all. 
First the best man makes a toast to Rocky and my sister Rose, 
"A life of years free of tears. Bottoms up and lots of luck!" 
` 
Polka, tango everyone, cha-cha, mambo Rose and Rock alone. 
Frankie Rizzo and his Combo play on. 

Single girls all hear the call from a crowd at the back wall 
and when the bouquet flies each one tries to be the best catch and next years bride. 
Uncle Sam and Uncle Joe take their places in the row. 
They're standing by side to side for dollar dances with the bride. 

Polka, tango everyone, cha-cha, mambo, Rose and Rock alone. 
"He's a banker, she'll be well off now." 

Sister Rose take your mother's place. 
Trade your home and your maiden name. 
For a list of vows and a veil of lace made a wife of you today. 

Now they cut the five tier cake, "That Colucci, he can bake." 
A frosted tower of sugar and flour for the couple of the hour. 

Polka, tango everyone, cha-cha, mambo Rose and Rock alone. 
She was born to wear that gown. 

Sister Rose take your mother's place. 
Trade your home and your maiden name. 
For a list of vows and a veil of lace made a wife of you today, 
but you're my sister Rose the same. 

A Campfire Song

A lie to say, "o, my mountain has coal veins and beds to dig
500 men with axes and they all dig for me"

A lie to say, "o, my river where many fish do swim
Half of the catch is mine when you haul your nets in" never will he believe
That his greed is a blinding ray
No devil or redeemer will cheat him
He'll take his gold to where he's lying cold

A lie to say, "o, my mine gave a diamond as big as a fist"
But with every gem in his pocket, the jewels he has missed

A lie to say, "o, my garden is growing taller by the day"
He only eats the best and tosses the rest away

Never will he be believe that his greed is a blinding ray
No devil or redeemer can cheat him
He'll take his gold to where he's lying cold
Six deep in the grave

Something is out of reach
Something he wanted
Something is out of reach
He's being taunted
Something is out of reach
That he can' beg or steal nor can he buy

His oldest pain
And fear in life

There'll not be time
His oldest pain
And fear in life
There'll not be time

A lie to say "o, my forest has trees that block the sun
And when i cut them down i don't answer to anyone"
No, no, never will he believe that his greed is a blinding ray
No devil or redeemer can cheat him
He'll take his gold where he's lying cold
Six deep in the grave

City Of Angels

Heaven, is this heaven where we are? 
See them walking, if you dare, if you call that walking. 
Stumble, stagger, fall and drag themselves along the streets of heaven. 

Where is the blessed table to feed all who hunger on earth, 
welcomed and seated each one joyfully served? 
See them walking, if you dare, if you call that walking. 
Stumble, stagger, fall and drag themselves along the streets of heaven. 

Where is the halo that should glow 'round your face, 
and where are the wings that should grow from your shoulder blades? 
Show them to me. 
These are sobering sights I've seen in the City of Angels 
have all been one rude awakening that was dues to me in heaven. 

There would have been heavenly music I was convinced before. 
A host of the dearly to meet me with Hosannas sung at the door, 
but these are sobering sights I've seen in the City of Angels 
have all been one rude awakening that was dues to me in heaven. 
In this city of fallen angels. 

Verdi Cries

The man in 119 takes his tea all alone. 
Mornings we all rise to wireless Verdi cries. 
I'm hearing opera through the door. 
The souls of men and women, impassioned all. 
Their voices climb and fall; battle trumpets call. 
I fill the bath and climb inside, singing. 

He will not touch their pastry 
but every day they bring him more. 
Gold from the breakfast tray, I steal them all away 
and then go and eat them on the shore. 

I draw a jackal-headed woman in the sand, 
sing of a lover's fate sealed by jealous hate 
then wash my hand in the sea. 
With just three days more I'd have just about learned the entire score to Aida. 

Holidays must end as you know. 
All is memory taken home with me: 
the opera, the stolen tea, the sand drawing, the verging sea, all years ago.

Blind man's zoo


Eat For Two

O, Baby blankets and baby shoes, baby slippers, baby spoons, walls of baby blue. 
Dream child in my head is a nightmare born in a borrowed bed. 
Now I know lightning strikes again. 
It struck me once, then struck me dead. 
My folly grows inside of me.
 I eat for two, walk for two, breathe for two now.

Well, the egg man fell down off his shelf. 
All the good king's men with all their help struggled 'til the end for a shell they couldn't mend. 
You know where this will lead, to hush and rock in the nursery for the kicking one inside of me. 
I eat for two, walk for two, breathe for two now. 

When the boy was a boy, the girl was a girl, they found each other in a wicked world. 
Strong in some respects, but she couldn't stand for the way he begged and gave in. 
Pride is for men; young girls should run and hide instead. 
Risk the game by taking dares with "yes". 
Eat for two, walk for two, breathe for two now. 

Walk for two? I'm stumbling. 
Breathe for two? I can't breathe. 
Five months , how it grows. 
Five months now, I begin to show. 

Please Forgive Us

"Mercy, mercy," why didn't we hear it? 
"Mercy, mercy," why did we read it buried on the last page of our morning papers? 
The plan was drafted, drafted in secret. 
Gunboats met the red tide, driven to the rum trade for the army that they created. 
But the bullets were bought by us, it was dollars that paid them. 

Please forgive us, we don't know what was done in our name. 
There'll be more trials like this in mercenary heydays. 
When they're so apt to wrap themselves up in the stripes and stars 
and find that they are able to call themselves heroes 
and to justify murder by their fighters for freedom. 

Please forgive us, we don't know what was done. 
Please forgive us, we didn't know. 
Could you ever forgive us? 
I don't know how you could. 
I know this is no consolation. 

Please forgive us, we didn't know. 
Could you ever believe that we didn't know? 
Please forgive us, we didn't know. 
I wouldn't blame you if you never could, and you never will. 

The Big Parade

Detroit to D.C. night train, Capitol, parts East. 
Lone young man takes a seat. 
And by the rhythm of the rails, reading all his mother's mail from a city boy in a jungle town postmarked Saigon. 
He'll go live his mother's dream, join the slowest parade he'll ever see. 
Her weight of sorrows carried long and carried far. 
"Take these, Tommy, to The Wall." 

Metro line to the Mall site with a tour of Japanese. 
He's wandering and lost until a vet in worn fatigues takes him down to where they belong. 
Near a soldier, an ex-Marine with a tattooed dagger and eagle trembling, he bites his lip beside a widow breaking down. 
She takes her Purple Heart, makes a fist, strikes The Wall. 
All come to live a dream, to join the slowest parade they'll ever see. 
Their weight of sorrows carried long and carried far, taken to The Wall. 

It's 40 paces to the year that he was slain. 
His hand's slipping down The Wall for it's slick with rain. 
How would life have ever been the same if this wall had carved in it one less name? 
But for Christ's sake, he's been dead over 20 years. 
He leaves the letters asking, "Who caused my mother's tears, was it Washington or the Viet Cong?" 
Slow deliberate steps are involved. 
He takes them away from the black granite wall toward the other monuments so white and clean. 

O, Potomac, what you've seen. 
Abraham had his war too, but an honest war. 
Or so it's taught in school. 

Trouble Me

Trouble me, disturb me with all your cares and you worries. 
Trouble me on the days when you feel spent. 
Why let your shoulders bend underneath this burden when my back is sturdy and strong? 
Trouble me. 

Speak to me, don't mislead me, the calm I feel means a storm is swelling; 
there's no telling where it starts or how it ends. 
Speak to me, why are you building this thick brick wall to defend me when your silence is my greatest fear? 
Why let your shoulders bend underneath this burden when my back is sturdy and strong? 
Speak to me. 

Let me have a look inside these eyes while I'm learning. 
Please don't hide them just because of tears. 
Let me send you off to sleep with a "There, there, now stop your turning and tossing." 
Let me know where the hurt is and how to heal. 

Spare me? Don't spare me anything troubling. 
Trouble me, disturb me with all your cares and you worries. 
Speak to me and let our words build a shelter from the storm. 
Lastly, let me know what I can mend. 
There's more, honestly, than my sweet friend, you can see. 
Trust is what I'm offering if you trouble me. 

You Happy Puppet

How did they teach you to be just a happy puppet dancing on a string? 
How did you learn everything that comes along with slavish funnery? 
Tell me something, if the world is so insane, 
is it making you sane again to let another man tug at the thread that pulls up your nodding head? 

How did they teach you to be just a happy puppet dancing on a string? 
How do you manage to live inside this tiny stage you can't leave? 
Tell me something, if the world is so insane, 
is it making you sane again to let another man tug at the thread that pulls up your nodding head? 

A dullard strung on the wire. 
When the master's gone you hang there with your eyes and your limbs so lifeless. 

How did they teach you to be just a happy puppet dancing on a string? 
How do you manage to speak, your mouth a frozen grin? 

A dullard strung on the wire. 
When the master's gone you hang there with your eyes and your limbs so lifeless. 

Tell me something, if the world is so insane, 
is it making you sane again to let another man tug at the thread that pulls up your empty wooden head? 

Your hollow head, your marble eyes, your wooden hands and your metal jaw pins 
all wait in limbo for the man who knows how to move you this way. 

Headstrong

To your common sense firm arguments 
I won't listen to your voice of reason trying to change my mind. 
I mind my feelings and not your words. 
Didn't you notice I'm so headstrong even when I know I'm wrong? 
Take this to your heart and into your head now: 
before you waste your time, call a truce and call a draw. 

What's the use in mapping your views out in orderly form 
when it does nothing but confuse and anger me more? 
I mind my feelings and not your words. 
Didn't you notice I'm so headstrong. 
You're talking to a deaf stone wall. 
Take this to your heart and into your head now: 
the old wives' tale is true, I'll repeat it. 
All is fair in love and war, that's how the famous saying goes. 

Open up your eyes, see me for what I am: 
cast in iron, I won't break and I won't bend. 
Take this to your heart and into your head now: 
the old wives' tale is true, I'll repeat it. 
All is fair in love and war, that's how the famous saying goes. 

If I told you we were out to sea in a bottomless boat, 
you'd try anything to save us, you'd try anything to keep us afloat. 
And if we were living in a house afire, 
I don't believe that you could rush out and escape it and not rescue me. 
Take this to your heart and into your head now: 
the old wives' tale is true, I'll repeat it. 
All is fair in love and war, that's how the famous saying goes. 
Listen, I think they were talking to you. 

Poison In The Well

Tell me what's gone wrong. 
I tilt my head there
Under the faucet
But when I turn it on -- dry as paper. 
Call the neighbors. 
Who's to blame for what's going on? 
In the dark without a clue I'm just the same as you. 

O, they tell us there's poison in the well, 
that someone's been a bit untidy and there's been a small spill. 
Not a lot, no, just a drop. 
But there you are mistaken, you know you are. 
I wonder just how long they knew our well was poisoned but they let us just drink on. 

O, they tell us there's poison in the well, 
that someone's been a bit untidy and there's been a small spill. 
All that it amounts to is a tear in a salted sea. 
Someone's been a bit untidy, they'll have it cleaned up in a week. 
But the week is over and now it's grown into years since I was told that I should be calm, there's nothing to fear here. 
But I drank that water for years, my wife and my children. 

Tell me, where to now, if your fight for a bearable life can be fought and lost in you backyard? 

O, don't tell us there's poison in the well, 
that someone's been a bit untidy, that there's been a small spill. 
All that it amounts to is a tear in a salted sea. 
Someone's been a bit untidy, they'll have it cleaned up in a week. 

Dust Bowl

I should know to leave them home. 
They follow me through the store with these toys I can't afford. 
"Kids, take them back, you know better than that." 
Dolls that talk, astronauts, T.V. games, airplanes, they don't understand and how can I explain? 
I try and try but I can't save. 
Pennies, nickels, dollars slip away. 
I've tried and tried but I can't save. 

My youngest girl has bad fever, sure. 
All night with alcohol to cool and rub her down. 
Ruby, I'm tired, try and get some sleep. 
I'm adding doctor's fees to remedies with the cost of three day's work lost. 
I try and try but I can't save. 
Pennies, nickels, dollars slip away. 
I've tried and tried but I can't save. 
The hole in my pocketbook is growing. 

There's a new wind blowing they say, it's gonna be a cold, cold one. 
So brace yourselves my darlings, it won't bring anything much our way but more dust bowl days. 

I played a card in this weeks game. 
Took the first and the last letters in three of their names. 
This lottery's been building up for weeks. 
I could be lucky me with the five million prize, tears of disbelief spilling out of my eyes. 
I try and try but I can't save. 
Pennies, nickels, dollars slip away. 
I've tried and tried but I can't save. 
The hole in my pocketbook is growing. 

There's a new wind blowing they say, it's gonna be a cold, cold one. 
So brace yourselves my darlings, it won't bring anything much our way but more dust bowl days. 

The Lion's Share

Can I be unhappy? 
Look at what I see: a beast in furs and crowned in luxury. 
He's a wealthy man in the poorest land, a self-appointed king, 
and there's no complaining while he's reigning. 
The lambs are bare of fleece and cold; the lion has stolen that, I'm told. 
There must be some creature mighty as you are. 
The lambs go hungry (not fair), the biggest portion is the lion's share. 
There must be some creature mighty as you are. 

Can I be unhappy? 
Listen and agree, no words can shame him or tame him. 
The lambs are bare of fleece and cold; the lion has stolen that, I'm told. 
There must be some creature mighty as you are. 
The lambs go hungry (not fair), the biggest portion is the lion's share. 
There must be some creature mighty as you are, as you are. 

Razor claws in velvet paws, you dunce in your guarded home, 
'til a stronger beast will call on you and pounce upon your throne. 

Do we pay? Dearly, for the lion takes so greedily 
and he knows that what he's taken, it is ours. 
That's how the wealth's divided among the lambs and king of the beasts, it is so one-sided. 
Until the lamb is king of the beasts we live so one-sided. 

Hateful Hate

In the dark night a giant slumbered untouched for centuries 
'til awakened by a white man's cry: "This is the Eden I was to find." 
There were lands to be charted and to be claimed for a crown, 
when a hero was made by the length he could stay in this dangerous land of hateful hate. 

Curiosity filled the heads of these, there was an upper room they had to see. 
Curiosity killed the best of these for a hero's hometown welcoming. 
Still they moved on and on. 

Who came building missions? 
Unswerving men of the cloth who gave their lives in numbers untold so that black sheep entered the fold. 
Captured like human livestock, destined for slavery. 
Naked, walked to the shore where great ships moored for the hellbound journies. 
Bought and sold with a hateful hate. 

Curiosity filled the breasts of these with some strange ecstasy. 
Curiosity killed the best of these by robbing their lives of dignity. 
Still they moved on and on. 

Calling men of adventure for a jungle bush safari. 
Come conquer the, his claws and teeth. 
See death in his eyes to know you're alive. 
European homesteads grew up in the colonies with civilized plans for wild hinterlands, their guns and God willing. 
Such a hateful hate. 

Curiosity spilled the blood of these for their spotted skins and ivory. 
Curiosity filled the heads of these madmen with the lies of destiny. 
Curiosity spilled the blood of these, then blotted their lives from history. 
Curiosity filled the heads of these, one man claimed all that he could see. 
Curiosity still entices these madmen with a lusting and a greed
Their legacy, legacy, legacy...  

Jubilee

He fills the flower vases, trims the candle bases, takes small change from the poor box. 
Tyler has the key. 
He takes nail and hammer to tack up the banner of felt scraps glued together reading, 
"Jesus Lives In Me." 
Alone in the night he mocks the words of the preacher: "God is feeling your every pain." 
Repair the Christmas stable, restore the plaster angel. 
Her lips begin to crumble and her robes begin to peel. 
For Bible study in the church basement, hear children Gospel citing, Matthew 17:15. 
Alone in the night he mocks the arms of the preacher raised to the ceiling, 
"Tell God your pain." 

To him the world's defiled. 
In Lot he sees a likeness there; 
he swears this Sodom will burn down. 
Near Sacred Blood there's a dance hall where Tyler Glen saw a black girl and a white boy kissing shamelessly. 
Black hands on white shoulders, white hands on black shoulders, dancing, and you know what's more. 
He's God's mad disciple, a righteous title, for the Word he heard he so misunderstood. 
Though simple minded, a crippled man, to know this man is to fear this man, to shake when he comes. 
Wasn't it God that let Puritans in Salem do what they did to the unfaithful? 

Boys at the Jubilee slowly sink into brown bag whiskey drinking and reeling on their feet. 
Girls at the Jubilee in low-cut dresses yield to the caresses and the man-handling. 
Black hands on white shoulders, white hands on black shoulders, dancing, and you know what's more. 

Through the tall blades of grass he heads for the Jubilee with a bucket in his right hand full of rags soaked in gasoline. 
He lifts the shingles in the dark and slips the rags there underneath. 
He strikes a matchstick on the box side and watches the rags ignite. 
He climbs the bell tower of the Sacred Blood to watch the flames rising higher toward the trees. 
Sirens wailing now toward the scene. 

-- Matthew 17:15 -- 
-- Lord have mercy on my son 
-- for he is a lunatic, and 
-- sore vexed: for oftimes he 
-- falleth into the fire and 
-- oftimes into the water 

Hope chest

Planned Obsolescence

Science is truth for life 
Watch religion fall obsolete 
Science Will be truth for life 
Technology as nature 
Science Truth for life 
In fortran tongue the Answer 
With wealth and prominence 
Man so near perfection 
Possession 
It's an absence of interim 
Secure no demurer 
Defense against divine 
Defense against his true Image 
Human conflict number five 
Discovery 
Dissolved all illusion 
Mystery 
Destroyed with conclusion 
And illusion never restored 
Any modern man can see 
That religion is 
Obsolete 
Piety Obsolete 
Ritual Obsolete 
Martyrdom Obsolete 
Prophetic vision Obsolete 
Mysticism Obsolete 
Commitment Obsolete 
Sacrament Obsolete 
Revelation Obsolete 

The Latin One

Bent double like old beggars in sacks 
Knockkneed and cursing or coughing like hags 
Men marched on sleeping some without boots 
Fatigue drunken deaf still to the hoots 
Of breaking gas shells 
Dropping softly behind 
But limped on bloodshod 
All went lame all went blind 
Gas quick boys fumbling helmets in time 
Someone still screaming a man in fire or lime 
Under a grey cloud dim dark through green light 
In all my dreaming before my helpless sight 
He plunges at me 
Choking guttering drowning 
Put in a wagon he had to keep pace 
As his eyes melt to his face 
If you could hear blood 
Gurgling from ruptured lungs 
If you could witness 
Vile sores on innocent tongues 
You would not tell me 
Not with such pride and such zest 
The lies of history 
Dulce et decorum est 
Pro patria mori 
Some desperate glory 
Pro patria mori 
As witness disturbs the story 
Pro patria mori 
Stand firm boys breathe the glory 

Katrina's Fair

Greta's cedar hope chest 
Is full of pamphlets 
Glass shelves of romantic vignettes 
A journal laced with sedimentary prose 
Norma gathers and collects vintage photoplays 
Hair combs valentines 
Lillian allows the animals to scratch 
Leather crack 
Mail collect in the box coatings peel 
Agnes veiled cathedral dweller 
Smiles with benevolent pain 

It's Katrina's fair 
Tuesday morning 
As she with caution unlatches the flat door 
She alone cascades to the basement 
Careful not to spoil her 
Calico printed pinafore 
Composite traits mannerists 
All others dissipate 

Margauritte vigilant dwells upon frigid casements 
Sarah's thoughts in the velocity 
Accusations always pierce and pass 
Clara abandons her passions for distastes 
Miss Lenora P. Sinclair 
Early for coffee in the pool 
"I'm resituating all your words" 
Capital Space Colon Paragraph 
Sylvia keeps beasts in jars labeled 
Kingdom phylum class order family genus species 

Poor De Chiciro

Oh my dear friend 
My dear friend Giorgio 
How has this time Breton 
Discouraged your liaison with the 
Eye styled metaphysical 
Incongruous scenarios 
Dauntly jaunt about through nostalgic despair 
Within childlike renderings 
Of a nightmarish recall 
"All my images Fragments 
I've shored upon my ruins 
Pictor classicus sum 
I am pure" 
Step solemn with the 
Air of reluctant manes 
As rod and hoop shadow children 
Scatter through a henna arcade 
Figures indentured to a windless landscape 
Enduring silence and flame 
Da Da da 
No loyalty to the nonsensical 
Scorned their nihilist pageantry 

Grey Victory

There was light and atomic fission 
Swelling wind 
Rising ash 
Tide of Black 
Rain 
Cement seared shadow traces 
Reminiscent of their last commands 
Instantly one thousand flames arising 
Ill scent the burning hides surrounding 
A settlement debased entirely 
Enola Gay had made a casual delivery 
Please build a future, darling 
With our bomb 
Cherish and love it 
For the sake of 
Earth bound kingdom come 
The undersides of fallen metal trusses 
Evil debris of human bodies 
Each window's glass shards pelted 
Secure confines 
Brittle collapse 
Neighbors lay beside 
Each other unknowing 
Faces scorched of all familiar bearing, 
Too few hands 
Many wounds for closing 
Marred by 
Thirsting 
Anguish 
Fear lamenting 
Here we stand 
At the door to gold atomic age 
Don't spoil your face with worry 
Trust in 
Earth bound kingdom come 

National Education Week

Honor salute and speak 
To the corner standing flag 
Do you remember how the days of school were 
Indivisible separate worlds 
Compare contrast 
These dreams absurd 
Placid classroom faces 
Breathe in the features 
Of a demographics death map trilogy 
Children read them well 
Not to bury 3 of 4 sons 
As the likes of chivalry 
Not to take 6 of 30 bills 
To manufacture Corpus Christi 
And so you think it can be so serene 
History's most intolerable famine 
Has clutched our global tranquility 
Reaped the lives of children 
Maladies collaborate 
With cyclic despair 
Infanticide clamors to 20 times more 
In 4th and 5th Worlds 
The poor have always been 
Beside us 
Amid us 
Death has always been 
As million cease 15 million that's an annual reap 
Add divide multiply sum 41 thousand! 

Death Of Manolete

There were women holding rosaries 
On the day Manolete died 
Teenage girls in soft white dresses 
Standing silent peace respecting 
Groups of boys held in their hands 
The fragments of a shattered idol 
The old men with their traditions challenged 
Refrained from tears 
Neck neck hook 
Poles of wood 
The Picadores stood eyes ablaze 
To view brutal contest 
In the vale of years 
Courage unfailing 
Agility exhausted 
Youth entered challenge 
Reached for title shelved 
Patrons in attendance 
To disarm a common myth 
Homage played to the victor of immortality 
Cloaked in bold tones 
In the stockyard the beasts 
Did climb their barriers 
Bid by a frenzied ring 
Bred for one purpose only 
To die in man's sport 
Dash against his spindle 
An instant fell to wounding 
On the day 
Swords penetrating 
On the day 
Torches igniting 
On the day 
Flower wreaths encircling 
The day 
On the day 

Orange

Lineage closed 
Dissolved In its birth 
Tragedy 
Prelude a balance Is a synergy 
Of reason 
Malicious hope 
As techno atrocities 
Lapse their effects 
Associate these ends 
Their clarity 
Demands your revenge 
Please compensate 
Not 
Deny 
Jungle 
Revenge 
Infanticide 
Crosses 
Very thin walls 
Latent casualties 
Arrive 
From fatal initiation 
No longer recessive 
Genetic aliens abandoned 
Plain deceit 
IN the mirage of 
A just one time cause 
We'd all changed 
The clocks 
No ladies auxiliary to kiss 
Their blistered cheeks 
Gone 

Tension

Frail hinges pivot 
On a case's door 
Commemorative 
Souvenirs from places 
Containers change with occasion 
Cellophane encased 
Displaying paper 
Certificate 
Credit years of service 
A tool of central enterprises 
The early hope 
For permanence 
The words the rings 
Consistency 
And 
Social security 
The miracles high tragedy 
A thought mistaken for a memory 
Dress lengths assassinations 
Fractured family ties and christenings 
Local posts will list your friends 
In order of disappearance 
Lawn scattered tins feed birds 
The portion baked 
For absent guests 
The mass edition icon 
God sent comfort 
Your salvation 
But who grants absolution 
For sins that never were committed 
Tension makes a tangle 
Of each thought becomes 
Inconvenience 
Sound never penetrates 
The servile edges break and faint 
A thought mistaken for a memory 
Clear the dust 
From smiles in boxes 
Pass the patterned wall 
Recall their voices 

Anthem For Doomed Youth

For whom do the bells toll 
When sentenced to die 
The stuttering rifles 
Will stifle the cry 
The monstrous anger 
The fear's rapid rattle 
A desert inferno 
Kids dying like cattle 
Don't tell me 
We're not prepared 
I've seen today's marine 
He's eighteen and he's eager 
He can be quite mean 
No mock'ries for them 
No prayers or bells 
The demented choirs 
The wailing of shells 
The boys holding candles 
On untraveled roads 
The fear spreads like fire 
As shrapnel explodes 
I think it's wrong 
To conscript our youth 
Against their will 
When plenty of our citizenry 
Really like to kill 
What sign posts will lead 
To armageddon's fires 
What bugles will call them 
From crowded grey shires 
The women sit quiet 
With death on their minds 
A slow dusk descending 
The drawing of blinds 
Make the hunters all line up 
It's their idea of fun 
And let those be forgiven 
Who never owned a gun 
Was it him or me 
Or the wailing of the dead 
The laughing soldiers 
Cast their lots 
And you can cut the dread 

Daktari

like a weasel in the clover 
tilt, toss, pop, turn over 
sit down 
tremble, weave like a moth by flame deceived 
sit down 

like a weasel in the clover 
tilt, toss, pop, turn over 
sit down 
tremble, weave like a moth by flame deceived 
sit down 

spill with your words caught 
dance in your room 
slide like you're buttered up 
roll back the tomb 
sit down 
sit down 
sit down 

when the thunder clouds sound 
ants all scatter to high ground 
sit down 

bolt scuff jilt chase 
circle riddle shake in haste 
sit down 
bolt scuff jilt chase 
circle riddle shake in haste 
sit down 
sit down 

when the thunder clouds sound 
ants all scatter to high ground 
sit down 

like a weasel in the clover 
tilt, toss, pop, turn over 
sit down 
tremble, weave like a moth by flame deceived 
sit down 

spill with your words caught 
dance in your room 
slide like you're buttered up 
roll back the tomb 
sit down 
sit down 
sit down 

when the thunder clouds sound 
ants all scatter to high ground 

bolt scuff jilt chase 
circle riddle shake in haste 
sit down 
sit down 
sit down 

like a weasel and 
like a weasel and 
sit down 

Groove Dub

Imitate that soured old song 

there is no individuality 
only guises 
shades of 
nonconformity 
there is no individuality 
selling vantage points 
low rate 
there is no individuality 
questions ancient 
no words claimed 
perform motions borrowed 
thoughts following 
ima tima ima tima intima 
dation 
respected 
head-he-go-round-men 
gesture display 
customer 
limits appeal 
media dictates the latest 
role 
totalitarian 
motions borrowed 
selling vantage points 
low rate 
for you 
media begged 
suffered 
numbers 
pain 

Pit Viper

in the cruel garrison of affection 
if worth of lore is true 
you know the face of a temptress 
pit viper 

a witch or enchantress 
pit viper 

with the malign venom of conceit 
she tries 
civil men 
conceal fear 
misgivings 
when night entreats them 
a greater chill sustains 
stains her 
darkness 
shall not inhibit death blow 

know this skin does not restrict her 
tear and shed the coil 
fall of garland leaves 
below the soil 

My Mother The War

she borders the pavement
flanks avenues
parades pass white glove attended by
my mother the war

she'll raise a shaft
lift a banner
toss a rose
my mother the war

she's made every effort
to salvage the few
bought fourteen liberty bonds
my mother the war

mother the war

she knows every neighbor
chats at their doors
compare econosize electric appliances
my mother the war

share tea and a seat
by my craddle with
my mother the war

mother the war

caressing the globe
touch on his isle
she wrings hands in pensive waiting
my mother the war

haunts her doorway
begs her postman
is there word for
my mother the war

momentos of distant vigil
three years each tour
"hands of god enfold him" prayed
my mother the war

mother the war

in bitter defiance
she's spiting the corps
she's wet a brood short league for combat
my mother the war

well aquainted with sorrow
left millions in grief
my mother the war

fold
laced
carrion
blood
soaked 
robes

mother the war

*** Thanx a lot to Sean who updated this one for me ! ***

Our time in Eden

Noah's Dove

You won a prize for that, for telling lies like that so well that I believed it. 
I never felt cheated. 
You were the chosen one, the pure eyes of Noah's dove. 
Choir boys and angles stole your lips and your halo. 

In your reckless mind, you act as if you've got more lives. 
In your reckless eyes, you only have time and your love of danger--to it your no stranger. 

In that August breeze of those forgotten trees, your time was set for leaving, come a colder season. 
In your reckless eyes, it's never too late for a chance to seize some final breath of freedom. 
Very, so very wise. 
Don't reveal it. 
I'm tired, tired of knowing where it is you're going. 

In your reckless mind, you act as if you've got more lives. 
In your reckless eyes, you only have time and your love of danger--to it you're no stranger. 
In your reckless mind, you act as if you've got more lives. 
In your reckless eyes, it's never too late for a chance to seize some final breath of freedom. 

These Are The Days

These are the days you'll remember. 
Never before and never since, I promise, will the whole world be warm as this. 
And as you feel it, you'll know it's true that you are blessed and lucky. 
It's true that you are touched by something that will grow and bloom in you. 

These are the days you'll remember. 
When May is rushing over you with desire to be part of the miracles you see in every hour. 
You'll know it's true that you are blessed and lucky. 
It's true that you are touched by something that will grow and bloom in you. 

These are days. 

These are the days you might fill with laughter until you break. 
These days you might feel a shaft of light make its way across your face. 
And when you do you'll know how it was meant to be. 
See the signs and know their meaning. 
It's true, you'll know how it was meant to be. 
Hear the signs and know they're speaking to you, to you. 

Eden

We are the roses in the garden, beauty with thorns among our leaves. 
To pick a rose you ask your hands to bleed. 
What is the reason for having roses when your blood is shed carelessly? 
It must be for something more than vanity. 

Believe me, the truth is we're not honest, not the people that we dream. 
We're not as close as we could be. 
Willing to grow but rains are shallow. 
Barren and wind-scattered seed on stone and dry land, we will be. 
Waiting for the light arisen to flood inside the prison. 
And in that time kind words alone will teach us, no bitterness will reach us. 
Reason will be guided another way. 

All in time, but the clock is another demon that devours our time in Eden, in our Paradise. 
Will our eyes see well beneath us, flowers all divine? 
Is there still time? 
If we wake and discover in life a precious love, will that waking become more heavenly? 

Few And Far Between

  Times are far between, and few I bet, when we can look upon our lives without regret. 
Of all the things I have done, you think I'm proud of everyone without exception? 

'Till you make your peace with yesterday, you'll never build a future. 
I swear by what I say. 
Whatever penance you do, decide what it's worth to you and then respect it. 
However long it will take to weather your mistakes, why not accept it? 

My hands, for now, are tied. 
I'm a body frozen. 
I'm a will that's paralyzed. 
When will you ever set aside your pain and misery? 
No matter how I beg, no matter how I wish or plead, you'll never be more than alive. 
You'll never do more than survive until you expect it. 
Do you want to build a world with our lives? 
You better soon decide or you can forget it. 

My hands, for now, are tied. 
I'm a body frozen. 
I'm a will that's paralyzed. 
'Till you drop that heavy baggage you're dragging behind, there won't be room for us to both go this ride. 

Stockton Gala Days

That summer fields grew high with foxglove stalks and ivy. 
Wild apple blossoms everywhere. 
Emerald green like none I have seen apart from dreams that escape me. 
There was no girl as warm as you. 

How I've learned to please, to doubt myself in need, 
you'll never, you'll never know. 

The summer fields grow high. 
We made garland crowns in hiding, pulled stems of flowers from my hair. 
Blue in the stream like none I have seen apart from dreams that escape me. 
There was no girl as bold as you. 

How I've learned to please, to doubt myself in need, 
you'll never, you'll never know. 
You'll never know. 

Violet serene like none I have set apart from dreams that escape me. 
There was no girl as warm as you. 

How I've learned to please, to doubt myself in need. 
You'll never, you'll never know. 
You'll never know. 

That summer fields grow high. 
We had wildflower fever. 
We had to lay down where they grow. 

How I've learned to hide, how I've locked inside, you'd be surprised if shown. 
But you'll never, you'll never know. 

Gold Rush Brides

Follow the typical signs, the hand-painted lines, down prairie roads. 
Pass the lone church spire. 
Pass the talking wire from where to who knows? 
There's no way to divide the beauty of the sky from the wild western plains. 
Where a man could drift, in legendary myth, by roaming over spaces. 
The land was free and the price was right. 

Dakota on the wall is a white-robed woman, broad yet maidenly. 
Such power in her hand as she hails the wagon man's family. 
I see Indians that crawl through this mural that recalls our history. 

Who were the homestead wives? 
Who were the gold rush brides? 
Does anybody know? 
Do their works survive their yellow fever lives in the pages they wrote? 
The land was free, yet it cost their lives. 

In miner's lust for gold. 
A family's house was bought and sold, piece by piece. 
A widow staked her claim on a dollar and his name, so painfully. 
In letters mailed back home her Eastern sisters they would moan 
as they would read accounts of madness, childbirth, loneliness and grief. 

Jezebel

To think of my task is chilling. 
To know I was carefully building the mask I was wearing for two years, swearing I'd tear it off. 
I've sat in the dark explaining to myself that I'm straining too hard for feelings I ought to find easily. 
Called myself Jezebel. 
I don't believe. 

Before I say that the vows we made weigh like a stone in my heart. 
Family is family, don't let this tear us apart. 

You lie there, an innocent baby. 
I feel like the thief who is raiding your home, entering and breaking and taking in every room. 
I know your feelings are tender and that inside you the embers still glow. 
But I'm a shadow, I'm only a bed of blackened coal. 
Call myself Jezebel for wanting to leave. 

I'm not saying I'm replacing love for some other word to describe the sacred tie that bound me to you. 
I'm just saying we've mistaken one for thousands of words. 
And for that mistake, I've caused you such pain that I damn that word. 
I've no more ways to hide that I'm a desolate and empty, hollow place inside. 

I'm not saying I'm replacing love for some other word to describe the sacred tie that bound me to you. 
I'm not saying love's a plaything. 
No, it's a powerful word, inspired by strong desire to bind myself to you. 
How I wish that we never had tried to be man and his wife, to weave our lives into a blindfold over both our eyes. 

How You've Grown

"My, how you've grown." 
I remember that phrase from my childhood days too. 
"Just wait and see." 
I remember those words and how they chided me, when patient was the hardest thing to be. 
Because we can't make up for the time that we've lost, I must let these memories provide. 
No little girl can stop her world to wait for me. 

I should have known. 
At your age, in a string of days the year is gone. 
But in that space of time, it takes so long. 
Because we can't make up for the time that we've lost, I must let those memories provide. 
No little girl can stop her world to wait for me. 

Every time we say goodbye you're frozen in my mind as the child that you never will be, you never will be again. 
I'll never be more to you than a stranger could be. 

Every time we say goodbye you're frozen in my mind as a child that you never will be, will be again. 

Candy Everybody Wants

  If lust and hate is the candy, 
if blood and love tastes so sweet, 
then we give 'em what they want. 
Hey, hey, give 'em what they want. 

So their eyes are growing hazy 'cos they wanna turn it on, 
so their minds are soft and lazy. 
Well, hey, give 'em what they want. 

If lust and hate is the candy, 
if blood and love tastes so sweet, 
then we give 'em what they want. 

So their eyes are growing hazy 'cos they wanna turn it on, 
so their minds are soft and lazy. 
Well... who do you wanna blame? 

Hey, hey, give 'em what they want. 

If lust and hate is the candy, 
if blood and love tastes so sweet, 
then we give 'em what they want. 

So their eyes are growing hazy 'cos they wanna turn it on, 
so their minds are soft and lazy. 

Well... who do you wanna blame? 

Tolerance

The still and silence is torn with violence. 
A loud breaking sound in the night is made. 
Hear it grow, hear it fade. 
The sound you're hearing, the sound you're fearing 
is the hate that parades up and down our streets, coming within bounds and within reach. 

Now, inside the place we hide away, we hear it near and hope it turns away. 
Turn away... 

There's something seething in the air we're breathing. 
We learn slash and burn is the method to use. 
Set a flame, burn it new. 
We're overpowered. 
We kneel, we cower, we cover our heads. 
Feel the threat of blows that will come and the damage that will be done in its wake. 

Now, inside this place we hide away, we hear it near although it's miles away. 
We hear it near and hope it turns away. 
Turn away... 

This house divided, we live inside it. 
Hate's dwelling place is behind our door in fitful nights. 
Hear it walk the floor and hear it rave as it moans and drags along its ball and chain, 
as it moves through this house it can't escape. 

Now inside this place we hide away. 
We hear it near and hope it turns away. 
Turn away.... 

Circle Dream

I dreamed of a circle, I dreamed of a circle round. 
And in that circle I had made were all the worlds unformed and unborn yet. 
A volume, a sphere that was the earth, that was the moon, that did revolve around my room. 

I dreamed of a circle, I dreamed of a circle round. 
And in that circle was a maze, a terrible spiral to be lost in. 
Blind in my fear, I was escaping just by feel. 
But at every turn my way was sealed. 

I dreamed of a circle, I dreamed of a circle round. 
And in that circle was a face. 
Her eyes looked upon me with fondness. 
Her warmth coming near, calling me "sweetness," calling me "dear." 
But I whispered, "no, I can't rest here." 

I dreamed of a circle, I dreamed of a circle round. 

If You Intend

If you intend to live again, 
then open your eyes and don't pretend you're feeling there's nothing worth believing. 

God, if you persist you'll die like this, 
and wither in the midst of your first season, 
cut down with no reason. 
How can you be so near and not see everything? 

If you intend to live again, 
then take the outstreched hand of the one that needs you. 
It's been so long, we've missed you. 
Why do you intend to speed your end? 
Lie in the dark and let your limbs grow weaker, sinking low then deeper. 
How can you be so near and not see everything? 

Feel what might be. See what I see. 
Again and again and again and again say you don't. 
You say you don't, but you will. 
How can you be so near and not see? 

I'm Not The Man

It crawls on his back, won't ever let him be. 
Stares at the walls until the cinder blocks can breathe. 
His eyes have gone away, escaping over time. 
He rules a crowded nation inside his mind. 

He knows that night like his hand. 
He knows every move he made. 
Late shift, the bell that rang, a time card won't fade. 
10:05 his truck pulled home. 
10:05 he climbed his stair, about the time he was accused of being there. 

But I'm not the man. 
He goes free as I wait on the row for the man to test the rope he'll slip around my throat... 
and silence me. 

On the day he was tried no witnesses testified. 
Nothing but evidence, not hard to falsify. 
His own confession was a prosecutor's prize, 
made up of fear, of rage and of outright lies. 

But I'm not the man. 
He goes free as the candle vigil glows, as they burn my clothes. 
As the crowd cries, "Hang him slow!" and I feel my blood go cold, he goes free. 

Call out the KKK, they're wild after me. 
And with that frenzied look of half-demented zeal, 
they'd love to serve me up my final meal. 
Who'll read my final rite and hear my last appeal? 
Who struck this devil's deal? 

Secrets of the I ching

Grey Victory

there was light and atomic fission 
swelling wind 
rising ash 
tide of black rain 
cement seared shawdow traces 
reminiscent of their last commands 

instantly one thousand flames arising 
ill scent the burning hides surrounding 
a settlement debased entirely 
enola gay had made a casual delivery 

please build a future, darling 
with our bomb 
cherish and love it 
for the sake of 
earth bound kingdom come 

the undersides of fallen metal trusses 
evil debris of human bodies 
each window's glass shards pelted 
secure confines 
brittle collapse 

neighbors lay beside 
each other unknowing 
faces scorched of all familiar bearing 
too few hands 
many wounds for closing 
marred by 
thirsting 
anguish 
fear lamenting 

here we stand 
at the door to gold atomic age 
don't spoil your face with worry 
trust in 
earth bound kingdom come 

Pour De Chirico

oh my dear friend 
my dear friend giorgio 
how has this time breton 
discouraged your liaison with the 
eye styled metaphysical 
incongruous scenarios 
dauntly jaunt about through nostalgic despair 
within childlike renderings 
of a nightmarish recall 
"all my images 
fragments i've shored upon my ruins 
pictor classicus sum 
i am pure" 

step solemn with the 
air of reluctant manes 
as rod and hoop shadow children 
scatter through a henna arcade 
figures indentured to a windless landscape 
enduring silence and flame 

da 
da da 
no loyalty to the nonsensical 
scorned their nihilist pageantry 

Death Of Manolete

there were women holding rosaries 
on the day manolete died 
teenage girls in soft white dresses 
standing silent peace respecting 
groups of boys held in their hands 
the fragments of a shattered idol 
the old men with their traditions challenged 
refrained from tears 

neck neck hook 
poles of wood 
the picadores stood eyes ablaze 
to view brutal contest 
in the vale of years 

courage unfailing 
agility exhausted 
youth entered challenge 
reached for title shelved 

patrons in attendance 
to disarm a common myth 
homage played to the victor of immortality 
cloaked in bold tones 

in the stockyard the beasts 
did climb their barriers 
bid by a frenzied ring 

bred for one purpose only 
to die in man's sport 
dash against his spindle 

an instant fell to wounding 
on the day 
swords penetrating 
on the day 
torches igniting 
on the day 
flower wreaths encircling 
the day 
on the day 

Tension

frail hinges pivot 
on a case's door 
commemorative 
souvenirs from places 
containers change with occasion 

cellophane encased 
displaying paper 
certificate 
credit years of service 
a tool of central enterprises 

the early hope 
for permanence 
the words the rings 
consistency 
and social security 
the miracles high tragedy 

a thought mistaken for a memory 
dress lengths assassinations 
fractured family ties and christenings 

local posts will list your friends 
in order of disappearance 
lawn scattered tins feed birds 
the portion baked 
for absent guests 

the mass edition icon 
god sent comfort 
your salvation 
but who grants absolution 
for sins that never were committed 

tension makes a tangle 
of each thought becomes 
inconvenience 
sound never penetrates 
the servile edges break and faint 

a thought mistaken for a memory 
clear the dust 
from smiles in boxes 
pass the patterned wall 
recall their voices 

Daktari

like a weasel in the clover 
you tilt toss pop turn over 
sit down! 
tremble and weave like a moth 
by flame deceived 
sit down! 
spill with your words caught up 
dance in your room 
slide like you're buttered up 
roll back the tomb 
sit down! 

bolt scuff jilt chase circle riddle 
shake in haste 
sit down! 

when the thunderclouds sound 
ants scatter to high ground 

Pit Viper

in the cruel garrison of affection 
if worth of lore is true 
you know the face of a temptress 
pit viper 

a witch or enchantress 
pit viper 

with the malign venom of conceit 
she tries 
civil men 
conceal fear 
misgivings 
when night entreats them 
a greater chill sustains 
stains her 
darkness 
shall not inhibit death blow 

know this skin does not restrict her 
tear and shed the coil 
fall of garland leaves 
below the soil 

Katrina's Fair

greta's cedar hope chest 
is full of pamphlets 
glass shelves of romantic vignettes 
a journal laced with sedimentary prose 

norma gathers and collects vintage photoplays 
hair combs valentines 

lillian allows the animals to scratch 
leather crack 
mail collect in the box coatings peel 

agnes veiled cathedral dweller 
smiles with benevolent pain 
it's katrina's fair tuesday morning 
as she with caution unlatches the flat door 
she alone cascades to the basement 
careful not to spoil her 
calico printed pinafore 
composite traits mannerists 
all others dissipate 

margauritte vigilant dwells upon frigid casements 

sarah's thoughts in the velocity 
accusations always pierce and pass 

clara abandons her passions for distastes 
miss lenora p. sinclair 
early for coffee in the pool 
"i'm resituating all your words" 
capital 
space 
colon 
paragraph 

sylvia keeps beasts in jars labeled 
kingdom phylum class order family genus species 

The Latin One

bent double like old beggars in sacks 
knockkneed and cursing or coughing like hags 
men marched on sleeping some without boots 
fatigue drunken deaf still to the hoots 
of breaking gas shells 
dropping softly behind 
but limped on bloodshod 
all went lame all went blind 

gas gas quick boys fumbling helmets in time 
someone still screaming a man in fire or lime 
under a grey cloud dim dark through green light 
in all my dreaming before my helpless sight 
he plunges at me 
choking guttering drowning 
put in a wagon he had to keep pace 
as his eyes melt to his face 

if you could hear blood 
gurgling from ruptured lungs 
if you could witness 
vile sores on innocent tongues 
you would not tell me 
not with such pride and such zest 
the lies of history 
dulce et decorum est 
pro patria mori 
some desperate glory 
pro patria mori 
as witness disturbs the story 
pro patria mori 
stand firm boys breathe the glory 

National Education Week

honor salute and speak 
to the corner standing flag 
do you remember how the days of school were 
indivisible separate worlds 
compare contrast 
these dreams absurd 
placid classroom faces 
breathe in the features 
of a demographics death map trilogy 
children read them well 
not to bury 3 of 4 sons 
as the likes of chivalry 
not to take 6 of 30 bills 
to manufacture corpus christi 
and so you think it can be so serene 
history's most intolerable famine 
has clutched our global tranquility 
reaped the lives of children 
maladies collaborate 
with cyclic despair 
infanticide clamors to 20 times more 
in 4th and 5th Worlds 
the poor have always been 
beside us 
amid us 
death has always been 
as million cease 15 million that's an annual reap 
add divide multiply sum 41 thousand! 

My Mother The War

she borders the pavement
flanks avenues
parades pass white glove attended by
my mother the war

she'll raise a shaft
lift a banner
toss a rose
my mother the war

she's made every effort
to salvage the few
bought fourteen liberty bonds
my mother the war

mother the war

she knows every neighbor
chats at their doors
compare econosize electric appliances
my mother the war

share tea and a seat
by my craddle with
my mother the war

mother the war

caressing the globe
touch on his isle
she wrings hands in pensive waiting
my mother the war

haunts her doorway
begs her postman
is there word for
my mother the war

momentos of distant vigil
three years each tour
"hands of god enfold him" prayed
my mother the war

mother the war

in bitter defiance
she's spiting the corps
she's wet a brood short league for combat
my mother the war

well aquainted with sorrow
left millions in grief
my mother the war

fold
laced
carrion
blood
soaked 
robes

mother the war

*** Thanx a lot to Sean who updated this one for me ! ***

Love among the ruins

Rainy day

On bended knee
I've looked through every window then. 
Touched the bottom, 
the night a sleepless day instead;

A day when love came,
came easy like what's lost now found.
Beneath a blinding light 
that would surround. 

We were without, in doubt, 
(and now) we were about saving for a rainy day. 

I crashed through mirrors,
I crashed through floors of laughter then. 
In a blind scene, 
no ties would moor us to this room. 

A day when love came,
came easy like what's lost now found. 
And you would save me, 
and I held you like you were my child.

If I were you, defiant you,
alone upon a troubled way. 
I would send my heart to you
to save it for a rainy day.

Love among the ruins

The sky was falling, heaven was calling.
When danger crashes, rose from the ashes. 

Like two statues hidden inside ancient rock, 
We were praying for the secrets to unlock.
And when the sun had turned its back on us,
In the dark our love kept track of us,
Pushed together by the lack of love. 

We held each other tightly 
through our hell of dreams.
I still hear the never-ending
echo of those screams. 

But it's a life not made for reliving,
Its a life that makes your soul forgiving. 
We sealed our bond from the beginning.

Aching, affection, vulnerable protection;
Falling, captured, crawling, rapture.

Even with my eyes closed 

Even with my eyes closed
Funny how I know it's harder, it's harder now. 
Young girl in my
young girl days, thinking I could live for always.

But like an ocean tide
I'm drawn back inside and I know.

Seasons pass like sand inside a glass
and nothing, nothing returns. 
Standing with the friends I've made,
I'll race them to the grave.
Well who won, won the extra days?

When you take away the years toll
on the waters wide, shallow high and low.
In the autumn sky, 
happy to know I'm going home.

Even with my eyes closed, 
funny how I know it s finally, 
has it finally begun?

Girl on a train

Waking on a train dreaming,
charmed alone they started speaking. 
Captured in his artist way 
before the memories fade away. 

To remember a face, 
and you're home or want to.

Certain they would meet soon,
paint a portrait of a family. 

Single light on, single way,
single light away. 

The night fell. 
Saw a painting on the stairwell 
to mourn the passing of a daughter dear.
Her soul upon the train
so far so near. 
Just close your eyes and you're home.

Green children

An August day in the hills of Spain, 
a pair of children emerged from a cave. 
The strangest sight there alone they stood,
with skin of green and words no one had heard. 

The girl was stronger, the boy was weak,
with her new mother she learned to speak.
And wove a tale of a dying sun, 
they left the darkness, 
a dark world come undone.

They travelled so far.
Believing they came from a star. 
She fell through life, through time, 
(through parallel lives)

The men of science, the men of fame, 
the men of letters tried to explain:
Was it parallel worlds or a twist of time
to make her think she'd fallen from the sky? 

A whirlwind spun them all alone,
took them from their twilight home.

Believing they came from a star

A room for everything

You were looking away from me, 
western skies calling you.
Colors spilling, running 
dazzling you.

I was looking the other way 
voices call from the east
I saw my roots of the trees
there planted at my feet. 

It could be I'm searching
for a place so small
with room for everything
where worlds on worlds revolve.
But how can we wait? 

I wouldn't hold you back.

Suppose I was the clever one 
And words came easy to me
I could say I was writing a song about you
(you) and me. 

Maybe that verse is yet to be found,
but waits inside of me,
a secret room a tangled web to unweave.

But how can we wait
knowing our ways, 
how can we hold on,
still you know 
its not too late.

More than this

( Brian Ferry )

I could feel at the time
There was no way of knowing
Fallen leaves in the night
Who can say where they´re blowing
As free as the wind
And hopefully learning
Why the sea on the tide
Has no way of turning

More than this - there is nothing
More than this - tell me one thing
More than this - there is nothing

It was fun for a while
There was no way of knowing
Like dream in the night
Who can say where we´re going
No care in the world
Maybe I´m learning

Why the sea on the tide
Has no way of turning

More than this - there is nothing
More than this - tell me one thing
More than this - there is nothing

Big star

I saw a big star running from me, 
a world from a record on my bed.
Turn the tables on me,
what would happen if I fell
to the tune of a dreamer, 
to the tune of my heart? 

A big star running from me,
I saw a world out sunning on my head.
Turn the tables on me now
I would fall from heaven 
and ring your bell.

Baby, catch me
n the middle of a lie
The boys are out tonight,
yeah the boys are out tonight. 
The big shots singin' from me, 
I saw a world out sunning on my head. 
Pity my heart signals: 
center of a storm inside my head. 
Center of my heart, 
center of my out of time simple mind.

From the moon out my window 
a wink and a blink and a nod.
Had a wish on a star but now it's falling.

The boys are out tonight, 
big skies above me signal 
in my horoscope it said:
never heed a caution,
never fought a lover, 
never cross a street alone 
in the middle of a signal red,
middle of a drinker's heart, 
middle of a big parade, 
a signal in my horoscope.

You won't find me there

I'd like to know 
what makes you stay 
while your eyes still search for escape.

You think that I 
don't feel the cold (babe),
but I wait while confessions unfold.

You'll never make a living from reading minds
or from getting your direction from exit signs.
Look into your heart 
and you won't find me there. 

You won't find
me where you hide
and that makes us a matter of time.
Like trees exposed by fall, 
time reveals it all.

Tell me you want to do everything
but you're stuck up to your knees.
And I'm less likely pushed forward
by ambition than a breeze. 

But there's a flame 
that must be fanned,
and it appears as a beckoning hand. 

Don't think cause you're not, 
talking you're being kind, 
you've been getting there 
tolls your direction from exit signs.
Look into your heart 
and you won find me there. 

All that never happens

She walks alone on the brick lane, 
the breeze is blowing.
A year had changed her forever, 
just like her gray home. 

He used to live so close here, 
we'd look for places I can't remember
The world was safe when she knew him, 
she tried to hold him, hold on forever. 

For all that never happens 
and all that never will be, 
a candle burning for the love we seldom keep.

The earth was raw in her fingers,
she overturned it. 
Considered planting some flowers, 
they wouldn't last long, no one to tend them. 

it's funny how these things go,
you were the answer to all the questions. 
The memories made her weary, 
she shuddered slowly, she didn't want to.

As a distant summer he began to whisper, 
and threw a smile her way 
She looked into the glass, 
liquid surface showing
that they were melding, together present past. 

So where can I go from here? 
The color fading, he didn't answer
She felt him slip from her vision.
She tried to hold him, hold on forever. 
So close forever, in a silent frozen sleep.

Shining light

Something was pulling me 
without knowing what was leading me on: 
your shining light. 

In my darkest hour the only way 
to bring the dawn was 
your shining light.

But you're unaware
your shining light is even on. 
Like with a little glance 
when you take me by surprise 
and I take a chance
and I see it all through your eyes.

Free me from my history
and show me where to draw the line, 
by lighting up the mystery, 
and you don't even know that it shines. 

I'm not worried now 
abo