If You're Walking Through Hell

Bottled up and a shade too pale
Where sleeping dogs are left to die
An urban vagabond gone stale
Such a long way around,
long way around

If you’re walking through hell,
Baby don’t stop
If you climbing the walls
don’t drop
If you're walking through hell, walking through hell
If you're walking through hell don't stop

The devil sings
Hard to breathe
Smoke above
Fire below

Ain’t no shortcut, rearrangin’ the mind
Voices blur like walls in a tunnel
The hard part is the part, that takes hard time
Such a long way around, long way around

Jumping into the mouth of the dragon
Hearing the wet snap of a scream
Looking back, no rhyme or reason
Such a long way around, a long way around

House Of Mirrors

Tour jackets with bad graphics, eyes that stop traffic
She wanted to be a star

Images distort her,
Creative tongues abort her
In ways she can’t afford
To believe in

More modern than tomorrow
Doing anything to borrow
An image wrapped around like a snake

Always on the night prowl
Low curdled cat growls
Looking in corners for a real live make

Looking in the House of Mirrors
Reflecting me, reflecting you, reflecting her

Singing empty notes to be famous
Writing songs for the righteous
Till the eighth notes fall out of her ears

Only if all of this could fix her
Like a shot and a beer – or turning queer
Band-aids covering little girl tears

No feeling in her hands
No feeling in her feet
Love turned to rage
From years of defeat
Hearts grown beyond cold

Music is weak
Soul seldom stirs
Can't make out reflections
Truths become blurred

Looking through mists
In the house of mirrors

Living The Blues

Queen of the bayou oh I'm singing the blues
Queen of the bayou oh I'm singing the blues
Singing through the lonely night is what I do

I hear the far off train whistle people, screaming in the night
I hear the far off train whistle lord screaming in the night
Moanin my soul know things ain't right

Pack my bag someday, got no where to go
Pack my bag someday, got no where to go
No wind on my back, it ain't blowin no more

Livin' like this, you'd wonder why I've stayed round so long
Livin' like this, you'd wonder why I've stayed round so long
My heart achin just know everything gone so wrong

Baby Blue - A Lullaby

Baby Blue
Go To Sleep
Baby Blue
Go To Sleep
Baby Blue

Go where angels tip toe across the sky
Go where children laugh they never cry
Go where you'll fly upon angel's golden wings
Go where you'll always have a song to sing

Go where the sound you hear is a kitten's purr
Go where everything you touch is soft as fur
Go where the birds sing words from your favorite tune
Go where you dance up on the silvery moon

Go where you swim and jump in lakes of blue
Go where flowers smile in morning dew
Go where fairies skip to far off lands
Go where God keeps you safe in loving hands

Open Wide

Leap the Fire
Live Your Dream
Through the odds
Live your dream
Land on moons
Live your dream
Through it all
Live your dream

Climbing on
Open wide
Driving on
Open wide
Dreaming On
Open wide
Blazing on
Open wide

Job well done
Live your dream
Your destiny
Live your dream
Glass is full
Live your dream
Be here now
Live your dream

Mountains climbed
Live your dream
Loving hearts
Live your dream
Sing and praise
Live your dream
Conquer worlds
Live your dream

Climbing on
Open wide
Driving on
Open wide
Dreaming on
Open wide
Blazing on
Open wide

Live your dream
Live your dream
Live your dream
Live your dream

The Climb

Climbing mountains
Hanging tight
fly on the wall
Get no higher
Can't go back down
Afraid, frozen
Eyes on the ground

Brother, help me
Give me a hand
Dark skinned soul brother
Brown leathered hand
Hold tight
pull me up
Hey brother
Hey brother
Pull up

Been climbing, climbing alone
Leaving marks on jagged stones
Bloody knuckles
Pining for home
No turning back
destined roads

Oh brother, soul brother
Grab me good
reach for the sky
Once I get there
By and by

Walk on my own
Oh brother oh brother
Brown leather hands

Journey in hand
journey is sweet
Walking
dark unmarked streets
Higher up,
fewer I meet
path was always
under my feet

Oh Brother oh brother
Give a hand
Hold tight
Take a stand
Reach out for hope
Promised land

With the help of the brown leathered man

Tiara

Running Hiding
Losing Turning
Lying Shedding
Knowing
Meaning

Madness & moonstruck
Doll painted eyes
No roof to cover
Black and white lies
Pool of light
Cigarette smoky glow
Thorns of lead
Surround fate
Crumbs of a soul
Tiara

Arched concrete bends
Grey awnings of steel
Skies without features
Become what is real
Night crawling
Are the bait
For a meal
Wear a crown
Nothing to feel

Running hands over
Truth
Leading the blind
Blue toes look for ponds
Where people are kind
Gravity points up
Knowing there
Is a sign
Adjust her crown
Won’t lose her mind
Tiara

Pocket Full Of Redemption

Lurking in dark shadows
Looking for my brain
Know if I don’t’ find it
Completely insane

Loafers with no pennies
Like smiles without teeth
Serpentine souls
On shiny mirrored streets

It’s all money on the run
And me with a pocket
Full of redemption

Sleep on a park bench
Stargaze for free
Makeshift clothes
Hang off memories
Cans collect daily
Bank gives me bread
Day old deposits crumble
In laps of the dead
Hell locks from the inside
Bubbling in the mind
Sense of it all
Sliding down my spine

I am the dog that chases her tail
Dine on Hail Mary’s lunch holy grails
Zagat of misfortune, queen of rent-free
Insolent wheel, of car beaten streets

It’s all money on the run
And me with a
Pocket Full of Redemption

Turn Around

Breathing in out
Sun comes out
Circle becomes one
Round round
Senses mine
Rosemary wine
Loving faces rise
Minds wise
Turn Around

Starry midnight skies
Moonlit sighs
Blood through veins
Speak your name
Tumbleweeds have wings
Dance sing
Immortality
God is me
Turn Around

Reflecting your mind
Reflect your mind
Turn around

Synchronicity

Divinely intertwined sub-consciously
as the mind of one is sown
Touching souls and hearts at times
with whom you've always known
Inner dreams, daily deja vu,
becomes something that you seem
I am you and you are her
and everyone is me.

Casual connections turn into
loving relationships
Passing in the night
on the ghostly destiny of lips
Seeing what is coming
in a collective memory
I am you and you are her
and everyone is me.

Transformation moving through
meaningful coincidence
Where magic meets reality
and none of it makes sense
Reservoir of wondrous truth
becomes mythology
I am you and you are her
and everyone is me.

Don't Call It Too Late

Call it romance, call it love
Call it gifts, from above
Call it luck, call it fate
Don’t call it too late

Call it puzzlin, call it plain
Call it hard, to explain
Call it real, call it fake
Don’t call it too late

Call it happy, call it blue
It’s a friend you’re runnin’ to
Call it dreams, or awake
Don’t call it too late

Call it black, call it white
Call it wrong, call it right
Call it early, or you wait
Don’t call it too late

Call it work, call it fun
Call it new, call it done
Call it fishin’ without bait
Don’t call it too late

Call it hit, call it miss
Call it hers, call it his
Call it give, call it take
Don’t call it too late

Call it west, call it east
Call it home, on the streets
Call it rich or second rate
Don’t call it too late

Call it loud, call it meek
Feeling stronger, growing weak
Call it love, call it hate
Don’t call it too late

Call it dance call it still
Call it empty call it filled
Call it being on a grate
Don’t call it too late

Call it quiet call it loud
Be a face in the crowd
Call it cheap or rebate
Don’t call it too late

Call it wild call it sane
Call it hip or urbane
Walk the line, going straight
Don’t call it too late

Be a man, be a wife
Call it livin’ out your life
Call it a union of the state
Don’t call it too late

Call it close call it near
Call it whispers disappear
Call it losing or checkmate
Don’t call it too late

Don’t call it too late
Don’t call it too late
Don’t call it too late
Don’t call it too late
Don’t call it too late
Don’t call it too
Don’t call it
Don’t call
Don’t

Hey Mr. Rich Man

Hey Mr. Rich Man, got more money than I do
Yea, Mr. Rich, got more money than I do
Won’t you give me some cash, I’ll be big like you

You got a real nice car, got a TV inside
Got a real nice car, got a TV inside
Won’t you give me that car, take it for a ride

Them clothes are shiny, hair fancy too
Clothes are shiny, hair fancy too
Wearin’ your trimmin’s dance the Voo Doo

I ain’t got nothin’, I’m me just the same
I ain’t got nothin’, but me just the same
Don’t own me nothin’ but my daddy’s name

I ain’t jealous, for nothin’ no more
I ain’t jealous, for nothin’ no more
Nothin’ for me at the corner store

See ya Mr. Rich Man, yeah you leavin town
See ya Rich Man, see you leaving town
Sayin prayers money won’t take you down

Throw The Wise Man A Bone

He grew up on manicured lawns
Next to lakes named after unknown saints
Eating fried chicken from a corner drive through
Yelling orders into a well known face
He puts gel in his hair because his wife wants him to
And he feels silly because he was born old
And hasn’t become young yet
And he walks around saying yeah honey you bet
Feeling sad and still all the time

He has had such a hard time of it
I wish I could put a bandage on it
And kiss it away
But the bruises will always show
And the hurt is part of the woe
Of the wise man who can’t put his heart on the line
He’s been stepped on spilled on and then finally burned
And then watched his life on “As the world Turns.”
And wondered why he felt so all alone
Could someone throw this wise man a bone

Some say it ain’t nothing but karma
But that don’t help when life is twisting your arm
Again and again and again
You’d never know it to look at him
His hair is neat, shiny lapel pin
He looks just like you and me
Except his man can really see
With a wise man’s eyes he can see
Why a baby cries and why I do what I do
So God if you're listening or maybe just humming
along
You can give this wise man a bone

I won’t suggest words or tell you about the birds
Because it just ain’t up to me
I know there is nothing but gain from pain
But if you could just sing him a lullaby
One that has words of joy about happy boys
Long enough to see the sadness leave his face
Could you please throw this wise man a bone

God he can only see himself through my eyes
What a responsibility a man that’s so wise
Could you please throw this wise man a bone

Like ru men passing through the door
He shoulders the mountains and cries
the Mississippi for more

Unresolved

i have to dream about her
we aren’t talking
we aren’t talking
because
we had our own dreams
dreams consumed us
everyday
had nothing
to do with it
when together
reminded us
of
unkept dreams
dreams hadn’t come true
painful
there wasn’t enough room
in this town
for
us and our dreams

in my dream
i said
i’m sorry
when awake
i
took
it
back

Fire

leap lick dance
red fire
turns
the wood
bottoms of my feet
blackened toast

Mailman

Standing
waiting for the mail
cold hard steel
slammed shut
waiting for the key
to breathe and reveal
the news
bad
good
advertising
cheap bread

mailman
hunched over
hooded
grim reaper
he has the
key
magical key
he has the news
the mundane news
good news
bad news
connecting the dots

white truck pulls away
If only he knew

Morning Love

mornings with you
my dear
so complete
the purr of grey cats
the odd calico
the books
the mac
the news
breakfast in bed
soft, warm embraces
last forever
promises of eternal love

The chores wait impatiently
the cats meow
hungry bellies
the clock beats
as if time is important
you get up
“morning chores” you say

I lie here
loving your memory

Friend

need one friend
a good friend
stand by
a friend
hold my words
a friend
take my hand
a friend
grab my pain
a friend
return silence
a true friend
with loving eyes
a warm friend
shared experience
an old friend
wisdom
an ancient friend
benefit of their soul
a good friend
life
a friend
holds me together
a friend
a friend
a friend
Friend

The Same Monster

Lost the war
Napalm
Slanted eyes filled with pain
Dug under
Tunnels
Hiding
From the monster
Running…screaming…on fire
Feet in dirt, blood and sweat
Lost the war
Immigration
Years passed

Sit in the mouth
Of the
Vibrating
Green chair
Electronic massaging
Lounging - a hard day
luxury deserved
Glancing downward
Feet in soapy pools of water
Swirling…waving…warm
Slanted eyes look up
What color would you like?
She files off the cuticles of war
Shaves off the sins of my callousness
bottom of my feet
touch the earth
ruined by the fire
the same color as…
Red, I say
My husband loves red

Skin tinged yellow
kneels back down
on the enameled rice paddy
My feet sink back into the muddy water
Dirty…stagnant…dead
No escape
I am trapped in the tiled jungle
Still the monster

Experience

Each time
obstacles met
fully experience
a life
grow closer
to spirit
develop
soul
be closer
bigger
than
me

Creased Heart

Pillows creased
sheets
turned down
strange looks
on your face
ask
how’s your day
or
I love you
doesn’t feel right
touch your
hair
small
jump
watch all the
patterns
used to some other way
now here
hear me
say

The pillow
is creased
sheets
turned down
scent lingers
the room
strange
perfume
your face
out of place

be the way
it used to be
look
at you
and
you
at me
Leaned over
touch my hair
kiss corners
of my mouth
never selfish
always shared
memory
in a week
empty

inside

suddenly
holes
love used to be
heart
chained
now
free

cold
like
snow

Literal

crawling skin

throat

can’t swallow

mouth

pickin’ cotton

drinking

taking life

the game

the soul

needs to play

to count

to be here

Forgiven Memories

you forgave me
touched
my cheek
eight years waiting
eight years guilt
you
forgave

time
meant
nothing
worthiness

of

waiting

nothing
in
eye of
forgiveness
in
the
stillness
of love

A bump on logs
just be
until
new strength
to be
spring loaded
again

for the next one

Pointed Finger

at the top
female symbol


below
list of what I was doing
wrong
and what I was doing
right

improperly
i had kept taking the
blame

i knew it was
my turn
to point the
finger

the finger said
it’s
your turn
to
fix it

it’s your turn
to
do more
than
your
share

Swallowed by the Sea

I will breathe and be swallowed by the sea
breathe and step light
and be swallowed by the sea
Like the old lady who lives by the shore
Swallowing the sea
Drawing in the spiraled foam
One big gulp of sea
Retreat, Turn, Attack
Vulnerability
Enemy
I commit
I sink
I came so far
and now
swallowed by the sea

Understand fullness
Understand hallow…ness
secret emptiness
No place to thrust the horns
No place to use the claws

Emptiness is not weakness
It is my strength

Cobra bout to strike
I move like sea waves but
Inside
Hard as steel

Shake Rattle Roll

Shake
rattle
roll

don’t
know
where
i’m
going

where
I’ve
been

who
i
used
to
be

what
will
i
do
when
i
get
old

really
old
shake rattle roll

Seat of Wisdom

looking for magic
in front of me
A swinging path onto a light
that leads
directly to where I stand

touch sides
of truth
roughshod like a barn
running hands over it like a blind man
who leads the not so blind

cold feet
blue toes
the pond where i should dip
but recognize
when
confused, strayed, distracted
truth
god peeks through the swinging door
ray of light peeking
streaming

wild turkey learning to fly
learning to fly
afraid to fly
wait
gravity, dense, pulling
again

hang by a string, memories leave
set me free
flesh, skin, bones

damn the skin, the body, the flesh
desires

pushing

Tar Baby

Hey Tar baby, now don’t you cry
Life ain’t fair – cruel lullaby
Walking through the black
In between the white
Watch it all bubble up

Crack the bubbles with my feet
Crab grass through the black
In the summer heat
Popping sounds
Crush them with our feet
Leave blackened footsteps on the floor
Scars of tar patches black scars
Standing where the trees are red
Standing where the dreams dare tread
Standing where a knife slips along the spine of the past
Standing on a threadlike fracture
Just to hear the ghosts in the wind
Ghosts in the wind
Insects sing in sanctified choirs
For emotional trespasses over fields of grief
Hear ancient words jangle ‘round in your pocket

Eyes milked over, dim the light
Future covered with dust from passing cars
Broken hopes under mossy stones
A wish to find your way home
Find your way home to the brotherhood of man

Hey Tar baby now don’t you cry
Life ain’t fair – cruel lullaby
Walking through the black
In between the white
Watch it all bubble up

Humid Humiliation

Quiet Voices chocked her
While peach pies grew sour in the sun
Bright flowered dress wilted
Like the fallen petals on a table marked with water rings
Sapping the syrup from her veins
Roll call of the humiliated
Dark discoveries of the lonely
Unholy desires of the sinner
Poor girl, too hot, too alone
Polished the window
The one in front
The wounds will never heal….again

Poor Holly

Poor Holly
Miss Stuffer
Miss I don’t have a clue
All filled with her anger
Fingers pointing at you
Her belly is never full
Her skin is never clear
Who is this girl
Miss Holly
Miss Everything
Miss Nobody
Miss miss miss miss miss miss

Color

Wicker chairs
creatively painted
pale greens,
light lavenders,
rust
hippie multicolored tool shed
– brighten the garden along with Angie’s gift of zinnias,
grow in pots discarded by islanders
sit next to wicker chairs.

This Weather!

Merlin could have bottled it
spreading it across times of King Arthur
believing they were in heaven!
Then………
a full moon reflecting a path of light
across the water to our front door.
hovering above
floating above
the tree line
magic

Lucky

A beautiful day.
A beautiful sparkly day.
How lucky are we?

Front Yard

absconded picnic table
twenty feet from the sainted Lake
under a 100 year old maple –
same as the cottage but then, it was a post office.
Beautiful, shady, thick,
home to thirty birds,
on a slow day.
Big freighters pushing through,
disturbing still waters.
floating monsters clip by,
birds circle the bank
something may unearth
wakes revealing
tasty morsels

Heat

Warm yesterdays
Porch sitting
Listening
Maternal heartbeat of the earth
Trains in the background
Traveling on metal beasts
Journeys being understood
Car lights shine across the lake
Headlights in the sun

Just weeding
iron in the dirt resonates with the metal
in my blood.
83 F – humid
Mississippi afternoons
air waterlogged
heavy, wet,
cotton in the fields after rain
smell of the clay
strong, rusty, old
undeniably organic
heat deep down
rich as pork frying– owning the air.

The Greys

A stray grey tiger cat
wants to come in
must have heard through the cosmic cat-line
like our other greys
UFO abduction – Attack of the Greys

Breakfast

brie and grapes
sun desperately trying
peeking beyond Marchness

Energy Shift

No longer trapped by ancient scars
psyche tied to the past
lighter now

A rare march-driven thunderstorm
breaking free
over the lake
while old scars
are removed.

Sanding rough edges

Black Squirrels

Light at the end of the day.
Island light
black squirrels hang upside down
attached
thin strips of velcro
stuck on paws
Black squirrels
Not sweet
little
brown
fuzzy
Sleek little black devils
aggressive….panthers of the rodent world
…not to be messed with

I give them space
To raid the bird feeders.

Precious Moments

Spring taunts
nature teases cats
Pink noses pressed against screens,
Slanted eyes darting
Sensing more life than occasional ice bound ducks, geese.
Birds flitting back and forth
Back and forth
To feeders filled with sunflower seeds
…….and exposed safety of bare branches.

In contrast
quickness of birds,
ice slowly drifts
various sized chunks.
glacial blocks
break
apart
on their trip from
upriver.

Overcast
silver tinge
Cat interrupts connection to nature,
demanding love
big and gray – overcast days.

Joe organizing pantry
…..in the background
Radio plays Pavarotti
I drink tea
PG Tips
“Proper British tea”
It has a bite to it as does the heartache I carry
for friends in the Northwest
a handful
but enough to cause ache.

Cat resting head on my journal.
A precious moment.
one of many daily moments
Precious details
Precious moments
Precious life

Compassion

I jump into the shower of compassion
washing off all the guilt from living
a gluttonous life

Subtext

Subtext and smiles
Nothing but lies
Fast talking screams
With newborn cries
Lying underneath
Deep in the dark
Next to my liver
Close to my heart

Original Sin

Parent’s sins
passed to the child
Nothing original
about that

Directions

Fellini, the director

me-drinking socially
I’m fine

Cut to

just north of here

under freeway
sleeping
blanket, pillow
in my ear…lost

Cut

morning
west of my bedroll
close by
too close
woman and
her

children

gathering among the worn glass
once rented furniture
collecting a home
for

the children

would soon be moving into..
no maps

cut to night shot

on the west side
a used up couple
in their
car

loving and loving and loving and loving
going down

character study

the denial
the drinking
the ache
the lonliness
the ugly
the numb
the temporary
the slip
the wagon
the wheel
the moon
the stars
the lying on my back…

south
it’s a take

Distractions

looking
for
distractions
keep me busy
from thinking
who the fuck I am

Good Songs

Warm hands of music
Caress my breast
melody’s lush bed to
lie on
notes running down, through
ecstatic thighs
clever
soulful
sharp musical turns
surprise surprise
laughing, feeling good
notes
one at a time
lounging in air
30 times more dense
than
what I breathe
wet, thick, deep
swimming in it
while the dissonant chords
break my heart

Whistle
Morning humming
Melodies with coffee

What’s on the radio?

Mother

Growing in upper flats
bed can't be found
mother alone
pain comes and stays

Standing in line
food takes stamps
deliver to cupboards
bare and damp

In a diving suit, trapped
filling with water
thoughts of mother's nature
being her daughter

Clinging To The Wreckage

clinging to the wreckage
knuckles turn white
you say
let bygones
be
bygones
can’t sleep
at night
you are
wet part
of the ocean
up
down
inwardly motion
everywhere, in here
somewhere
out there
i breathe it in and out
toxic air
i breathe it in and out
toxic air
i breathe it in i breathe it in and out
toxic air
toxic air
toxic air
toxic
air
tox
ic
a
i
r

Brown Eyes

i saw you in a dream
no really
you came to me
the brown eyes
understanding
listening
a retriever
of compassion
listen
listen
no face
just
brown eyes
soul warming
exhausting
eyes

I forgot the dream

one day in the flesh
you said
coffee?
sat at the table
staring
into me
listening
falling
in love
with
each other
oh
those
big
brown
eyes

Tumbleweed Gypsy

Wild gypsy girl
memories of genetic past
running through veins
knowing
nothing will last

Tumbleweed Gypsy
look to the east
hit the word go
loose change in pocket
duty on the road

Once again
once again
life as a gypsy
sure
without a home
homemade cure

Tumbleweed gypsy
don’t stand in the way
running and tumbling
looking to play
stay in one place
out of things
to say
tumbleweed gypsy
looking to play

Walking on quicksand
how to live
working and singing
just music to give

Tumbleweed gypsy
something to do
bring you a message
round and round
no direction in sight
moving where the wind blows
stopping at night

Moon shining the gypsy’s soul
sun burning the gypsy’s light
peaceful mountains are played
only at night

Life of a slave
music that chose me
puked me at birth
i tumbled
stood up
quickly skipped across the hot earth

Now people drive by
yell for my name
I tumble by starlight
nobody can see
truly me
shame

Drop in on friends
that don’t go away
tumbleweed gypsy
girl with no name
white lace on my branches
libra on my leaves
knowing when to tumble
knowing when to be free

Float on the water
Roll where the wind blows
Dance without my feet touching
The ground, where the grass grows

If people could see me
fly through the fence

Cats Murmer

The cats murmer while
I scream, with a smile on my face
to ears that don’t exist
keep talking someone will hear me
Persist persist persist
I have something to say, words, thoughts
heavy as clay
Should I stop talking… mean what I say
But the temptation is great
the world a full plate
of celebrity
fancy voodoo and hoodoo
hoping magic will tell me something
I don’t already know
Answers crawling like a panther
Watch it!
caught in a trap

Where the secrets and lies
Beneath the red eyes of mystery
a woman who just doesn’t see

I will pet the cat
Madder than a hat
Living in the middle of mystery

Blaze

Blazing into fields that hold my deepest dreams
Follow paths that spiral through the cosmic vein
Passionate lips, caress dark nights, still speak my name
Spotlights on my sights I dream my dream to blaze

White laced passion wearing freedom on a sleeve
Starlight bright causing blind eyes to clearly see
Mountain tops where I dream every given day
Spotlights on my sights I dream my dreams to blaze

Souls run free as minds plan fire coming true
Higher than the high, reach for the billowed blue
You will watch as I fly prayers on a wing
Spotlights on my sights I blaze my dreams to dream

Old Water

soft wrinkles
protruding
moving towards
the sandy bank
the river
smoothing
It’s
blue, wet skin
yet again
the wrinkles
return return return
as the water
grows old

Tree in My Yard

Tree has eyes
staring at me
crooked branches
reaching out
arthritic fingers

Trigger

Headlights the color of sulfur, the color of a storm sky -sphere of memory taken from this place.

VOODOO

VooDoo rites
men’s eyes
turned black
zombies
suspected I was there
couldn’t find me

living behind
a wall
in a hidden room

found me
forgot to run

woke up
couldn’t bear
killing
the animals

Manhood

I look into the shadows
…….flecked with light
You put a warm hand in my shoulder
Trace of a smile
……corners of your mouth
Strength in the boy
Becoming a man
Not the man becoming a …
you can-not retrieve boyhood

The tree line marks a river
Rutted roads lead to passages forgotten
Oil stains impossible to remove from the grass as it withers
Only memory can be taken from this place
Brave new empires will be built on the heels of your manhood

Oh How I Dream

The dreams I have
mean nothing
The dreams I have
are everything
The dreams I have
seem necessary
The dreams I have
are useless
The dreams I have
remind me
The dreams I have
look familiar
The dreams I have
scare me
The dreams I have
are safe
The dreams I have
entertain
The dreams I have
feel boring
Oh how I dream
Oh how I dream

Web Dreams

Blonde spider
crawling
around and around
on the man
i was speaking to
i couldn’t listen
to words

The spider
wouldn’t stop
the web
became the words
the sentences
more delicate,
more intricate

the spider

my luck

the man

my symbol

Lucky Guy

Lock his finger around the gold ring
And pull
Moments strung together marked by
Rhythms, heartbeats, drumbeats

Dark Strangers, False Promises

Across crimson skies on bleeding hymns
Bitter taste in the human melting pot

Blood and tears mix in the rain
Straw brooms sweep over dusty promises

The dreams - kicked around like old stones
Blowing the doors down, blow them down

Blood and guts caught in the wind
Catching the eye of the hurricane

Where hardship is borne with grace
And fear is kept under lock and key

Panic took the place of nobler emotions
Killing grounds where trust had been lost

Can’t see no matter how low the plane flies
Where rabbits used to run
Blood against the green of the grass

Sun that is setting as the air begins to cool

When people are doing God’s work, it’s only God that has time to listen.

That was the day no one had time

to listen

Revelation

It’s been a journey of revelation – the road of true life
Letting go for my salvation, - joys are mine and my life

Revelation, Revelation
God’s love works through me
Revelation, Revelation
God’s love works through me

Joy to the world and to the band
Joined together for hymns
Singing, dancing, celebrating
Joined together for hymns

Revelation, Revelation
God’s love works through me
Revelation, Revelation
God’s love works through me

Raise your hands to the sky
Shouting phrases
Grateful for all endured
Raise your hands up to the sky

Some Men

Some men are funny
Some men are tall
Some men don’t give
You nothin’ at all

Old Scrap Paper

Carrying your number
on old scrap paper
Tell myself
it’s fine
I should
give you a call

Maybe it’s just
Old scrap paper
and I
should do nothin’ at all

How Many Times the White Buffalo?

Sign of Jesus carved on wooden fish
Hanging on the fence of life
Living in empty castles of stone
Don't it seem just right
Dead mothers come in dreams
Looking for apologies
If only they were still alive
Setting their little girls free
Everything a sign

Denominations

Baptists baptize, Methodists sprinkle
Catholics rule, Orthodox borrows
Separation, no matter what you call it.

Ribbons

black and green ribbons
drop from the sky
trees layered
up-on each
other
edging into infinity
while casting shadows
on
the
morning fire

scalloped wings
mighty eagle
circles

oh how
small are
we

Afraid

Green cats hide empty spaces
Men appear friendly faces
Why am I afraid?

Tsunami’s rock then roll
Carrying life taking tolls
Sand pours out
Steam floats in
Washing all of
Mankind’s sins

Sign of things take me places
To the colors many races
Why am I afraid?

Swept away by watery steel
Where Christ dined on last meal
Why am I afraid?

Forms swim, limbs bloated
Wash, worn, gently floated
Why am I afraid?

Our turn will come, connected
Pipe dreams fade, rejected
Why am I afraid?

Ground shifting, footsteps shaky
The path holds my wrath

afraid….

My Baby Girl

Edge of the untamed
Dirty-looking gray sand
Burning waters of the St. Clair
Air that smells like life
Rough edges of the coast
Come on back home baby child
Willful child digging up the past
God will forgive you as he forgave me
Youth and their trespasses
Lobby paintings of family pictures….in colors, hues of hunting dog portraits
Pale chandeliered lights shine on ancestral histories
Child ghosts match voice of decades past
And I continue to look into the mirror
Seeing the shadow of my baby child

Yellow Rooms

Compare my insides
with your outsides
bruises on my breast
dream a life
that isn't mine

Caught in rooms
painted sheer yellow
fighting strangers
who aren’t really here

Yea lemon painted walls
Nothing but those bright lemon walls

Throat Games

do I explain
the literal
crawling skin
the mouth
can’t do anything
but swallow
the throat
could
barely

drinking
life out of life
game of the soul
needing to play
to
count
to
be
here.

Daydreams

Came to me in a dream

I could tell him what
happened

I could tell him about
the dark figure

He said he believed me

I knew I couldn’t trust that

No difference
between

Dreams and…

The dreams are so real

The days are left to dream

History of Dreams

Stuff it
Far back
into the corners
of your history
The dreams will
vacuum out
dusty corners
sucking

memories
into
consciousness
Strange love, strange men

Wild sex
waking up
smell of his
cheap cologne
vomit up who he was
and
then
who you were

Remember that?

Next step will
reveal more
reverse
too hard

forward

harder

History does not repeat

anymore

40 Years Don't Seem So Long

40 years don’t seem so long
Headboards nailed to the wall
Pictures of doves up above
Sterile rooms lit by chromed lamps
Don’t feel like home at all
Empty spaces lurk in the heart
Trying to keep myself company
Working the work – place to place
All with songs of posterity
What I mean is…

40 years don’t seem so long
Looking back on a good day
Looking back while standing still
40 years don’t seem so long
On the road that leads to nowhere

Nowhere don’t seem so long
Living in the void
Rules don’t apply
Make it up as you go along
New faces, new places
That don’t remember
Keep going, don’t stop
Reinvent
Nowhere don’t seem so long
Turning into everywhere

Everywhere don’t seem so long
White lines are a blur
New Places, New faces
Erases, replaces memories of
Nowhere
Running, playing, laughing
Not thinking, not the deep kind
Just a number- 40 years don’t seem so long