Poems for the Galactic Tour

"A Unicorn's Wings - The Anniversary Song"

2011-12-19T23:40:00.002-05:00

Then comes the day
as does each year
sometimes in love
sometimes in fear
The sun will rise
comes life and sound
the song once lost
has now been found.

So many days,
So many years,
on unicorns
who fly in tears
but then they came
in morning sun
to fly again
their fears undone.

In hope and love
they leap and soar
their wings enfold
our lives once more.
In hope and love
they leap and soar
their wings enfold
our lives once more.

The Lady

2011-12-08T07:16:00.001-05:00

Lady in white calls my name
Singing that song just the same
Is this your life or a game
Goin' down
down
down

You're reaching for stars and for dreams
Nothing is just what it seems
Bathed in love you float down the stream
Goin' down
down
down

This ain't a story to tell
Live my life and you're going to Hell
It's your choice, I've got nothing to sell
Goin' down
down
down

The Death of Cynthia

2011-11-15T07:46:00.002-05:00

Cynthia,
you're back home now.
You'll do as I command.
Recognize your family
as you'll not leave here again.

You bring shame
to your father
you'll stay in this cold room.
The tribal call,
to keen at night,
just foretells your doom.

You were proud
with that lost tribe
You rose to come a queen.
But here now,
in the civil world,
you're not fit to be seen.

The Devil's spawn
you've carried back
is never going to live.
For a half-breed,
mongrel child,
there's nothing here to give.

Cynthia,
you're back home now.
You'll do as I command.
You're a disgrace
to every white man,
but you'll live here ... if you can.

The Manliest Cop in New York City (Anthony Bologna)

2011-09-28T12:15:00.000-04:00

Wall Street Occupation

Video of Tony Baloney macing the women. Note how he reaches from behind other cops to do it.

For validation that Anthony Bologna is the one, please see Identified: NYPD Officer Who Maced Peaceful Protesters. There are multiple other examples for further confirmation that this asshole is the one who did it. He doesn't need to be just fired, he should be charged with assault.

The Manliest Cop in New York City

There's Tony Baloney,
He's King of the Pigs,
He sprays mace on women
and doesn't give a fig.

A coward motherfucker
with a bad attitude.
His only use to a gangster
is to empty the spittoon.

Tony Baloney,
a man of the State.
He's the kind of bastard
who gives you reason to hate.

He's a coward with a gun,
the lowest kind of gollum,
who thrives on muck and sewage
as it makes him feel like home.

He's afraid of real women
as they best him every time.
Tony Baloney,
you ain't worth a fuckin' dime.

A disgrace to every cop,
a man who beats on women.
That bitch needs a tail,
he damn sure can't run with men.

All the Cowboys Love Hazel

2011-06-04T10:58:00.000-04:00

All the cowboys love Hazel,
They look into her eyes and want to take her home.
But Hazel doesn't ride with the big dogs.
When she takes the trail, she always rides alone.

She says she's got the moon and a campfire
That's all she really needs when she wants to feel alone.
She listens to the frogs in the night-time
As they sing a song of peace, sweet as she has ever known.

And Hazel loves all those cowboys
But she knows that cowboys always got to roam.
Hazel knows the trail just like they do
and she loves it like her very own.

She'll ride until the light fades into darkness
and the Lord takes her hand and takes her home.
All the cowboys love Hazel,
Yeah, all the cowboys love Hazel.

Can You Feel the Wonder (poem)

2011-05-28T13:35:00.000-04:00

Can you feel the wonder
It's really just outside
Hitch your life to a sunbeam
and take it for a ride.

It's out there in the fields,
the peace you're trying to find.
Staying in the city
just makes you deaf and blind.

It's the land of the Cherokee,
such a noble Indian tribe.
The peace that they once found here
is still very much alive.

Don't Take the Train

2011-05-28T12:14:00.000-04:00

When you take the train from Beantown to The City
you'll see two people on each side of every row.
Every single quiet drone has got his laptop
and they're lost in silly dreams that no-one knows.

In time a few might fly out to the Islands
They'll see those happy people laughing on the beach
But they'll go there with their laptops and their cellphones
and the joy will be always out of reach.

Where you are is where you aren't,
where you'll be is always gone,
and there's no chance your little toys
will take you to your home.

Here above or down below
is always just the same
but one without the other
is a hopeless, shallow game.

Look up to the eyes of a stranger in your life
and you'll find the simple thing you've always known.
If you could just lift your eyes to the beauty
You'll find it's everywhere you'll ever choose to roam.

No Cupcakes

2011-05-27T07:49:00.001-04:00

Ain't got no t-shirts
Got no cupcakes,
Got no candy for the kids
It's all about the music
And not the lowest bids.

Got no CeeDees,
Got no TeeVees,
Got no water balloons,
You just bring your magic
And I'll play some brand new tunes.

The Fairy

2011-05-27T07:48:00.002-04:00

Step into the light
Said the Fairy as she beckoned
There's truth beyond the city,
Much more than you've reckoned.

Find the gentle peace
It's been there all the time.
You just bring the story
And I will make it rhyme.

There's love untold
In morning mist,
In bird's sweet song,
In an angel's kiss.

Step into the light she said
It's not so far away.
Sing it in your love's own song
And I'll stand back to play.

Live to Ride

2011-05-10T16:37:00.000-04:00

I ain't got no kind of money
and reefer's running thin
I reach for my wallet
and get nothing but skin.

It's a bitch on the road
but you still won't hear me cryin'.
as back in the world
there was nothin' left but dyin'.

Some want to get on home
but I don't want that at all
The only thing I need
is to get out and roll.

When you try to settle down
you'll start losing your leaves
and stuff that ain't nailed down
will be taken by thieves.

Get moving in the morning,
there's nothing to decide.
You've always known this thing
that you always lived to ride.

The Monkey

2011-03-21T15:25:00.000-04:00

I gave the man a monkey,
just a cheap-ass child's toy.
He smiled when he got it,
just like a little boy.

He loved that evil monkey
and he threw it at the aides.
They didn't know what they were doing,
they're all paid the lowest wage.

He didn't fear the dying
He just didn't want the tears
It's hard enough in going
without someone else's fears.

His mother told him stories
as he considered his sad lot.
She helped him find the courage
to let his sad heart stop.

He held that stupid monkey
and it was all that I could do.
There was nothing I could tell him,
I'm just sorry that it's you.

Leibowitz Revisited

2011-03-11T08:45:00.000-05:00

Sparrows can kill a hawk
if dares to fly too low.
A fish will stop growing
if it's got no place to go.

The minstrel watched the sunrise
and drank the morning light.
He knew it's better to play solo
than to engage a pointless fight.

Leibowitz they called him
They wrote a canticle in his name.
But they didn't learn a thing
and it all came out the same.

With all respect to Walter Miller.

"Adrift" by Troy Thomas on a "Going Downstream" Theme

2011-03-08T08:44:00.001-05:00

When I was a boy,

I set my boat adrift

on a river not knowing

where it would ever go.

Now I am a man

and I find I'm like the boat,

drifting down Life's river,

just going with the flow.

(Phrasing slightly modified for pacing)

This is the second part of "Going Downstream," a song that is still evolving.

On the Corner

2011-03-04T14:56:00.000-05:00

You want to write like Ginsberg
and you're white but you're not gay
How hard is it to understand
you've got nothing much to say.

Howling into darkness
looks so cool when it's on TV
but it isn't all that sexy
when you're down here on the street.

If there's romance on the corner,
pimps and hookers work their trade
It's nothing that I'm seeing.
And I look there every day.

And so on the endless shouting
flaming pitchforks and sagging jowls
these dandies are so delightful
when they pretend their whimpers howl.

Behold

2011-03-04T07:45:00.000-05:00

Is it my job to raise them
when they will not raise themselves.
Is it my task to show the glory
of a world they send to hell.

Have they not heard a baby laughing
or seen children splashing in a pond.
Do they not watch the children playing
or looked anywhere beyond.

He held his baby high above him
and said, baby, listen well.
Behold one thing in all creation
that's greater than yourself.

It doesn't matter what you see there,
the stars shine in different ways,
but, baby, don't stop looking
ignore the bleak malaise.

The stars never called for killing,
never asked for any kind of fight.
So many see the war within them
but it's just the dark of night.

Look far into the cosmos,
look well beyond the stars.
This is where you'll find the things
that make you what you are.

Slowly

2011-03-04T07:20:00.000-05:00

I just want a place,
somewhere so far away.
Somewhere that they have peace.
Someplace that I can play.

I don't care for your religion,
I don't care what's in your bread.
I'm tired of all the shouting
and would like some peace instead.

If you ever spoke of goodness
or of any hope for peace
there'd be some reason to continue
but there's nothing I can see.

The raven eyes come leering fast
beaks cold yet dripping blood.
The rain just won't stop falling
and I die slowly in the mud.

Losing My Religion

2011-03-03T06:11:00.000-05:00

Drying out in a motel room,
it's how it always goes.
The colors are all fading.
What comes Heaven only knows.

It's not about forgiveness
as there is no crime to tell.
It's just another song
that some hustler wants to sell.

I'd trade it all for freedom
but freedom never comes.
They start talking of the peace time
then start reaching for their guns.

A child came up to me
and asked me what of peace.
I said I'm old, not old enough,
the wars have never ceased.

It's incumbent on the children
not to do as we have done.
The commandments are quite simple.
Never hurt any one.

The Journey

2011-02-22T07:31:00.000-05:00

As I write about my life
she pretends to be asleep
It's another thing she gives me
She knows it's what I need.

You drive for miles in silence
but peace is what we heard
Any words we say mean nothing
they only cage a free-flying bird.

In time you talk in wonder
of how things came to be
but still it doesn't matter
it's such a glory being free.

You know your love in driving
as there's nowhere you can hide.
The miles become a journey
kick back and enjoy the ride.

"And Then You Wake"

2011-02-09T08:52:00.000-05:00

And then you wake
open your eyes
and find she's here to stay

You sleep, you wake,
It's all the same.
She's with you in her gentle way.

Coming in a dream
flying like a circus in the sky
Flying through the clouds
Flying through the colors in your eyes

And then you wake
open your eyes
and find she's here to say

My love is yours
for you to hold
It's what I give this quiet day

Coming in a dream
flying like a circus in the sky
Flying through the clouds
flying through the colors in your eyes

And then you wake

(Guitar break - Dream sequence)

And then you wake
open your eyes
and find she's here today

She spreads her wings
you join her flight
She loves you in her special way.

Coming in a dream
flying like a circus in the sky
Flying through the clouds
Flying through the colors in your eyes

And then you wake

(Guitar break short and chords to end and fade)

The Ring

2011-02-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

We stepped out for the evening
and I noticed your old coat
but you never said a thing,
didn't think it worth a note.

I was so proud to be beside you
and I wish I had done more
to show the love inside me
It didn't matter what you wore.

The thing that helps a little,
the ring that only we two know,
seems so small in looking back
when I think of what you wore.

You never asked for money,
never asked for any thing.
Your love is not for money,
you only need to sing.

There wouldn't be a thought in me
if you wore the finest clothes
But you wore that tired old housecoat
and that's how your love shows.

That love goes on forever,
at least that's my fervent hope.
That love goes on forever,
at least that's my fervent hope.

Bluebirds and Sunbeams on CNN

2011-01-29T09:03:00.001-05:00

I'm so worried about Egypt
but I can't find it on a map.
My mistake was watching CNN
as they live for sordid crap.

There's nothing like a car crash
or, better yet, an aircraft.
And, oh please, send us your pictures
We love those bloody photographs.

I need a cause to care about
I need to feel like I'm not dead
It doesn't matter what it does
I'll send ten bucks ...
then go on back to bed.

Going Downstream

2011-01-27T20:06:00.000-05:00

The boy went to the water
on a soft Spring day in May
as little boys have done
as long as men could say,
"Is there something in the distance?"
"I cannot really see."
but the boy will simply smile
and set his toy boat free.

As little boys find creeks to play
So little girls will sing
as they explore the hidden places
where magic flies on wings.
They can find the faerie gardens
as only young girls can.
They sing the songs of wonder
where magic just began.

The little boat of leaves and twigs
floats quickly down the stream.
And he stands to watch its journey
as it turns into a dream.
He wants to go downstream this day
There's a world they just don't see.
That was when he smiled
and set his toy boat free.

The creek will keep on flowing,
splashing rocks that look like pearls.
Little boys will launch their boats
and faeries find the little girls.
They have no fear of magic
They see the beauty that unfolds.
It's still downstream and waiting
Just ask little boys or girls.

Doctor Nayak

2011-01-18T12:46:00.001-05:00

Posted in error. Correction pending.

Remember

2011-01-11T08:51:00.002-05:00

Remember sleeping in that bunk bed?
Remember what it was like
when we had nothing to eat?
The sun still came up in the morning
and love's the only thing that set us free.

Your eyes give first light in the dawning
The first thing when life comes back to me,
It's even more special in the morning

as love's the only thing that sets you free.

Through hunger, dark and torment we went riding

It was you who chose to ride alone with me.

Your eyes turn love into music

and love's the only thing I want to be.

We'll dance in light and love between the spaces,

between the faces and the things that steal your soul.

We'll love in the dance in those places,

as love's the only thing that makes you whole.

Do you remember back when we had nothing.

Do you remember when it seemed so very bleak.

We had everything everyone is seeking.

as love's the only thing that sets you free.

The Giraffe Song

2010-11-09T16:48:00.001-05:00

You can't stand

(tick, tick, tick)

Under a giraffe
when a thunderstorm comes
Under a giraffe
when the thunderstorm comes

Don't stand

(tick, tick, tick)

under a giraffe
when the thunderstorm comes
because he'll just run away

He'll just run away.

The end.

Reaching for a Rainbow v3

2010-11-06T15:24:00.003-04:00

It's all a search for Perfection,
you quest so long for noble Truth.
Search the scintillating colors of an orchid
Hear the music when it's coming back to you.

It's in the songbird's call in early morning,
pitch-perfect in the love it always sends,
its song so pure, inviolate,
You hope this music never ends.

It sprays infinite in colors in the daylight
It's been reaching for you all this time.
Hear the song in its ever-changing colors
See the rainbow and feel the music start to rise.

Reaching for a rainbow

Reaching for love

Reaching for a rainbow

Reaching for love

Sailing into starlight in the evening,
the dolphins now fly laughing by your side
It's all your long-lost joys inside a rainbow
You've cast off and joined the evening tide.

Reaching for a rainbow

Reaching for love

Reaching for a rainbow

Reaching for love.

Solitary

2010-10-31T22:36:00.000-04:00

Smoking cigarettes and reefer,
there's nothing else to do.
Locked me down in solitary,
No windows, got no view.

Times freeze to granite faces
gargoyles shriek their ancient call
they revel in the darkness
awaiting my last fall.

Scaled, lurking monsters,
winged demons, naked claws,
their savage retribution
promised from dripping maw.

We've waited all these eons
we will have you for our own.
There's a blood debt to the Master
and you'll see him on his throne.

Soon they'll bring the hangman
His eyes red and all aglow
He'll take me to the scaffold
and then they'll let me go.

Take the Train

2010-10-25T12:23:00.000-04:00

I went back to Cincinnati
and then they picked my bones
I've got someplace to go
but it damn sure ain't home.

There's a train in the distance
they're everywhere you go
It's calling all those sinners
but they already know.

You never see the train
'til you catch the one you're ridin'
But now you've got a ticket,
You ain't livin' while you're dyin'.

Don't want to catch that night train
Don't want to hear that sound
But you hear it getting closer
and know that you've been found.

Take the train when it's calling
Take the train

Take the train when it's calling
Take the train

I'll miss a lot of people
My brother shares my name
They cut us both together
and we turned out just the same.

There's so much to remember
but the light is just ahead
I see butterflies and zebras
so I'll take the train instead.

Take the train when it's calling
Take the train

Take the train when it's calling
Take the train

Musica Universalis (w/Video Reading)

2010-10-08T20:43:00.004-04:00

When you're living in illusion
and climbing through the mirrors.
Smoke builds up around you,
and the demons circle nearer.
Multi-colored starlight
bends twisting through the maze
chasing sprites through endless channels
as they set the world ablaze.

The flames take all inside them;
they're all that can be seen.
But the only thing that matters
is what lies in-between.
You only hear the roaring
as the world is burned apart
but in time will come the silence,
listen then what's in your heart.

Musica universalis,
Enthrones the ancient King
in a giant golden palace
where all the planets sing.
The starlight in the night time,
the meteoric trails,
they join to make the music
and sing of noble tales.

The harmonies, a spectrum,
fly beyond the end of space.
Lighting everything in glory
then disappearing with no trace.
What point to end in nothing
when the colors swirl so bright
but through the coming darkness
they bring forever light.

Too Many Secrets

2010-10-05T12:47:00.001-04:00

There are too many secrets
when I only know your name.
Did you ever ride a horse,
is this all just a game.

Do you like to watch the sunrise
and listen to the birds,
to hear the sound of nothing
or anything you've heard.

Can you sit in silence
and hear the music all around
Though others may be near you
and cannot hear a sound.

Have you ever made the starlight
as you waved your regal hand,
and watched it fade to nothing,
to glory then to sand.

Have you ever wished for freedom
for the ones who live in chains
The sad ones cannot see them
but they're locked down just the same.

You can fly in your spirit
but you leave all else behind
share the vision and the magic
there's nothing left to bind.

You only lose the secrets
when you throw them to the wind
Holding them inside you
just lets others say you've sinned.

Laughing Turtles

2010-09-27T07:44:00.001-04:00

Laughing giant turtles
with diamonds on their shells
they love to dance merengue
and they do it very well.
Dressed in top hats and tuxedoes
and the most gorgeous of gowns
They won't spare an expense
when the turtles go to town.

Turtles in top hats
dance merengue through the night
light sparkles from their baubles
all blazing diamond bright.
The moon shines so brightly
that even birds begin to sing
It always gets so festive
when the turtles crown a King.

The only thing with turtles
they can't see beyond their shells
So long as they look pretty
there's not much else to tell.
But they love to dance merengue
and they do it very well
Those laughing giant turtles
with the diamonds on their shells.

Truck Stop Ho's

2010-09-26T17:12:00.001-04:00

We're truck-stop ho's
we really need the diesel
we'll take on all the fatties
and even teabag weasels.
We'll talk dirty for you, baby,
we've got so much to say
and we've got that Auto-Tune
to be a chick for a day.

So you get out to your rig
and we'll be drinking Scotch
we'll talk dirty on your phone
'cause we don't want to watch.
Now there are some rules
some places not to go
No way we'll get down
if your rig's a Volvo.

Men Who Don't Need Pants

2010-09-17T15:48:00.000-04:00

Donald Duck has got no shorts
He's got nothing to hide
Like they've got heads at Assurant
but there's nothing inside.
Charles Beall and young Daniel
have some shirts that they share
but when it comes to needing pants
they've got nothing to wear.

Get your Assurant
get insurance today
but when comes time to claim
we ain't going to pay.

Sometimes they call him Charlie
sometimes they call him Chuck
but he's the lamest kind of wanker
and you just don't give a fuck.
Then you've got young Daniel
who's always begging for sex
Girls see through his shirt
there's no muscle to flex.

Get your Assurant

get insurance today

but when comes time to claim

we ain't going to pay.

Go ahead and sue

It don't matter to me.

You already stole my money

and what's left you can keep.

No tellin' how you'll spend it

but for one there's no chance

You may go out shopping

but you won't need any pants.

Get your Assurant

get insurance today

but when comes time to claim

we ain't going to pay.

We're men who don't need pants

our only jewels are PVC

We got them at Home Depot

for masculinity.

Get your Assurant

get insurance today

but when comes time to claim

we ain't going to pay.

Get your Assurant

get insurance today

but when comes time to claim

we ain't going to pay.

Note: GEICO Insurance fronts the fraudulent activities of Assurant Insurance Company of Miami, FL.

Celtic Dawn - Heavily-Updated

2010-08-23T10:29:00.001-04:00

In the rising sun this morning

the women build the fires

Tending to their cooking

as the rest begin to rise.

They go down to the river

fetching water for the day

They always walk together

as they've got so much to say.

Mothers wash their babies

they squeal when they're wet.

Laughs rise to the tree line

and birds sing back in jest.

It's heaven in the valley

they know just what they need.

The tribe has found its home here

many leagues from Roman greed.

There's a cadence in the distance.

They've not heard this sound before.

It's the Romans bringing justice

They've come to bring the law.

There's a cadence in the distance.

They've not heard this sound before.

The Romans call it justice

but it's just another war.

(Last break without drums - In the previous version, the poem was repeated. The change is to write the second pass from the perspective of the men as they wait for the arrival of the Romans. At the end of this song is just prior to "Boudicca, My Name is War" in which the Romans lay waste to her village.)

In the fading sun of evening

the men start up the fires

On guard around the village

they wait as twilight dies.

Now they wear their armor

taking weapons for this day

They always stand together

but tonight there's naught to say.

Mothers hide their babies

they hush them when they cry

Quiet takes the evening

as the Moon begins to rise.

It's heaven in the valley

they know just what they need.

The tribe has found its home here

where everyone is free.

There's a cadence in the distance.

Even closer than before.

It's the Romans bringing justice

They've come to bring the law.

The cadence from the distance.

Has brought them to their door.

The Romans call it justice

but it's just another war.

Everybody Wants to Live Forever (TBC)

2010-08-02T11:57:00.002-04:00

Everybody wants to live forever
but they don't know what to do
on a Sunday afternoon.

I'll take you to the fairy dance if ever
can you cross the rainbow bridge
beneath a golden August moon.

Perseus is tonight the King,
flaming bolts shoot through the starlight
as you take your solemn leave.

In every color of the prism's glass
colors spray in gloried frenzy
on the walk this summer's eve.

Take the hand of one who calls you
as you leave all else behind
and cross toward the call.

In this land there's no deception
There's nothing you could take
That doesn't matter any more.

Don't Say Good-Bye

2010-07-31T07:29:00.000-04:00

Don't you ever think
of saying good-bye
Don't ever look back
when you're going to fly

There's a mystery revealing
but it's nothing left behind
Without looking to tomorrow
There's nothing you can find.

There's a time for idle dreaming
and a time to walk alone
but no matter what I find there
you know I'll come back home.

I love you, Mystery Lady. I'm not leaving, I'm just moving. We're family forever.

Love and Survival

2010-07-28T09:58:00.000-04:00

It's about love and survival
being hungry all the time
what will you do
when you don't want the crime

people downtown laugh
and then get all rude
but that stuff goes away
when there's not enough food.

those with the least
are the ones you can trust
the rest gather toys
and they just turn to rust.

they built a golden kingdom
but it's floating on sand
people live their deception
and won't lend a hand.

Down on the streets
is where we all live
it's not what you take
but the things that you give.

Still, Baby, Still

2010-07-27T19:38:00.000-04:00

I hope you think I'm sexy
I hope I know what you like
so drill, baby, drill
you can take all night.

I'm a shill, baby, shill,
I take my payments monthly,
So spill, baby, spill,
It's alright with me.

I don't mean to sound so sexy
the bad ones make me do it
but throw this dog a bone
I'd so love to chew it.

I'm a shill, baby, shill,

I take my payments monthly,

So spill, baby, spill,

It's alright with me.

I've got the money and the fame

and the whores who pass as lawyers

but here's a little flash

for all those Tea Party voyeurs

I'm a shill, baby, shill,

I take my payments monthly,

So spill, baby, spill,

It's alright with me.

I'm a shill, baby, shill,

I take my payments monthly,

So spill, baby, spill,

It's alright with me.

Call to Arms - Version 2

2010-07-27T11:17:00.002-04:00

This will be used with "Bombs Away" for the call to arms to the Iceni warriors. It was previously part of "The Battle Song" but has been split off from that to make the story less jumbled.

(Short instrumental intro as Queen Boudicca enters)

(Queen Boudicca dances solo to tell the story of what happened to her and her people)

They came to take the children
They came to kill the King
There comes a time for fighting
and comes a time to sing.

Their shame ran to the river
in crying crimson tides
they lust for wanton slaughter
and now they'll pay the price.

(Guitar break for soft lead as in "Bombs Away")

(Boudicca solo dances the lament and the rage.)

(Guitar goes into distortion and Queen Boudicca points one-by-one on the back beat to men on the perimeter as the words are revealed)

All you men stand with me
Bring your shields and your swords
We'll bloody all our weapons
rain death on Roman hordes.

(Enter warriors, keep the back beat. Wave the swords and understand the metaphors in them. But mostly be some really pissed-off Iceni.)

Sing your song of battle,
It's now time for revenge
We'll slay them where they're standing
in the shadow of Stonehenge.

(Guitar lead to end as in "Bombs Away" - All dancers fade from the stage as volume fades. They re-enter as marchers when they go off to war in the next song.)

The Mirror Pond (Version 2)

2010-07-25T13:01:00.002-04:00

When your mind is still strong
but your bones are getting weary
comes then a well-known song
but it goes so very dreary.
That's when there comes a time
to renew an age-old bond
when you take it on back
to the Mirror Pond.

If you look very deep
you can see the little fishes
and listen for the voice
that will grant you the three wishes.
It says it can save time
the first two are love and money
but what will be the third
when you think about it, honey.

There are so many things you want
but there's only one you need
There's just one choice before you
will you yield to the greed.
You take a look around
at the trees grown tall beyond
the crazy quilt of flowers
grown by the Mirror Pond.

Frogs are chirping in the water
and birds are singing from the trees
Soft harmonies come floating
on the gentle evening breeze.
As you listen to these creatures,
none wishing for a thing,
it slowly comes upon you
the reason they all sing.

You already have the love
and you don't need the money.
The third wish doesn't matter
and don't you see it, honey.
No matter what you have
No matter where you find it
the only thing that you still need
is to find the love to bind it.

You already have the love

and you don't need the money.

The third wish doesn't matter

and don't you see it, honey.

In life there comes a time

to renew an age-old bond

when you take it on back

to the Mirror Pond.

Homeless

2010-07-25T06:50:00.004-04:00

Any time there's a chance
to get a bite to eat
There'll be that goddamn dog
just pacing at my feet.

I hate you motherfucker,
I don't eat as much as you.
If it were ever up to me,
I'd put poison your stew.

There was a quite a long time
when a dog was man's best friend
but this worthless piece of shit
just wants to steal your bread.

I shouldn't complain,
about the Republican way.
What's theirs is always theirs
and what's mine is theirs someday.

Republicans and dogs, they say,
we're just looking out for you.
But really all they want
is to steal your fuckin' food.

Woman in the Snow

2010-07-23T08:51:00.001-04:00

There's a woman in the snow
lying down
So
where's your freedom now
little girl.

Your finger's in the air
going down
But a thing I've got to ask
Did you know,
did you know.

Did it really taste so sweet
You didn't care
But
Look at you now
Now that you dare

There's a woman in the snow
lying down
So
Where's your freedom now
little girl.

Celtic Dawn

2010-07-22T14:13:00.000-04:00

Before the rising sun this morning
the women tend the fires
They start tending to their cooking
as the rest begin to rise.

They go down to the river
fetching water for the day
They always walk in silence
as there's not so much to say.

Mothers wash their babies
and they squeal when they're wet.
Soft laughs rise to the tree line
and birds sing back in jest.

It's heaven in the valley
and they know just what they need.
The tribe has found its home here
far from Roman greed.

But there's a cadence in the distance.
They've not heard this sound before.
It's the Romans bringing justice
They've come to bring the law.

Boudicca, My Name is War

2010-07-22T10:50:00.001-04:00

They broke the wooden doorway,
smashed through with heavy boots.
They looked for any plunder
and brought us to the room.

Gathering up the spoils,
the heathens had their way
They took my sister to the corner
There was nothing she could say.

Another looked back proudly
and his eyes laid down on me.
He dragged me to my sister
to better hear her scream.

What they did I cannot tell you
My disgrace is endless shame
I can tell you of my story
but I cannot say my name.

Boudicca, my mother,
bore it all without a sound.
My father lay before her
where they struck him to the ground.

In time the Romans left us,
Father's blood shines from the fire.
My Mother took us to her
Soft words held harsh desire.

She stood up to the morning
and took us in each arm.
I promise you, my children,
you'll see no further harm.

We'll find where they've gone hiding
and we'll drive them to the sea.
They better die from drowning
than to take their Fate from me.

Boudicca, my Name is War,
and Heaven help the man.
If he fights for Roman legions
we'll kill him where he stands.

Negro Alert

2010-07-21T13:22:00.001-04:00

So I get to my truck
and it's ringing its bells
screaming alarms
and sounding like hell.

I asked this one guy
about what set it off
He said, "Negro Alert,"
and then gave a small cough.

I looked at this cat
as sayin', "Come, on dude,
I didn't ask 'cause you're black,
I wasn't trying to be rude."

Just look around
You can see I'm sincere.
I didn't ask 'cause you're black.
There's no-one else here.

He saw in my smile
I didn't think it was him
That's when it changed
and he flashed me a grin.

We'll both tell this story
perhaps go different ways
but there's truth in a smile
and what it can say.

It sounds pretty corny
but smiles heal big hurts
and one day they'll stop
these Negro Alerts.

Nancy is Mad as Hell About Some Damn Thing

2010-07-20T07:38:00.000-04:00

Nancy, love to do ya
Love to drive real deep
but you ain't the kind of woman
that a man wants to keep.

If you weren't so flippin' angry
just so goddamn mad
you could be the best
that a man ever had.

You look kind of hot
when you shoot that rare smile
but then you get all smug
like a hooker on trial.

Ain't a thing so small
that it don't jerk yer chain
and that's no kind of sexy
don't need that kind of pain.

You've got little Paula
who's as angry as you
and that got us thinking
of things we could do.

In quick time it came
it'd be really groovy
if we could get you two
in a lesbian movie.

Oh yeah, we want you
and please take this rose
but you gotta get naked
please lose the clothes.

We know we can bill it
as Nancy's past sins
but right now we're leaning
to the lesbian twins.

We're thinking it's cool
Seein' yer lesbian movie
We'll smoke joints and watch
drink down tropical smoothies.

Nancy, love to do ya

Love to drive real deep

but you ain't the kind of woman

that a man wants to keep.

If you weren't so flippin' angry

just so goddamn mad

you could be the best

that a man ever had.

After the Flood

2010-07-18T17:47:00.002-04:00

Cocks crowing in the morning
Frogs singing all night long
It's Tennessee in loving
You can hear it in her song.

Birds big and casting shadows
as they're flying across the street
searching verdant woodlands
in this bountiful retreat.

In frenzied glory come the finches
colors riot in their flight
all the while they're singing
to the minstrel's charmed delight.

The children dress in costumes
and dance through forest trees.
Watching through the shadows
watch their spirits running free.

The Cherokee once danced here
and dance now as they can
The spirit's in the forest
it's been so since dawn of man.

The Forest has its trials
as time can bring the wind
in time can come the water
and the deadly floods begin.

Not so far in distance
the water still runs hard.
It's deep and filled with power
and it's dealt its cruelest card.

This time it struck the music
but the music won't go still
It took their lives and their axes
but it can never drown their will.

Nashville is the music
and it will see another day
There's another show that's coming
and that's when you'll hear me say,

Raptors fly the skies here
and herons walk the ponds
Everywhere you listen
You'll find another song.

Raptors fly the skies here
and herons walk the ponds
Everywhere you listen
You'll find another song.

Stand Up

2010-07-14T22:29:00.003-04:00

The only reason for a secret
is that someone's getting screwed
so I've got nothin' to hide
and I've got nothin' to lose.

I hear about your troubles
and, baby, ain't it a shame
but if you don't end up laughin'
you're not getting the game.

Stand up
your blues don't mean a thing
Stand up
get on up and sing.

If you want to whisper
talkin' love into my ear
then bring it on, darlin',
nothin' else I want to hear.

Nah, don't tell me secrets
they're hardly ever true.
All I'm really wanting
is a little time with you.

Stand up
your blues don't mean a thing
Stand up
get on up and sing.

It's time you left the chorus
It's time to stand out from the choir
It's time to take a chance
and step out on the wire.

What's left behind is dust
for someone else to sweep
Don't let it be you
or don't ask me to weep.

Stand up
your blues don't mean a thing
Stand up
get on up and sing.

It's For You

2010-07-14T22:27:00.003-04:00

Every step I take and
every move I make
It's for you

Every time I fly and
if I were to die
It's for you

Now it's down
to
this

I still
need
your kiss

Any time I laugh
and any time I cry
It's for you

Come and take my hand
and then you'll understand
It's for you.

Now it's down
to
this

Now it's down
to
this.

(Soft part - verse and chorus)

Long miles around the bend
I'd walk them all again
Just for you

Feel the magic all around
See the lights, hear the sound
It's for you

Now it's down
to
this

I still
need
your kiss

(Comes back in hard)

Every step I take and
every move I make
It's for you

Every time I fly and
if I were to die
It's for you

Every step I take and
every move I make
It's for you

Every time I fly and
if I were to die
It's for you

Now it's down
to
this

My life
is in
your kiss

Long miles around the bend
I'd walk them all again
Just for you

Feel the magic all around
See the lights, hear the sound
It's for you

(Final verse - Guitar lead and out)

Too Much or Not Enough

2010-07-14T22:25:00.003-04:00

Too much
Too much or not enough
Time
Time I could be spending with you

We found our way to trouble
We were living much too fast
We were living in a bubble
but all that's in the past.
I love you more than ever
You can see that in my eyes
but love was not the problem
we had more than most will find.

Watching all the sunsets
going dancing in the night
making love in early morning
driving fast into the light.
Not caring about the dawning
that we were much too young
but time was flying past us
we were having too much fun.

Too much
Too much or not enough
Time
Time I could be spending with you.

(Interlude)

Too much
Too much or not enough
Time
Time I once was spending with you.

It's been so many years now
It's all so long ago
The memories are like magic
I'll never let them go.
We danced under the moonlight
to a timeless ancient beat
and blistered all the hillsides
with a timeless ancient heat

Watching all the sunsets
going dancing in the night
making love in early morning
driving fast into the light.
Not caring about the dawning
that we were much too young
but time was flying past us
we were having too much fun.

Too much
Too much or not enough
Time
Time I once was spending with you.

(Guitar lead to end)

Diamonds in the Night

2010-07-14T22:24:00.003-04:00

The multi-faceted diamond snake
glides through the jungle night
The light from her bejeweled scales
Her ruby eyes fire laser bright
freezing me in their beauty
She strikes and bites
I feel her fangs descend
and they wisdom they impart
as her venom flows to my veins.

That which is told as poison
isn't always so
That which is told as knowledge
doesn't always grow

I see the light rising
through the leaves of the jungle trees
I want to see her eyes once more
but she has turned
and glides into the jungle night.

It's All About the Bubbles

2010-07-14T22:22:00.003-04:00

So many people tell you just what to believe
So many want to train you in how to deceive.
It's all just a game to sell more Coca Cola
It's all about the bubbles, baby, try not to sneeze.

You want to bomb Korea as you know how they are
They cook and eat their babies and keep what's left in jars
They're slanty little fuckers who really ought to die
and Lockheed Martin wants a piece of the action.

Now China's back there thinking she don't want a war
they're building all these cars, no tanks on showroom floors
If there's going to be a war, they've this to say, honey,
I'll saddle up the horses but first show me the money.

Down in Dallas they're all talking, licking lips in eager glee
We're going to sell a lot of jetplanes, got to set all those chinks free.
We'll annihilate the country and find it was a hoax
but, what the fuck, we made it and can't you take the joke.

You want armies, you want navies, you want moral indignation
we've got it all at a fine price to suit your ethical castration.
Sell your children, sell your homes, you won't need them anymore.
Those lame-ass politicians are going to start another war.

Cover Me With Love

2010-07-14T22:20:00.003-04:00

There's a story in the blankets
there are stories that each tells
from beyond this place we walk now
just listen to the bells.

Their tolls will tell a story
as will the blankets that she gave
First unto the children
then the babies that they made.

Each blanket wrapped the future
and she felt it as she sewed
She didn't even know them
but she yearned to watch them grow.

In time it came she wrapped them all
in woolen blanket charm
Each time they went to sleep at night
they slept wrapped in her arms.

Cover me with love,
I ask you, cover me with love.
It's a warmth I'll feel forever
please do cover me with love.

Cover me with love,
I ask you, cover me with love.
It's a warmth I'll feel forever
please do cover me with love.

Lady Katarina

2010-07-14T22:19:00.003-04:00

What happened all these years ago
doesn't mean a thing to me.
There's so much still before us
and it hurts that you can't see.

We've talked these nights and angry days
on giving love in selfless ways
but always comes the time at last
emotion comes and logic strays.

It always shows the one you hurt
is the one you hold most dear
and so it goes that when you move
it's away from that old fear.

Lady Katarina in the candles
your eyes burn in those soft flames
You are beauty in the starving night
how can it be what we became.

If I pause to say I'm sorry
It just shows you that I'm weak
and to quell that deep dark passion
is not the thing you seek.

In savage thrust of belting rage
You change the set and turn the stage
and like the hungry groundlings
I'll pay my heathen's wage.

In time I will find freedom
that I had hoped to find with you
but I really must be leaving
as the time I bought is through.

And She Said

2010-07-14T22:16:00.002-04:00

I'd love to hear your stories
and I'll listen when I can
but just this quiet minute
I'm going to see my man.

I've missed him oh so hard
through all these lonely years
So now I'll go to see him
and I'll leave behind my fears.

We sailed all the oceans
and traveled all the world.
Now we raise the sheets once more
and we'll let the sails unfurl.

He always was a dreamer
but he made those dreams come true
and he said right from the start
I want to dream them all with you.

We'll go to live that dream again
I wish you could come too
but don't forget in your heart
that I'll be always loving you.

Think of me on summer night
in quiet breeze and soft moonlight
I'll be there with you smiling
but just now I'll say good night.

My ol' Mother

2010-07-14T22:14:00.002-04:00

I keep telling her, Mom,
I've got stories for you.
Then I see her old smile
It's all I can do.

You won't see tears
and you won't hear cryin'
When you stop livin',
there's nothin' left but dyin'.

You know how it goes
She doesn't ever cry
It was never for herself
and now I say good-bye.

She said she feels much better
but I know it isn't true.
What I learned about brave
I picked up from you.

I can't get back home
but I know that you don't mind
There's so much to say
and so little time.

I don't know why all things
will come as they do
but if there's any way
I'll be coming to you.

My ol' Mother, I love you
You did your job well.
With all pride in my life
It's your story I'll tell.

Daniel and His Mother

2010-07-14T22:11:00.002-04:00

I don't got no money
but at least I've got my name
So lately I met Daniel
and saw his mother's shame.

There's new terror in the country
but it doesn't come from overseas
It's the insurance company goon squads
and they do it for the fees.

The Muslims came with weapons
They sought a national dread
but Daniel and his company
they just do it for the bread.

Todd Rosenberg's a worker
where Citizens Bank has shopped
He cut off my doctor's cover
before the bleeding even stopped.

Daniel, see your mother
don't let her see your shame
It's not to late save it,
pride in your family name.

So many know the evil
that insurance companies bring
Those people are the reason
and with them all I sing.

There's no hope for your partner
He's already on the take.
He lives his life on payments
and they're more than he can make.

Daniel, see your mother,
you only bring her shame.
You'll cheat an honest man
or a grifter all the same.

I'm not some shoplift child
and you've no right to treat that way.
You said you'd save my music
if harm ever came its way.

They stole my power and my music
when they took away the songs
And what you've done to help me
couldn't be more wrong.

Daniel, see your mother,
someday she'll know the shame.
She'll learn what you've been doing
what you've done to her good name.

Daniel, see your mother,
She can help you find what's right
From what you're doing now
comes the darkest kind of night.

Someday you'll sit in darkness
and remember what you've done
I hope you'll find your mother
I hope she finds her son.

It's not too late for honor.
Walk away and find the truth.
The shame in what you're doing
can be left behind in youth.

Daniel, see your mother,
It's not too late to bring her pride.
Live up to obligations
Your honor is your guide.

This Day is Shot

2010-07-14T22:09:00.001-04:00

They stood to the dusty ends
of a nameless downtown street
their duel to thrill the butchers
their fate they're bound to meet.

In glare of mid-day shining
in unshamed sight of all
they wave their heavy weapons
as besotted drunkards brawl.

Just shoot shouts one to other
I wanna hear some guns
The other yelled I'm shooting
Try listening to it, son.

You can't even hit the sidewalk
the cowboy told the drunk
You talk like a gunfighter
but you shoot like some damn skunk.

Then scent came shooting through us
you know how skunks can be
but this time someone hit him
and it smells that skunk is me.

In longest time I said to no-one
it all amounts to naught
as the sun sets in the distance
This long hard day is shot.

The Ancient Curse

2010-07-14T22:06:00.003-04:00

He threw fireballs and pitchforks
from his angry outstretched hand.
Burning every living creature
throughout the wailing land.

He raved in screaming anger
I'll avenge the ancient curse
You feel my power now
You'll feel it get much worse.

He ranted in his fury
with spittle on his chin
His eyes were wild with liquor
and it burned him from within.

The future is not coming
You don't want it anyway
You just want tomorrow
to look just like today.

He knew the spell for lightning
and he hurled bolts to his feet
The groundlings ran for cover
but there was nowhere to retreat.

They cried as little children
How could you do this thing
but he gathered up more weapons
so they could feel their sting.

Cry, you little bastards,
It's my joy to snuff your life.
You've given nothing but your torment
wrapped up in endless strife.

He saw the little bubbles
shining colors to the night
but it's all a fairy tale
and they pop at the first light.

The fairies rose in silence
then asked, do you hate us all.
Don't you think the one who did it
wants all of us to fall.

You betrayed me, little demons,
little nightmares on soft wings
You stabbed me as to kill me
and then took everything.

You covered it with silence
to say that you don't know
but even fairies feel the murmur
and I won't let that go.

You talk about your loving
every time the dull wind blows
but much more telling than the story
is where it doesn't go.

Fairy love is made of vapor
As the dust in your sweet wings
You give no reason to believe it
There's not a reason left to sing.

Curse you into darkness
May every fairy fall
You'll see pits of hellish fire
your pain is my enthrall.

Curse you into darkness
May every fairy fall
You'll see pits of hellish fire
your pain is my enthrall.

Sitting on the Porch

2010-07-14T22:04:00.002-04:00

The kids are noodlin' catfish
They do it down below
It's something we were doing
twenty years ago.

Out here on the porch
I've got cold lemonade
The summer sun is blazing
I've got it made in the shade.

Ol' Fred he says "Hell yeah"
and I say, "You got that right"
I know just what he's thinking
We've been friends as wheat gets ripe.

It's not the length of the season
but the color of the field
and the glory in the sunlight
all shows what it can yield.

It's gold into the distance
for as far as I can see
It's quiet as a tiny mouse
I can almost hear it breathe.

Sitting on the porch
It's a summer afternoon
Live this now forever
soon comes the harvest moon.

Of You They Sing

2010-07-14T22:03:00.002-04:00

Through many fertile seasons,
they walked the endless plains.
The sun shone bright behind them
in this glorious domain.

Their sons grew strong beside them
Their daughters took new homes.
The family started spreading
and the tribe would always roam.

No matter how they wandered,
they came back each New Spring Night
Each time they brought their babies
to the Mother as her right.

The years stepped into decades
and they stood each other strong
So many things befell them
but always knowing they belong.

The snow came from the mountains
in its season, in its time
They walked the path to meet it
took their rest from that long climb.

They sat and spoke together
as the spirits rose around.
They held each other closely
but they didn't make a sound.

The quiet held the season
but at last in time came Spring
The children brought their babies
and now of you they sing.

Through many fertile seasons,
they walked the endless plains.
The sun shone bright behind them
in this glorious domain.

Requiem for Doctor Tiller

2010-07-14T22:01:00.002-04:00

You say you work for God
kill a man in a church
as all human decency
gets lost in the lurch.
It doesn't bother you at all
for what those church kids saw.
You're the judge and the jury,
and every rule of law.

You put a good man down
for the things that you believe
and don't even have the class
for a moment to grieve.
His courage was much more
than you will ever know.
The more you try to crush him,
the more he'll ever grow.

We're tired of religion,
of the hatred, of the greed.
If you say this is for God
then it's not a God I need.
If you want to talk of loving
and how people make mistakes
then maybe now you're learning
of how we're really made.

All Around the Clocktower - Dedicated to Crap Mariner

2010-07-14T21:58:00.002-04:00

All around the clocktower
the minstrels threw their seeds.
The Mariner gave water
and tended to their needs.
He never asked a favor
from the people that he found.
He tended to his garden
to bring us all the sound.

It grew in great profusion
butterflies with rainbow wings
They fluttered all around us
through what the music brings
In a gallery of music
he crafted all alone
He sought to lift the players
asking nothing for his own.

The Mariner makes music
and some won't understand
but the music will go nowhere
If he's not in the band.
He sings and some don't listen
In time they'll learn the words
His song is one of magic
sweet as you've ever heard.

Save the Muskrats and the Boat Kids

2010-07-14T21:57:00.003-04:00

I wanna save the seals
and all the feckin' whales
I wanna save the muskrats
and boat kids when they sail.

I'm a cause for every moment
I get tragic on demand
I can show such bold emotion
I just want to join the band.

I'll forget in twenty minutes
and it's not because I'm faint.
There's no shortage of sad drama
but remember I don't paint.

I'm so busy in my caring
collecting money for this bent
There's just one thing I'll ask you
please don't ask me where it went.

Sometimes it gets confusing
trying to figure who I'll save
It's almost time for coffee
and you know that's what I crave.

Don't hold me up for breakfast
You know how it is with Yanks
They call it food disorder
and they're big as feckin' tanks.

But Oprah says, "Now, honey"
I can make it be alright
Enjoy your self-absorption
and keep growing out of sight.

You want to save the planet
but put that on the shelf
The first thing to be saving
is your sorry sense of self.

Love Me Do

2010-07-14T21:54:00.002-04:00

She said, "Hell is other people,"
then turned aside in bed.
I said, "Yeah, you know your Sartre"
It's the only line you ever read.

There's comfort in the sparring
as you've not left each other yet.
You can still get some swordplay
before the fatal blow is set.

She said, "I hate you, motherfucker"
I said, "Don't you think I know"
but then she turned toward me
and that old fire came to grow

You still have got your passions
of course the rest she stole.
Then you'll fuck her with your muscles
and not your heart and soul.

It's blinding sex in mortal combat
as you're fucking to be free.
It's all the more excitement
when she's doing that to me.

When it's done she asks so sweetly
do you think we have a chance
But she always does that way
to step out on one more dance.

In a turn around the dance floor
I'll find how much I'm wrong
Then it's back to get the weapons
and sword fights all night long.

It's not for Sartre or for fucking
it's just a human shadowplay
sometimes we get it right
but it's mostly just a game.

Whores of Amsterdam

2010-07-14T21:51:00.002-04:00

We walked past the whores this evening
the windowed creatures of the dark.
Leering mud-packed eyes of promise
for something lost in freakshow farce.

We turned into an alley
and she pulled me to one side.
We moved to a dark doorway
as a sheltered place to hide.

She said I need you in me
against the horror all around
I want you now to love me
and I won't make a sound.

In loathing and in passion,
we kissed each other hard.
Growing more to the cold moment
in this ancient stone courtyard.

She freed herself to take me
We moved quickly then as one.
The fire burned so brightly
as the passion in the sun.

Exploding into rainbows
we stopped and didn't move.
It only stayed a moment
and then again alone.

We walked past the whores this evening
the windowed creatures of the dark.
Leering mud-packed eyes of promise
for something lost in freakshow farce.

They Gave Me a Number

2010-07-14T21:48:00.003-04:00

They gave me a number
closed a door behind my name
There's a man out in the courtyard
They say I gave his death today.

There's not much time for repentence
and who would listen to my plea
What I did was for protection
Stopped his blade from killing me.

As a shadow in the forest
he trailed everything I did
Relentless in his stalking
He found where e'er I hid.

He told me by the river
that you cannot walk alone
Give up this damned journey
and take your lost soul home.

I said I've got religion
please just leave my ass alone
He said it's not for Jesus
that he follows where I roam.

As he closed I heard him breathing
not quite panting as he neared
Trying so hard to keep from moving
I felt the speed that comes from fear.

In a moment he lay wounded
his life now an empty book
He looked once in sullen hatred
then his body finally shook.

They came straightways to find me
Now they've put me in this cell.
But if asked again to kill him
I'd do it and go to hell.

Lost and Found

2010-07-14T21:47:00.001-04:00

Sweating cold
dripping wet
cursing darkness and its get
Not knowing the demons behind you.

Run and fall
chase that call
How can you hit the ball
When it's thrown from somewhere inside you.

Darken'd hallways
that you run
In panic or in fun
Not seeing the passions right beside you.

Rising up
and shooting through
All the things you didn't do
And now there's no time left to find them.

Riding Harleys
sailing high
Flying barefoot through the sky
Clipping out whether others just can't go.

Settled scores
long-locked doors
You don't know what's in store
As the light pursues the madness.

Gone for now,
don't know how
It's just another way to botch
the dream that you don't get to watch

Sweating cold
dripping wet
cursing darkness and it's get
Not knowing the demons behind you.

The Potato Eaters

2010-07-14T21:45:00.001-04:00

They sat to eat potatoes
that's all that could sustain
They'd boil them in the fire
from coal fell from the train.

Years go by in drear parading
Falling months, too many days,
Each night they dream in color,
Each day they dream in vain.

They'll not take this time to battle
They've got just strength to find their food
The heavens closed above them
Their lives could not come more rude.

They rarely smiled at all
but neither did they cry
They weren't the ones to question
how they're the ones to die.

They sat to eat potatoes
a famliy all alone
Light dragged on past the windows
in the timeless family tomb.

They sat to eat potatoes
A family all alone
Light dragged past the windows
to the lives in this cold room.

About Last Night

2010-07-14T21:43:00.001-04:00

The autumn moon
drove chilly breeze
on silent path
by dying trees.

They spoke of endless falling
the multitudes of leaves
the shadows in the moonlight
the darkness in the trees

They huddled as if children
They spoke in whispered tones
but they heard not one another
Their words flew by alone.

Sometimes best in silence
is said what's felt inside
The words just cause confusion
their meaning all but died.

Darkness wrapped and harsh engaged
bears down with massive fury
and who said what and when and why
won't need witness or a jury.

In judgment lies, all truth beside,
there's no reason to take issue.
The trees grow tall in darkening night
commanding more than me or you.

In freedom all can fly on past
the trees hold to the streets
you cannot take them with you
you'll have nothing left but leaves.

In concert all can lift as one
Music breaks us from the pain
but cling to that dark garden
only silence will remain.

There's no closing door, no rushing light
no screams within, no periled fright,
The moon fades to the heavens
music flies as new starlight

Wheatfield with Crows

2010-07-14T21:42:00.002-04:00

The dust rose up in eddies
behind him as he walked
The summer heat was baking
as he came up to the fork.
Neither way lead anywhere
to someone else's eyes
but he knew the place he searched
and he'd be there by and by.

The wheat arose in flames
the stalks an army horde
The demon crows take flight there
through this satanic sward.
He welcomed them beside him
as he knew they'd come along
Their numbers were increasing
and they've come so very strong.

It seems such a boiling tumult
but life's empty when it's gone
Without the fire from the devil
the passion falls withdrawn.
The paint flies as a gunshot
bleeding arteries in ochre
The landscape fills with color
as a houseman with a poker.

At last it's done and not so long
It's just a summer afternoon
He takes repose in sunlight
peace comes only just too soon.
He'll never know and never find
what we tell one another
But love it came and love he had
always from his brother.

They lie there now,
these sacred friends,
their unknown dreams,
their fatal sense.
Behold in awe
the thing they gave
The thing they lost,
the thing they saved.

Pride Like a Frankfurter Trenchcoat

2010-07-14T21:40:00.000-04:00

She wore her pride
like a frankfurter trenchcoat
Knowing and not caring
of the pain she had caused.

She loved the rules
as a Russian policeman
in the guise of a shrew
with its tiny little claws.

Feel my pain, feel my horror,
See my estimable campaign
I'll just need a percentage
but you've heard that sad refrain.

It's my venue, it's my business
It's my reason I'm alive
I'll destroy you if you scorn me
and my oh so selfless jive.

It's my venue, it's my business
It's my way to find a man
They run but I chase them
So it goes for the harridan.

You're left with suck-ups and with stooges
Who'll do your vicious bidding
Your false charges against Circe
the evil claims you're rigging.

There's one difference that you miss
when your circus brings its rides
Circe's got the class and
she'll always have her pride.

It's my venue, it's my business
It's my reason I'm alive
I'll destroy you if you scorn me
and my oh so selfless jive.

It's my venue, it's my business
It's my way to find a man
I can't keep them when I catch 'em
but so it goes for the harridan.

Ain't It a Bitch

2010-07-14T21:34:00.004-04:00

You make your money
and you put it away
then you get a letter
the bank took it today.

Ain't that a bitch
it's getting you down
I know it's a bitch
you've got to turn it around

You got a new dog
brought him home today
next thing you know
damn dog ran away.

Ain't that a bitch
it's getting you down
I know it's a bitch
you've got to turn it around

You lost your car
to that damn repo-man
better save your stuff
from the moving van

Ain't that a bitch
It's got to get you down
Ain't that a bitch
You've got to turn it around

Now you lost your girl
She's run off to town
Before she left
She said you're such a clown

Ain't life a bitch
It's got to get you down
Ain't that a bitch
You've got to turn it around

Before she left you,
she just had to say
You're such a feckin' monkey
and I've had it today.

Ain't life a bitch
It's got to get you down
Ain't that a bitch
You've got to turn it around

Screwing Rattlesnakes

2010-07-14T21:31:00.003-04:00

I'd sooner screw a rattlesnake
than trust that woeful man.
Self-pity lies in puddles
everywhere he stands.

They sent their boys to combat
but their leaders let them down.
They created some fool's mission
and dispatched them for the crown.

They squander life like bean dip
To them it matters not at all.
Their meager moral guidance
brings darkness to the world.

But the fault lies in the snake man,
his grasp and his cold glance.
With his thirst and self-absorption
the boys never stood a chance.

You may believe the snake will bite you
but all you'll really find
Is that those who seek to bind you
Strike the venom in our sides.

They proffer their religion
Schrödinger's cat went where
You reach out for the substance
and there's nothing really there.

But put your fear in the snake man,
there's poison in his fangs.
Blame him for your troubles
But you're the one you'll hang.

The only win is losing
You cannot fight the snake
There's not a thing to gain by winning.
There's not anything to take.

Flying Without a Parachute

2010-07-14T21:25:00.002-04:00

Flying without a parachute
doesn't come around
when you know that as you're falling
you'll never hit the ground.

There will be no confrontation
there's no point in waving hands
I never made a deal
and don't care where I land.

People tell their stories
to amuse the ladies and their lords
but I'll not kneel to the telling
as I never wrote the words.

Calumny comes easy
in any virtual preserve
as all the ones who do it
don't know which lord they serve.

One never walks old roads again
there's a high price if you try
When you start to live in shadows,
you'll do it 'til you die.

Waiting for Yesterday

2010-07-14T21:22:00.000-04:00

He learned existential
was a two-point word at school
philosophers would throw it
to romantics and to fools.

The moment is the eon,
the eternal dream you want,
it's life in mystery'd glory
in a smile or a taunt.

There's nothing in tomorrow
that you or I will ever see
There's nothing in the days gone by
that you will ever need.

Learn you did and did it well
one moment chased another
but still you live this time with me
in time there is no other

Live this day and live this life
Defy the falling the rain.
The other choice is hiding
and there's nothing there but pain.

Of fallen dreams and soaring love
of angel's wings and fairy's flight
We can go so very quickly there
We can fly so very far
But there's one thing in my thinking
to go back to where you are.

It's confusing in the dreaming
It goes beyond the moment's need
and wrapping all around it
feels very much like greed.

There's nothing in tomorrow
that you or I will ever see
There's nothing in the days gone by
that you will ever need.

The words speak twice and go both ways
but there's sense in the thinking
as wanting isn't needing
and waiting never comes.

There's nothing in tomorrow
that you or I will ever see
There's nothing in the days gone by
that you will ever need.

The Girl Who Would Be Lavender

2010-07-14T21:11:00.002-04:00

The girl who would be lavender
had flowers in her hair
You couldn't really see her
but she was everywhere.
In dew of early morning
In last quiet of the night
You revel in her kisses
in lavender's delight.

In days that were much shorter,
in nights that knew no end,
She cast about for freedom
fighting gales that they'd send.
In never-ending tumult,
she'd battle those who came
No winners and no losers
It all came out the same.

The battle lost this day
All returned to castle keep
But the girl who would be lavender
Just lay her head to sleep
In dreams she felt the flowers
Enwrapped, she felt she'd fly
The girl who would be lavender
sings softly passing by.

The girl who would be lavender
had flowers in her hair
You couldn't really see her
but she was everywhere.
In dew of early morning
In last quiet of the night
You revel in her kisses
in lavender's delight.

Eyes of the Raven

2010-07-14T21:07:00.002-04:00

Look into the eyes of the raven.
They stare, they hypnotize.
Come make a deal with the raven.
Get all that you could ever prize.
Look into the eyes of the raven.
See and then you realize:

Sell your soul down a pitch-black hole
You'll get what you need
Try it right now, take a little bow
Take the devil's seed.
You'll live your dream
or so it seems
until the crow returns
and then you're mine
for all of time
the fire's going to burn.

Look into the eyes of the raven.
They stare, they hypnotize.
Come make a deal with the raven.
Get all that you could ever prize.
Look into the eyes of the raven.
See and then you realize:

Sign right here, all free and clear.
It's a contract for your soul.
I signed mine at the dawn of time
and I've begged him for parole.
He owns me now, if I disavow
He'll burn my soul in torment.
But it's a choice, you've got a voice.
You can make the same dissent.

It was all so long ago

It was all so long ago

(Guitar break)

Sell your soul down a pitch-black hole
You'll get what you need
Try it right now, take a little bow
Take the devil's seed.
You'll live your dream
or so it seems
until the crow returns
and then you're mine
for all of time
the fire's going to burn.

Look into the eyes of the raven.
They stare, they hypnotize.
Come make a deal with the raven.
Get all that you could ever prize.
Look into the eyes of the raven.
See and then you realize:
You're mine.

I'm Not Listening

2010-07-14T21:05:00.002-04:00

I don't care about the whales,
I don't care about the war.
I don't care if you're a christian
I'm not listening anymore.

You talked of silent spring
Then killed off all the bees
You talked about salvation
then sent in the Marines.

You won't call a man a nigger
as you know that words can kill
but you'll let him die from illness
you won't pay his doctor's bill.

I don't care about the whales,
I don't care about the war.
I don't care if you're a christian
I'm not listening anymore.

Listen to Yourself

2010-07-14T21:03:00.002-04:00

(Intro)
Now ... Begin ... Now ... Within
It's time ... we'll see ... look around ... can it be?

Listen to yourself
You only have to try
Reach into yourself
It's now your time to fly.

Now I see you smile
inside
You knew all the while
in your style
Through all the trials
we've known
Now you look around
and they're gone

Listen to yourself
You only have to try
Reach into yourself
It's now your time to fly.

Making clouds of stars
with your hand
Filling all the sky
as grains of sand.
There's music in the leaves
of the trees
All you need to do is
set it free

Listen to yourself
You only have to try
Reach into yourself
Find the reason why

(Guitar break)

Listen to yourself
You only have to try
Reach into yourself
Find the reason why

Listen to yourself
You only have to try
Reach into yourself
Find the reason why

The Counting Room

2010-07-14T21:00:00.001-04:00

He's been spittin' mad at Jesus
Since nineteen sixty five
What he's wanting, He ain't givin'
and he's mad to be alive.

He sits and counts his money
by the candle in the tower
but it flickers into darkness
and robs him of his power.

He stumbles from the counting room
past heartless walls of stone
He sees now that his measure
is not the things he owns.

Looking out the castle window
There's a distant unicorn
It would love to take him riding
but it cannot meet the dawn.

There is no time for rancor
It meant nothing anyway
And when he's lost in anger
the creature walks away.

For many years, he threw his knives
not much caring where they landed
Now he rages on injustice
When they're returned as they were handed.

It doesn't have to be this way
All unicorns can fly
but they don't do well with hatred
and soon the beast will die.

Ode to a Potato Chip

2010-07-14T20:58:00.001-04:00

How I love your little ridges
and all your supple curves
so salty in consumption
so lovely with hors d'oeuvres.

Precious little saltines
My tongue yearns for your taste
You tantalize my fancy
Not a morsel goes to waste.

I sometimes like to hold you
and savor the delight
of the taste that waits there for me
of the taste that comes tonight.

Oh lovely little cracker
You've given me such joy
Forgive me if I treat you
Like you're just some crispy toy.

You'll leave me in the morning
It's how you always are
But tonight I've got the bean dip
Underneath the stars.

All Men Can Fly

2010-07-14T20:57:00.002-04:00

Lying on the death bed
and looking to the sky
I've just a few more minutes
to find a reason why.

They'd take my life in disregard
of anything I say
Their eyes are blind with vengeance
a man must die today.

They say I look a lot alike
the man who fired the gun
Now I'm lying in the death house
and he's out on the run.

In jail there's no innocence
We're all guilty as we're named
but as I sleep the endless night
I'll know how justice was defamed.

You cannot right this wrong you do
and many wouldn't try
When fear grows past all reason
Today a man must die.

Give it up
Stop the killing
Give it up
Bring the peace

Give it up
Stop the killing
Live it up
Live in peace

It doesn't need to happen
There's no more need to cry
Your life need not be torment
Today all men can fly.

Give it up
Stop the killing
Give it up
Bring the peace

Give it up
Stop the killing
Live it up
Live in peace

The Elders

2010-07-14T19:46:00.001-04:00

The pen is said so mighty
against the power of the sword
but there's weakness in revenge
the strength lies in accord.

They set out in their bloodlust
for a war of a hundred years
There was nothing left behind it
save a thousand mother's tears.

And still they kept on fighting
with no-one knowing why.
The elders told the fighters,
the enemy must die.

How it might be different
if the fighters stayed at home
and the elders fought the battles
but fought them all alone.

The Riders

2010-07-14T19:42:00.001-04:00

The castle's five days ride from here
The horses ran their best
but it's time to take the saddles off
and let the great beasts rest.

Through battle, storm and danger'd night
They rode on for the queen
Facing horrors in such multitudes
as no knight has ever seen.

She called them to her service
to defend the castle's pride
The danger was so great a thing
That only they would ride.

Through cataclysmic tumult
and with dragons overhead
The riders knew the fury
That they'd likely face ahead.

They were riding for the lady
as there's none so pure in life
They'd ride until the end of days
as one will take her as his wife.

She'll give her heart to the bravest man
whose nobility can save her
She cries out for her freedom
from the state that would enslave her.

In statecraft and in magic
There's little one can see
The former seeks to chain men
The magic sets them free.

The message came so long ago
now there's very little time
They'll stay here just a little while
In morning's light they ride.

Walpurgisnacht

2010-07-14T19:36:00.001-04:00

In life's love,
a love unlearned
and heedless spurned,
lies crying.
In love's life,
the maiden lives,
the suitor gives,
both sighing.

In fleeting touch
of angel's wings
She comes again,
before you sings.
You turn away,
to panicked flight.
Her eyes pursue,
the memory stings.

Luminous
in tapestry
of life and love
and wonder.
Memories
of a bygone time
in a world now
torn asunder.

And then it came
Walpurgisnacht.
The spirits
flew around us.
The timeless dark
of endless night
wrapped close until
they found us.

In flying, fleeting,
flowing rush,
In heady dreams,
in love's first blush.
In dawn's brave light,
this thing we'll miss,
In time of love,
in time this kiss.

One Day in May

2010-07-14T19:33:00.001-04:00

We danced beneath the stars
Made love 'til morning
Flew past the orb of Mars
Until the dawning
Then it came
Sun rose again
A new day

Spinning through the night
We trailed stardust
Such a pretty sight
Was just between us
Came the breeze
that blew it all away
as it may.

The heavens sang our song
as long we flew there
a melody of love
that only two share.
Ends the song
quiet comes again
and fades away.

Searching for the love
It's always calling
Walking through the rain
It's always falling
Black the sky
It only seems that way
This day

One day in May
It's going to find you
That bright day
It's going to blind you
In it's way
it's coming back for you
some day.

One day in May
It's going to find you
That bright day
It's going to blind you
In it's way
it's coming back for you
some day.

Looking for the Lady

2010-07-14T19:31:00.000-04:00

Staring at the ceiling
There's no-place to go
The phone keeps endless ringing
but I just wish it would blow.
I'm not looking for my mother
I'm not looking for my dad
I'm looking for that lady
and the good times we had.

I don't think I'm a sinner
but I'm damn sure not a saint
and there's no filling the holes
in the life that I've made.
I hope you'll be thinking kindly
when I finally shuffle on
I'm not going just this minute
I think I've one more song.

Busker blues on village sidewalks
come alive when you will play
and strings are so much sweeter
when you have no place to stay.
You do it for the music
There's just no other choice
It's the sound you love forever
It's your finest voice.

One Day in My Life

2010-07-14T19:27:00.000-04:00

So smooth in time, in nature's love,
rocks round sweet water's way,
Soft sparkles light the morning
soft whispers light this day.

We've stepped one to another
as we crossed this tiny brook
There's a place that we can go
where only we have looked.

We knew that it was over
before ever it could flower
as the warlords thundered freedom
and drew close the final hour.

Distant birds shrieked their terror
as the soldiers marched below
No safety in the morning,
there's nowhere they could go.

We've seen the savage cruelty,
sere deserts left in waste,
as those who would be kings
left all the world debased.

We've sent them to the fields,
these pretenders to the throne,
We're released from their torment
The dragons have all flown.

and if there will be
just one day in my life
then let me spend it
with you

and if there will be
just one day in my life
then let me spend it
with you

We've skirted misty lakes
in verdant foreign lands
we've flown the Milky Way
and all the stars it spans.

We've sewn the seed of magic
and if as magic does
will come the peace forever
will come tomorrow's love.

and if there will be
just one day in my life
then let me spend it
with you

and if there will be
just one day in my life
then let me spend it
with you

In errant cause, in mis-cued deed,
in love's lost blind, in things believed
the past is gone, to go again,
and to come not yet conceived.

We've walked beneath the starlight
with spirits in the trees,
now the world's wide open
and our paths are what we please.

and if there will be
just one day in my life
then let me spend it
with you

and if there will be
just one day in my life
then let me spend it
with you

(Change up)

I've seen death
and I'm not afraid
It's like going home
when you just got paid

and if there will be
just one day in my life
then let me spend it
with you

(Guitar break)

I've seen life
and I've got it made
The sun's alive
but I'm in the shade.

and if this will be
tbat one day in my life
then let me lie here
with you

and if this will be
tbat one day in my life
then let me lie here
with you

Apocalypse

2010-07-14T19:14:00.000-04:00

Dark riders in the distance
  riding long and hard and fast
On the midnight road they're riding
   hell comes blazing at the last.

Flaming from their nostrils
   their raging hooves strike sparks
Foaming in their anger
   fire will be their mark.

The perfumed lords and ladies
   live so high up on the hill
They squander idle pleasure
   as their servants labor still.

But they've no thought to that
Just to their whim and to their will
Unless it brings them pleasure
   it's no consequence; it's nil.

In times gone by, the people rose
   and brought the castles down
The royalty was vanquished
   and the people took the town.

They said it couldn't happen now
   but see the horsemen ride
Their only thought is justice
   for all the ones who died.