IS THIS WHAT IT’S LIKE
Every Little Bird
Every cloud began as mist that rose from ocean waves
Every little bird crawled out from a broken egg
Every redwood tree came from a seed among the ferns
And every kind of snake that crawls the earth was born a worm
Every chardonnay started out as pinot gris
And every waterbed was once a corduroy settee
Every leather mask came from a steer out on the range
And all my love for you, it started out as something strange
Back in the Canyon
Way back in the canyon, where we built our home
Out among the falcons, rabbits, and the voles
On the day that Helena came to cut our hair
From the porch, we saw fire rising through the air
But the trees, they were not burning
And no smoke billowed forth
The flames towered above us, at least five stories high
And melded with the clouds in the evening sky
We heard far off drumming, drawing ever near
Then crashing through the bushes, came about a hundred deer
The light went orange and purple, and then twisted into rings
The children came running out, but they saw nothing
They only jumped off a chair and ran off with our phones
Then we heard speaking coming from the ground
The earth began to tremble and groan beneath the sound
It said “Though you loathe your body, it is who you are”
Helena said “OK, whatever” and ashed into the yard
We went back in the house and poured out some rosé
The voice kept talking out there, but we weren’t listening
The hills were full of the sound, but we didn’t care
We turned on the news; a catfishing scheme went wrong
The lights outside slowly faded, the canyon shadows grew long
And all that went away, all that went away
I held you in my arms, and all that went away
I’ll Go With You
Hold a fire up to my heart
Light up every hidden part
Show me what you love in me
Burn the rest away
Let me gaze into your eyes
Let our two lives harmonize
Make me into something new
Someone more like you
You hold me
I melt into your rough embrace
I live
To look into your face
I’ll go with you
Wherever you want me to
I’ll run to hell
Just to be with you
Save me from my darkened soul
Make my broken body whole
I need you
Like a bird needs the sky
Touch me, touch me everywhere
Softly on my neck and hair
Sing to me the whole night through
With each note the world is new
You breathed
The breath of life into my heart
Without you
My light goes dark
I’ll go with you
Wherever you want me to
I’ll run to hell
Just to be with you
Never Call Me Again
Never call me again
Keep away from my house
Don’t get near my kids
The cup of my mind is full
Don’t talk to my friends
Don’t come to my work
Don’t leave notes on my car
The world is turning away
Leave me alone
Never call me again
Don’t talk to my friends
The cup of my mind is full
Trust Your Love
Trust your love
Trust your love
Fall and fold back into the center
When we’re together we are both together
Trust your love
Trust your love
My heart still beats
My mind still pictures you asleep beside me
My mouth still lies and says “I’m fine, I’m fine”
My eyes still cry
My blood still fills me
My lips still kiss your mother’s, and we whisper
My fingers still take the tears from off her cheeks
My heart still beats
My mind remembers
Imagining you looking like her
And she is almost what I would have grown to know
My eyes still cry
Now we’re on the other side of a lot of things
But it reaches right across, it reaches right across
Always, we keep making that one mistake
That one mistake
Making that one mistake
Trust your love
Trust your love
Say Goodnight
Oh, say goodnight
Hop from the top of the jeep and say goodnight
Oh, say goodnight
Jump in the river, look up and say goodnight
Tonight, tonight
Oh, say goodnight
Crawl from the mall while the teardrops fall tonight
Oh, say goodnight
Blaze in a haze at the end of days tonight
Come, take my hand
Let’s figure out a way to keep on living
Tonight, tonight
Oh, say goodnight
Hop from the top of the jeep and say goodnight
Oh, say goodnight
Jump in the river, look up and say goodnight
Oh, say goodnight
Sway to the sleigh bells darling say goodnight
Oh, say goodnight
Wake and bake in the pumpkin patch tonight
Far, Far Away
Far, far away
We could hear all the guys
The bloodhounds and trucks
Our names being called
We gathered our things
And ran through the woods
We stuck to the stream
The searchers could not find our tracks
Far, far away
That night in the cave
With bark for a bed
You woke up to find
Me touching your scars
There were deer all around
Them and the birds
The singers were singing
The background was moving, and then
Our jumpsuits flew off
You’d just changed your face
The swelling was gone
I knew I was in love
I could hardly believe
As we lay in the dark
The path that my life had taken
I looked at my phone
Far, far away
The One I Loved Too Much
We all came up the drive, with duck l’orange in hand
And tanqueray, and ativan
The glasses overflowed, the candles all were lit
Down there in the conversation pit
And while the day, burnt off to dusk
I watched him smile, the one I loved too much
I heard his voice, and had to leave
It filled me with, such heaviness and need
I came out carrying the charcuterie board
Julian was showing off his swords
I had no time for that, and knew I ought to go
I wandered off to find my coat
I slid into a darkened room
And gazed out through a window at the moon
I gathered up my things to go
When muffled giggling came from down below
I raised the dust ruffle and saw him lying there
Bottomless, and holding Claire
I fought back tears, and said “It’s fine, we’re all adults”
They laughed so hard they both convulsed
I flipped the lights off as I left
And slowly walked out to the yard and wept
The lawn was full of sunburnt dudes
In robes, all lying there, too high to move
They all turned their heads
And this is what they sang
“It’s hard to stop loving someone
It’s hard, so hard
When you can love somebody new
Love someone back that loves you, too”
And where I lay, the ground was rough
I longed for him, the one I loved too much
Then the guys rose and sang
“What about one of us?
Could you love one of us?”
And I just sighed and shook my head
Women in Love
Women in love
They’re just like you and me
Women in love
Under the same sky
Women in love
Looking up at the same moon
I’m saying “Yes” to everything
And life itself, “Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes”
Women in love
Is this what it’s like?
Women in love
Is this what it’s like?
I hear the sound of two birds flying
I hear the sound of two robes falling to the floor
The light has not gone out
Women in love
Even more than my children
Women in love
They need me like I need you
I’m saying “Yes” to everything
And life itself, “Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes”
Women in love
Is this what it’s like?
Women in love
Is this what it’s like?
(What it’s like)
I hear the sound of two birds flying
I hear the sound of two robes falling to the floor
The light has not gone out
Women in love
The light has not gone out
I Knew Your Brother
I knew your brother so well
And your mother, none could tell
How we’d got to be such friends
Yes, I knew her ’til the end
And your father, he too
Came around there, and I knew
All about him, by and by
And I knew his violent side
And you, oh you
Were the one I hardly knew
Though we’d steal away to get stoned
Still I always felt alone
Near the rocks, where you broke your knee
Was a burning maple tree
And the fledgling minivets
Were all leaping from the nest
Driving in, that day
It all seemed so out of place
In the planter by the shed
I saw your tie-neck blouse in shreds
You came running across the sand
With a brick held in each hand
The cabana was in flames
You were screaming out my name
Illuminate Yourself
The kids all brought us flowers
When we got out of bed
They were wearing white linen
Garlands covered their heads
We breakfasted in the orchard
There were doves all around
And Francesca, she lay among the leaves
And dew on the ground
She would look up at no one
She would not make a sound
The staff tried to act like everything was fine
Said she was just tightly wound
While they served our frittatas
Worried murmuring began
The dog walked around sniffing her hair
And licked her unmoving hand
Andre crouched down beside her
He put his hand on her head
She reached up and she slapped it away
So we knew she wasn’t dead
In all the commotion
Our chance to get away came
We snuck off through the trees hand in hand
With our stolen champagne
You had brought our dream journals
We did terrible things
At the moment the sun broke through the clouds
We both started to sing
In that cool wooded hollow
On a carpet of moss
For the last time, illuminate yourself
For the last time
For the last time, illuminate yourself
For the last time
SPEAR IN THE CITY
Dark Water
There is a water so heavy
It rises up, dark, from the ocean
And arches up over the shoreline
And crashes down onto the sand
Ripping the boardwalk
From its foundations
Know that I, who have loved you
Climbed to the top of a cedar
And watched as the branches below me
Were sheared by the bodies of dolphins
The cars and the light poles
That were swept by the water
All the schools and the churches
The parking lot where I had met you
Where carried away from the city
And washed to the foot of the mountains
To where the ocean ran up against them
There is a water so heavy
It rises up, dark, from the ocean
Arches up over the shoreline
And crashes down onto the sand
Ripping the boardwalk
From its foundations
And the hospitals and piano bars
And the nursing homes and their denizens
And the body shoppes were washed away
And the discotheques all disappeared
Here Among You
When his cousin came around
He stood amazed, he dropped his shades
Then together they went down
Into the stream, beyond the reeds
Then the heavens broke
Then somebody spoke
Here He is, the one I love
Then the voice became a dove
Then he rose into the air
Hovering soaked in linen cloak
Light shone from his face and hair
For therein lay eternal day
Then the clouds went red
Then somebody said
Here among you is the Word
Then the voice became a bird
Then he rose into the air
Hovering soaked in linen cloak
Light shone from his face and hair
For therein lay eternal day
Then the clouds went red
Then somebody said
Here among you is the Word
Then the voice became a bird
When the world's on fire
When it's ceased to turn
You and I will never burn
You and I will never burn
And when the world's on fire
We will rise up singing
And all the white hot bells
They will start to ringing
Buried in embers,
I Will join that heavenly choir
And we will never die
And we will never tire
When the world's on fire
When it's ceased to turn
You and I will never burn
You and I will never burn
I’m Set Free
I'm set free, I am truly free
From the screens I gaze into
From their cold glow
I am free, I am very free
I even threw my credit cards into the sea
Under the moonlight, over the ocean
While you ride in a plane
Over your shoulders, freedom is flowing
Running off them like rain
When I say you and I are free
I mean even from our minds
Our bodies our selves
Yes, I'm free, I am very free
Free from everything
From almost everything
Late in the office, way after hours
While you type and you yawn
Out from the shadows
Freedom is calling
You remember its song
Free from the jungle, Free from the ambient
Free from the NRG, Free from the house
Free from the techno, Free from the disco
Free from the acid jazz, Free from the trance
Free from the jungle, Free from the ambient
From the Hi-NRG, Free from the house
Free from the techno, Free from the dubstep
Free from the vapor wave, Free from the grime
Free from the techno, Free from the disco
Free from the NRG, Free from the house
Hold Me Closer
He woke up all the women – and kids
They took their belongings - and crossed in the night
But he stayed behind them – and lay
Down by the river - and stared at the sky
Then – then I crept
Over from out of the bushes - into the fire light
Then – then I leapt
And set upon him while they watched us – from the other side
Draw me closer – Hold me through the night
And at daybreak – let a little light
Fall from my hand to the cords of your hip
Til the head from the socket is wrenched by the force of it
We can tussle – Til somebody dies
Or in rhythm – We can improvise
In the gravel and mud – a majestic détente
‘Ere we're are ‘Auf ihrem Weg zum horizont’
I will paint your name on the rocky ground
I will lay my right hand of blessing down
When it was finished – I knelt
And lifted him softly – up from the ground
The children were crying – but his wives
Were torpidly smoking – and milling around
When – when he’d limped
Halfway cross the water he turned back – and waved goodbye
Then – then I flexed
I blew him a kiss and then vanished – from the riverside
Teachers
Who taught the birds to fly, who taught them to sing
Who taught the snake to glide and bite everything
Who taught the whale to live down in the deep
Who taught the horse to run, the spider to creep
Who sought me out before my life began
Who brought me into Canaan's land
Who taught me to wander through the earth alone
Surviving on brie and sauvignon
Who taught the crocodile to crawl through the mud
Who taught the flea to fill his guts up with blood
Who taught the fawn to cleave so near to the doe
Who taught the lion to roar, the rooster to crow
Who sought me out before my life began
Who brought me to the promised land
Who taught me to wander through the earth alone
Surviving on brie and sauvignon
Who taught the lonesome owl to glide through the night
Who taught the moth to press it's way to the light
Who taught the eagle's eyes to glimmer and glint
Who taught the bee to work, the cheetah to sprint
Who sought me out before my life began
Who brought me into Canaan's land
Who taught me to wander through the earth alone
Surviving on brie and sauvignon
I hear them living all around me now
Who showed them to, who taught them how
Who laid out the architecture of my bones
Who made it such a stately home
Who taught me to wander through the earth alone
Surviving on brie and sauvignon
Who sought me out before my life began
Who brought me to the promised land
Spear in the City
Spear in the city, the quiet flight
Passing underneath the lights
Spear from nowhere
A gift from the night
Spear in the city, moving through
Darkened streets and avenues
Through the plate glass
Of the bistro it flew
Spear from nowhere, can it be?
Passed between you and me
Plates and wine flew everywhere
It grazed the maitre'd
Spear that traveled through the land
Found a handsome older man
And as he passed, his phone
Slipped from his hand
Spear from nowhere, was it's fate
To bear away what could not wait
To become a gift
From where it was made
Spear from nowhere, never falls
Through the people and the walls
Leaving only
Space in them all
Heartbeating
Have you seen their faces
Veils of eyeless fire
Leaning from the ledges and the parapets
Whispering to us from the branches
Nestled in oaken boughs
There is a language only we can hear
There is a world that only we are near
And only we know the song that never dies away
And how to sing it out, and watch it fly away
Up above my head
There’s music in the air
Can you see them teeming underneath the water
Checking out our cigarette boat from below
Towering above us was the wave
Ocean had mixed with light
There is a prayer that only we can pray
And there are words that only we can say
And only we know the song that never dies away
And how to sing it out, and watch it fly away
Up above my head
There’s music in the air
There is a language only we can hear
There is a world that only we are near
And only we know the song that never dies away
And how to sing it out, and watch it fly away
Please don’t leave me now
Do anything but go
Echoes
Echoes of the candles
Echoes of the feta
Echoes of the Beaujolais
Echoes of the stemware
Echoes of the tussle
Echoes of the soiled duvet
We are an echo of the quiet flight
We are an echo of the living light
Echoes of the island
Echoes of the time-share
Echoes of the fey resort
Echoes of the hurricane
Echoes of the carnage
Echoes of the mangled skort
We are an echo of the quiet flight
We are an echo of the living light
We are an echo of the second sight
We are an echo of the living light
We are an echo of the longest night
We are an echo of the living light
The Garden
In the garden a wandering river flows
And the moss all hangs from the burls and boughs
After I almost broke your back, we lay
Soaked in the firelight's flickering golden glow
O'er the river where we're treading
Where the branches all are spreading
The civets lined up on the mossy bank
On the evening of the wedding
While the twilight was begetting -
The cool of day, we heard a voice
Where the bird songs rain from the rustling leaves
And the scent of the orchids fill the breeze
We stumbled out from the underbrush, and blinked
And opened up our thermos of chablis
When the rats and ravens start to stir
And the feral cats begin to purr
I chewed the braces off your teeth, and sealed
The metal in an envelope of fur
New World
I looked up from the Jordan
What did I see?
A band of angels came for me
They pulled me from the water
We floated through the trees
Clad in shimmering polar fleece
And we floated over all the fields and the bridge
And we almost scraped our naked heels on the ridge
The angels drew their knives, and alighted from the hills
In the slumbering town below, all was still
As the ghosts of the people were given away
A black-sailed ship left the quay
I said “hoppla, hoppla, hoppla” alles die ganze nachte
I said “hoppla, hoppla, hoppla” as we sailed off
Now we are far away
Gone to other worlds that your hands have made
Where everything is new
Everything is new
All the world is new
All the world is new
When we started over, the air just as still
A night train rolled through brown hills
And down to the valley, like an iron spear, hurled
By a shapeless hand into a new world
And the tracks ran over all the fields and the bridge
All the night was silent, calm, and bright along the ridge
Now we can begin again
We get born, and enter in
To a world that's new
Everything is new
All the world is new
All the world is new
Visions of the Mountain
Visions of the mountain out beyond the sky
Glimpses from the window of a chopper
Stashing all our stolen copper pipes away
Everywhere are visions of the mountain
Waking up the neighbors with our moans and yells
We are met with visions of the mountain
Visions of the mountain out beyond the sky
We are met with visions of the mountain
Out beyond the sky, and the air
I can see it everywhere
Watching ravens bicker from the office roof
Setting up a trust in case we die
Finding out career day is postponed again
There are visions of that faraway mountain
Wondering if it may be time to pull the plug
Reading up on history's greatest battles
Those visions, far away
Looming out beyond the grey
That far away mountainside
Out beyond the sky
Visions through the smoke and ash
Visions through the blood-flecked glass
Visions through the lonesome night
Visions of the mountainside
Mountain visions, far away
Glances through the window of our tent
Visions, they’re out beyond the air
Watching ravens from the office
Here they are, out beyond the air
Visions, beyond the air, out everywhere
Glances through the window of our tent
Washing all the errant sunblock from our eyes