NIGHT OF THE POET

It was late in the evening as I passed through an alley when I saw an old woman there down on her knees.
I figured that she must be praying to Jesus when I saw her outstretched hand beckoning me.
As I approached closer I noticed a teardrop carving a line through the dirt on her face.
I kneeled beside her and said, “Can I help you?” Her eyes they were like daggers annealed with disgrace.
She sized me right up with a flash of those daggers, “That’s a nice coat boy, you have all that you need.
I was a poet and verse was my lover. He filled me with promise then ran out on me.”
She took a deep breath and she pointed her finger, her eyes cold as steel cut the core of my being. She said,
“This poet remains because words make you linger, we think that they’re real but they don’t mean a thing.
They seduce your soul with the promise of wisdom. They tether your heart to the sound of the sea.
Where waves they come crashing with reckless abandon and echo the yearnings of humanity.
It’s a tired old sound just as old as the ages, yet simple and pure as a shell on the sand.
But a shell is no good as a home for the sages, so phantoms like me are an onus to man.”
Chorus:
Then she said, “The mind of a poet is a graveyard of words buried deep in the sea.
I dared to wake them up from their rest; the ghosts of the poets now won’t let me be.
They haunt my life, day in day out they do whisper their secrets to me,
‘Try as you might, you’ll never come to the truth with the words that you seek.’
So let me tell you just what I’d do if I had this to do all over again…”
The sound of the night it grew quiet and hollow. The darkness had doubled and swallowed my pride.
She stood up and measured the depth of my sorrow and extending her hand said, “Can you spare a five?”
I fished through my pockets to find I had nothing. I spent my last dollar down at the bar.
I told her I’m sorry but I’m plumb out of money. She said, “You’re a fool and you won’t go to far.”
Then she mumbled a verse from some unsung poet. She gazed in the distance with light in her eyes.
I wanted to touch her but wouldn’t you know it: She smiled and then she vanished right before my eyes.

Chorus:
Then she said, “The mind of a poet is a graveyard of words buried deep in the sea.
I dared to open the treasure chest; the ghosts of the poets now won’t let me be.
They haunt my life, day in day out they do whisper their secrets to me,
Try as you might, you’ll never come to the truth with the songs that you sing.”
So let me tell you just what I’d do if I had this to do all over again…



WITH THE WIND

The wintertime is a time for turning in
So I look inside and I feel the frozen wind
Blowing the dust of my history around
I feel I must not let it settle back to the ground
Let it blow away now with the wind

I open doors to the catacombs inside
Enter a forest in the dark, foreboding night
There I found you like a spirit crouching low
Pound by pound you took the dead weight from my soul
Let it blow away now with the wind

I tried to touch you to find out if you‚re real
I tried to clutch you close, give you my heart to heal
You look so solid but you‚re lighter than the air
I don‚t know what to call it but I‚ve got to have you near
But you blow away now,
You blow away now
You blow away now with the wind

So I went searching for you, went seeking low and high
I went lurching forth like a man forgot his pride
I tried to call out but I did not know your name
Now I feel the fallout of my dust come down again
Let it blow away now with the wind

I fell down tired underneath a cedar tree
Your head tilt skyward you said take a look and see
You showed me stars like I never saw before
Now I can feel you in my heart like the wind come through my door
But you blow away now, you blow away now
You blow away now with the wind

So now I sit here as the winter turns to spring
It‚s not a bit clear what the hell‚s been happening
I spot a running dear and he‚s tracking down a doe
And I can feel you coming near as the wind begins to blow
Then you blow me away now, blow me away now
Blow me away now,
Blow me away now with the wind

THE RIVER SONG

Hey, It looks like rain.
I guess ol‚ mother earth she must be thirsty,
Just like me, that night you walked into my frame
Of light, um hum, looks like we‚re in for a wonderful night.

O your lips move like calligraphy,
And your limbs, they cradle me closer
To the trunk of your subtlety˜
I am drunk˜O yeah baby, anything you say.

O your breath, warm as a summer breeze,
And your voice, soothing as birdsong,
It lulls and pulls me under,
Into the depths of your shimmering grace.

If your scent, like a flower,
Makes me tremble in your power,
Will my seed get you started?
Will your flower grow in my garden?

Chorus:
I could get lost in this motion,
But I don‚t want to get lost in the ocean.
But hey, ain‚t that the way, the river flows;
Like my body, um hum, like my body into yours.

O your hips move like gentle waves,
And your hair, shiny as midday
In springtime, when the water
Flows from the mountains and fills up the banks.

O your breasts, smooth as river rock,
And your eyes, the moonlight reflected
At midnight, upon still water˜
Looks like it‚s not even moving at all.

If the river be the mirror,
Will we see what is clearer?
If my touch be the pebble,
Will your body be the ripple?




SING ME A LULLABY

Nighttime it comes, half of me so sleepy.
The other half just runs around imperfect circles,
Spinning in the chambers of your song;
O how you sang so sweetly and murmured:
Sleep my Love.

I‚m dreaming of your hair blowing in the wind,
And you don‚t even care that it‚s gotten entangled
In my fingers˜O how they used to tremble when
I moved to touch you˜you moved too.

I moved you so much that you fled to Pittsburgh.
In the clutch you always sing the coda.
And your voice it‚s got the pseudo vibrato
That sends a shiver through me,
Come hither, do me this favor and sing.

I‚m not sleeping, nor dreaming,
Here I await the sandman.
Stop keeping me grieving,
To liberate this sad man
Come to me in the night,
Sing to me a lullaby!

Chorus:

Sing me a lullaby my friend.
Sing me a lullaby unto the end.
Sing me a lullaby my friend.
Turn out the light and
Kiss me goodnight again.


Sleep tight baby, don‚t you cry.
Sleep tight baby, don‚t you cry.
Sleep tight, Sleep tight.
Sleep tight baby, don‚t you cry.

WATCH IN YOUR POCKET

Lyrics by Philip Dennison

The barman looked familiar but I wouldn‚t quite insist.
The water pooled around my shoes and my body wicked the mist.
The mist was like my memory; the water like my fist.
The daylight it was a freight train
And it hauled regret for freight.
Is that a watch in your pocket
Or are you just late?

My headlights light the sign, the sign says thirteen miles to Natchees.
The road is thin, it‚s timid, and my truck it will not ask it please.
The shadows of the trees are deacons and the deacon‚s shadows trees.
How much farther is it?
The highway sign says eight.
Is that a watch in your pocket
Or are you just late?

I sat alone at sundown and I wished I was inside.
I wished I could confer, I wished I could confide.
I‚m glad my sins are deadly and my deadly sin is pride.
I‚d make my confession
If they‚d let me through the gate.
Is that a watch in your pocket
Or are you just late?

Bernini‚s Roman angel smiles and her hands are full of nails.
The Tiber glides below like jade and the fishermen wear veils.
What makes you cry I ask and she sighs, and another one exhales.
Go ask the anglers on the banks
What they use for bait.
The elements of passion.
Is that a watch in your pocket
Or are you just late?

FEAR

Deep underground there is a place where I reside.
When you‚re in doubt here you are safe to come and hide.
Come in my friend, bring your malaise; I‚ll make it mine.
We can pretend, under the haze, that everything‚s fine.
But deep inside you know the price you pay, but oh,
No one said it‚d be easy living with me.

Deep in your eyes I see the grace you long to feel.
I tell you lies right to you face, and seal the deal.
Without a fight you give away all of your dreams.
Bring me your life, it‚s mine to waste or yours to redeem.
I‚ll hold on to you just as long as long as you
Surrender all of your power˜give it to me.

Look into my eyes now, what do you see?
You can‚t disguise how you surrender to me.
Yes, I‚ll hold on to you just as long as you
Surrender all of your power˜give it to me.

I heard you talking to your friend, talking about:
You‚re going to walk; this is the end, time to get out.
I‚ve heard it before, I‚ll hear it again: you‚re going to leave.
There is the door, use it my friend, dare to be free.
I‚ll let go of you just as soon as you
Discover all my secrets, and then you‚ll be free.

Look into your eyes now, what do you see?
The time it shows the lie you chose.

DAYLIGHT AGAIN

Time was waiting for me at the crossroads
Time was waiting at the break of dawn
Asking of me answers I could not know
Now I wonder whether I belong

So I stood there looking for a reason
To cross over, go straight, left or right
Or perhaps IŒll wait another season
„Believe me son I understand your plight‰

You say love me for a while
Miles above me you did smile
In daylight again

Time he stood there statuesquely passing
Playing waiting games I couldn‚t win
Just what is it of me you are asking?
„At the end of this road you‚ll begin‰

There I stood a prisoner of choices
Here I sit no longer in my youth
I swear to you that I do here voices
Sweetest angels singing hymns of truth

You say love me for a while
Miles above me you did smile
In daylight again, in daylight again

Clouds they roll by like the second coming
Whispering the terminus of dawn
So I dreamt of rivers slowly running
To the stately pleasure dome of Kublai Khan

There I was the king and the disciple
There I was the maiden‚s hair in braids
There I hadn‚t any time for trifles
Worlds arise and quickly pass away

You say love me for a while
Miles above me you did smile
In daylight again, in daylight again
In daylight you‚ll find I might
I might be moving on

So I stood there staring at the pasture
A one-eyed cow, a raven, greenish-blue
At once I‚m the pupil and the master
Time assimilates into the dew

Now I watch the sun slowly ascending
Shadows ebb into the golden glow
Time lays down his guise of never-ending
Along my merry way now I do go

You say love me for a while
Miles above me you did smile
In daylight again, in daylight again
In daylight you‚ll find I might
I might be moving on.

THE CURE

Once upon a winter‚s day I stood in a misty rain and
Heard the angels say:
O my brother friend of mine,
You‚ve been gone a long, long time.
Come inside, here you‚re safe
To stay a while and feel secure.

In the darkness I felt light loosening all that was tight,
O the angels say:
Now my brother rest ye here,
Letting go of yesteryear.
Seasons change; we remain.
So stay a while and take the cure.

Standing in the midst of grace, must this be a holy place?
O the angels say:
Let me show you something grand,
Life within a grain of sand.
And you‚ll see the mystery.
So won‚t you stay a while and take the cure?

So my brother, don‚t you see?
Call it you or call it me.
We are all the same.
So my brother friend of mine,
Take a taste of the divine,
And you‚ll see we are free.
So stay a while and take the cure.

O my brother won‚t you come with me?
I can show you where you long to be.
Look up yonder in the heavens and tell me what you see.

There was light it came down like a shower;
It was radiating from a subtle power inside.
I heard a voice say, „Brother now or never,
If you take this feeling you could live forever,
And you‚ll find the strength to die.

"Let me tell you friend a little secret:
In your struggles there is something sacred;
I want to give you something won‚t you take it?
Open wide and take the cure."