Anything For Progress
she tells me that time
will heal all our wounds
she points to her heart and says
here is proof
she shows me the scar where the arrow went through
broken by one
now it’s beating for two
come on little soldier come fight for me
i’ll love you on the land i’ll love you in the sea
kiss me hello let’s make memories
and don’t be afraid of what we might be
because in this life there are no guarantees
that everything is roses down on easy street
the buildings could fall you could be underneath
but i’ll be right there with a shovel and relief
saying follow my voice and you’ll soon be free
reach in the rubble pull you up to me
wash away the sting of the cold concrete
singing my dear “it was just a bad dream”
as my body grows up, i don’t want to grow cold
and this is all i know
two weeks passed, wanted time to think
i made a little list of the things i need
held it up to yours, it was all in sync
called you on the phone said “honey it’s me”
i baked us a cake and i cut it in three
gonna sit here and wait until we both find peace
take a left at the light you’ll be on my street
it’s the house with the ribbon tied around the old tree
lift up the mat and you will find my key
slide it in the lock and you’ll soon be free
the click will crack those old memories
singing my dear “it was just a bad dream”
as my body grows up, i don’t want to grow cold
and this is all i know
we’re gonna fix this place up
turn it into a world of our own
it’s gonna spread like good news
from the streets, up the buildings into the windows of the homes
we’re gonna give it a fresh coat
it’s gonna feel like new year’s day
where everything before this
will all dissolve in the flicker of the frame
on our own
Black Cat Balloons
we’ve got our pads
but they own the pens
they filed our words
it’s all for defense
they pick up the line
and try and decide
who should they kill
who should survive
there’s battles abound
battles within
they came to harm they came to win
serious. this is getting serious
if we all said sorry and tried to mean it
would that make things cool between us?
here comes the bombs
there goes our chance
now it’s all a gone
a flash in the pan
hope you had fun
hope you are brave
we laugh all the way
into our graves
now that’s been said
let’s try this again
the black cat balloon
has laid down to rest
we’ll cut all the lines
one at a time
all will be safe
all will be fine
there’s beauty abound
beauty within
we came to help
we came as friends
furious. we should be so furious.
if we all said sorry and tried to mean it
would that make things cool between us?
here comes the bombs
there goes our chance
now it’s all a gone
a flash in the pan
hope you had fun
hope you are brave
we laugh all the way
into our graves
wave goodbye
Shonanoka
say say say you’re gonna stay through the night
and keep me from the light
because it’s flee or fight
i gotta burn burn burn this selfish sound
burn it to the ground
like the flames licking at my hands
oh let me make it, let me make it until tomorrow
because all I do is I choke when I swallow
these bitter pills with their sweet little bottle’s
throw em back back back
just like a certain secret sinner from the bible
being punished for dishing out the awful
the tables turned now the plate is at my altar
send it back back back
two little kids who were bound by twine
she was seven and he was nine
they took a long trip but chose the hardest way
to find each other but both were brave
and when the morning fire
comes ringing through the wires
we’ll sing out with a new voice
i know the words will be reflecting
the switch in my direction
no more broken notes
I’m moving, I’m changing, I’m thinking, I’m growing,
I’m happy to report
re-writing my history
don’t worry i’ll keep this short
look what we’re doing, what we’re doing to tomorrow
all we do is we take and we borrow
digging deeper till whole thing is hollow
give it back back back
just like a certain centered hero from that fable
he’s back to drawing “seven days later”
the plot has turned now his love is on the table
he’s fighting back back back
now all grown up in the friendship state
both agree it was worth the wait
though a little bit battered and a tiny bit bruised
with a good life’s sleep there as good as new
and in the end when you’re reaching your last breath
when there’s nothing left to see and there is no one to impress
when “where will I end up” is the last thought in your head
I know where I will be and it’s waiting for my family
The Hummingbirds
Josephina, Josephine
won’t you please be strong for me
i know it’s been a while and there’s really no excuse
i just found it hard to watch your health decrease
as soon as i learned that you’re one of my best friends
it was a quick hello and then it was goodbye again
goodbye again, goodbye again…..
Josephina, Josephine
will you know how much you meant to me
i’m really trying hard to do the best I can
i want to right all these wrongs, and be absolved of all my sins
so when the organ plays and i’m lifeless in that bed
i can go at peace knowing i’ll see you again
see you again
and I thought about you since your final goodbye
it’s just something i do to help pass the time
i don’t mind, i don’t mind, i don’t mind, i don’t mind
it’s so much better than just sitting here waiting to die
i’m so sick of goodbyes
little boy blue went and lost his way
he prayed all night for his soul to be saved
but when he finally woke he had a cross of his own
that he nailed to his back and he couldn’t let go
you can do it once, you could do it twice
but if you do it too much then you’ll die inside
there won’t be a funeral
there won’t be a grave
just a tiny little blurb at the very back page
it starts with a hit, then it ends with a bang
the next thing you know you’re at the bottom of the bag
you won’t feel any pressure, you won’t feel any pain
but your life will burn up like those humming bird wings
i don’t mind, i don’t mind, i don’t mind, i don’t mind
it’s so much better than just sitting here waiting to die
Come On All You Soldiers
we all are forever wanting
we all are forever getting
we all are just for an evening
we all our, all of the above
we all are forever foolish
we all our forever learning
we all our just for a moment
we all are…..
lets write in a sturdy book and hide it in the dirt
so when we finally leave this place they could know just what we were
so simple and so complicated with the pressure of having hands
the ability to save a life or kill it where it stands
oh my friends, my friends
we all are forever tiny
we all are forever giants
we all are just for a moment
we all are, all of the above
we all are forever singing
we all are forever silent
we all are just for a second
we all are…..
let’s write it in our favorite book and place it on the shelf
so we can easily pull it out when we are in desperate need of help
we can turn towards the dog eared page with a slow and certain stride
and bask inside the freedom of having nothing at all to hide
oh my friends…
too little? too late?
doing soft shoe on the hardest stage.
lights on. last call.
take a bow as the curtain falls…
nine times, out of ten
we hold our tongues like our hands are broken
“A” for apathy on this screen test,
it’s “hard living for the soft spoken” now
we all are, all of the above
The Candle Jumped Over The Spoon
and i don’t ever want to be that one to you
who trades in everything for a candle and a spoon
oh my nurse with that care that you give
sitting at your desk measuring my medicine
it makes my eyes grow big
it makes my heart beat slow
as it drips right down my throat
i start to miss everyone i’ve known
including myself and especially you
and i’ll the things i hoped that we would one day do
but i guess we’re through
yeah i guess were through
yeah i guess we’re through
the candle jumped right over the spoon
so much damage done from a little bag of harm
you would disappear and leave me in charge
to figure things out, to hold my own hand
i thought if i did it too, then i would finally understand
but I am so much confused
as you leave me behind
but i’ve got fond memories, to remember you by
but i wouldn’t trade
this old life of mine
for anything else
so here’s to better time
even though we’re through
even though we’re through
even though we’re through
the candle jumped right over the spoon
i’m over the spoon
i’m over the spoon
i’m over the spoon
Ghost In The Garden
since the age of nine they’ve been best friends
he first arrived when the fever set in
he held her hands as she boiled in bed
now, she is in love with the ghost in the garden
the boy in the ground who nobody wanted
the days crawled by, oh merciless time!
images of innocence dance in her mind
with her last bit of strength she looks deep in his eyes
please tell me my friend that this isn’t goodbye
now, he is in love with the girl in the coffin
the one bit of hope that this black death had brought him
now, they are the ghosts, the ghost in the garden
the mother of mercy’s two obedient children
she is the ghost the ghost in the garden
he is the ghost the ghost in the garden
we are the ghosts who won’t be forgotten
The Bullet, The Battle, The Trigger, The Barrel and Me
sissy i know it’s late, but i got some things i have to say
and i don’t think they’re gonna wait
there are so many folks i want you to meet, but they all turned to
ghosts before you found me, i guess they made their great escape
you really would have liked my dad, he was a kind and generous man
but like everyone else he had his own set of demons.
he would have danced with you on our wedding day
he would have told the band to keep on playing until he jumped up on that stage
with an accordion pressed to his chest, he would grab the mic and
address our guests
i want to sing one for my brand new beautiful daughter,
and it goes….
the foundling’s right where she is supposed to be
in the arms of her family
it’s a modern take on history
between the bullet, the battle, the trigger, the barrel and me
i wish you saw what i could see when i close my eyes at night and sleep,
it’s my favorite movie scene
Kevin’s in the shot with Josephine, they’re both playing the organ by the lady,
all four hands are on the keys
Al is at the counter mixing drinks, he turns towards Rena with a
devilish grin and sings
“a refreshment for your ring?”
Gordan’s at the table with a brand new deck, telling Johnny and Steve
to place their
bets, “boys make em’ small, i gotta feeling you’re gonna lose”
when they see us hand and hand at the edge of the frame, they jump up and cheer
“you two come in”
then cut is yelled because picture is complete
the actors are where they’re supposed to be
as the camera soaks up everything,
it’s the haunted heart of history, with the bullet, the battle, the
trigger, the barrel and me
Death Of A Writer
if the death of a writer brings life to his readers
then what does it mean that i’m still breathing?
all of us have learned our words, some have less, and some have more
but they’re all equally capable of ruining things
from a simple kiss, to an apology, to a “i miss you” eulogy
it all depends how you tap those typing keys
like a dusty old stack under that magazine rack
we’re just a floor full of issues
with our burdens printed on our backs
one time in Texas as i browsed those endless aisles
and i thumbed through those volumes, and i sifted through those piles i wondered
if they could go back in time would they twist a plot, remove a line?
and are they haunted by their reprints late at night?
and i thought about my own tales, and how often the hero failed
and should i do some revising of my own?
like a warped piece of wax on that gramophone mat
we just spin and spin and spin
as our past keeps on playing back
i’m wide awake and I can finally see everything that’s straight ahead
in front of me
took a chance, caught a break, looked inside of my head
and what I saw was grief and death staring right back at me
don’t wage your wars on anyone else, when the enemy is yourself
i know him all so well
you can see me in hell
In The Time It Takes For The Lights To Change
an informal introduction to a man with demands
shook him in ways that ruined all his plans
“it’s just simple self destruction” was the mark on his map
he carried it for years, tucked inside an empty heart
until a crack in his rib, let in the light again
“random pure perspective, like it or not, this is who I am, it’s not
what I want.” this is what he thought
he’s looking out his window as the world twists like arms,
have we all lost our minds? when will with stop? the hammer’s gonna drop….
in the time it takes for the lights to change
your life could come crashing down in some way
where every thought that you held up as truth
gets shaken loose, broken through, until you’re lost and confused, and no use
equal parts intention, with a partial pinch of chance
she crossed his path and pressed her cheeks to his hands
and said “it’s a simple sum equation, like math made from man.
it defines where we were, but not where we land ”
so subtract the ones that are causing your pain, and watch your fear wash away
the saddening set of subjects are not set in stone,
despite what you’ve done, you always have a choice, to tighten up your course
it’s a little like that song bird who misplaced her voice,
she looked everywhere she knew, except inside her own tiny throat
in the time it takes to throw in the towel
your life can be washed clean of those fires
and with every thought used for some self abuse
get’s shaken loose, you’re breaking through, you’re here, you’re alive
and brand new
