2008
everything
i remember when you called me on the phone.
you said you were not afraid to sleep alone.
and you hid your favorite bear under a stone.
“did you know that when we die we get to know
everything everything everything everything?”
take away the words
take away the words for everything,
take away the words.
take away the words for everything,
take away the words.
lose the words for the soft ascension,
lose the words to the wind and snow,
lose the words i forgot to mention,
or none of this might get told.
take away the lights on everything,
take away the lights.
take away the lights on all these things,
take away the lights.
lose the lights on the palace rooftops,
lose the lanterns in the foxholes,
douse the fires in the fields of dry crops,
or none of this might get told.
take away the names for everything,
take away the names.
lose the names on the walls of this room,
lose the pass to the safe household,
lose the words for the colors in this bloom,
or none of this might get told.
lose the words for the soft ascension,
lose the words to the wind and snow,
lose the words for the cruel inventions,
or none of this might get told.
beesting
we’re all in doubt,
get in the car,
we’re all in doubt,
get in the car,
when you feel the beesting
in your heart,
when you feel the beesting
in your heart.
we all are ghosts,
stay in the car,
we all are ghosts,
stay in the car,
when you hear the ninth ring
in your ears,
when you hear the ninth ring
in your ears,
won’t you protect me from all care?
won’t you protect me from all care?
i’m all alone in your blue armchair,
i’m all alone in your blue armchair.
(sleep my babies, deep and warm,
in the arms of the storm).
let go, the sleeping rapist won’t know,
let go, the sleeping rapist won’t know,
when you feel the beesting
in your heart,
when you feel the beesting
in your heart.
(sleep my babies, deep and warm,
in the arms of the storm).
burning hearts (written by michael grace, jr.)
secret blue thread
we are out walking
with our hands in our pockets,
our hands in our pockets,
my hands in your hair;
we pull our coats tight,
we dream in our headsets,
we dream in our headsets
of treetops in flames,
outside the reach
of our cars and our lenses,
with our lies and our best friends,
our secret blue threads.
my secret blue thread,
secret blue thread.
my perfect new friends,
secret blue thread.
secret blue thread
keeps the lovers from fading,
the half-tones from shading
to gray and to black.
secret blue thread
keeps the dead from hiding,
my memory sliding,
bringing you back.
my secret blue thread,
secret blue thread.
my perfect new friends,
secret blue thread.
be prepared to be disturbed,
disrobed and selected,
drugged, unprotected,
the subject of fights;
the lies and the truth
are braided together,
an unbreakable tether,
holding us tight.
my secret blue thread,
secret blue thread.
my perfect new friends,
secret blue thread.
gentleman farmer
i walked across the plains
found a field that might take rains,
some fertile earth by stone,
at least some dirt that might accept
these white man’s bones.
i don’t have to make,
have to make you see,
i don’t have to show you anything,
i’m a gentleman farmer
(all the children gather
under silos full of flowers,
all the gentle curtains fall
inside the frozen towers).
three children born,
one survived. the others died.
we all were warned.
i fall outside the cabin
lose my horses in the acres of dead corn.
i don’t have to make,
have to make you see,
i don’t have to show you anything,
i’m a gentleman farmer
(all the children gather
under silos full of flowers,
all the gentle curtains fall
inside the frozen towers).
we’ll bring you down
we rock slowly under the ground,
we rock slowly under the ground,
we’ll bring you down,
we’ll sing it out loud,
we’ll bring you down,
we’ll sing it out loud.
we die quickly in outer space,
we die quickly in outer space,
we’ll bring you down,
we’ll sing it out loud,
we’ll bring you down,
we’ll sing it out loud.
everyone will be afraid of everything.
every bird will fly upon the frailest wing.
everyone will be afraid of everything.
every bird will fly upon the frailest wing.
we dream slowly under our beds,
we dream slowly under our beds.
we’ll bring you down,
we’ll sing it out loud,
we’ll bring you down,
we’ll sing it out loud.
you don’t love me yet
standing around
at a station in town
smoked my last cigarette
saw things on the ground.
quicken in my guts,
scabs on my knees
in a catacomb dreamtime
i’m afraid to set free.
you don’t love me yet,
you don’t love me yet,
i’m still prying my clock apart.
you don’t get me yet,
you don’t get me yet,
i’m still trying to stop your heart,
and i’m losing my bet.
jump to the bullet
cut to the chase,
i’m trying to kiss you
but i can’t find your face.
a note to myself
i’m tempted to read,
but your body’s beside me
attempting to bleed.
you don’t love me yet,
you don’t love me yet,
i’m still prying my clock apart.
you don’t get me yet,
you don’t get me yet,
i’m still trying to stop your heart,
and i’m losing my bet.
wire
oh why did we sleep so long?
with our ankles in the fire?
filled our lungs with smoky song,
killed ourselves with old desires?
i’ll be your wire.
i will transmit your facts.
i will build fires
without a single match.
i’ll be your wire.
are your children fully grown?
do your eyes go dark for pages?
was your seed righteously sown,
transcribed for all the ages?
i’ll be your wire.
i will transmit your facts.
i will build fires
without a single match.
i’ll be your wire.
what makes me blind?
guide me through this land
invisible hand
when the summer divided me,
when the summer divided me.
you’ll be born a child of pain,
your new heart is not to blame,
and the summer divided you,
and the summer divided you.
what makes me blind,
what makes sight?
what makes me blind,
what makes sight?
standing ’round the bed,
not a single word comes to my head,
and the summer divided her,
and the summer divided her.
what makes me blind,
what makes sight?
what makes me blind,
what makes sight?
what makes me blind?
what makes me blind?
what makes me blind?
weary heart
my weary heart
sleeping here beside you
beating through
the sleeping walls that hide you.
my weary heart adores you,
my weary love is for you,
my weary legs obey you
I walk towards you.
my weary hands
tremble in the passage,
i see the words
you wrote on the last page.
my weary heart adores you,
my weary love is for you,
my weary legs obey you
and walk towards you.
my weary steps
led me to the attic,
i heard your voice
murmur through the static.
my weary heart adores you,
my weary love is for you,
my weary legs obey you
and walk towards you
towards you towards you
towards you towards you towards you.
drowned
fog on the town
and the sun shines down,
through leaves, through trees.
swirling are the voices
of the ones that drowned,
in streets, in sheets.
bloody are the hands
of the sleeping man,
that’s all, that’s all.
i’ll wait for you
if that’s what you want me to do.
where were you last night
till half past five?
deep well, deep spell.
burning every candle
just to keep alive.
can’t sleep, won’t weep.
bloody are the hands
of the sleeping man,
that’s all, that’s all.
i’ll wait for you
if that’s what you want me to do.
immortal
come along with me,
come along with me
i’m weary of this human face,
come along with me
come along with me
i’ve letters here from outer space.
you were born immortal
and you’ll die immortal too
and when you come back to this house
i’ll be gone.
come along with me,
come along with me,
i’m weary of this human place.
come along with me,
come along with me,
i miss you every time you pass.
you were born immortal
and you’ll die immortal too
and when you come back to this house
i’ll be gone.