INCUNABULA

oh me.
hide behind my sleep
me oh my
hide behind my eyes
hey hey hey
hide behind the day

but I’ve been true.
I’ve been true.
been so true.

ooh ooh ohhh

day breaks.
sky falls.
fires are everywhere.
no one ever calls.

cloud fleets. 
heart beats.
nothing. oh never.
nothing ever dies.

it’s so lonely inside love.
it’s so lonely inside love.
it’s so lonely inside love.

so long love
so long love
but leave our ruins

ooh ooh ooh.

WANDERER WHITE

at the end of time
theres a friend of mine
took me at my word
on my private line
and the sun was round
as a dandelion

and you followed me out of grace
you followed me out of grace

push you off the wall
and you fall and fall
then you hold me down
then you push me round
i heard every sound
as your family drowned

and you followed me out of grace
you followed me out of grace

whooooooooooooooo-whooah

come on wanderer white!
wheres your fiery spite?
now's your time to shine
its the afterlife
you seduce all your friends
on their wedding nights

and you follow me out of grace
you follow me out of grace
you follow me out of grace

whooooooooooooooo-whooah!!!

CELIA JOHNSON

my baby bird’s broken
she hasn’t spoken for days
i carried her body
through the darkest part
of the maze
as she cried
oh she cried
i am thinking of her eyes
as the all branches waved goodbye

you don’t even know him
you won’t ever show him your face
you cover his eyes while you’re
filling his head with your days
i’m in twain
i am surgically slicing up the rain
i’m inspecting every link in the chain
i’m erasing every dream in your brain

da da da…

sometimes in the summer I
sleep with my doors open wide
was on such an evening I
learned Celia Johnson had died
and i cried
oh i cried
i am thinking of her eyes
i am thinking of her eyes
i am thinking of her eyes
as Trevor Howard says goodbye. 

FREEZE YOUR LIGHT

all their faces were
dull and faded
blues all washed out and
pixelated
there’s no proof they were
serenaded

but i will keep the camera on you
i will keep the camera on you
freeze your light.

dreamed he dragged from his starlight motel
a cardboard box with a broken handle
filled with lenses and roman candles

and i will keep the camera on you
i will keep the camera on you
freeze your light.

i love forever your guilty praises
hidden letters in smoky mazes
all the way down
all the way down

i will keep the camera on you
i will keep the camera on you
freeze your light.

A NEW ENGLAND DELUGE

once round the moon then broken down
i remembered what it felt like
to be young and free, in my body’s memory
running, never out of breath
dying over and over and in my death
the seven seas
blood running down my knees

and i have this picture
of your older sister  
as she’s running down the drive
after kicking in the hive
but i can’t sell you
this New England deluge
will you meet me down
on the floodplain?

billy eino was my tiny friend
he followed me around
until he gained my sympathy
at seven he was 3 foot 3
gym time, he rode on my back
cackling as the jocks kicked back
the soccer ball
he begged me, ‘please don’t fall”

but his aorta blew up one morning
my mother whispered in the car
of the murder of a star
but i can’t sell you
this New England deluge
but will you meet me down
on the floodplain?

And i drove for hours
and i brought you flowers
and i got down on my knees
begging baby please
but i could not sell you
this New England deluge
will you meet me down
on the floodplain?
will you meet me down
on the floodplain?
oh will you meet me down
on the floodplain?

THE SWIMMERS AND THE DROWNED

my lamb, my sheep
you confessed it talking in your sleep
you know that nervous system
isn’t yours to keep
my love, my pet
you know i memorized your silhouette
the way your eyes follow me
like some bad debt

your fails, your doubts
your sit-ins and your fade-outs
you need a parking lot to keep you
hollowed out
and clean, my queen
you spilled your whiskey in your magazine
why did you wait so long
to get your sad vaccine?

held up
held down
between the swimmers and the drowned
the bread you steal
between the hunger and the meal
now you see the known
through your faded rods and cones
alone

your arms, your cries
I still dream about
your tired eyes
the way you always bitched about
your low supplies

held up
held down
between the swimmers and the drowned
the bread you steal
between the hunger and the meal
now you only see the known
through your faded rods and cones
alone

HE GREW A WALL

so the wind told a lie
you were deceived by the sky
the sun refused your call
the moon denied it all
grew a wall

i hardly knew you at all
i slept for six days on the steps outside your hall
couldn't reach the high note
lost your only glasses swimming across the moat
grew a wall

couldn't move
couldn't talk
the only thing i hear is the clock
and the footfalls of the firefighters
but i never reached the typewriter

grew a wall
grew a wall
grew a wall

CHAPEL

i am
beaten
your silk worm
has eaten
my mulberry
heart

i’ll go
underground
i’ll go
underground
and the wind
will drown
me out

i was
blinded
the path sealed off
behind me
how long
will it last?

i am under
glass
i am under
glass
i am under
glass, glass

i left
bitter apples
for you
in the chapel
no sugar
in these trees

i have
burned them down
i have
burned them down
i have
burned them down
to the
ground

BRINGING DOWN THE BODY COUNT

oh maria
bringing down the body count
oh can you lift your hands up
into the rude sun?
i'm counting the compound eyes
staring at you and your face
behind the glass

oh maria
bringing down the body count
subtracting one death from every life
you bring better luck
to those you thought were dead
the corpses walking through the snow

seventeen, sixteen, fifteen

oh maria
bringing down the body count
oh can you hold your head up
under the dead moon?
how could you kiss me on the mouth
when my wife was sleeping
under you?

seventeen, sixteen, fifteen

oh maria
bringing down down the body count
oh maria
bringing down down the body count
oh maria
bringing down down the body count
h maria
bringing down down the body count

DIARY, RECONSTRUCTED

the fire blew through the tiny town,
the walls we knew were melting down
video tapes, super-8 movie reels
photographs of love’s appeals
a jar of dried out hawthorne leaves
a note inside, said: ‘what the hell do you believe?’

and i have been your eyes
i have been your eyes
i have seen through your eyes
and will these dreams reprise?

the secrets we kept
we all wrote them down
while the others slept
in their stolen crowns
we all witnessed the winds
as they pulled the trees
back into the earth and us upon our knees

god i need those words to remember you
when you were the one
i could not see through

and i have been your eyes
i have been your eyes
i have seen through your eyes
and will these dreams reprise?
will these dreams reprise?
will these dreams reprise?

IT WILL ALL COME BACK TO YOU

with my hat in my hand
and my ozone sigh
i made everyone
kiss me goodbye

i was overdressed
at the farmers ball
i had my nose in the air
thought i was above it all

i sold you silverware
for a good price
a handshake and a wink
would buy you thirty knives

but i was scared of you
i was scared of you

i introduced you to my father-in-law
before i knew your name
you told the same joke
to everyone who came

we were all stuck on a bus
with no license plates
the driver shared your flask
and i walked home alone
in your ice skates

someday if you let it
it will all come back to you
someday if you let them
they will all come back to you
someday if you let it
it will all come back to you
someday if you let it
it will all come back to you
someday if you let it
it will all come back to you
someday if you let them
they will all come back to you

2012

we turned away

we awoke to find the world
and our mouths all full of pearls and our hands unbound
and our words unfound

and our hearts all beat anew
and our friends were old and true every leaf lime-green
every dewdrop seen

and we gazed up from our graves felt the numbers on our days
and the eyes we knew
and the eyes we knew

and still we turned away from you
aaahh

and still we turned away

amazing sky

(for bill sam)

we pulled you down we took you down under the amazing sky under the amazing sky

we laid you down
on the green ground under the amazing sky under the amazing sky

did anybody ever tell you did anybody ever tell you who you are?

heart so alone
heavy as stone
under the amazing sky under the amazing sky

was it enough?
was it enough?
under the amazing sky under the amazing sky

did anybody ever tell you did anybody ever tell you did anybody every tell you who you are?

small bright doses

arm on hip in Boerum hill
a summer storm cracks against the sill
your jaw clicks when you bite the bread
i despise all the things i’ve said
and who could bear the things in my head

i’m only good in small bright doses
but you stay near, you stay the closest
for the longest, and the truest
the gentian flower they say’s the bluest,
though its flowers are the fewest.

i promise you we’ll be allowed to live.

one day we will go out to dinner
drink booze and laugh like we’re common sinners
tell boring stories as if they mattered
our voices loud and bold and battered.
people staring war-torn shattered

i promise you we’ll be allowed to live.
i follow you.

rogue highway

the one with the penny eyes
blind hands and a dime disguise
cracked map couldn’t tell you where to go

the friend with the catacomb head
white teeth on a feather bed
nightjar in your heart that you call a crow

and I’m wondering how you know

I left them all on the rogue highway I left them all on the rogue highway I left them all on the rogue highway

of the flowers in the cold hand
in the words of the old man
you can’t pass up every penny in the snow

but the voices keep coming back
and the voices keep coming back
the fruit and the weeds all fight to grow

And I’m wondering how you know

I left them all on the rogue highway I left them all on the rogue highway I left them all on the rogue highway

gonna give you one look
before I close this little book

and everybody in the haunted house has to go

and I’m wondering how you know

I left them all on the rogue highway I left them all on the rogue highway I left them all on the rogue highway I left them all on the rogue highway

pretty girls

pretty girls just make me cry.
saw the skeleton of bird fly by.
the air it whistled through her bones.
she didn’t hear it she was heading home.

pretty girls just make me sad.
it was the best night that we ever had.
through the city streets we ran.
sometimes starfish move like human hands.

knew a woman at the farm.
she was worried i would do her harm.
she wanted me to watch her die.
waited patiently but a bird flew by.

please forgive these bones.
the lightness of the air.
the heaviness of stones.
the way i couldn’t care.

pretty birds just make me cry.
saw the skeleton of girl fly by.
the air it whistled through her bones.
she didn’t hear it she was heading home.

she was heading home.

january rain

i will not go until you go. i will not go until you go. in this january rain.

i will not speak until you speak. i will not speak until you speak. in this january rain.

ahhhhhhh

i will not know until you know. i will not know until you know. in this january rain.

i will not sleep until you i will not sleep until you

ahhhhhhh

the sun is alone

the sun is so alone
the sun is so alone

who warms the sun? who warms the sun? no one?
no one?

no one? (oooh)

the stars are pinned so high the stars are pinned so high who holds the stars?
who holds the stars?

no one?
no one?
no one? (oooh)

who warms the sun? who holds the stars? no one?
no one?

no one? no one? no one? no one?

minxy

oh minxy
you don't have to swallow the sun rush the dawn, to earn your song

oh minxy, i woke up today
and the world felt like clay
in my mouth
oh minxy, i pray everyday
that the warm winds make their way from the south

oh minxy
you don't have rush the dawn, oh minxy
you don't have duck the sound oh minxy

oh minxy,
i believe you, i believe you, i believe you

oh minxy
we’ll ride out together 
and bring the blue light home in our arms
oh minxy
the spring flood will carry the new moon through the doors our of house

oh minxy
you don't have to swallow the sun rush the dawn, to earn your song oh minxy
you don't have to live underground duck the sound until you're found oh minxy

october

holding back your summerhair.
you told me now love was everywhere.
but you had to get out of this town and freak awhile.

acting like you had something together.
nothing gets you there any faster.
you work yourself to the bone.

october will you wait for me? october will you wait for me? october will you wait for me?

walking home from the liquor store.
hands over your head and don’t turn around.
you shrug it off and then you pull it out.

pushing yourself down a flight of stairs.
you don’t have her address.
you tore the knees of your jeans and your knees are bruised.
your knees are bruised.

october will you push me back? october will you wait for that? october why don’t you look?

the world is always there. the world is always there!

the world is always there. the world is always there.

la la la la la la la
la la la la la la la la la la

dying star

when the mine collapsed
i was holding my brother’s hand
though he couldn’t see my eyes
i knew that he would understand

now i’m uptown
he’s underground
why his wife wears their ring in public i can’t say.
she likes me better anyway.

when the mountain lit up
you were drinking in your boss’s car
trying to write a letter
by the light of a dying star

i still see you there
with your perfect hair
crying in the telescope
and trying to say my name
you won’t ever be the same

and every day i feel
a little bit lighter
throwin’ off all these crimes
but as they’re putting me under
i’m starting to wonder
where did i blow my foolish love’s thin dime?
it’s only time. it’s only time.

fleur-de-luce

bitter fields we bled on, slept then fled on,
sixty thousand leaves on frilly beds we killed on
spinning sightless, eyes like seashells crumble, cave of vapored honey, glow of water
brothers bathed in borrowed sheets we always lived in till we’d give in ruby-filled in honey

fleur-de-luce. all my lovely goners. fleur-de-luce. all my lovely goners.

muddy path through birch trees,
back is aching, bending, pounding blue heart running faster skyward wending,
stopping looking up and stinging eyelids, weeping sky descends in colors
o'er the dome of sleeping

fleur-de-luce.
all my lovely goners fleur-de-luce
all my lovely goners

hang the harps on trees again.
the blood is mingled with the rain. hang the harps on trees again.
the blood is mingled with the rain.

sunspots (ruins)

did i misplace you?
did you face your fears?
did you wade across?
did the sunspots wreck your eyes leave you blind from the neck down?

I can see from the ruins
this city’s
bone-strewn roads
stretching on for years bearing ancient loads on
the creaking wheels of a sorrow I rose above the sound

of your bitter voice
you think you've no choice
but to breathe in the heat of the beehive ’cause your pictures were lost on the hard drive

planets in name and only height scorched by the same bold suns
you will lose this fight
and flee for the temples abandoned once looted and now painted random blue

did i misplace you
did you face your fears?
did you wade across?
did the sunspots wreck your eyes?

did the sunspots wreck your eyes? did the sunspots wreck your eyes?

feather blue

paddling a riptide, feeling useless, pulling slow.
trapped under the moment when I knew I had to go.
I was trying to say a word I didn’t know.
candle under curtains couldn’t glow.

painted up and patted down
my precious private eye.
I was full of questions but i didn't have a tie.
I was underneath the wheel of every car.
holding up the walls of every bar.

ooh feather blue
will you call my name? ooh stay new.
be my flame.

you sang to me these words
as I was wondering who to thank:
“you’ll forget the roses, you can take it to the bank.”
trying to grow a world you couldn’t see.
oh, how did this love ever come to be?

ooh feather blue. will you call my name?
oh stay new.
be my flame. 

All songs by Philip Price ©Copyright 2005-2012/Lalablahblah Music/ASCAP

2010

Are You Sleeping (Cinnamon, Cardamom, Lithium)?
(for vic, mark, alex and andy)

are you sleeping?
i thought i heard you moving.
i thought i heard you breathing.
are you dreaming?
i thought i saw your eyes move
underneath your eyelids.

the cinnamon sun
will not rise today
it has arms to keep warm on another world
i will hover above you
create shadows of you
find the one to love you.

were you walking?
looking back and talking?
trying to keep from falling?
were you looking
through the broken ceiling?
trying to move your legs inside the dream?

the cardamom moon
will not rise tonight
it has tides to pull down on another world
i will hover above you
create shadows of you
find the one to love you.

the lithium stars
will not shine tonight
they have wounded to guide to
another world
i will hover
above you
create shadows of you
find the one to love you
find the one
to love you
i’m the one
to love you

Feed The Spider

all these plants and leaves
will they feed the spider?
all these bones and teeth
will they feed the spider?

i woke up in blind man’s lake
a southern scarlet water snake
slid on out, looked up to see
but there was nothing left of me
oh no, i couldn’t go home

as the air escapes
hands feel ever lighter
rise above the fumes
sun is ever brighter
cut her up and crawl inside
can we live inside her?

i woke up in blind man’s lake
a southern scarlet water snake
slid on out, looked up to see
but there was nothing left of me
oh no, i couldn’t go home

all these plants and leaves
will they feed the spider?
all these bones and teeth
will they feed the spider?

i know it’s true, and so do you
that no one’s coming here to claim you
this foul exchange became so strange
the weirdest part is, no one blames you

everybody knows, we can’t stop the leak
we can’t kill the spider
everybody goes, all these plants and leaves
will not kill the spider
everybody knows, we can’t stop the leak
we can’t kill the spider
everybody goes, all these plants and leaves
will not kill the spider
everybody goes.

Hallway (The Top of the Velvety Stairs)

sun is in the corner burning a hole,
moon is in the basement in a minor role.
kisses in the hallway nobody sees.
nobody tells you. you do what you must do.

you do what you must. you do what you have to. you do what they tell you. you do what you feel. you do, you do. i do too.

how do you know the stars are gonna be there when you get to the top of the velvety stairs?

kisses in the hallway. kisses in the words. kisses in the bedrooms. icy birds.
met her in the doorway. had to be her.
kisses in the hallway, oh. oh.

The Ballad of the Anxious Decoder

vodka this happiness, i’m drunk as a swan
too little oxygen here, too much dawn.
ooh.
i will drive down this boulevard
pretty flowers in my hair
i am hiding from the hologram
of your all-knowing stare
your all-knowing stare.

sandbag this sloppiness,
this poorly timed flood.
no one’s excited for your artificial blood.
ooh.
i am living your imperfect dream
i’m a hobo at the feast
hide the bride’s eyes from my dead moonbeam
my unfinished masterpiece,
unfinished masterpiece. ooh.

i am the anxious decoder.
i am the moonshine diplomat.

A Magnet – To The Light!

in the garden they captured you
and the box with our pictures too
and the bag with your mother’s shoe
wrapped in foil
and the whispering grew to talk
it came over you like a fog
like the smell of your brother’s dog
wet from the soil
and something about you died
something about you died
something about you died
your lips were a magnet
to the light

and then nothing remembered you
your unopened gifts were blue
they all knew that the pink ones would
make them feel better
and the picture was unsigned.
“to no one, from nothing, goodbye.”
i don’t know why i’m knitting you this sweater

and something about you died
something about you died
something about you died
your lips were a magnet
to the light

Tuxedo of Ashes

i haven’t felt this tired
since the day that i was born
and the last thing that i tasted
was a mouthful of your scorn
i went out on the highway
underneath the mackerel sky
with an ice chip on my shoulder
and a snowflake in my eye

i haven’t been this sleepy
since the last time i was killed
the bullet went right through me
but her task was unfulfilled
i lay down in the ash heap
and penciled in our names
on the rosters of the fallen
and the legends of the maimed

i woke up in Hyannis
with a toothpick in my lung
overcome by hunger
for the shelter of a gun
i gorged myself on ribbons
and every second of the day
was tattooed on my eyelids
with the things i used to say

so listen for the airplanes
tell us what to do
in this tuxedo of ashes
i give my heart to you
so listen for the airplanes
tell us what to do
in this tuxedo of ashes
i give my heart to you
in this tuxedo of ashes
i give my heart to you

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.

2007

Lay Your Heartbreak

lay your broken body down
lay your heartbreak
everything is gonna change
everything is wrong

wrong people are being loved
wrong ones dying
wrong ones always take control
have you heard from her today?

you could make me feel so good
if you’d come here and cry
you’d make me feel so good
if you’d come here and cry
you’d make me feel so good

she may never take the cure
she’s been through that
she would rather not be pure
than to be alone

lay your broken body down
let your heart break
everything is in a code
language sleeping like a stone

you could make me feel so good
if you’d come here and cry
you’d make me feel so good
if you’d come here and cry
you’d make me feel so good

Hide Me

hide me
Tell everyone where I am but please hide me
Tell everyone where I am but please hide me
sell everyone the map’s to what’s inside me

You run so fast
You wave me past
only time will tell
I drive around
some bar bound
trapped in this long farewell
and i don’t know who to tell

hide me
Tell everyone where I am but please hide me
Tell everyone where I am but please hide me
sell everyone the map’s to what’s inside me

my memory’s bad
i can’t add
was this that sad motel?
In my mind
I’m trying to find
The place where we both fell
and i don’t know who to tell

hide me
Tell everyone where I am but please hide me
Tell everyone where I am but please hide me
sell everyone the map’s to what’s inside me
hide me
hide me
hide me

Handkerchiefs

i cross the line
and see a face that can’t be mine
through a long long night
to find a place where we all thrive
where every frail thing can survive
where we can live this dream of life

in a dim blue light
she saw his eyes give up the fight
a hand finds mine
traces answers on my spine
from malignant to benign
in the midnight smell of pine

walk, walk, further than you’ll ever know
walk, walk, into the snow

a great divide
i didn’t know her good friend died
drawn in black-light chalk
her ankles tied in flower stalks
we need a place where we can talk
just need a place where we can talk

into our handkerchiefs
into both our handkerchiefs
into our handkerchiefs
into both our handkerchiefs
walk, walk into the snow

Broken Arm

i think i finally understand
the way a broken arm can hate the hand
the way a farmer hates his crop
the way a lawyer hates the honest cop
the smell of chamomile
beneath my sickle blade
will not comfort the cancer-stricken
or provide some common shade

i finally woke up at the drop
and told the driver that he had to stop
and then he got down on his knees
you know these actors always die in threes
the sound of dialog
translated by a hack
it gives me chills when she pays the bills and
still has time to surprise attack

come out come out come out and say it
why can’t you come out and say it
come out come out come out and say it
why can’t you come out and say it

the look of camouflage
on the ones who beg
the decider says i’m a fighter
but i can’t feel my fucking legs

lalalalala

come out come out come out and say it
why can’t you come out and say it
come out come out come out and say it
why can’t you come out and say it
come out come out come out.

Shameful

pilloried in crushed mint
killing with a push pin
sand in eyes
vaulted in the deep rain
salted heart and mud stains
and baptized

semaphore sunrise
arthospore moons above this room
all of our pleadings
all of the noons and butcher’s brooms
shameful the hiding
painful the toxic fumes

sleeping under bloodsheets
dreaming of her nervesweets
and her skins
memories in floodlights
orchids in a fistfight
no one wins
now it begins

semaphore sunrise
arthrospore moons above this room
all of our pleadings
all of the noons and butcher’s brooms
shameful the hiding
painful the toxic fumes

semaphore sunrise
arthrospore moons above this room
all of our pleadings
all of the noons and butcher’s brooms
all of our sighing
all the immune and fauve monsoons
shameful the hiding
painful the toxic fumes

Eclipse

there will always be children
behind one comes another
on the stairs, the younger brother
in his grandmother’s shawl.

tonight we will break glasses
be barefoot in grasses
uninvited we walk in
take our pleasures and leave all.

how our dreams entrap us.
how our dreams entrap us.
the puzzle never solved
behind the scrim of our resolve.

there will always be stream-beds
filled with square stones and doll-heads
and the bodies of insects
and the bodies of lovers

tonight we will lose friendships
turn spies in and sink ships
uninvited we lie down
in the dark of the eclipse

how our dreams entrap us.
how our dreams entrap us.
how our dreams entrap us.
how our dreams entrap us.
how our dreams entrap us.
how our dreams entrap us.

the puzzle never solved
behind the scrim of our resolve.

July

from out of the pinstripes into the white lights
i was the one true friend
and you were my saviour perfect behavior
money i’d never spend
winter’s delivering summer’s forgiving
storms in our washed out hearts
guessed every second corrected and reckoned
on the words: ‘not to part’

C: when i got better i wrote you a letter but i didn’t send it anywhere
it floats on a dashboard looks on a churchyard’s children’s promises to share
the words aren’t free so don’t you believe them, something had to be declared
and i have to face july with two holes in my heart
and i have to face this life with two hearts

i could deceive you, or i could receive you
warmly in my estate
smile so politely, correspond nightly,
talk about what we ate
then in the winter, everything splinters,
we will forget our names,
sleep in our ashes, hide from the lightening
flashes and the cold rain

C: when i got better i wrote you a letter but i didn’t send it anywhere
it floats on a dashboard looks on a churchyard’s children’s promises to share
the words aren’t free so don’t you believe them, something had to be declared
and i have to face july with two holes in my heart
and i have to face this life with two hearts

A Ransom

a world away from me.
a world away.
a word.
a ransom.
a world away from me.
a world away.
a word.
a ransom.

on the day that you were born
all the birds flew from the corn
and the sky grew grey.
on the night you left home
a crack appeared in the dome
and it rained all day

this is what you will wear to the end of the world.
this is what you will wear to the end of the world.

a world away from me.
a world away.
a word.
a ransom.
a world away from me.
a world away.
a word.
a ransom.

on the day that you were wed
your bride cried in the bed
while you danced downstairs
when the end finally came
you forgot the author’s name
but you said your prayers

this is what you will wear to the end of the world.
this is what you will wear to the end of the world.

I Bear Witness

i bear witness to
all the ways they all depend on you
i bear witness to
all the days they spend defending you
i bear witness to
how the light i shed divides on you
but will you bear witness
will you bear witness to me?

i bear witness to
how your dying choice betrayed your voice
i bear witness to
how the wind wore down the hills of you
i bear witness to
all the shapes that grow inside of you
but will you bear witness
will you bear witness to me?

all of this is just a dream you are trying to remember.
all your bliss and pain are listed in the dying of an ember

ahhhh
will your secrets remain bright and true
ahhhh
will your secrets remain bright and true
ahhh
will your secrets remain bright and true

and will you bear witness?
will you bear witness to me?

June Eyes

Blue eyes, june eyes, june eyes
Fly fly home, you are not alone
Night walk through sleeping fields
You are not alone, you are not alone

When you’re tired and sad,
When you’re high and glad
When you need a taste
This garden will not be erased.

Keep these, keep all these words
Sugar on your tongue sugar from the sun
Watermelon and mint
Sugar on your tongue you are not alone

When you’re tired and sad,
When you’re high and glad
When you need a taste
This garden will not be erased.

Pick up the phone
Pick up the phone
June eyes call home

Pick up the phone
Pick up the phone
June eyes call home

Angels Fall

at the loser’s ball
you were pretty and tall
writing in the wall in your childish scrawl
pretty and tall, you were born to fall
they were on their knees, they were wailing:

burn your wings on the sun
trying to lose everyone
burn your wings on the sun
and you’re falling, falling

cold nights spent
dreaming other men’s words
sleeping in the wings
of your sedative birds
hoarding all your charms
in your phantom arms
hiding from the hail and the thunder

burn your wings on the sun
trying to love everyone
burn your wings on the sun
and you’re falling, falling

at the loser’s ball
you were pretty and tall
writing in the wall in your childish scrawl
pretty and tall, you were born to fall
they were on their knees, they were wailing:

burn your wings on the sun
trying to love everyone
burn your wings on the sun
and you’re falling
burn your wings on the sun
trying to lose everyone
burn your wings on the sun
and you’re falling

You Don’t Live Long Enough

your body’s early but your mind is late
you hope that someone else will fill your plate
and everybody says its only a state of mind

you don’t live long enough to see it done
fold into everything and hide the sun
the dream will never meet you one on one
and still you run

your monologue begins so late at night
your audience enjoys your bad stage fright
the one you’re talking to is always so full of spite

you don’t live long enough to see it done
fold into everything and hide the sun
the dream will never meet you one on one
and still you run

ahhhh

and still you run
still you run
still you run

A Folded Cloth

Purple pitchers
Perfect twins
One beside
Her 3 brown eggs

One striped vase
He holds a stick
The shadow cast
Is what connects

Twins which are
so near and not
Twins which are
so near and not

twins which are
so near and not
a piece of thread
a folded cloth

not much to cross
to just be nearer
but cloth’s the alps
and thread’s the river

Twins which are
so near and not
Twins which are
so near and not

side by side they co-exist
surrounded by a grayish mist
but side by side
they must remain

to balance out
the picture plane
to balance out
the picture plane

2005.

A BENEDICTION

all the sad boys come home with you
drape you in garlands and sing their sad songs to you
pour all their stories like rain through you
all the sad boys come home with you.

all the green children pine for you
they learned all your secrets and made up your mind for you
although they were unkind to you
all the green children pine for you.

all the pale grey stars shine through you
your body fell prey to the transparent mind of you
all blue ghosts search for signs of you
all the pale grey stars shine through you.

LAUGHING

I started losing you
About the time you told me everybody knew
I fell under the strain
And through the rear-view mirror watched you
Circle 'round the drain

I go back to all the places I've known
I knock hard but no one's ever at home
Why does every brilliant color I'm shown
Wanna bleed to grey?

And I can't hear you laughing anymore.
I can't hear you laughing.

I tried to find our flat
But god would never ever let us have the keys to that
I tried to buy a house
But the deal she offered me would mean
You'd have to call me Faust

I go back to all the places I've known
I knock hard but no one's ever at home
Why does every brilliant color I'm shown
Wanna bleed to grey?

And I can't hear you laughing anymore.
I can't hear you laughing.

Cranky

All I know is that I’m true
To every single one of you
The best that I know how to do
I’m lost
I’m lost

Cranky is friend of mine
She puts away a glass of wine
Faster than the columbine
Falls off
In frost

So tell me cranky
What do I do
What do I do
There’s miles more heartache
Yet to go through.
Yet to go through

How do you get rid of love
When its painted on you like a glove
And you’re really not deserving of
Its grace

Cranky’s got somewhere to go
Probably leaving with the coming snow
Somewhere south of Idaho
I’ll miss
Her face

So tell me cranky
What do I do
What do I do
There’s miles more heartache
Yet to go through.
Yet to go through

cranky is friend of mine
She puts away a glass of wine
Faster than the columbine
Falls off
In frost

Threshing Machine

We took a picture together
We held the camera in front of us
Your arm was cutting right into the frame
Your smile was for both of us

Something about the way we looked that day
Caught in the act of trying to look away
From the sight of our hands caught in this threshing machine
Do you feel like you’ve seen anything,
Ever, at all?

We took a walk on the dykes
And walked by the proscenium arches
Paused at the mouth of a rabbit hole
Stared down and wondered how far did it go

Something about the way we talked that day
Caught in the act of trying to look away
From the sight of our hands caught in this threshing machine
Do you feel like you’ve felt anything,
Ever, at all?

Try to imagine us in a house
Try to imagine us in a car
Try to imagine us staying alive
And not just hiding away in this bar

Something about the way you looked today
Caught in the act of trying to look away
From the sight of your hands caught in this threshing machine
Do you feel like you’ve done anything,
Ever, at all?
Do you feel like you’ve said anything,
Ever, at all?

Want the Want

a whispered curse under his breath
a whispered prayer over a death
a sunrise blotted out by cloud
a mother sleeping by the shroud

a poison word that’s never said.
a simple frame above the bed.
a poison word will not deceive.
you don’t believe what you believe.

you want the want.
you want the want
(if it doesn’t kill you first
it might just drive you mad)

the vision doesn’t disappoint
the ghost is lighting up a joint
the fickle crowd has gone to sleep
you’re ready now to take the leap

you want the want.
you want the want.
you want the want.
you want the want.
(if it doesn’t kill you first
it might just drive you mad)

Pills for Sara

Vials of bright forgetting powders
Reds and yellows, sweets and sours,
Curled around a scented pillow
Biting hard and crushing flowers

I went down to sugartown
To try and get some pills for Sara,
They said her prescription’s over
there’ll be no refills for Sara

She’s in pain
And I’m her main man

Down to 7th, down to A street,
I made all the rounds for Sara,
Vicodin and oxycontin
My love knows no bounds for Sara

My man gave me something tasty
Vials of bright forgetting powders
Biting hard and crushing flowers
Sleeping through my superpowers

Hours of sleeping, hours of searching
Dreaming that she’d found a way out
She was always so impatient
She would never wait the day out

I went down to sugartown
To try and find some pills for Sara,
They said her prescription’s over
There’ll be no refills for Sara

She’s in pain
And I’m her main man

Vials of bright forgetting powders
Reds and yellows, sweets and sours,
Curled around a scented pillow
Biting hard and crushing flowers

Found Weekend

familar light
pillow’s wet
much confided and cried and repaid

too much room
in this room
all the furniture’s taken away

found weekend
you will live forever

apple’s still
crisp on the shelf
pack of duck sauce
a glimpse of a self

light goes off
underground
we won’t surface
until we are found

found weekend
you will live forever
you will live forever
you will live forever
you will live forever

Portrait

the photographer’s impatient
as the train pulls out of the station,
and you’re heading further south
than i thought you’d ever go.

the streets are filling up with snow,
the ice floe has no place to go
so i’m opening my doors
and telling everyone i know.

i can’t pose for this portrait without you.
the light is fading fast on what is true.
i can’t pose for this portrait without you.
the families in the line behind us are trying to get through.
there’s honey in the chemicals.

you hide so well that nothing shows,
you can’t lock eyes with one who knows,
and every sheet that comes out white
reminds me of that night.

if you were here i’d look complete,
the cameras wouldn’t have to cheat,
something in the photo bath
would make us all so sweet.

i can’t pose for this portrait without you.
the light is fading fast on what is true.
i can’t pose for this portrait without you.
the families in the line behind us are trying to get through.
there’s honey in the chemicals.

your car wheel’s spinning in a ditch,
your father called you one cold bitch,
he said he would’ve hit you
but he didn’t have the strength.

my house is filling up with smoke,
i’m getting high on jack and coke,
the kitchen pipes are frozen
and your world is at arm’s length.

i can’t pose for this portrait without you.
the light is fading fast on what is true.
i can’t pose for this portrait without you.
the families in the line behind us are trying to get through.
there’s honey in the chemicals.

honey in the chemicals.
honey in the chemicals.
honey in the chemicals.
honey in the chemicals.

Letter To A Friend In Jail

can you see this hotel from your cell?
can you sleep and do they feed you well?
it’s been months since i’ve had any word.
on the only tape of you i have your speech is slurred.

here’s some news for you from the outside:
everyone’s gone blind from trying to hide.
the vintage arcade’s been hauled away,
it looks more and more like a prison every day.

ah, letter to a friend in jail.

the warden can’t forgive our midnight kiss.
he doesn’t know it’s me that’s sending this.
there’s a file baked into this tart,
but it won’t cut through the cell bars in your heart.

you didn’t have to confess all of it,
you could’ve held on to the costly bits.
of your crime i still have not been swayed.
i think you’re the only one who’s been betrayed.

ah, letter to a friend in jail.

if you want me to i’ll wait for you.
if you ask me to i’ll wait for you.
if you don’t i’ll walk my silent mile.
i’m so damaged by what came out at the trial.

ah, letter to a friend in jail.
letter to a friend in jail.

Looking Down

am i doing this right?
you oughta know.
should i put up a fight?
you oughta know.

when you came in did they pass out your gold car?
give you map and show you where you are?
point us out to you on the golden sphere of this star?

i feel you looking down, looking down on my love.
i feel you looking down, looking down on my love.

should i head for the hills?
you oughta know.
should i tear up these bills?
you oughta know.

when you came in did they take you to the bar?
give you a drink and say that you’d come far?
point us out to you on the golden sphere of this star?

i feel you looking down, looking down on my love.
i feel you looking down, looking down on my love.
i feel you looking down, looking down on my love.
i feel you looking down, looking down on my love.