HereNow
I pray to the saints of empty gas tanks
And to the God of the bottom of the ninth
I wait on a word on a whisper never heard
Though I listen with all my might
What if all there is
Is this?
Right here. Right now.
You hope for the best for the long peaceful rest
And the resurrection of the dead
And you fear silly things that the future may never bring
Oh how your heart pounds
And what if all there is
Is this?
Right here. Right now.
Is enough enough?
(Enough is enough)
Is enough enough?
(Enough is enough)
Is enough enough
(Enough is enough is enough is enough)
Right here. Right now.
Mother Mary
I keep trying to see the face
Of mother mary full of grace
In an apple core
In a sticky bun
In a stretch of clouds
In the setting sun
But all that’s there is just the flesh and peel
Just the carmeled crust and the pink and teal of harvest dust
I keep trying to tell you how
I have always loved you like I love you now
But my tongue gets thick and my brain brain goes slack
And all these words come out bric-a-brac
And all that’s there is just the metaphor
It’s not the whole of you
It’s not the crux and core
It’s not the through and through
I keep trying to understand
How a dram of atoms makes the man
And the woman too
Is that the whole of us?
Just a clump of dirt?
Just a cloud of dust?
And that’s there is just some chemistry
The arithmetic of you and me
And the human heart is just a fine machine
Not a work of art filled with kerosene
Not a mystery of colossal scope
Not a duffel bag of fear and hope
Not a megaphone of love and hate
Not a talisman to keep us safe
Not a rattletrap always breaking down
Not a spiderweb
Not a shantytown
Not a creaking bridge
Not a tank brigade
Not an oracle
Not a masquerade
Just a thing that bangs and beats and pounds
And throbs and churns and wails and sounds
And maybe all we are is dust
Maybe that’s the whole of us
But maybe we are magic too
Impossible and completely true
Through and through
Time
What is this ache
Threatening to break my heart in two?
This tender skin
I’ve been living in can feel it too
Might be a change in the weather
Might be I’m losing my mind
But I find myself a beggar
Bartering with time
The trouble with time is
The line that it flies is straight and true
It don’t give a damn about
All of the plans I’ve got with you
And there’s nothing we can do
For heaven’s sake
If I could only take this life with you
And run it back
You know that’s exactly what I’d do
Might be impossible to promise
Might be a vow we’ll bend
But let’s swear our love’s forever
And there is no end
The trouble with time is
The line that it flies is straight and true
And part of the deal is
The love that we feel is tinged in blue
And there’s nothing we can do
Of course a shortness of breath
Doesn’t always lead to death
And though life is hard
And the earth is mostly just a bone yard
It’s pretty in the sunlight
Strange Machines
When I can’t sleep
I don’t count sheep
Instead I try to recall
Where all that I have lost might be
And I never can
After all I’m just a man
Who’s forgotten more
Than I could ever understand
Aren’t we strange machines?
You and me
Aren’t we strange machines?
Human beings
When you dream
It always seems
Like I’ve wandered off
And you cannot find me
But it’s in your head
All that fear and dread
And I’m right where you left me
Asleep in your bed
Aren’t we strange machines?
You and me
Aren’t we strange machines?
Human beings
Bones and blood and hair and skin
And the multitudes within
Aren’t we strange machines
Human beings
Aren’t we strange machines
You and me
People Are People Too
People are people too
Just like me and you
From the tops of our heads
To the foot of our beds
People are people too
You seem to think they’re not
You seem to think they’re not
You treat them like things
And not human beings
But people are people too
Of course it’s the same for me
Of course it’s the same for me
It’s hard to admit
But I often forget
That people are people too
So then what can be done
So then what can be done
Just what do we need
For us to agree
That people are people too
People are people too
Just like me and you
From the buds of our tongues
To the air in our lungs
People are people too
People are really strange
People are really strange
We do what we won’t
And believe what we don’t
But people are people too
Sometimes they drive you nuts
Sometimes they drive you nuts
So we try to negate
With our labels and hate
But people are people too
Time here is really short
Time here is really short
So let’s make up a plan
To be as kind as we can
Because people are people too
Helluvathing
When you talk about stardust
And how it’s in all of us
The picture in my mind
Is so pretty I could cry
And when I mention Jesus Christ
I know how you roll your eyes
And if I’m telling you the truth
Most days I do it too
You and I
Don’t see eye to eye
On loads of things
But you and me
We both agree
That to believe in anything is a helluva thing
So you play the scientist
And I’ll take the alchemist
You can measure what you see
And I will read the leaves
And then when the sun is set
We’ll lay our bodies into beds
Skin covering ghosts
Knows dark matter matters most
You and I
Don’t see eye to eye
On loads of things
But you and me
We both agree
That to believe in anything is a helluva thing
It might not be as simple as I think
And we both might find ourselves awake
Asking what all of this means
And it might be the voice of God
Or it might be nothing at all
The answer is the same
We’re here because we’re here because we’re here
Before We Know
I keep trying not to care about the things I cannot change
But it remains my resolution every year
And though I’m tired of being angry
I’m still shouting myself hoarse
Which of course makes it difficult to hear
All the ticks and all the tocks
From all the hands on all the clocks
And all the chimes on all the bells
From all the time that always tells me
That the world is fading fast
And the future will be past
Before we know
Maybe this year will be different and I’ll be wise enough to know
And just let go of all the things I cannot change
And I’ll finally find a way to just sit still
And pass the time
Reminded of what’s lovely and strange
Like a January thaw
Or that woodpeck I saw
Or the buds bursting from trees
Which soon will turn to leaves
Until the time again next fall
When the trees will drop them all
Before we know
I’ll be gone before I know it
Life it passes in a flash
Back to ash our bodies wash out to the sea
But before all of that happens
I resolve to do my best
To address just what could use some change in me
Less preaching and more prayer
More tenderness and care
Less judgement and more love
Less worry about stuff
More attention to what’s dear
Because it all will disappear
Before we know
(dis)appear
I would know you in the darkest dark
Your slope and shape
Your neck and nape
And the slow sound of your steady breath
The lovely scrape
As it escapes
We appear.
We disappear.
But while we’re here
I would know you in the darkest dark
I am trying the best I can
To hold this life
Both loose and tight
But my mind can’t
Quite keep it straight
My touch is light
My knuckles white
We appear.
We disappear.
But while we’re here
I am trying the best I can
Take a long look at the things you love
Don’t be afraid
Don’t look away
We’ll be gone on before we know
Nothing made
Fails to decay
We appear.
We disappear.
But while we’re here
Take a long look at the things you love.
InBetween
If life’s a joke
I’ve always hoped
the laugh behind it is divine
And we’ve just misread the room
And what’s the point
Was not the point at all
It was too small
And the laughter was the truth
Is it a joke to be alive
Is it so serious to die
It seems to me
the truth is always somewhere in between
But here’s the problem
What I want is to believe
with all my being
In a sure and certain path
A guarantee
That all the choices that I make
Will lead me right
Like life is only simple math
Wouldn’t it be nice?
If all the wrongs and rights
Were clear to me
Instead of always somewhere in between
When I was young
I only wanted to be old
Though I am told
That the opposite is true
But when I am old
I want to say I’ve loved it here
All of these years
And I’m not worried that it’s through
Most times they look the same
Tears of joy and tears of paint
And it might be
That they are always somewhere in between
Murmur
You’re a murmur of starlings
Darling
All your ever-shifting parts
A work of modern art
That I cannot understand
And I can’t look away
Or convey
All my slip-sliding thoughts
All twisted up in knots
Explaining how I feel
So I’ll keep writing you all these love songs
All my life long
Trying to get it right
And you’ll keep asking me
Why I do it
Why I can’t quit
But I just don’t know how
It’s just like breathing now
I’m an old tv set
Trying to get
The picture to come in
With strips of kitchen tin
Wrapped around my ears
But it’s mostly just snow
Even though
I’m giving it my best
I just haven’t got it yet
As clear as it can be
So I’ll keep writing you all these love songs
All my life long
Trying to get it right
And you’ll keep asking me
Why I do it
Why I can’t quit
But I just don’t know how
It’s just like breathing now
There’s a word that I learned
From a friend
About saying what you’ve got
By saying what it’s not
Possible to say
So then all that I know
I suppose
Of language and of rhyme
Of being and of time
Means nothing without you
Hook
Yesterday afternoon I realized
All of my favorite friends are gadflies
Buzzing in my ears
Asking why we’re here
And half of my head is philosophic
The other side’s staunchly catastrophic
Running around town
Shouting the blue skies down
Saying the good old days were never good
I heard a sermon preached on Thomas
Said it wasn’t the doubt that kept him honest
He was desperate to believe
In the things he couldn’t see
And I got to thinking I’m a lot like him
An optimist caught in a skeptic’s skin
Hoping everything is fine
Despite the warning signs
Saying the good old days were never good
We just saw the world the best we could
You know I love my indignation
Righteous or not that warm sensation
Spreading across my skin
Boiling to the brim
And you let me spin like a top on fire
Shouting and squealing like an amplifier
Until I blow another fuse
And surrender to the news
The last few years have been real bad
But you wait me out ever-patiently
Biding your time to remind me
Of all the things I’ve got
That I’ve conveniently forgot
And you put your hands up on my cheeks
And I can almost believe love could calm the seas
You look me in the eyes
And all the panic dies
Maybe the last few years haven’t been so bad
We just lost the line on all we had
And you say:
Let yourself off the hook
Let yourself off the hook now darling
Let yourself off the hook
I know you want to do it all by the book
But you should let yourself off the hook
Right‽
Dear God
It’s complicated
All these ventricles and veins
Pumping blood up to our brains
From our wild and wooly hearts
Oh Christ
The incarnated
Is this what you could see
In the garden on your knees
Begging for another way
How do you do the right thing
You do the right thing
How do you do the right thing
You do the right thing
How do you do the right thing
You do the right thing right
Right‽
Oh my
Aren’t we frustrated
Taking sides and making stands
Drawing lines deep in the sand
For the wind to blow away
Dear me
The implicated
Always thinking I can tell
What is good and right and well
Without seeing the other side
How do you do the right
You do the right thing right
Right‽
It’s hard as hell to love your neighbor
Might be just as hard to love yourself
But if we want to get along
Then we’ve got to get along
It’s not like we’ve got anybody else
How do you do the right
You do the right thing right
Right‽
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