Speak to me
I see
i see the grass and the herb
I see the ink and sun on the page
I feel the black naked trees sleeping
I hear the creek laughing below me and my friends
I hear you singing thru the white walls covered in obscenities
I hear my nails scratching at your door
I feel the bars of iron growing cold
I saw a stray cat and I thought of me
I saw the ring around the moon and I thought of my longing for you
I see the rocks where we stood open in just our skin
I felt chest pains and hunger pangs and I wanted to climb up your hair
I saw me break before you
I heard you whisper
I heard you suffer
I heard your footsteps drifting up the stairs the night you walked away
I felt the dry skin of your open palm
and the chambers and the bones in your chest
I saw you sititng breathing still with your back straight against the frigid bark
I fel thte wet earth under me when I fell and bruised my legs and arms
I saw you staring into me
I saw the hair on your shoulders
I heard the tears in your throat
you never heard me pray
but I prayed for your touch and I'm still waiting

I've watched you dissapear
I've watched you undrape
I've bowed my head and I've cursed your name
I've staye dup all night listening to Janis and wailing 'you don't know, no you don't know what it's like to love anybody the way I love you babe'
I was cruel to you because you made me feel like being cruel to you then I begged to come inside
I told you a lie
you didn't tell me everything you knew

I embraced the pounding of the desolate sea where martyrs are drowned until I needed a home
I sat at your feet but you still felt alone
I've watche dyou walk down the same streets I did and the same streets I didn't
I saw arms of light through the fiery trees before the smoke and the air took them away
I tried to leave you and I saw the cracks in the sidewalk and the faces in the cars
and the weeds and the wood and the dust on the street signs
I spat and lit another cigarette and ran
til I purged by a white picket fence
I kicked at the broken glass
when I came back you were gone
it was dawn
you were tired, I was burning
I was burning
I was burning

but I know I was dancing in that small cafe
and your shirt was open as the band played a rhythm I'd never known before
were we drowning, I don't know
sometimes I was flying
sometimes I wonder if you can feel me trying

I felt the bricks of the columns
I felt the heat and the winds from last summer's storm
I felt the thorns and saw the blood of 98 wounds running from our veins
I felt a goodbye that never really came
I felt the night and I watned to share it with you but only if you wanted to
I wanna hold you if you want me to, only if you want me to
please say you want me to
I'd do anything, but I don't wanna do just anything
why do I follow you?

"On Top of the World"

another folk song that I added some of my own lyrics to

It was in the spring, some sunny day
Lord my good gal left me, she went away

yes she's gone, but I don't worry
'cause I'm sittin' on top of the world

There was no warning, of the decay
and she got no plans, to come back someday
I'm a baby wolf Lord, who's gone astray
down the street, to the other side of day

cause she's gone, but mama don't worry
'cause I'm sittin' on top of the world

My baby's eyes, they told me of a dream
I dream of you, Lord but all I can see
are these walkin' blues, that belong to thee
we may be weary, but somewhere I'm free

my baby's gone, but I don't worry
'cause I'm sittin' on top of the world

"Stay (Prayer for the Wild-Eyed Queen"

How many years must we wake up trembling
and cracking like shots in the night?
while you were running with the neon wolves
baby, you were my fire-light
baby, you were my fire-light

Stay awhile, wild-eyed queen

sometimes hearts can get so vacant
other times they're pressed to the bone
lately I'm just sending mine out there, babe
hopin' my love could be enough
hopin' my love could be enough

Stay awhile, wild-eyed queen

Well the stars shine down on you babe
maybe they're too bright for you to see
so far away, in your abondon
baby your halo fell over me
baby your halo fell over me

Stay alive, wild-eyed queen
stay alive, and fall back on me

"Will You Ever Miss Me?"

you're not too honest
but you don't mind
and you're not so loving
yet not quite unkind

well I broke the gate
but there was no one home
you were so casual
'bout leaving me alone


hey babe I'm burning now
hey babe I'm going down

Are you gonna miss me when I'm gone?
Will you wonder who's soul is free?
Are you gonna miss me once I'm gone
or just leave me to the dirty sea?

Once I bent my knees
down to the wood
and once you hurt me
because I said you could

I told you everything
I couldn't tell myself
yeah so you stole my veils
and tried to hide yourself

hey babe don't you know
hey babe I can't let go

Are you gonna miss me when I'm gone?
Will you wonder who's soul is free?
Are you ever gonna miss me when I'm gone?
Could you find someone like me?

Well the spirit sometimes
is blind to the day
and this renegade heart
wants to fall by the way

if you wanna break me
that would be okay
'cause what really kills me
is feeling so far away
so far away...

(standed, victimized
by the heat and stars
as the twilight rises
over the cheap rusty cars
I went lookin for my angel
in the fields and the bars
now you won't even ask
to take a look at my scars
oh no Glory's gone
oh no this task is done
Oh Mercy is on the run
Oh Lord I'm gone, so gone)

hey babe this pain is real
hey babe, can't you just feel...

Are you gonna miss me when I'm gone?
Will you wonder if this soul is free?
Are you ever gonna miss me when I'm really gone?
Could you ever run back to thee?

My Angel (part...something)

Tomorrow's just going to be there. . . it will have no room for what I'm feeling tonight. And right now there's not even enough room for a solid explanation. . . . my clothes have gotten lose, I'm craving another cheap cigar, "Desolation Row" just ended and that's the end of that record.
Everyone's supposed to be able to see Mars tonight, but when I looked out I couldn't find it, I just stood out there barefoot, staring at the mist-covered Heavens and gave that look of "well, where are we now?" and I couldn't decide whther to reach out or turn away, as usual.
A furry smoke colored cat looked at me before padding off across the rain-denched street. . . . And right now I'm sitting at my desk next to my window, scribbling away, no words for prayer, a stack of forms to be filled out and mailed. . . .
and the point is that it's too cold for Alabama and I'm tired of pouring everything in me out into the night sky outside that damn window and I just want to lie down and sleep next to you tonight.

Stray cat moves 'cross an empty street
everybody's inside
I went lookin' for my angel
Have ya left me behind?

Sleaze (midnight Row)

not much....just seeing if I could pull this off. Not sure about it.

well it's gotten so hot in here babe
don't it make ya feel uneasy?
well it's gotten so dark out there babe
don't it make everyone seem uneasy?

well I see she's lookin' at you
after everybody else is gone
I know who's on your mind
but God I can't stay long

I'm riding low,
past the highlands,
down to Midnight Row

once you needed an angel
but the angel was spent
luckily babe you're so willing to, uh,
settle for what you can get

Yes I know that you're thinking
you might just walk out with me
but first explain what she's doing
with her fingers runnin' up your sleeve

I'm gonna ride low,
past the Highlands,
down to Midnight Row

Seems like the night is wailin'
but you don't wanna live without
you could come home with me
but that aint what this is about

So I'll make no promise, babe
and leave you two the scene
if it's not twisted enough for ya
babe you know where I'll be

Guess I'm ridin' low,
far from the Highlands,
down on Midnight Row

Song for Donna

You say you're haunted by your memories
that come in and turn everything black
you're standing in your sanctuary
but you've got both hands tied behind your back

and the mornings get so cold
after a night in some mad man's point of veiw
please remember, he might own a lotta pain
but he don't own you

you're so much better than anything in him
he can't even touch that light within
I know you're shaken and it's hard to believe
but someday he'll be gone like smoke in a dirty wind

your angelic eyes are proof enough
tht a thing like him can't conquer one undying truth
he might own a lotta pain, but he don't own you

No one here wants to have you barred
and you don't belong in any cage
but freedom's something you havta find for yourself
after you've broken past some phantom's rage

if the door's locked, please crawl out the window
you've got everything ya need to make it through
cause after all he might own a lotta pain, but he don't own you

I've been sick....

for three days. This came outta the blue....after a pot of coffee....

"Can I Lie Next to You Tonight?"

lately baby I ain't doin so well
and this fever just won't get down
my hallways cluttered with too many trinkets
and I really miss havin you around

now the story is that I left for someone new
but honey it was never like that
its just that I need to drift away sometimes
and the whole feeling turns into this vanishing act

chorus: can I lie next to you tonight?
I ain't askin for very much
can I dream next to you tonight?
lately the whole scene's gotten so rough...

I understand babe if ya think I'm far too strange
to ever take into any consideration
but there's no place to go and the streets are folding
and I ain't askin' ya to heal these tribulations

just for a minute of tenderness by letting me in
would suffice for this soul of ashtray dreams
I promise someday I won't need your light
just as soon as I'm clear of all the warm smoke rings

chorus

Yes, your mercy is something I've never deserved
and God knows why I always run and hide
while you stand in the highlands where the ghosts dont walk
I shouldn't even attempt to leave it all behind
I couldn't even if I tried
'cause darling I can't stand to leave you behind
oh will you still let me inside?

honey can I lie next to you tonight?
if that's not askin' for too much
sweet woman can I dream next to you tonight?
lately my world has gotten so rough

Trying something....

"Where are We Now?"

you walked on by me
still i didn't see you
and opened your coat to the wind
and let it fall in front of me
still I didn't see you

or myself
my light
caught up in some tide
that's breaking
for no one anymore

and the bricks of our home
got so cold
got so cold
and the tiles started to crack
and the wet street was black
and you ain't ever comin back
never comin back
I'm never comin back, no

tell me who's dreaming
tell me who's dreamed up this kingdom
in apartment number 5
tell me who needs to hear my goodbye

old scenes gone sour
and some diamond no one admired
and then you got gone
deep into yourself and
blew the last candle out

so I climbed
and I wanted you to split and
feel me back inside
I tried
but it's this something
it's faith sleeping with a lie
I wanted inside
could I get inside
and No wails the look in those eyes

don't tell me why
don't tell me why
just tell me
what spirit or what body
needs to hear
my goodbye

2010 so far....

an argument and a line crossed under my father's roof
two deaths,
two young deaths,
one girl I.....
a breakup
18 years old now
applications sent off
broke
five or 6 songs written in a fever
hair chopped off again
no one's coming home really
my first drunken night
trying to find out how to sing amen
reunited with an old friend
reunited once again with my first old friend
but still everybody has to go sometimes
virginity given up
so many un-truths
mercy, no mercy
coldest southeastern winter in years
houses burned
paranoia
another new church
lost 15 pounds sort of on accident
still dreaming of the west and
writing goodbye letters in my head
and then no thoughts for salvation
wondering when to reach out and when to hide
yearning to create someone new
running
chasing
too willing and too able to fall

and I wonder how many people are lying on their sheets or couches or rugs
and staring forever upward silently moving their lips
and hoping that these late-night mumblings are really reaching you
or that lover
or father, mother,
someone, even if just themselves and the shadows
and are not just trailing off to no one

because they just can't stay
and they just can't die
because decades are gone
because I don't like what's outside my bedroom window
because colors start to fade
because we're still too young
and because these lines don't feel perfect enough

and because...

Salinger has died today......

(this very unfinished, very flawed, and very open poem is for him. Because now, everyone misses him)

____________

"Song for Salinger"

I'm gonna take a ride to where I gotta go
just because I've lived here long enough
I want to catch a wind to that great unknown
but the world I'm in makes it feel so rough

Lord tell me why the lakes all turn to ice
and it's hard to find the mercy to pull you through
well I'm learning to cry as the seasons rush on by
but today all I know is that I still miss you

Some people want to make it hard to leave
and some people just never could
there's this girl downtown that I won't miss
but I guess I really should

and though old wounds eventually fade
you can still feel their sting
and you see no matter how much we strive
faith is always such a fragile thing

and who can say why the lakes all turn to ice
and you're not sure when mercy will pull you through
well I'm learning how to cry as the seasons rush on by
but right now all I know is that I still miss you

Well hometowns start to burn as you
stare upon the shadows in the hills
and the streets are so full of martyrs
I shouldn't belong there, but I will

and I'm thinking about what was given
and what was revelaed to the light
I could say you made me feel less alone
but that would be a lie
but it's alright

does it matter why all the lakes turn to ice
it's hard enough to find the mercy to pull us through
and I'm learning how to try as the seasons rush on by
but all the while I know I'll always miss you

"She Don't Know I Wasn't Made for This"

Honey why do ya wanna make me feel so uneasy
with your assumptions and your stained glass?
well you're so self-assured about what I'm needing
and what's gonna rescue this nicoteen-stained soul at last

oh but I never meant for you to get so very close
to my cracked visions or my crutch
and tonight it feels like something's closing in
it gets so had to breathe, but you don't seem to feel it so much

What if I should ever cause you to suddenly break?
and what if I lost that ember burning within?
please understand it's not your love I'm fearin'
I'm just a little nervous about that box you wanna keep me in

honey it's alright if you think I'm too hard to hold
when you try to it drives me out of my mind
I never asked for your verse or skeleton key
and I never asked for your heart, so please don't take mine

One

Well she don't laugh much now
& I don't care to cry for no one
and I know that she might linger
but should ride behind the sun

heaven knows what we were after
but it was so hard to find
and now the dusk is rising
and I wanna run and hide

I don't even wanna touch
on that feeling weeks ago
or the reason that I'm after
or the reason I don't know

but she yearns to play the part
of the everlasting one
she don't see I gotta tell her
that she can't be the one

I turn and think 'bout that savior
I made some summer night
and shes talking 'bout beginnings
and I'm remembering that goodbye

cause I'm not one for faith and
she's not the one to hurt
now she's staring back at me
but I'm staring right through her

then I don't ask for forgiveness
and she don't know when I fell
now the tables are empty
but it's not our first fare well

as I turn and I stumble seeing
she's never really gone
Lord why does this angel beg
and long for me to be the one

but I'm not no I'm not
I just stole the only key
and then soon tossed it aside
to someone who's not me

and she tells all her secrets
and she forgets about her pride
while the storm above her threatens
God she's not afraid to cry

tell me why did I bother and
tell me why don't she leave
all of this cruel abandon
and all the kerosene

she wants to lay down beside me
and wait for the dawn
while I try to talk to you
but it doesn't feel like we're one
no I don't feel like we're one

Well she hasn't taken much
what I've given I can't say
was it you who decided
that I wasn't meant to stay

or did I vanish like the song
that once made her laugh
or am I gone like the name
that I wasn't born to have

oh the streets have been shrouded
but the kingdom's much too far
past the bells past the winds
and a vision that left a scar

once we thought we knew better
than to let it all be done
but the nights flooding over and
we still can't feel the one....
_________________________

"She's Still a Friend of Mine"

my plane's leavin' babe
at half past five
and we haven't talked so much
since we both got so unkind

but I
can't help to keep you in mind
and I could but just don't want to
forget that old friend of mine

well I decided babe
to search for higher ground
and I would not mind so much
if I ever saw you around

but we're still running
further on down that line
even tho neither of us has ever
even said goodbye

so if I
ever mention you sometime
I'll remember and I'll wonder
and say, "she was a friend of mine"

Now for everything we've done
I think we've paid the cost
and everybody can admit to
being just a little lost

and I
am thinkin of droppin a line
over the mountains and the rivers
to that old friend of mine

"A Hard Way Down #2"

honey, I aint askin for your wild love
don't expect any sign from above
and right now I'm too wired to sleep
I don't even wanna be alright
pride's got nothing to do with tonight
just don't give me anything to keep

you wanna show me around?
maybe get lost and never found
girl it's been such a hard way down

I once knew this cracked up queen
somewhere down in New Orleans
we don't talk so much these days
there's this thing I left at her door
that no one wants to deal with no more
and honestly that's all I wanna say


lets ride to some other town
and get high on the sound
'cause it's been such a hard way down


how much do you really wanna know?
I guess I've got a little room to grow
but i'll never ask you to save me

don't want you to tell me I'm okay
just let me go down by the way
I'll find some other time to be free


come on won't you show me how
to get lost and never found
don't you see it's been a hard
don't you know it's been such a hard way down

Long Night (You're Not Alone)

midnight in my shabby apartment
back in the town that's not my home
my mind's racin but I don't wanna stop it
suddenly there's so much I have to do alone

but hey just listen to me babe
whenever you can't see the sun
you can take it from me babe
you're not the only one

My eyes were so hazey this morning
then I was forced against the wall
bad days come with so little warning
leave ya feelin too much or nothin at all

but hey just listen to me friend
whenever the seams come undone
you can at least take it from me
you're not the only one

I know we're kinda lost tonight
and the stars are covered in dust
lately I'm not sure if I'm alright
sometimes it's ourselve we gotta learn to trust

but hey listen to me babe
even if you still can't find your sun
just lie back down and believe me babe
you're not the only one

someday I'll leave this old apartment
someday you'll find where you belong
but now my heart is racin and I can't stop it
until someday, the nights could get long
sometimes the night's just gotta be long