JAMES MORSE

The Desert:

Children of the Sun 

I’m dreaming for these, these months to come,
that they’d be brighter than the sun, 
and may we reach out, reach out our arms, 
to find what’s near and what is far.

Reason’s hope and reason’s fate,
that we might find ourselves today,
embracing hours and moments stitched.
In such time we do exist.

And still I’m dreaming of these, 
months with rattled suitcases, 
pictures of… 

the ceaseless faces, 
traced above, 
painted colors, 
of the sun. 

I am no prophet, for future’s sovereign, 
land extends beyond my pockets. 
Surely we without knowing why, 
care so deeply without showing.

How to show and how to read,
these small wonders may always be.
These hands they shake now, watched out awake,
only in song can one relate,

And still I’m dreaming of these, 
months with rattled suitcases, 
pictures of… 

the burnt out lanterns strewn across, 
the wooden floors with ancient moss,
the people talk as one,
their messages written as they run, 

their ceaseless faces, 
traced above, 
painted colors, 
of the sun. 

the ceaseless faces, 
painted colors, 
traced above,
because we’re children, 
children of the sun 

Graffiti

Shooting blanks off the canvas,
happens water in a cold stance.
I feel fine,
yet I'm restless of a different kind.

Am I low?
Am I low and away?
And I low?
Am I low and away?

Seconds tick,
my pulse is quick,
this soul is yearning to ROAM. 

And I get the feeling that You're healing my bones,
And I get the feeling that You're healing my soul. 
Walking in this city,
am I walking alone? 
Are You with me? 
Can You hear me?
Am I walking alone?

I'm like the wick of a candle,
or falling quartz off a mantle.
I see fine-flamed reflections.
I thought the clock had died.

Oh why?
Am I low?
Am I low? 
Am I low and away?

Seconds tick,
my pulse is quick,
this soul is yearning to ROAM. 

Where've you been,
Innocence?

the flash and the color looking outside in,
this window is finishing the pictures,
in my head

The currents and the silence,
the beating of my heart,
the grip of the violence, 
is keeping us apart,
And there's, 
there’s writing on the walls,
like graffiti on my heart.

Vagrants

Pieces, 
of shells washed up on the beach, 
within footprints, 
A hundred facts, 
impressed into the sand 

People are walking, 
carrying their dreams, 
on their backs, 
like mystics, 
in a caravan from the east, 

Fragments of atonement fell, 
into the well. 
How might we retrieve them? 

We come as kings and queens,
like vagrants in disguise,
travelers following, 
this luminescent guide,

now higher than the human race could reach 
suspended in a moment.

What style could still, 
within the looking glass, 
above the aisles now filled 
with vagrants? 

It was the culprit so elusive, 
so ephemeral… 
held,

Fragments of atonement fell, 
into the well. 
How might we retrieve them?

Is it so? 

Treehouse

Clashes filled with political motives,
power-trips in our heads,
can’t stop the revolutions, 
spinning in a lost cause looking for something,

and it’s here,
I can tell,
somewhere far below the surface, 
you’re not well,

and you’re here,
so still, 
almost frozen, 
so I’ll,
 
hold a light, 
to your darkness inside,
and we’ll wait for the break,
give this another try.

This seems like another one, 
of those broken puzzle pieces.

There’s a treehouse in the middle of nowhere,
standing in the green wide open.
“Unadorned,” says a soothsayer,

simple as it lives is the truth there.

Cool mist floating through the windows,
constellations like signals in the dark,

Constant still anticipation,
shepherds running over the hills,
The splendor of a midnight clearing,
fortunate witnesses rushing, 
Then their hands tensed up in fear.

All of us were saying, 
How the robbers keep robbing, 
and the players keep playing, 
don’t stop, don’t stop,
praying for a miracle, 

Let’s, 
take some time, 
to give some thanks,
for the ones, 
for the One who gave us everything,
beyond, beyond, 
a love that’s deeper than anything, 


So I’ll, 
hold a light, 
to your darkness inside,
and we’ll wait for the break,
give this another try, 

This seems like another one, 
of those broken puzzle pieces,
of another life.

Make Us a Shelter

Make us a shelter, 
for a day when it’s raining, 
outside,
on a cold winter’s night.

and we’ll take these stones,  
and place them where our hopes, 
are growing 
thin.

The sand beneath my feet, 
refuses to stand still, 
while the wind and the waves, 
carry it away. 

So we set off so boldly, 
with every good intention,
Oh, did I mention?
we’re starting again.  

Still we’re cold with doubt,
figuring the folds that frame this house.
We turned inside out,
watching all the walls fall down. 

Young: 

Down in the Glade

down in the Glade
where i walked yesterday
i saw script written Fate 
staring back at me saying

“You cannot face 
this alone oh no
there’ll be angels awaiting
your Prodigal Soul” 

there is a Grace 
i am sure, i am sane 
this is how I left off 
this is how 

i began 

“come out slowly

crawling on your calloused hands and knees”

then a Voice came 
soft and low 
it was only a whisper 
lost in a crowded room

there is a Grace 
i am sure, i am sane 
this is how i left off 
this is how 

I began

As the Cedars Grow

I don’t want to take Your Glory
I just want to fill my cup
after all this is Your Story
all I can do is empty myself in

you are the Potter and I am the clay
you are the Writer and I am the ink
with every stroke 
I am made

I am made Whole

And Pure

As the Cedars Grow

I don’t want to steal your Glory
I just want to fill my cup
after all this is Your Story
all I can do is empty myself in

Love


Invenire Te

I was just listening
to a Transmission
to the sound and the frequency
of a car as it fades down the street 

and Your window was the Medium
between
the faintness 

oh the faintness of a minute’s Wish
is Evidence buried in my Youth 
Oh I Pray

because Faith 
in the Restlessness State,
is to be One with the Silence of the Infinite

Only just a Sojourn 
is the Moment that we hold
So Sacred our Souls
How we cannot comprehend
Them

I was just holding Your Head in my hands
Like a Child with a smile
From an innocent Desire I acquiesce

oh the faintness of a minute’s wish
is Evidence buried in my youth 
Oh I Pray

that We remain Fragile 
within the Fear and the Awe 
that’s in this Space

because Faith 
in this Restlessness State,
is to be One with the Silence of the Infinite

Only just a Sojourn 
is the Moment that we hold
So Sacred our Souls
How we cannot comprehend
Them

I want to know You 
Why are You so shy?

Invenire Te

Kharizestai

how the priest's four Words could chase 
the fullness of the present state
the message fixed in Symbols lit
the language fails to capture it

Efficacious as a dirge 
within the words that call to Earth
heaven's mirth the emptiness
Kenosis as the Body rests

Chris Rod got shot outside the park
He was walking after dark
He got caught between the Harm
the Hurry of the Crossfire

He became the Scapegoat slain
motionless on pavement lain
His arms outstretched 
His figure framed 
a gesture of 
His silent Pain



Veronica was running late
she'd just locked the entrance Gate
and as She left the Sacred Lane 
She witnessed how the Victim cried 

"Why 

have You forsaken Me?"

What Veronica saw 
between the shakes and the coughs
the Bloodstains on Her Cloth
reminiscent of the Face of God. 

I am blind

calmest wit
follows qualms within
like snow then crystal thin

rogue ice 
cold guise
hard to recognize
at night 

spies 

I need to hide 
before they find my Tracks
I cannot wait
another day

a demon's quip
lay motionless
locked in wilderness 
(a Klondike abyss)

rogue silence
quiet violence
hard to recognize 
the mind

spies

I need to define 
before they find my tracks
I cannot wait 
another day

Who am I?

I am blind

Medicine Man

Oh... 

your weary arms,

hold you together, 
you're delicate as a feather,
my love. 

Oh... 

your feeble bones,

are breaking under the pressure, 
breaking under the weight of all
you've done.

No, 

you don't have to conquer this one. 

Your eyes...

are half open, 

it's no use closing,
it's no use closing 
them now, 

'cause when you see 

your self clearly

the image starts to fall away, 
and I can begin to make 
you well.

No, 

you don't have to conquer this one.

Small Feel

As I gaze 
at the golden mosaics
my eyes
sweep high across
the ceiling
I feel small 

I watch the grains stretch out
the ancient stones resound
in a hymn to how 
we are present now

Oh, it is good 
in the darkened quiet
Your Presence all 
that Surrounds us now

As I phrase 
with slowness in haste
and I stand 
in front 
of Your gaze
oh I feel small

I watch the grains stretch out
the ancient stones resound
in a hymn to how 
we are present now

Oh, it is good 
in the darkened quiet
Your Presence all 
that Surrounds us now

You said to me 
within a quiet smile
oh how I love feeling small now

You Are Who Is

I feel 

that You Are

I know 

that You Are

I believe 

that You Are

that You Are. 

from Corazón: 

Come Back From the Deep

"Down in the alley, 
away, six floors down, 
he could see a cracked flower pot 
scattered over a spray of dirt 
and something pink 
sticking out of a green paper bow.
It was down six floors
smashed down six floors."

'Fuck,' said the modern man, 
the post modern soliloquist, 
talking in circles,
around his friend the ventriloquist...

(I keep running around)  

"'I don't understand Ivan, 
what does it mean?'"

<FRIGHT> [with emphasis] no, it's you! 
[with force, accusatory tone]

"'Is this just a wild fantasy or 
a mistake on the part of the old man, 
some impossible quid pro quo?" 

"' For the secret of man’s being 
is not only to live 
but to have something to live for. 
Without a stable conception 
of the object of life, 
man would not consent to go on living, 
and would rather destroy himself 
than remain on earth, 
though he had bread in abundance. 
That is true. But what happened? 
Instead of taking men’s freedom from them, 
Thou didst make it greater than ever! 
Didst Thou forget that man prefers peace, 
and even death, to freedom of choice 
in the knowledge of good and evil? '"

"Midway upon the journey of our life, 
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost."

“'But ... that's absurd!' he cried, [flushing]. 
'Your poem is in praise of Jesus, 
it does not blame him —as you meant it to do. 
And who will believe you about freedom? 
Is that the way to understand it? 
That's not the idea of it 
in the Orthodox Church...'"

(feast or famine...)

(you can't believe 
what your feelings teach ya, 
you've gotta go your own way,

spread your wings and 
fly away over the sea 
as it drowns the world) 

"'But the little sticky leaves, 
and the precious graves, 
and the blue sky, 
and the woman you love! 
How will you live, 
how will you love them?... 

'With such a hell 
in your heart and your head, 
how can you? 
No, that's just what you are going away for, 
to join them... 
if not, you will kill yourself, 
you can't endure it!'"

"'Everything is permitted ... 
everything is permitted, is that it?'"

(Catch all the rainfall 
in your Blue Bucket of Gold, 
where do your footsteps fall, 
when you're getting older?
Every day I'm getting older..."

Come back, 
come back, 
come back, 
come back, 
come back,  

from 

The 

Deep  

Letter to Self

Oh, brother, you need 
some time and space
away, alone, 
just some time to think, 

You've been carrying this weight 
your whole damn life, 
now it's time to let go of it,
(high) time to let go of
the habit you know so well...

Self hate and disdain, 
tricks you into thinking 
you're the one with the key
it's a disease, my friend, 
oh, but it isn't the end,

You're free, 
to just be, 
as the Good Lord intends, 
let the facsimiles fall, 

(this knot is not 
who you were
intended to be at all) 

Love yourself!
Don't ever forget 
your Belovedness
or anyone else's

Kindness isn't weakness, 
(Love yourself!)
toughness is only defense,

When you gonna, gonna 
start living for real?
When you gonna let yourself 
drown in Grace,
Right now it's the opposite 
of what you think,

You don't have to solve this Mystery, 
You don't have to solve this Mystery,
You don't have to solve this Mystery, 

let Him instead.

Friends

It looks as if 
we've found ourselves
way up in a tree,

Oh, it's alright, 
if we stay a while, 
I don't really mind it here.

I've got a lot of good people 
on my mind,
I'm not looking to be 
distant strangers,

Maybe we'll all sit out 
by the campfire
singing kumbaya... 
watching sparks fly up 
into the sky... 

I look at where 
we are my friend
and it seems we've grown 
apart somewhat, 

Oh I believe in what
the distance brings
though I'm bound here
to waiting patiently.

I've got a lot of good people 
on my mind,
I'm not looking to be 
distant strangers,

Maybe we'll all sit out 
by the campfire
singing kumbaya... 
watching sparks fly up 
into the sky...
(into the sky...)

The weather outside, 
can't affect your mind 
if you don't let it now
(oh you won't let it now)

don't let it get inside
and hide that light 
you've got to let it shine
(you've got to let it shine)

I'm saying 'no man is an island'
we're together in this

'no man is an island'
we're together in this 

You And The Flume

The sky
inside
and the silhouettes in view
amidst the subtle hues,

Moving
through
the scenes
and the motions
the motions,

And the rise
the ocean
and I
thought I saw
the water,

thought
I saw
the water,

but the grain
the grains
of sand
surrounded us
(oh, they surrounded us!)

while the visions
came and went
I could have been
caught up
in the mirage of

the barren land
beyond the fence
in an arid
sand nothingness

I could have thought
I saw
when the film fell off...

...You.

Sometimes
we survive
like animals
like beasts
in the wild

the Truth
so elusive
oh the sieve settles 
and strains
distills
and all that retains

oh, but the shade,
drew away
and Your arms surrounded us
(Your arms surrounded us)

while the visions
came and went
I could have been
caught up
in the mirage of

the barren land
beyond the fence
in an arid
sand nothingness

I could have thought
I saw
when the film fell off...

...the likes of You. 

Author of Life 

Who is the father of chaos and lies 
and who is the author of life?
for all of diabolos's schemes and scattering
he surely must know he's in vain

And it takes a toll

(And it takes a toll) 
"I can't believe what you've done..."

creation
groans and aches

what did the Spirit see
As it left the Son's broken body

And descended into a sea
Filled with souls locked in Dante's Dream?

Oh, how can a Father of lights from above
watch as his Son dies below?
for a moment it seems
the deceiver is king
while the Temple Veil tears into two

 And it takes a toll

(And it takes a toll) 
"I can't believe what you've done..."

creation
groans and aches

what did the Spirit see
As it left the Son's broken body

And descended into a sea
Filled with souls locked in Dante's Dream? 

Nostalgia

rise
and fall
of empires so alike
and time
so constant
as the tide

lists
and strings
not trying to forget
and pace
so constant
as the race

so crawl out from underneath your skin,
you've been a'hiding in...

lift off that blind so you can see,
you're standing in the moment

is this a mirage?

or is it my heart?

hiding in corners of picture frames
keeping me awake...

and I didn't even notice,
that my camera's out of focus,
and the likeness of a sight,
'til it was gone...

is it too late?

moving

s l o w l y

d
o
w
n

these lanes
here in my
hometown...

how?

say what you wanna say,
remember everything

is memory everything? 

Fiction Facade:

Galilee

Now we're talking in our sleep
 the people look like trees 
 with their arms around their knees

<behind their eyes>
 
 (fantasizing of their dreams)
 of a life that they could reach 
 if only grief could be deceived

 "at present, we see indistinctly as in a mirror,"
 staring into the abyss of conscioiusness
 wishing for it to be a little bit clearer
 and reveal itself

 the chaotic, cacophonous 
 f-f-f-fear of the distance that plagues us
 
Now I'm a 
blind fool half asleep 
while the children learn to pray
and the women start to weep

because they see

the time,
the coming of the day

when the wolves walk out the woods
waking sheep from out their sleep

when they begin to scatter 
wondering what was the matter 

with their sleep and their dreams
lying shattered in the grass 
or rather disappeared
into the clear, thin air

then they will gather,
then they will gather 
all around in the pasture 
to the sound so unfamiliar, 
yet familiar 

(a mysterious voice sadder, 
yet happier, more joyous than any noise 
they'd ever heard before)

"at present, we are sheep seeing indistinctly as in a mirror,"
 staring into the abyss of consciousness
 wishing for it to be a little bit clearer
 and reveal itself

 the chaotic, cacophonous 
 f-f-f-fear of the distance that plagues us
 
(do sheeps even dream?)

 in the end the metaphysics are cryptic
 if only we could settle to be still and just listen
 to the voice of the Mystic
 but then, just then,
 
that 

 second the watchman will come walking out to say 
 that the Mystic is dead
 (this chapter in our conceit has ended)

 -but wait- 
 
not yet, 

 maybe it's through His very Death 
 the sheep will be redeemed!

 after all, the tomb was left empty,
 "stop holding on to me, Mary"
 
<Peter's threefold denial by the charcoal fire>

 was answered by another scene
 with another fire on the sea
 
of Galilee

 what if the whole world stopped to slow down,
 took a deep breath, meditated, looked around

 appreciated 

 the splendor that is to be found 

 in Creation's sacred manifold
 Christened by the Holy Ghost? 

Streams

Come upon the wishing well,
 Find out how to tell,

 Catch that spell,
 I want to know,
 Just how You know,
 My name,

 Name…

 Five men I have slept with,
 I have seen,
 I've called my own,

 But You know just who I am,
 And You know where I'm from,

 You're the answer
 Whom I seek

 You tell just who we are,

 One more husband,
 One more man,
 And then you come along,

 You come along.

Phases

I took one look and I knew I was wrong,
 I had the words in my head, 
 but I just couldn't connect the dots,
 spit them out on the pavement as we walked along,

 Next I'm in a phase, 
 this game of chasing right words to say
 Oh, I'm a fake
 She can tell
 I'm just aching to say it

 This matrix has me in a daze 
 Your face elated

 Conversation's next step
 We're in phases
 This one's two
 Fellowship and it grew
 Into a tree, blossomed 
 And the birds of the air 
 Can nest in the shade

 Phases

 Oh, I'm going through phases
 going through phases

 Three,
 I'm talking with you late at night
 Sharing my darkest
 Walking next to a parked car
 Rusted out
 Left to the elements
 Go figure
 It's a testament
 I'm a testament 
 You were Heaven-sent 
 Praise God, 
 I'm now downtown 
 Staring at the silhouettes 
 Of the buildings
 Across the federal highway

 Catching glances from the neighbor
 He's a recluse
 With a Civic, Nineteen Ninety 
 Maybe Later

 That cat was using asphalt shingles as wall paper

 Stances 
 Just a phase
 Now we're moving on
 living for the weekend
 And our love is strong
 We're looking up
 Now Grandpa's gone in a minute

 It seems like just yesterday
 I was watching him across the street
 Him telling me 
 Son you need a haircut

 Life goes by fast
 I'm elated
 Stayin away from the social media
 Keeps me from getting jaded
 Remember who I am
 As I'm passing through 
 These phases on my way

 Create
 Scenes fade
 Lights out 
 New Phase

Conscience

I reckon I had the chance 
to have another 
but I gave it up 
because my conscience 
was calling 
and in the end 
it just wouldn't permit it. 

Consciousness and its invisible strings me to another thought

Why do I wanna choose
either right or wrong
or nothing at all? 

It's been a long day 
come a long way 
writing songs keeps me 
focused on the better days

It feels like I've been running for days
Now I'm living off of hope in a feeling

When the feeling's gone
then where do I go?

Chase down a mirage
some artifice, a montage
of images

Gotta find a way to get back
oh, but I can't get back,
Oh, I gotta get back

I could fall in love again and again 
with you 
show me the way, 
Sydney,
I need you now more than ever

This is my letter
I wanna be better
How can I show you in so many words all together

You are the other the Almighty sent
to walk on into the darkness
of night 

It blinds my eyes and burns away,
burns the imperfection in the night 

burns the imperfection in the night

It's a darkness so bright its light
is a relative night.

Arthur

I heard tell rumors of a misfit living locked within the walls
In the house across the street 
And the talk of the kids 
Spells of a tragedy waiting to happen 

Oh what happened? 

And I don’t really know, 
Father said there are so many ways to make 
A man into a ghost 

The folks tend to throw their stones and arrows 
At the first sign of unlikeness they see 
On projection screens

His clock stopped ticking 
His vision’s fixed on a scar, an image from his past
And the knot in the hollow
Tree holds a labyrinth of string
Unravelling

Threads catching… throes 

And, Jem, I don’t really know, 
Father said there are so many ways to make 
A man into a ghost

And the folks tend to throw 
Their stones and arrows 
at the first sign of a likeness they see
On perception reliefs

Oh, I’m just a kid, 
How can I commiserate with a shade, a ghost? 
That fateful moment 
He saved our lives 
And vanished straight, 
Vanished straight into the night.

What’s this gotta do with me now? 

Don't freak out,
Scout, you were brought up honest
It's just the time in which you're living
Has a little problem 

with sin, come to think of it, 
It’s not an isolated incident 
Welcome to the human condition 

Keep coming, cross the Chattahoochee river,
Come to find the same lines, ghettoized, redlined districts 
All the white people swimming poolside summer time
While the humans, colored skinned, 
told to keep a distance, 

as if melanin’s an illness 
you’re a witness to the business 
of a grave injustice, Booker T said the separation should 
Be equal, nice sentimental feeling, though he’s well intentioned, fingers of the hand are all unique. I shouldn’t fail mention

Gotta say I’m still living in a legacy, a pageantry,
Drenched with the blood of a nation under quote white Jesus end quote  
Now, friends, don’t get me wrong we’ve come a long way 
From Malcolm X and MLK, 

still need a Love Supreme, Coltrane, you’re a genius, 
I listened to that record for days on a steady repeat 
sitting at my desk drawing straight lines for a living
Come to find that most of the ones in my mind are crooked imperfections   

Anyways young folks go and follow their fathers 
follow their fathers father who was taught 
Some false syllogism of logic
then went to cough up a verdict 
robbing Tom Robinson of innocence, God damn it 

Thank God for a father like Atticus
And the eyes of a child 
To see through the thick 

whitewashed dark walls,  
I heard the folks long ago
said 
"burn it up
The condemned 
house is haunted” 

Boo, you've got a story too 
Though all you ever wanted was your parents’ 
Food of Approval  
It's ok to be unsung and forty, unglorious 
Matter of fact, victorious, 

Maybe saints, these days 
Have eyes sunken in, 
so sore from living in the basement 

Or maybe they don’t walk around
Standing at the corners
Blowing trumpets like the hypocrites 
in Maycomb, Alabama

Bitter One

I swallowed 
a bitter one
and the knot in my throat
cannot be undone
so easily, no

no,

My friends they all seem to be so free
then again I can't see what they see
are we all trapped in a fog
a complex of translucent walls
and constant talk  
of uncertainty,
moves and shakes,
am I even awake?

My angel, my protector
won't you come collect these shades, 
take them away, you say
"I can only kill it if you spit it out
into the light of day,
and he can't mend your broken soul 
if you don't trust Him to hold it
in His palms..."



Arcades

All my strength
Derive from pain
God forsak-en
World in chains

Weakness is
Salvation’s shape
Not a meaningless
Or a blind arcade

Seven stories
An ugly glory
Cerberus woke from sleep
Ouroboros keeps my sin close
Concupiscence bends my frame

Now I
Can do nothing anymore
Now I
Am waiting broken
To be poured

Into Your shape
One stone I’m placed
In an endless arcade

tokos

(Offering
all of me
I've had more
nervous breakdowns
than I care to count

Incarnate
in bloodstained veins
Ruah shake
my soul)

You said, "I just need some clarity"
I said, casually, "All we need is some honesty..."

and that night we laughed,
walking down North Highland
toward Washita...

all the way Downtown,
to the heart of the city,
where the wicked wind flies in the aisles,

in the quiet of the street,
where the light turns green,
vagabond dreams,

Westside,
you've been alright,
I'm headed Eastbound, now,

standing on my own two feet,
missing M and D, T's
growing up so fast,

and I'm paralyzed,
terrified,

looking up I
realize,
oh, and I realize,

You're standing right next to me,

all the way Downtown
to the heart of the city
where the Holy Ghost crows in the aisles,

in the quiet of the street,
where the Five Points meet,
vagabond dreams,

Eastside,
you've been alright,
I'm headed West again.

You bear...

Hourglass

Sometimes I really wonder,
Why do I seek Truth?
Not a day goes by
without a memory reminding me

Is it a kindness to be hiding
Between the lines of wrong and right?
Can I reconcile the signs?
Haven’t got a clue
God, I’m feeling blue
God, I’m feeling blue

Don’t your life move so fast?
It turns over like an hourglass
I play the records I remember from yesterday
Growing older in the mirror view

Don’t your life move so fast?
It turns over like an hourglass
And the moment don’t really last

I met John up on the corner
Cross from Corporate along North
He said, “I’m beggin all to Heaven
Wanna get my life together
Would give anything to see my son”

It’s been a long time coming
Been a long time running
I’m still running
Life flies faster as I think of you
Faster as I think of you

Don’t your life move so fast?
It turns over like an hourglass
I play the records I remember from yesterday
Growing older in the mirror view

Babe, Don't You Know? 

Babe, don’t you know?
It’s better when it all falls apart
Better when it all falls down
House of cards

Babe, can’t you see?
We’re living as known enemies
Driving on a road that runs between
Wrong and right

And I just don’t know,
Sometimes,
Underneath all of
My feelings
What’s right

Saint Clarity
I’m praying to be better
to the ones who need me
An effervescent vessel
Of something that they can’t see

And I just don’t know,
Sometimes,
Underneath all of
My feelings
What’s right

Babe, please, what I mean,
Is not all of these vague pageantries
Not so many words,
Why can’t I speak
Clearly?

My love, I don’t,
Ever wanna grow
Apart
Ever wanna forget
where we started

And I just don’t know,
Sometimes,
Underneath all of
My feelings
What’s right

Third Fool

I could be your lover,
Or I could be your friend
You could be my wife, dear,
I could be your husband then

Show me all your colors
I’ll give you my intent
We’ll set an incandescent lamp
On the window
Subtle smoke rolling
Like incense, yes

Rolling, rolling,
In the arms of thee,
I enter the temple
Where you’re holding me

Combust in the rust
of an ancient machine,
Respawn in the dust
as an immortal being

“Well, maybe I’m pretending,”
Doubt says as he walks in
With a sly grin
And a melancholic
Curvature to his chin

“Love is just an abstract
You’re feigning with a pen
I don’t believe in your
Impassioned thoughts
And romantic visions”

Well, you caught me, Doubt,
Now, I’m a fraud
Of feelings on a wall
Now I’m naked as a dog caught up
In a Southern winter’s fog
If I die, it’s not in vain
For Hark! My lover calls
To the mountains of September
To remember the blessed Fall

Under the surface,
It gets hard to see
Past the blindness,
The niceness
Of fallacies
Saltiness shattering
Duplicity
I’m a Triple Fool
For loving thee
has made me three

Rolling, rolling,
In the arms of thee,
I enter the temple
Where you’re holding me

Combust in the rust
of an ancient machine,
Respawn in the dust
as an immortal being

Blue Smoke, Red Clay

	
There was blue smoke
Rising up and over your head
As you spoke in tones
of gray as stone

Can we talk, love,
On an island in of the moment
When we stood above
The thieves’ encampment in the cave
Down by the bay

In a wordless, still embrace

The more, the rush,
The core, the crush,
Like clay we’re spun
Into forms of what
The Maker molds the shape of us

I said it’s all straw
Just some threads upon
The walking way
Engraved
We didn’t have a chance to save
So carefully paced and staid

Now I’m immersed
In the convalescent turn
Of tide
Your hands
They hold
My body nigh
So near to the incandescent light

Off the rolling fields you cried!

The more, the rush,
The core, the crush,
Like clay we’re spun
Into forms of what
The Maker molds the shape of us

To the earth

To the earth
from morning
Until dusk
To dust
We shall return into
The earth
from morning
Until dusk
To dust
We shall return into
The earth

Camera Obscura

Everything I once knew
seems turned upon itself
Reflections inversions
Paint my bedroom wall

Youthful
Ignorance is bliss
Judas
Betrays with a deathly kiss

Kindred my affliction
Savior in my sin
Callous contradiction
Mixed with fiction
In my fate

Say
To the rising sun, “don’t shine”
Make
Asynchrony
A lie

Metaphor is useless
poetry unkind
The members of the body
Existencia realized

Youthful
Ignorance is bliss
Judas
Betrays with a deathly kiss

Kindred my affliction
Savior in my sin
Callous contradiction
Mixed with fiction
In my fate

Say
To the rising sun “don’t shine”
Make
Asynchrony
A lie

Whenever it is all
A riddle
That is when I fall
into your arms

Original Love

I don’t know
Where it went
Or where I last saw it

I don’t know
Where it went
Or where I last saw it

I don’t know
Where it went
I can’t recall

Took the last train out of Chicago
Lying on the station floor
Cold landscape frozen over
And the lights glowed upon the snow

Where do I go from here?

Where do I go from here?

You need stability
And I’m not sure I’m strong enough

No, I’m just an amarillo
Light in the night

No, I’m just an immolation,
Not a sign

Where do I go from here?

Where do I go from here?

Where do I go from here?

I don’t know where it went
That spark that lit the elements

I don’t know where the child went

Need to find him again

Arms of Grief

The arms of grief
are all around,

and I can hear you, daughter,
as you're calling out.

After work I turned the keys,
but the car just wouldn't start,

so Julie helped me jump it,
kept it running
'til Josh and I took it apart,

replaced the ancient battery
took it back to the apartment lot.

When it rains,
it pours,
all Hell breaks loose,

and the Devil has his hey dey
while we're waiting on a Wild Goose,

and the Queen of the South
will rise,

meanwhile the cat's got fleas,
hanging out around his

eyes.

Got back to the apartment,
found Syd swallowed up with tears

the weight of knowing someone's past,
not knowing time-worn years,

so we held a ceremony,
sealed the small remains,

ate and
drank and
washed the cat,

tried to chase away the pain

Singing Lord,

Is this what it means to die?

Lord

Lord

Marking Time

12 sharp I headed out
Took the metro on the red line
Down to union station
Forecast said it would be raining

But the sky is so bright

Next I’m standing, waiting
In the mcDonalds line
around 1:39
Tried to grab a mocha
But my card got declined

The 2:20 train is heading out
As I watch the apartments go by
The siloes and the junkyards
‘Neath a September sky

2:35

is when Rosemary died

Trying to keep balance on a bus
Like a vagrant
With a group of tourists from Slovakia
On their way to Vegas

‘Fore I know it I’m through security
At the gate with a bit of time
So I stop by the Greene Turtle
Take a Glenlivet and
some crab soup, her favorite
Then catch my flight by 5

High above the Potomac the sun’s shining through the window it’s 6:00 on a Tuesday the 6th day of the 9th month
I’m on my way back to Atlanta
Remembering her smile

A Greater Love

The slant of my shadow falls before me
The crook of my brow gives away a cynic’s conceit
My message is in vain if all I seek is glory
It will burn up beneath the summer heat

“I shall not fear the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flies by the day”
Yet here I am shivering before you
Afraid of what you think of me

Afraid of what you think of me

No greater love,
No greater love has a man than this,
No greater love,
No greater love has a man than this,
No greater love
No greater love
has a man than this
To lay down one’s life for one’s friends

I cannot live alone,
I cannot seem to be
Content in what by most accounts is community
Still I sense disunity
Still I sense disunity

Then where do I belong,
Except out on the road,
To venture on into the great unknown?
I guess that’s where my heart was all along
Yet somehow, I still feel I’m with you
Somehow, I still feel close to you

No greater love,
No greater love has a man than this,
No greater love,
No greater love has a man than this,
No greater love
No greater love
has a man than this
To lay down one’s life for one’s friends

If I claim to be
Self righteous where I stand
That’s the moment solid confidence
Loses hold
And I return into the sand

I return

Waiting For To Bloom

Everlong
Was the promise of my youth
Got lost and then confused
At last the sentiment’s diffused

Shaking my fists
At the chemistry within
How I wished my mind were thin
Oh if I only knew back when

God made man
I sure could use a friend
Who knows what a wretch I’ve been

Depth over
Distance as it’s said
Could never say just what I meant
Paint a picture instead

I chose you
On a silver afternoon
In a gothic arched room
Waiting for to bloom

Waiting
Waiting

I loved you
Broken, love you still
There’s so much more to fill
And I promise you I will

Son made flesh and bone
Reflection of the love,
The love that we have shown

The love that we have shown
The love that we have shown

Footsteps without a sound
Like a rush of wind coming down
Or a lighthouse in the background
Black silhouette with the lights shining out