Inside Job

Last night I saw shadow from my window
Didn't even startle me at all
Its the company I've waited patiently to see
and I can tell we will be good friends come the fall

Knocking on my door I saw a memory
without a raincoat in a thunderstorm.
In its hand a letter and and loaded gun
Seeking shelter, somewhere to be warm.

I don't know the answer to these questions
written on the mirrors in this place
Are the mysteries I grown so fond of pondering
the ancient stories written on my face?

The Good Ones

scratched cds

create din that

cold breath doesn't

help to change

and soft slippery 

plastic is stable

at least it keeps 

something still.

the Good Ones

have to wait

and drive on

until they find

a Passenger like that

Hitchhiker holding his thumb 

like a cup of coffee

in the morning time

when husbands read papers.

flaming arrows flicker to the right

turning stops and time extends.

The Good Ones--

they drive on until they find

a Passenger.

Snail Mail

I sent him some snail mail

on the pale hail of an afternoon in the west I guess

I should've known the fuse would be blown

when I wrote out my own license to roam

packed up and left home

in a pink and yellow dress.

Days went by alright 

and twisted tight around these veins of mine like twine 

cutting off my smile like a light fading out

each lap around the clock just brought me doubt

and from that fear my nightmares sprout

but I went to bed on time.

I put my hair in braids 

so come day it would stay like the ocean

like potion flowing through that open blue

like those eyes you know I'm talking to you

my mail collecting house shrew

with that heart always in motion.

One day something came

so the same game just went on along that song 

my heart would sing just kept on playing

And when I realized I was staying

I knew my soul was solely praying

'Cuz his return address was wrong.

Tele-bye

I feel just like a widow feels

that call when she's alone

frequencies in this 

modern sea are

such a warm dial tones

make that onward motion friends

and just pick up the phone.

Spirit of Mine

These words just come out like ice cream

That sticky sweet smooth stream

from the machine 

in the summer time.

Don't know where I pull them from,

Needy naked naming none

but how they run

down my shaking spine.

Thats all ok, I like a mystery

That tasty tattered history

hands all blist'ry

from this spirit of mine.

Fake Queen Beauty

Laquer nails, like cheap lipstick.

Just cracked and stale and ancient.

Miss that way your butter tongue

wrote notes upon the airwaves.

Jewelry, like the royal things.

I'm just a fake queen beauty.

Miss the way the southern belle

would sing when I looked at ya.

Hiraeth

strikes the braves

and comes in waves

so haunting--

the hiraeth.

I'm Going to Marry

I'm going to marry a king in street clothes

I'm going to marry a page from a children's book

I'm going to marry two pieces of sea glass

I'm going to marry the warmth in the river

I'm going to marry a moth at my window

I'm going to marry a song on the radio

I'm going to marry the star shine at midnight

I'm going to marry the sweet fruits of eden

I'm going to marry the washing machine

I'm going to marry the morning subway

I'm going to marry a nail and hammer

I'm going to marry shadow in summer.

I'm going to marry a vintage guitar

I'm going to marry the empty highway

I'm going to marry a snowflake in July

I'm going to marry a complex hombre.

Tales of Persistence

You see angels everywhere

and follow feathers

'til they leave you there

staring, wide-eyed

broken hearted

out of luck

true love departed.

You find a pearl in every shell

spend days diving 

the ocean swells.

but all those little

silver beads

just scatter back

below your knees.

You pan gold from every stream

enough to buy you

everything.

But everything 

you've come to see,

just rots or leaves

eventually.