The one where I make a call...

If I call your name
will you hear me

if I call your name
will you come to me

If I call your name
will your heart skip a beat

If I call your name
will you smile

If I all your name
will you answer

The one where we fly...

How can we fly
and reach the top of the sky

how can we fly
and break the law of gravity

how can we fly
and see our world from high above

how can we fly
and take our place on the mountain top

how can we fly
and walk those endless skyways

how can we fly
to edge of space

how can we fly
to the gates of heaven

how can we fly
if we don't leap?

The one where I want to drive...

I want to drive
drive until the road gives way to the void

off the edge of this great flat expanse
into the unexplored future

where tomorrow's yet unwritten
where the past is but a vapor

I want to drive
to where the sun never sets

around the world and back again
leaving memories where they belong

locked in the trunk
I'll ignore their pleas for release

I want to drive
through that vast desert and out the other side

load up my life
burning the maps that show the way

across that great divide
that separates our dreams from our lives

The one for Halloween...

Its good that you're afraid
beware that angel of light

the evil these days
doesnt only come out at night

it hides in plain sight
wearing a mask of respectability

"he always seemed like such a nice guy"
will you recognize your vulnerability

under your bed or under your nose
in your basement or in your yard

up in the attic or up in the statehouse
how do you sleep and keep up your guard

The one where I am alive...

I am cinematic
I see in technocolor
I surf the slipstream

I can command the stars
and dive the depths of Cygnus
into the gravity well

My eyes burn with fire
and my skin glows with stardust
leaving a trail of light in my wake

I am here and there
then and now
and I stand astride intergalactic space

I command the solar storms
stars are birthed and die
at my word

The phoenix flies with me
and sings me her song
death and rebirth, with the rhythm of a pulsar

and she sings your name
with all that I am
all my power

I am yet alone...

But I will find you.

The one where we look...

You look in the mirror to see yourself
I look in and see a black heart
fracturing with light

You look to the sun for light
I look at the shadows
for what they can’t conceal

You look for the silver lining
I look for the storm’s
majestic rage

You see the countryside’s
rolling beauty
I see a field for a battle yet to be fought

We look at each other
and see past and future
unfold and unfurl

The one where we remember...

Remember that night in June
we danced to the Gaslight Anthem all night

Some little dive on Ocean Ave in Asbury Park
hot, sweaty and loud and stinking of cheap beer - our kind of place

You were turning heads
and I was turning you on

The straps on your dress kept falling
and the tough guys at the bar nodded and mouthed, "good luck"

Remember dancing in the surf as the sun came up
my jeans and the hem of your dress soaking up the ocean

The boardwalk bench sleepers and joggers staring
marveling at our foolishness

Like Dion sang, like Teenagers in Love
we were blind to them

Blind and dancing
dancing to the dawn

The one where there's a Post-Apocalyptic Travelog...

Maybe that guy was right
Fight until you can't...

But that's not the way of peace
now is it, Mahatma?

Still a good idea
to keep your powder dry, and your tobacco too

I still think about her and wonder
where she was when the planes fell out of the sky

I happen upon their skeletal remains
now and then, picked clean

I wonder if prophets take some grim
satisfaction in being right

When the earth took her revenge
and science, technology and religion failed us all

Someone said that hell is other people
I would kill for the crush of the crowd

I have many traveling companions these days though
Yesterday it was Jesus, last week Shiva

That cloud on the horizon, reminds me of a train...
I wonder if it's on the way to Glory

Not ready for that ride, not yet
even now with all that's happened

Funny how everything can die
but some of us seem to hang on

At least I think there are others
haven't seen a soul in some time

But from the howls and cries in the night
maybe that's just as well

Wonder where that dog ran off to now
nice to have someone to talk to, even a mangy mutt

I'm sure he feels the same way
not sure who smells worse

Decay and rot sure do move quickly
when there's no one to paint and clean

Still see some of the remnants of civilization
flapping in the breeze

Kind of like the flags
we used to worship so vainly

Yeah, God and County...
did us a lot of good in the end, didn't it?

Funny the things we hold on to
hang on to...

Like the phone in my pocket
not much good, but makes me feel good

Still has a bit of juice
I turn it on once a day, just in case

I think I miss Rock n' Roll the most,
that and cold beer

Have found plenty of beer,
just none if it cold...a sad thing really

Sad how spoiled we were
and we knew it, didn't care much though

So, maybe karma caught up to us
or maybe the universe has its own ideas

We talked a lot about karma and grace
but it seems like physics was the only law that held sway

Not sure if it was cause and effect
or just the order of things - entropy, you know?

I still miss her though
and the reasons for all of this don't change that at all

The idea that she might still be out there...
that's reason enough to carry on

Hope is a scarce commodity
even with that in mind

Oh, hey dog!
Where've you been?

Love that puzzled look on his face
really the only laugh I get these days

Well that, and when I see my reflection
who is that skinny, hairy guy?

The End of Civilization Diet,
it'd be a best seller, I tell you!

Not that I'm going hungry,
not much competition for food it seems

Or company for meals,
for that matter

She used to love to cook,
and cook she could, sigh...

And we could do some damage
to a bottle of wine...

Hmm, wine...
wonder if there's any wineries around here...

Can think of worse places
to hole up for a while

Funny that the only reliable thing left
would drive the moralists nuts

Too bad it's too heavy to carry much
don't need much whiskey these days, turns out

That's a good thing,
I suppose.

Not much in the way of hangover cures...
the drug stores emptied first

Thing was
they left most of the cigarettes

Like any of us were going to live long enough
to die from them at this point

Seems folks thought clean living
would be their salvation yet

The Reaper's got his list
and you just never know where you are on it

These days it really does no good
to deny yourself any simple pleasure

Might very well
not get a tomorrow

Some mornings I think its all a dream,
in that state between sleep and waking

Reality soon sets me straight
a nightmare there's no waking from

And she's still not here...
goddammit, Why? Why?

But really...
would I want her to suffer as I do?

Of course not,
I just pray she's better off, wherever she is...

I just miss her so...
every day, every damn day...

Pray? Did I say pray?
Laughable, that idea - after all I've seen

Didn't seem to do much good
when all of this was going down, did it?

Oh, and clean sheets, really miss clean sheets
and toilet paper...

The one where I confess...

I've got nothing to give you
no riches, earthly or otherwise

No strength of character
nor courage of heart

My journey is my only possesion
the only thing I can share

The one where your love flows...

My broken heart is full to overflowing. 
Take care that you don't cut yourself on the shards.

I doubt a patch would hold,
but your love may keep it full

I am an empty vessel
pour yourself into me

The one where there's a band...

... and the band played
we thought you had gone

only a dry wind
was left in your place

why walk away
into the dark like that

we waited awhile
life doesnt stop, for long

so on we played
putting you in a safe place

a settling had come
but then, you were there

like from a cave
light burning our eyes

sweet pain,
sweet breeze of spring

again, the band played
and we danced...

like David

The one where I ponder my place...

Father, my Father
do you look on in pride
when I finally get it right

do you stay up worrying
at night?

Father, my Father
Are you glad I'm
your son?

Will you hunt me down
when I'm on the run?

Father, my Father
when the way is so clear
why do I get so turned around?

Daughter, my Daughter
my little girl
I'd give you the world

But I know you'd just
rather have me

Wife, my Wife
Love of my days

Will you still have me
when my eyes grow dim
my bones grow old,
and my hair goes grey?

Son, my Son
I feel your eyes
when you look at me

Do you say
I want to be like my Dad
because he tries to be like

Father, his Father...

The one where it's night...

In the blackness of night
are you there?

I can feel the warmth of your breath
will you draw near?

I can hear your beating heart
mine skips to stay in time

I brush against your skin
as if playing a fine instrument

I breathe on your neck
and feel the tremor down your spine

I encircle your body
will you be mine?

The one where I have a wish...

I wish I was a soap
a soap
on a rope
this is what I hope
then I could touch you
first each day
I am such a dope
things dont work
that way

I love you
yeah, yeah, yeah!

The one where it's morning...

in the breaking dawn
the shadows of your curves

soft shapes caressed by softer light
auburn cascades like a halo

a glowing solar radience
your smiling face

sets me to my day

The one where there's a light...

We will live and love
cry and holler
sing and shout
stand and wonder
fast and feast
with the great and the least

We'll live and die
stand and fall
and wonder why
as we dance and mourn
seeking that face
first and last
to finish this race

and a light will shine from
within these walls

2001

The one where it's heavy...

Driving, a rain of yellow leafs,
ponder death and dying

their journey to the ground began months ago
my journey to revelation and resurrection, the same

both will lie a while
cold and damp

as we spin away from life and warmth
almost too far, but not quite

yet there's a promise too,
a new set of wings...

The one where I have no words...

Her words melt in my heart
and I have none of my own

When she speaks
the wind and waves are calmed

I yearn for her touch
it has power and heat

But I suspect,
not for me

The one where I stand in the rain...

how did I find myself here
standing alone

cant tell the rain
from the sweat and tears

the wind whips, stings like nails
reddening my skin

just a fool and his thoughts
standing on the wrong corner again

The one where I need a song...

I need a song
louder than my thoughts

some screaming
to drown out the voices

a beat
to restart my heart

a groove
that makes you move

I need song
that says the things I can't

The one where I die...

you cut out my heart
it still sits on your plate

bled out my soul
there it is, floating in your glass

and you think you're innocent
but you've killed me

and I die a new death every day
like some unclean thing

The one where I can't see...

I can see the end
but not the way
there's a wall around me

the earth swallows the road
no turning, bridges burning
behind me

I'm a wreck, a mess
a heap on the highway
is there any life left in me

can't see for the smoke and tears
can't hear for the ringing in my ears
paying for the sins of all my years

I can see the end
but not the way
there's a wall around me

The one where the dawn gets broken...

Smoke rises
Distant fires in the night sky

Aromas waft
Closer fires in the kitchens

Drums beating
Out from under the darkness

Singing songs
With shared hearts

Skies open
Heaven sends a deluge

Spirits poured
Spirits lifted

The storm
Flashes and rages

Kindred hearts retire
With the dying of the night

The one where we get caught coming and going...

When will we break these earthly bonds?
Defying gravity

Cruising past the inner orbits
Surfing the rings

Blasting into the void
Leaving home forever

Grinding the rims of black holes
Only to be sucked in, torn asunder

And emerging where we started
But is it the same when?

The one where I see you...

Everywhere I look
I see you there

Every rising of the sun
And the setting at days end

That sigh in the whispering wind
And cry in the howling gale

Everywhere I look
Everywhere I go

Your eyes twinkling
In the starry night

Your warm touch
In the softness of a baby's skin

I see you there

In that empty place setting
That undisturbed pillow

These one-sided conversations
With pauses, responses...

Everywhere
I see

The one where the wind blows...

Watching the wind in the trees
Like you've blown through my life

Can't see where it came from
Or where it's going

But I can feel it
Can see the clues

One tree still stands
Another lies in pieces

Any way the wind blows...

The one where I ask a question... (re-post)

Will you welcome me into your heart
Will you welcome me into your home
Will you forgive my eventual betrayal
Will you ask for everything I have and give nothing in return
Will you?

Will you hold my hand
Will you hold my heart
Will you walk with me in the valley of shadows
Will you cry, weep and howl with me
Will you?

Will you laugh with me
Will you smile at me
Will you suffer my humor
Will see through it into my soul
Will you?

Will you let me wear my heart on my sleeve
Will you indulge me
Will you make allowances
Will you make me walk the line
Will you?

Will you ask of me the unthinkable
Will you give to me what you ask of me
Will you tell me secrets in the dark of night
Will you you trust me
Will you?

The one where I get inked...

Blood and ink
Flesh and steel
Write your name on my heart

Pain and pleasure
Indelibility and inevitability
This scar will heal but never fade

The one where there's a guitar...

Tune up that guitar, baby
 I want to  hear you sing

Want to dance like tonight's our last night
The world might end tomorrow

I want to swap spit, sweat and spirit
Want you hot to the touch

Turn up that guitar, baby
I want to hear you scream

I want to lock arms and eyes
Want to feel your breath on my neck

Let's move like no one else is in the room
with abandon, without shame

Turn up that guitar, baby...

The one where we make time stand still...

The time is shorter than we know
But we can make moments last forever

The one where I drive

I see an open highway
Sun setting over the horizon
And I press down on the gas

The miles slip by like the ticks of a clock
To the beat of the snare on the radio
And I press on

The wind blows through my hair
The sun warms my face
And I shift into overdrive

The evening light fades
I turn on the headlights
And I turn down the radio

The night is so quiet
The heavens so bright
And I drive on