FIREDANCER
CAPTAIN’S DAUGHTER
See that strange ship slowly coming up the river
See that strange ship pulling over for a spell
Though you’re pretty sure you’ve never seen that kind of ship before
The riverboat captain seems to know you well
You see all kind of baggage floating on the river
You see pretty clothes, a pair of boots & a purse
You spot your own belongings among all the others
Going downstream for some long forgotten curse
Brother if you want a free ride, give in to the water
Brother if you want a free ride, give in to the flow
Brother if you want to make a vow to the captain’s daughter
It’s gonna be your turn now, you just say yes or no
The captain too, he’s got a brother & a sister
Brother sun & sister moon, that is
They rise & shine & guide the captain’s daughter
Who to spare & who to blow a kiss
BLUE RIBBON
Down a long flight of stairs to a place where the big fat lights don’t shine
We’ll light a big fat candle ‘cause it’s dark like a black hole in a coal mine
Deep down in the belly of a ship that is sailing away
We can tell the mood of the ocean by the way our candle sways
Awake & asleep & always aware of the dead
& the language they use when they speak deep in your head
Sometimes it’s a whisper, sometimes it’s a storm in your soul
‘cause when they speak, they speak in a rant that you can’t control
But what a sweet thing when it dawns on you
That your love’s really your best friend
Makes you feel like you’re winning the blue ribbon
Without having to sail to world’s end
All those painted faces smiling down from the planks above
They came to reveal the secret conjunction of loss & love
& if you can’t really seem to understand what they are trying to say
It will be coming to you with the logic of the flow that brings the new day
TRAPPED SUNLIGHT
The hills in the distance seem so near
It takes more than a lifetime to get there from here
Life here is slow – speed never pays
Not in the heart of the city anyway
Windowpanes shine in the night
All you see is trapped sunlight
You get caught in a trap when you follow the sun
There’s a trap in this city for everyone
Come come, get a grip
On the hole in your heart
Come come, try to rip it out & tear it apart
Pick up the pieces, hang them high on the flagpole
Come & get rid of that hole
Craze on the freeway – calm in the ditch
Scars on your shins they begin to itch
Blind in the sun, you’re blind as a mole
Though you need all that sun to fill up that hole
SING FOR THE DEAF
Sing for the flowers
It smells like spring
Cling to your tune
It’s a weapon that sings
Aim at the shadows ‘til they go & disappear
They’re weak & they’re weary
& they know they don’t belong here
Then sing for the gray & dreary newborn day
Sing for the deaf at last
It’s a hitman’s poem
You shoot out the lights
Then you go & put two little candles
In the window at night
Through your gunsight
You see the bag lady & the blonde sweetheart
They’re coming at you
Singing softly from across the yard
They’re enemy soldiers & they sing ‘til they fall
Two make a choir sometimes
FIREDANCER
You can’t be with the dead and the living
& make a bed in the middle of nowhere
Try & bridge that gap in your dreams
In the long long night
The city’s a permanent rumble
A subtle quake and a distant drone
The seasons have names
But they all look the same
Black pearls on a thread
I’m a good son and my father’s a firedancer
When I’m done with the fire I’ll dance the ashes away
I say who am I to deserve this but I get no answer
But I’m a firedancer too – I know anyway
I remember the frail green of spring
& it makes me cling to the future
Like a bird of passage left behind
Clings to the wind
GUARDIAN ANGEL
Came across my guardian angel
On my way to the grocery store
She always comes up with some answers
That I’ve not been asking for
I know she’s always on my side
If she’s got to take sides anyway
This time I knew what’s coming
& this is what she had to say
If you’re looking for love
It comes & it goes
Claim it & crave it
It will not show
It grows in the nighttime
Makes your day
Do what you can
To make it stay
She must have been watching me struggle
She must have been watching me fail
All the sweet excuses gone sour
& the smell in the air gone stale
She says: my brother, be easy
If it takes too much to be true
I can’t reverse your sentence
But I’m not gonna tell on you
In the shine of a light bulb
In the damp of the room
In the wine & the incense
& the morning that looms
In sigh & in sadness
In flesh & in skin
In the bubble of anger
You’re living in
FRIENDS WITH GOD
I need a new rabbit
To pull out of my hat
All I’ve conjured up now
Are roadkill & rats
I try to be happy
I do the best I can
But things get in my way
Every now & then
God – give me a reason
To be friends with you
You won’t hear me complain
I got to nurse my voice
But I’d reclaim my time
If I had a choice
Don’t you shut down your business
Before my bills are due
I’ll stand in line
I’ll wait for your cue
DAY AT THE BEACH
A day at the beach – salt in the air
And the sea is blank and blue
It reminds me so of you
‘cause your eyes were too
Far away
Blank and blue
How can I sit and think of you
And all the things you must have seen
When the sea
Is rolling in
And the waves
They sing
Sing and dance
Seagulls in the sky
Flying with the crows
Where is my father now
Maybe they know
Lazy breeze is blowing
High in the pine trees
Take this song and say
Hello for me
Stay with me – go with the tide
We may float and we may drown
Lay and listen
To the sound
Of the sun going down
And the sound of the sand
KING OF COOL
If you seek love
It may not find you
He’d say crap like that
Out of the blue
No ambition anymore
You’ll be calm & sober
To the core
& I wonder, would you make an effort
& I wonder, would you break the rule
The guideline of your master
Elusive king of cool
& let it show
Strive after love
It will slip away
Forget your needs
Is what he’d say
Things like that
Can spike your mind
Make you numb
& make you blind
THE POND
There’s a place where I go when I’m lonely
A place where the black reeds sway
& the sunshine can’t touch my secrets
‘cause it’s shady most of the day
& if you see me sitting quietly
& still by the edge of the pool
Chances are you take me for a thinker
But then again you might think I’m a fool
But I’m just fighting the pull of temptation
Fighting the sting of remorse
& I know this frail disposition
Isn’t something that you would endorse
But hey, you could be my water lily
& hey, I could be your dragonfly
& the pond is slowly getting deeper
By & by
You’d meet my desire forever
But I can’t tell from where you respond
A reflection off the surface of the water
Or down from the bottom of the pond