The Storm

Sometimes in the dark, when I close my eyes at night

And the rain pitter patters, to the rhythm of my heart

Sometimes when I shut out the day thats just passed

I close my eyes, and your face is all to fill the storm in my chest

It's at times when I'm lonely, and times when I'm lost

At time's when I'm joyful, on days when I'm spent

I feel a hand holding mine, I feel a breath on my neck

I taste a scent in the air, then the wind changes again

Though the waves are a crashing, and the ship is awash

And the salt water stings, and the horizon is lost

For one kiss on the shoulder, for a kind word or two

It's at the dawn when lands near, I see at times, I still need you

Come Home to Roost

When I opened my eyes, the path was afire, afield and yonder, the charcoal lane was set
Brimstone and bloodshed, eyes that a wander, I put foot to ground, and on my way left
The rabbit in its top hat, a skipped under highways, it whistled and waved, and I leapt, and I leapt
I put one foot then another, and I slipped down its burrow, I went under, then under, to the left I should have kept

There are furrows and chiseled brickwork in my breast
There are funnels that keep the blood a swirl in my chest
There are lanterns that lit the horizon in mine eyes
There is a hag that cackles at the date of my death

For a year or an age in them tunnels I fought, my eyes turned to marble, my fists broke like glass
I discovered the wheel, I captured the flame, doorknobs proved tricky, yet progress can't be stopped
The litter, the literal, the literary, the lost, have a library in a time that once coined the term God
Ants burn under glasses, the fickle winds toss, the path was afire once more, I was washed

I am dead once more risen, the very ground trembles
I am gone once more home, and the gate has been barred
I am perched on the angles, between twilight and eyesight
I have come home for one more, come home to roost

Alice

If I saw you on a movie screen I wouldn't bat an eye

If I saw you dancing in the rain it might move me to cry

If when you come back home you bring an elephant to play

I might just laugh, but really hon, I wouldn't be surprised

You flew away

But I hope

Your coming back one day

Because without you

Pizza really

Doesn't taste the same

If I saw you move a mountain with a hop, jump and a skip

I wouldn't ask you why or how, I'd just hop on for a lift

If I saw you reach out and pluck sunshine from the sky

I'd reach out too, and get a tan, and wouldn't be surprised

You flew away

But I hope

Your coming back one day

Because without you

Pizza really

Doesn't taste the same

I hope your happy somewhere right now chilling on a beach

Making myths and smoking hash and walking with bare feet

And if I see the world of dreams reflected in your eyes

I will smile, then I will laugh, but I won't be surprised

To a Brother

I gritted my teeth through the chemical haze
And spoke six true words of love
You laughed in my eyes
And twisted the knife
And painted my face with a dove

Release

My nails are frayed

My knees are worn

I wandered here alone

Alone I find myself with you

Upon this bed of stone

A bed of nails I built my dear

To rest a while in peace

To stop a moment for a breath

Inhale

Inhale

Release

In pain I seek my soul

In peace I find my golden charter

In life I find what came before

Is often what comes after

I pause a while on my mount

To lay a funeral wreath

For all the sorrow I let go

Inhale

Inhale

Release

I never said that I would stay

Only that I can't leave

For leavings in the coming home

To where you've never been

A breath of air of summers breeze

Holds all the light you seek

So lay your head upon these stones

Inhale

Inhale

Release

Origami

I met a child who's laughter pealed

Like church bells at midday

He grinned at me

And I was back

To where I used to play

I met a girl who folded space

Beneath her furrowed brow

She winked at me

And I was back

To where I am right now

I met a man who folded time

Like origami wings

He flapped his hands

And we were back

To where it did begin

I met a child who's laughter pealed

Like church bells at midday

He grinned at me

And I was back

To where I used to play

The Artist

The prettiest moments I ever did see

Were stained with the blood of a saint

Who dedicated his life to tracing

The scars of the world with his paint

From the gate of the forest to the grave on the hill

He stood up his easel and drew

But I spat in his inkwell and scattered it round

And where it fell a crucifix grew

So while they nailed him up in the cold morning light

I pretended that I had gone blind

And I set up his easel and lifted his brush

And captured that moment in time