Smile

Dogs do not smile

At pictures of other dogs

Nor plants at images of plants

We in the sea

See something sublime and infantile

In the passing of fish

That show teeth like ours

As we swim continuously toward

Irrelevance 

City of Ghosts

The church bell rings hollow and loud

Across the city streets

A gust of wind comes up to hug

Anyone it meets

            Once there was a love for me,

            A love for me, almost

            All swallowed up in time for me,

            Here in the city of ghosts

I knew the avenues by name

The signs swing in gaslight

Holmes and Watson cast their shadows

Deep into the night

            Once there was a love for me,

            A love for me, almost

            All swallowed up in time for me,

            Here in the city of ghosts

Trees and spires pierce the sky

Underneath the crescent moon

Specters climbing to the stars

Will find each other soon

            Once there was a love for me,

            A love for me, almost

            All swallowed up in time for me,

            Here in the city of ghosts

Absence of Color

In the winter

When the raw emotions

Stand out in the cold

Will you still love me knowing

That you are now alone

You came to me

When breath was sweet

And every image danced

Colors were illusions then

For you always in black

Stand your ground

And eat the snow

Till purity seeps in

No you will never freeze until

You have all that you lack

Dreams and bones

Were all we had

Even as our time seemed full

There is no wool can keep you warm

Till feeling reaches home

Sorrow

No elegance ever there was

Like sorrow

Balances the world upon each shoulder

Justified and dignified

With sorrow

Holds me as an arrow

Flying upstream through the marrow

But hold on to tomorrow

You will be there

With sorrow

Sweet of sound and pure of taste

Perfume of life and afterlife

That is the truth,

The certainty

Of sorrow

Gull

Honing this tool

In the waves, in the tide

Is a cause flying straight

Through the wind

To the soul where the world

Flies away at a word

Makes me whole, takes me down,

From the birds

If the World Was You

You are afraid of the dark
Because you are too full of light
And I would keep you in this sun-soaked place
I would hold you with all of my might


     If the world was you….
     If the world was you….
     Why can’t the world be you


You smile and the stars all align
You laugh and the rivers rejoice
And I would see only those eyes
And I would hear only that voice


     If the world was you….
     If the world was you….
     Why can’t the world be you


          But I must go out in obsidian night
          Shoot holes in the sorrowful moon
          I must deal with all of this darkness
          I must live in the ruins too soon

     If the world was you….
     If the world was you….
     Why can’t the world be you


You live in a world that spins stories
I live in a world that deals blows
You go where the rainbows all follow
I go where the wind never knows


     But if the world was you….
     If the world was you….
     Why can’t the world be you

Behind with Everything

Behind with Everything

I see three minstrels singing

And I want to join right in

They’re handing me a guitar

But I’m behind with everything

The girls are out there clacking

In high heels and wild wigs

I want to jump right on ‘em

But I’m behind with everything

            Gotta write my novel

            And I gotta pay my bills

            I gotta walk my doggie

            And I gotta take my pills

            Looking for a moment

            When the Lord gives me some wings

            I’m so wired here in the Village

            But I’m behind with everything

My neighbors whoop it up all night

Tomorrow they’ll sleep in

I look at them and want to crash

But I’m behind with everything

            Gotta write my novel

            And I gotta pay my bills

            I gotta walk my doggie

            And I gotta take my pills

            Looking for a moment

            When the Lord gives me some wings

            I’m so wired here in the Village

            But I’m behind with everything

When the morning comes I’m moving

Can’t tell me to pack it in

I’m a force of nature swooning

And behind with everything

2012