Hidden In My Heart

I see the leaves of autumn changing falling turning what was green
I see a door standing open, open to curiosity we could be together tear
it all apart would you ever notice what was hidden in my heart
heartstrong do we ever listen closely
as willows start to weep there as we stood upon the threshold
who said forever was for keeps?
would you ever notice what was hidden in my heart,
my deep heart is reeling forward and steady on to keep,
who made me miss the last ferry?
who made this river so deep

Hope Chest

Bent double like old beggars in sacks
Knockkneed and cursing or coughing like hags Men marched on sleeping
some without boots Fatigue drunken deaf still to the hoots Of breaking
gas shells Dropping softly behind But limped on bloodshod All went
lame all went blind Gas gas quick boys fumbling helmets in time
Someone still screaming a man in fire or lime Under a grey cloud dim
dark through green light In all my dreaming before my helpless sight
He plunges at me Choking guttering drowning Put in a wagon he had to
keep pace As his eyes melt to his face If you could hear blood
Gurgling from ruptured lungs If you could witness Vile sores on
innocent tongues You would not tell me Not with such pride and such
zest The lies of history Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori Some
desperate glory Pro patria mori As witness disturbs the story Pro
patria mori Stand firm boys breathe the glory

How You've Grown

My, how you've grown."
I remember that phrase from my childhood days too.
"Just wait and see."
I remember those words and how they chided me,
when patient was the hardest thing to be.
Because we can't make up for the time that we've lost,
I must let these memories provide.
No little girl can stop her world to wait for me.
I should have known.
At your age, in a string of days
the year is gone.
But in that space of time,
it takes so long.
Because we can't make up for the time
that we've lost,
I must let those memories provide.
No little girl can stop her world to wait for me.
Every time we say goodbye
you're frozen in my mind
as the child that you never will be,
you never will be again.
I'll never be more to you
than a stranger could be.
Every time we say goodbye
you're frozen in my mind as a child that
you never will be, will be again

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine, there's gotta be a little rain sometimes
I could promise you things,
Like big diamond rings
But if that's what it takes to hold you
I'd as soon as let you go
But there's one thing I want you to know
Oh, smile for a while and lets be jolly
Love shouldn't be so melancholy
Come along, and share the good times while we can

I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine, there's gotta be a little rain sometimes
I said, Oh oh oh oh, I beg your pardon
I never promised you a rose garden

I'm Not The Man

It crawls on his back, won't ever let him be.
Stares at the walls until the cinder blocks can breathe.
His eyes have gone away, escaping over time.
He rules a crowded nation inside his mind.

He knows that night like his hand.
He knows every move he made.
Late shift, the bell that rang, a time card won't fade.
10:05 his truck pulled home.
10:05 he climbed his stair, about the time he was accused of being there.

But I'm not the man.
He goes free as I wait on the row for the man
to test the rope he'll slip around my throat... and silence me.

On the day he was tried no witness testified.
Nothing but evidence, not hard to falsify.
His own confession was a prosecutor's prize,
made up of fear, of rage and of outright lies.

But I'm not the man.
He goes free as the candle vigil glows, as they burn my clothes.
As the crowd cries, "Hang him slow!" and I feel my blood go cold, he goes free.

Call out the KKK, they're wild after me.
And with that frenzied look of half-demented zeal,
they'd love to serve me up my final meal.

Who'll read my final rite and hear my last appeal?
Who struck this devil's deal

In My Tribe

A lie to say, "O my mountain has coal veins and beds to dig.
500 men with axes and they all dig for me." A lie to ssay, "O my
river where mant fish do swim, half of the catch is mine when you haul
your nets in." Never will he believe that his greed is a blinding
ray. No devil or redeemer will cheat him. He'll take his gold to
where he's lying cold.
A lie to say, "O my mine gave a diamond as big as a fist."
But with every gem in his pocket, the jewels he has missed. A lie to
say, "O my garden is growing taller by the day." He only eats the
best and tosses the rest away. Never will he be believe that his
greed is a blinding ray. No devil or redeemer can cheat him. he'll
take his gold to where he's lying cold. Six deep in the grave.
Something is out of reach
something he wanted
something is out of reach
he's being taunted
something is out of reach
that he can' beg or steal nor can he buy
his oldest pain
and fear in life
there'll not be time
his oldest pain
and fear in life
there'll not be time
A lie to say "O my forest has trees that block the sun and
when I cut them down I don't answer to anyone." No, no, never will he
believe that his greed is a blinding ray no devil or redeemer can
cheat
him. He'll take his gold where he's lying cold

In The Quite Morning

 In the quiet morning
there was much despair
and in the hours that followed
no one could repair

That poor girl
tossed by the tides of misfortune
Barely here to tell her tale
Rolled in on a sea of disaster
Rolled out on a mainline rail
She once walked tight by my side
I'm sure she walked by you
Her striding steps could not deny
Torment from a child who knew

That in the quiet morning
there would be despair
and in the hour that followed
no one could repair

That poor girl
she cried out her song so loud
it was heard the whole world round
[ A symphony of violence
The great southwest unbound ]
In the quiet morning
there was much despair
and in the hour that followed
no one could repair

That poor girl
tossed by the tides of misfortune
Barely here to tell her tale
Rolled in on a sea of disaster
Rolled out on a mainline rail

Jolene

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can

Your beauty is beyond compare
with flaming locks of auburn hair
ivory skin and eyes of emerald green
Your smile is like a breath of spring
Your voice is soft like summer rain
I cannot compete with you Jolene

Now he talks about you in his sleep
and there's nothing I can do to keep
from crying when he calls your name Jolene

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can

Now I can easily understand
How you could easily take my man
But you don't know what he means to me Jolene
Oh you could have your choice of men
but I could never love again
He's the only one for me Jolene

Well I have to have this talk with you
My happiness depends on you
and whatever you decide to do Jolene

Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
I'm begging of you please don't take my man
Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Please don't take him just because you can

Jubilee

He fills the flower vases, trims the candle bases, takes small change
from
the poor box. Tyler has the key. He takes nail and hammer to tack up
the
banner of felt scraps glued together reading, "Jesus Lives In Me."
Alone in
the night he mocks the words of the preacher: "God is feeling your
every pain."
Repair the Christmas stable, restore the plaster angel. Her lips begin
to
crumble and her robes begin to peel. For Bible study in the church
basement,
hear children Gospel citing, Matthew 17:15. Alone in the night he
mocks the
arms of the preacher raised to the ceiling, "Tell God your pain."
To him the world's defiled. In Lot he sees a likeness there; he swears
this
Sodom will burn down. Near Sacred Blood there's a dance hall where
Tyler Glen
saw a black girl and a white boy kissing shamelessly. Black hands on
white
shoulders, white hands on black shoulders, dancing, and you know
what's more.
He's God's mad disciple, a righteous title, for the Word he heard he
so
misunderstood. Though simple minded, a crippled man, to know this man
is to
fear this man, to shake when he comes. Wasn't it God that let Puritans
in
Salem do what they did to the unfaithful?
Boys at the Jubilee slowly sink into brown bag whiskey drinking and
reeling
on their feet. Girls at the Jubilee in low-cut dresses yield to the
caresses
and the man-handling. Black hands on white shoulders, white hands on
black
shoulders, dancing, and you know what's more.
Through the tall blades of grass he heads for the Jubilee with a
bucket in
his right hand full of rags soaked in gasoline. He lifts the shingles
in the
dark and slips the rags there underneath. He strikes a matchstick on
the box
side and watches the rags ignite. He climbs the bell tower of the
Sacred
Blood to watch the flames rising higher toward the trees. Sirens
wailing now
toward the scene.

Just As The Tide Was A Flowing

on one morning
in the month of May
when all the birds
were singing

I saw a lovely maiden stray
across the fields at break of day
she softly sung her roundelay

the tide flows in
the tide flows out
twice every day returning

her cheeks were red
her eyes were brown
her hair in ringlets hanging down
upon her face to hide the frown

just as the tide was a flowing
the tide flows in
the tide flows out
twice everyday returning

a sailor's wife at home must bide
she halted heavily she sighed
"he parted from poor me , a bride
I'm widowed by the sea" she cried

just as the tide was a flowing

the tide flows in
the tide flows out
twice every day returning