Katrina's Fair

KATRINA'S FAIR (Buck/Merchant) Greta's cedar hope chest Is full of
pamphlets Glass shelves of romantic vignettes A journal laced with
sedimentary prose Norma gathers and collects vintage photoplays Hair
combs valentines Lillian allows the animals to scratch Leather crack
Mail collect in the box coatings peel Agnes veiled cathedral dweller
Smiles with benevolent pain It's Katrina's fair Tuesday morning As she
with caution unlatches the flat door She alone cascades to the
basement Careful not to spoil her Calico printed pinafore Composite
traits mannerists All others dissipate Margauritte vigilant dwells
upon frigid casements Sarah's thoughts in the velocity Accusations
always pierce and pass Clara abandons her passions for distastes Miss
Lenora P. Sinclair Early for coffee in the pool "I'm resituating all
your words" Capital Space Colon Paragraph Sylvia keeps beasts in jars
labeled Kingdom phylum class order family genus species

Last Night

Last night
You know you really really
made me appreciate my life
When you took me to the seventh floor
And closed the door
I didn't stand a chance
Oh oh that night
When my conscience was losing
in that age old fight
Now I've always been a non-believer
A true deceiver
A hit and run romance

Don't you know that when we turned out the light
We were riding on the crest of a tidal wave
Like we were ships in the night
Going nowhere

Last night
When the feeling was missing
but the mood was right
From the moment we took the floor
I knew for sure
We'd play the parts we're expected to
I've done it so many times

Man we're all inmates of the human zoo
Our bodies in control of our minds
I played the jester and you played the fool
You kept forgetting your lines
I had to prompt you with a bourbon or two
Huh, you planned to come all the time

But when we turned out the light
We were riding on the crest of a tidal wave
Like we were ships in the night
Going nowhere (nowhere)

Oh last night
You know you really really
gave me something to write about
In the morning it was just the same
I'd lost again
But it won't take me long to forget
Oh oh last night

Let The Mystery Be

Chorus:

Everybody's wondering what and where they all came from
Everybody's worrying 'bout where they're gonna go when the whole thing's done
Nobody knows for certain, so it's all the same to me
Think I'll just let the mystery be

Some say once gone, you're gone forever
Some say they're gonna come back
Some say you rest in the arms of the Savior
if in sinful ways you lack
Some say that they're comin' back in a garden
Bunch of carrots and little sweet peas
Think I'll just let the mystery be

Some say they're going to place called "Glory"
And I ain't sayin' it ain't a fact
But I've heard that I'm on the road to purgatory
And I don't like the sound of that
I believe in love and I live my life accordingly
But I choose to let the mystery be

Life Line

Ten thousand miles away from someone
Ten thousand miles away from you
Who's your friend on the end of a telephone line
A telephone line's like a life line

You run me cool you run me hot love
You take me where I wanna be
Ship to shore, air to land
Seems it's always the same
I always end up with a lame brain

Dont' got talkin' in your sleep no
Don't go givin' it all away
Don't go walkin' in your sleep no
Don't go givin' it all away
Dont' got talkin' in your sleep no
Don't go givin' it all away
Don't go walkin' in your sleep no
You're ten thousand miles away

Livin' it up in the paradise
Don't make it right, don't make it wrong
When you know you've got a friend
who's at the other end
And a telephone line's like a life line

But a walk on the wire
It don't put out no fire
A telephone line's like a life line

Dont' got talkin' in your sleep no
Don't go givin' it all away
Don't go walkin' in your sleep no
Don't go givin' it all away
Dont' got talkin' in your sleep no
Don't go givin' it all away
Don't go walkin' in your sleep no
You're ten thousand miles away

When you wake you'll find me sleepin'
The clock don't stop when you're not here
But you know you've got a friend
Who's at the other end
And a telephone line's like a life line
A telephone line is a life line

Like The Weather

The color of the sky as far as I can see is coal grey.
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again.
With a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my lips as if I might cry.
Well by the force of will my lungs are filled and so I breathe.
Lately it seems this big bed is where I never leave.
Shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
Quiver in my voice as I cry,
"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away."
I hear the sound of a noon bell chime. Now I'm far behind.
You've put in 'bout half a day while here I lie
with a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my lip as if I might cry,
"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away?"

Do I need someone here to scold me
or do I need someone who'll grab and pull me out of this
four poster dull torpor pulling downward.
For it is such a long time since my better days.
I say my prayers nightly this will pass away.
The color of the sky is grey as I can see through the blinds.
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again
with a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather.
A quiver in my voice as I cry,
"What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away?"
I shiver, quiver, and try to wake

Lilydale

come as we go far away
from the noise of the street
walk a path so narrow
to a place where we feel at ease

some think it is haunting
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
there's a stillness here
thankful found

child's pose angelic
a stone lamb at her feet
part the matted overgrowth
to read the carven elegy

some think it so haunting
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
there's a stillness here
thankful found

born in New Albion
of Rice family elite
wed to Myron Bilowe
thrice with sons
blessed was she
some think it so haunting
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
God's acre is a fenced in
hollow ground

here soon to rise up
Amelia tender and sweet
her last words spoke
all is well
all is peace

some think it so haunting
to be drawn to the cemetery ground
as we
God's acre is a fenced in
hollow ground

Love Among The Ruins

The sky was falling, heaven was calling.
When danger crashes, rose from the ashes.
Like two statues hidden inside ancient rock,
We were praying for the secrets to unlock.
And when the sun had turned its back on us,
In the dark our love kept track of us,
Pushed together by the lack of love.
We held each other tightly through our hell of dreams.
I still hear the never-ending echo of those screams.
But it's a life not made for reliving,
Its a life that makes your soul forgiving.
We sealed our bond from the beginning.
Aching, affection, vulnerable protection;
Falling, captured, crawling, rapture

Maddox

the legs of Maddox kitchen tables
my whole life twisted on a lathe
in a foreman's torrent
my first English was
"faster boy if you want your pay"
barking commands
loud and simple
we could all obey

then I was forever pulling silvers
rubbed the sawdust always
deeper in my eye
varnish vapor that could linger
on my skin
it held tight
the whine of spinning blades
still echoes to bother my sleep at night

see that ox
stamped dead center
on the letter head of the company mail
four decades a spitting image
of the animal I portrayed
at Maddox Table a yoke was carved
for my neck

sun through the window oil spattered
and in mason jars
tricked plenty seeds thrive
the standing joke
around the shop was
with my green thumb
anything'd grow
my part was to laugh
show and ornery jig had
cut it at the knuckle bone

see that ox
trade mark burned
into every stick of furniture
from horn to tail
four decades a spitting image
of the animal I portrayed
at Maddox Table a yoke was carved
for my neck

was tailor made

o my Dolly was a weak
not a burdened girl
treat her to a piece of vaudville
a Wintergarden moving picture show
Bemus Point on July Sundays
by trolley we'd go

to your benefit we's strike or bargain
with the waving fist a union man
not just for
smokes spirits candy and cologne
but for
automobile keys
cash in the bank
and the deed
on a place called home

More Than This

I could feel at the time
There was no way of knowing
Fallen leaves in the night
You can say where they're blowing
As free as the wind
And hopefully learning
Why the sea on the tide
Has no way of turning

CHORUS 1
More than this, you know there's nothing
More than this, tell me one thing
More than this, you know there's nothing

It was fun for a while
There was no way of knowing
Like dream in the night
You can say where we're going
No care in the world
Maybe I'm learning
Why the sea on the tide
Has no way of turning

REPEAT CHORUS 1

CHORUS 2
More than this, you know there's nothing
More than this, tell me one thing
More than this, there's nothing

My Mother The War

She borders the pavement
Flanks avenues Parades pass white glove attended by My mother the war
She'll raise a shaft Lift a banner Toss a rose My mother the war She's
made every effort To salvage the few Bought fourteen liberty bonds My
mother the war Mother the war She knows every neighbor Chats at their
doors Compare econosize electric appliances my mother the war Share
tea and a seat By my cradle with My mother the war Mother the war
Caressing the globe Touch on his isle She wrings hands in pensive
waiting My mother the war Haunts her doorway Begs her postman Is there
word for My mother the war Momentos of distant vigil Three years each
tour "Hands of God enfold him" prayed My mother the war Mother the war
In bitter defiance She's spiting the corps She's wet a brood short
league for combat My mother the way Well acquainted with sorrow Left
millions in grief My mother the war Fold Laced Carrion Blood Soaked
Robes Mother the war