Sunny Side Up

Sunny side up, Sister
When the stars go down in flames
Watch them die before your eyes
Find the gold within the grey
When a monster crawls beneath your bed
Stare him down and learn his name
On the other side of the rising tide
Use the light to push your weight
Use your callous to kiss the devil
Don't give him your finer skin
If the record skips and you purse your lips
Silence is a pretty place to begin
Sunny side up, Darlin'
When your spine, it hits the dirt
Is there a better view than in a blackened hue
A better healing than in the hurt

Johnny Cash Pills

I got a bag full of Johnny Cash pills
God wants to catch me but he knows he never will
I stutter, stammer and I can't stand still
Sloe Gin Fizz and these Johnny Cash pills

I'm riding high for the fourth damn day
What Mama taught me, well I just can't say
I plug the jukebox with "Smokey Mountain Rain"
I line 'em up on the bathroom pane

I got these angels hanging on my back
They tell me how to how to breathe and how to act
They soar from Heaven but I send them back
But if they asked me I'd share my stash

Cause I got a bag full of Johnny Cash pills
God wants to catch me but he knows he never will
I stutter, stammer and I can't stand still
Sloe Gin Fizz and these Johnny Cash pills

Never Met A River

I never met a river
Like the one that lies behind
Murky as the Mississippi
And winding as the Rhine
Lord knows it wasn't pretty
My stroke not so refined
But I'd never met a river
Like the one that lies behind

If you stood on the shoreline
If your toes never got wet
If you hid behind sandcastles
And felt richer for my debt
If you mocked my sloppy motion
Saying you could do it best
And held back your penicillin
From the slivers in my chest

I leave you in the shadows
I leave you on the banks
I leave our memories in ashes
They give no heat to my flame
I part with final words
But in them you'll find no thanks
I leave you in the cattails
To receive what you gave

You see, I never met a river
Like the one that lies behind
They say they can cross with ease
Yet pray that they never have to try

Rufus Buck

I lived on the Snake Creek
The summer of '95
A shanty I called home
Where the Arkansas collides
The sun, it turned my skin to leather
And the cotton gave callous to my hands
My knees were stained with red clay
Yet I never cursed that land

The sun had taken its leave
When a rap came upon our door
Five young men stood ragged and thin
We had never seen their faces before
They said they'd give some silver
If I'd feed them biscuits and greens
You see, I was a Christian woman
I thought my Savior had called upon me
I poured them water in tin cups
I recited the Lord's Prayer
They did not bow their heads
Rather I could feel their heavy stares
They wiped their mouths on their sleeves
The tall one reached into his coat
To grab the silver they had promised
But they'd come for something more
A pistol he withdrew
And he held it to my husband's head
Four of them dragged him into the yard
While one dragged me to bed
I saw five sets of eyes
In the hours that went by
They laughed and pinned my hands
Until I began to bleed from the inside
The last thing I recall
Was my husband calling my name
It must have been with a thrust
That the blood went still in my veins

I lived on the Snake Creek
The summer of '95
A shanty I called home
Where the Arkansas collides

Aces And 8's

Pulled a hand when I was young
Before I learned to breathe
Black and white, aces and eights
Feasting on the smile or the seethe
Adrift on seas that seizure
Quaked by a collapsed serotonin vein
The pleasure of elation headaches
And the gift to go insane
I traded blush for bruise
And found some beauty in the view
A population sees only darkness
But I've trained my eye on subtle hues
I had to bathe in barbed wire
But Lord, how I can swim
Knocked out past the eight count
But how I fought for my black tooth grin

Ammunition On The Shelf

I could go for a comedown
A little rupture in the solid ground
A little rain from the plain white clouds
I could go for a comedown
I'm a mile from a breakdown
A deaf ear in the cyclone sound
A pair of dimples that used to be a frown
A long mile from a breakdown

I've got a mistress in the moonshine
And I can hear her calling through the pines
It's been a while since I felt her hand in mine
I've got a mistress in the moonshine
I've got a taste for the hard times
Like a fruit fly to a rotting black vine
I'll take the poison and you can drink the wine
I've got a taste for the hard times

Doctor, Doctor I'm bored
Like a housewife that used to be a whore
I'm full of bullets and I need to go to war
Doctor, Doctor I'm bored

The Dashboard Light

It's not just a song
When I sing to you
If you've heard a million lies
My words will be true to you
I've got a little gold dust
In the palm of my hand
Every time I hear that melody
Your eyes come back to mine again
I may lose you in the daytime
And I may lose you in the night
But every time I sing of love
I find you in the dashboard light
You twinkle through the sadness
And you flutter through the smiles
You laugh with a man's bass
And the giddiness of a child
When my words ride on empty
I lean on wiser men
But given the chance to catch my breath
It's a prayer that I send

And I hope your happy
On whatever cloud you fly upon
And I know that angels will laugh
When they see you dance to a Texas song
Play that fiddle hard, Brother
Play that fiddle slow
Play that fiddle with so much happiness
That you snap its golden bow
And don't forget us
When you stomp your enchanted feet
We're down here swaying to the slow songs
Fumbling with some strange, undanceable beat

I Dream Of Pink

I dream of smiles
The kind that you can't stop
The one that Dorothy gave us
When she sang of lemon drops
The kind that you can touch
Cause you can feel it in my hands
I dream of smiles
Of a Patsy Cline slow dance

I dream of pink
The kind that finds your cheek
The shade a prayer becomes
When Earth and heaven meet
The kind that lit the stage
When Elvis sang "Kentucky Rain"
I dream of pink
Of lemonade in my veins

I dream of pearls
The kind that changes the tide
The world scours the shoreline
But fate makes fortune mine
The kind that Donna Reed wore
In "It's A Wonderful Life"
I dream of pearls
Of champagne bubble eyes

This Is The Downward Spiral

This is the downward spiral
And I can see God standing there
He stands on the lip of the canyon
Streaks of gold highlight his hair
I see his staff colored walnut
As I twist within the black
He twirls it like Charlie Chaplin
As I snap the vertebrae in my back

You Ain't No Muse

You were a weak muse
Now doesn't that make you sad
That the house you invest your life into
Couldn't gather a beautiful word from my head
That rouge you search for the best of
Those finely manicured hands
The bronzing the sun loans you
And that perfume that lures one night stands
Boys may fall at your alter
But it's dirty little boys you find
They couldn't build you a rainbow
If you gave them a ladder and the dye
When a poet can't represent you
You're not as intoxicating as you thought
Step to the back of the line my gal
I'll use you when ugly is what I want

There's Blood On The Pages

There's blood on the pages
You better all gather round
Shush the nonsense of those around you
Make you love me without a sound
I can string the words together
That you'll one day learn to feel
And the ones that tickle your tongue
Well it's my job to invent the wheel
Where your brain just doesn't quite function
When your words, they always fall flat
If the world doesn't seem to understand you
I've got a phrase for that
If passion is what pulls you forward
Or a devil should bring you down
There's a page that works to free you
You better all gather round

Ontario

Only you can make the devil giddy
Only you can make him smile
Ah, that voice of vanilla and almond
Make a paraplegic walk a mile
Those calves of white satin
And those earrings that hang from your lobes
If the devil has a fear of love
No wonder he stays down below
Sincerity has never been so pretty
As when it's kissed by your tongue
Muses all fall feeble
Until it's you that they become
Those of us who know what's sweet
We rock - a - bye to your eyes
A chocolate laden iris
And the tingle of mingling thighs
I could ride upon your laughter
And I would demolish a million stars
Breathe their diamonds into my lungs
And still not match the light you are
Even sunlight couldn't declare
That shimmer upon your lips
The devil invented sin
Just to feel the curves of your hips

Three Leaf Clover

I went out to my friend's grave
It's where she rests her bones
She left us in December
Two and a half years ago
I go out there to see her
When I need a little relief
She just lies there listening
As I stand at her feet
She never says a word back
Just like those sweeter days
She just lets me ramble on
Though now tears mar my face
And on this day in July
No, the sounds they did not change
But when I walked up to greet her
I saw a lone clover upon her grave
I stood there for just a moment
And I hoped it might be true
That maybe upon further inspection
The clover would be two plus two
You see, life has been trying
And my shoulders they are quite bruised
If my world will not spin around
A little clover will have to do
So I bent down with hope
And an excitement in my stoop
C'mon my dear friend from across the way
Let my faith prove true
I placed my hand upon its stem
And I twirled it with my thumb
But faith is held by the blind
And hope is believed by the dumb
This was not a four leaf clover
So my friend had not placed it there
For if she had grown it from beyond
It would have been blessed with a little more care

Back Into The Sky

She said she wants me to be a star
High above the clouds, where darkness drowns
But I don't think the moon will waltz with me this life
So I'll just take dreams and place them back into the sky
Isn't that where stars live anyway
Soil was meant for bones, hopes for the Milky Way
I don't think I have the luck to leave the ground
So I'll just sit here and watch my blessings all burn down
I can hitch my wagon to fantasy
Isn't somewhere else a wonderful place to be
But I don't think this world would let me stay for long
So I'll just throw diamonds into the ditch and call it done
She said she wants me to be a star
High above the clouds, where darkness drowns
But I don't think the moon will waltz with me this life
So I'll just take dreams and place them back into the sky

Being Pretty

The cost of being pretty
Well I guess I'll never know
In a world built for giants
So hard to shine in their shadow
Smiles come so easy
And love comes so much
They cry when kisses leave them
As I wait for even a touch
The boys all throw them lust
And the girls all throw their dreams
They shoot arrows like plagues of locusts
And I've yet to catch a thing
Ballerinas complain of losing grace
And seek comfort from elephants
Who've only known the gawkers
Whose feet have never known the dance
The sun asks the moon for sympathy
Because it's scared of turning cold
A flu asks a cancer for condolence
How the pretty can be so bold

Lemonade Days

Lemonade days
Now don't you be so shy
I have a feeling we'd be friends
The two of us, you and I
I don't know why you left
And you don't have to explain
But when you tire of the others
Come around this way again
I have some things to offer you
Some treats to wet your tongue
They don't make 'em like me
Not where you come from
And if I should bring boredom
Well, you just stick around
Lemonade Days c'mon now
Let's burn the darkness down

How I Bleed

Where the road ended
The Mississippi took its place
Teeming through every current
Echoed the hiss of diamondback snakes
So I picked up a pen
And I scribbled down their eyes
The onyx of their scales
Their bite, their power, their size
I wrapped my hand around them
Swallowed the venom on their tongue
I slept with them in the moonlight
And I slithered with them in the sun
And when I came to shore
The people asked how I still breathe
I gathered them around me and said
Because this is how I bleed

A parchment I laid out
That ran from north to south
Of all the muses within my head
Of all the words within my mouth
It spoke of toil and trouble
And it told of passion and hope
Phrases built on darkness
Desire, dreams and rainbows
Every emotion I had garnered
From my years set adrift
I placed before the people
And my blood dripped off their lips
And what they saw next
Well it caused them all to gasp
With only a pen and a notebook
I set out again upon my raft

Sing My Songs

Sing my songs from the blacktop
While your wheels go round and round
Where your smile seems to fail you
Those words won't let you down
When the traffic moves too fast
Or the lights are always crimson
Gather round you hope
In the shadow of a mandolin
Up upon a mountaintop
Where your lips can touch the clouds
Down in musty gutters
Drown out the rats with my sounds
When you stand at the jukebox
And your friends have all gone home
Feel my arm around you
No other friend has loved you more
If the room has fallen dark
Or the sun exploded in your lap
Whether you pine for the ones before you
And curse the ones in back
I'll send you words to pull you forward
A melody to light your eyes
Like the tide will bring for eternity
Now sing for me one last time

Green Bananas

Green bananas on the stem
And I sit and watch the sun
It slowly rolls from east to west
As I bite the nail upon my thumb
I wait for them to ripen
From olive to saffron
I dream of their juices
And the day they take to blonde
It's a tedious job in the jungle
To spend your days craning your neck
Swatting at thirsty mosquitoes
That want to throw you off the edge
Futility rules paramount
And straight to the devil's hands
I climb up to the mountaintop
And dangle my foot over the expanse
I smile at the graveled voices
That whisper inside my head
You've waited for the heavens to notice you
Now crash through their gates instead
There's an escape hatch in the soil
Six feet beneath the trees
Their dance, it looks so pretty
When you're down on your knees
But macaws call me homeward
And I stagger back down the trail
I follow their distant song
When my sense of direction has failed
They tell me I must bide my time
And they promise a change to come
So I sit beneath my green bananas
I sit and watch the sun

If I Have Wild Horses

If I have dirt
Buried deep beneath my nails
If I've bathed in soot
Wrapped my intentions round dragon tails
If I have mountains
Dragging far beneath my mast
If condors are the beacons
For this ship made of glass
If I have wild horses
That lead me to the ledge
If they drag me forward
From a voice inside my head

Dress me up in kisses
Dress me in warm touch
Shelter me on your shoulder
Wrap me in lullaby hush
Color me in pastel
From the butterflies in your eyes
Give my ear a whisper
And the heat in your sigh
Be the breath of blue jays
Where once my wings were clipped
Be a little raindrop
On the cracking of my lips

Swagger Jack

I've got a friend
With whiskers on his chin
A High Life in his hand
An American Spirit on his lips
He runs too fast for my speed
And he rarely ever sleeps
He wraps himself in a hoodie
Neon lights and confetti
His hands begin to tremble
And his capillaries take to burst
He could fill his lungs with water
And still announce a thirst
His hands a little knotty
And his legs a little thin
The ribs that house his liver
Protrude from his jaundice skin
Some woman broke his heart
When he went out East to Maine
He came home to us a gypsy
And maybe a little insane
A lion on a merry-go-round
That's spun right off the track
Duck your head and grab your children
Here comes Swagger Jack

Midnight Interlude

Tulips gather round me
In colors orange and blue
They bow to kiss my toes
Exhaling the scent of your perfume
My eyes, they focus better
Than they did in the Fall
My hands, a little steadier
My speech not so drawl
Where once these feet stumbled
They are learning to gather grip
Candied phrases coat my tongue
Where once I pursed my lips
In dreams where I find shelter
I come to you waiting there
With a touch sincere as Magdalene
Chocolate braids in your hair

Sugar Snow

I've got a big ol' dream in my head
And I want you to step right in
We could live in Technicolor
Breathe fire into the fervor
I promise to make you laugh
To lay butterflies upon your lap
I've got a hand without callous
And an acrobat's balance

If you think I'm like the rest
You'll have to guard what's in your chest
Let me put your mind at ease
Like the fig leaf sheltered Eve
From the rain, the cold and wind
No serpents will get under your skin
I'll be the Dutch boy to your dam
The shepherd to your lamb

Where the road ends for others
We'll tie our horses together
Ride straight through the shadows
Crushed velvet for our saddles
And when they say that we won't last
We'll tie their tongues high on our mast
And leave them on the shore
Venir à cet amour

Natalie Maines

I'm gonna sing a song with Natalie Maines
A Taylor guitar slung across my chest
With diamonds drifting down from yellow lights
A rosary around my neck
She's gonna grin at me from stage right
With glitter in her eyes
I'll smile back with a wink and a nod
Look up and thank heaven that I'm alive

I'm gonna sip coffee with James Dean
A New York cafe around 1953
With rain accenting our insomniac laughter
Cigarette ashes on his knee
We're gonna eat cherry pie and ice cream
Til the sun kisses the Brooklyn Bridge
He'll take his fingers, run them through his hair
Reach for my hand and raise it to his kiss

I'm gonna watch 'Shrek' with Neve Campbell
Butter soaked popcorn and a tall glass of milk
With fireflies drifting all around us
A blanket of red chenille
And we will laugh like the Euphrates flows
Strong with crests sweet as tangerines
She'll hand me a tissue to clear my giddy eyes
With a smile that suggests it's all just a dream

But I'm gonna sing a song with Natalie Maines
A Taylor guitar slung across my chest
With diamonds drifting down from yellow lights
A rosary around my neck

And On The 7th Day

Woke up on Sunday morning
To the sound of stars falling from the sky
Where I once wiped the sleep away
A sulfur now coats my eyes
Sunday morning birds are meant to sing
And butterflies are meant to soar
Children are given to laughter
And lovers are given to adore
Strangers smile at you on the street
Old friends call on the phone
Mimosas and Bloody Marys
King sized beds for weary bones
Sunday morning was not meant for this
For tear stained cheeks and inflamed, red eyes
Not given to moaning mothers
Not given to widowed wives
Where children ask for phones in heaven
And police pull into the drive
Sunday morning fails on it's promise
Sunday morning never arrives

My Brother's Whiskey #2

My brother's whiskey
Sit here and have a glass
Maybe you'll see his smile
Maybe you'll hear his laugh
His eyes will meet with yours
Like they did on autumn nights
He'll lay his hand on your shoulder
Then he'll drift back into the light
Whenever I can't find him
I bring this bottle down
And like the moon to the twilight
He always comes around
He dances through my memory
With boots of chestnut leather
He clinks his glass with mine
And recites a toast learned in the ether
We sing our songs again
His voice is sweeter than I recall
Like the waves on the ocean
A hypnotic rise and graceful fall
And just when I think I sense his breath
He disappears into the mist
But though I can't feel it
He leaves me with a whiskey laced kiss

My Brother's Whiskey #1

My brother's whiskey
Colored like caramel gold
He prayed the Lord his soul to keep
Then he walked down stairs of oak
Where he left off his breath
I will pick up his soul
Where he said that he was weary
I reply that I want some more
Where once my liver revolted
His passion has touched my tongue
As if he looked down from a cloud
"We'll be together in sweet bourbon"
So I sip my brother's whiskey
And I finish bottles he can never taste
Where he left off in surrender
I will pick up the chase

August Clouds

I hope I can make you proud
Like the clouds are proud of the rain
If a quenching descends from the blackness
Then the overcast holds less shame
If a flower stems from the gloom
Tufts of the dark drift to the heavens
If a blade of grass rises in neon
The weight of despair finds itself lessened
If the living can feed off remains
That the sky no longer requires
If their endorphins lust for the relief
That the atmosphere can perspire
Then maybe the clouds will have worth
Like the lilac appreciates the winter
Like the moth appreciates the flame
Like the comfort appreciates the splinter

The Rabbit Hole

It's a shame it had to end this way
And wouldn't you agree
That the vultures had to flock to us
From a basement in Vilas County
I'll bet you didn't think it of you
That the battle would shed your skin
You thought you would be the hero
Unsheathe your sword and lead all men
But the boogeyman challenged too soon
And you were the first to drop your guns
You can always tell a coward
By how swiftly their allegiance runs
It's all too bad and just more tragic
As if we can hold anymore
You thought you were brave like Alice
But now you are lost in the rabbit hole

Circle of Moss

Like a circle of moss in the desert
Like the apple surrounding the worm
It's your compassion that keeps me gentle
Like an eternity of water to soothe the burn
I always deal myself the wrong cards
I break the glass and I gum the shards
And whether I bleed or whether I lose
Like Monet's brush you soften the blues
I have a staircase down from the mountain
Firm as marble and steady as steel
It shimmers even in the devil's breath
Like the koi swims against the reel

Grinding My Teeth

If it gets any darker
We'll have to pray to God for flame
We've made it this far with clean knees
Let us refrain from uttering His name
If the ravens don't stop descending
If the leaves keep losing their green
If the canyon stretches any wider
And that sun will not befriend me
Should the waters still thirst for my lungs
And these clouds not bore of my scene
I fear I may have to leave you
Like a slumber lusts for Ketamine
If centipedes keep using their legs
To gain the higher ground
If rifles keep using their bullets
To sever sweet silence with the sound
You can circle round me on a knoll
And say the words you've ached to say
If I keep bedfellows with ghosts
If the darkness does not go away

I Guess

If your life is garnished with rainbows
I guess you should stand beneath their hue
If your days are sweet as gum drops
I guess it's on their sugar that you should chew
If unicorns hold your saddle
You might as well gallop through the silk
If the wine is aged as ever
I suppose it should coat your liver like milk
If your cigarettes taste smooth like mist
And their musk doesn't blanket your clothes
I guess you should let laughter fill your lungs
Till they tinge with the will to explode
I suppose it wouldn't be Christian of me
To hope you spend your nights alone
To envision you head in hands
To find a pleasure in sorrowed bones
I guess it would mark me cruel
And I guess a little fucked up
But I was never one for forgiveness
So I hope your clumsiness spilt your cup

Lambs

Lay down little lamb
It is time to catch your breath
Give yourself a slumber
Before you have no dreams left
The wolves will push you onward
As wolves are made to do
These beasts feed on the dead
Like the heat to rotting fruit
They don't mind if you stumble
And they don't mind if you crawl
They don't care if you are gentle
They don't care for you at all
If they join you in the sunlight
It is only when your cup is full
If they run to you through the frigid
It is only for the warmth of your wool
But now your wool is tattered
And that white has turned to beige
They tell you to bring back your color
Like they understand what it is to be grey
But give yourself just a moment
And maybe your bones will heal
Let the wolves be proud in their stature
It is the wise who know how to kneel

Brother And Sister

You pray for a savior
Then you push away her flesh
I pray my heart will mend
Then I stick daggers through my chest
We cry to see a light
Yet we sleep the day away
We drown ourselves in misery
And then wonder why we're deranged
We keep our demons gagged
And we wonder why no one hears
We hope the sun will explode
And wonder why it's morning that we fear
We toast to the night
But it's the dark that we despise
We curse God for giving us madness
As we walk with the devil, side by side

Innocence Loves Me

Innocence loves me
Like the stars love the night
Like Eden loves the apple
Like fascination loves the fight
As the ear loves a whisper
And a secret loves the mute
As the lotus loves the murky
And the petal loves the root
Like a breeze to the pines
It lingers through the thorns
Innocence loves me
Like the healing loves the torn

Mama Says She's Broken

Mama says she's broken
That her feet no longer hold
That a shattered heart punctures her airways
That she rests on broken tailbone
Her son took her husband
And that duo took her strength
There was a time when she lusted for life
But now a moment has too much length
She tells me she's ready to go
That she needs a little rest
I ask her if I should weep for her
When we lay her down on satin bed
She raises her head and tells me no
That she's tired and wants to go home
She knows a peace awaits her there
A peace this world has not let her know
And if anyone should understand that
I guess it would be I
Mama, I will not cry for you
I'll run hard to be by your side

For Strength

Dear Mother who stands so strong
Is this what sowing reaps
If this is the prize for a broken back
I refuse to stoop and plant more seeds
When I was a child I dreamt of sunflowers
Imagined the intoxicating scent of peonies
I thought I was made of rainbows
And that God would never leave
But here we stand in a valley of ash
All the colors have taken to bleed
And where their hue has fled to
That same God has damned us not to see

This must be the chill you spoke of
When I was told to count my gifts
You told me they would run thin one day
And Mother, they finally did
I can turn to flesh for comfort
And I can turn to Script
But what is the benefit of either
When a depression follows their lift
Both will advice me of strength
To fracture another bone
So I can feast on another weed
For that is all strength loans
It will carry you through another day
And they claim that is the prize
But if the days are strung by razor wire
Then for strength, I no longer pine

The Stars Tell Me Secrets

The stars tell me secrets
After you lay you down to sleep
Sometimes they break through the twilight
And sometimes they drown in the deep
They whisper to me of colors
So beautiful only God can see
They say you can taste them for a lifetime
And that a lifetime is eternity
They explain why no birds can fly there
Though they love to watch them sail
That they breathe in the universe so greatly
That their muses would be inhaled
They talk to me of implosions
How the sky blisters from the burn
They talk to me of blackholes
From which their friends have never returned
And when they mention friends
That is when our eyes finally meet
Me from my iris
And they, from their gleam
They miss you in their light
And how we taught them to shine
They say that they don't see you much
Now that your friendship is not mine
I tell the stars to not dim
To not let go of their glow
Don't let longing overtake you
It is your job to lead and show
So when you look up into the sky
And you see the stars suddenly dance
Don't think they dance for another
Don't think they twinkle by chance
The stars that tell me secrets
Want me to pass one onto you
They say they weep through the night
And you mistaken their tears for morning dew

M

You can come out of your corner now
Rise up off your knees
To hold your breath doesn't clear the air
To close your eyes doesn't stop the scene
This train has been set in motion
It would serve you well to lay the track
Swing your sledge and sweat
Cover you in callous and strengthen your back
Shadows don't protect you for long
For they are always on the move
Silence doesn't muffle the scream
And denial doesn't save you from truth

All, Take Everything

All, take everything
And make sure you close the door
Leave in a rage or in a whisper
Maybe with the grace of a whore
Leave on my hand a smear of lipstick
Something to set my eyes upon
To watch it wane with the shadows
And to see it glisten in the sun
Break me gentle and slow
Or break me wicked as a fiend
Put a smite down upon me
That even God has never dreamed
Make this one last
And in debt, I'll forever be
Be the spark to my fuel line
Take it all, take everything

Vilas County

I will smoke a million grams
In the river walks of Amsterdam
Sling a thousand pints in Dublin
Vomit to the mocking of a mandolin
Fly with cheer like Peter Pan
Through the bombs of Afghanistan
Nothing in that desert can scorch me
Like the ulcer that is Vilas County
Like a beggar to a bottle of vodka
Like sin to the city of Gomorrah
Like the power of LSD
That is the energy of Vilas County
So I will sail to Egypt
And lay me down in a slaves crypt
Cleave through the jungles of Africa
Open my intestines to the jaw of a cheetah
Rest upon the levees of Orleans
And pray the floods wash me clean
Of the memory that infiltrates my dream
The haunting of Vilas County

Angel In Flannel

She knows all of her children
By the sound of the creak
That they leave on the kitchen floor
Whether a patter, whether a creep
From cherubic in their nature
To drunken in their gait
Till she knows dreams have enticed them
She lies awake and waits
She only gives a smile
When theirs is the shine that leads
And in every laugh she releases
It's their comfort that gathers her glee
For with a single tear they drop
A million more drench her cheek
Yet she never screams aloud
A root and the flower it desperately seeks
Like Mary to her stable
She follows without fear
It is their star that lures her onward
Through the cloud and through the clear
And when this life is over
Precious arms will reach for her grasp
A voice of reward will call her forward
A hill of emerald waits for her dance

When Once Again We Meet

When you come back
Make sure you're on your knees
Dress yourself in rags
And bathe me in apologies
Travel a conscience to reach me
And with a pride that left in a hearse
I don't wish death upon you
But a sunset cannot be reversed
Time will come to pass
And tragedy raps all doors
Immunity is not a blessing
But a fable and nothing more
You think you've felt it once
I know this much is true
Just sickles whetting their teeth
Not the flood, only the dew
Unravel it from your tongue
That stagnant breath of conceit
Color you in repentance
When once again we meet

Cherry Velvet Shoes

This is gonna be the year
The year the devil backs down
When my feet hit the floor
You'll feel a rumble ripple the ground
I'll run fast through my heart
But swagger slow through my step
Heads will turn my direction
And wonder how I have anything left
They thought the dark had dimmed me
Like a flame too weak to breathe
They thought the rain had drown me
Like lilies washing out to sea
I have walked through Hell
And I have arrived here to say
There's nothing much to smile for
So I've decided not to stay
The black can have its bruise
I'll color me only in the bright
The fire can have its blister
I'll find my warmth within the light
Open the screen door to place my foot
On the neck of all these blues
"Who's that girl with the happiness
In the cherry velvet shoes?"

Never Trust A Friend

Building bridges out of kindling
That wiser men would burn away
Stitching together bits of straw
Drenched in Shiraz and Tanqueray
It drips like gravel down the throat
The swallowing of this truth
That enemies are more reliable
They give just what they promised to
They never back down
From the words that they have pledged
Nowhere else they would rather be
Than at the foot of your deathbed
Maybe with a smile
And maybe with a laugh
But you'll never toil alone
When you have Brutus at your back

Goodnight Bradley

Goodnight Bradley
I guess it's time I go
Summer has turned to fall
And autumn has turned to snow
Through the leaves you sent a sparrow
And through the frost you sent a song
Whether I see you or whether I feel you
You have been here all along
If a peace is what finds you
Please run so you might meet
If a light lures you forward
Turn your face toward its heat
If you feel the touch of those before
Pull them close as you did I
If you fight through layers to reach me
I give you the freedom to not try

Goodnight Bradley
Was it this hard for you too
When you looked up to the heavens
And gave your farewell to the moon

If your heroes offer you whiskey
Remove your hand from my shoulder
Drink with them from a pearl chalice
Rather you tickled than I warmer
If a hand of poker is dealt
Don't hesitate to try your luck
Rest in a chair of red velvet
And savor the thrill of a royal flush
When you hear the strum of a guitar
Please follow its melody
I want the soles of your boots to be worn
When you ask for a dance with me
And when you see me hang my head down
Feel no pressure to gather relief
Stay where there is delight
Goodnight Bradley

Folk Songs

You still come to me
In the spaces in between
Where tears surrender to peace
And the wolves unclenched their teeth
When I forget to look behind me
Instead to follow the inching of the sun
You whisper in my ear
And place a song upon my tongue
Not to hold me back
And not to bring me down
But rather we may sing together
I, earthbound and you from a cloud
Just like in that old theatre
Our cadence melts together again
I can feel you riding shotgun
Like the willow feels the kiss of the wind
And in the song you gave me
Lay your intent in the first note
A dusting of reassurance
That the knife is withdrawn from the throat
The currents that filled my lungs
Have reached a tranquil quell
The ghosts that furrowed my brow
Have succumbed to a merciful spell
Steady one foot in front of the other
And eventually you'll arrive
To the spaces in between
Where your soul and mine softly collide

Kiley Jean

One shot, two shots
Three shots for the road
An avalanche of laughter
Only Sailor Jerry knows
What we find so funny
I guess he's been here before
And your mama will tell us
To quiet down the sound
But she gives a little grin
When she turns her face around
She curses when we leave
But she wishes she could join the crowd

One toke, two tokes
Three tokes in a Ford
The cops don't find the humor
But Jesus nudges at the Lord
"Look at them kids
Could Heaven give anymore?"
We roll down the blacktop
Like molasses on the freeze
Our sense of time is stunted
While summer whispers on the breeze
We can't go home now
When even the stars follow your lead

One can, two cans
Three cans make a tower
Seven cans later
And you downed them in an hour
Five in the morning
Even the sun resists your power
Now the rest is just a blur
Just a humble girl's dream
Of a Friday in the moonlight
In a Northern woods scene
I give the credit to you
For memories, Kiley Jean

Dylan, You Lied

Dylan told me a lie

Said nothing but the world to gain

Said no more rivets, said no more chains

Told me no more digging graves

With a voice like a tuft of smoke

How could I turn that faith away

When with every word he spoke

Another color entered the grey

He's thrown his arm around me

In some black dawn Milwaukee night

He laid his hand within mine

Like God lays His love into the light

With eyes of blue sapphire

I'd trail him anywhere he go

Whether through the hue of the twilight

Or to the carnage of down below

So I follow him through a song

And laid my hope upon his tongue

Pretty words that lured me onward

Finer words never sung

Dylan, you told me a lie
And it's to the down below we've come
Should I shadow you forward
Breathe your voice into my lungs
Cling to it now more than ever before
That the ceiling is higher than it's been
Splice myself open with vinyl
And let a poet's prayer bleed in

Wooden Bells

In Notre Dame they have it better
With that golden bell beneath the sky
A cathedral wrapped in Paris
That outcast was luckier than you and I
He could make the people hear
He could make them gather round
If sullen, he tap it quietly
If enraged, he deafen the crowd
And they couldn't help but listen
The paupers and the kings
What we wouldn't have given to swing it
To make that golden bell sing
But let us face the facts
Dear brother, you and I
We had no cathedral to run to
No siren to shatter the night
All we had is what we were given
And what we were given was made of oak
Nobody hears wooden bells
They make no sounds, they give no hope
The heavens do not look upon them
Men do not question their call
Wooden bells only ring in futility
Wooden bells serve for nothing at all

Cowboy

I'll bet you didn't know you were a cowboy
Like in your Louis L'Amour paperbacks
You probably never looked in the mirror
And saw Jesse James reflect from the glass
Your hat you tipped to Willie
Your boots you stomped for Old Crow
The ruckus you caused in Dallas
And the gravel you kicked up in the north
All your heroes sang of you
But I suppose you thought it was another's song
Too bad you didn't know you were a muse
Too bad you rode your horse into the fog
But I guess that's where they all go
All cowboys ride away
Some into the sunset
And some into the haze
They leave their guns behind
They click their spurs one last time
And all we have to remember of them
Is the taste of the trail dust they left behind
You felt the stumble and not the dance
You stacked the cards and played roulette
But I'll bet you didn't know you were a cowboy
Like the soil doesn't know it holds the bluebonnet

4 Months

4 months down the line
And no closer to the end
100 stitches for every month
A heart that's still not on the mend
There will never be glee again
Or a smile not wrapped in pain
The sooner I surrender to this
That not much else remains
The phone that never rings
The knock on the door that never comes
Friends lost in your oblivion
You assholes promised so much more
And in that drink I can't afford
In that cigarette I must bum
I thank your absence silently
For the failure that I've become
And all that little glitter
That gave my projection some resemblance of strength
It has turned to dust and ashes
In the blink of 4 months length

Black Ice

You were once the rain
That drizzled from the blue
Like springtime running through my veins
In the blood I share with you
Through the heat that life can offer
Your rain cooled the skin
A child pouncing in the puddles
Where wildflowers begin
A love that cleansed the dirt
Of what these imposters can give
Arms that opened so wide
Both flaw and fortune welcomed in

And on some August day
Like the artic to the dew
The soothing turned to sting
Even bones were pelted too
A dragonfly frozen in time
And bows weighted down
Now I skid across an abyss
Of black ice clinging to the ground
With the years that might follow
My only hope remains
That the black ice left in your wake
Will thaw beneath the beauty that you gave

Damn, If He Doesn't Know My Name

I still shake my head sometimes
And can't believe this life is mine
Where are the caviar and truffles
That dreams promised I would dine
Maybe it was my clumsy feet
Or the gargle in my voice
Maybe it was my apathy
Maybe it was my choice
I gave the reigns to the wind
And spread my arms open wide
I've galloped down some sunflower hills
I've rode some crystal tides
But just beyond the sunset
Where the horses lay their heads
Where the flowers wilt in the moonlight
Where the waters reach their ebb
The devil dances in the silence
With the nimblest of feet
He curls his finger towards me
And invites me to learn his beat
I drink from his cup
And I smoke from his stash
I hold the hands of Jezebels
And then I pray for it to pass
But given just one second
To catch my cancered breath
I would sow the same seeds
I would reap the same death
I can't keep step with Jesus
His song is far too tame
There's only one other option
And damn, if he doesn't know my name

Devil, Give Me Strength

Just a little vendetta
Made against the descending sun
If you should cower behind these mountains
Devil, give me strength
To rock the foundation it's beams rest upon
So that I might ride upon their rays
And shatter the gold it holds so dear
If you should steal my daytime
I'll burden you with the night that you fear

Just the teeter of the tipping point
That rests upon the edge of your tongue
If you should speak a foul word
Devil, give me strength
To pierce hearts like a penetrated virgin
So that I might collect tears
And lap them like a dog
If you should cause me to shed my skin
I'll be your gatekeeper to the fog

Devil, give me strength
If the Lord forgets I'm here
If all my indiscretions
Have given Him reason to deafen his ears
For every head needs a pillow
And every prayer needs a hope
The two of you can fight for mine
As long as I have somewhere to go