Of Gods and Men

Once upon a time

I moved in you — you moved me, too

The moon was still on fire

I sang alone on my throne

What was was still to come

I was the air; I was the choir

You danced to raise the sun

I am 

The prayer 

I am 

The liar

Once upon a time

You drew the dark — you drew me, too

Words leapt from a spark

You named the stars, called the hours

What was was still to come

I was the air; I was the choir

You danced to raise the sun

I am 

The prayer 

I am 

The liar

Once upon a time

The silence broke — heaven spoke

Your arms took shape as wings

We fell uncrowned toward the ground

You’re a Star

No matter how loud we yelled 

At the screen we knew she wouldn’t — survive the scene

And who would have guessed that her short bloody dress would get auctioned 

And who’s that fashioning a cross

In the corner while the extras — waltz to stir the slaughter?  

Shouldn’t somebody tell them that we’re all just victims here, ohh yeah

Ahh — the horror

Ahh — the holy and the dumb

You’re a star now, baby

Smile for everyone

Under all that gold she wears

She’s canvass thick with makeup — the seraph of the war

The violence and envy we stash behind each noble gesture 

And who’s that man in a mask

Walking slowly out of rhythm — a shrouded refugee?  

Shouldn’t somebody tell him that we’re all just victims here, ohh yeah

Ahh — the horror

Ahh — the holy and the dumb

You’re a star now, baby

Smile for everyone

Like Any Other Man

With a dance you’d wrest devotion 

I close my eyes and chase you there

But all I hear’s the rain ‘a coming

And those neighbors fight and swear

What I mean to say is

Those days were more than nothing

And getting harder to resolve 

What I mean to say is

I wish you’d call

Those years went fast as lightning

Ain’t youth wasted on the young? 

Now I go weeks without smiling

Your salt still on my tongue

What I mean to say is

Those days were more than nothing

And getting harder to resolve 

What I mean to say is

I wish you’d call 

There's that place in the kitchen

Where you’d sing and cut my hair

It haunts my recollection

And sits empty as a prayer 

What I mean to say is

Those days were more than nothing

And getting harder to resolve 

What I mean to say is

I wish you’d call 

Ouroboros

I tried to fit the world in a song

Light: a particle, a wave

Dark delivered then bound and slain

Lost in patterns and names

You were right about the sound 

It’s forged in shadows and flames

Paid in blood, born of desire

Echoed back to us in choir

We were born into light

Just threshers of stone

We were cast upon the shores

And forced to walk alone

I played the notes by heart

Life: a vision, a curse

Time a wheel spinning fate

Days wanting of weight

I tried to find my way back home

Hope: a dragon, a hearth 

A war inspired then fought and lost    

You were wrong about the cost

We were born into light

Just threshers of stone

We were cast upon the shores

And forced to walk alone

I tried to fit the world in a song

Somewhere Still

There’s a long time between being high and dying

There’s a sad note between being low and gone

There’s a misery felt between your heart and mine, dear

There’s a love lost deep somewhere still

There’s an ocean between the clever and lying

There’s a red moon between the sinner and the saved

There’s a tragedy hangin’ between your eyes and mine, dear

There’s a love lost deep sometime still

There’s a truth hiding somewhere on the page

There’s a grace lying somewhere on the trail

There’s beauty somewhere in this pain; I’m sure my dear

There’s a love lost deep somewhere still

There’s a bell tolling beyond the lost and forsaken

There’s a field beyond the sacred and profane

There’s a slow rolling thunder on your mind and mine, dear

There’s a love lost deep somewhere still

There’s a comfort beyond the shame and the pleasure

There’s a mountain beyond conviction and faith

There’s a mercy felt between your hopes and mine, dear

There’s a love lost deep somewhere still

There’s a truth hiding somewhere on the page

There’s a grace lying somewhere on the trail

There’s beauty somewhere in this pain; I’m sure my dear

There’s a love lost deep somewhere still

Somewhere still

Somewhere still

Somewhere still

Fall

It’s that time of the year again when trees catch fire

Your hands in sacred dance across the wire 

Some verse I swore I knew but not the choir

You loved me you said but I never knew what that meant

It meant I should suffer and die for you 

Which is nothing at all if you think about it anyway

Cause to live is to suffer and sing the blues

Does an ocean current deepen without sound? 

Will the lonely beggar hang with the drowned? 

Can the desert flower absolve evil ground? 

You loved me you said but I never knew what that meant

It meant I should suffer and die for you 

Which is nothing at all if you think about it anyway

Cause to live is to suffer and sing the blues

It’s that time of the year again when trees catch fire

I’m burning, burning, burn

And fade way 

Last December

You haven’t even touched your eggs

And your coffee’s getting cold

Outside the snow is falling       

I’d forgot we’re getting old

I’d forgot we’re getting old 

Maybe it’s the burning trees 

On the news tuned to a hum

Maybe it’s that aching notion

Or that call we’re waiting on

Feels like forever —

Ohh, forever 

You didn’t even ask one question

You almost braved a smile

I managed to stare out the window

Growing angry like a child

I was angry like a child  

Maybe it’s the pain before us

Or the snow this time of year

Maybe it’s that aching notion

That your smile turned into fear

Feels like forever —

Ohh, forever 

You hadn’t even touched your eggs

And your coffee’d gotten cold

You got up to watch the TV

And left me here alone

You left me here alone

Feels like forever —

Ohh, forever

Sometimes Isn’t Always (And Good Advice Is Hard to Take)                    

Sometimes it's one foot in front of the other, and one day at a time

Sometimes feels like forever, and sometimes nothing rhymes 

Always is never sometimes, but sometimes you get it right

So always drink old, good wine, and burn till you’re out of time

Yesterday we were young and hungry

Went and sold ourselves a lie               

So we packed up all our junk in a van

And swore we’d never die

Now we have good jobs and bought a house

And sold those old guitars

And our cars shine like those old stale dreams

We swore we’d never buy 

Sometimes it's one foot in front of the other, and one day at a time

Sometimes feels like forever, and sometimes nothing rhymes 

Always is never sometimes, but sometimes you get it right

So always drink old, good wine, and burn till you’re out of time

When this TV show is over

Let’s head on up the stairs

To replay the same old tired scene

That getting us nowhere

But hey, tomorrow let’s map out a plan

And reclaim all we are

We’ll wave goodbye to all we have

That’s killing who we are 

Sometimes it's one foot in front of the other, and one day at a time

Sometimes feels like forever, and sometimes nothing rhymes 

Always is never sometimes, but sometimes you get it right

So always drink old, good wine, and burn till you’re out of time

Beyond Good and Evil

She said, “God is dead,” and took a long, slow sip

I used to love the smell of scotch and Nietzsche on her lips

When things got good, she’d be the first to go

Should have seen the pileup coming all those years ago

It was something in the way she moved her hips

And that unrepentant timbre and her soft eclipse

She had me beggin’ for a bite ‘fore the fruit was ripe

And a thousand-yard stare that fit my vision just right

It was cold May night about a decade back

When the neighbors called the cops ‘fore I drank my six-pack

Josie’s toys made him pause ‘fore he walked me outside

Sobered up an hour later, sick and tired

I found the test in the trash, such are vicious gifts

And her note in my book like a poet’s fist

Didn’t mean a thing then; doesn’t mean a thing still

Just more haunted lost souls in the killing fields

She said, “It’s not your fault,” and left her key in the door

I felt the wounds tear open bleeding from our silent war

She didn’t give me a name; didn’t give a goddamn

Just left a trace of nothing and a blue sedan

Some Other Fire

It must have been 2:00 AM

Ghosts rise in the darkest hour

Your pillow cold

Still smells like flowers

Was it in LA? 

Long years melt into night

Weren’t we working in stone? 

Weren’t we in a fight? 

Where are you tonight?       

Did you trade in your soul for silver and spite?

Where are you tonight? 

We were a fool’s parade

You with your dull desire

While I buried the ashes

From some other fire

Staging odes to pain

You made your beauty a knife

That you stuck in my back  

Now you’re his wife. 

Where are you tonight?       

Did you trade in your soul for silver and spite?

Where are you tonight? 

It must be 2:00 AM

Ghosts rise in the darkest hour

Peace For All

What kind of poems did you speak

While the world fell fast asleep? 

(Did you) shout or let the silence stand in for you? 

Where your symbols broken bells 

Or shapes deep from the well?

(Did you) cry or light a cigarette in mourning?

Da, Shantih, Shantih, Shantih, Om

Da, Shantih, Shantih, Shantih, Om

What kind of message did you leave 

With no one there to grieve?

(Did you) laugh while the sacred became shadows?

Where your signs a pretty joke

Or a tongue you only spoke?

(Did you) see the works of your creation?  

Da, Shantih, Shantih, Shantih, Om

Da, Shantih, Shantih, Shantih, Om