The Same
Train whistle blows in the night
Same as when I was a kid
not much is
same as when I was a kid.
Wheels make that clickity-clack
laying down a rhythm track
takes me back
to sneakers and an old knapsack.
It's like I'm living in a borrowed world that I don't understand.
The music's wrong and football's gone - that woman is a man.
Robots with phones and clerks that can't make change
All the folk waste their brains watching news shows.
Crickets call in the still
Like a lonely whippoorwill
dressed to kill
looking for a midnight thrill.
A symphony played by the breeze
courtesy of tuneful trees
devotees
a concert in the dark for free.
My Roof
I like the sound of the roof I built when the rain comes tapping down.
The steady rhythm soothes my soul and calms me to the ground.
I like the sound of the roof I built 'cause it keeps what's under dry.
It give a man a place to think and sometimes wonder why.
Let me tell you 'bout a boy, a name o' Tommy:
Stood outside in the pouring rain.
Thought his girl would find it so romantic,
instead she thought him a bit insane.
He got real sick, had to stay in bed, and soon he started to cry.
His girl went and found her a smarter guy -
one who prefers to stay dry.
I like the sound of an old man's heart;
broken yet beating still.
Somehow optimistic, amid new winter's chill.
I love the sound of some poetry, it's corny message clear.
Sometimes just the simple thoughts are the truest and most sincere.
A Gringo's Lament
When traveling south of the border
there's a few words you should know.
Gracias means thank-you, Hola means hello.
Por favor means if you please, la puerta is the door.
Here's a phrase that you ought to know before you learn any more:
Chorus
¿Donde están los baños? I really have to go!
Where can I find the bathroom? Does anybody know?
"Una más cerveza" somehow turned to three.
Point me to la puerta where I can get relief!
Hambre means you're hungry, hombre means you're quite a dude.
Money is dinero, comida, that means food.
Quiero means, I'd like to have, a mesa is where you sit.
There's a phrase you'll need to know, you can learn it bit by bit.
Chorus
Let's put it all together, and see if we can come close:
Hola señorita! Un mesa, para dos!
Tango mucha hambre, quiero comida por favor.
While you're here, I'd like to ask, can you tell me one thing more?
Silence
I cannot hear the silence, just the ringing in my ears.
The world is fin'ly quiet, I've been waiting all these years.
I see the constellations as I walk the empty road,
a leafy path of solitude that I must walk alone.
A mouse of mine made a house of moss.
He found a place so perfect, I still aganize his loss.
Nooked between two barriers so void of chilly wind,
I only can imagine just how comf' it must have been.
I ruined it when he was not home. I did not want him there.
Taking up such little space and breathing tiny bits of air.
He built the nest bakc up from scratch, again I set a sunder.
And sent him dashing to the woods, leaving me to wonder:
am I fair or am I foul?
I built the nest back up myself. The mouse, he never came.
Now when I see that empty space, there's only me to blame.
If I Go
If I go today, please know that I'm happy
happy as a clam.
These days out back, spent while building this shed
have been among the happiest of my life.
The warm afternoons with a crispness in the air, takes me back to autumns long ago.
I have felt just like a kid out with the birds and bees,
and the gentle breeze that frees the floating leaves.
If I go today, please know that I'm OK.
It Used To Be
It used to be that things were clear.
I knew the answers and knew no fear.
But I have learned that point of view can shade the truth and change how things appear.
The wind blows hard, trees paint the sky.
Sometimes I still stare and wonder why.
It wasn't s'posed to end like this
without a kiss
so hurt that I can't even cry.
After all we shared I never thought you'd go.
How can you believe a thing when you know it isn't so?
A lie cannot erase the past.
The memories will forever last.
You can't say that it wasn't real,
or that you don't feel
an emptiness 'cause things aren't like they used to be.
Paranoid
I'm so paranoid that when the birds squawk in the trees,
somewhere deep inside my brain I think they're mad at me.
Hey Dad! Thanks so much for that. I will yet be free.
People looking straight away. Thinking what? That they won't say?
How do I know what to feel? Or even if this whole thing's real?
Why did I not say something to that dad?
You could see him wrench the spirit from his son.
And I just watched his soul diminish.
I thought about it; interceding, but I did not act, and I am ashamed.
Why did I chicken out? I might have made a difference.
To the kid, but also to the dad.
I did not act to avoid a scene. Am I not better than that?
Am I an experiment? A rat inside a cage?
Has all this really been for naught; the fury and the rage?
Does some snotty extra-T keep me as a harmless pet?
Always messing with my life? How can she not be done yet?
has my life really been a show for someone else to watch and know?
I'm pretty sure they're here with us. The moon is proven hollow.
That we're alone and all there is, is difficult to swallow.
I Knew My Love Was You
And there you stood.
Like a flower in desert sand.
That's the moment we began on a journey for all time.
And time stood still as I watched you walk away.
Couldn't find the words to say that you sparkle like a star.
Only a moment and I knew that one stolen kiss wouldn't do.
Once I had you beside me, I knew my love was you.
So here we are, and I love you evermore.
You're the one that I adore, and I'm grateful for each day I have
to be in love with you.
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