dang those are rough - Just practice 1,000 more times

The morning fog lay heavy down the valley by the river

sunrise found the space between horizon and the clouds

~who hung heavy with child not knowing if he’s rain or if she’s snow

you cuddled in your blanket – eyes wide in the morn

~why so quiet is your question – and the answers I will hold

~for to tell what will be coming is to break what now is pure

~so we share the blanket cross our chest as sunlight starts to glow

and greet the day with open eyes – the day before the storm

We are not ready for the storm

~it’s too warm for December and the air smells of the sea

a seagull lands a hundred miles from where she ought to be

~by the spruce tree in the backyard where the mountain starts to rise

~the fog still in the hollows – the red still in the sky

We are not ready for the storm 

Too afraid to move out of its way

Everything is quiet in the forest 'bove the lake

~the nervous birds left early flying north and flying east

~the noisy ones are busy putting food down in the holes

~the quiet ones are waiting - fear building in their souls

We are not ready for the storm

Too afraid to move out of its way

not a plan and frozen with nothing left to say

and tomorrow will decide…

How strong the wind How high the tide

And where the lightning Strikes this time

Which lakes to grow   which roads to cross

Which bridge to wash  which roof to throw

and when the longest   night is done

awakened as the  sun breaks through 

for me….  for you…. 

…what kind of neighbors will we be…

You wrap around me, like cold hands wrap around

A hot mug of coffee, on a gray snowy morn

in the last month of winter, and the first month of spring

when the ground is all frozen, and the birds, and the birds, 

start to sing

You wrap around me, like fire on a tree

too close to the flame, and melting within

the blush of your soft cheek, lit up by a flame

then pulled to the cold air, and thrown, 

to the sea

God grant me serenity, wisdom and courage

Powder kept dry, and enemies held close

Cuz there will be a fight

You wrap around me, like armor like war

all steel and leather, forged from the mine

scared and anxious, but resolved to the fight

all energy and focus, lethal and silent

God grant me serenity, wisdom and courage

Powder kept dry, and enemies held close

Cuz there will be a fight

Yes there will be a fight

Then every story, that’s ever been told

of good and evil, friend and foe

will play out before us, with new starring roles

Cuz there will be a fight 

and we will choose a side

And this time the enemy will come from inside

and everyone will believe that they are in the right

When the dust finally settles, on blood dried and cold

on the leaves and the grasses, your hands and the snow

we’ll walk home together, trembling and old

for serenity has gone to war

One moment of quiet - one drop of peace

Bricks laid down side by side – stacked up high stacked up high

~to silence the sounds – you blocked out the sun

and what a lovely cage you have built

One hand in the air and one hand on the book

One minute of quiet – one twinkling of peace

snow outside as far as the eye – stacked up high stacked up high

~to put distance between – the hate and the rage

and wrote yourself a sentence of exile

One hand in the air - one hand on the book

Tailor, tinker, soldier, spy, asset, gangster, crook

One flash of quiet – one trice of peace

Soldiers and guns as far as the eye – stacked up high stacked up high

~to bring down the justice – with mortars and mines

and weighed your soul down heavy

Look for the helpers she said, look for the ones who have always been there

a notch on a fencepost a mailbox a sign, an ally a wingman quiet and kind

Abolition she said, set up the railroad again

For when they go low we go high

and sometimes we have to go…

and sometimes we have to go… 

underground

Lilac is your color always been that way

~the kind you see when you close your eyes

~I know you when you’re near lit like a firefly

~a drop for comfort in the dark on a sleepless night

10 more years and a baby’s cry 

Rise and fall on a six hour tide

A chill in the bones and a long winter’s night  

When we gonna go 

When we gonna go 

To the other side

~grey pickup cuts the storm up on 89

Two lights to follow on a snowy night

~You got her home safe it’s gonna be all right

~a field of green clover in a clear blue sky

10 more years and a baby’s cry 

Rise and fall on a six hour tide

A chill in the bones and a long winter’s night  

When we gonna go 

When we gonna go 

To the other side

and on some quiet evening

after decades fall aside

we’ll sit close together

and you’ll know me by my song

10 more years and a baby’s cry 

Rise and fall on a six hour tide

A chill in the bones and a long winter’s night  

When we gonna go 

When we gonna go 

To the other side