| SUMMER
NIGHT
In the distance there howls the young lover's
radio
And in the foreground a beauty stands tall and long
Her brown eyes
call for something more than this
She wants to break out of this town and run
away
Her blue jeans are worn and have faded with age
And her top is yellow
and it catches the eye
She's leaning on the fence with a foot against a sign
She's
had a long day, a long summer, and she's sighin'
She's retiring into the summer
night SNOW
There is a blanket
of snow over the entire street
It's impossible to see the jagged contours of
the homes
And the cars and trash and all else are one And
the snow's made the whole street like a dream
The hills of powder spot all
of the green
Everyone falls into the clutches of the storm And
everyone must bundle up tight
When they head out into the frigid, white night
But
it's hard not to smile and rest your eyes for a while
When the evening is brightened
up by the light Out of time, the snow it sets
in
And covers up the imperfections and the sins
And covers up the broken
things we know
And we're allowed, for a brief moment, to begin ELECTRICITY Yesterday,
the storm blew through the streets
People are bundled up under their sheets
But
today we're left with a world that's bereft
Of all that is lingering beneath Tomorrow
we'll have all the worries again
We'll have to tramp through the slush
But
we'll remember the good weather
Now that our electricity is gone I
MET THE DAWN THIS MORNING I
awoke just before the dawn had come
I hadn't slept much the night before
It
was in the vulnerable hours of the morning
When the world was asleep behind
closed doors That I felt some kind of peace
The
dew drops rested on the grass
The cool of the morning was sharp
There was
loneliness from the past In the early hours,
There
seemed to be an order to things
Time made a stop and life stood still
And
I didn't think of what the day would bring And
you could almost hear
The voices of the people
Who had long been gone
They
were now dust about the streets I was able
to be innocent once again
And to forget about what I had lost
I thought
only of the orange, distant glow
And the disappearing morning frost I
could be anywhere then
And everywhere, all at once
I could be part of the
orange glow
Without a sense of permanence SPENT
AND RICKETY I
awoke before you did
And looked over at you
This bed is spent and rickety
But
it will still do In your waking hours
You're
so often overcome by stress
By wants and desires
And dreams that have not
been met Things have been hard for you
You've
been treated badly by many
I'm sorry for everything I've done
And I know
I've done plenty But here, away from your car
and the traffic
And bills and bosses
You seem calm
Peaceful and self-assured Now
I can tell you, as you sleep
For otherwise it will be hard
For in your waking
hours
You always tend to discard It when
I say
It's gonna be all right
Yes, we're spent and rickety
But we'll
be all right ADVICE
FROM A BEARDED SAGE He
stands with his boot upon a rock
A few days growth on his face
He's on in
his years now
But as it happened, he ended up at this place It's
chilly out on the farm
And when the night comes it gets colder
He stuffs
tobacco in his father's pipe
And rests his hand upon my shoulder He
says, "Son, there's a fire I'm fixin'
Your soup will be ready soon
You're
lucky 'cause up here in the sticks
You can clearly see the moon" He
points at the stars
He looks out to the woods
That kettle is on the fire
It's getting hot now He says, "Junior,
dreamin's for free
Look around you,
That's not what you'll see
I'm old
now, but as naïve
As when I was twenty-three" MY
BABY'S IN THE WEST He
looks out to the West
And says that's where my baby is
Gets a little too
sentimental for me
But I know the burden here is his He
spends must of his time with pub goers
They sit at the stool and complain
They
indulge in each other's barrelhouse fantasies
Trying to set each other free And
we go down to the shipyards
Where it smells worse in the summer heat
There's
rays of the sun comin' through
Looks so damn heavenly And
my baby comes down to the pier
To tell me how her life has been
With her
fragile frame in my starving arms
She says she thinks she's been to heaven
and back again ISHMAEL
Ishmael and I
sat out in the alleyway
It was dusty and the day was warm
He was wearing
a skin-tight white tank top
And he could only utter a few words I
loved the way the sun hit the buildings
I was there and just barely willing
Standing
outside, the night seemed filling
I drank from the gleaming bottle I
thought of Rome even though it was bleak
Out in this alley, Ishmael opened
his ears
I opened my eyes and I took a peak
I saw the afternoon sun hitting
the street POOR
NO MORE That
was where I could eat and eat
I'd have some fine food and shoes on my feet
I'd
have the warm fuzzies in my tummy
I could sit on the cobblestone street And
eat fine foods with the best of 'em
Give me some of that expensive wine
I
need to cleanse my pallet
No more poverty on this dime I
will extend my hands no more
I've go to collect some dues
Why didn't I arrive
here earlier?
It could have all been wonderful
I could've had strength and
ease
And a mouth, a heart, and a cup
A cup that was always full COME
IN FROM THE COLD When
your feelings have got a hold of you
And you're unsure of what you're supposed
to do
Wash off the rain and do what you're told
Come in from the cold Well,
you're wasted
It's simpatico, you see?
On a snowy, winter's eve
Among
the wayfarers, in the highest degree
Among the talk of you and me
Wash off
the rain and find a hand to hold
Come in from the cold Oh,
stumbling out on Saint Stevens Avenue But there's
a pigeon at your door
You don't need to be angry, just explore
How love
is true, of this I'm sure
You'll fight the rain
If your love is bold
Come
in from the cold RAMON'S
THEME Quiet as
a street at night
The waves crash on the beach
Like cymbals on your clothes
See
the lovely women
With the lovely hair
And all the wisdom that lives there
I'm
tired of the wisdom, I can only hope
To look out at the sea and make it real
I
live my life
Then write it down
And live it again So
then
We're beyond this
Beyond the ocean and the pond
Sing to empty heaven
Your
incantations
And sing them true Oh, deliver
me
Oh, have mercy on me
Oh, this poetry
Oh, it makes me free It
exceeds the grayness of your day
And makes the darkness melt away
So you
can be born again COUNTRY
MUSIC Play that
country music
That's the kind I like
But music is music
It's not black
and white Up and down, down and up
All the
daylong day
I can't stand
Being pushed away I
want to experience it
I can't stay in one place
A few months are nice
But
it's written on my face Play that country music
That's
the kind I like
But music is music
It's not black and white
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