singing at the end of the world

now it's never
dark at night

long midsummer
in my mind

morning dose of
fool euphoria

then alone till
late at night

light still burning
in my head

---

birds are singing
even here

even at the
end of the world

birds are singing
birds are singing

let's go out to
where the birds are

singing at the
end of the world

tomorrow

church bells

a festival

a woman

singing

soul and flesh in

a single ecstasy

tapping at the window

a curious bird or

a friend coming by or

a branch in the wind?

stretched legs

from hips to toes

a woman

letting

go of tension

a turning ceiling fan

sweetness in the air   

a gift for us or

for some other species or

for sweetness itself?

a new coin tossed

shining in her hand

and dare she look

at fate in her palm?

at unplucked berries  

warm in the sun?

phenology 2

these long orange legs 

and beaks in the grass

are sworn carnivores

they have dined on frogs 

all the African summer 

while I stood in snow

now they pace the fields

wings behind their backs

watchful and expectant 

#storks #spring #phenology 

phenology 1

Now she approaches,
dressed in birds and bumblebees,
walking from the south.

intentional love song 6: bird at night

[[ moving old props around the stage ]]

what's the bird that sings at night?

poems rhyme about nightingales

but it's winter here and cold

and I don't think we have nightingales

in our trees

so what's the bird that sang just now?

now the cars have all gone

and the trains have shut down

and everyone else has drifted away

in the freeze?

every song has a moon

when you're up all night and lonely

every song has a moon and stars

when your days are right

all my songs have only you

and we're all alone

think I'll go out to hear that bird

if that bird hasn't flown away 

don't lock the door behind me

I'm just going to see what I hear

I won't take the keys

cat and bird and me

bird in a cage

cat on the floor

me in my chair

she's out the door

bird in a cage

cat on the floor

me at the window

still feeling sore

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

but if \ you've got \ the need \ for me and mine... we've got the time

bird in front of me

cat behind

me at the table

papers all signed

cat in the garden

bird in the sky

me with the car keys

going out to die

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

dust off the stereo

turn up the knob

a day like this makes a man glad he doesn't have a job

dust off my daydreams

well what about that?

plan a vacation for a man and a bird and a cat

bird back in his cage

cat on the floor

I'll eat this apple

down to the core

bird in his cage (I think I'll teach him a song)

cat on the floor (I'll take him out for a walk)

me in my chair (yeah, I'm a rocker)

she's out the door (oughta change that lock)

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

cat and bird and me are doing fine (we don't need your company, we're doing just fine)

but if \ you've got \ the need \ for me and mine... we've got the time

X-ray Tex

someone run and get me 

an x-ray technician

think I see a shadow on my heart

someone run and get me 

some self-medication

think I see a shadow on my heart

turn up! (turn up!)

the radiation! (radiation!)

think I see a shadow on my heart

doctor see a shadow 

right there on my chart

doctor find something 

hiding behind my heart

perched in a cage

built of my bone

set on a swing

and singing alone

this little bird

is singing a song

of something gone wrong

tick, tick, tick

something no longer

follows the script

not this fucking time of year again

[[ musically, a Christmas carol ]]

[[ this part in imitation of bells ]] 

not this 

fucking 

time of 

year a-

gain

[[ the sound of a church choir ]] 

all the skies are gray and lifeless (gray and lifeless)

all the winds are sharp and cold (sharp and cold)

all the roads are wet and icy (wet and icy)

all my bones 

two hundred six! 

the pops and clicks! 

the cracks and cricks! 

are so old

someone else's strange religion (strange religion)

someone else's hopes and fears (hopes and fears)

someone else's gongs and jangles (gongs and jangles)

someone's god 

three-headed -- weird!

one mainly beard!

all of them feared!

in my ears... [[ quiet, crescendo, and then the bang ]]

Bang! all the metal in your towers!

See if I fucking care 

Bang! all the metal in your towers!

Give all the birds a scare 

[[ a chorus imitating bells and singing in bell terms rather than Latin ]]

peal [[ repeated with combinations of the others ]]

nominal

quint

tierce

prime

hum [[ let this one be the last and lowest tone still ringing ]]

the lifting night

The lifting night is leaving -

Birds begin.

Before the sun is up,

birds begin the day.

Before the moon is down,

birds begin the day.

= = = = =

This is where we all are

in this air between

our sun and moon and earth.

Inhaling and exhaling,

all exchanging

breath for breath for breath.

= = = = =

From tree to tree

a gathering of bird 

begins to dawn:

how once we preyed

and how we once

were preyed upon.