if you could stand

[[ another horizon/boundary ]]

if you could stand

on the surface of the sea

be a tinpot Jesus

on the surface of the sea

you would see  

for three point one miles 

in any direction

you would be 

the ruler of all 

the fish in the ocean

the line that separates earth from sky
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

the line that divides all visible directions

three point one miles  

in all directions at once

with a five foot seven

tinpot Jesus standing still

lost cities

[[ Global warming, pollution, and how we will appear to archaeologists. ]]

lost city 

under the sand

under a mile of pretty shiny glittery bright empty things

under a mountain of things

lost city 

under the sea

under the waves of a north pole, south pole, melting, burning

under the rising waves

I could not say their names

I do not have the tongue

I would not say their names

for fear of raising ghosts

lost city 

under the sky

under a cloud that will never go, ever grow, never blow away

under a cloud of gray

lost city 

under the bones

under a dry lake of everything eaten that could ever be eaten

under a bed of bones

I could not say their names

I do not have the tongue

I would not say their names

for fear of raising ghosts

animal ghosts in animal voices

lost planet 

under a spell

whirled away, world whirling, 

whirled away, world whirling, 

whirled away, world whirling, 

whirled away, whirling away

Shaming Otis

[[ Something to do with presentism (and presentism) and perhaps a touch of evolution. ]]

Why don't you live in the future,

little name, little two-dimensional

photograph?

We in the future have perfected 

the morality of what you filthy

beasts call man.

We in the future -- swimming in

your prehistoric sea -- do

not get wet.

We know, as clearly you do not, 

we are much better than you are

in your place.

Meanwhile we have some chimps to kick in the teeth.

Come at me, Enos.

Come at me, Washoe.

Do you want a piece of me, Nim Chimpsky?

paint by numbers

this life you're given 

is paint-by-numbers

one numbered picture

some numbered paints 

this is the picture 

what is supposed to be

some bright family 

only somebody 

down at the factory 

must have packed for me 

the colors for a picture they called "Storm on the Sea" 

this is the picture 

here are my wife and son 

blue-gray like a gun

this is the picture 

graphite and stone and flint 

day to day living skint

this is the picture 

charcoal and stone 

thunder and shadow

charcoal and stone 

this is the picture 

the family myth

in the family myth

we escape winter

we escape water 

we escape the amnesia of the sea

and somehow there's me

in the family myth

we escape desert 

we escape searchers 

we escape the arbitrary decree 

and somehow there's me

all of this must be true

because somehow there's me

and somehow there's you

in the family myth

we escape cages

we escape rages

we escape the rogues of history 

and somehow there's me

in the family myth

we escape post-war

we escape closed door

we escape the Land of the Free

and somehow there's me

all of this must be true

because somehow there's me

and somehow there's you

in the family myth

we know their order to shoot on sight

we cross the border and move by night

and go on

in the family myth

we cross the water of a rolling sea

and all of us, some of us, one of us

must slip free

and go on

in the family myth

we escape exposure 

we escape erasure

we escape the men who hack the family tree
and somehow there's me

all of this must be true

because somehow there's me

and somehow there's you

Imagined Geography 2: New England Song

a stolen Volvo

of all things

rolled on the dunes 

kids all hanging 

upside down

still listening to tunes

out to covered bridges

out to the beaches 

out to summer cottages

out past our reaches

summer homes 

full of nothing

bric-à-brac, 

knick-knacks.

ruck sacks, 

kayaks,

quick snacks

nut sacks,

racken-fracks,

six packs,

a fishing shack

out back

bring back

a stickleback

bring back

the click track

the click track

the click track

drunken college girlfriends run together in my memory
drunken college girlfriends run together into the sea

buildings coming down

here, a slice of steel and glass 

a sky-high stack of offices

a mirror sixteen stories tall

to check your teeth for greenery

buildings coming down [[ pause... ]]

to the seashore

buildings coming down 

to the sea

look, a building knifed in two

a bathtub hanging in the air

this is how the joke plays out

when we are old, when we are grey

buildings tumbling down [[ pause... ]]

to the wrecker

buildings tumbling down

to the sea

the sigh and the shrug 

of a building facade 

melting suddenly 

into the sand

the crack and the roar 

of the air between us

turning suddenly

into a cloud

[[ it might be about aging, or urban renewal, or terrorism ]]

we sailed with the pilgrims

[[ a drinking song? no idea. it just came out this way. ]]

we sailed with the pilgrims

but not what you think 

for we were all pilgrims 

alone on the drink

we sailed with the pilgrims

but not how it sounds 

for we were all pilgrims 

lost in the rounds

looking for a home from the sea

looking for a sea that would carry us home

looking for daylight after the moonlight

looking for dark under the big starry dome

with the scouring sky hanging over

with the swallowing sea shore to shore

with the dread of the known close behind

with the dread of the unknown before

we sailed with the pilgrims

but none of us pure 

for we were all pilgrims 

in need of a cure

we sailed with the pilgrims

but none of us good 

for we were all pilgrims 

in need of a bed

intentional love song 17: the whole bed

he thinks 

she steals all the covers

he thinks 

she takes the whole bed

she feels

like lovers should be lovers

she feels 

alone in her head

she reaches -- 

he slides away

she pulls 

the blanket in like a net 

and finds the net empty again

she is

alone on the sea

intentional love song 16: everything runs down, everything runs away

[[ from a photo of Appalachia in the paper ]]

everything runs away

down this valley

everything runs away

the railway follows on one side

the highway holds to the other

the river flows in between them

down to the sea

everything runs down,

everything runs away

everything runs down, runs

down to the sea

there's even a mist on the river

who put that mist in the air?

as if someone drew it that way

knew I would need to go

knew I would need to stay

I could take a photograph of you

steal a photograph of you away

I could take a photograph of you

maybe give it back another day

I know there is nothing up above us

but a sky full of chance and blame

I know there is nothing up above us

but people like to give chance a name

Don't say you're going to turn it round

and make it like it was back then

Might as well pull all those trains back up the hill

and push that river back up the valley again

everything runs down,

everything runs away

everything runs down, runs

down to the sea

down to the caves

[[ A song about love at the end of our time ]]

let's go down to the caves today 

and carve our names

let's go down to the caves today

and count the waves 

when this city falls in the sea

that's when you'll marry me

my stranger

that's when you'll marry me

when the ocean swallows this town   

that's when we'll settle down

my stranger

that's when we'll settle down

summer is the season of fire

[[ summer wildfires ]]

someone set this mountain on fire

while we were sleeping 

coming back by daylight, you feel

the flame still creeping

this is where our home used to be

now all that's standing

is you and me

you see it on the horizon

you think there's plenty of time

and then the devil comes 

walking [[ two syllables to sound like a siren ]]

up your[[ two syllables to sound like a siren ]] 

street one [[ two syllables to sound like a siren ]]

house at a time

someone burned this valley down

while we were dreaming

you hear the roofs fall in on themselves

and horses screaming

this is where our home used to be

now the smoke's rolling

down to the sea

I think I heard somebody 

praying in the smoke 

to Santa Ana.

dream construction kit

[[ well, I'm not sure where this one comes from. Something about bottled up feelings. Literally and figuratively.  ]]

in our dream construction kit

you will find... 

what you need to reach the back 

of your mind... 

every necessary part to 

reconstruct the human heart

figuratively

the pulsing of 

the human heart

figuratively

you build it in a bottle and 

you keep it on your desk

to show your niece and nephew

you were one of them

you were one of them

you were on to them

bottle my soul up 

and throw it 

far, far... out to sea

or 

bury it under 

the roots of 

the fa... -mily tree 

but someday it will come back me,
but someday it will all come back me,
someday it will all...
come back to me

any day of the week

You sailed away through the Strait of Gibraltar

I found myself 

running down any street

just any street

any day of the week

You pushed your ship through the Pillars of Hercules

saw you look back 

at us Barbary apes

every barbarous face

wishing you back

then you were gone 

what could a pale man do?

what could a pale man 

do but pack up?

pack up his oil and his towel?

off to a bright beach 

where I will bare my

chest to the wind and the sun

rub down my body

rub myself down

rub myself down on a towel

do you admire my polarized spectacles?

how do you like how my spectacles shine?

say how you like my dark gleaming spectacles.

this is the loveliest 

state of Connecticut 

If I had a pipe 

I would take out my pipe

I would take out my pipe and smoke it

Clear Water

I will go to the river

where the water's cold and clear

I will go to the [ only ] river

where the water's cold and clear

Push a boat out on the river

and hope to float far, far from here

I will roll to the ocean

where every river ever flowed

I will roll to the ocean

where every river ever flowed

Lose my self on the ocean

and watch the stars roll down below

[[

secular gospel -- gospel without gods, or with many

human spiritual

]]

[[

Simple blues, but it can be nudged into something better, maybe. 

- Not "I'm going down" like every other blues song, but "I will go to the river" in declaration, like Yeats' "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree".

- Not "Lose myself" but "Lose my self" like a soul returning to the great sea of souls. Harder to hear than to see, but still possible.

- Literally, take a boat to the ocean and lie back to look up at the stars from horizon to horizon. That alone is lovely to contemplate.

- Figuratively, die. Merge with the infinite. You are above (or among) the stars. 

- No god, no soul. 

]]

boy on the beach

[[ from a picture we have all seen -- Alan Kurdi ]]

A boy on the beach
in the waves on the beach
in the sand on the beach
unafraid of the sea

You're not afraid of the open sea
You're not afraid of the rolling boat
You're not afraid of the open sea
You're not afraid of the rolling boat
You're not afraid of the deep deep water
You're not afraid of afraid anymore

You're Mama's brave boy
You're Baba's brave boy
You're not afraid of
anything anymore

migrant blues

the country we grew up in

does not exist anymore

the country we grew up in

does not exist anymore

the home that we were born in - 

had strange men kicking at the door

we have seen the people vanish

we have seen the people die

we have seen the people vanish

we have seen the people die

we have nothing left to stay for

and the tide is rolling high  

one more for the boat, sir

one more for the sea,

one more for the boat, sir

one more for the sea,

one more for the wind, sir

one more 

for life 

in a new country

is there room for my child, sir?

is there room enough for me?

is there room for my child, sir?

is there room enough for me?

one more for the wind, sir

one more 

for life 

in a new country

Hold on to your children

Hold on to your skin

Hold on to your children

Hold on to your skin

For a fistful of money

Somebody will always take you in

We may die on the water

We may die in the dark

We may die on the water

We may die in the dark

Our graves may be the open sea

Or a truck in an empty car park

two by two

[[ I hear this one played by a Big Band, but it could just as easily be a lone acoustic guitar or a piano, just as long as it's a happy dance number for couples. ]]


Chorus:
Two by two came the crocodiles
Two by two, the giraffes
Two by two, the hyenas,
who are always good for laughs.

Two by two ...
- with a snarl
- with a smile
- down the garden path
- down the aisle

Verse 1:
When Noah built the ark and stowed the crocodiles below
He knew he had a place where Mrs Noah wouldn't go
So down he went to smoke his pipe and play his harp at night
To crocodiles with miles of smiles in Noah's candlelight.

Bridge:
And Noah sang a song about the sunshine of his youth
Six hundred years before the rains came down
When he would stroll the countryside with Zipporah or Ruth
And later take her all the way to town

Chorus:
||: Two by two :||  etc.

Verse 2:
When Noah sang his song, he beat the rhythm on the rug,
And sixteen thousand animals, each goat and cat and bug,
Would pair up with its mate and start to dance the dance of life.
Then Noah went upstairs to do some dancing with his wife.

Bridge:
And Noah sang a song ...

Chorus:
||: Two by two :||  etc.

Verse 3:
Now when the rain stopped falling and the clouds began to pass,
The sea spread out for miles and miles, as smooth as any glass.
But that old ark kept rocking on the shiny, briny sea.
Where all us happy creatures danced the dance of eternity

Bridge:
And Noah sang a song ...

Chorus:
||: Two by two :||  etc.

swallow the sea

forget the sky
you're on the side
of the ocean

pick up a shell
and hear the sighs [[ and "size" ]]
of the ocean

your lungs are full
of the surprise
of the ocean [[ gasping? or drowning? ]]

you're on the
far other side
of the ocean

you're on the
soft underside
of the ocean

from here the
sky is the size
of the ocean [[ here's the actual size, not sighs this time -- or maybe it is? ]]

[[ semi-silly semi-absurd series of stanzas that all mean something different but all end with "of the ocean". I think someone has drowned. ]]