BREAD AND STONE |
To be clear to those who hear My story of ordeal and fear The one who chose the fight was only you As your success was my distress And by the way I was impressed The way you hurt me like you wanted to Now heaven knows temptation grows The bushes and the trees and stones Transforming after all those hungry days And then you said they could be bread It could be voices in my head I’ll pass for now, the stones as stones will stay You took me round and we looked down From where the temple saw the town And offered me the chance to prove to you That if I fall then I can call On angels from my father’s halls To lift me up, but I won’t ask them to I’m not surprised you took me high The mountain’s worth another try To see if I will break and follow you Within the hour you’d give me power My name would broadcast from the tower It’s not the kind of thing I want to do You did your best, I passed the tests Now tempt elsewhere so I can rest Before my tribulations still to do Now comes the end and we can send The message that will seal and mend My reputation and the curse on you |
THE '68 |
Made us value well-used words Entertained with how things work Made us think of well-kept homes Where life is better Celebrated small platoons Took apart the words and things Mapped a road to where we are And why this matters Below the window in the sixty-eight No move from there to the divine The shake up just enough to desecrate Love rescued from the flow of time Shelter us from vale of tears Care about the disappeared Wrote the book of where we are And where things matter Understand and trust the past Heard the work as breaking glass Loved what has been good to us When we were better Below the window in the sixty-eight … Freedom comes and loses God He removed the silver cord Angel passes overhead Did we know better Music sang to everyone Told us we were not alone Artist who expected more From all that matters Through broken windows in the sixty-eight A wiser man was looking back The stronger will was set to desecrate Fiction more impressive than the facts |
LOVE IN SPLENDOURED AIR |
Everything is closed back there And we’re furnishing our holiday home Too many people just stood and stared And gave us a reason to roam We said goodbye to the king and queen There wasn’t much time to go We told the prince we didn’t dig his scene And left him to star in the show Love in splendoured air And we’re free up here And we’re home The palace is closed in the castle’s keep We’ve landed in the land of the free It’s quiet in the chicken run, the baby’s asleep The firm is gone, it’s you and me We wanted everyone to understand We want to make our feelings known We took the opportunity that was to hand To face the world and be on our own Love in splendoured air… |
THE KINDEST CUT |
From in the crowd we choose The loneliness to lose As soft as clay to mould For mirrors when we’re old And as we fall The kindest kiss of all The towns we left behind You cared, I never mind Through wiser eyes you see The glare that blinded me And so we fall The kindest touch of all The story of we two Unlikely, me and you There wasn’t much to see The book of you and me We fall, we fall As comfort ties the bonds That time relies upon And likes that we’re not sure As long as we endure And as we fall The kindest cut of all |
THE TOURGUIDE |
One two three four five Want to be your guide Bring truth to your sights With me by your side One two three four five Veux être ton guide Expliquant vacance Moi à tes côtés One two three four five Quiero ser tu guía Explicando puentes Estoy a tu lado One two three four five Möchte dein Führer sein Du musst mir glauden An deiner seite One two three four five Vill vara din guide Se sevärdheter Mig vid din sida One two three four five Buty vashym hidom Poyasnyuyuchy Ya paruch z toboyu |
TAKE THE PICTURE |
You will take the picture when you go An unexpected choice, just like before See your victim Make the bed Lies and vices Black and red You will take the picture when you go Author, author Loud applause Attends the face you drew Picture, not the frozen life That moves The character inside the frame is true Marks construct the missing parts of you Close surrounded, nothing moves Hear the sound when All approve The character inside the frame is true Author, author… Nothing more than simple outlines here Sting, extract the life, and disappear Young and old Susceptible Blood runs cold Apply the will Nothing more than simple outlines here Author, author… |
WHICH OF THEM |
Turning round she caught his eye Unexpected question took him by surprise Which of them were friends Not just other men Unconvinced by his reply Something talked about before Some examples that they started to explore One who said he sees Life as mystery No-one else to answer for What is there What else is Worth living for What he thought he couldn’t say Too much pain would follow what he’d give away Find them anywhere Use for self-repair Should arrive and not be made What is there… Thought about what was inside Failed to speak she knew for he could not decide Build the walls in there All in good repair Somewhere else that he could hide What is there… |
WHERE IS JACKSON LAMB |
The t-shirt’s white becomes blue, you’re surprised The shirt was blue and then is white before your sceptic eyes The station staff The spider laughs Then the curtain falls The one you missed was on the list And yours not there at all As houses go it doesn’t catch the eye Run-down pride on either side and missed by passers-by A stiff back door Creaky floors Then you realise You are as low as you can go Your plans reduced in size And when we’re frightened we will cry Where, where is Jackson Lamb The circus that you’re cast in won’t deny The costs of real and fake mistakes in here are crystallised The psychopath Sarcastic laughs You lost the wherewithal The boss insists you won’t be missed When operations call Still standing as the cases pass you by The workers lost, a shrinking host, the time to sympathise Is never yet While traps are set With items to fulfil But from outside We can’t decide If you’re the hero still And when there’s trouble we will cry Where, where is Jackson Lamb |
FLOWERS |
Does she live or is she dead, he said Silver feet or doves instead, he said Pallor lights the night for us Silver virgin moon is cold, she said Eyes that capture men are gold, she said Beauty brings the things she does Black his eyes as caves with beasts, she said Eyes that drew her from the feast, he said Hearing what he had to say First his skin and then his hair, she saw Outside in delicious air, he saw Blood forecasting, come the day Naked the feet are “Like little white flowers that dance on trees” Wonderful until The dancer reveals what the cost will be There were others’ eyes, her mother saw Moons in other skies, her mother saw Counting captains’ golden shields Only dance for me I ask, he said Mirrors only show us masks, he said Hide from gods what gods conceal Her reluctance waned, the moon was red Water soothes the hands that heard the dead Passing sorrow he confessed Neither wine or fruits appease, she said On a charger it will please, she said Passing sorrow by request Naked the feet are… In parentheses she stole the show Layers counted, happy as they go Past desire, something done On his lips the taste of blood, she said With her lips she wasted love, he said Past desire and undone Naked the feet are… |
PIZZAMAN |
Who’s at the door? The weatherman Bad forecasting for the day Who’s at the door? The boilerman Busy firing out the way Watching flames at play Who’s at the door? The Pizzaman He delivers what we choose Who’s at the door? The fisherman What he catches others lose How can we refuse? Who’s at the door? The policeman Here to tell us it’s the law He’s been here before Who’s at the door? The businessman Smiling, ruthless, on the ‘phone Who’s at the door? The ferryman Welcome us on board alone Here to take us home |
PARTY HATS AND ANORAKS |
The second month is here and welcome home Staring, hiding, clowning, handsome grown Sing the sadness of a simple song Capture soul to where the soul belongs All that’s left of you Party hats and anoraks Pictures fade with sunlight A man I never knew Mooring posts An ageless ghost Foreign days escape in desert hills Reels and cards, ideas unfulfilled Late the light that hides, “but feeling fine” Cosmic, comic, “on the bottom line” All that’s left of you… Much too late the light that shines on you Newly furnished empty rooms to view Sing the sadness of unfinished songs Life was there to live but not belong All that’s left of you Behind a mask and free at last Pictures fade with sunlight A man I never knew A hill of clothes A list of shows Much too late the sounds are heard from you Try to make the man we never knew Records made by thinking something more Sent to meet the you that was before |
MOSTLY WASTED |
My version of our story finds You were from a different place and me from mine A passion ascending A fire never ending Assembly of two A cast of the few Your own interpretation finds Yours was from reality—the fiction mine Your passion was pending A classical ending As scripted for two We’re compelled to read through Days that were mostly waiting You waited too Time’s passage on uneven ground Give away the certainty—and passion found Desire ascending And needs never ending Findings the ways To travel day after days Fade and open to a later scene A longer separation and a conscience clean A few things sustaining Our story maintaining Position contained By the one that remains Days that were mostly wasted We wasted too All too long ago to try to find Vain to reconstruct what blame was yours, which mine The plain one believing The other deceiving A comedy killed By a failure of wills My conclusion of our story finds You now in another place and me in mine A passion descended A fire that ended Assembly undone Enyorança for one Days that were mostly waiting I waited too Days that were mostly wasted We wasted too |
