They are confined in canyons of chaos
writing crayon graffiti in the dark corners of restless minds
hither too, and hither from, come hither to a have not,
a has been, a has to have, a half a man,
always incomplete

the stars whistle you know????

I hear them in the breath of dawn
before the sun reclaims its space
before the horizon reminds me it exists
before the black turns to gold

they aren't whistling Dixie
it's the sound of a sweet death
we are all burning up our time
in time, we all just fade away

Venus is a proud planet
things that are small and shine bright
have to work twice as hard to get respect

Truman Copote opted for Cold Blood
a small man he realized
the darkest side of us is captivating
it was the bully in his third grade class
some twin to a man behind the bars
he was still trying to figure out his own past
in the pages of his greatest book

There are star spinners, word spitters,
log splitters, day trippers, chair sitters,
sweater knitters, school skippers,
hedge trimmers, pool skimmers,
I have been all of these
and sometimes quite unkind

I have walked with strangers and felt at home
I am home, the earth is my kitchen
when the fruit is bad I give it back to the soil
when the day is bad I offer it to night
when the night is sad I dream of light
in the morning my camera lens is sharp
and thoughts of you are clear enough
for me to see you tripping on your own fear
in the backwaters of regret
where nothing can be changed
where there is no chance for today
as long as you go fishing in the empty lake
of a past that wore you down to nothing more
than someone you swore you'd never be

you came to me a portion
of what you would become
I dressed you in a new dream
you killed it with your lies
go to him now and weep
for I am fast beyond your day
I have new mountains to climb

"Almost Heaven West Virginia"
it's there, everywhere, heaven is the place
where new dreams come to life

"And the Colorado Rocky Mountain High 

he saw it rain and fire in the sky"

AND:

I believed him, because I saw the light of God
in your eyes as the crystal clear reality
of truth, and love, came raining down

I saw the fire of death in the catacombs of silence
bold and blue with fear in my Mother's eyes

the only thing either of them taught me
is not to waste one moment for it might be the next one
that leads me past the pain to the pinnacle of peace
where my passion will not pause or surrender
to the foolishness of things that had once knocked me down
and kept me in the darkness beside a broken dream

I will not become a cynic
I will dress my day in colors
until I hold the sun in palm of hand
and smile at my own reflection
in the knowing of my journey
in the winking of an eye

in the passing of a thought
in the sweet dance of revelation
I am once again fast free

ajs