Good Grief

I Knew Him That Well

Not mine to decide but I'd walk on water to bring back your life

The black in your eyes forecasted darkest that met you at night

I knew a man that wore the cold surf like a wet blanket

The kingdom has come and you'll bask in glory forever more

Not too soon to tell

I knew him that well

Not too soon to tell

I knew him that well

Not slow on approach I think you've read about this before

The quiet surprise when you drew the picture that opened our eyes

Salt of the Earth you honed the millstone that fed us our worth

Your kingdom is here but I want the answers you now see so clear

Not too soon to tell

I knew him that well

Not too soon to tell

I knew him that well

(Winston Church Speech)

The Joker or The Fool

I'm from the old school

and it doesn't bother me

to sit alone inside my head

and think about the open sea

or where I should be

is this just a protocol

to keep me busy

or think do I exist at all

inside a realm of omnipresent multiplicity

where I make every decision

but choose one category

to live and breath

among the sinners and the purist few

in a systematic brotherhood of liberty abuse

I'm from the old school

and it suits me just as well

to watch the passion I have set in motion manifest itself

into the sight a monument of overbounding greed

set to lead the physical into the fire seat

to sweat it out the remainder of all eternal life

inside the hell of misappropriated thoughts of acting out

against the crowd

and against everything that you belief

from the window of your box that was designed to make you bleed

I'm from the old school

and I will sit before the crown

in admission to the tendensies that follow me around

like a plague with bloody hands

the universe across from the lake of fire burning bright

from the exhaust of who I am

the depraved and demented psychopath

that you invite to your dinner table and who makes you laugh

for in the end I am the Joker but nobody's Fool

just a reflection upon the water pointing back at you

Blue Sky Blue

Watchin the clouds go by

Everything passes by

Wishin that I could fly

Everything slowly fades away

Chasin the blue sky blue

Chasin the only blue

Happy you hold onto

The carrot is just outside my reach

Whatever they hold you to

Whatever they make you do

Forget what they make you do

And make it a blue sky

Make it a blue sky

Make it a blue sky blue

Under the railroad tracks

We're under the railroad tracks

Making a friendship pact

Everything slowly fades away

Every word I sing

In front of this angry scene

Is taking a piece of me

And bringing the dark clouds within reach

Whatever they say to you

Whatever they say you do

Forget what they say you do

And make it a blue sky

Make it a blue sky

Make it a blue sky blue

Whatever they make you do

Whatever they say to you

Forget what they say to you

And make it a blue sky

Make it a blue sky

Make it a blue sky blue

The Falling Leaves

Down the river flows

Swiftly and comely an elegant rose

Kissed on the cheek by the falling leaves

The flush of red roses holdeth me

Laid upon the grass

The lovers and thinkers will hum as they pass

Frail to the touch in the autumn breeze

Watching the colours come softly with ease

Down the river flows

Hasty unruly the current will tow

Set to the moon of a passing kill

The ease of first love a legend still

Onto the next life to find some peace

The mark of a beauty is hard to reach

Gone

John Muir is dead

But I have his eyes

And I have his will

And I have his mountainside

And there is something that moves me along

A patient wind tells me that I am

I'm gonna be gone

gone anyways

Hunter is dead

But I have his words

And I too can write about

How it feels to be absurd

And these words are what move me along

And the books will tell me that I am

I'm gonna be gone

I'm gonna be gone gone

I'm gonna be gone

gone anyways

Liberty is dead

But I have its soul

And I have the right to live

or die alone

And there is something that moves me along

A mother's voice sings to her son

You're gonna be gone

You're gonna be gone gone

You're gonna be gone

I'm gonna be gone

I'm gonna be gone gone

I'm gonna be gone

gone anyways

Sparrow's Song

When you comin home

Comin home to rest

The curtains are drawn

But your mind is a mess

Now hear the Sparrow Sing

And wait for the day

When the sky opens up

And takes you away

When Andrew came around

To ask how you were

The river poured out

And the damn flooded Earth

Upon the flooded plains

Awoken from a sleep

The song of redemption sings

All you will ever need

Is sovereignty a curse

With freedom to decide

Whether or not we were

Meant to survive

On temporary land

Of which we are placed upon

The freedom survives the host

Of Enlightened One

So when you comin home

Comin home to rest

The curtains are drawn

And the world stands amiss

Don't ask me how I know

About the Sparrow's Song

The Poet is dead

But the words carry on...

Letters We Told

To whom it may concern,

Garden in the sun, look what you've become, you dug deep n' buried yourself in springtime and released the aura withholding my mind. Garden in the sun, with your sundress on, I read thoughts but only for a moment, think fast 'cus that ole train ain’t rollin’ my way home. The outside cuts like glass, the inside just as trashed, and now the program of depiction reads like a criminal conviction marked in stone. Garden in the sun, don't read like a poem, sit back your chemicals have set in; focus on anything but the question. And then she turned around and smiled at me, thought I was free.

I don't think I have the interest to decide which strength I lack. The trail's a fallen ghost, reminds me of the haunting I forego. Deep within the forest I am right at home. The animal inside this wild beast needs to roam. In the summer nights there is only one thing I’ve done right. Something that was pure, lying in the truck bed next to her. Underneath the black sky I am on my own. Where no one can see what I am, I belong. Feed the adolescent need to fight the flesh, forget everything they taught you to find rest. Howl.

The ole pines parted round Fortney Creek, a sun-stretched halo engulfing me. I lost the Earth, below my feet. Fear turned to peace as I float on off at this second I feel like I'm just enough. Old red barn, mid-noon sun, we met under the old oak tree on Baker's Farm, arm-in-arm, we float on. Fear turned to peace as I float on off at this second I feel like I somehow know…the truth.

Look out the death of an empty room, the only one left is you, and yours, the only eyes that see, the disguise. Your father’s eyes are dead, your bosses’ eyes are dead, you’re wishing you were dead. Nobody sees, nobody sees, just you and me. Listen what they say but believe the honest in your veins. I can't walk and shoulder the world they built, a millstone on my foot, a branding on my face, a disgrace. The teachers gave me debt, the government took what’s left, and all I want is death, death to be free. Nobody sees, nobody sees, just you and me. Listen what they say but believe the honest in your veins. There is a stairway in the clouds marked with time. There is a stairway in the clouds marked with time. Nobody sees, nobody sees, just you and me. Listen what they say, listen what they say, listen what they say but believe the honest in your veins.

Little bird fly away but don't go far. Little bird return to my shoulder. And if the wind decides to scud astray, little bird rest assured I'll find the way. Little bird show me where you'd like your nest. And I'll climb the highest of hardwoods to build it. Among the forest inseam you will rise to be the prettiest bird in the sky. Little bird how's the wind taste on your tongue? Little bird how's the earth look from high up? One day all my wonder will unseal. Little bird you’re the closest to reveal. Little bird sing your blue sky song to me. Little bird light the pathway darkness brings. And if I lose the will to find my way, little bird be a light and come find me. Little bird be a light and come find me.

Don't fall, don't fall, don't fall asleep. Here the rain fall hard upon the sill. Hear the thunder crash upon the hill. As you drift in the world that brings you warm, on the stage sits a clue of who you are. Don't fall, don't fall, don't fall asleep. In the darkness you have brought a light illuminating consciousness tonight. Read the vision searing in your brain as the fleeting moment dissipates. Don't fall, don't fall, don't fall asleep. Further into the kingdom of your mind reach the arms of the beauty you design. In the soaring you reach ecstasy but each second is an hour that you sleep. Don't fall, don't fall, don't fall asleep. In this moment you are right with all. In this moment all is right to give. If this dream is a sample of my death, I will never be afraid to live. I will never be afraid to live. Don't fall, don't fall, don't fall asleep.

I write the words as if you’ve grown cold, the key to your misery are letters we told. Pass me the cigarette; close as we rolled into the autumn breeze we have grown old. Soldier O Soldier, Captain at war, fight off my enemies and bring back the sword. I know my destiny but show me before, when we were young again and I will say go. I will say go.

-J

Winter Song

white as snow

the steam heat from your rose red cheeks

winters glow

the ambience of marching feet

as they march on

into the cold we all die from

we stay warm

in the disgust of our own disguises

as they burn beside us

cost one friend

to exile diamonds from your blood

winters end

is a kindred spirit flower flood

that fills my mind

with a confidence to carry on

we stay warm

in the disgust of our own disguises

we belong

to the rites of spring that love and guide us

when the world was righteous

your always going the wrong way

we’ll pick you up turn you around

your always going the wrong way

unplug the cord and turn around

look for a reason not to be found…