What are we all really?
Except for echoes of our dreams
floating in a magical sea.
Surely as the sun sets each day
I'll be there on the shore
Waiting for your ship to come in
And then we'll dance together.

There so many things I had to say
That I never told you.
But maybe I didn't need to.
Maybe, in some distant, soulful way
You already knew.
And You already loved me for it.

What does it mean to be human?
What does it mean to be alive?
Maybe tonight's not the night
for questions or vague ponderances.
Maybe tonight is just for you and me,
Together, embraced under the twilight.

Do you remember what was in the air
that night we dreamt in Winnipeg?
The north so carefully veils her secrets,
We'll unlock them one by one.
Not today, not tomorrow, but right here in this moment.
We are the fragrance on the ice.

When the temperate moment is over,
I'll be taken away up the river.
To find my own blessed place.
Where vibrant wilderness calls out to me
sets my northern heart on fire
and wait for the day you come to me again.

Go out there now ye varmint ****,
You'd best move fast now. Run, run, run.
Ye mustn't take me for a fool,
I was watching when you broke the rules.

Slashed the ropes and loosed your lip,
tried to wreck my dear old ship.
Bad for you this pirate be,
Now find your grave fresh in the sea!

One step, two steps, three steps, go!
No mercy heathen, **, **, **!
No more gold nor *** for you,
No more plunder, no more stew.

I wouldn't save ye if I could,
now go on and walk that piece of wood.
Before long I'm sure You'll know
No mercies from the muck below.

The boys are here to watch the sentence,
and there shall be no appeal or repentance.
The jury ruled, the judge has spoken,
and the fury of the waves has woken.

Pray if ye want, it's your last breath.
Soon awaits a sudden death.
And if instead you choose to scoff,
I'll be quick to shove ye off.

Our bags are packed and we're ready,
But the buses have already gone
There's no gas left in the gas tank.
And no aeroplane to fly on.

We just missed the last of the boat trips,
and it's been awhile since we've seen a truck.
The helicopters don't come 'til later,
so it appears that for now we are stuck.

There isn't much point now in walking,
or taking a chance on a bike.
No, there's nothing to do except wait here,
Until the big storm brings its strike.

So we'll go and board up the windows,
tie down what we can with some rope.
Then we'll wait in the deep of the shadows,
And quietly hope against hope.

We pray that the wind keeps its distance,
and we don't wash away in a flood.
The Lord is our constant protector,
but fear is awake in our blood.

We got a few extra provisions,
and some mighty strong shoulders or two.
Will that though make much a difference
As we see what's about to come through?

We're supposed to be miles away now,
This was never part of the plan.
We're on the highest ground we can be on,
And here's where we'll make our stand.

My dear, how I wish it were different,
Had we been some of those who got out.
Now there's a chance to see up close,
What the fury of nature's about.

So hunker down and stay close to me,
We don't have to face this alone.
And by god, when this thing is over,
I hope that we still have a home.

Let it be said I was faithful,
and I gave it my very best.
Let my old heart still be beating,
When the storm clouds move to the west.

There's a bit of a breeze in the distance,
The biggest ones never come late.
There's nothing more that we can do now,
Except just to sit and to wait.

Silver bus, roaring through the city.
There's an army of lonely people
wandering around the sidewalks.
Angry horns fill the distance.

A taco vendor on the corner
is screaming like there's no tomorrow.
The poor woman with the dog near him,
doesn't know what to make of it.

Down by the courthouse
the protesters are at it again.
Cops man the barricades nearby.
Just another day in the big city.

And there, in the madness,
a young boy looks around bewildered.
As if to remind all of us
That we are letting go of what matters.

Don't ignore the small things,
No matter what the fall brings.
Don't ignore the small things,
Some are bigger than all things.

A manic driver plows through a puddle
soaking an old man on a bench.
In the park a college grad shrugs his shoulders
as the girl he was with walks away.

Ambulances and police cars
go ripping past the skyscrapers,
The fights are raging again,
Just beyond the tourist traps.

On a street corner a haggard man,
screams out of a bullhorn.
Are there any souls left here
for God to save today?

And the well dressed businessmen
are all smiles as they leave work.
But not even their money and power
is enough to repair the cracked roads.

Don't ignore the small things,
No matter what the fall brings.
Don't ignore the small things,
Some are bigger than all things.

I get so tired of staring at these things.

Tall. Ugly. Foreboding...

For so many years I have wrapped them around myself.

Thick, dense, fortified.

No one can get in.

And I can't get out.

Prisoner to the shallow fortress

Of my own sin.

Break them down! I say.

Smash them to pieces!

But it is not to be.

The barriers of the past do not fall easily.

Far too many bricks for an easy triumph.

Far too strong a storm for the sun to crack.

So let the rain come.

And I'll stay here in my brokedown castle.

Kept far away from freedom.

And right against the gates of nothingness.

It's a warm and humid night out there,
the creek beds are sitting dry,
And there's a spark of energy,
That's sailing across the sky.

You can almost feel it on your skin,
or sense it with your mouth.
It's one sure sign that summers raging,
in the Mississippi south.

Out along the beach resorts,
It blasts across the Gulf,
With all the the pent up rushing
of a radiating pulse.

Against the darkened mat of clouds,
what a frenzied show to see,
You don't need your cash tonight,
these fireworks are free.

There's no rain drops here to speak of,
beneath the brilliant moon,
but with the sky ablaze like that,
The storm is coming soon.

But enjoy it while you've got it,
Out in the yards and streets,
The flaming dance above our heads,
in the thick of summer heat.

Unrestrained by nature,
Quick and fierce and brash.
Powerful, relentless,
But vanished in a flash.

The world in darkness.
The world in light.
Which is it
that beckons me tonight?

The face of beauty.
The face of fear.
What strange thing
Has brought me here?

Tears of wonder.
Tears of pain.
Markedly different
Yet much the same.

A laugh of calmness,
A laugh of terror.
Is this a blessing
Or a fateful error?

A look of passion,
A look of fury.
Soon now comes
A time of worry.

Songs of sickness,
Songs of healing.
What great sorrow
Are they concealing?

Days of vengeance,
Days of Joy.
Built almost as much
As they came to destroy.

Moments of clarity,
Moments of madness.
Cast adrift
In an endless sadness