Bright clasp of her whole hand
Around my finger
My daughter as we walk together now
All my life I'll feel a ring invisibly
Circle this bone with shining:
When she is grown
Far from today as her eyes are far already.

Bright-eyed and bold
With dreams that unfold
Artless, naïve and hopeful
A certain unease, that shifts with the breeze
Afflicts you
You think that bliss
Doesn’t come with just a kiss
But to other lands you fly
In your mind, unsatisfied
Such discontentment inside
Wishing….

Wishing for walks, for long midnight talks
The hearth of a snowbound cabin
Mysterious scenes from a cinema screen
Fill your mind
If I could make all your dreams come true
And take you to Heaven – I would
You’d still be wishing for more
Always unsettled, unsure
Wishing… wishing…

Wishing for grace, a moonlit embrace
Tears bathing hands at parting
A silk-curtained room, and the finest perfumes
Are your due
When you survey your reality
It makes you turn away, away
You grow detached day by day
Wishing for what - you can’t say

Dusty day
Emptying a whole house -
Someone else's house;
Emptying her whole life
Of collected dust
And children's essays,
I love my mummy, said the crayons,
Now they don't speak.
Tears aren't far away.
As for me,
It's just dust,
I'm sneezing.

Don't lose sight of it all,
The big things,
The earth, the hills, the desert,
The wind, the air, the sky,
The fire, the sun, the stars,
The water, the ocean, the river.

Don't lose sight of it all,
The small things,
The gestures,
The baby's cry,
The soft sound of breathing,
The smile.

Remember it all:
Hope and good thinking,
Time for talking,
Being human,
The warmth of her skin.
Before death comes,
You should live.

I'm welling up with hope
I'm looking round the corner
I'm searching in the trees
I'm casting out the nets
I'm digging in the dirt
I'm peering through a small hole
I'm listening to a big clock
I'm waiting on the seashore
I'm making all things ready
I'm yearning for the right time
I'm longing for your love

Some people have an IT that they must face
A beast ahead or demon on the shoulder
For them the IT is writ in upper case.

I fear that many men hide every trace
Of tears and self in masks appearing bolder
Some people have an IT that they must face

And those who gaze transfixed at the sheer pace
Of life's descent to dust, to rust and moulder,
For them the IT is writ in upper case.

My beauty meets her monsters every place.
And though I'm often there to hug and hold her
My darling has an IT that she must face

She battles them with discipline and grace
And lives by dint of detail, file and folder
Each labelled by an IT in upper case.

Though time will always catch us in the chase
It's fear of living true that turns us colder
Some people have an IT that they must face
For them the IT is writ in upper case.