I’m a shadow in the blackest night
You won’t see me walking by
A whisper where there is no light
Under dark and moonless sky.

A graveyard after midnight
An alley off a silent street
A universe devoid of light
Where truth and darkness meet.

Come with me, friend, and lover
Hear the blackness all around
Together we’ll discover
How to cry without a sound.

I will walk you through the dangers
And through years of deathless void
Let us kiss the necks of strangers
Thus more human life destroyed.
Phil Lindsey  8/9/15

Growing up
I always had
someone else around me
Mom and Dad
were always there
to advise and yes, to ground me

Time did pass
Things  did change
I went on my own way
The advice was there
But, not as much
There was no one there to say...

Don't do that
Use your head
Is that what you want to do
That is wrong
You'll die alone
and then...He sent me you

Teenage years
Mistakes were made
More than I can count
Always down
and looking up
I was thrown off of the mount

Advice...uh uh
Direction none
just me and me alone
confusion reigned
tempers flared
no one there to groan.....

Don't do that
Use your head
Is that what you want to do
That is wrong
You'll die alone
and then...He sent me you

lightning struck
a purpose loomed
i knew what i should do
boots pulled up
a life to share
that was when he sent me you

Don't do that
Use your head
Is that what you want to do
That is wrong
You'll die alone
and then...He sent me you

Without you
I am nothing
A sailboat with no breeze
With you
I am different
I am loved, and I'm at ease

He sent me you
To change my ways
He sent me you to love
He sent me you
To spend my days
He sent me you....my love

I'm looking for an answer
As I move from town to town
I leave a trail of empty bottles
For the voices I must drown

Nothing in each bottle
Not an answer in the glass
But, I'm still looking for an answer
To a question life has asked

Bottle after bottle
In each tavern and each bar
I travel round by greyhound
I long sold off my car

I leave a trail of empties
And of cigarettes and dope
Looking for an answer
Looking for some hope

I'm sure it was a question
And I know I heard it clear
I think I was on my seventh bourbon
Or maybe my ninth beer

I can not quite remember
Where I heard the voices first
Were they asking me a question
Or responding to my thirst
I'm looking for the answer
To a question, that I think
Was asked to me by voices
That I heard once in a drink



The voices are much louder now
They will not quiet down
I have to find the answer
I just have to find the town

Nowhere in my memory bank
Is there space for one more voice
I have to find the answer
Or I have to make a choice

Do I keep on looking for
The answer in the glass
How do I turn the voices off
And put them in the past

I know a million taverns
Like some folks know the stars
They look up to find their answers
I just keep looking for the bars

I leave trail of bottles
And I look in every glass
'cause somewhere there's an answer
To a question I was asked

I can not quite remember
Where I heard the voices first
Were they asking me a question
Or responding to my thirst
I'm looking for the answer
To a question, that I think
Was asked to me by voices
That I heard once in a drink

City
almost  done now,
the fun somehow has left these streets,
but weary feet are tramping home, sick to death and weary to the bone.

Rtoseberry avenue
postcode EC1 and then
it's gone.

Clerkenwell green,
scene of many unpleasantries leaves me and on to St John's street and
more city feet.

Old street not paved with gold except for the elite and more weary feet tramping on.  

It's the end of another day and the city always had its way with the few and the lucky ones escaped by bus,
not us,
we went hobo on the city street, tramps and dodgy people, feet so sore and where if when we look to see the Shoreditch box park know we are not far or free of Hackney and the night falls dark across me.

I do
I do
Said twice, but in my heart I knew it wasn't so.

I go because I must've been and seen it all before and though I know it's rotten to the core it draws me like a magnet and I am being trawled by some megaline or dragnet.

The streets beat me down and the pirates in this ***** town have stolen me away,
just another bedtime story written underneath the evening stars and just another ending of the day.

As you can see now
We've lost two men to Father Time
They were your friends
As they were mine

They both were outlaws
and they lived life their own way
If we had our choice
They'd still be here today
But, I am not the one
Who took them both away
That's all I've got to say

They were our brothers
And they stood here dressed in black
Close your eyes and they are back
They're in the ether
Waiting there for their return
They'll tell us what they saw
And then we will all learn
That life's a circle
And death is no concern
When they do return....

We are all highwaymen
And we all travel different roads
We all bear witness
Carry loads
We will all pass this way
More than once I'm sure
There will be other times
When we meet at death's door
But as for now, I say
No more than evermore
For we will meet again....

Once there were four of us
And the world was our domain
We've gone away
Come back again
We sailed the seven seas
And rode the highway roads
We flew on starships
And we followed our own code
We met the horsemen
And our souls we did unload
And we'll be back again...

I've been kicking round here
for nearly twenty years
I'm a singer no one's heard of
I play for smoke and beers
I'm an overnight sensation
I'll make you smile or bring tears
I've been kicking round here
For nearly twenty years

Right now I'm playing at a place
On cinder blocks and wood
It's not the worst stage that I've played
In fact, it is quite good
The crowd is small, the beer is cold
But, it's the best bar in the hood
I'm playing for my beer and smokes
On cinder blocks and wood

The music is my heartbeat
The people are my muse
I play because I love to
****, man...I've paid my dues
I'm an overnight sensation
Playing what you want to hear
I've been playing for the people
For near on twenty years

The crowd looks up, some clap a bit
Most live above the bar
At least if they don't like the show
They don't have to go too far
It's just me up here, alone and bare
Taking tips in an old jar
I play mainly for my beer and smokes
For the folks above the bar

I've never made the big time play
I hit the road but not for long
I write my stuff, but cover most
Because in truth, my life's a song
I sing old stuff more than glammed up tunes
To sell out, to me is wrong
If I'm not here, I won't be far
I hit the road, but not for long

The music is my heartbeat
The people are my muse
I play because I love to
****, man...I've paid my dues
I'm an overnight sensation
Playing what you want to hear
I've been playing for the people
For near on twenty years

I know I am a dinosaur
I sing songs that drip with age
Most bars I play once hosted folks
Who sang these tunes upon their stage
But, now, it's me and empty chairs
Beer and smokes make up my wage
I know I am a dinosaur
Singing songs that drip with age

I sing County Western
Not 'bout beer, and girls in shorts
I sing about the country
Of heartache, not of sports
I show you what's beneath the crust
Without makeup, and with warts
I sing Country Western
Not 'bout beer, and girls in shorts

The music is my heartbeat
The people are my muse
I play because I love to
****, man...I've paid my dues
I'm an overnight sensation
Playing what you want to hear
I've been playing for the people
For near on twenty years

I remember the day I first held you
So tiny and small in my arms
I was wrapped around your little finger
I was taken by all of your charms

I was gone and I missed your first birthday
I missed your first day at school
I chose other things over my daughter
And now later, I feel like a fool

Where oh where did my little girl go?
When did my little girl grow?
Where oh where did my little girl go?
When did my little girl grow?

I'd be home, but just for a moment
I'd miss plays and concerts and stuff
I was your dad, but I wasn't your father
I can say that I was not there enough

You did well and you went on to college
I am proud of just who you've become
I regret how I was a father
But, am proud I was there on day one

Where oh where did my little girl go?
When did my little girl grow?
Where oh where did my little girl go?
When did my little girl grow?

In the corner sits and old wooden rocking chair
Just as it's sat for the last hundred years
Worn and polished with the patina of age and use

I sit, pencil and pad in hand trying to visualize
What it has witnessed over the years long past
Tears of happiness, tears of heartbreak
Of births and of death

Christmases and birthdays when times were hard
Times when money was scarce
But times when the children understood
Times when children were content, with the little that they had

That old chair has sat there in the corner
For at least a hundred years
I read stories in the grainy polished woodwork
And let my imagination loose

when did i last spend a good time?

a second, a minute, an hour, a day
one undiluted, unmixed, pure, and raw,

a good time, truly good, without a flaw.

was it those moments of ******* height
when sans one sense, all else was dark night

or the time spent brief in her warm embrace
seeking her moons reading map on her face

it could be the while when a gust of joy
made this heart shine like a boy

a flashing streak of event that lit up the soul
from pieces of fragments revealed the whole

getting from a girl her kiss of innocence
drench with her in first summer rains

reaching a heaven from far firmament
by a smile from the boy a dime i lent

turning that page of a now lost time
when this mind first chanced upon a rhyme

they rush like tide set me to brood
from the budding child to the aging manhood
where in the memory now thick with grime
lies hidden the passing of the last good time!