Lovers struggling through
The framework of words
Trying once again
To piece together
The patchwork of their love
They anchor their hearts
Inside of one another’s arms
And wet each other’s back
With memories that pound
Like tides against rocks

James H. Webb

When a bond is made it can never be undone
That is why your heart is always on the run
But I'll always be in your mind in some way
And always a part of your each and every day

You think love is hollow but it's solid as a stone
It's as light as an angel and as heavy as a groan
It travels it's own path but it never strays
It's always a part of your each and every day

Don't complain or pretend you don't know what I mean
I know I'm still in your heart, just not in your dreams
I've became part of what you breathe and what you say
And I'll always be part of your each and everyday

You can run and take cover but it's no good to hide
Those memories that exist are too deep for pride
Mean words and cruel gestures won't keep it at bay
No, it will always be a part of your each and every day

1994*

Out of the past a woman appears
“Who is she my darling. Who is she my dear?”
“Someone I loved a long time ago”
“No that’s not true you still love he so”

“In your eyes I can see a longing laid bare
Who is she my darling. Who is she my dear?”
“Someone who stole my heart from its home
Left me half shattered; left me alone”

“So why does her presence still fill you with fear?
Who is she my darling. Who is she my dear?”
“She’s no one my darling just let the thought go
For you are the sunlight and she’s last year’s snow

You fill my soul with hope and with care
Where she weighed me down you’ve lifted me clear
You are the answer to all of my prayers
I love you my darling. I love you my dear

You are the most love, one heart could convey.
She is a bad dream that won’t fade away.
Though I can’t forget her she can never compare
She’s no one my darling; there’s nobody there.”

James H. Webb

Dundas, 1973

There are many buildings
that stand without eyes to see them.
Your grandmother must have lived in one.
She was old and love had become
a constant affection on her face.
I had never seen her without a smile.
She had live through two World Wars
and three lovers
and had died alone
with only grey walls to say good-bye.


James H. Webb

(for Paul) July 21, 1988*

You’re a ghost and a specter and a madcap that laughs
A pawn and a broker who gives only half
A slayer of virtue and a killer of craft
A sinister victim of the cold and the draft
A child who is blind to the calling inside
That speaks of conviction and the courage that died
A soul set adrift on a gut wrenching ride
And I can’t help but wonder how you sleep at night

You’re a cutthroat in hiding and a stabber in the dark
At the virtue and the kindness of someone else’s heart
You’re a history and a nightmare that doesn’t fade away
Though I cut the bonds that bind us that ghostly feeling stays
You haunt me in my sorrow and defy the mental blocks
Set up to free my world from the loneliness that stalks
Your memories and manners are a bloodbath to my ears
And I can’t help but wonder how you managed through the years

You see me bleed profusely but you won’t turn on the light
You leave me in the darkness; out of mind is out of sight
The guilt that is your trademark never kept you from the lies
You scattered at my doorstep no made you realize
That rules that are unspoken doesn’t mean they don’t exist
And when temptation strikes them well a real man would resist
You hem and haw and mince about; never look me in the eye
And I can’t help but wonder how you’ll manage to survive

James H. Webb

Gently,
like a man
afraid of everything,
you hide
and I don't see you for years
then you appear in the next
subway car
face like a convicted criminal
you're shrunken down
and hunched over
and bald

and for the first time
I feel pity for you
mixed with my anger and disgust

I am burdened with the unanswered!
Does you past make you shiver
now that the wind of chance
has brought us together
and blown away the cobwebs of lies
that you use like a Tensor
to keep your guilt from swelling?

Do you cough up the bile
(that is so hard to swallow)
of that time of pain
that is now so old and neglected
it barely has memories
to cling to?

You see I know she left you too

I watch you across
the multitude of strangers
each of us
safe
from our regrets
and remorse
living like cowards
in the shackles
of our fear

I endure the pain of looking at you
I withstand the enslaught of memories
the bitterness of loss
I feel the pain
and I swallow
and for the first time
in a long time
I let it soak in
and when I re-focus my eyes
you are gone.

Mar 3, 2009*

Where do you go to when you feel nobody cares?
Do you think of your old friend and wish I was there?
Do you ever remember all the fun things we did,
the good times we had and the feelings we hid?
Now I know you weren't ready for my kind of love
But it isn't that different than the one you're thinking of
'cause all that really matters is that the love you feel is strong
and that strength comes from the feeling that you really belong
I'm not saying that I think you were wrong and I was right
I'm just wishing you were here on my own lonely night

Here the weather's so clear and the moon is so bright
as I watch the couples staring up at the stars in the sky
and once I would have felt those same feelings inside
and the warmth of my love would have shone through my eyes
but tonight the stars look cold and so unreachably high
And there's no one to turn to and I'm too tired to cry
Ah but if you ever read this don't think you're to blame
You did what you had to and in that there's no shame
I'm not trying to say that you were wrong and I was right
I'm just wishing you were here on my own lonely night

So where do you go to when the world leaves you alone
When your heart has many questions but not a single home
When you're sick of being told the love you're feeling is wrong
and you've kept it to yourself for too incredibly long
and though you've found many others who seem to feel like you do
there's still no special other that makes you feel special too
Now I hear you're getting married to someone I've never met
and I'm jealous, and I'm saddened, and I'm full of regrets
Still I'm not saying that I was wrong and you were right
I'm just wishing you were here on my own lonely night

James H. Webb