sweet dreams, close your eyes
be still for it’s late at night
and the dark has come to take you away

sweet dreams, try to understand
all the pleasures and the pains
that compose this thing called day

sweet dreams, sail tonight
let your sail be caught by dreams’ sweet light
as silent and still you lay

on this ocean you will see
the storms are many on this sea
and while you’ll find you love to roam
you’ve got to remember to come back home

sweet dreams, sweet dreams
when you awake wander back to here
dreams are sweet but life’s more dear

dream sweet

how many years can it wait before we forget
how long can we travel through this time
is this my burden to bear in solitude
does your heart have this along with mine

did I scare you as much as you scared me
or was the awkwardness limited to one
where are we now if we try to compare
the notes of all we had seen and done

how were you the hesitant party
when I was impulsive and carefree
but we were never the daring kind
if we opened our eyes we might see

time goes and comes and drains
a portrait of childhood cliché
true in every essential but lacking
the frozen moment of that single day

and after that time I knew you
stolen moments in brighter shade
the sun came out and we were left
with these new dreams we'd made

in this world I never included you
and in yours I've had no residence
this somber finale delicately wrought
and deliberately unregretted since

I know we can't pretend that all that is never happened
but this twisting is too -- I might dissolve into memory
that should be all right with me but it's not
my life is a constant state of euphoric pandora
secured in a set of paradoxical chinese handcuffs
and the harder I pull away the nearer I become
they say when you're sinking to look for the light
but this sand looks mysteriously like the noonday sun
I've lost every sense of gravity and direction
swimming in my three-dimensional model of earth
in the movies this is where I'd get the inner tube
but this isn't the titanic and this water isn't cold
do I want to leave this halfway trip to comfort
this warm floating feeling is more than reminiscent
and my head is far too full of foolish talk and chatter
I know air somersaults are better but it's safer here
it's not my comfort zone but I'm still content
then I brush the rough ocean floor softly
imagining faintest trails of light in my wake
and I can't forget the breath of freshness
that I'll never find if I stay where I am

vague and undefined
do you believe my irreverent lies
this pretense of mine
capable but far removed
I know it all but I don't understand
knowledge does not wisdom find
I can hop on one foot with ease
but I can't stand on these two feet
so it's all elbows and knees
spinning tumbling crying mumbling
squinting to keep the sunlight out
while looking for it with my whole heart

it is supposed to be better
to have a life unlived
than to sit in dark corners
and commiserate grimly

The empty chair sets on stage
frightening me with its rage.
It asks words of a wise mage, which I'm not;
this blot I can't assuage.
If I dared, they said that night,
I'd soon be over this fright.
But I have seen the spotlight shining cold,
and told tales of its might.
Far be it from me to know
the intimate secrets low
which help them vanquish their foe of rank fear
to jeer at my shadow.

in the silence someone hears the singing
the mismatched hymn that time begot
their ears attune to the voiceless ringing
tying the world into a careless knot

in the softness you can hear it
the echo of the ages rolling past
stirring within a fire yet unlit
straining from its birth to last

in that moment all is peaceful
the strains of the day begin to fade
but all tranquility can be deceitful
every ounce cuts like a weighted blade

in the time that divides all time
earth looks long and hard for her answer
but all she finds is written in rhyme
and with this music she is no dancer

in the silence someone hears the singing
the mismatched tune that time forgot
they take some bells to set them ringing
being dissatisfied with their unearned lot