He was too tired to care about much
The mistake was admiring the wrong people
He became a stranger to himself
It’s sad to find out when there’s not enough time

He started too late to make it
Now it’s too important to leave it
They say don’t go and wonder why
There’s never any reason why we live and die

He wondered which book they read
The one about the law or the one about love
He said zealots were the same as bankers
They leave envelopes in the pews and the lobby

He wanted to start as soon as he could
Thought there were knots he still had to tie
But he decided the last chapter wasn’t the end
So he tore it out before that ship came in

The pages have been turned one at a time
He thought about the ending then he remembered
They said there were two paths we can follow
But when he looks back he can only see one

He thought of sands that once burned his feet
He remembered running towards the water
It was so bright it felt like being born again
The sea told his soul it’s never too late to begin

water falls burning; rivers
boiling; oceans churning;
it’s never love that is wrong
if we remember how we
walked next to hand-carved
banisters; we picked them out
together; the storm won’t care;
the angels said it doesn’t matter

but it does; rebuilding a house,
it’s not home until our memories
decide to join us; can our tears
carve a new path so they can
make their way to us; can they
give thanks to the prayer that
saved our souls because all we
prayed for was to smile again?

a sea song echoing inside of
conch shells; enough to risk
singing it again alone on a still
beach; shadowed by the surge
of seabirds fleeing; their wings
promising their return as does
the melody inside the fear that
knows what it has done

when I saw you wander in without
a thought of the future; it is our
humanity crossing borders and
oceans that transported the divide
we felt when the sky was blue and
the tide was tame; and now when
it is God that tests us I reach for the
love from you that we cannot invent

I’m not looking at the camera
I’m not looking over at you
You decided you know better
You decided you know what’s true

I’m surprised how important it is to you
You hurt a friend of mine
Over something that had nothing to do with you
If you only knew how it controls your mind

Everybody wants to preach back at him
Using words you don’t believe are true
You bait the hook then blame the fish
How weak must it be to blame the fish

Does God reveal himself in a storm
In the curtain call for terror
There is no understanding
Except those who can only look for error

Where is your destination
Nobody parted the sea upon us all
So a man of god failed us again
And so too my breath failed again

I think you may have made a find
It was so easy to tell us what was true
God will remind Caiaphas why
But what will he decide about you?

Sometimes you are empty
You've said all that you can say
And then something happens
So profound
That the emptiness is filled
Not by happiness
But instead by the despair of others
Your heart is burned by the sun
When all they know is rain
And by a measure unknown to you
You have found your place
Where frivolity is not worthy
And laughter waits its turn
Until the river repents
By the banks we once loved
But now can only curse

I’m calling you to tell you something
I want to marry you
It’s not how you want to be asked
That’s why I’m not asking you now
I’m telling you the direction of my heart
I heard a song about what to do with you
And now I know
But I need to find myself first
I know the things that are my own
They need to be rearranged
There is no room on the floor
Your footprints cannot be yours
If it is only my life that makes an impression
My shadow garden will be gone
And when I know who I am
I will come to call on you
If you answer the door
You will know who it is that I am
Because I will tell you
And it will be true
If you are no longer there
Then I will know I waited too long

Watching the news today
Hearing the trees knock on my door
The wind escaping a bad memory
Taking it’s revenge on us all

I wondered how you were doing
The flood didn’t seem to care
It grabs you, accusing of something
You can’t deny, it’s gonna rise anyway

The sky was full of dread
I wanted to worry about it with you
You had to take care of your pets
And I know you did it better than I could

I’ll go ahead and miss you now
It’s something I might never know
We’re not together
I need to feel how it would be
To lose you before I love you
It’s like a storm following you back home

The sky was full of things I said
I wanted to know if you saw it too
You had to be strong for yourself

My face is changing, I know it
Like sand dunes after high tide
Spread about, white with no end
Seaweed hair, tossed, unable to hide

People leave footprints, looking
The shells left behind don’t last long
Sand dollar smiles, conch wisdom
So much to say, I hope it’s not wrong

I’m glad someone thinks I’m worth it
Though the ocean beckons, I’m close by
Lay your towel down, I will warm your soul
Shifting time sands, either a laugh or cry

You burned your feet, I’m so sorry
Shadows became night, they felt a chill
I can’t get it right, the sun or the moon
My life can only bend to the wind’s will