Just calm down
He said it to nobody in particular
But she knew who he was talking to
Believe in me
That’s what she wanted to say
But she didn’t know if it was true

You marry somebody
It doesn’t have to be the wrong time
It doesn’t have to be the wrong one
You tried that life
But one day there’s something more
The stars stopped leading you home

How do  you live
You left behind the blood you planted
Your heart travels well but not today
You feel the tremors
That is who you are and it is dying
Even the sun decided to walk away

The harvest is done
The people who were born with hope
Live inside a prayer watching waiting
What can we do
The land of our birth is on fire again
But my soul lives in the land of believing

They don’t think of me
I left and they said my tears are my affair
If only a baby could decide for its mother
I want to tell you
I can never go back so why do I cry for them
Comfort for my children is not their savior

She sees the parade for you
The honor and the respect
But it only makes her cry
What could anyone expect?

It’s as if they want you to die
So they can hand her a folded flag
And walk the fields of glory
As your soul wears a dog tag

She married you soldier
Not the flag
She didn’t marry the war
She didn’t marry the sound
Of battle in her dreams
She married you soldier
Not the flag

She doesn’t want to feel proud
She just wants you to come home
You spend your life in everyone's prayers
While she sits silent with fears that roam

We feel safe because they walk the wall
But the wife of a soldier waits for the news
The news that the hero was her man
The news that her fears freedom would choose

She married you soldier
Not the flag
She didn’t marry the war
She didn’t marry the sound
Of battle in her dreams
She married you soldier
Not the flag

I didn’t want a booth
Not this time anyway
I wanted it to be out in the open
Sometimes it’s better that way

The drinks didn’t matter
Or the song I heard them sing
After the first glass
You drink whatever they bring

It took all my life for her to know
But she only wanted to talk about tomorrow
I said how can we know about love
When all you think about is your sorrow?

What can you tell me about love
It’s as if only you know about forever
Yet the demands you have place upon me
Tell me that love’s name is still never

I wanted to reach across and touch your hand
But you reached for mine first
I saw you smile and softly speak my name
But you left without quenching my thirst

It took all my life for her to know
She thought I only knew words to borrow
The love I gave her once was enough
But now only promises can love her tomorrow

A quiet girl standing behind the bar
With the questions in her hand
A soulful face with no expression
She knows more than we understand

Her mind adorned by color
She hangs the pictures on her body
Framed by soft skin
She doesn’t care if we see

It’s not how life is
It's what it can be
The girl who painted her body
Lives her life so free

Riding on her own green carpet
From the world where she lives
In a land of concrete and steel
Her life is about what she gives

For a moment she smiles
If only so slightly
She is listening to all of us
But controls her own destiny

It’s not how life is
It’s what it can be
The girl who colored her body
Living life so peacefully

I wonder if I could ever do it
And paint my body with my mind
I come from a destructive world
There are no answers for me to find
As I stand so close to her
I can see her inner beauty
I could never be like her
I already gave my soul away for free

Everyday when the sun settles down
She risks her life on the street
You would never know she was here
Except if you were lucky to meet

It’s not how life is
It’s what it can be
The girl with her life on her body
She is telling us to come and see

This will never happen
I’m tired of waiting
A dream is exhausting
Yeah that’s what she said

She knows
The future
Because she knows my past

You won’t be a man
And you will never be
Unless you set me free
Yeah that’s what she said

She knows
The future
Because she knows my past

She reached me
She did it so easily
She made me want to love her
It’s not just her beauty
It’s how she understands a man
She loves being a woman
And she let me be me
She did it without even trying

But she knows
She knows what will happen
She sees the look on my face
It’s not here
It’s not with her
It’s somewhere
But it’s not here

She’s a prophet
She’s a prophet
She’s a prophet
She’s a prophet

I see no meaning
When fires destroy a beautiful forest
I see no purpose
When oceans wash people from their land
I see no wonder
When nature decides against us
I see no streets of gold
When suffering is not by our own hand
But you know why I am blinded
For the senseless cruelty of life
Even to take away only a humble wish
Is why I must crawl in the dust until I hear my own call

No instrument could torture
More than memories of their room
He cursed all thought
Under blankets that once held her
Because they had violently fought
Within the darkness of his gloom

No half pint would do
For a man who talks to himself
“I know!” he yelled
“Don’t tell me what is true
It was by my hand she was felled
Her love didn’t die by itself”

“I can’t really sing”
Said the sad man sadly
“But if only I could (!)
Words that ring
From instruments of wood
Would always love her madly!”

The staggering symphony
Sounds that mocked romance
He wept hoping the morning dew
Would awaken her sympathy
But the answer he already knew
Her heart had given it's last chance

I saw her in church the other day
She was sitting in the back row
Don’t give her a hard time about that
At least she knows which place to go

They were starting to pray
But she only held one hand up
She crossed her fingers behind her back
And only drank half the cup

She’s halfway there
She only prays with one hand
She doesn’t know what to believe
Her heart treats it like a man
She’s only halfway there
Give her time
It’s a long way to the holy land

Too many nights of sorrow
Too many days of pain
She prayed once before
But her life still seems the same
It still seems the same

When everyone stood to go
I tried to catch her eye
But she needs something else
Not someone who might make her cry

She’s halfway there
She only prays with one hand
She doesn’t know what to believe
Her heart treats it like a man
She’s only halfway there
Give her some time
It’s a long way to the holy land

Every day begins the same, coffee or a soda
It’s the way she lets the sunshine in
Too many times she’s seen the end
She says she’ll wait for the right day
Until then she walks alone while the sun sets again

She doesn’t miss snoring or cleaning the tub
Not the type of girl to give in
She would do it for the right kind of friend
Remembering the day she sent him away
But time makes him seem different than other men

She’s not a lady in wait
That’s no way to live
But the moon said it’s not so bad
I always wait for you

Her fingers fidget around her last cigarette
She wants to quit but not without him
Her family always ask where’s he been
She tells them it’s not for her to say
If he calls she’ll talk about it but not before then

She’s not a lady in wait
That’s not the way she lives
But the moon said I’m also sad
I know you are too

I’m not going to rest
The last moment is not who I am
Neither will be the next one
I’m going to invent myself every day
There’s always more work to be done

I don’t look where I’ve been
I just carry it with me
There’s no need to throw anything away
Even my mistakes have meaning
That’s what I remember the most anyway

Don’t think I can’t love you more than her
I don’t have to make a resolution
There’s always a bird flying by
When they leave I wonder if lonely is being free
Is that why I am happy to see an empty blue sky?

The good thing is I know where it all began
And if I can’t take you there then
I’ll bring it to you except it will be new
And when you ask me about her
My heart will tell you what’s true

Let’s feel the pain and the joy
That will be our paradise
We will know how to live a real life
There are no longer any  storms that we fear
Turn your back on me now; I threw away my knife

Everything I want from you
is on the inside
I want to touch your heart
touch your mind
And at night I want to find
the feeling I get
when your body becomes mine

Everything you see in me
is on the outside
I stare at you with my eyes
stare with my mind
You knew before the sun went down
the feeling you had
was to decide what to believe

Even though I was close to you
only echoes replied
I tried light a candle, then you whispered
Silencing its glow
You wanted me to know
The darkness
is where life begins for you

Are y'all together?
Oh yeah she said,
I remind him of that every night
He amazes everyone
That's my curse
His is that I have the strength to leave
That's what she said
He needs to wake up
And she's the one to do it
Yes she is

She never waits for a green light
She likes to run the reds
She doesn’t wait in line
She likes to cut instead

She’ll spend her last dime
On a convertible Z
She owns all the bars
‘Cause she always drinks for free

She’s too hot
You're playin' with fire
She’ll take all your money
There's no change for desire

She likes taking shots
Always from the top shelf
She’s staring at her phone
Talking to someone else

You can’t beat her
She’s too cold for love
But one day she’ll find out
What life’s made of

She’s too hot
You're playin' with fire
She’ll take your money
There's no change for desire

Yeah she’s too hot for you
And too cold for love
Too hot for you
Too cold for love
Too hot for you
Too cold for love

He was always looking out for the girl
He'd shield her from winter winds
And the loneliness that followed her everywhere

She liked the way he smiled when he talked
He had a friendly heart
He knew when to let go and when to care

They didn't ask each other questions
The decided to take it slow
They preferred the shade over the glare

He thought about her all the time
He knew what she wanted
It was just time the he wanted to share

There was a time he'd sweep her off her feet
Now he was afraid of his own desires
Was it her or just her beautiful hair?

She knew he wanted to settle down
He just didn't know how
It was his heart she had to repair

He wanted her to stay the way she was
The way she was the day they first met
She wanted him to change the way he was
She loved him but he wasn’t there just yet

She was so wild when they first met
But she was ready to grow up
He was still just a wide-eyed boy
It takes a man time for him to catch up

They didn’t realize it was happening
But they started drifting apart
She only thought about the future
He only thought about her heart

He’d watch her when she was reading
She knew but pretended not to notice
She felt the pressure of his eyes
And wondered if she could satisfy his lust

Twenty years passed
He wondered why she had to grow up
Twenty years passed
She wondered when he would catch up

It seemed they were never really together
They would make love but then talk about the weather
She didn’t know that he would always be a boy at heart
He didn’t know she wanted to be an adult from the start

They didn’t realize it was happening
But they started drifting apart
She only thought about the future
He only thought about her heart

Twenty years passed
He wondered why she had to grow up
Twenty years passed
She wondered when he would catch up

She was taught to conceal everything that made her human;
her plain skin, her stained past, all her mistakes because
it was more important to live life as an image than as a person

She didn’t like to cry because it wasn’t a world that honored
vulnerability; she knew what God wanted but even mustard
seeds are washed away from the garden when it rains all day

She wanted to tell the truth and all it could be was about
her own life but that’s not what everyone wanted to hear; so
instead she asked too many questions and lost a friend

She thought about everything she was told when she wasn’t
old enough to ask why; everybody that meant anything said
things that now make her ask how they could believe those things

She wondered if she needed to fix things up inside but couldn’t
decide if it really mattered; she could talk about her children
and her mom but that something inside wanted to feel alive

She left the past behind and kissed her youth sweetly as it was
her time to finally be who she was but it had taken so long to have
the courage to accept the truth that she became angry at herself

She knew she would never be able to change the world but she
thought she could change herself; it took her away from growing
old to take a stand on the truth and get to know who people are

She heard the big speech and the cries of war and warnings about
evil and it made her finally cry out loud; that’s when she knew she
was a passionate woman because it wasn’t about a man

Is there another way
Where we are no longer plagued by guilt
For the time we must take for ourselves
Or by people who cut corners and sleep well
While we must choose between judgment
Or forgiveness
Know each will fall short of its mark

What I’ve imagined
Is only a dream that can never be true
For there are too many of us
But where we belong
And where we are needed
Is the same place
Yet what is further away
The discovery of our true self
And the peace it promises?
Or the journey around the world
Taking pictures
While we try to forget?

We wait and then our life changes
Nobody can teach us how not to be sad
Because it is sad
It is not something that we should ignore
And we pray for the time to pass
So we can find that place

What we are known for
War
Leisure
Comfort
Power
And we read the ancient words
Written by those who knew of these things
But who died in anguish
As confused as to their fate
As to their birth

We watch people perform
Their actions staged for us
Rehearsed over and over
It all seems so natural
And we escape in amazement
But we cannot rehearse
Our life is improvisation
An artist is given latitude to experiment
We believe in their courage
Yet we are expected to get it right
Every time
Every day
Or else we are judged

And that is where we went
To be judged
To live with it
No matter the good inside of us

I wanted to ride a slow mule
And let it decide where I should go
Could I survive if it chose the wrong direction
Would I have enough water
Would the moon guide us?
Would it make me crazy
Maybe it would be best
The old man nobody talks to
Only trailed by their opinions
Thinking I’m already dead
But they would never know
For the crazy man watches them
He no longer matters to them
So he walks alone
Freely
Watching how you improvise
But still he learns
That is what is crazy
He is old
Yet still he learns

He does not want to die in confusion
He wants instead to die with hope
The hope a mother has for her baby
And he will be ready
For he found what was inside
And he no longer needs to take pictures
For now he can see
Because he decided to look

And he believes what he has found

For it is only to love someone
A humble woman
One who does not think she is pretty
Even if she is
It is not to be better than her
But instead to share your own humilty
For this is how we must wait
Knowing our place
And who better to be by your side
But someone who will wait
Because she taught you how

Don't worry so much
I'm worth five minutes of pride
I won't think of anything but you
How beautiful you are
How lucky I am
It's not like I'm looking for anything
It's hard enough to react to what happens
Still, I think the things you think
I've done the things you've done
It just doesn't feel the same to you
Because you're a woman
You have to pretend
But I don't
It's not fair
So let's not play this game
I won't think anything of it
I'm ready for who you really are
Just don't tell me right away
Wait until I fall in love with you
That's what I do best
Put you on a pedestal
Make you a princess
That's how you should enter my life
Like a fantasy
You can shock me later

Why?
Why should I?
They say “get over it”
It’s as if they accuse me
Of being the *******
Of being the master
Of being the racist
Of killing my past
And trying
To **** my mind
What did I do
To deserve this?
They must want something
But what?
I’m trying
But 40 acres and a mule
Doesn’t help a lynched man
A janitor’s job
Doesn’t help find my roots
A nice salary
Isn’t wealth
I’m supposed to love our country
I’m supposed to be grateful
For what?
Why don’t you explain it to me
Because I DON’T GET IT
Do you?
Please
If I’m wrong
Show me
It took
Just a bit of complaining
To defeat Bull Connor
It took
Just a bit of complaining
To defeat Jim Crow
But now they say
“Get over it”
That’s the damndest thing
“Get over it”
Get over what?
Slavery?
Lynching?
Being called a monkey?
Being called a ******?
Being sent to war
But also to the back of the bus?
“Get over it”
Why don’t you explain how you do that?
What have you gotten over?
I see lots of folks on TV
With their problems
How they’ve been abused
But they are cheered for their courage
They get to sell books
I’m scorned for having the nerve
To bring it up
Are you afraid
Of what I want?
Money?
Retribution?
Revenge?
Should I forget all that
For what?
Because I was freed?
Should I be happy?
Because you allowed me to become
A human being?
Because I can eat
With you?
Because I can ride
Next to you?
Because you gave
What you had
All along?
How do they say it?
Inalienable rights
Granted by God
Or by you?
I know you are frustrated
With me
Because after killing me
And then allowing me to live
I’m still mad
I know how to forgive
And I'm trying to forget
Even though I'm not sure I should
But how do I forgive
Tomorrow's slap?
Am I Jesus?
I know what he said
But my cheeks hurt so much
They are bleeding
I'm trying so hard
But still
I have to get over it
Why?
Because I wasn’t a slave?
Those people are dead anyway
Right?
And you didn’t enslave them
Right?
So you and I are square
Is that it?
So why am I complaining?
Why won’t my mind heal?
Why won’t I just get a job?
Why won’t I just be quiet?
Why?
Are you blaming me?
I was inferior then
Now I’m ungrateful
I guess I don’t get it
Maybe you do
Please explain it to me
I’m all ears

have I tried so hard to see
that I've blinded myself
i'm not fighting the past
but that's not true
i can't remember what it was
yes, that's what I tell myself

i can still smile brightly
i surprise myself sometimes
where did that come from
then i become angry
why should i question myself
when i am happy?

there is so much good
that's what i want to see
i should have said to be
to be what it is i want to see
peace and your smile
that's what you gave to me  

soon what is true will be true
it should be more than a dream
but the water hole awaits
the moon makes no shadow
if you will let it happen to you
then you can show me how

I think you could teach me what I forgot
Or maybe it’s just that I never knew how
I don’t know if you’d take the chance
On love that needs time instead of right now

I’ve been trying to lose my pride
But it keeps finding its way back home
It’s a feeling I don’t miss when it’s gone
But it’s something that can’t live on its own

I wonder if could do it
Would you risk another vow?
Is it good enough that I want to love again
For you to show me how?

There’s the right way to feel
And the right way to care
I just want to know
What’s the right way to share?

I’ve been going down my own road
I’m not lost but I haven’t been found
We’re both heading in the same direction
But are we walking on the same ground?

I wonder if could do it
Would you risk another vow?
Is it good enough that I want to love again
For you to show me how?

There was nothing I had in mind
About what to do when I saw you
The sidewalk would only say
There’s a reason she’s walking on her own

Nothing I can say will work
So you didn’t say anything at all
It’s the luck of the next card
I can’t see first what someone gives to me

No ring on your finger
No look in your eye
When will it be
That you will notice me

Shadows following you
Bright light reflecting
You pass through so easily
Whoever hurt you
Made sure you wouldn’t look at me

I thought about it for ten years
Or it seemed so long today
All that matters is turning around
If I only knew how you want love to start

No ring on your finger
No look in your eye
When will it be
That you will notice me

Excuse me while I think this through
It won't change the world
It won't change mine
It won't make me love you more
It won't make me love you less

It's just that it's important how I think
It's important to know what I believe
And if I can't take the time to think
I won't have the time to think about you
It's the time of my life that I must confess

I began with the time I was child in the South
Then in a dream I spoke Arabic with Rambam
What is the difference between describing God
And asking for your rights as a human being
Once I know I will know if my life is blessed

But you wonder why I can't include you always
It is so hard to make you believe in silence
It is easy to share but only if we know it will end
The balance between devotion and discovery
Is to know what is love and what are regrets

What am I gonna do about peace of mind
It seems a simple girl is not what I can find
It's so obvious what life should be about
But I make it hard like a restless dreamer

I can't take it easy with stones so high
I pile them up to climb my own mountains
You know it seems like a good idea at the time
But time tells me again how much I miss her

Being an outlaw pushes a lot of people away
I could live a life on my own desert plain
They write songs about it but there's no love
I'm coming back to see if she's a forgiver

I want less input into my own signature
Somethings not right when freedom shrugs
It's gotta' be somebody who knows how it is
Echoing sand is not what I want to remember

you said
if they didn’t like the color of your skin
the color that white people
burn for on a beach
the color braided
by the moon and the night
the color where
gardens make their home
the color eyes see
when shut for a dream
you said that
and yet they do not know what they do
even as they try
to wear the color the same as you

Why are we digging up graves
And picking their forgotten pockets?
We want to bring them up
And wear a dead man’s locket

A doomed ship brings comfort
At least they died in history
To a man who has nothing
It’s better than anonymity

How you gonna die
When you don’t know how to live?
What’s the point of fighting
When we all forget to give?

A man only see his color
And still he points a finger
A woman sees her *******
And still wants a man’s power

They only want what you got
Or they want to see you fail
Either way that’s how it is
Just don’t ask them for bail

Who wants to **** a man
For the sins of their father?
Who wants to silence your mind
Because freedom can’t be bothered?

Forty years ago they sang of Green Berets
And being on the Eve of Destruction
Now it's the same thing and I can't believe
How can we suffer so long and keep passing it on?

I never met a man who talked so freely
Like a man who can’t be found
We hear the voices from the wilderness
Tearing the fabric of which we were bound

I know people who hate me
Because I won’t hate the one’s they do
They say I’m the problem
And the world will be better when I die too

I wonder where I can live without all the noise
Maybe one room is all I need
Just some candles and book from long ago
Then I can relax instead of bleed

I’m ready to lose all my money
I’ve already picked out my street corner
It’s just a matter of time before you see me
Then you can drive by and throw me a quarter

I wonder if I could really do it
Live in the rain and cold outside of churches
I wonder if the President would take me in
Guess I’ll sleep under newspapers printed with his speeches

It seems everything that mattered happened long ago
I still cry when I hear songs of my childhood
I can't find a new memory to take their place
Maybe when I die I'll see them before they light the wood

Wake me up when my dreams have come true
But not until yours have had their chance
I’ve learned to live while I sleep
You can have the day's next cheap romance

I found God's green earth
Or maybe somebody pointed it out
I wiped my feet off on some dirt
So I could leave the tracks of what I’m about

One time I was so sure of myself
Then somebody said wisdom is what you don’t know
It’s too bad it took me all that time to change my mind
The things I believed took a long time to grow

I can take a horizon anywhere
All you have to do is remember to look
Walking ahead of me, it said it’s time chico
I’m not going to wait to read it in a book

There isn’t anything about you that I assume
I’m going to give you that chance
We don’t have much time to interest one another
Maybe we should just stick to that one glance

I’m going to wade on in to my world
I’m going to wear a slow moving gold band
Time isn’t as pretty as it used to be
At least I can watch the sun reflect off my hand

That’s really it isn’t it
Seeing what we need to be holy
I’m only worth the dust that begins to covers me
Maybe that’s why my heart beats so slowly

I know more about your pictures than I do about you
I don’t care if it makes me weird
It was the only way I could be close to you until I get over
The things we both feared

You weren’t the prettiest girl I’d ever seen
But you were the most alive
You don’t have any money or care about tomorrow
It’s a life so different than mine

Every time I look I know it’s how you used to be
That’s because time has already passed for me
And the days that make you happy today
Are the ones that once made me happy to see

I keep forgetting if it was once or just a dream I have
The past can seem so real
But not as real as what you can’t wait to feel again
Even if it’s from a picture you must steal

Greenbelts, old clothes and earrings love the rain
Make-up never runs when it’s really you
Nothing matters most of all the rules
There is time for smiles tomorrow is for pain

Every time I look I know it’s how you used to be
That’s because time has already passed for me
And the days that make you happy today
Are the ones that once made me happy to see

I already know how to live
But I don't know you
I want to ask you
If being in love
Is what you want to do

I decided to let it go
Life is not for me to complain
Asking you to waste time with me
It's a chance to find out
If love doesn't work as hard as we do

I'm not trying to convince anybody
I don't need someone to be right
I just realized how long we've talking
I feel less sure than when I walked in
But falling too fast is what fools do

I see you decided to listen to me
You really want to know
I'm talking too much again
I have to believe in myself
I just need to know if you do

I never dreamed about living without you
But waking up, I am now
Things I never believed have come true
And I don't know how

Thinking anymore about darker shades of blue
Maybe yesterday, but not now
I'm gonna have to change my point of view
It's just a matter of how

Life is not only who will be someone new
Tomorrow is the same as now
Taking it slow, somebody else is doing it too
But meeting her, I wonder how

When you find something
There is something you lose
You have to be willing
You can't be afraid
That's who you are now
But you will remember what you lost
For those are the steps you first took
And while you may never take them again
They remind you that no matter where you stand
You will find another place
If you are strong enough to begin again

Somebody left you in a forest
It’s not the first time it happened
Except before it was an abandoned road
Once the freeway to your heart, but now
Only asphalt and leaves breaking a promise

But that is where you must begin again
There was never any plan
Every time you think back you realize
Being lost was never being found
That is how it was with other men

Sunlight hiding from a shadow
Leaves clinging to cold air
I felt as if I’d passed you once
Our eyes met for a moment, then nothing
A country road only knows tomorrow

You pretend to know where you are
You can describe it but not why
You became someone instead of something
I wanted that something to be me
But now you know something bears no scar

It is always something small
Something you hardly notice
A moment,
when clouds form shapes
Our favorite meal,
a father and son feeling the love,
for one another
A ritual,
movie night,
a walk on Sunday
Then it’s goodbye,
forever no
But to the life you built
Not the vacation you took
But the small things
A day,
that became too many turn back,
when your son smiled,
just because you came home

Traveling far away,
just away
To a level of discomfort
Like sadness or euphoria
Why is it all so fleeting?
This longing for comfort
It is not about meaning

The line we cling to
Pulling in some direction
Only to be discarded
At least I've been able
The poor can’t even say that

Did you ever think
This is something to listen to
Something to believe
Speak only into the silence
Hear only that voice
Then decide on your own

Who told you how to dream?
I tithe to the man on the corner
Not the man holding a book
Am I going to pay for that someday
or will my choice stir the lambs blood?

Let’s forget all this stuff
I know what you said
How you loved everybody
Or did they love you?
You went along with it
But they couldn’t handle it

Collecting rings is like art
But you let the dust collect
The only feeling was disdain
Empty fingers are never true
Being asked was good enough
But being free was better

Let’s forget all this stuff
Tradition is for our parents
I know you’ve loved someone
Maybe it was last night
But he doesn’t know me
He just knows I’m there

You said call me when I’m free
That sounded like a promise
A wall is for the one who built it
But a good climb once made my day
You know what’s on the other side
It’s the way we used to be

Let’s forget all this stuff
I have so much to say
But I’m not sure enough
My moods woke me up
It wasn’t love that scared me
It's that I change so much

I could ask you to spend your life with me
But why does that seem so shocking?
People do it right after they say hello

They see hope in a person they don’t really know

And what about your love for me?
Will you give me everything I want?
Or will you make me wait for you?

Like a man who truly loves you would do

You wonder if you really know me
And if I’ll stay after we make love
But just watch how I treat my family and friends

That’s how I’ll treat you no matter how it ends

You wonder if you will get a call from me
Even though last night I screamed my promise
Would a man be so shallow as to take a flower

And not return to the garden where he felt love's power?

You looked into my eyes to see what you could see
And my soul reflected your hopes back to you
You wondered if I could tell you anything more

Am I the man you are looking for?



Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserve. Mark Lecuona

I could ask you to spend your life with me
But why does that seem so shocking?
People do it right after they say hello

     They see hope in a person they don’t really know

And what about your love for me?
Will you give me everything I want?
Or will you make me wait for you?

     Like a man who truly loves you would do

You wonder if you really know me
And if I’ll stay after we make love
But just watch how I treat my family and friends

     That’s how I’ll treat you no matter how it ends

You wonder if you will get a call from me
Even though last night I screamed my promise
Would a man be so shallow as to take a flower

     And not return to the garden where he felt love's power?

You looked into my eyes to see what you could see
And my soul reflected your hopes back to you
You wondered if I could tell you anything more

     Maybe I'm the man you are looking for

It was her impression that was most real
She was able to translate my love from life
She understood the tongue spoken in my soul
One thousand
Two thousand years ago
She was there
As was I
Like the stars
We always existed
But instead they watched us each day
And lit up our graves with their own memories
She remembered how we died together
And for each other
What else could it be?
For through the ages
In the many guises of life
We always found one another
Born in different lands
Life as children
Until the years passed
Wondering and walking alone
Cold nights in desert sands
Emotions deeper than the deepest ocean
Deep enough for mistaken lovers
Deep enough to save the last breath
Before we met again
It only took a few words
For our eyes recognized the past
And the future
There were no dreams
Only expectation
We both knew
No matter culture
No matter distance
No matter how many souls are born around us
No matter how many times our flesh must perish
We are as time passed
Remembered
And as time itself
Forever

Echo cries
No longer human
We start it
Mountains reflect it
Meadows accept it
Then fading away
Where rock slides come to rest
And streams empty themselves
Into the human heart
Never a wasteland of indifference
Only a place to begin again
The birthplace of sound
Anguished and joyful

Killing for hate, we have capsized the ship
and desperately breathe the trapped air
before it bubbles to the surface; and while
we struggle for our remaining life the clock
no longer ticks because we are unworthy
of being measured by time; the book of history
no longer records because we are unworthy
of being remembered; the sun no longer rises
or sets because we are unworthy of day or night;
the moon no longer gazes upon us because we
are no longer worthy of its light; the oceans no
longer care to separate the land because we are
unworthy of claiming each continent as islands
of our own; our hearts no longer beat because
we are unworthy of being one before God; our
faith refuses to deliver our prayers because we
are unworthy of a message of hope; but what
remains will be grace counting each bubble as
they disappear one by one knowing that the last
breath will be the one God must choose whether
to honor his promise or start again.

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Did you think I was going to fall in love with you just like that?
That's right
I just snapped my finger in your face
You need so much more than your pretty face
So what if I stared at you for a bit
Do you have anything to add to that?
I'm not talking about make-up
I'm not talking about playing hard to get
I'm not talking about thinking about making me feel lucky
You need to feel lucky
Have you ever?
You should try it sometime
You might learn something about yourself
And the world around you

It’s more than having dry bones
while it rains every night
or being a head taller
than the one who fancies his girl
it's not just his girl clapping her hands
while they danced
or sending her flowers
knowing she would welcome them
it’s not just being forgiven by God
for what was woven by his own shame
or being given a meal
not knowing when the next will arrive
it’s more than throwing a rock
into a fountain for luck
or praying on Saturdays
for the things that life sometimes forgets
it’s being able to say
good morning and mean it
or feeling the smile of a stranger
warm a winter’s day
but most of all
it's being able to help someone else
or make them feel special
like you made me feel today

Let us climb together
Each step representing the difficulties of life
Walking away from the past
And our differences
But as the mountain narrows before us
Creating common ground
Closer to God
Where the air is pure
And the skies are clear
We will share what little we bring
And what we bring is only what we need
Yes
Only our body
And consciousness
Of life
Our life
And we will then come to know the life of each other
For as the mountain narrows before us
We will become human again
And not a race
Or an object
Only spirit
Wisps of humanity
Filling the spaces between words and deeds
Remembering our place
Not of advantage
Or of dependency
But as equals
And yet I hear your cries
Echoing beyond the valley inside our hearts
Where the battle is fought
Some of your friends will not walk with you
It is the same for me
But we will find others taking their place
And we will welcome them
While lamenting those who chose not to join us
But praying for their walk
Hoping that the clouds that pass before us
Are the spirits that have reconsidered their choice
Ready to bond with us
While the morning fog reminds those who remain
There is still time

She looked like she had it all together
She laughed more in ten minutes than I had in a month
I wanted to talk to her about it
But I didn’t want to dump my pain on her all at once

I’d never seen such a natural beauty
It wasn’t just her face, it was the way she wore it
There was nothing to draw attention
Except her happy eyes and the way they were lit

You don’t look like you need me baby
But you’re not wearing a ring
You’re out on the town
You don’t look like you’re missing a thing
But everybody needs somebody
And I want it to be me
I just have to calm myself down
And remember it’s real and not a dream

There she goes out the door
Her long brown hair waving goodbye
If I hadn’t been so taken
I wouldn’t have acted so shy

It seemed whatever I could say
Couldn’t open a door that didn’t need to open
I guess love is just about luck
You can’t walk up and say you’re the one I’ve chosen

You don’t look like you need me baby
But you’re not wearing a ring
You’re out on the town
You don’t look like you’re missing a thing
But everybody needs somebody
And I want it to be me
I just have to calm myself down
And remember it’s real and not a dream

The sun always sets first on cloud high
That’s what he thought as the flag waved
It flew against the background he once flew
Before the bursts of light that frame his sleep

From the nose of the bomber he saw it first
It was his life and it was in God’s hands now
There was something about peacemakers
He tried not to think about what was right

He thought of these things as the horizon bent
He never was one to hate anybody or anything
Oh the longing for peace but that was not today
He wondered if they would think he was weak

He knew a song about praying the morning after
But what if that’s too late to ask for mercy
It's been so long since he wondered about it
These things are only for poets to write

They didn’t know we were coming home
Who is that at the door? Are you all right?
Looking at you tells me that I need to be
Just never ask me that question ever again

How is it that a memory
Is more real than when you were here
There is nothing for granted
The story has been told
Now you can cry about it without fear

I don't have to look at pictures
I can shake my head now instead
At shooting stars that disappear
You have become every one
An amazement that once filled my bed

I want to start over but from where I am now
I may be old but my mind knows how
To listen to the knowledge of the street
And not college where the frat boys meet
Inventing the art form of a young man’s life
Trying to find himself before he finds a wife
Not playing all the people like they’re a game
Making their heart remember your name
Not because they made love with you
Or what you dropped inside just came due
It’s more like this where a girl walks away
Thinking what the **** did he just say
That was like watching a movie or a play
But it was in my bed and he knew what to say
He told me the way but first I had to weep
No way somebody’s spoon could dig that deep
It had to be with my hands my mouth my feet
Nothing left for me except a mind ready to eat
Ancient texts about suffering causing my desire
Or reading stories written by a winner and liar
How pretty can I be if the world is still on fire
Nobody gives a **** except that boy I inspired
The one who won’t call me love but still wants more
How can I tell until I give it all away like I did before
Well maybe I should just not make myself a temple
Instead I’m a sidewalk where a memory is a riddle
You walk on me and there I lay white naked cracked
But now I know you and the manhood you lacked
Yes it's the way to be, unlike a ****** drinking tea
The more my body takes the more my mind can see
Because nothing’s sacred besides what I think of me
And the truth of the world is not so shocking or free
I wish you hadn’t started over like I thought you doing
But what I must ask is who is listening and who is drawing
Shapes on the sidewalk where blood was finally spilled
And the sermon given by a **** whose mother was killed
I haven’t confused the parked cars yet with my directions
And the ***** I made was the least my own affections
The movie had an intermission asking what year it was
The lobby was wearing a facemask that only said because
It’s the rebellion of the common man after quitting time
Nobody can tell who they are but still they wait in line
Did you go my girl to the grave of an unknown soldier
Do you know what it is that makes him your keeper
He died didn’t he and the headstone said he was brave
It’s act two scene three of the conversation with a grave
You’re not feeling so pretty now because he can’t see
It’s up to you now to think of something to say or be
That’s what I wanted you find inside the history of man
The terrible tale that a spider and a planet understand
But let’s not fret about that we can’t change the past
Maybe we should start instead with what we thought last
Did it make sense did it mean anything did it feel good
It was the flame you ignore though you piled on the wood
It’s not really suicide as much as it is ripping out the wires
And walking with candles for eyes and years for hours
It’s living without giving a moment or a life away
What’s real is everything you do and everything say
Do you really think you’re evolved because you laugh
Was it your own wit or something you read in the bath?
Don’t be so shallow that the pool you drained is on me now
I can’t take it any more I can’t take it though I know how
Let me start again let me start again let me start again
Then you can listen in yes then you can listen in
Because what I’m ready to say is what you just heard
But you can’t remember because it’s not actually occurred
Has it my friend, a dream hasn’t actually been your story
It’s only what you wanted to live but all you can be is sorry
Just like me the courage to be was only the fear to be
But the genius inside of you is also the genius inside of me
And wherever whenever I leave you I will draw a line
We were here because the sidewalk witnessed our crime

I want to tell you that I love you
I want to tell you now
But why do I have to wait so long

I can't let loneliness separate me from you
I won't settle for anyone
Because anyone would be wrong

I will wait as long as I have to
Even if someone else has taken my place
Even if you're already gone

There is a place for what we once had
And it is still alive inside my heart
There is a place and that is where we belong