How do you fit when you’re just pieces? The stage was set it just needed his entrance they were all
Seated boredom played on their faces he had seen it all before he strode to the stage picked up the long
Neck Guitar he strummed the strings then he laid his voice over the music that rose and drifted across
The room a wooden floor rafters bare his eyes were soulful they seemed to read the crowd what ever
Story they told he knew it well then he infused a golden melody in the cold gray darkness he sang of
Dreamy green forest that danced and swayed in the Colorado wind he threw a ranch house in he built it
Strong and his voice rose and rattled the window pane maybe even a few drops of rain fell and slid
Down the glass the song related a widow and her sons it was sad enough it could have been tears and
Not rain his words ran like a train it picked up speed it squalled through the valley as the mountain
Loomed high over head it slowed on the curves did you ever see lighting flash all darkness briefly slashed
By light and then you were woefully back in the dark he spoke from his own heart and he made a
Connection with the crowd they had known the dark shady places you find in life’s journey he took them
Through the seasons made it clear and inviting they set among the scenes he created with his voice they
Drew comfort as one person and many smiled at each other it was good to distance trouble for a period
Of time in detail he gave riveting stories of hard times then filled it as a cold picture of ice water on a hot
Summer day they drank deeply the water took sloping sliding turns ever deeper it ran until the well
Springs of the spirit were found even the old and haggard found new birth looked spry and smiled
Broadly it could only be explained by a sea captain because he brought the wind up on a still and dead
Sea the sails ballooned out and seemed to creak with joy off they ran toward the far horizon new
Adventures now would be found experience only the boundless waves could create the gloom of
Darkness was swallowed by light his grin broadened as he splashed them with fun and pleasure that
Some had not known for a period of time hope rose as a great unfurled flag it was waving in the distance
Pride and exuberance charged the room he had seen it before knew the thrill shared the joy but he
Lifted his eyes and saw the door he knew in a few more treasured moments the place he stood would
Be Bare he would leave them full of joy and sweet dreams but for him it was only the dark road there
Was a time when he was naive he thought he would be accepted he drew near felt the greatest feelings
He had ever known then killing words spilled from sweetest lips that he thought was a friend when she
Said this is an acquaintance of mine his heart lost all of its magic that he spun for others he sought the
Resplendent free coursing memories of happier times they would have to do for now stranger is the
Hardest real bonds there is to break it comes with many names but they convey one meening you are an
Outsider and the great old saying applies know your place well its least a good thing to know that life is good
if you don’t weaken and try to lay claim to that which will forever lie out of reach the fall is to great the pain is harder to bear loneliness brings it’s
Own dead comfort.

There isn't a He.

But if there was a He then
He made Everything perfect,
Which is to say
You, (if the world is You
And it is)
Then "just so and no better"
If there was a He to tell
I'd tell.

(You are so much blooming out of ***** streets
And camellia blossoms,
Everywhere I, there
The blinding You bursting out of
And flooding my blood with
And I am somehow Perfection's possession
Like a cutout pasted onto white
There are We and the faded world behind)

And if
He was then I'd tell him
He'd better give up now because nothing ever -

But You know I don't think
Any He could've thought up
(And the way Your cheeks fold when
Your teeth show and Your lips are
Just so and no better could ever)

Unthinkable thoughts
I've thought and never alone even alone
You were always somewhere thinking -
(Gods are not so clever
Or so kind)

Impossible for Him.
(But Beauty, You press
Words into me and I seize
Oh! fingers never gripped so
But clutching and You press and hold and
You are!

The birds in my chest are singing
The lightning in my muscles screaming
Love wears a face and it looks on me
And You are!

For all my pitching and whining
And still I open my eyes
And there is no Nothing there,
But You are, oh Love
You are.)

He never could,
But if He did I'd thank Him.

A cat, opened, on the roadside.
Poor machine,
Stuttering and shuddering to a halt,
Cogs and gears all spewed out behind it
Onto the fog-wet pavement.

This little failed venture into life
Lay and mewed its last
While I walked back to my car
And hoped to drive its guts off of my tires.

Pair of mad eyes under imposing brows;
Staring me down white and blue,
(And I can see the muscles in his neck
Straining under the power of his voice.)

Staring me down and singing
Three thousand hundred million ideas
Into my head with one defiant expression.

Two mad-wide eyes blue and white,
Mouth working ‘round words like
Projectiles aimed at my heart -
Striking down the walls Misunderstanding built
Over years and years and

His hands wrapped around the guitar
Years and years
So perfectly, striking it so lovingly -
Music staring into him staring into me
And me staring back.

my eyes follow line upon line
strips of white in between
strange voices, stretches of silence

I hear them too

they lead me away from my peers -
in among the trees
birches breeding close to me.
knowing all along i can always return
although it won't be the same

                               *

still we go willingly where silence takes us
as cracks open - briefly -  
in all the talking we do

He is more than a hero
he is a god in my eyes--
the man who is allowed
to sit beside you -- he

who listens intimately
to the sweet murmur of
your voice, the enticing

laughter that makes my own
heart beat fast. If I meet
you suddenly, I can'

speak -- my tongue is broken;
a thin flame runs under
my skin; seeing nothing,

hearing only my own ears
drumming, I drip with sweat;
trembling shakes my body

and I turn paler than
dry grass. At such times
death isn't far from me