Aphrodite

She stops shivering,
After wrapping herself in the burgundy shawl,
And stands in the kitchen entrance,
A rare occasion indeed,
Such things do not happen to me often on earth,
The only red wine is uncorked,
For we are sad tonight,
But linked,
Her in my arms on the faded green couch,
The glasses do not clink,
Aphrodite has come to spend the night,
In my fourth floor apartment,
Asleep in my arms,
The bottle lies half-empty,
On the kitchen counter,
I am reading the Divine Comedy,
And thinking of friends,
Laying my hand gently on her hair,
Fingertips barely touching the surface,
Why are we given what we are?
It is well into the morning,
The bottle lies half-empty,
Not even a hair remains on the shawl,
Nothing of her ever having been,
But an empty glass,
And a big heart,
That leaves the door unlocked,
In hope of everything,
And in the light of it being November,
Warm rooms sound nicer.

The Queen

All the well-lit paths,
Are filled with hands-in-hands this evening,
With blushing smiles and quickly caught laughs,
And she is no exception,
Although she be the highest of these,
In a green gown she moves,
With the simplicity of humility,
And a downcast glowing countenance,
She is queen tonight,
And everyone is asleep,
As the queen breaks free,
And sails into the crisp night sky.

Sounds

It's a running away,
If you want to call it that,
It's a steady walking out,
Down a lighted sidewalk,
No one follows,
No one hears,
The sounds that fill my eyes tonight.

ASD (abbrev'd)

I felt it a lot stronger tonight than I usually do.

Under An Awning

The last summer rain,
Still fresh on her cheeks,
As are my lips,
That then find her forehead,
Her closed eyes,
Her shy nose,
And her lips,
Tasting the dew of a morning,
And the reason for living.

The Minister's Daughter

Heaven,
Must be full of people like you,
Holy and perfect,
You always have been,
The minister's daughter,
In the back of the service,
You care but it takes effort,
I wish I could help you with that,
Your thoughtful eyes,
Watch but never judge everyone you meet,
With jetted hair,
I expected you to walk right out of my life,
But it was my leaving,
An angel like you,
Would never dream of such a thing,
With such a fervency as I dreamt of you,
Under my awning out of the rain,
You wanted to say it all,
Or at least write it down,
So you asked for some paper,
But I was already out the door,
And you pulled your black pea coat tighter,
Continuing to hurt,
And when I came back down that road,
On a Sunday years later,
You continued to hurt,
We had coffee,
You caught me up on everybody,
I talked about everyone else,
And laughed to myself,
Because you're the only one I really wanted to know about.

Jugband

I want so much,
To sway like the bass lines,
To drift in triplets,
Falling asleep behind a county fair,
The oldest generation,
Is about the only one worth keeping here,
With their small eyes and worn hands,
They have seen these towns grow,
But still remember bare mountainsides,
I want to give it all back,
The land and the future,
For those who were schooled in church,
And born onto stone floors,
And to the same,
When they can no longer see the sky,
I will be truly sorry.

America Plan B

When we finally stop talking about growing up,
And step out with our chins high,
And get our heads knocked off,
And fall miles,
And lose faith,
And quit dreams,
And settle down,
With failure,
I will not stab you in the back,
I will not lose any of this,
I will always love you.

If I Had a Sister

And then she turns,
Beaming and glowing,
I want to hide like a child,
Under the table or behind the barn,
But she is there,
Beaming and glowing,
Brightening up the sky at noon,
Resting under the shaded sycamores,
With braided hair she reads,
Beaming and glowing,
We are all just looking for this,
Under our tables and behind our garages,
And she provides the only clue,
Beaming and glowing,
She laughs.

White Kitchen Top

Trembling,
I may be accepting this,
As how you're going to be,
And frightening,
As your scowl is in the morning,
I can't imagine,
Anyone else next to me,
So please shout,
And throw cooked things at me,
When you feel like you're cheated,
Because honey I do to,
And when all we have,
Is that old heirloom coffee table,
Well.
We'll go ahead and sell that too.

My God

My God,
We're still shooting,
At each other's hearts,
Like we had something else to lose,
And my God,
They're still coming on television,
To tell us we're all doomed,
Like we don't know.

All My Life

Down on the wooden dock,
The white rim of her summer dress waves in circles,
And the brown curls don't reveal a thing,
He wishes it was better,
But the gulls and she will never know,

At the county fundraiser,
He's taking coats while she watches the nursery,
They never get anything done,
And he wishes it was better,
And he hands back their coats,

The end of the year dance sees,
The red rim of her formal dress waves in circles,
With nothing in his eyes he walks away,
The black chords of her eyelashes,
Never noticing,

And he thinks about the war and his brother,
And he wishes things were better from the top,
Of a sunset covered bulldozer,

He's floating along,
Through friend's houses and families,
And he wishes they would stay together,
But they and the unopened table wine will never know,

So he takes up his green knapsack,
With some food and a picture,
And she is fast asleep,
And he wishes things were better,
As the powerlines fade behind.