1. |
Scotland
05:16
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The valley was green
But greener the shadow
That cast across it each afternoon
The ship’s rocking felt safe
But safer in shallows
I held my little sister and sang songs she knew
But soon we’d all forgotten
Every rhyme and melody
We’d carried from Scotland
And the green braided fern wreathes
Dress the anchors like funeral garlands
We’d meet under the trees
The ash and the rowan
We’d lie on our backs and look up through the leaves
When my friend turned to me
And asked, “where are you going?”
I couldn’t speak, and I struggled to breathe
But soon we’d all forgotten
Every friend and family
We’d left back in Scotland
And the green braided fern wreathes
Dress the anchors like funeral garlands
Now who has the valley?
And who chases the shadow?
And who tends the trail to the rowan tree grove?
And who will revive
The earth that’s been fallowed?
And what will I do with the things I’ve learned to grow?
Great Mercy and Pardon
Wait beyond this vanity
And in no valley in Scotland
And the green braided fern wreathes
Will become ground beneath a garden
The clouds are American cotton
From this starboard balcony
The sea, the rough wool from Scotland
And the green braided fern wreathes
Will become ground beneath a garden
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2. |
Pillar of Salt
04:25
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So long city lights
Now dark before midnight
So long, so soon, my home
But now I can’t live there
Try not to cry
Or think too much on why
My mind’s a pillar of salt
Now that I can’t live there
I miss my home
If I can’t go home,
Then where is my home?
Count the weeks go by
And thinking I might die
Time is both the window and the wall
But into I don’t know where
I know I’m just passing though
One of my Father’s many rooms
But my mind’s the killer in the hall
And he waits for me there
Whispering, “you can go anywhere!”
But if I can go anywhere,
Then I don’t belong anywhere
Don’t let them see
Just what this means to me
But bend like a willow beneath it all
And make me lighter than air
So long city lights
Now dark well before midnight
So long, so soon my home.
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3. |
Future(s)
03:04
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Say all you want, dear
We’re talking about our future here
When calms this longing, dear?
We’re talking about our future here
I love you more than I can bear
We turn to face our future here
I know
I swear I know
I see a child who stands
And holds our years in tiny hands
Dear baby, bless these fortressed friends
Whose future’s folded in your hands.
“I love you more than I can bear”
We whisper in two tiny ears
I know
I swear I know
So
Long ago
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4. |
Marigolds
04:25
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I walked with Mary
And I held her hand
We were spurred on by wonder
At a perfect made plan
We wondered at a love
We didn’t understand
Some days we’d crawl
And on others we’d run
Move down mountain to valley
To move up another one
But the walking got harder
And it cut up our feet
Some days I’d carry Mary
And some she’d carry me
But carrying can’t keep
A love that can’t stay
Trailing bright yellow marigolds
As it went away
Gleaned like sheaves by the barrelful
At the death of the day
Before our paths parted
We slept by a pond
We wept big, toothy tears
All wrapped round in arms
I kept calling for Mary
Long after she’d gone
But calling can’t keep
A love that can’t stay
Blooming bright yellow marigolds
On the banks where we lay
Gleaned like sheaves by the barrelful
And then floated away
Now some nights I wander
In search of my best friend
Like love in clearing
Beautiful and blest
And always Mary reminds me
To retrace my steps
“Sweetest friend, how I love you.
Now retrace your steps.”
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5. |
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Oh Lord, have mercy
Help me see your hand
As it moves my mind above my brain
Lord, won’t you make it new
Or just break it in two?
(But I thought I’d already been changed…)
What will become of this love?
It wells within and surrounds everything
It’s just too much
Have mercy, Master
Help me see through these eyes
These gypsum alabaster moons
Twin spinning mirrors
In the dead of night
They see but by Thy reflected light
What will become of this love?
The lake that makes the wave
Then swallows it up
Have mercy, Maker
Wake me from this restless sleep
And with ready feet and hands respond
To the Bell’s still ringing brass
And the shrill twin trumpet blasts
And this drum like chest you pound upon
What will become of this love?
Keep it safe and far away
As a trust
Heavenly will
Move me
Heavenly will
Make me still
Heavenly will
Move me
Heavenly will
Make me still
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6. |
The Waiting Line
03:12
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How many more steps left to come?
How far? How many more away from?
Does every pilgrim leave something behind?
Do they serve too who only stand and wait?
And must stay outside the city gates?
Is a pilgrim only one once he arrives?
I will find my way back to the shrine
No beauty in the world compares
With virtue, cracked and hurt, repaired
Even if it hangs your sins out on a line
We will wash them in the fountains
That flow down that rolling mountain
Into the bay that bleaches them with brine
I will find my way back to the shrine
Help is on the way! believe!
The angels neither sigh nor grieve
But silently surround the waiting line.
I’ve turned my back on home and friendship
For a chance to see a kerchief
Waving from the window of a shrine
Whose threshold I’ll collapse before I find
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7. |
Dear Alexander
03:44
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You are dear to me, Alexander
Tell me, friend, how well do you remember
The glass jar to hold the frog and salamander
To keep them breathing through the frost of mid-November?
You said the air holes in the lid must look like stars to them
And maybe our stars are just holes that let heaven’s light in
Have no fear with me
You are ever dear to me
I hope you can hear me
Alexander
It is clear to me, Alexander,
The way that shame can make us all pretenders
After your family heard the scandal
They packed and headed back to the panhandle
Your thinning hair and body scream “surrender!”
But you hold on to a hope you can’t remember
But have no fear with me
You are ever dear to me
We can change by grace and mercy
Alexander
We’re all wounded animals, Alexander
Who, without warmth, won’t make it through the winter
Let’s not huddle and hide in homes of rotting timbre
But rise upon their brightly burning embers
Your broken brother’s love grows ever tender
Love lives and breathes forgiveness, Alexander
So have no fear with me
You are ever dear to me
We survive by mercy only
Alexander
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8. |
The Good
01:53
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Don’t stop to pack
What could you bring?
When you’re not coming back,
You can leave everything.
Leave all your memories
In a grey duffle bag.
Was I ever good
Before I was bad?
Don’t stop to say
A word of goodbye.
When you’re not coming back,
They’ll only ask why.
Was all of my virtue
A bright shiny fad?
Was all of my good
Just bright shiny bad?
Now, who will I ask
For kindness and help?
When you’re not coming back,
You can’t trust yourself.
Silently shaking
In the back of the cab,
Bear me on to the good
In the arms of the bad
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