SHALLOW You run so deep How do you keep your head above? I know you keep Your notebooks full of notes on me, on me Shallow shallow shallow shallow Water runs through this land Follow it down through the woods to the meadow Then you might understand Tolstoy, Sonya Tortured their love with diaries His God, his farm Her passion and her nurseries, nurseries Shallow shallow shallow shallow Water runs through this land Follow it down through the woods to the meadow Then you might understand Twilight, small room Your Irish eyes reflect the gloom I love this light So sad and soft into the night, the night Shallow shallow shallow shallow Water runs through this land Follow it down through the woods to the meadow Follow it down through the woods to the meadow Follow it down through the woods to the meadow Then you might understand TOP NEVER BE AFRAID Waiting for the light by the Brandenberg Gate With her fancy maiden aunt in 1938 She held her hand, she heard her say When you're with me, you must never be afraid Later on the train, later on the boat In the hurricane in the harbor of New York Home is far away, everything is new She never was afraid when she was with you. Never be afraid when you're with me What a thing to say. What did you mean? Were you so brave? But it was true. She never was afraid when she was with you. Elegant and stern, critical and strong She could never learn, she always did it wrong But she has your eyes and she has your name And when she was with you she never was afraid. Never be afraid when you're with me What a thing to say. What did you mean? Were you so brave? But it was true. She never was afraid when she was with you. She still sings a song sometimes About a man who forgot to speak About a girl by the riverside With a tear rolling down her cheek. Your life was like a play, lonely at the core The words she didn't say indicated more 'Cause she was loved, she always knew She never was afraid when she was with you. Never be afraid when you're with me What a thing to say. What did you mean? Were you so brave? But it was true. She never was afraid when she was with you. TOP HONEYBEES Honeybees made a hive in our house 200 years ago Summertime you can smell honey on the wind Wintertime you can feel them sleeping deep within the wall. I have a sister, she had a baby She named her after me. We didn't want her getting stung by any honeybee We said we'd have to smoke them out, and tear into the wall But we never did and she's the sweetest little kid of all. Honeybees honeybees honeybees My Uncle Eddie, he was a painter He died in the Spanish War. In 1937 were there things worth fighting for? In the attic we have his letters, and some pictures that he drew With Great Grandfather's revolver and his Union Army blues. Honeybees honeybees honeybees My mother writes her history in the upstairs corner room From the Russian Revolution to the murder of the Jews Her mother was a Grecian gal, with eyes as sad as Christ A crucifix, a glass of tea, a Black Sea lullaby. And August is purple And winter is white And springtime the orchard gets misty at night And one baby's sleeping And one baby's awake And the bees in their hive in our house are still safe. Honeybees made a hive in our house 200 years ago Summertime you can smell honey on the wind Wintertime you can feel them sleeping deep within the wall. TOP LATE You have come ten years too late How calmly we receive our fate Where did you get that lambent look? Pick up that little blue notebook You'll find yourself in every poem I wrote when I was six years old Forgive the sorrow that you find Don't think the world has been unkind Three things are here that were before The fence, the field, the open door And like a picture from the past You are finally here, you are here at last You are finally here, you are here at last You are finally here, you are here at last You are finally here. TOP A GOOD NIGHT FOR SLEEPING I won't answer and I won't call I may move closer to the wall Or say a little prayer that I won't dream at all Ah Sometimes silence is our best bet We're not condemning ourselves yet Whatever we don't say I won't have to forget Ah It's a good night for sleeping A good night for keeping close to home A bad night for speaking, please Don't speak until tomorrow. Sorrow is always all around It keeps us closer to the ground It gives us everything we think we have found Ah You've got the next act in your hand It's nothing hard to understand Just wait 'til morning for that last grain of sand Ah It's a good night for sleeping A good night for keeping close to home A bad night for speaking, please Don't speak until tomorrow. TOP GOOD DOCTOR Good doctor she's in love with you It's true she's just a child But everytime she sees you I have seen that certain smile She's dying and she knows it and she knows you know it too But she loves you, and she's so young Is there nothing you can do? We live here in this better air, we rest and eat and sleep You wander among us like a shepherd with his sheep Its not much fun for one so young, just playing cards with me Her heart so full of longing Darling doctor can't you see? Good doctor, can you help her? If you can't make her well then make her see We know love can hurt sometimes But kindness sets us free She's not one of the innocent God calls back to his throne She's got a taste for suffering that's served on earth alone Her sickness doesn't scare her it's a symptom of your care It's your distance, not her dying, that she's finding so unfair. Good doctor, can you help her? If you can't make her well then make her see We know love can hurt sometimes But kindness sets us free I don't know what I'm asking you, I'm sure it sounds perverse Just take the time to see the truth next time you look at her Behind the shadow on her lung her heart's desire is strong To see her as a girl in love, dear doctor Is that wrong? Good doctor, can you help her? If you can't make her well then make her see We know love can hurt sometimes But kindness sets us free TOP DREAM ON Dream on and come to me Life long uncertainty No harm in poetry Baby dream on to me. One day my prince was here Too late for empty tears Much greater than trouble or fear Baby dream on to me. Daybreak, a solemn vow Have faith (we don't know how) One lifetime is all there is now Baby dream on to me. Time has come to love someone Youth is gone, its said and done Love truly or death cannot come Baby dream on to me. Dream on and come to me Life long a dream can be No harm in poetry Baby dream on to me. TOP A SNOWY STREET A snowy street A foreign bed A cold cold room No prayers are read A baby's born the doctor weeps holds it close while the mother sleeps The son is named after a bear The poet is too tired to care She makes a bow for the doctors daughters' hair The doctor is so very young He saves the mother then he saves the son He could not know that he would live so long And tell their story after they were gone The poet's broke she takes the train The war's still on back home again And she will not survive this long refrain A leather belt A stable hook A legend now for the story book The little bear gets lost out in the snow Another war like that, there is no place to go,no The doctor is so very young He saves the mother then he saves the son He could not know that he would live so long And tell their story after they were gone When he was old the doctor said She lay there smoking in the bed She laughed at him A scared young man She said, Come in and save us if you can. The doctor is so very young He saves the mother then he saves the son He could not know that he would live so long And tell their story after they were gone. TOP EDDY WENT TO SPAIN Hudson Valley apple farm, 1934 Oldest son is out of there, wants to see some more Down to New York City for politics and art Cartoons in the subway and a Violet in his heart. Hey hey hey Everyone's a Communist, love is in the air No one's got a nickel, nobody even cares Franco's killing farmers, they all want to fight He can't even tell his sister when he stows away one night Hey hey hey.Eddy went to Spain. Eddy and Doug Taylor never were apart. Hunkered down in trenches, talking about art. Found a book of Goya, tucked it in their pack Sketching in the twilight, bullets at their back Hey hey hey.Eddie went to Spain Eddy was a soldier, and he was very tough But when he hurt his ankle he could not keep up. Sat down by an olive tree, Taylor by his side Waited to be captured but we think it's where they died. Hey hey hey.Eddy went to Spain Eddy's little brother is now 75 Often has a dream that Eddie's still alive Sees him in the Village, all at once he knows Eddy came back he just never came home. Hey hey hey Eddy went to Spain. Eddy went to Spain. Eddy went to Spain. TOP CAN YOU PROMISE? Can you promise me, not to take me too far from my home? Can you promise me, I won't have to leave the ones I love? Can you promise me two hearts can do whatever they must do? Can you promise me? Do you know how much I love you? Will you go with me, and meet my family half way around the world? Will you go with me, and smile though you won't understand a word? Will you go with me, and walk those million miles in my shoes? Oh will you go with me? Do you know how much I love you? I can't promise you everything Only what you ask me for, so darling Will you promise me, that when the day is done you'll still find words to say? Can you promise me, that if I lose someone my heart will not give way? Can you promise me that everything I think I know is true? Can you promise me? Do you know how much I love you? I can't promise you everything Only what you ask me for, so darling Please ask me Please ask me Please ask me for anything. TOP EVEN THE SKYLARK She watches birds He watches her He stumbles and flushes a great blue heron She turns around He's looking down She says, let's go home now you're scaring the wild life Deep in her book He takes a last look He's got to go somewhere, somewhere He turns around She's looking down He's got to go and she's already been there And the nighthawk is back He calls out in the park She hears something new in his song He says, life's very short And even the skylark knew That love wouldn't last long She's down on her knees Her garden is green He creeps up and crushes a pale narcissus She leans on his shin He says, let's go in She brushes the dirt from her hands as he kisses her They open some wine Stay up all night She feels like a person that he's never known before Next day he's gone No right or wrong She whistles some radio song standing there in the door And the nighthawk is back He calls out in the park She hears something new in his song He says, life's very short And even the skylark knew That love wouldn't last long TOP ON THE WAY HOME On the way home Its so late Driving slow Its alright What did he say At the time She won't mind It's alright And how do you know? You just do One at a time you go through To the other side Don't leave me now when we're almost home Don't leave me now with no place to go Don't leave me now when I still love you so Please don't leave me now. Levels of hope Rise and fall Did you call? Is it too late? Watching a tear On your cheek Once we speak Is it too late? And when does it come? Tell no lies One day the sun Will not rise I don't know why. Don't leave me now when we're almost home Don't leave me now with no place to go Don't leave me now when I still love you so Please don't leave me now. Such a subtle change like when the moon goes down The dark compounds And something so close can't be found Don't leave me now when we're almost home Don't leave me now with no place to go Don't leave me now when I still love you so Please don't leave me now. Please don't leave me now. TOP STOLE THE MADONNA They stole the madonna from our street Just three steps from my door Her grotto is empty, the snake is free and it's not safe anymore I used to come home very late From sad and strange affairs I'd pass the virgin by the gate I was so glad she was there. No sunday school, no church, no book I don't know why she's good Or why she brought me so much peace That Mary made of wood But now the grotto is empty And the night is full of fear I can't lose myself at midnight now And at dawn find myself here. I wonder why they've taken her, and where she is tonight. TOP HOPE IS A WEED Clematis is climbing the trellis Hydrangea is burgeoning blue One sunflower's towering over the others Could it be, there's nothing left to do? In a shoebox a baby bird's breathing I found it half dead before dark I kept it alive all night I stared at the ceiling and balanced the bird on my heart. Baby bird baby bird--is that your voice I heard? In the night when I dreamed I was flying? Were you calling my name? Are we somehow the same? Do you think I can keep you from dying? Like me you need something sustaining You know there's a threat to your heart An eyedropper stops your complaining for now As for me, heaven knows where to start. And this garden' so strong and relentless I planted it all years ago I'll just tear it up someday, I'll bulldoze the fences And let somebody else's garden grow. Baby bird baby bird--is that your voice I heard? In the night when I dreamed I was flying? Were you calling me back? Have I something you lack? Do you think I can keep you from dying? Did you know this was a love song? Did you think the love had gone wrong? Well it's never quite so simple you know. Hope is a weed It grows and grows and grows. Baby bird baby bird--is that your voice I heard? In the night when I dreamed I was flying? Were you calling my name? Are we somehow the same? Do you think I can keep you from dying? TOP BECAUSE I HAVE FORGIVEN EVERYONE Part One Because I have forgiven everyone, you are my reward. Because I have forgiven everyone, you are my reward. Because I have forgiven everyone, you are my reward. Because I have forgiven everyone, you are my reward. Part Two--a round You have come ten years too late A life is long to wait And if I took a few by mistake Thinking that they were you come too late And now you find me here And joy is always near When we have given up everything Are we forgiven for what we bring? Part Three You have come ten years too late How calmly we receive our fate Where did you get that lambent look? Pick up that little blue notebook You'll find yourself in every poem I wrote when I was six years old Forgive the sorrow that you find Don't think the world has been unkind Three things are here that were before The fence, the field, the open door And like a picture from the past You are finally here, you are here at last You are finally here, you are here at last You are finally here, you are here at last You are finally here, you are here at last. TOP GEORGE SAYS George was a friend of yours now he's a friend of mine. He talks of chance, sometimes of fate, he talks of faith, at times of time. George left an open door when I was not so fine. I thought he'd help me back to you, he helped me cross a different line. George says there's a parallel life where we are together right now. And George says love is never wasted. George reads what I won't read, he sees what I won't see, but sometimes later in the night, sometimes later in the week, when I wake up breathless with that loss that chases sleep I try so hard to see this world that our friend George has drawn for me. George says there's a parallel life where we are together right now.And George says love is never wasted. What about regret? What about it? It's heavy like a rock in my pocket What about the past? Just forget, its all the same as now, don't you get it? TOP SEE THE MOON Let's have a dinner party, let's seat them around the table. Let's break the bread, let's pour the wine. We'll make it complicated, they'll lose themselves in conversation. We could even leave the room and go outside. See the moon. Let's crowd this room with voices, not yours or mine. Some deep distracting noises. We'll catch each other's eye all night. For after all, a life is long. Two people sing a single song while all the world spins on and on and on and on and on and on. I have friends whose faces could hold you for a lifetime. Let's close the circle here some Saturday night. It's easy to lose track of them, the last years of a long life. Let's close the circle here some dark Saturday night. TOP BE BRAVE He's such a lazy guy, he never reads the paper, he'll barely even watch the news. He just comes home and plays those ancient rock and roll recordings in the kitchen. Eats chinese food to the blues. He's so addicted to this life that he's been living so I give my love to charity, I send some christmas cards. We used to run around, there used to be this passion. Now I call him up, he says its just so hard. He says, come get me if you want me--is there a war that I should fight? Or are you just longing for me? Come and get me, its all right, its all right. I never once pretended I could be that kind of girl, learning poems, walking head down in the wind, no. There's this glamour and its not in my power. I could be distracted, I'm no angel, I have sinned. He says he believes in angels, when I ask about his faith. These little earthly angels that bring the world a shade of grace. Listen to the voice on the phone, Listen for the line that leaves you all alone Listen to the static on the wave, listen to your heart, telling you be brave, be brave, be brave TOP NO QUESTION She lived with her parents on rue du Roissy She worked for her lover, much older than she Was, a famous author, with a wife and some kids And no question of marriage, so she never did. The year she was forty, she saw he might leave She wrote him a story, so cruelly conceived That he couldn't resist, on his desk every day He would find a new chapter, and he'd have to stay. She wrote the story in her bed at night And every morning, he would fly from his home To hold those pages in his hands That held the love and sorrow she'd known She slept in a cot by his bed as he died He'd made her book famous, though she never tried To do more than just hold him, though it might have been wrong And she still tells the critics, "it's just a love song." Still she dreams of songs that she can't sing With melodies that fade away like every living thing TOP MY OLD HAUNTS Over breakfast in a little pensione A woman my mother used to know Cobbled streets twisting down below Holds my hand, tells me what I want to know What she tells memakes me want to cry Tragedy can make you feel so shy History seems to be full of lies, I say Why do you stay? She says, oh my dear... My old haunts are in this town All I want is all around me now The darkest memories, the ghosts on every city street They're at the heart of me, the part I know the best. We've been through the wars and now I think we're going to get some rest. So kiss your mother for me when you get home And settle down, you shouldn't stay so alone Life is short but it is also long It's not a feather but its not such a heavy load TOP OH VAGABOND She writes me in our mother tongue, he's gone he's gone he's gone he's gone he's got a plan, he wants me to go but I can't this is the only language I know. I think of loveI think of war on each side of this flimsy door. He slams it shut, I lock it in, I could never be a refugee like him. Oh vagabond, oh my sweet savant, where will you find this freedom that you want? Oh my infidel, you know I wish you well but I'll miss you more than pretty words could ever tell. A stranger there, in danger here. I think I'll take familiar fear and see my mother every Sunday night and find a lover who has stayed to fight.Vagabond . . . Everybody knows a home is just a home. You hang your hat,you're less alone. Your battered books are on your shelf, no stranger's shattered look could be stranger than yourself. He's got my number, my address, I'll help him out, I'll do my best. She says he's really very sweet, it makes her smile to think we'll finally meet. Oh vagabond, oh my sweet savant.I hope you find this freedom that you want. Oh my infidel, you know I'll always wish you well but I'll miss you more than all these pretty words can ever tell. TOP INDIANA There is a west wind blowing out of your home state, full of stories of the glories of your childhood days. Of the woods you roamed and the games you played all that summer they were blasting out the Interstate and I know, you're from Indiana, I know, you're from Indiana. You had the Southern pride, you had the Yankee fear, you had a horse to ride, you had a taste for beer, well one of the things you have now is me, and I know, you're from Indiana Is it pretty there? Would you take me there? Would you show me where you lived? Were you happy there? Would I like it there? I'd like anywhere that you lived. I have never seen the streets of your home town but the day will come along when I'll be passing through. If you're with me you'll show me all around, if I'm with somebody else I'll be so lonely for you and I know you're from Indiana, I know, you're from Indiana. Your family moved away, they went to Oregon, abandoned your home state, they left it all alone. Now you've got one foot on the West Coast and one on the East and your heart's out in the middle, in an empty field and I know. Who's your Congressman, who's your Senator?Who's your favorite basketball star? Hoosier skies are blue, hoosier eyes are too, hoosiers like to stay where they are. Is it pretty there? Would you take me there? Would you show me where you lived? Were you happy there? Would I like it there? I'd like anywhere that you lived and I know, you're from Indiana, I know, you're from Indiana. TOP LOVE COMES AND GOES We live a life here in this city and its pretty fine. We've been here for years and years but only recently entwined. So now the sidewalks have some charm again, and there is laughter on the telephone, and its alright here back in arms again but I get lonely for those nights alone Some dreams come around only when you're by yourself. A separate peace that can be found when you're a little lonely. Some dreams whisper louder when you long a little harder and anyway, love comes and goes. It comes and goes. I've learned not to want something so much it makes you want to die. The virtue of the lighter touch is in your hand which is in mine. And even though this seems so serious, and even though we're making summer plans, I recall that fall delirious that I just survived and I understand TOP IN THE COUNTRY Some day she'll say she's going to move away, she's got the country in mind. Some day she'll go, she's going to let us know, she'll leave this hard life behind. In the country the birds and the flowers are there in the morning, no matter how deep her despair. In the country the birds and the flowers are there. A deep one, a dancer, a girl with the answer to love, there's no one to deny her. Surround her, reflect her, they try to protect her but she's getting higher and higher. And in the country the fields and the forests are green in the evening no matter how blue she has been. In the country the fields and the forests are green Her windows are on the park. All day and after dark she's looking for life in that jungle. There's rats in the old trees but red tailed hawks on the breeze and they're flying north out of hunger. And in the country the moon and the stars light the sky in the nighttime no matter if she laughs or cries in the country the birds and the flowers are there in the morning no matter how deep her despair in the country. TOP 3 YEARS IN NEBRASKA Marijuana grows wild out there Sown for rope during the first world war Fencelines tangled with strong old weeds Those long long days are what you need. I was up in BC just looking I guess He was home from the war and a terrible mess Too much drugs and pain came after There was money to be made in Nebraska. Three years in Nebraska, on a riverbank where things just grew In the shadow of that Great Disaster He's be lost, we both knew. A mechanical man, he could fix anything From trucks to Central Pivot Irrigation machines Farmers loved his way with wrenches They didn't know about his weeds in the fences And I had a garden that was blessed by God Full hot sun and the deep dark sod Daisies, beans and watermelons High grade weed is what we were selling. For me that life was a long charade I laughed and I love all the money we made But I turned back when it got too scary I lost track of that man I married. Three years in Nebraska, on a riverbank where things just grew In the shadow of that Great Disaster He's be lost, we both knew. TOP DON'T WATCH ME SLEEP Don't watch me sleep, it isn't fair I'm in the deep, you're way up there And you're searching for a sign but death is not a conversation Just close your eyes and dream your own You look so tired, you should go home And some day in another life we'll share our revelations I'm on my way, the day is spent Abandon me in my descent Are you my family, are you my friend?I hardly know. And you can stay if you must stay but I must go. These walls are white, these roses red Give up this fight here by the bed "If we knew love we'll love again" That weary incantation. Don't watch me sleep, just take my hand And drift off to that distant land But if you see me, understand It's your imagination. TOP A SISTER There's a bunch of kids down on the dock. They're all catching fish and skipping flat rocks. Six boys and one girl, she looks kind of mad, she lives with her mom, she misses her dad, she says, things wouldn't be so bad if I just had a sister. It's time to go home, they climb up the dune. She straggles behind, she wants her own room. These hand-me-down clothes are ugly and worn. There's a princess's heart beating under these thorns. She says,she says things wouldn't be so bad if I just had a sister. But no-she's got a half brother and a whole brother and a step brother and oh brother-things wouldn't be so bad if she just had a sister. She doesn't want to act tough, doesn't want to play ball, doesn't want to play rough and she won't play at all. There's a chair where she sits with a vase on the shelf. Fresh flower every day, she picks it herself. A book that she reads, a song that she sings, a dream that she dreams about beautiful things.She says, things wouldn't be so bad if I just had a sister. But no shes got a big brother and a little brother, when she lives with her dad she misses her mother. She says, things wouldn't be so bad, if I just had a sister. Where is she now? She's got a beautiful garden and the prettiest house. She's got three sons, and no moons...ah. TOP MADE MY BED Pale blue dress, bright blue eyes, Mother's face, no surprise. She comes here to bring me home.Mother dear, leaves alone. She can't know the life I led beyond our home, the thrill and dread. The love was strong but we were weak, she would not see, I could not speak. Now I've made my bed and it's a narrow one And I will lie in it with pleasure When all is said and all is done, Mother One soul's tragedy is another soul's treasure, and I I can't show her what I have found But I won't search anymore A life is like a meteor, melting glass, smashing doors.To find its path, to rest somewhere, the convent or the easy chair. I was too wild, now I'm too free. Her oldest child, she still can't see. Let her go let her go God bless her She is mine anywhere she may be She might wander this wide world all over She will never find a friend like me TOP