lonely export

she is a lonely export
she is sunburned and leather
she is a misplaced map
he is going down to get her

it's the same tray of circumstances
it's the same unopened letter
it's the moving violation
it's the chronic bed wetter

she's a rambling export
she's moldy cheddar
she's cutting off the lifelines
and threatening to sever

the day they walked the hudson
along the garbage and the feathers
he went home and drew her picture
i thanked the stars he'd met her

he rubbed the buddha's belly
he said they'd be together
she says she left for winter
but he's going down to get her

this is pain, this is pleasure

no you can't see them
in the fog of the dawn
alone on your futon
with your pajamas still on

they are paving your road
they are moving your boulders
carrying your name
on the nape of their shoulders

i know you are lost
i know you are broken
the pac-man machine
rejected your tokens

i know you are stuck
i know you weren't joking
when you said you'd had enough
when your car started smoking

so take this shield,
this song, and soak them
put this kimono on
find the embers and stoke them

there is fire in the lines
of the path you've chosen
melody in the pit of the throat
that's been choking

i know you are lost
i know you are broken
this is pain, this is pleasure
take the time to know them

waiting room

i'm in your waiting room
with the carpet fresh, the daily news
the fish tank, the country blues
trash magazine and raffled cruises

it's tuesday morning
and i skipped school
to pee in a cup
to show you my bruises
where life beat me up
i'm fat lipped and toothless
i'm dried up blood-
a victim of ruthless

i'm under the clock
in a cookie cutter chair
while you're scoping out throats
and brushing back hair
i'm tapping on the clipboard
to fred astair
mam sit right there

the doctor will see you
the doctor will care
his power's unchartable
his medicine rare

but i have yet to see you
you haven't touched or shared
with your alien instruments
with your truth and dare

petals unopened
rash never flared
a waiting room fixture
an unanwered prayer

leave that there

don't you touch that, leave that there
the eggshell china, the silverware
the oil paintings and knobbled chairs
those fuzzy coats, the minx's stare

you can't bring hime leave that there
his baby grand, his kinked up hair
you can't take this beyond repair
it's not your time. .

time is ticking, time's a bear
that runs for office that runs for mayor
the people gather, the people swear
it promises victories, it rewrites your prayes

gypsy, gypsy
don't stand there
in that sea of faces in tattered layers
the wind is burning the wind won't share
it will break you down beyond repair

so before the paint dries, the carpets wear
pack your satchel, your tents and flares
but that heavy piece, leave that there
it's not your time for time in pairs

you knew me on that high hill

for arti boyd

you knew me on that high hill
shoulders back, no blood spilt
moving 'cross the great lawn with the fawn's free will
painting on the windows, singing on the sills

you knew me with young bunny feet
bouncing ears, tutu heat
crown of jewels, plattered cheese
watercolor recipes

remember me like that wet july, like tattoed sheep
with your cardboard cutouts three layers deep
with the fireflies' horny streaks
free as cartwheels, fireworks and
borrowed sheets

rolly polly

rolly polly won't you show me what I'm worth?
this pitch fork and shovel are bound for trouble
they've lost the earth
the moon is a poster child
bare boned and bravely wild
can't take her to church
we bundle our sage and thyme
pour the milk, light the fire
where sadness lurks

i traded my lover, friends and brothers
for thorns and chirps
exposed my secrets
told you you could keep it
where it hurts

this disaster has lead to laughter
and peace of mind is the torn flag I'm after
the golden chime of an untouched chapter
pull your soul down from off the rafters!

rolly polly she kindly told me what she's heard
she said the strongest empires, crowns and high childs
depend on dirt
the jetplanes and runaways
can't survive on words
we'll invite this pile up,
this car wreck, and sour luck
until we all take turns

321

3, 2, 1
ready or not 'cause here i come
but you always run the same
you say things are slow to change

water finds rock
pushes itself over top
but you always flow the same
you say things are slow to change

but the torch is coming
the kingdom's crumbling
the strings are humming
the soldiers summoned
and they all know your name

the catcher's fumbling
the truth is stumbling
the plates are rumbling
the cards are tumbling
won't you help us to change

surge and swell
align your forces with the rhythm
of these yells
this hobo heart is deep
keep its begging bowl of the streets