Bed of Nails

he got a face like a catchers mitt

pitch a little mother’s love at that

she gets by without a trace of wit

who’s on first when no one’s up to bat

she sells cheap pills by the schoolyard

on Sundays from a back yard shed

he sails up and down a ragged shore sure

his drowned child’s not really dead

it’s so pleasant on my bed of nails

staring up at points of light

try not to move don’t think about too much

falling stars and fireflies tell you it’s alright

she got the stripped elm body of a boy

wild child with wind in flaming hair

he got a flask of silver by his heart

all the joy and love tin-man needs are there

he got strips of duct-tape stuck to his head

they help him hear the voices when they call

she got a mirror mirror on the wall

seems nothing’s fair at all

it’s so pleasant…

aqueducts and order legions on the hill

coliseum nights and other blasts

all fall down like jack and jill

tragic tale and a kamikaze cast

it’s so pleasant…

Points of Light

Been a Long Day

been a long day

from a blistered dream into a blue sky alone

high-noon cicadas

buzzed about my baby and how I’m on my own

I set her adrift

she got the strong oars I got trajectory of the sinking stone

and the mud is thick

no one gonna haul me up and warm these bones

some of them have new men

some of them are born again

with the dark and the autumn coming on

one thing’s sure: none of them are coming back again

been a long day

asking the earth not to be so greedy

leaves will fade

after all my carelessness could someone still need me

I’ve wasted time

more time than many even get to spend

all along the line

I plant white lilies and ask when the losses will end

some of them…

been a long day

it’s a little later so I feel a lot more like myself now

half-moon is pale

even the stars are settled behind the cloud

and a little jazz 

papers the walls of the rooms downstairs

and a little breeze

says there’s room for me in the wind out there

some of them have new men

some of them need to be born again

with the dark…

Points of Light

Montréal (soaked in blue

used to glide along the boulevard st laurent

a soft pill under my head

blown by gusts of rhyme the city sent

I was out to hear what the city said

said: midnight wants you singing true and clean

midnight soaked in blue

her sickle moon spills kerosene

to burn the fear from out of your tune

stay awake

open my eyes

I stay awake

in the pocket of a jacket on which pegasus had wings

i kept a nail waiting for a lover’s palm

4 a.m. alchemy turned gold to empty glass

I went home to the unwritten poem

stayed awake

opened my eyes

I stayed awake

now the cool fronds beckon

say: close your eyes for just a second

if I close them I ain’t stepping

forward

anymore

I left that city proudly shivering in ruins

now belles abandoned in the falling snow

ring reminder of the drum that leads the dark parade

soon it may be time to go

if ever I should fall asleep

I pray my spirit rise

I pray my song become sweet dream

in someone else’s eyes

I’ll sail away

close my eyes and sail away

but now I stay awake

open my eyes and stay awake

open my eyes with dreaming and I stay awake

What Have I Got to Show for It

it’s the same old story I once loved a girl

when I was in her arms I was in a perfect world

I held her for a day short of forever then she went away

now the seas we swam and the skies we shared are gone

what have I got to show for it

what have I got to show for it

what have I got to show for it now

it’s a sweet old season of leaf and pretty thing

boys and girls go arm-in-arm bees buzz about the nectar and the sting

soon the shiver’s on nights blow cold and they grow long

faded petals fall like a thousand setting suns

what have I got to show…

now an elegant woman wants to put joy back in my days

she wants to paint a little colour on the grey face of my little pain

I hold her in my arms but she leaves before the dawn

without leaving even a trace of scent behind

what have I got to show…