Shuffle Off

all children
make mistakes
life is hard
place your bets

try to understand
play the game
no end in sight
no matter
how well you
play your hand

no son
or daughter
no sun or moon
laughing inside
the clamber just fading
seagulls and gannets
shoot from awkward
malarkey to dream skies
why can't you leave it all
I don't know.

what sun is unmade
unreal
dreams are
a dime a dozen
and a real steal
how can you win
in this?
I don't know

a game built for losers
dancing with scissors
like this one
Cut it short
or keep singing
is that the danger
bell and an orange glow
wringing its hands
in time slowed
I don't know

Love is like a gate
slammed with force
with both of us
on one side
full of arrogance
the thought of leaving
too strange for words
even an empty evening
imperceptibly concealed
is not wrongly articulated
behind some ancient force field
we all eat with spoons
come clean in
the fabric and an elan
dreamed about with
sympathy
shuffle off to some hidden
corridor
see you in
some other place...

(you bet) Coastal Trial

 denied
a gift
stolen
better you than
better
yeah
than you and him
and disarray

some new letter
to fold
follow
down the
hole
where the
shadow lays
where you bet
its only a new magic
yet
you graze
he held spots
sporting
your gaze
you bet
yeah
 you're better not
to bet.

To kiss my eyes
and then
a slow duress
a pandemonium
natural to
the sun
we become
not dangerous
unexpected
yet a play
redressed in
ascension bound
by earthly constraints
applied.

Considerations On The Rolodex Incident

world war 2 buddies
who will listen as I talk
what is this house even worth
nothing but a last sleeping november
soft graces that once filled these spaces
a tired hand holding a lit cigarette
no more places left to go
no more reason
for doubt
for a mind
that yearned to soar
but feared flight
will I learn to travel
light
will I learn to travel
by the aligned constellations
I watch for
in the night

me and sailors
me and my guitar
just a lonesome road
you know
the ones you read about?

how did we get here
without a map and no idea
just some bitter idea
of perfection
that eventually requires
correction
lay a little here
and a bit with spite
and a little with each person
 in your rockets
we're all astronauts
exploring the unknown
travellign through astral snow
learning a little bit
as we go.