“Easy”

[Chorus 1]
Easy, easy, my man and me
We could rest and remain here, easily
We are tested and pained by what's beyond our bed
We're blessed and sustained by what is not said

[Verse 1]
No one knows what is coming
Or who will harvest what we have sown
Or how I've been dulling and dumbing
In the service of the heart alone

[Verse 2]
Or how I am worn to the bone by the river
And, in the river made of light
I'm your little life-giver
I will give my life

[Verse 3]
Haven't you seen what I've seen?
Don't you know what you ought to do?
I was born to love
And I intend to love you

[Verse 4]
Down in the valley where the fields are green
Watch my luck turn fro and to
Pluck every last daisy clean
'Til only I may love you

[Chorus 2]
I am easy, easy to keep
Honey, you please me, even in your sleep
But my arms want to carry, my heart wants to hold
Tell me your worries. I want to be told

[Verse 5]
Sit and see how the fog from the port in the bay
Lays like snow at the foot of the Roanoke
Hear the frog going courting
'Til the day he croaks
[Verse 6]
Saying even then how there is light in the river
And there's a river made of light
C'mon, you little life-giver
Give your life

[Verse 7]
Who asked you, asked you
If you want to be loved by me?
Who died and made you in charge of who loves who?
All the livelong day, if I have my way, I will love you

[Verse 8]
But One can't carry the weight
Or change the fate of Two
I've been waiting for a break, how long's it gonna take?
Let me love you

[Verse 9]
How about it?
How about what I have to say?
How about that livelong day?
How am I gonna stay here without you?

[Chorus 3]
Easy, easy, you must not fear
You must meet me, to see me, I am barely here
But like a Bloody Mary seen in the mirror
Speak my name and I appear

[Refrain]
Speak my name and I appear
Speak and I appear
 “Have One On Me”

[Verse 1]
From the courtyard, I floated in and watched it go down
Heard the cup drop, thought, "Well, that's why they keep them around"
The blackguard sat hard down with no head on him now
And I felt so bad, 'cause I didn't know how
To feel bad enough to make him proud

[Verse 2]
By the time you read this, I will be so far away
Daddy Longlegs, how in the world am I to be expected to stay?
In the night, in the night, you may hear me call
Pa, stay your hand and steel your resolve
Stay where you are, so long and tall

[Verse 3]
Here's Lola — ta da! — to do her famous Spider Dance for you
Lighten up your pockets
Shake her skirts and scatter there
A shrieking, six-legged millionaire with a blight in his sockets

[Verse 4]
Miss Montez, the Countess of Lansfeld
Appealed to the King of Bavaria
Saying, "Pretty papa, if you are my friend
Mister Daddy Longlegs, they are at it again
Can I see you?"

[Verse 5]
Poor Lola, a tarantula's mounting Countess Lansfeld's handsome brassiere
While they all cheer
And the old king fell from grace while Lola fled
To save face and her career

[Verse 6]
You caught a fly floating by
Wait for him to drown in the dust, drown in the dust of other flies
Whereby the machine is run and the deed is done
Heaven has no word for the way you and your friends have treated poor Louis

[Bridge]
May god save your poor soul, Lola
But there is nothing I adore, apart
From that whore's black heart

[Verse 7]
"Well, doesn't that just beat all!"
Miss Gilbert called to Castlemaine by the silver dollar
And the gold glitter
Well, I've seen lots, but never in a million years
Would think to see you here

[Verse 8]
Though the long road begins and ends with you
I cannot seem to make amends with you, Louis
When we go out
They're bound to see you with me

[Verse 9]
At night, I walk in the park with a whip
Between the lines of the whispering Jesuits
Who are poisoning you against me
There's a big black spider hanging over my door
Can't go anywhere anymore
Tell me, are you with me?

[Verse 10]
I called to you several times
While the change took place and then arrived all night
And I died
But all these songs, when you and I are long gone
Will carry on, mud in your eye

[Verse 11]
You asked my hand, hired a band
"In your heart is all that you need
Ask and you will receive," it is said
I threw my bouquet and I knocked 'em dead
Bottle of white, bottle of red
Helpless as a child when you held me in your arms
And I knew that no other could ever love me as you loved
Love me as you loved, but help me, I'm leaving

[Verse 12]
I remember everything
Down to the sound of you shaving, the scrape of your razor
The dully-abrading black hair that remained
When you clutched at me
[Verse 13]
That night I came upstairs, half-dead
And in your kindness, you put me straightaway
In the cupboard with a bottle of champagne
And then, later, on a train, it was dark out, I was half-dead
I saw a star fall into the sky like a chunk of thrown coal
As if god himself spat like a cornered rat
I really want you to do this for me, will you have one on me?

[Verse 14]
It was dark, I was drunk and half-dead
And we slept, knocking heads
Sitting up in the star-smoking air
Knocking heads like buoys
Don't you worry for me, will you have one on me!

[Verse 15]
Meanwhile, I will raise my own glass
To how you made me fast and expendable
And I will drink to your excellent health
And your cruelty, will you have one on me?

[Refrain]
Helpless as a child when you held me in your arms
And I knew that no other could ever love me

[Bridge]
Ooh-ooh, ooh-oh-ooh-ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh-oh-ooh-ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh-oh-ooh-ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh-oh-ooh-ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh-oh-ooh-ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh-oh-ooh-ooh-ooh-oh-ooh-ooh

[Verse 1]
From the courtyard, I floated in and watched it go down
Heard the cup drop, thought, "Well, that's why they keep them around"
The blackguard sat hard down with no head on him now
And I felt so bad, 'cause I didn't know how
To feel bad enough to make him proud

[Outro]
Well daddy longlegs, are you?
Daddy longlegs, are you?
Daddy longlegs, are you proud?
 “‘81”

[Verse 1]
I found a little plot of land in the Garden of Eden
It was dirt, and dirt is all the same
I tilled it with my two hands and I called it my very own
There was no one to dispute my claim

[Verse 2]
Well, you'd be shocked at the state of things
The whole place had just cleared right out
It was hotter than hell, so I laid me by a spring
For a spell, as naked as a trout

[Verse 3]
The wandering eye that I have caught
Is as hot as a wandering sun
But I will want for nothing more in my garden, start again
In my hardening to every heart but one

[Verse 4]
Meet me in the garden of Eden, bring a friend
We are going to have ourselves a time
We are gonna have a garden party, it's on me
No sirree, it's my dime

[Chorus 5]
We broke our hearts in the war between
St. George and the dragon
But both, in equal parts, are welcome to come along
I’m inviting everyone

[Verse 6]
Farewell to loves that I have known
Even muddiest waters run
Tell me what is meant by sin, or none, in a garden
Seceded from the union in the year of A.D. 1?

[Verse 7]
The unending amends you've made
Are enough for one life, be done
I believe in innocence, little darlin', start again
I believe in everyone
[Outro]
I believe, regardless
I believe in everyone
 “Good Intentions Paving Co.”

[Chorus 1]
Twenty miles left to the show
Hello, my old country, hello
Stars are just beginning to appear
And I have never, in my life, before been here
And it's my heart, not me, who cannot drive
At which conclusion you arrived
Watching me sit here, bolt upright and cry
For no good reason at the Eastering sky

[Verse 1]
And the tilt of this strange nation
And the will to remain for the duration
Waving the flag, feeling it drag
Like a bump on a bump on a log, baby
Like I'm in a fistfight with the fog, baby
Step, ball-change, and a-pirouette!
And I regret, I regret

[Pre-Chorus 1]
How I said to you, "Honey, just open your heart,"
When I've got trouble even opening a honey jar
And that, right there, is where we are

[Chorus 2]
And I've been 'fessin' double-fast
Addressing questions nobody asked
I'll get this joy off of my chest at last
And I will love you 'til the noise has long since passed
And I did not mean to shout, just drive
Just get us out, dead or alive
The road's too long to mention— Lord, it's something to see!
Laid down by the Good Intentions Paving Company

[Verse 2]
All the way to the thing we've been playing at, darling
I can see that you're wearing your staying-hat, darling
For the time being, all is well
Won't you love me a spell?
This is blindness beyond all conceiving
While, behind us, the road is leaving
And leaving, and falling back
Like a rope gone slack

[Pre-Chorus 2]
And I saw straightaway that the lay was steep
But I fell for you, honey, easy as falling asleep
And that, right there, is the course I keep

[Outro]
And no amount of talking is going to soften the fall
But, like after the rain, step out of the overhang, that's all
It had a nice ring to it when the old opry house rang
So, with a solemn auld lang syne, sealed, delivered, I sang
And there is hesitation and it always remains
Concerning you, me, and the rest of the gang
And in our quiet hour, I feel I see everything
And am in love with the hook upon which everyone hangs.
And I know you meant to show the extent
To which you gave a goddang
You ranged real hot and real cold, but I'm sold
I am home on that range
And I do hate to fold
Right here, at the top of my game
When I've been trying with my whole heart and soul
To stay right here, in the right lane
But it can make you feel over, and old
(Lord, you know it's a shame)
When I only want for you to pull over and hold me
'Til I can't remember my own name
 “No Provenance”

[Verse 1]
Allelu, allelu:
I have died happy and lived to tell the tale to you
I have slept for forty years and woke to find me gone
I woke safe and warm in your arms

[Refrain]
In your arms
Your arms
In your arms

[Verse 2]
Not informed of the natural law
Squatting lordly on a stool in a stall
We spun gold clear out of straw
And when our bales of bullion were stored
You burned me like a barn
I burned safe and warm in your arms

[Refrain]
In your arms
Your arms

[Verse 3]
I'm afraid of the Big Return
There's a certain conversation lost and that loss incurred
With nobody remaining to register
Who had passed this way in the night
In the middle of the night, negating their grace and their sight
'Til only I remember or mark
How we had our talk, we took our ride
So that there was no one home
And the lights of Rome flickered and died
And, what's more, I believe that you knew it too
I think you saw their flares
And kept me safely unawares in your arms

[Refrain]
Your arms
In your arms

[Verse 4]
The grass was tall and strung with burrs
I essayed that high sashay which
In my mind, was my way, you hung behind in yours
Anyhow, she did not neigh
I do not know what drew our eyes to hers
That little black mare did not stir
'Til I lay down in your arms

[Verse 5]
Poor old dirty little dog-size horse
Swaying and wheezing as a matter of course
Swaying and wheezing as a matter of pride
That poor old nag, not four palms wide
Had waited a long time
Coated in salt, buckled like a ship run foul of the fence
And in the middle of the night
She'd sprung up no provenance
Bearing the whites of her eyes
And you, with your 'arrangement' with Fate
Nodded sadly at her lame assault on that steady old gate
Her faultlessly etiolated fishbelly-face
The muzzle of a ghost
And pretty Johnny Appleseed, via satellite feed
Tell us, who was it that you then loved the most?
Pretty Johnny Appleseed, leave a trail that leads
Straight back down to the farm
Lay me down safe and warm in your arms

[Refrain]
In your arms
 “Baby Birch”

[Verse 1]
This is the song for Baby Birch
I will never know you
And at the back of what we've done
There is the knowledge of you

[Verse 2]
Well, I wish we could take every path
Could spend a hundred years adoring you
Yes, I wish we could take every path
'Cause you know I hated to close the door on you

[Verse 3]
Do you remember staring up at the stars
So far away in their bulletproof cars?
When we heard the rushing, slow intake
Of the dark, dark water and the engine breaks

[Verse 4]
And I said, how about them engine breaks?
And, if I should die before I wake
Will you keep an eye on Baby Birch?
Because I'd hate to see her make the same mistake

[Bridge 1]
When it was dark, I called and you came
When it was dark, I saw shapes
When I see stars, I feel in your hand
And I see stars and I reel again

[Verse 5]
Well mercy me. I'll be goddamned
It's been a long, long time since I last saw you
And I have never known the plan
It's been a long, long time, how are you?

[Verse 6]
Your eyes are green, your hair is gold
Your hair is black, your eyes are blue
I closed the ranks, and I doubled back
But you know I hated to close the doggone door on you
[Bridge 2]
We take a walk along the dirty lake
Hear the goose cussing at me over her eggs
You poor little cousin, I don't want your dregs
A little baby fussing over my legs
There is a blacksmith and there is a shepherd
And there is a butcher-boy
And there is a barber who's cutting and cutting away
At my only joy
I saw a rabbit as slick as a knife
And as pale as a candlestick
And I had thought it'd be harder to do
But I caught her, and skinned her quick
Held her there, kicking and mewling
Upended, unspooling, unsung and blue
Told her "Wherever you go, little runaway bunny, I will find you"
And then she ran, as they're liable to do

[Outro]
Be at peace baby, and be gone
Be at peace baby, and be gone
 “On A Good Day”

[Verse 1]
Hey hey hey, the end is near
On a good day, you can see the end from here
But I won't turn back now, though the way is clear
I will stay for the remainder

[Verse 2]
I saw a life and I called it mine
I saw it drawn so sweet and fine
And I had begun to fill in all the lines
Right down to what we'd name her

[Verse 3]
Our nature does not change by will
In the winter, 'round the ruined mill
The creek is lying, flat and still
It is water, though it's frozen

[Verse 4]
So 'cross the years and miles, and through
On a good day, you can feel my love for you
Will you leave me be so that we can stay true
To the path that you have chosen?
 “You And Me, Bess”

[Verse 1]
We picked our way down to the beach
Watching the waves dragging out of our reach
Tangling tails, like a sodden sheet
Dangling entrails from the gut of the sea

[Verse 2]
Hoarding our meals, alfalfa and rolls
Trying not to catch the cold eye of the gulls
I hope Mother Nature has not overheard
Though she doles out hurt like a puking bird

[Refrain]
La-la, la la la, la-la, la la la
La-la, la la la la, la la la la la
La-la, la la la, la-la, la la la
La-la, la la la la, la la la la la

[Bridge 1]
We stayed for the winter
No one told us about the laws of the land
I hold my own, but you, with your hunger
You, on the other hand, make yourself known

[Verse 4]
And when we were found, I know we both grieved
My heart made the sound of snow falling from eaves
You and me, Bess, we was as thick as thieves
So I swore, nonetheless, up and down, it was only me

[Verse 5]
So they took me away, and after some time
Studying my case must have made up their minds
By the time you realized I was dying
Must have been too late, I believe you were not lying

[Refrain]
La-la, la la la, la-la, la la la
La-la, la la la la, la la la la la
La-la, la la la, la-la, la la la
La-la, la la la la, la la la la la
[Bridge]
It is the day I wake with my ears cocked up like a gun
Like every day, of course
Yanked by my wrists to the sugar-front court yard
Now tell me, what have I done?
Seems I have stolen a horse
And I step to the gallows
Who do you think that you are, arching your hooves like a crane
In the shallow gutter that lines the boulevards?

[Verse 6]
Crowded with folks who just stare as I hang, it's all the same
Kindness comes over me, what was your name?
It makes no difference, I'm glad that you came
Forever I'll listen to your glad neighing

[Refrain]
La-la, la la la, la-la, la la la
La-la, la la la la, la la la la la
La-la, la la la, la-la, la la la
La-la, la la la la, la la la la la
 “In California”

[Verse 1]
My heart became a drunken runt
On the day I sunk in this shunt to tap me clean
Of all the wonder and the sorrow I have seen
Since I left my home:

[Verse 2]
My home on the old Milk Lake
Where the darkness does fall so fast it feels like some kind of mistake
Just like they told you it would
Just like the Tulgey Wood

[Verse 3]
When I came into my land, I did not understand
Neither dry rot, nor the burn pile
Nor the bark-beetle, nor the dry well
Nor the black bear

[Chorus 1]
But there is another who is a little older
When I broke my bone, he carried me up from the riverside
To spend my life in spitting distance of the love that I have known
I must stay here in an endless eventide
And if you come and see me, you will upset the order
You cannot come and see me, for I set myself apart
But when you come and see me in California
You cross the border of my heart
Well, I have sown untidy furrows across my soul, but I am still a coward
Content to see my garden grow so sweet and full of someone else's flowers
Sometimes I can almost feel the power
Sometimes I am so in love with you
Like a little clock that trembles on the edge of the hour
Only ever calling out, "Cuckoo, cuckoo"

[Verse 8]
When I called you, you little one, in a bad way
Did you love me, do you spite me?
Time will tell if I can be well
And rise to meet you rightly

[Verse 9]
While moving across my land
Brandishing themselves like a burning branch
Advance the tallow-colored, walleyed deer
Quiet as gondoliers

[Chorus 2]
While I wait all night for you in California
Watching the fox pick off my goldfish from their sorry, golden state
And I am no longer afraid of anything
Save the life that, here, awaits
I don't belong to anyone
My heart is heavy as an oil drum
And I don't want to be alone
My heart is yellow as an ear of corn
And I have torn my soul apart
From pulling artlessly with fool commands
Some nights I just never go to sleep at all, and I stand
Shaking in my doorway like a sentinel, all alone
Bracing like the bow upon a ship and fully abandoning
Any thought of anywhere but home, my home
Sometimes I can almost feel the power
And I do love you
Is it only timing that has made it such a dark hour
Only ever chiming out, "Cuckoo, cuckoo"?

[Refrain]
Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo-koo
My cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo-koo
Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo-koo
My cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo-koo

[Outro]
My heart, I wear you down, I know
Gotta think straight, keep a clean plate
Keep from wearing down, if I lose my head
Just where am I going to lay it?
For it has half-ruined me to be hanging around
Here among the daphne blooming out of the big brown
I am native to it, but I'm overgrown
I have choked my roots on the earth as rich as roe
Here, down in California
 “Jackrabbits”

[Verse 1]
I was tired of being drunk
My face cracked like a joke
So I swung through here like a brace of jackrabbits
With their necks all broke

[Verse 2]
I stumbled at the door with my boot
And I knocked against the jamb
And I scrabbled at your chest, like a mute
With my fists of ham

[Chorus]
Trying to tell you that I am
Telling you I can
I can love you again
Love you again

[Verse 3]
I'm squinting towards the East
My faith makes me a dope
But you can take my hand in the darkness, darling
Like a length of rope

[Verse 4]
I shaped up overnight, you know
The day after she died
When I saw my heart and I'll tell you, darling
It was open wide

[Chorus]
What with telling you I am
Telling you I can
I can love you again
Love you again

[Verse 5]
And it can have no bounds, you know
It can have no end
You can take my hand in the darkness, darling
When you need a friend
[Verse 6]
And it can change in shape or form
But never change in size
Well, the water, it ran deep, my darling
Where it don't run wide

[Verse 7]
The feather of a hawk was bound
Bound around my neck
A poultice made of fig
The eager little vultures pecked

[Verse 8]
And a verse I read in jest
In Matthew, spoke to me
Said there's a flame that moves like a low-down pest
That says you will be free

[Chorus]
Only, tell me that I can
Tell me that I can
I can love you again
Love you again

[Refrain]
Love you again, love you again
Love you again, love you again
Love you again, love you again
Love you again, love you again
Love you again, love you
 “Go Long”

[Verse 1]
Last night, again, you were in my dreams
Several expendable limbs were at stake
You were a prince, spinning rims
All sentiments Indian-given and half-baked

[Verse 2]
I was brought in on a palanquin
Made of the many bodies of beautiful women
Brought to this place to be examined
Swaying on an elephant, a princess of India

[Verse 3]
We both want the very same thing
We are praying I am the one to save you
But you don't even own your own violence
Run away from home, your beard is still blue

[Chorus 1]
With the loneliness of you mighty men
With your jaws, and fists, and guitars and pens
And your sugarlip, but I've never been
To the firepits with you mighty men

[Verse 4]
Who made you this way, who made you this way?
Who is going to bear your beautiful children?
Do you think you can just stop when you're ready for a change?
Who will take care of you when you're old and dying?

[Verse 5]
You burn in the Mekong to prove your worth
Go long, go long, right over the edge of the earth
You have been wronged, tore up since birth
You have done harm, others have done worse

[Verse 6]
Will you tuck your shirt, will you leave it loose?
You are badly hurt, you're a silly goose
You are caked in mud, and in blood and worse
Chew your bitter cud, grope your little nurse
[Verse 7]
Do you know why my ankles are bound in gauze?
Sickly dressage, a princess of Kentucky
In the middle of the woods which were the probable cause
We danced in the lodge like two panting monkeys

[Verse 8]
I will give you a call for one last hurrah
And if this tale is tall, forgive my scrambling
But you keep palming along the wall
Moving at a blind crawl, but always rambling

[Verse 9]
Wolf-spider, crouch in your funnel nest
If I knew you once, now I know you less
In the sinking sand where we've come to rest
Have I had a hand in your loneliness?

[Verse 10]
When you leave me alone in this old palace of yours
It starts to get to me. I take to walking
What a woman does is open doors
And it is not a question of locking or unlocking

[Verse 11]
Well, I have never seen such a terrible room
Gilded with the gold teeth of the women who loved you
Now, though I die, Magpie, this I bequeath
By any other name, a jay is still blue

[Chorus 2]
With the loneliness of you mighty men
With your mighty kiss that might never, never end
While so far away, in the seat of the west
Burns the fount of the heat of that loneliness

[Verse 12]
There's a man who only will speak in code
Backing slowly, slowly down the road
May he master everything that such men may know
About loving and then letting go
 “Occident”

[Verse 1]
Mercy me, the night is long
Take my pen to write you this song
Lord, is it harder to carry on
Or to know when you are done?

[Verse 2]
All my life, I've felt as though
I'm inside a beautiful memory replaying
With the sound turned down low

[Chorus 1]
Long-life, show your face
Slow-heart, curb your taste
Smoke me out of my hiding place
Long-life, state your case

[Verse 3]
What in the world are we waiting for?
Building glowing cities 'long the shore
Where the wind batters in
Baiting my kin like a matador

[Verse 4]
So much value placed upon
What lies just beyond our plans
Waving my handkerchief, running along
'Til the end of the sand

[Chorus 2]
Long-life, speak your name
So tired of the guessing game
But something is moving just out of frame
Slow heart, brace and aim

[Verse 5]
Breaching slowly, 'cross the sea
One mast, flash like the stinger of a bee
To take you away, a swarming fleet
Is gonna take you from me

[Verse 6]
The universe is getting loose
Sodden spread from some leaden disuse
Rushing, unhinged towards diminishing lights
Like a headless caboose

[Verse 7]
I'll wait for you alongside the ocean
And make do with my no-skin
But then, long-life, will you let me in?
And then, slow-heart, are you gonna know him?

[Chorus 3]
Long-life, speak your name
I wait while I decry the wait
And when I die, may I relate
Slow heart, congregate

[Verse 8]
To leave your home, and your family
For some distortion of property?
Well, darling, I can't go
But you may stay here with me
 “Soft As Chalk”

[Verse 1]
So, so long ago
And so far away
When time was just a line that you fed me
When you wanted to stay

[Verse 2]
We'd talk as soft as chalk
'Til morning came, pale as a pearl
No time, no time
Now I have got all the time in the world

[Chorus 1]
Say, honey, did you belong to me?
Tell me, honey, was your heart at rest
When, darlin', all the mourning doves were howling us
A song of love's godawful lawlessness?
Lawlessness

[Chorus 2]
Say, honey, did you belong to me?
Tell me, honey, did I pass your test?
I lay as still as death until the dawn
Whereupon I wrested from your godawful lawlessness
Lawlessness

[Verse 3]
I roam around the tidy grounds
Of my dappled sanatorium
Coatless, I sit amongst the motes adrift
And I dote upon my pinesap gum

[Verse 4]
And the light through the pines, in brassy tines
Lays over me, dim as rum
And thick as molasses and so time passes
And so, my heart, tomorrow comes

[Chorus 3]
I feel you, leaning out back with the crickets
Loyal heart marking the soon-ness, darkness
Tonight, still the mourning doves will summon us their song
Of love's neverdoneing lawlessness
Lawlessness

[Chorus 4]
While over and over, rear up, stand down, lay 'round
Trying to sound out or guess the reasons
I sleep like a soldier without rest
But there is no treason where there is only lawlessness
Lawlessness

[Bridge 1]
In the last week of the last year, I was aware
I took a blind shot across the creek at the black bear
When he roused me in the night and left me cowering with my light
Calling out, "Who is there, who's there, who is there?"

[Bridge 2]
I watched you sleep, repeating my prayer
You give love a little shove and it becomes terror
And now I am calling in a sadness beyond anger and beyond fear
Who is there, who's there, who is there?

[Outro]
I glare and nod like the character God
Bearing down upon the houses and lawns
I knew a little bit, but, darling, you were it
And, darling, now it is long gone
Sweetheart, in your clean, bright start
Back there behind a hill and a dell
And a state line or two, I'll be thinking of you
Yes, I'll be thinking and be wishing you well
We land, I stand, but I wait for the sound of the bell
I have to catch a cab and my bags are at the carousel
And then, Lord, just then, time alone will only tell
You mourning dove
 “Esme”

[Verse 1]
I can feel a difference
Today, a difference
All of us in our tents
Fearing God like a mistress

[Verse 2]
We lay on the rocks in the sun
Watching you and your mama row in
I sat up and blinked when you appeared
So pale you were nearly clear

[Verse 3]
Later, I stumbled to my bed
All alone in the branches
I laid in the dark thinking about all
Of my friends and their changes

[Chorus 1]
And I do not know if you know
Just what you have done
You are the sweetest one
I have ever laid my eyes upon

[Verse 5]
It's a beautiful town with the rain coming down
Blackberry, rosemary, Jimmy-crack-corn
You've got the run of the place now that you're running around
And may kindness kindness, kindness abound

[Verse 6]
In this hour of our lives
Hour of effortless plenty
How do we know which parts of our hearts
Want what with such base generosity?

[Verse 7]
Taking so many photographs, so amazed!
We've never seen a baby so newly-born
And when the bulbs do flash as bright as morning
The crowd keeps on gathering like an electric storm
[Verse 8]
The phantom of love moves among us at will
Each phantom limb lost has got an angel
So confused like the wagging, bobbed tail
Of a bulldog, kindness, kindness prevails

[Chorus 2]
Kindness prevails, ties and rails, ties and rails
Fall into line, bearing kindness
Where will you go, if not here?
What will you say when you write to us?

[Verse 9]
And this is a world of terrible hardship everywhere
And I search for words to set you at ease
But there in the looking-glass, a kite is soaring
Stilling my warring heart and my trembling knees

[Verse 10]
Clean as a breeze, bright as the day
All of the people gather to say
"Sweet Esme, sweet Esme!"
Oh, oh, oh

[Verse 11]
I believe love will always surround you
Brave as a bear with a heart rare and true
But if you are scared, if you are blue
I have prepared this small song for you

[Outro]
Sweet Esme, sweet Esme
Oh, oh, oh
Sweet Esme, sweet Esme
Oh, oh, oh
Sweet Esme, Esme
Sweet Esme, sweet Esme
Oh, oh, oh
 “Autumn”

[Verse 1]
Driven through by her own sword
Summer died last night alone
Even the ghosts huddled up for warmth
Autumn has come to my hometown

[Verse 2]
Friendly voices, dead and gone
Singing "Star of the Country Down"
Even the ghosts help raise the barn
Here now in my hometown

[Chorus 1]
When out of the massing that bodes and bides in the cold west
Flew a waxwing who froze and died against my breast
All the while, rain, like a weed in the tide, swans and lists
Down on the gossiping lawns, saying tsk tsk tsk

[Verse 3]
I may have changed, it's hard to gauge
Time won't account for how I've aged
Would I could tie your lying tongue
Who says that leaving keeps you young

[Verse 4]
And I have got no control
Over my heart, over my mind
Over the hills, the rainclouds roll
I'll winter here, wait for a sign

[Chorus 2]
To cast myself out over the water
Riven like a wishbone
You'd hardly guess I was my own mother's daughter
I ain't naturally given to roam
And I lay low when I return and I move like a gurney
Whose wheels are squeaking
Alone, here in my home
And I laugh when you speak of my pleasure-seeking

[Bridge]
Among the tall pines
Along the lay-lines
Here, where the loon keens
There, where the moon leans
There, where I know my violent love lays down
In a row of silent, dove-gray days
Here in a row of silent, dove-gray days

[Verse 5]
Wherever I go, I am snowbound
By thoughts of him whom I would sun
I loved them all, one by one
Cannot gain ground, cannot outrun

[Verse 6]
But time marches along
You can't always stick around
But, when the final count is done
I will be in my hometown

[Refrain]
I will be in my hometown
 “Ribbon Bows”

[Verse 1]
There is a spring not far from here
The water runs both sweet and clear
Both sweet and clear and cold
Could crack your bones with veins of gold

[Verse 2]
I stood, a-wagging at the tap
Just a-waiting on the lagging, rising sap
I held the cold tin ladle to my lip
At the Shrine of the Thousand Arms, I lowered my eyes to sip

[Chorus 1]
What a beautiful day to catch my drift or be caught up in it
You want your love, love?
Come and get your love
I only took it back because I thought you didn't

[Verse 3]
How my ears did ring at the municipal pound
From that old hangdog to which I was bound
Curled 'round the bottom rung, doesn't nobody want you?
Well, come on, darlin', I could use someone like you around

[Verse 4]
I am not like you, I ain't from this place
And I do reserve the right to repeat all my same mistakes
And in the night, like you, I certainly bite and chew
What I can find and never seem to lose the taste

[Chorus 2]
What a horrible face I feel me make
For Pete's sake, what you have told me, I cannot erase
(Though I keep on saying
And I do believe it is not too late)

[Bridge]
All day, you're hassling me with trifles
Black nose of the dog as cold as a rifle
Indicating, with a nudge, God, no God, God, no God
Sweet appraising eye of the dog
Blink once if God, twice if no God
[Outro]
My mama may be ashamed of me
With all of my finery
Carrying on, whooping it up 'til the early morn
Lost and 'lorn among the madding revelry
Sure, I can pass, honey, I can pass
Particularly when I start to tip my glass
I'll be a sport and have a go at that old song
Singing unabashed, 'bout them city girls
With their ribbon bows and their fancy sas'
But, though I get so sad, could swear the night
Makes a motion to claim me around that second verse
I reckon I've felt worse
And still held fast
But, later on, when I am alone, alone at last
Well, I take my god to task
I take my daggone god to task
 “Kingfisher”

[Verse 1]
Whose is the hand that I will hold?
Whose is the face I will see?
Whose is the name that I will call
When I am called to meet thee?

[Verse 2]
In this life, who did you love
Beneath the drifting ashes
Beneath the sheeting banks of air
That barrenly bore our rations?

[Verse 3]
When I could speak, it was too late
Didn't you hear me calling?
Didn't you see my heart leap
Like a pup in the constant barley?

[Verse 4]
In this new life, where did you crouch
When the sky had set to boiling?
Burning within, seen from without
And your gut was a serpent, coiling

[Verse 5]
And for the sake of that pit of snakes
For whom did you allay your shyness
And spend all your mercy and madness and grace
In a day beneath the bending cypress?

[Chorus 1]
It was not on principle
Show, pro-heart, that you have got gall
A miracle, I can bear a lot, but not that pall
I can bear a lot, but not that pall
Kingfisher, sound the alarm
Say, "Sweet little darlin', now, come to my arms
Tell me all about the love you left on the farm"

[Verse 6]
He was a kind, unhurried man
With a heavy lip and a steady hand
But he loved me just like a little child
Like a little child loves a little lamb

[Verse 7]
Thrown to the ground by something down there
Bitten by the bad air while the clouds tick
Trying to read all the signs
Preparing for when the bombs hit

[Verse 8]
Hung from the underbelly of the earth
While the stars skid away below
Gormless and brakeless, gravel-loose
Falling silent as gavels in the snow

[Chorus 2]
I lay back and spit in my chaw
Wrapped in the long arm of the law
Who has seen it all
I can bear a lot, but not that pall
I can bear a lot, but not that pall
Kingfisher, cast your fly, oh, Lord
It happens without even trying
When I sling a low look from my shuttering eye

[Verse 9]
Blows rain upon the one you loved
And though you were only sparring
There's blood on the eye, unlace the glove
Say, "Honey, I am not sorry"

[Verse 10]
Stand here and name the one you loved
Beneath the drifting ashes
And in naming, rise above time
As it, flashing, passes

[Bridge]
We came by the boatload and were immobilized
Worshiping volcanoes, charting the loping skies
The tides of the earth left us bound and calcified
And made as obstinate as obsidian, unmoving, save our eyes
Just mooning and blinking from faces marked with coal
Ash cooling and shrinking, cracks loud as thunder rolling
I swear I know you, you know me, where have we met before?
Tell me true, to whose authority do you consign your soul?
[Chorus 3]
I had a dream you came to me
Said, "You shall not do me harm anymore"
And with your knife, you evicted my life
From its little lighthouse on the seashore
And I saw that my blood had no bounds
Spreading in a circle like an atom bomb
Soaking and felling everything in its path
And welling in my heart like a birdbath

[Outro]
It is too short, the day we are born
We commence with our dying
Trying to serve with the heart of a child
Kingfisher, lie with the lion
 “Esme”

[Verse 1]
I will pack all my pretty dresses
I will box up my high-heeled shoes
A sparkling ring for every finger
I'll put away and hide from view

[Verse 2]
Coats of bouclé, jacquard and cashmere
Cartouche and tweed, all silver-shot
And everything that could remind you
Of how easy I was not

[Verse 3]
I'll tuck away my gilded buttons
I'll bind my silks in shapeless bales
Wrap it all on up in reams of tissue
And then I'll kiss you, sweet, farewell

[Verse 4]
You saw me rise to our occasion
And so deny the evidence
Caused me to burn and twist and grimace against you
Like something caught on a barbed wire fence

[Verse 5]
Now you can see me fall back here, redoubled
Full bewildered and amazed
I have gotten into some terrible trouble
Beneath your blank and rinsing gaze

[Verse 6]
It does not suffice for you to say I am a sweet girl
Or to say you hate to see me sad because of you
It does not suffice to merely lie beside each other
As those who love each other do

[Verse 7]
I picture you, rising up in the morning
Stretching out on your boundless bed
Beating a clear path to the shower
Scouring yourself red
[Verse 8]
The tap of hangers swaying in the closet
Unburdened hooks and empty drawers
And everywhere I tried to love you is yours again
And only yours

[Outro]
La-la-la-la...