PAST YOUR PAST (2015)

Time

Oh the past is right behind you

Right there to remind you it’s moving fast, it goes right past

There’s the future bright and distant

You’ll know it in an instant when its gone, it moves along

Where’s the time, time, the precious time

It’s a two-step in fast forward

A rumble on the floorboard, and it steady, its here already

There’s a circle running round you

It will run you to the ground you need to move, what’s there to prove

Where’s the time, time, the precious time

It’s loud and its revealing

Sometimes hurtful sometimes healing, it’s a mystery, one we don’t get to see

Sometimes laughing sometimes crying, sometimes willful law defying, it goes onward

Where’s the time, time, the precious time

And I have dreamt it

In the night’s most peaceful slumber

I have heard it

From the sky’s laugh, loud as thunder

I have known it

When my heart felt full with wonder

East was west and up was under

I have seen it, with my eyes

But where’s the time, time, the precious time

Life’s work is never ending

When you’re broke you’re still stuck spending, it’s consistent, always persistent

But the rules are made for breaking

And these walls are made for shaking, can I slow it down

Where’s the time, time, the precious time

Knots in Wood

Like knots in wood the hardest part of knowing you is cutting through

And wish to know you as I might, I’ve set the course to throw the fight

Like leaves that grow upon the tree, they whisper that they’re mostly free

But freedom there can barely be, when she sees you and you see me

Like water flowing down below, to depths one person cannot know

The breath I’m holding I let go, it pulls us in the undertow

Like earth that lays below our feet, at once abundant and discreet

I cannot quell my heart’s desire, to blow the bellows, stoke the fire

I told you that I would not, told you that I could not

I told you that I would not, be your alibi

You put me in a corner, I could not leave to warn her

You put me in a corner, to be your alibi

You may have had a way with words, but she has run away with hers

Her promise was at best skin-deep, one she did not intend to keep

Like water flowing down below, to depths one person cannot know

The breath I’m holding I let go, it pulls us in the undertow

Lay Me Down

Bowing cedar take my breath, take it far away

Take my spirit, take my flesh, should I cross today

            Lay me down, lay me down

Mother maker, speak to me, tell me what I see

Take me to the wild things place, between the land and sea

Mother I will know the pain, and I will tell the tales

I’ll tell them of the fish and birds, I’ll tell them of the whale

            Until you lay me down

Sure of heart and fleet of foot, I walk the weary stones

land my sight on broken white, and council with their bones

Listen far and listen wide, listen cross the great divide

Hear them whisper faint and high, they’re yelling on the other side

Raise my body bleach my bones, set them far apart

Dear ones worry not for me the day my soul departs

Take me to the wild things place, take me there to stay

Hear me whisper faint and high, I’m yelling on the other side

January

Though past your past you could not see, you knew that you would marry me

And sure enough my heart could tell, I knew that I would love you well

And I’d never break your heart

I am yours, you are mine

I knew not then what life would bring, see here my finger’s missing ring

Where once our hearts entwined had laid, time a deeper fissure made

But I’d never break your heart

I am yours, you are mine

A love like this is hard to find, harder still to leave behind

And though I loved you far and deep, my promises I could not keep

That I’d never break your heart

That I am yours, you are mine

And so the task upon me fell, to part our ways and wish you well

And though I loved you far and deep, my promises I could not keep

That I’d never break your heart

That I am yours, you are mine

A love like this is hard to find

Harder still to leave behind

The Strangest Thing

It’s the strangest thing to close the door

When the view is so sublime

Here I trust my heart above my eyes lest they be blind

I hear your shadow on the wall

Built before the fall

Bricks and stones and judgment there divide us

Because you know right from wrong

One is weak, the other strong

Until the tilting of the earth becomes apparent

Turning over

That’s how time goes

That’s how faith grows

Where we all falter

At the altar

Where we fault ourselves

Each is paid in kind

Each one knowing the divine

Where the safety of forgiveness knows us deeply

Step the left foot then the right

Dancing through the fear and fright

Lilting to the edge of what is known

Turning over

That’s how time goes

That’s how faith grows

Where we all falter

At the altar

Where we fault ourselves

Wave comes after wave

Looking for someone to save

Sweeping willing hardships out to sea

Still, I can see into your heart

I can see the broken part

Where the mysteries of believing have betrayed you

Turning over

That’s how time goes

That’s how faith grows

Where we all falter

At the altar

Where we fault ourselves

It’s the strangest thing to close the door, when the view is so sublime

Here I trust my heart above my eyes lest they be blind

Everything

Everything that they told you is true

All the stories, and the love stories too

And the night time is the safest of times

The night time, brings us quiet and still

You will be joyful and courageous, a sight to behold

And we’ve held you in the crooks of our arms

You will be brilliant in the sunlight that catches your eye

On a mountain or some high up place

Chorus

You will be painting all the forests a new shade of green

Where we’ve seen you, we’re pleased to have seen you

You will be counting all the sources of light in the sky

Even then as you’re moving among them

Chorus

Show your strength in her hour of need

Go to her with your heart on your sleeve

Everything that you told her

Everything that you told her

Believe

Chorus

My Own Way

I’m looking for a way to walk, a way to hold my head up high

To chisel out the stars and then suspend them        

I’m looking for some way to talk, someone who will apprentice me

In the art of conversation and arrival

It’s hard to leave the comfort that the arms of strangers lend

It’s hard to see a different way, instead of breaking, bend

But I will make my own way

When I cross the river Jordan, the veil pulled from my eyes

I will see and face the many truths reflected

When the tide that pushed me forward, flows back out to sea

I’ll send with it all my postures and pretending

And I’ll see what can happen when there’s no one left to be

And I will walk a different road that suits the likes of me

I will make my own way

When the heartbreaks worthy of my worry I set down

I will know the weightless wonder of forgiveness

And everything that I regret, I will myself forgive

The heart that I’ve kept broken will be mended

It’s hard to leave a certain life I fit so tightly in

It’s hard to see, a different way, instead of breaking, bend

I will make my own way

I Read Your Book

You were careful in the telling of the stories of the people you knew

None the less I read them and I recognized myself in a few

Where you were the one, with all the answers

And I was the one, with her heart held in her hand

I read your book, I read it line by line

I read it twice, reading between each time

You said that she was the one, and that your love was true

But I was the one you told your secrets to

I read your book, I read it letter by letter

There came a point, I realized I’d met her

Some things I think, are better left unsaid

While other things are better left unread

I read your book

I read it cover to cover

And I began, to see how you could love her

After all, her eyes were jewels rare and fine

Her face that of an angel, left behind

You were lonely you were loving I can tell its here, you wrote it all down

But the places you were looking, all too often they let you down

And you were the one, with all the answers

You were the one, with all the verses in his pen

I read your book, I read it on the plane

What a joy, to hear your voice again

Still, some things I think are better left unsaid

While other things are better left unread

Mes Mains

Chaque défi, déjà réusis

Chaque point de vu, ils sont bien compris

Chaque livre sur l’étage, déjà ecrit

Chaque mot de chaque leçon, déjà appris

C’ était clair au commencement

reconnu dans un instant

Mais à la fin, où on se trouve, c’est différent

Et quoi faire avec mes mains

Les garder vides, les garder pleines

Tu ne sais non plus quoi faire avec les tiennes

Toutes les histoires sont maitrisées

Tout les voyages, déjà voyagés

Chaque joie, chaque tristesse, déjà partagées

Chaque surface, déjà naviguée

C’est vrai, ça vaut la peine

De voir ton Coeur, de voir le mien

De les avoir, ensuite perdre, c’est mieux quand-même

Peux-tu me pardonner

Sachant tout ce que tu sais

Que l’amour, trouvé tout seul, n’est pas assez

C’ était clair au commencement

reconnu dans un instant

Mais à la fin, où on se trouve, c’est différent

Et quoi faire avec mes mains

Les garder vides, les garder pleines

Tu ne sais non plus quoi faire avec les tiennes

Paper Cranes

Look towards the night’s full moon

A silhouette’s stark wonder, illuminating

Starlight tops the ever green,

Shining through the in-between, captivating

           You can say it with your eyes

           You are the sayer of goodbyes

           You can heal it with your heart

           Even the one that’s torn apart

The kindest hands with greatest care

They read you books, they braid your hair

The letters and the finding games

a thousand folded paper cranes

How much can one heart take

How many loads to break it

How much can one love make

Enough to compensate it

You didn’t have to say the words

Silently the news was heard

The meaning hung still in the air

With each of us our hearts held there

You can say it with your eyes

           You are the sayer of goodbyes

           You can heal it with your heart

           Even the one that’s torn apart