Big Wheel

I dig
The taste of diesel and the sound of big rigs
Rubber, metal, oil and stone
Scoring at truck stops, lot lizards and driving far alone

Garbage trucks lifting cans in the morning Sun
Behind the wheel of a bulldozer is my idea of fun
John Deere, Dynapac steamrollers, grain silos & old barns
Electric storms over lumber yards

Small wheel runs by faith
Big wheel runs by grace
A wheel in a wheel go round and round

What does it mean to be a man?
How you gonna tell me who I am?
A man is bolts, a man is rust
For a little while, then the man is dust
A man with a man- how more manly can you get?
I may be five-foot-one but you’re all wet
Be a man

I live by my principles, I stick to my guns
I wake up well before garbage or the Sun
I die by my honor which I alone define
My heart is yours, my soul is mine
Take back your flowers and your fance and priss
I’m a man because I say I am, now gimme a kiss

Now there’s peace in the valley
No cause for war
No suspicion, no jealousy
Let the eagle soar

Let the dog’s tail wag
Let the children sing
There’s peace in the valley
Let freedom ring

Angel Blood

What hotel I stayed in before you
You never asked, you already knew
Angel Blood, oh angel blood, no one can compare
I keep my faith in you since we learned to share

Just enough is enough and no more
Immortality belongs to the poor
Angel Blood, oh angel blood, I know you’ve been true
You’re articulate, inventive, and new

Huddle ‘round the fire with your boy
Don’t toss me aside like this old toy
Angel Blood, oh angel blood, like the holy grail
I’m hanging from your wing by my tail

I hear my angel calling me to come down
Irish eyes smiling through a permanent frown
Angel Blood, oh angel blood, hard as they come
I’m true as blood, baby, you’re the one

Morning Star

“Leave your husband and come with me”
Said the Black Jack Gypsy Davy
Morningstar, tell no lie
While the goose is hanging high

Wring my neck under your thighs
All the world loves a surprise
Bright, terrifying and bizarre
Golden Lucifer, the Morningstar

Pull me up to see your face
What’s it like to shit in space?
Morningstar, illuminate
Free us from this world of hate

I’m on a trip, but I don’t slip
From out the fog comes a white ship
A lighthouse seen from afar
Saves the crew, O Morningstar

She shared some stories from her life
In slow Taboo like a prison knife
Morningstar, now I see

All your secrets are safe with me
Shitty songs, shitty art
Shitty poems, shitty hearts
To push away, I touch my scar
That reads your name, my Morningstar

The Burning Of The Temple, 2012

“Hey now, brother – where you headed so slow?”
“Hey now, sister – I’m going to burn down the Temple”

Tagged above the gateway:
“Know Thyself”, scripture for yesterday

Somebody’s mother chilling in an urn
Placed on an altar that too was built to burn
And a dream of grief, clarity and loss
While we’re bearing then burning our cross

Ages to ashes, dusk to dust
Churches to chimneys, love to lust
When you’re crying in the shadow of love

Is it matter-out-of-place
What secrets vanish for the human race
When you’re crying in the shadow of love?

I want to be free… please let me go
Free to go wherever the winds may blow
Free to wander, free to dream or stay
The right to remain silent or the right words to say
Let me go… please, please… let me go
Go back to the flame, the only home you know

Ages to ashes, dusk to dust
Churches to chimneys, love to lust
When you’re crying in the shadow of love

Is it matter-out-of-place
What secrets vanish for the human race
When you’re crying in the shadow of love?

Brighter!

Brighter, Venus
Brighter, star
Brighter, genius
Brighter, guitar

Brighter, candle
Brighter, flame
Brighter, scandal
Brighter, infame

I stopped in for a little while
And warmed up to the thought
I wandered off a little while
Expecting to be caught

Brighter, goddess
Brighter, hate
Brighten and bless
Curse nature and fate

Brighter, criminal
I hope you escape
Brighter, mineral
Illuminate

I stopped in for a little while
And learned a host of sins
I wandered off a little while
Because you can’t never win

All eyes move to thee
All eyes aren’t born free
All eyes want to see
Incinerate me, angel!

Brighter, Albert
Brighter, Mark
Brighter, Katherine
Brighter, Clarke

Brighter, Katie
Brighter, Joe
Brighter, Aaron
The fire aglow

I stopped in for a little while
And threw in the evidence
I wandered off a little while
Resequencing events

There Can Only Be One

All that which is that which shall be done
They say it’s nothing new
I give my heart away to just one
And it could be only you

Like a master’s baptism of fire
I know you have your ways
And two masters at once, no man can acquire
You set my heart ablaze

There’s nothing new under the sun
Who owns my heart?
There can be only one

Broken down for days at a free motel
Under the Oregon ridge
Broken hearts, a lifetime in this hell
I hope it’s water under the bridge

With love it’s either all or none
Who owns my heart?
There can be only one

To saints and martyrs, lovers now and foregone
We are forever committed
But as even martyrs are taught by an Imam
At least we’re grown enough to admit it

All that which is that which shall be done
Who owns my heart?
There can be only one

Name Written In Water

In the very center of my Soul
Is an Eye, from which emerges a sword
I just wish I knew what the sword was for

Prison of childhood; a thousand suburban homes
Every highway across the West I’ve flown
Mesas in Utah, each standing like an ancient throne

My name written in water

If these lines are my last verse
They might well be remembered also as my first
And possibly even as my worst

Fear and solitude, faithful as any friend
Cannot even linger about after I descend
My name is written in water and I’m gone again

My name written in water

None of this will last, just like melting ice
None of this, though how I loved the beautiful lights
You can never step in the same river twice

“What dreams may come, when shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause” said the Danish Royal
I wonder if I’ll even get to keep my Soul
My name written in water

Joe Murder

Who is Joe Murder?
I found him in your ear
Pinching a penny
Where no one could hear
Joe powdered your sinal bridge
Breaking through the crust
Powder turns to smoke
And smoke turns into dust

I burned my wallet
And purged my Soul
Blood for money
And fire for gold
Murder
Murder

Who is Joe Murder?
I met him on a job
Cutting a power
For the Spanish mob
Joe cut with milk sugar
To eliminate cost
Such a frugal drifter
But not all who wander are lost

I burned my wallet
And purged my Soul
Blood for money
And fire for gold
Murder
Murder

Everything Has To Be Just-So

…for your eyes only

They say the white man is never the same way twice
They say the white man has no soul
They say the black man only knows jungle justice
They say the brown man is a filthy Indian
They say an Indian doesn’t come from India
They say the yellow man can’t drive
They say an in-between man has no people
They say a woman has no mind of her own
You know, they say a lot of things
They say it’s all in the cards
They say a dream come true is a nightmare
But it took more than dreams to get here

Nothing much is left to chance
We see the Sun only at a glance
Everything has to be just-so

Let them say what they want
Let’s see whose hands have the most blisters
Let them try to pull down the stars
That were created by our brothers and sisters
In a perfect world, we’d all have 40 acres and a mule
But this ain’t a perfect world, it’s a perfect storm
The Earth may shake us all down to Hell
Whichever way the winds may blow, may they blow warm

Nothing much is left to chance
We see the Sun only at a glance
Everything has to be just-so
A club, to beat Death
A heart, so there’s something to lose
A diamond, for your eyes
And a spade, to dig with
Nothing much is left to chance
We see the Sun only at a glance
Everything has to be just-so

Dealing

Dealing
Dealing is better than kneeling
Dealing

Give it to me straight, I can deal
Funny how a game can get so real
Our cards we conceal

My hand was bad, I sent three back
Won’t you cut me a little slack?
Jimmy Eisley’s dealing smack

The dealer deals, the house always wins
Who can absolve me of my sins?
Aces high, like Fairlane fins

I made a deal so I could walk
The price on my head I stuck in my sock
For Mephistopheles and Shylock

Our loved ones go
where we don’t know
A side I’m not afraid to show

Dealing
Dealing is better than kneeling
Dealing

Sooner Cheat Death Than Fool Love

I tried my hand at poker
That old, godless game
I was dealt five aces
I swear on Peter’s name

Sooner cheat Death than fool Love

Love is not a tower, as the poets say
Even the loftiest prison can be escaped
I wish I never met you, of that I’m sure
I aint any better off than I was before

I’ll sooner reach Taenarum
and into the lower world
steal the Helm of Darkness
than Love another girl

Sooner cheat Death than fool Love

Love is not a chemical, nor molecular clone
I can’t remember the last time I felt so alone
I’m sick as a dog, still my Love rings true
I aint any better off than I was with you

Cheat on Death and taxes
Cheat the money from wealth
But if you try to fool Love
You’ll only fool yourself

Satan Is My Toy

Satan is my toy
And Jesus is my boy
Satan is my toy
And Jesus is my

The Devil is my pal
And Mary is my gal
The Devil is my pal
And Mary is my

A priest found a monkey
The monkey made the priest feel lucky
The monkey made the priest feel smart
Then the monkey laid a

A nun was in her gown
And felt her hands downtown
She fell into a fit
When her fingers touched her

A rabbi washed his beard
Before the god he feared
He taught the cantor how to hum
So his beard was filled with

A mullah climbed on his 8th wife
On the most opium in his life
But his 8th wife was in luck
He was much too high to

Satan is my toy
And Jesus is my boy
Satan is my toy
And Jesus is my

Home On The Range

I believe in littering
Waste should not be hidden, but seen
I believe in stealing
For we cannot possess anything

I will be good when I’m gone
I’m going West where I belong
I waited all summer long
Don’t it sound funny? Don’t it sound strange?
I’m going to make my home out on the range

I believe in junk food
In solidarity with the poor and screwed
I believe in the Great Spirit
When you sing, I want to hear it

I will be good when I’m gone
I’m going West where I belong
I waited all summer long
Though it might sound strange
I’m going to make my home out on the range

I will, I’m gone
My whole life for a song
I’m going where I belong
Some people never change
I’ll make my home out on the range

Brighter! (featuring Karen Black)
Untitled Spain Song

All there is, is control
Blood and come and some control
Sometimes in or on ecstasy
Sometimes my hand behind your knee

Ever since we washed ashore
With bruises from the hardwood floor
Take a drag, blowback
With all your weight pressed on my back

Say what you want

Honey, be real with me now-
What would you do?

Do what you will do
I and I, you are you
Push uphill your boulder
Where the ankle meets the shoulder

I see your coming back around
Your mouth speaks without a sound
I can quit anytime I wish
That’s the one place you won’t let me kiss

Say what you want
Honey, be real with me now-
What would you do?

Aeon Of Aquarius Blues

You’re better, but I still can’t make out a word
You’re better, but I still can’t make out a word
You’re speaking in tongues, but you’re free as a bird

I’m better, but Lord it don’t mean much
I’m better, but Lord it don’t mean much
Better ‘aint much better if I still don’t feel your touch

You’re better, but somehow I can’t get through
You’re better, but somehow I can’t get through
Better ‘aint much better if I still don’t have you

I miss you, you know I don’t mince words
I miss you, you know I don’t mince words
I just want to kiss you, but you’re out flying with birds

Unearthed

It won’t be too long

I moved seventy-five thousand tons
of earth with my teeth
and underneath
was a lagoon
there, I met a toad that belched up a bottle
and in the bottle was a note
a note I knew you wrote
had written
How come you keep your true feelings so well hidden?

It won’t be too long