Of Bridges and Benches

I got two hands of paper
When I reach for a prize they just collapse 
I have tried to 'maché them together
But it only buys me seconds til the next relapse

It’s the time of the year the night falls faster
And I’ve made a bed out of this park bench
I am soaked in the sunlight’s laughter
As it sets fire to the Brooklyn Bridge

Dreamer, you have held 
your own name at ransom 
For visions that have kissed your brow
But the only toll you owe
Is the guts it takes to know yourself

I got a golden face, an 
Iron body and two feet of clay
So it goes that’s the sober truth of 
What it means to have what it takes

It’s the time of the night the water rises
And I’ve made a home in the New York bay
I am drenched in a cherry sky as
The horizon outbursts into flames

Dreamer, you have held 
your own name at ransom 
For visions that have kissed your brow
But the only toll you owe
Is the guts it takes to know you’re

      Standing at the door, 
counting knocks, noting clocks
No one seems to hear your plea
And the moon that’s left to rise
Is the time it takes to realize
You’ve got the key

Blue House

Charlie, do you recall the afternoon
sound of the spring rain from our bedroom
Charlie, looking back it really seems 
That was the sound of our dreams
dancing on the roof of our 

Blue house at 115 Holmes, you said 
“I will plant trees in the yard to grow old with you,
Judy, we’ll buy a two story house and we’ll paint it blue”

Nightly, wine beside the baby grand
Nocturnes and minuets to fill up the air in here 
Charlie, before the morning’s had a chance 
to spring from the dawn you still 
cover me like dew on the lawn of our

Blue house at 115 Holmes, you said 
“I will plant trees in the yard to grow old with you,
Judy, we’ll buy a two story house and we’ll paint it blue”

Tethered to the Stars

You can find me tethered to the stars
Swinging back and forth
Like a pendulum 

Drafted by the ethereal vanguard
But I’m also down the hall
In the grandfather clock

You can find me where streets meet avenues
Where forms diamonds of dew
On a web

Weave your way to a sweeping ocean view 
Let the water chew
Your darkness away

You seem to be tethered to the carpeted seats
On the crosstown bus 
As you always miss your stop

Greeted by a grimace from the ever-snarling wind
It whips your clothes to your skin
As if your brooding weren’t enough

And later
You can find me where your lips lock with his
As if you both had previously been
Painted by Vermeer

And tomorrow you’ll still be tethered to that kiss 
So, wander down the hall
Give the key a twist
Hear the tick tock
And find me

January

If I had it ever so slightly my way 
I might always be inches from sleeping
Seems when I start to dream 
It takes a cavalry just to wake me

And if the sky would just keep to a shade
That had as much as I have to say it’d be
Tangerine fighting the fade
Back to navy

No, I did not say it to hear it back
Yes, I still meant it when I let the door slam
I can’t stake a claim — there’s no ground left to stand
There’s just songs without stages 
And clouds that gather but never rain

If I had it ever so slightly my way
I might change my name to January cause
Tell me, what other word has as much of a way
To live out it’s fury

No, I did not say it to hear it back
Yes, I still meant it when I let the door slam
I can’t stake a claim — there’s no ground left to stand
There’s just songs without stages 
And clouds that gather but never rain

All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put me back together again
So I put a thread in my own steady hand
And sat there and started sewing 

No, I did not say it to hear it back
Yes, I still meant it when I let the door slam
I can’t stake a claim — there’s no ground left to stand
There’s just songs without stages 
And clouds that gather 
But keep themselves from raining