Thus I Wrote

I told a joke
And it was misunderstood
I didn’t play the social games
Like many others could
I thought of the future
And I weighed it all in my head
But I left much undone
And I left much unsaid

I pushed the world
And the world it punched back
It cycled and it swirled
And it went from white to black
I bow to the collective
To the secular unseen hand
To the arbiter of who’s effective
Of who falls and who stands

I drew an eight
When I needed a Jack
But I’ll play the hand I’m dealt
Cos there’s no use looking back

I asked why
But no answer came
So I studied wise men
But the answer was still the same
I’m a leaf in the forest green
I’m a drop in the ocean blue
But I miss the love I’ve seen
And I miss the God I knew

How did we find
Ourselves on different sides?
What started as a join
Became a chasm wide
I wish that I could hold you
Like when our love was new
But our demands they were too many
And our gifts they were too few

I drew an eight
When I needed a Jack
But I’ll play the hand I’m dealt
Cos there’s no use looking back

You move over shimmering waters,
You see your face in the deep
You create and you hope
That you’ll find what you seek

And you dig deep in the earth,
Its all sticky, wet and black.
Ah..you’re soaked by the rain,
But you don’t turn back.

You see your love measured out,
Into fine, crystal glasses.
And handed out anxiously,
To the next person who passes.

You see the sun rise
You see it fall to the earth again
You see the leaves grow and die
In a forest that still remains

Oh..dream is all you seem to do
You hope for tomorrow
Because today just won’t do
Oh..dream is all you seem to do
You search for beauty
And a love that is true.

You see a baby born,
All crying and bloody red.
You see his mother sleeping
Her hair matted in her bed.

And you hear a trumpet call,
At dawn on a lonely hill.
And you see a lion tear
Into its captured kill.

Oh..dream is all you seem to do
You hope for tomorrow
Because today just won’t do
Oh..dream is all you seem to do
You search for beauty
And a love that is true

I boarded the plane early
In the Stockholm snow
I flew the blue sky
To our London home
I wanted to tell you
About the contract I’d finally signed
I thought we’d turned a corner
I thought we’d left our money worries behind

I came to our door
And I knew something was wrong
The door it wouldn’t open
Because you’d left the chain still on
Our kids were downstairs
They were watching TV
You said you’d never planned
This way to tell me

We must pick our moment
When the writing’s on the wall
We must pick our moment
While it’s still ours to call
The party will go on
But we’ll leave it at the bend
Because everything must change
And everything must end

The sea was a deep blue
On Sardinia’s sandy shore
And in a green leafy shade
We ordered and we ate some more
We held hands and laughed
As they joked again
Oh…We were confident
We were beautiful then

We must pick our moment
When the writing’s on the wall
We must pick our moment
While it’s still ours to call
The party will go on
But we’ll leave it at the bend
Because everything must change
And everything must end

Released November 23, 2015

I won’t be a hurler on the ditch
The only truth is on the pitch
The future is not mine
And the past is just a sign..
While I am plugged in
I am connected
I am alive

My brain is of medium size
It only fits so much inside
So I’ll fill it to the brim
Of only love and good things..
While I am plugged in
I am connected
I am alive

My happiness is when I do
What I was designed to do
Living in the moment
Giving all in the moment..
While I am plugged in
I am connected
I am alive

We are human and it’s our fate
To compete and procreate
To add a bit more
To those gone before..
While we are plugged in
We are connected
We are alive

I laid it on a table
With candles for show
With incense and quiet
With flowers in a row
I fashioned and sculpted
So it shone like new
I placed it proudly
And I offered it to you

We are pieces in a puzzle
Parts in a machine
We are blind to our future
Ignorant to what it means
So I knelt and conversed
And I asked for a sign
“Let your will be done,
Let your path be mine”

But you are the opium
Of the seeking masses
Taken in pain and darkness
In the hope that sorrow passes
Giving form and purpose
To a dark formless void
Collecting drops of humanity
Into a flowing tide

In our secular world
You are set free
Now we use therapy
And we use CCTV
We have burnished a new opium
To collect our minds
But in the darkness we still whisper
“Father, please be kind”

Released November 25, 2015

I saw my father
In the mirror today
I said yesterday
What he might say
And I wore a black hat
To hide my grey hair
As I run too fast
From a life not fair

It is what it is
But what does it mean?
I’m an ignorant part
Of a greater machine
I can see the end coming
I’ll try not to stare
As I run too fast
From a life not fair

We’re in this together
So I’m not unique
It’s not an advantage
Or a favour I seek
We’re all alone
When our lives laid bare
We run too fast
From a life not fair.

I held someone’s hand
And made somebody smile
I forgot where I was going
At least for a while
Its good to be needed
And have someone to care
As we run too fast
From a life not fair.

You are my boundary
You are my quest
You are my reason
To be my best
I compete with you
And cooperate too
But I know I’m nothing…
Nothing without you

You are the air
That I breathe in
You are the water
Caressing my skin
I know that loving you
Is all I find true
But I know I’m nothing…
Nothing without you

You are the fire
That keeps me warm
You are the earth
My protection from harm
I know your leaving me
Will be so hard to do
I know I am nothing…
Nothing without you

I remember my father as he lay there waiting
In his bed of white and gold
He held my hand and he looked in my eyes
He said ” Now, it’s my time to go”
He said “I’ve worked all of my life to give to you
And now I can’t give any more
So take your place and make your own space
Remember my love while you’re in the race
And give yourself… Give yourself to the world”

I watched my mother as she laughed through a story
Of her childhood long ago
She held my hand and she looked in my eyes
She said “I want you to know”
She said “I’ve spent all of my life in loving you
And I could not have loved any more
So take your place and make your own space
Remember my love while you’re in the race
And give yourself… Give yourself to the world”

I sat with my family for a Christmas or birthday
That mark the passing of our days
We joke and we laugh and we enjoy the moment
And later I reflect but don’t say
That we don’t know tomorrow, but we’re on the same journey
And this is how we hold hands on the way
So we take our place and we make our own space
We love each other while we’re in the race
And we give ourselves….We give ourselves to the world.