1. |
tadpoles
02:32
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When I opened my eyes, there was joy in the water
And there was joy in the grass
And there was joy in our laughter
When we learned how to laugh
The sky swept around us like a curtain
As we entered the stage for the first act
And we wonder just what it is we are
Behind our paper masks and our paper hats
I can feel ripples ahead of us calling out
To open up the land and capture the air
And we stumble about on this uphill road
To grow our legs as we climb up there
For my breath is already a beehive inside
And my bones are all built with science and magic
And my shoulders are knit with windmills and sails
And my eye is a kite that will break through the static
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2. |
constellations
05:00
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You and I were once unstoppable
Juggernauts in the summer sky
Collecting firefly stars and junebug moons
I would be a prince with constellations cradled in my hands
And we would make names to sing after them when we threw them back into the night
The world trembled then at my cartwheels
And the hills would rise and applaud your somersaults
We were brave and barefoot defiant
And all things on heaven and earth were ours to discover
But age began to rob my momentum, and the sky grew faster than my reach
The constellations spread and abandoned me to gravity and pettier things
And my eyes grew only frustrated and weighted with doubt and age
So I look only ahead now with no time for foolishness
Before time escapes me too
…
Sometimes I dream of fireflies I can still outrun
And I awake with the song of their names at my lips
But I let the syllables rot inside my mouth
And try to think again of responsibilities and common sense
To wrap my tired mind in sleep
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3. |
ghost in the trees
05:02
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The trees all keep their secrets still
And give no refuge from the cold
And silent stand until they fill
Every empty branch with crows
They circle where my ribs are worn
And pick the patches I have sewn
On a paper lantern damp and torn
Threadbare skin and empty bones
But haunting trees and calling crows
A man of sorrows walking hard
Relentless and endless turning stones
And catching death up in his arms
And his hands are dry but still spill wine
His hands are clean then they touch mine
And all my oil comes pouring out
Darkness leeching in the ground
His roots are there to soak it up
He takes my coat and steals my cup
I catch his eye as poison spreads
He shakes my heart and lifts my head
And I hate it all, I hate it all
And he takes it all, he takes it all
I am alone now with the trees
But something else is there inside
Color bleeds into the leaves
And broken hearts bleed into light
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4. |
kaleidoscope
03:28
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Ice bends light in the windowsill
And ice keeps the cold inside my bed
We stay so still while the world stops spinning
And snow keeps a pillow for my fading head
And I drank a sleep both dark and deep …
I dreamt a wild kaleidoscope dream
Where we danced in light ten thousand shades spreading
And you and I, we did not try, we knew each part instinctively
For we were at home and we knew no walls
And we could sing always spontaneously
And we would step always flawlessly
And carousels of broken shells
Would every day be stitched together
But most of all, in every room and mirror and window
Reaching and filling in everywhere
He was there, and he had a name for me
And he was so proud to say it over and over and over again
Snow, come and clean a shattered soul
Cover the soil and freeze the lakes
Until the dream one day turns true
And follows me out when I awake
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5. |
spring
05:52
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When I awoke, rain had washed the old world away
The earth stood naked, a parchment page
I walked up and down the humming horizon
Seeing where careful fingers had turned the soil
Planting strange new seeds into every pore
And in unison sprouts began to break through
In unison stretched and in unison grew
They marched to a music I could almost hear
Their eyes were closed and their hands were new
Their hearts were brave and they held no fear
And blossoms rattled in their cages
The world was pressed to turn its pages
And violent color began to bloom
As faces broke open to the sun
I saw their eyes were filled with love
And every time the wind would blow
All the flowers would bend and bow
And every time they bent down low
You could see the gardener stopping now
To admire the new world he grew
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Steven Riche Columbus, Indiana
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