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The
Ewe and the Eye, 1997
1.
DIGGING
Graverobbers better stay away—
We’re laying daddy to rest today,
And it’s too soon for mamma to be dating
A young man like you.
Graverobbers better stay away—
We’re clearing out his closets today,
And it’s too soon to celebrate
With all those bills left unpaid.
Detective Sleuth
Destroyed the proof
To avoid the truth—
How daddy fell off the roof.
Graverobbers better stay away—
We’re laying the pharaoh to rest today,
And it’s too soon to excavate
When the stones are still freshly laid.
Graverobbers better stay away—
We’re embalming the body today,
And it’s too soon to investigate
The boobytraps she had made.
In Hatshepsuts tomb,
Gold and gems were strewn
All over the rooms
Until your boys came through ‘em.
Gravediggers better stay away—
I’m not ready to die today,
And it’s too soon to anticipate
The time, the place, and the date.
Gravediggers better stay away—
I just got a glimpse of the light today,
And it’s too soon to revelate
When the path is still dim and gray.
I’ll need a minute.
I’ll need an hour,
To earn enough for the tickets
For me and my brother Howard.
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2.
PLANTING TIME
I lose track of minutes.
I lose track of hours,
Planting my spinach and cauliflower in my backyard.
Not so long ago, I watched time spin around on my wrist,
But now time goes as slow or as fast as the fish pulling
on my line.
Wildflowers grow, and I think they know
That their sons and daughters will appear here next
year,
Once again—they’ll be here next year, once
again.
I lose track of days.
I lose track of weeks,
Watering my potatoes and my leeks from the creek.
I watch the birds swoop down and catch
A fish or a worm as they wait for their eggs to hatch—to
hatch.
The redwoods grow so slow you never know,
But then rings can tell us things we’d never know—never
know.
Oh yeah, rings tell you things you’d never know.
I lose track of months.
I lose track of years,
Harvesting my turnips and oiling my gardening shears.
There’s no time for love today—
Too many things from above in the way.
But I could have sworn
That this was worth more
Than a moon rock planted on the moon.
No more tears in my ears, lying awake.
Nor more fears, restless years of heartache.
But I could have sworn that this was worth more
Than a sigh amidst the tornado.
But there’s no time for love tonight—
One last hug and kiss goodnight.
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3.
STOKE THE FIRE
Let’s stoke the fire with our fingers,
Hands glowing hot, burning red.
Let’s throw another limb upon it
And lay ourselves down to bed.
Demon smoke pours from a fire,
Feathers through a room—
Wild contortions, sprouting beanstalks,
Fruit born on the loom.
Brooms start dancing Latin tangos,
Dragging spoons along
To play the man to dip the lady
Into the fire’s arms.
We scorch our hair and char our teeth,
Run round bald and sooted.
Our clothes to ashes will be turned,
Our bodies nude and barefooted.
The air is thick with shirttails past—
Gray clouds rising from skin,
Encircling bums and breasts and elbows,
Sizzling a serpentine grin.
We cry in joy and laugh in pain,
A chimney to ascend.
All tears are dried in heaps of carbon,
Dissolving all bookends.
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4. BLUE
MOON
Drove deep into the redwoods
And found a drive-in movie screen
And an owl to take the ticket
Lying in the passenger seat.
I parked the car at the center of the clearing,
Rolled down the window to catch the breeze.
I parked the car at the center of the clearing,
Rolled back the seat to get a look at the screen.
The blue moon rose up behind me,
Casting the shadows on the trees,
Like men and mothers and children
On the drive-in movie screen.
I saw in the car, sat and watched
And listened to the wolves howl at the moon.
I saw in the car, sat and watched
And listened to the wind howling voices.
The figures blurred and faded
As the moon rose up above me,
And I peered around at the forest,
Accomplice to this movie.
I got out of the car with the moon at high noon,
Laid down in the dirt, face towards the light.
Staring into the projection booth,
I saw traces of a face like mine,
In the mountain and valleys, dry lakes and craters
Of a stone cold satellite.
Got back in the car, drove it away—
Back to a bright city and a warm bed.
Got back in the car, drove it away—
Headlights to spy on the trees.
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5.
TRUE LOVE
Fall asleep, my little dove.
Count your sheep as I fall in love.
All I feel is your touch.
All I want is your love.
Fall asleep, my only one.
Dream of me and what’s to come.
All I fell is your touch.
All I want is your love.
Like a wrecking ball, you tore down my walls.
Like a choo-choo train, you tunneled through my
brain.
Like a bulldozer, you gave me full exposure.
Like dynamite, you tore me up all night.
Like a wrecking ball, like dynamite,
You tore down my walls,
You tore me up all night.
Give me your heart in a tin cup,
‘cause gold won’t mean much
to true love—true love.
Give me your heart in silence,
‘cause words might confine us,
true love—true love.
Give me your heart in confidence,
‘cause life’s nothing but impermanence,
true love—true love.
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6.
HILLS ON FIRE
The hills are on fire, my friend.
Where can we go
To escape the dire consequence
Of letting this go?
The hills are on fire, my friend.
Where can we go
To admire, as night descends,
The hills’ burning glow?
We’ll carve a path of flames through the brush.
The wind’s at our backs, so there’s no need
to rush,
Not so much.
The hills are on fire, my friend.
They’re burning low,
‘cause the hills
have grown tired, my friend,
of lying fallow.
We’ll carve a path of flames through the brush.
The wind’s at our backs, so there’s no need
to rush.
We’ll care a path of flames through the brush,
A casual laugh = I want you so much, so much.
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7.
NIGHTBLOOMING TRILOGY
Nightblooming jasmine, nightblooming jasmine
Seeps through the crack in your window glass.
Nightblooming jasmine, nightblooming jasmine—
Open your door, step out onto the porch.
“Nightblooming
jasmine, nightblooming jasmine,
I’ll let you in, if you promise me one thing.
I’ll let you in, if you’ll be here in the
morning.”
Nightblooming jasmine, nightblooming jasmine
Vanishes with the sunrise. You never notice
until you open your eyes.
The woman who drank poison
To keep her body frail,
The woman who drank poison
To keep her skin very pale—
She knew the night so much more intimately than I.
The woman who drank poison
To know a harder life,
The woman who drank poison
To know a better life---
She knew herself more than I know myself.
The woman who drank poison
To feel less at odds with death,
The woman who drank poison
To feel more in control of her life—
She understood more than I understand.
Two ends of a tunnel meet in total darkness.
Will you plan to meet me there?
Noontime tomorrow, I’ll be making my way
Out of the sun, towards the darkness and towards you.
There’s a darker in the darkness.
Is that your silhouette?
Or is it me casting a shadow on the ground?
I call out your name towards the darker in the darkness:
“Is that you come to meet me here?”
Two ends of a tunnel meet in total darkness.
Will you plan to meet me there?
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8.
COURTING
If I were a kangaroo,
I’d wanna carry you in my pocket.
If I were a koala bear,
I’d wanna always have you there in my pocket.
Would you be my baby?
If I were a chimpanzee,
I’d take you out dancing in my jungle.
If I were an orangutan,
I’d want you to come and hang around my jungle.
Would you be my monkey?
If I were a nightingale,
My songs would float like a trail behind you.
If I were an albatross,
There’d be no see or ocean I wouldn’t cross
to find you.
Would you be my birdie?
If I were your next door neighbor,
I’d provide anonymous favors everyday.
If I were just a casual acquaintance,
I’d renew my vow of determined patience everyday.
Could I be your baby?
Could I be your birdie?
Could I be your monkey?
And would you be my baby?
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9.
SET SAIL
Let’s set sail in our little ship.
Let’s discover a continent for just you and me.
We’ll pack the ship full of things good to eat,
fishing rods and wine to drink.
We’ll while away the evening hours, lounging round
this ship of ours.
Let’s set sail in our little ship.
Let’s discover a continent for just you and me.
The first one to set eyes on land will take the other
by the hand,
And pointing to the horizon, the one will say: “Our
journey’s almost done.”
Let’s set sail in our little ship.
Let’s discover a continent for just you and me.
Stacking logs and thatching a roof, making sure it’s
all weatherproof.
The freshest water and the richest soil, side by side
through a hard day’s toil.
Let’s set sail in our little ship.
Let’s discover a continent for just you and me.
Seasons come and seasons go—my belly waxing to and
fro.
The suckling ones grow bigger then they build their own
house around the bend.
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10.
JOHNNY APPLESEED
Cornmeal mush is all you took for 30,000 miles on
foot.
Come inside, stay a while. I’ll fix you things
to eat.
I’ll offer you some clothes too loose, a soft
bed and someone else’s shoes.
Come inside, stay a while, rest your tired feet.
Haunted by a recurring dream
Of the girl you left hanging from an apple tree,
Johnny Appleseed wanders the countryside,
Keeping to his task to keep out the rest.
Johnny Appleseed, right fresh from heaven sighed:
“Please, let me make it up to strangers.
In Ohio, all the farmers wives thanked you with
fresh apple pies
And hurried to mend the tears in your pants.
Dumbfounded by their kindness and embarrassed by
your shyness,
You slipped out the backdoor at the first chance.
(chorus)
The famished cow you rescued from the wealthy rotten
Farmer John
Offered, in gratitude, to turn itself to gold.
But you declined the offer, saying: “That
was not for profit,”
And ushered the straggler back into her fold.
(chorus)
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11.
AUTUMN
No no no, I know—
You owe me nothing
No no no, I know—
I’m not your job.
No no no, I know—
We should just walk away.
We both know we know
It’s hard.
Autumn comes to a seaside town
A little later than the rest.
The leaves hold on a little longer than they
Would have out west.
No no no, I know—
You owe me nothing
No no no, I know—
I’m not your job.
No no no, I know—
We should just walk away.
We both know we know
It’s hard.
The leaves let go,
So let them go.
The leaves let go,
So let them.
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