3

H A P P E N S TO T H E H E A R T

I was always working steadyBut I never called it artI was funding my depressionMeeting Jesus reading MarxSure it failed my little fireBut it’s bright the dying sparkGo tell the young messiahWhat happens to the heart

There’s a mist of summer kissesWhere I tried to double-parkThe rivalry was viciousAnd the women were in chargeIt was nothing, it was businessBut it left an ugly markSo I’ve come here to revisitWhat happens to the heart

I was selling holy trinketsI was dressing kind of sharpHad a pussy in the kitchenAnd a panther in the yardIn the prison of the giftedI was friendly with the guardSo I never had to witnessWhat happens to the heart

I should have seen it comingYou could say I wrote the chartJust to look at her was troubleIt was trouble from the startSure we played a stunning coupleBut I never liked the partIt ain’t pretty, it ain’t subtleWhat happens to the heart

Now the angel’s got a fiddleAnd the devil’s got a harpEvery soul is like a minnowEvery mind is like a sharkI’ve opened every windowBut the house, the house is darkJust say Uncle, then it’s simpleWhat happens to the heart

I was always working steadyBut I never called it artThe slaves were there alreadyThe singers chained and charredNow the arc of justice bendingAnd the injured soon to marchI lost my job defendingWhat happens to the heart

I studied with this beggarHe was filthy he was scarredBy the claws of many womenHe had failed to disregardNo fable here no lessonNo singing meadowlarkJust a filthy beggar blessingWhat happens to the heart

I was always working steadyBut I never called it artI could lift, but nothing heavyAlmost lost my union cardI was handy with a rifleMy father’s .303We fought for something finalNot the right to disagree

Sure it failed my little fireBut it’s bright the dying sparkGo tell the young messiahWhat happens to the heart

June 24, 2016

6

I D O

I do, I love you MaryMore than I can sayCuz if I ever said itThey’d take us both away

They’d lock us up for nothingAnd throw away the keyThe world don’t like us MaryThey’re on to you and me

We got a minute MaryBefore they pull the plug50 seconds maybeYou know that’s not enough

30 seconds babyIs all we got to loveAnd if they catch us laughingThey gonna rough us up

I do, I love you MaryMore than I can sayCuz if I ever said itThey’d take us both away

They’d lock us up for nothingAnd throw away the keyThe world don’t like us MaryThey’re on to you and me

7

L A M B C H O P S

thinking of those lambchopsat Moishe’s the other night

we all taste good to one anothermost bodies are good to eateven reptiles and insects

even the poisonous lutefisk of Norwayburied in the dirt a million years before servingand the poisonous blowfish of Japancan be prepared to insure reasonable risksat the table

if the crazy god did not want us to eat one anotherwhy make our flesh so sweet

I heard it on the radioa happy rabbit at the rabbit farmsaying to the animal psychic

don’t be sadit’s lovely herethey’re so good to us

we’re not the only onessaid the rabbit comforting her

everyone gets eatenas the rabbit saidto the animal psychic

2006

9

N O T I M E TO C H A N G E

No time to changeThe backward lookIt’s much too lateMy gentle book

Too late to makeThe men ashamedFor what they doWith naked flames

Too late to fallUpon my swordI have no swordIt’s 2005

How dare I careWhat’s on my plateO gentle bookYou’re much too late

You missed the pointOf poetryIt’s all about themNot about me

1 0

I D I D N ’ T K N O W

I knew that I was weakI knew that you were strongI did not dare to kneelWhere I did not belong

And if I meant to touchYour beauty with my handThen come the boils and bloodWhich I would understand

You tore your knees apartThe loneliness revealedThat drew this unborn heartFrom chains that would not yield

But weakened by your exerciseYou fell against my soulThe stricken soul the mind deniesUntil you make it whole

So I can love your beauty nowThough seeming from afarUntil my neutral world allowHow intimate you are

Sometimes it gets so lonelyI don’t know what to doI’d trade my stash of boredomFor a little hit of you

I didn’t knowI didn’t knowI didn’t knowHow much you needed me

11

I C A N ’ T TA K E I T A N Y M O R E

O apple of the worldwe weren’t married on the surfacewe were married at the coreI can’t take it anymore

surely there must bea limit for the richand a hope unto the poorI can’t take it anymore

and the lies that they tellabout G-das if they owned the storeI can’t take it anymore

1 2

U N D E R TO W

I set out one nightWhen the tide was lowThere were signs in the skyBut I did not knowI’d be caught in the gripOf the undertow

And ditched on a beachWhere the sea hates to goWith a child in my armsAnd a chill in my soulAnd my heart the shapeOf a begging bowl

13

O N R A R E O C C A S I O N S

On rare occasionsthe power was given meto send waves of emotionthrough the world.These were impersonal events,over which I had no control.I climbed on the outdoor stageas the sun was going downbehind the Tower of Toledoand the people did not let me gountil the middle of the night.All of us,the musicians, the audience,were dissolved in gratitude.There was nothing butthe starry darkness,the smell of fresh cut hay,and a hand of wind caressingevery single forehead.I don’t even remember the music.A wide unison whispering arosewhich I didn’t understand.When I left the stageI asked the promoterwhat they were saying.He said they were chanting:to-re-ro, to-re-roA young woman drove me back to the hotel,a flower of the race.All the windows were rolled down.It was a ride free from error.I could not feel the roador the pull of destination.We didn’t speakand there was no question of herentering the lobby,or climbing to my room.Only recentlyI remembered that drive of long ago,and since then,I need to be weightlessBut I never am.

15

M Y L AW Y E R

My lawyer tells me not to worrySays that junk has killed the revolutionLeads me to the penthouse windowTells me of his planTo counterfeit the moon

1978

1 6

I C A N ’ T B R E A K T H E C O D E

I can’t break the codeOf our frozen loveIt’s too late to knowWhat the password was

I reach for the pastKeep coming up shortAnd everything feelsLike a last resort

Tho’ we’ve called it quitsAnd there’s nothing leftStill I hear my lipsMake these promises

Though we’ve squandered the truthAnd there’s little leftWe can still sweep the roomWe can still make the bed

When the world is falseI won’t say it’s trueWhen the darkness callsI will go with you

In a time of shameIn the great AlarmWhen they call your nameWe’ll go arm in arm

17

I ’ M L O O K I N G AT T H E F L AG

I’m looking at the flagMy hand against my heartIf only we could win(One of) these wars we like to start

1 8

T H E L U C K Y N I G H T ! ! ! ! ! S U N DAY M A R C H 7, 2 0 0 4

Let’s say that on that lucky nightI found my house in orderand I could slip away unseentho’ burning with desire

Escaping down a secret stairI cross into the forestthe night is dark but I am safe—my house at last in order

But luck or not, I do it rightand no one sees me leavinghidden, blind and secret night—my heart the only beacon

But O that beacon lights my waymore surely than the sun,and She is waiting for me there—of all and all, the only One

And then the night commands meto enter in Her sideand be as Adam is to Evebefore they need divide

So I can show Her what’s been keptfor Her and Her alone—a secret place that Love had leftbefore the world was born

Her nipples underneath My handHer fingers in My hair—a forest crying from the deadand fragrance everywhere

And from the wall a grazing windweightless and serenewounds Me as I part Her lipsand wounds Us in between

19

And fastened here, surrendered toMy Lover and My Lover,We spread and drown as lilies do—forever and forever

2 0

H E S AY S H E WA N T S TO K I L L U S

he says he wants to kill ushe says it very oftenjust let him know you love himhis attitude will soften

let’s wait a little whilelet’s wait a little longerthe enemy is gaining strengthlet’s wait until he’s stronger