LYRICS
Songs from the album Rumor
Lyrics from Rumor
Swan Song
I am the swan swimming in your veins I am the missing piece
I am the whisper in the empty hall, the dripping ink
I’m the secret room behind your bedroom wall I am the missed call
I’m that stain that doesn't blend that bitter end you cant shake off
And when I fold the center will not hold
All the horizons withdraw all conclusions were made
you’ve measured everything
And though the wasteland grows you try your best to make believe
You walk along the walls of your empty mind
wondering what you left behind
Your steps are just a fragment of my lingering requiem
And when I fold the center will not hold
Introduction to light
The day was pressing hard against your dreams
Your song was growing bitter, and the aftermath was dim
you promised to yourself you wont withdraw even if you cant find words
And wait for an introduction to light.
It comes and goes you never get to chose a time or place
You stand inside the wrestling ring hoping for a piece of grace
And when that old taste of defeat slips down you throat
you close your eyes and try to float
‘Casue when you’re here I’m never ready
And when Im there you always change your mind
And when we wrestle in the dark I know well never be far enough
You see them in the streets their carts are loaded their shoes are torn and wet
they beg and sing their shame without permission or regret
Their eyes are always looking somewhere else , the roofless night collapsed
And in the ruins, Introduction to light
Now she comes in from the rain, you do not ask her where she's been
With a single stroke her fingers break the chains that fence you in
and then she slides out of her dress and paves the path to moans an whispers
paves the path to moans an whispers
But when you’re here I’m never ready
And when Im there you always change your mind
And when we wrestle in the dark I know well never be far enough
Behind the markets underneath the stacks of colored waste
Like particles that were never located or misplaced
It never was too early and it never will be too late
to master Introduction to light
Rumor
A rumor spread thought the night and tapped my anxious ears
The plot seemed so familiar but the characters obscure
so I came down through the swarming lights that pressed against my velvet silhouette
I kneeled beneath your window ledge I saw a room so sad and cold
Id never dare to come and scare you, just to accelerate your pulse
but you, you looked right through me and somehow missed this vagabond’s envious stare
Oh daughters of Jerusalem
I swear you by the sun and moon
I swear you by these ancient wounds
Don’t wake my love until she's willing
I was lying naked in the cold when your steel towers were complete
You made my precious love a fable for the bums down on your street
I didn't call or leave a note, I was playing hard to get I hoped you'd come around
But the records show you've mastered some complex words to break the spell
so that you could pimp my name to anyone until they couldn't tell
That buried beneath the pavement all you holy panics yearn my broken glory
Oh daughters of Jerusalem
I swear you by the sun and moon
I swear you by these ancient wounds
Don’t wake my love until she's willing
But I love you even more when you're unfaithful and distracted
I let you name my only son though I never really trusted
So now when were both lost I had to summon both the poles to render my revenge
Cover up
On the last day of summer I step outside and shed my skin
Theres a foreign halo kindling every grain of sand
All the people come undone, realize they lost their old names
Wander off to find their mothers womb
——————
When spring arrives a poisoned wind blows through the sleepy town
I watch them draw the final lines
All the people gather around, realize they need a new name
And chase their shadow back into the night
——————
Cover up when the day is done, If you've seen enough
The rivers roll into the ocean, but the ocean’s never full.
——————-
On the last day of winter fires blaze across the plains
if you don't want to be consumed you better hide your love away
And see them oiling godly guns to make sure no one sees the shame
and drown out all their doubts in pools of victory and blood
——————
Cover up when the day is done, If you've seen enough
The rivers roll into the ocean, but the ocean’s never full.
Closer
On the edge of your slumber remains a piece of that picture
That see-sawed departure, That circuit you’ve missed
It tip toes around you as you crash down on your pillow
If you try to remember you will always forget
And right now the night is moving fast
breaking faith fazing pulses and blood, stealing names
and I need a reason
With the suitcases packed she sits and stares at the door
theres no turning back once you've seen there was more
she doesn't care that she's losing all that she's got
Though she said shell remember she already forgot
And right now the night is moving fast
breaking faith fazing pulses and blood, stealing names
and I need a reason
Songs for a PLAGUE
Songs from a Plague
1 Entertainment
The plague has come at last
we weren't quite prepared
we thought we had the cure
It made us think again
It snapped us into two
it showed us who is the boss
Then nailed grannie and grandpa
tight onto the cross
And though we are so anxious
that well be the next patient
we also god-damn love this
breathtaking entertainment.
2 Pay Up
The plague outside is raging
consuming old and young
she's holding down our hubris
she's biting off his tongue
We try and ask for mercy
it seems she isn't moved.
We try to fight her back
She seems to be amused.
She knows we just don't get it
she sees we don't regret
she's here to cut the middleman
and make us pay the debt.
3 The Poet Speaks
The plague is coming to flatten the land
To snap the old chains of supply and demand
It slides into lungs, it burns from inside
you better be sure we are in for a ride
The plague is coming to show the king is naked
well run as fast as we can but some will not make it
and on their death bed they'll just have to wonder
why they've given their life to this strange world order
The plague is coming with a sword and a tale
of the good earth we're turning from heaven to hell
of a deadly parade to an undefined goal
oh we've known for a while we will pay for it all.
the plague is rolling out, running over our faith
that we're running the show, that we're setting the pace
That our petty convenience is the final redemption
that we are the answer to the question of questions
The plague is coming and this time its bad
Take care of your neighbor, make sure you call dad
if you're on of the luckies you might have insurance
and if you are not you were probably useless
The plague has arrived and at times such as these
all sorts of fake prophets and poets appear
And since Dr. Fauci advised I stay in
I wrote me some poems. Is that such a sin?
4 The Lovers Dream
I dreamt I was corona,
and you were with your man.
I sneaked through your left nostril,
when he woke up you were gone.
5 An Answer to a Proposal
Fauci said the end is far
so baby lets not rush
I'm not exactly saying no
but a wedding seems a bit much
6 NY Love in Times of Covid
I had to pick and choose
Between you and Johnny Roo
you have corona symptoms
but Johnny has them too
You got them in the airport
and Johnny in a cab
you're shivering with fever
and he keeps throwing up
I do not take this lightly
I had to act with speed
Where should I get my virus?
With who to quarantine?
Now Johnny has a big screen
but you have fancy wine
he has his three cute kittens
but your Labrador is quite fine
Your windows have the best view
but he gets morning light
we have great conversations
but Johnny's abs are tight
But none of this is crucial
on these tumultuous weeks.
My mind should stop this chatter,
my heart it needs to speak.
So if i'm calling from his bedroom
Its not 'cause of your fever
It's just that there's Chinese food down the block
and these guys still deliver.
Children's Corner
I can't remember on which side I used to lay my head
I can't Remember
This long endless walk
And no one whispered in my ears about the little toys
About the precious
So I climb up the stairs
It comes to hold you, comes to warn you, comes to colorblind
The mornings pile:
Year after year
And no one whispers in your ears about the seven birds
About the crystal
Now there is nothing to gain
Oh how they slip away in the blink of an eye
How they slip away
Like wind-blown dust
Lyrics from The Writers Trilogy
Hunter / Ode to Frantz Kafka
Crossroads. Waiting. Numb toes. Windbound
Yesterday's letters arrive.
Outlined. Sharper. Fist-clenched. Heavy
Windbound. Unnoticed. Unmarked
With pockets empty of star dust and signals or prayers,
no where no one will ever wait.
He says: ‘I remember tomorrows departures,
this blind ghost that borrowed my name forever’.
When morning comes I'll leave again
and head with broken eyelids to the freezing water.
The winds will flap the patched sails in and out
through hazy ways of nameless doubt
but in my dreams the gates will light up then
fade and disappear.
So far there is no island
so far my skin grows thick
the currents are double crossing
the white light is rewinded
the silver swans were drowned beneath the waves
So far no one could reach me,
no one smuggles spoken words behind the veil
I give away my stories to the nymphs and to the beggars
but the silver swans have drowned beneath the waves
Ring The Bells- Ode to Spinoza
When the Jew of Amsterdam put down his pen
you woke up breathing heavy and sweating
the night froze at once and you couldn't quite tell
the dense clouds of silence from the desperate cries
The blackbirds would not sing the distance no more
cause the compasses all came undone
and darkness was bright more than ten thousand suns
cause the stars had no secrets to give
----
When the Jew of Amsterdam put down his pen
you could hear the fluttering wings fade away
and see through the walls how the wells disappear
and the latter falls down and the letters lose weight.
The waters reflected the sky as before
but the doubts came up creeping and itching:
If that ancient-blue-blister has run down its course
then there's no one to wipe off the blood from your soul.
------
A man is grinding silver lenses,
his lungs are filled with dust and dreams
he rings the bells he’s leaning over.
the yellow sparrows falls.
-----
When the Jew of Amsterdam put down his pen
the flood made its way through the windows and the doors
and the people could not patch their flags anymore
and the old books did not make any sense.
And the land was as bare as a whisper of death
they could not decide anymore
If the prince was a thief, if the king has been murdered
when the peacocks got lost on their way.
-------------
A man is grinding silver lenses,
his lungs are filled with dust and dreams
he rings the bells he’s leaning over.
the yellow sparrows falls.
--------------
you alone with no tears and no home
with your cardboard womb in your exile
you alone on your bed trying hard to unwind
all those riddles that twist down your spine
you alone with the drowned and beheaded but yet
you reach out for the pen where its left
and you look for the word to engrave and inject
till the water runs down and the dove flies away
The Great White / ode to Paul Celan
The windmill slows down at the heart of the storm,
Now your words reach the harbors of grace.
The sprouts melt their way through the cracks and the stains:
It is time for the great white.
What was forsaken will sing.
What was gathered will never be broken.
The stones you inhaled make amends with the sky
All the torn flags are bidding farewell.
The promises you made to your spleen and the iris:
Lay them down and walk on.
Sooner or later the sirens of midnight will call you,
And tear down the walls
with the tips of their merciful tongues.
Your watch is completed.
The stream of the Sein keeps you safe and sound.
Your wandering forehead is tamed and prepared-
You're allowed when the night can no longer sleep
As your words twist and turn in the dreams of a lost mother
it is time: for the great white.
The angel of poppy surrenders his will to your fine flint,
the currents will guide you-
the map that they utter is precise,
The blood clots are lost in the sand down below,
Now a blind man will harvest the moonlight.
Sooner or later the sirens of midnight will call you,
And tear down the walls with the tips of their merciful tongues.
Your watch is completed.
The stream of the Sein keeps you safe and sound.
Children's Corner
I can't remember on which side I used to lay my head
I can't Remember
This long endless walk
And no one whispered in my ears about the little toys
About the precious
So I climb up the stairs
It comes to hold you, comes to warn you, comes to colorblind
The mornings pile:
Year after year
And no one whispers in your ears about the seven birds
About the crystal
Now there is nothing to gain
Oh how they slip away in the blink of an eye
How they slip away
Like wind-blown dust
Tale Reprise
Far, over the hills
Across seven white deserts
Across seven black seas
If you throw yourself inside
Scattered in all directions
Giving it all until the ashes
Are lighter than air
Scattered Poetry
Words
English is not my first language
But language is not my first language either.
The Old Crew
At the end of every summer
They gather on the shore
With notebooks swarming letters
And hearts that weigh a little more
They bring back simple facts
They don’t bother with the style
Refining is too easy
It s for those who try to hide
They don’t come to feed their ego
Or collect the blood stained gold
They were commanded to report back
And they do as they’ve been told
They were sent away at midnight
Long before they learned to speak
They were band from getting cozy
Or from taking gifts for keeps
Instead they go out and let in
Every gesture great or small
Every dim lit room every long lost love
Every shadow hanging tall
Every hand that’s reaching out and
Every longing caving in
Every prayer soaring upwards
Every god that falls asleep
At the end of every summer
They report as they were told
But each year their hearts grow heavy
And they’re getting rather old
Once I thought that I was summoned
To join the lucky few
So I opened like a window
And let the world come through
But the winters were too lonely
And my words wouldn’t come out right
So I joined the cheerful masses
And let others fight the fight.
October 2018
A crooked hymn
O lowest of lows
O highest of heights
You're softer than wool
You’re lighter than light
Be sure to forgive us
As we all take flight
We found you by morning
But lost you by night
O anchor of gold
We try to believe
Though you show us your back
Though you threaten to leave
We did it all wrong
But we don’t know what right
We found you by morning
Then lost you by night
O master of the maze
O keeper of doubt
Were too young to die
Were too old to fight
Help us translate those hymns
Of fear and delight
We found you by morning
But well lose you by night
We never did trust you
Cause the game was so rigged
We misspelled your name
Then you did what you did
We won’t take the knee
You won’t say what you want
We find you each morning
Then lose you each night
But when I pulled down the curtain
And took off my armor
You bent down for my love
Like a sea for the harbor
I played down beside you
With no hope and no pride
I found you in the morning
I might stay the night.
