1/3
flick another cigarette out of your window
like an ornament
the city, a prince,
detests and pretends and sighs
/this is what i am now isn’t it/
2/3
god, this is what i am now isn’t it
a boulevardier,
just another star in the sky,
i, this great city,
am a cactus planted in the median of an interstate
3/3
LA, a miracle
an oasis
a paradise lost
and rediscovered
LA, i need you
unreasonably
and now i feel lost
and undiscovered
truth finds me now,
as a thread,
unthreading seams i’d sewn
the needle is a pine
and if i am nature
and nature within me
i’d pray as i unravel
that truth console my need
when beetles wake from days of winter caving
and the needles on those pines are all but changing
it’s long undone
honey, it’s me you saw bleeding with the river
the snow that melts and reels me into shivers
i’m redefined
‘little hope’
these are lovely words,
what fathers sing
and a father exposed
on calvary
the tide that had shift
a poem adrift
icarus give us a sign
a freediving psalm
that screams carry-on
the pressure that mounts underneath
so,
what
of
us
then?
if light is a gift and freedom’s within
i am a man who contends
and in truth i am weary
from these sudden uneasy demands
it’s climbing like water and brine
like waves i froth at the mouth
for the shore with the pine
what wonderful things
a garden can bring
the mast that would rise like a pine
don’t reel yourself in
but harness the wind
your strength is a thing to behold
_ no. 2
i’ve got you on my mind, giver
i’ve got you inside
i made sure to keep you close
i’ve got a heavy mind
i can’t tell you where it goes
i said it’s blue and red
said i’ve been living like a fool might
don’t tell me how to fix it up
if it’s chrome then it’ll float
if it’s chrome then it’ll float
alright, you’ve put your money up
and it’s on another fortnight
opt for an open road
Lord knows
Lord knows
hindsight, is indestructible
when you’re dealing with a birthright
my mind’s an open road
Lord knows
Lord knows
call it now, yeah, you were right
but you’ve got me on your A-team
you’ve been dealing black and white, giver
tell me where the blessing flows
tell me where the blessing flows
i was reading in a car
catching words by each streetlight
the words were spaced too far apart
i nearly quit when i had a thought
what order of letters got me here
my primal form is no Shakespeare
and i know you think this is nothing new
to think about life as more than something to do
but if it’s just words then i feel free to say
that i don’t really care about my birthday
so if i could act on any thought
would my faith be less distraught
i gave it a chance and i found the end
there’s no life in lifeless ends
if this car stopped i could read my book
and catch the words at one time
by now the metaphor is getting old
life is change and that’s not so bold
i feel the culmination of grief in my young life
and a raging ache behind each blue eye
an anonymous person says, ‘are you okay?’
i said i’m fine and that was true
but i wish there was more that i could do
so why don’t i do it you could say
but first i should eat before i rot away
God is good and that’s all great
but i miss his voice if that’s okay
i figured out what’s happening
there’s a foreign place
inside my veins
it’s reaching out
to grab me
and whether i need it isn’t up to me
it’s deep inside
like some small thing
a needy voice
that grabs me
so when my mind freezes, i’m listening
you shouldn’t be afraid
there’s
got
to
be
a
safer
place
for
you
to
be
than
here
with
me
PAINT BY BERNARD FUCHS LOVE IN SAN FRANCISCO
