YEAR OFF

The brackish water is swirling around in a basin I left in the yard
A widdershins spiral of miry mud slowly devours the garden
The earth opens up
Tugs on my feet
And I settle down into the soil
I cover my eyes
Tilt back my head and I'm back on the shores of the Indian Ocean

Back on the shores of the sea again
Waters of brilliant blue
Back at the heart of my dreams again
Back in the land of you

I hear you calling
You're calling after me
The years are falling
They are falling off of me

I'm going back
Back to the first day
I'm headed back
Back to the first day the start of it all

I heard you calling
You were calling after me
The years were falling
They were falling at your feet
I heard you calling
You were calling my name screaming my name
The years were falling, falling

So I'm going back
Back to the first place
I am headed back
Back to the place where I first felt the change

The brackish water is swirling around in a basin I left in the yard.


THE PULL

I would give it to you
Wrap it up nice and tight for you
In my heart it would be the right thing for me to do

What can I do for you
What could I make to give to you
Deep in my heart I know there's nothing I wouldn't do

How could I be drawn to you
Drawn to the types of things you do
But in my heart it was the right thing for me to do

It was all a surprise
I never saw it coming
I tend to grab ahold of the reins
But this time I was running
Straight toward you
Toward the pull of you
And I wanted to give you things
And do nice things for you.


MORNING RITUAL

I awoke to waves of dread
The words resounding in my head
Oh my god it can't be
What a price for happy hours
We used to run from anything we didn't need
And now it seems we're great big cowards
I killed the flowers you grew for me.


BANKSIA

Banksia and baobab tree
Bright blue water encircles my feet
And I'm drifting away
I get high on the dangerous things
Jumping off astronomical peaks
And then drifting away
Speeding down all the busiest streets
Making friends with the criminal freaks
Before drifting away from the plans that were made
Just try to keep me in one place

Banksia and baobab tree
Bright blue water encircles my feet
And I'm drifting away
I get high on the obvious things
Shiny baubles and spurious rings
Tend to pull me away
From the mess I have made
Swimming out past the buoys and docks
Headed straight for the menacing locks
I am floating away
With the tides and the waves
I am drifting away.


DRY LAKE

All those days in the backwoods
Always out in the cold
Never have you felt it get like this
All those days in the backwoods
Always out in the cold
Never even half as cold as this

The wind came up
The stars came out
An icy skin upon the lake
The snow fell down
Upon the ice
The lake just slowly drained away

And a dry lake is formed underground
Crystalline frost for a crown
How long will I walk down here
In this cave of frozen mirrors

How long will I walk down here
Will the way be crystal clear
Will I see the sun appear
In this cave of frozen mirrors?


SONORA

Now the rain stops falling
As the sun appears
Lakes will stop their flooding
Clouds choke back the tears

Now I see the desert anew
Skies form a ceiling of blue
I could stay here
I could stay a moment with you
We could find a home with a view of distant mountains
Cactus plants sustained by the dew
Oh I could disappear
I could make a life here with you

Balmy days
Dusty roads
Not a tree for shade
Never rains
Never snows
Every day the same.


SOPHIA

Sophia, wisdom of god
Tower of phenomenal heights
'Though we were born of the mud
Lead us through the darkest of nights

Lowly lotus in a bed of mud
You saw the things we could become

I know facts and now I want to feel them
Studied maps until I could almost hear them
Come in, Sophia.


TWENTY-SEVEN

And then it all comes 'round
The circle's slowing down
And everything you need
Is provided by just one thing

Progress has a different meaning now
The changes have a different weight
Seasons are growing shorter now
Years pass at a different gait.


ALTOS LUGARES

On the way down
You saw the distant bay
The water was lifting from the sea
The fog a growing wave

And all the little cars driving around
The highways like a maze
It's hard to see what all the rush is for
When the view stretches for days

This could only happen in the wee hours
On a mountaintop
With no one else around
Just you there
And the mountain air
And the memory of a night

When you ran through the streets
Of an unknown town
You could not feel your feet
Like you were floating around.