YOU AND EVERYTHING

All of the darkness spreads apart
In every direction between the starlight
And this whole thing becomes a whisper
From a passerby

Only a different kind of sea
And it offers no apologies
It may be as big as a drop of rain
Or the other way around

When you get to see your heroes up close
When you get to see your heroes up close
When you get to see your ego up close
It comes down to you
You and everything

And when I stumble to the brink
To give back the atoms I’ve been borrowing
I’ll have as much then as anyone
Who’s ever been there

When you get to see your heroes up close
When you get to see your heroes up close
When you get to see your rivals up close
When you get to see your bloodline up close
When you get to see the codex up close
When you get to see your paycheck up close
When you get to see the Higgs Field up close
When you get to see the 60s up close
When you get to see the cameras up close
When you get to see a dead man up close
It’s just you
You and everything

PROMISED LAND

Hold my drink
I’m stopping in
At the right hand of the Father

He’ll know me
And I’ll try and be quick
I know there are others
Who have lined up
But they won’t mind us

Oh to know the men in control
Whose bootstraps shine with thread made of gold

Show your teeth
Sister moon
The mother tongue
Of the founding fathers
Calls you their martyr
You and everyone else

Well, who pays who for the air you live in?
And who made who in their own image?
In the promised land
Save us!

WHOEVER YOU ARE

Before you were you
I was all into my things
And I could have gone on the rest of my life
Without knowing the difference 
I don’t know your face
I don’t know your spirit
But whoever you are
Now I’m all about you

Don't know what you will see
When you're looking up at me
But I hope that you’ll know how I swoon
Cause whatever I love
I just love more with you

I’ll warn you now
I’m pretty stuck in my ways
But I’m learning to welcome change
When it makes me more true
And if you’re like me
You’re gonna want answers
Let’s look for them together
No one knows more than you
I wanna learn from you too

On walks and on long drives
We dreamt you up
And now somehow you’ve made it to us
It took a long time
And it’s all over my head
But it don’t matter why
You’re here and you’re you 

Don’t know who we’ll become
Don’t know what we’re all in for
But whatever it is we’ll share as truth
And whoever you are
I’m right here for you

AVAILABLE LIGHT

Mama 
I mean to write you more often
But I took the dog up the coast
And man, I think you’d love it

It’s so blue here
The wildflowers are blooming
I feel the most like myself
But then of course you knew that, didn’t you?

The hot wind hit my face
And it made me think of summers on the lake

I always wanted a fire but the available light is enough
You taught me that I could always worry who I would become
While the world went on
Wild and beautiful

Mama
The disappointments got harder
My friends are starting to change
And all my old ways fell apart

But you said they would
You said they would
And I watched you walk through fire still smiling
The hot wind in your face
The hot wind in your face

I had sun in my eyes but the available light is enough
I had a hold on my time but I finally loosened it up
And the world became
Wild and beautiful

IT WAS ALWAYS THERE

In a field where the clouds are all mountains
I never have felt smaller
I shivered, deserving of nothing
And finally I saw it

I’d ransomed myself for the questions
Chained down in protest
So scared I would care about nothing
And when I let go I fell  
Deeply in love

But I can’t help
Feeling kind of restless
My path to peace
Was arrogant and reckless

We cling to the ceilings we’re given
Sanctify them by caring for children
I think we’ll just widen divisions
Until we can let go

Once you are free from your hunger
What is your master?
What would you save in a fire?
It might be the answer

OH WELL

I heard they’re pushing out the families
Tearing all the factories down
To build some ugly-ass apartments
With names that sound like nightclubs
On the banks of a river tamed with concrete
Sailing garbage to the ocean
But right now it’s flowing in the moonlight
And I’ve gotta say it’s beautiful

I can see that telescope watching
Over buildings making so much light
You can’t see the stars but it’s so crowded
Guess they’re looking for another kind
Sittin high on a superficial hill that’s probably gonna start to slide
But no one is forcing me to be here
And I do love how it looks at night

I guess all my troubles showed me why I’m torn
I say we’re equal but I thought I’d get just a little more
And if it took a little heartache then hey, I’ll take it

This year has been a little strange
I kinda couldn’t get a break
And I found out that I don’t know who I am
When things aren’t going my way
And that feeling like you’re special is a sure way
To miss the simple things that make us happy
It’s so hard to know if you're entitled
Until something gets taken away

Oh well
Oh well
The whines from my high horse needed shutting up anyhow
If you want more you will always want for more

Now I see what it looks like from the lower floors
My disappointments are their own oppressions
If I’m bored with all I have then what would I do with more?

FREE PEOPLE

Before we weren’t impressed
Before we started making sense
Before the borderlines were what God intended
Before “barely getting by” became relative

Before there weren’t enough hours
Before knowledge was power
And before nature was a separate place
From the land that was tamed and sold and named

There were free people

Before rank and file
Before gendered shopping aisles
And showing our true selves was embarrassing
You’ve got to use your mind but don’t trust your body

Before the burden of proof
Before NSFW
Before we voted over who we can love
And who we’re allowed to become

And if our hair stands long
At any sign we might be wrong
Are we free people?

Before the laws became our morals
Before a little guilt was normal
And we didn’t understand how anything’s made
We know the packaging more than the plants that sustain us

Who said the workers are grateful?
Who said the past is the past?
Who can say that things have gotten better
Judging from their clean, green grass

And if we wouldn’t know ourselves
Without our clothes and homes and wealth
They come on the backs of people being held down
So if we won’t even hear them out

How can we be free?

MORNING MOON

Morning moon, air so crisp
Morning moon what did I miss?
You look so wise in your silence
Gorgeous, effortless

Moon I see my face in yours
I have sides I never used to show
There’s no one up so just try it
Pirouette, moon
Get lost in yourself

I thank my lucky stars
That I saw myself from where you are
Cause it’s no good for no one
Trying to hide in the dark
Morning moon
We’re best full as we are