Water of Life

If love were whiskey, would you give me a sip?    
Give me a sip 
Give me a sip
If love were whiskey, would you give me a sip?
And let me drink it straight from your lips


If whiskey were love, would you give me a kiss?
Give me a kiss
Give me a kiss
If whiskey were love, would you give me a kiss?
And say to me here, you drink it like this


If time were a waltz, could I have the next dance?
Have the next dance
Have the next dance
If time were a waltz, could I have the next dance?
And if I prove graceless, just one more chance


If faith were a bed, could I sleep here tonight?
Sleep here tonight
Sleep here tonight
If faith were a bed, could I sleep here tonight?
And dream with you in the pale moonlight


If hope were a blanket, would you cover me?
Cover me
Cover me
If hope were a blanket, would you cover me?
Brush my hair from my eyes, whisper softly


If I were a mirror, would you look into my eyes?
Look into my eyes
Look into my eyes
If I were a mirror, would you look into my eyes?
And let me show you all the beauty I recognize


If the heart were a guitar, would you play the strings?
Play the strings
Play the strings
If the heart were a guitar, would you play the strings?
Let your hair hang down while the lonesome chords ring


If we were a river, would we roll to the sea?
Roll to the sea
Roll to the sea
If we were a river, would we roll to the sea?
Wash into each other and then still waters be


If the morning weren't tomorrow, would it be so long?
Be so long
Be so long
If the morning weren't tomorrow, would it be so long?
Since we searched for each other, but we'd already gone


If love were a road, would you wait at the gate?
Wait at the gate
Wait at the gate
If love were a road, would you wait at the gate?
And hang out a lantern when it gets late

Writing on Water

In the dark all the coughing
The clatter of the dice
The rhythm of the ball
The melting of the ice
And I been reading Keats in the night
Reaching a last hand out toward the light
Figures of hoboes between the tracks
The lanterns and the highwaymen are real
So was the gunfire the very next time
I rode on down to finish the deal


I saw my father mad in the street
Even in a year of living
How much could you write on the water?







I assure you there's nothing new to say
I don't care in how many tongues you speak
Might be the first time you've particularly heard it
That don't mean it's unique
I been listening to Dylan every morning
Singing every word and heeding every warning
Nothing is quicker than death
No matter how fast you live
It's already there waiting for you with every last breath
What you can keep is only what you give

I saw my father mad in the street
Even in a year of living
How much could you write on the water?


Sometimes it's too beautiful to surrender
Othertimes too terrible to bear
There's room enough in every parlor
To set an empty chair
I been standing at the intersection
Wondering what to do with my soul
How come I got nothin' to show
For all the times it's been bought and sold
All these missing persons out here
Searching the sky for angels with wings
When anyone of us might break the chains and soar
Go somewhere down within and find the heart to sing
Must have been nearby a schoolyard
Cause I could hear the children and they ran and chirped and chattered
The tribulations weighing on me lifted like a cloud of unknowing
Took flight with the four winds and scattered

I saw my father mad in the street
Even in a year of living
How much could you write on the water? 

 

Silence

These are commonplaces:
No one knows freedom as one in prison
What's most important to the dead
      is that they're dead
There is no love without loss
There is no life without love
So what can I tell you?
Where can the gypsies go?
How free are the guards?

Satori

Hey Dad
I know a lot more now, I think
But it might be too late
I love you more though

Unknown Soldiers

More than this we need not know:
He was too young, no more than a boy, hardly
He was brave and mistaken in defense of an estate
On which his own purchase was too recent
To permit him true realization of its value
Someone somewhere missed him greatly, or would have someday
Left to his own devices he might have found a better way of dying, and
The world was no better for his parting
He has his counterpart on the other side
More than this we need not know
And never have I been to war, and never will I go