1. Run Boy
There were a hundred shadows walking around outside trying to get their heads fixed
They stretched their fingers right out to the sea
There were masks and names of boats
and it was coursing between the hills
Following blades of grass, open valleys, broken walls and torn out buildings
There were hundreds of arches made from falling trees and open caskets with shadows blowing in the breeze
There were cards and magazines and cratered walls and it was ambling between the hills
Following winding roads, window ledges, overgrown paths and hardened edges
There were hundreds of hopes dashing themselves against a wall
Stretching their view over the horizon
There were bodies and shoes and names never remembered
And it was drifting over the beaches and scattering the sand
Following rocks, dunes, a gauzed climb and abandoned bunkers
A lady washed up on the beach with crowded hair and time to forget
Her hair ran up the hills right out to the sky
There were half turned eyes and crooked necks as it crashed over the waves followed birds of prey, open winged vultures and seagulls heads to the shore
As the animals washed their bloodied bodies and ripped their clothes to shreds
It was a tapping mouse of a heart
That picked itself up
And it ran with its back to the rain
Run boy, with sun in your hair
2. With Love
They say it’s not personal, just survival
An excuse to cover abuse with
They say it has always been this way
since first men took to competing
it’s not fleeting, they say, in circles
just growing, never depleting
They say it’s not personal, just survival
An excuse to cover abuse with
I’m not a poet
Said the man with a pen in his hand
As he wrote over the sky
And scribbled over the sun
Drawing circles in the rain
And crosses in the sand
I’m not a poet
Said the man with the pen in his hand
As he felled the sun with his axe
And the stars with his scythe
no one could see
So he fled underground
Dragging all his tails
Like trails to guide
Hide my friend
Oh run and hide
With love I give you
Stones to spread your fear with
With love I give you
Clubs to wield and maim with
With love I give you
Spears to pierce your souls with
With love I give you
Swords to spread you word with
I’m no poet
Said the man with a pen in his hand
which was bent and twisted by now
and fell to his side
The ink ran like blood
As his hand lay in mourning
I’m not a poet said the man
I’m barely a scribe
It was getting so late
it was falling apart
it was hard to remember
the dreams for which he fought
As he creased up his paper
And pushed back his chair
As his dreams fell before him
he stood tall and sighed
With love I give you
Fire to cleanse your ideals with
With love I give you
Guns to share you hate with
With love I give you
Bombs to destroy your world with
With love I give you
All you need to kill with
I’m not a poet
said the man with a gun in his hand
as he fled from the room
pushed by the tide
Jump back behind you
And don’t look where you fall
shouted the severed sun
And the hollowed out sky
As he fell and he fell
Passing missing stars
And cast aside lives
and half abandoned cars
I’m no poet he laughed
As everything opened
And space around him seemed
Further than he’d ever dreamed
He put away his pen, his axe and scythe
And held onto his arm bathed in ink
With love I give you
more violence than you can handle
They say it’s not personal, just survival
An excuse to cover abuse with
3. One Time
One time, you said it was me
After Christmas, I was more like the tree
Craft paper, was all that I had
But summer, was just around the corner
Sun burnt to the core
Just waiting more
Sun burnt to the core
Just waiting more
It was the season, the season of the birds
As well as my body, tore me open
Without looking, without looking inside
Without looking, without looking to the skies
Put more on the fire
And raise the pire
Put more on the fire
And raise the pire
There was a place, where they used to go
Under treetops, shaking their heads
And I found their marks had faded
And there I found the passage of time
Sometimes I dream
And I cannot open my eyes
Sometimes when I dream
I cannot open my eyes
One time, you said it was me
But after Christmas, I was more like the tree
Craft paper, was all that I had
But summer, was just around the corner
4. This is My Mouth
This is my mouth said the leaf to the wind
Blow me down as the rain spits from the sky
I have a brown coat and untethered meaning
And I’ll lose myself to your gust me down
Is it half a year? or half a tear? half honest, was it enough?
I’ll cycle you
churning to the ground
It was sun drenched one time
You were a glitter in the sky
Before this carpet on the ground
To lay you down is my greatest love
As torrents running through my flailing hair
I’ll succumb to rain
Stretched out in the open
succumb to insect
I’ll be earth
deeper and deeper
I will see it again
down there
A way to climb
You leave me time to charge
You leave me charged and timeless
And I’ll be there to caress
Your crashing down
It will be my month once more
To open myself
Do your worst through the glittering months
until I sing again
In dark November
Blow me down as the sky spits its rain
I have a broken coat and untethered meaning
It is half a year, only half a tear, was it half full and was it enough
5. Change is Coming
I see / she sees
and I see that she sees
seeping into recognition
seeking our eyes
and I see she sees
changing colour, the sea, changing colour
and I see that she sees
the sea seeking to change colour
as the day reflects the sun
and I see the sea is changing colour
as the sun seeks the day that’s coming
and she sees our eyes seeking change
and I see what she sees
seeking to change colour
as the day reflects its sun
and I see the sea seeping and weeping
I see the change of colour
as the sun rises and reflects the day
and I see the day colour
and I see the seeping colours
and I see what she sees
the seeping into recognition
the creeping of our eyes to sea
and I see the changing colour
and I see the change coming
and I see the change coming
and I see the change coming
and I see the change coming
and I see the change coming
and I see the change coming
and I see what she see
the change is coming
and I see what she see
the change is coming
and I see what she sees
the sea it’s changing colour
and I see what she see
the sea it’s changing colour
6. Hold On
Hold on, hold on
Hold onto me
I’m framed by you
And sitting trees
Hold on
Hold onto me
I’m held in sand
As fire reaches our hands
Our lips move their thoughts
Our mouths tasting the clouds
Hold on, hold on
Hold on to me
Hold on, hold on
Hold onto me
I’m cornered by flesh
And naked skin
Feel the light caress
Of sun bleached beaches
And dug out chests
Reaching, as they walk by
Hold tight, hold tight
Hold tight onto me
I’m an unwavering mass
Crash, the wind
Crash, the sea
Crash, the moment
If you let me go
Crash, the moment
If you let me go
Hold on
Hold onto me
I’m framed by you
And sitting trees
That will bury me
That will bury me
That will bury me
Eventually
Hold on, hold on
Hold on to me
I’m framed by you
And sitting trees
Hold on, hold on
Hold on to me
I’m framed by you
And sitting trees
7. Look Around
Gone are the days
Of white romance
And second chances
Unpack your clothes
You’re here to stay
Gone are the days
Of unfettered neglect
You can’t close your eyes anymore
Give me the keys
You won’t get very far these days
Gone are the days
Where you could push me too far
I won’t support your fall to the ground
Look around, it’s falling apart
Look around, it’s falling apart
8. They Held
They held a crown
High above her head
And it glittered
In the evening sun
9. Upstream
I was swimming in fresh water
Upstream
A beam of light flashing through the trees
It moves around me
A natural caress
As I glide and twist and turn
Again around and around
Upstream