You’ve got your old but sturdy boots.

You’ve got your big white sails,

You’ve got a yearning for some truth.

He’s wishing you smooth sailing and happy trails.

He would not beg you stay for his sake.

But the road opens up before your eyes.

He respects you for the chances you’ll take,

But his lonely heart’s a breaking so he cries.

            If you must leave, leave now.

            Take your worthless ass away from me.

            Go found your own goddamned solution.

            Leave my life, you are pollution.

He grimaces at his choice of the hard line.

He tries to cushion it with grace.

He tries to make you stay one more time.

As you walk away you kiss his face.

He would not beg you stay for his sake.

But the road opens up before your eyes.

He respects you for the chances you’ll take,

But his lonely heart’s a breaking so he cries.

            If you must leave, leave now.

            Take your worthless ass away from me.

            Go found your own goddamned solution.

            Leave my life, you are pollution.

I used to get attention from the ladies.

They wouldn’t leave me alone.

Now they don’t see me the same,

I spend my time alone.

I even messed up relationships,

For the girls who pursued me were nice,

But now I don’t get a second look

And the first glance is cold as ice.

I guess I’m just not cute anymore.

They don’t tend to see me the same.

I never get to dance.

I should have married when I had the chance.

Because I guess I’m just not cute anymore.

I wish that I could turn back time,

To the women I knew who were true.

And if I knew where you were tonight,

I’d even turn back to you.

Because I wonder what it was you saw,

The no other woman can see,

I know I meant a whole lot to you,

Only wish you’d meant that much to me.

Because I guess I’m just not cute anymore.

They don’t tend to see me the same.

I never get to dance.

I should have married when I had the chance.

Because I guess I’m just not cute anymore.

I’ve prayed all my life for something special for you.

I’ve prayed all my life and not I know it’s not coming true.

Wonder what I’m praying for, wonder if I should pray anymore.

Nothing I’ve said

Nothing I’ve sung

Even if I should pray some more

Could ever save you from the horror of this war.

I’ve tried to show you the light in everyone’s hearts

The warmth and love that’s there in everyone’s hearts

I don’t want you to grow up to be

Discouraged, disillusioned like me.

Nothing I’ve said

Nothing I’ve sung

Even if I should pray some more

Could ever save you from the horror of this war.

The Killing that you see, everynight’s news on the TV

The news on the radio and all the shit that you hear from me.

There’s love all around, it’s just lost and it’s found.

Nothing I’ve said

Nothing I’ve sung

Even if I should pray some more

Could ever save you from the horror of this war.

When in the eye of the storm,

Do you want to be alone?

Take it all on your own.

Or have someone to hold onto,

Have someone to hold on with?

When the darkness covers you.

To all your dreams that you know can still come true.

Do you want to feel the chill?

Do you think you always will?

Or let some sunshine in,

In the kiss your lover brings,

To all your dreams that you know can still come true.

Reaching out, reaching in.

Reaching back, screaming out.

Loving real, feel the pain,

Love who you are alone together.

When laughter’s shared,

Smiles do return.

And the goodness that is you,

Is there again for you.

Comes out in all you do.

To all your dreams that you know can still come true.

Your smiling face tells me all I need to know.

That the love, that you’ve pledged,

is a love that will grow.

And there’s no doubt in my mind.

We’re in love for a lifetime.

Your tear speckled eyes glimmer of love plain to see.

And I’m overjoyed that that love is for me.

A love so warm and kind.

We’re in love for a lifetime.

And I’m happy that things couldn’t be better,

Happy things have turned out this way.

Happy because we’re doing it all together,

Happy for this beautiful day.

Your smiling face tells me all I need to know.

That the love, that you’ve pledged,

is a love that will grow.

And there’s no doubt in my mind.

We’re in love for a lifetime.

I worry that my thoughts aren’t original,

Yet I feel compelled to share them anyway.

I do try to check to see if there is a clear path to attribute the one or the many who thought, said, or wrote it first.

As I walked many years ago on the path I still walk,

I heard the symphony of song that happens every day everywhere when dozens of species celebrate the dawning of a new day.

I thought that it would be wise for humankind to realize that it was the bird who taught us to sing,

Not the other way around.

One related thought that occurred to me was that this was about putting the humility back in humanity.

If humans have dominion, why is it that birds sing more beautifully than almost any human?

Would any human sing if there had never been a bird song?

This world is tough enough.

What if we never heard a bird sing?

When does a fog become a mist,

And a mist become a drizzle,

And a drizzle become a light rain,

And a light rain become a hard rain,

Which of course is gonna fall?

When does a hard rain

Turn into a hurricane?

Or then precipitations take on its other personalities

Of snow, ice, sleet, hail and slush?

All to return up to the clouds or seep into the ground.

And then rinse and repeat and rinse and repeat,

In a never ending spin cycle,

Necessary for the permanently pressed,

And interminably stressed.

It is at this point that we just begin comparing one miserable day to the next.

What is the level of miserable today?

Is the cold wind blowing more today than yesterday,

Reducing the “real feel” temperature to a ridiculous below zero

And even when the thermometer on the corner of the shed says 12 degrees?

Does the newly fallen snow, which some have the stupidity to call pretty,

Have that helpful crust that at least catches the crunch of your foot,

So that you don’t fall flat and dislocate the same hip,

Again?

Does the sun come out as a cruel joke and heartless reminder

Of your pleasant summer days running on the beach

And taunt you with the sad remembrance that running on the beach days are long behind you

And shatter you with rapid realization that you may have seen your last beach?

Do you increasingly hope that if you think of an eventual spring long enough

The misery of the upcoming winter will melt away, even temporarily?

Do you find that you wish you were anywhere but here,

Alone in this cold, cold world?

I think the songwriters I really like

are merely poets who can carry a tune.

That is, sing on key.

I’m okay with that.

But I concede that I am a poet by default.

When cornered by a question when I was a featured poet,

I stumbled to name my favorite poets.

Out poured the names Mary Oliver, Wendell Berry, Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes.

Before I was able to breathe, I was asked to name more woman poets.

I panicked. I said Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, and Laura Nyro.

I had been found out.

The cat was fully out of the bag.

I stammered, and for men, I love Dylan, John Prine, Kris Kristofferson, Guy Clark…(dot, dot, dot)

And  I could’ve gone on and on and on.

But I didn’t because I was interrupted by a hilarious heckler,

“What’s the matter? Can’t you sing?”

NOPE