1.Dry Grass ＆ Shadows
There are things that I've seen in my head
While I'm sleeping in bed
Do not wither in the morning light
I'm taken back
O I'm taken back
To the dry grass and the shadows
Thinking I'd like to look at your teeth
Lined up in perfect rows
A maze of children feeding orchard trees
Where the flat lands stretch inside your mouth
And when you laugh all the star thistles stumble out
The flat lands stretch inside your mouth
And when you laugh all the star-thistles stumble out
Strong spines of valley hills
All overgrown in gold
Look softer than a spool of old silk thread
But if we walked down with our feet
I'd be pullin' spines and barbs and fox-tails from your skin
O if we walked down with our feet
I'd be pullin' spines and barbs and fox-tails from your skin
There are things that I've seen in my head
While I'm sleeping in bed
Do not wither in the morning light
I'm taken back
O I'm taken back
To the dry grass and the shadows
I'm taken back
O I'm taken back
To the dry grass and the shadows
2.White As Diamonds
I've known mornings
white as diamonds
silent from a night so cold
such a stillness
calm as the owl glides
our lives are buried in snow
I was sifting through the piles
in my hand a tangled thread
each patient tug upon the snarl
is a glimpse of what has been
burdened bands gain strong hands
gaping holes where diamonds should be
must have been morning that stole them
a glint of white in the pocket of winter
and some hearts are ghosts settling down in dark waters
just as silt grows heavy and drowns with the stones
some hearts are ghosts settling down in dark waters
just as silt grows heavy and drowns with the stones
I've known mornings
white as diamonds
silent from a night so cold
such a stillness
calm as the owl glides
our lives are buried in snow
our lives are buried in snow
3.Age Old Blue
The sea beneath the cliff is the blue in my mother's eyes
That came from the blue in her mother's eyes
Thrown on down the line
By our family who worked the field on borrowed land above the
ocean
My family worked the field on borrowed land
Higher hills do not provide
For hearts born of coral and moss
Where rain won't flow beyond our stream
And water is captive to the well
There was a gentleman,
I've always known his children's songs
Blue eyes were hardened by the war
But still he went on singing
Night can't hide a man
When his eyes are tearing
The night can't hide his cries
There's only a few of us left
Higher hills do not provide
For hearts born of coral and moss
Where rain won't flow beyond our stream
And water is captive to the well
I've known that age old blue lies in home with sirens tombs
He's left a deep desire for a home beside the water
Shady rhythm calms the night
And that voice is never still
You know a voice is never still
And a voice is never silent
Shady rhythm calms the night
And that voice is never still
You know a voice is never still
And a voice is never silent
Higher hills do not provide
For hearts born of coral and moss
Where rain won't flow beyond our stream
And water is captive to the well
4.To Be Still
Have you been wearing holes in your boots out there
Have you been kicking bones in the desert sand
There's a wolf inside the cave and another in the clouds
I've seen them chewing on, on the shadows in your eyes
And it's here at home I wait for your wanders to be still
Oh it's here at home I wait for your wanders to be still
And I wont drag my feet in whatever dirt you track in
No I wont drag my feet in whatever dirt you track in
Will you look at me when your face shows the lines of years
While you've been away I have needed your strong hands
California hills will surely welcome us back home
But the way toward the crop of gold is not far from the snow
Oh, the way toward the crop of gold is not far from the snow
And it's here at home I wait for your wanders to be still
Oh it's here at home I wait for your wanders to be still
And I wont drag my feet in whatever dirt you track in
No I wont drag my feet in whatever dirt you track in
And it's here at home I wait for your wanders to be still
And I wont drag my feet in whatever dirt you track in
5.Take Us Back
The tops of crags and cliffs, the air is thin
So we'll find a mountain path on down the hill
Meet me where the snow mount flows
It is there my dear where we will begin again
Skipping stones
Braiding hair
Last year's antlers mark the trail
Take us back oh take us back
Oh take us
Take us back
Take us back oh take us back
Oh take us
Take us back
I've a friend who lives out by the rivers mouth
He knows the fiddles cry is an old sound
A lonesome creeks and moans of empty houses
Are songs of like fallen rain
Windblown buildings
Muddy ground
The strength of water can sink a man
Take us back oh take us back
Oh take us
Take us back
Take us back oh take us back
Oh take us
Take us back
When the higher hills have turned blue
And the waves are lapping where the children grew
All that we have know will be an echo
Of days when love was true
Muted voices
Just beyond
The silent surface of what has gone
6.The Alder Trees
I can hear the elders whispering in words so sweet and low
The alder trees were listening to songs been sung before
My friend and I collecting skeletons of leaves
Making tiny piles oh and sifting through the weeds
Wind blows the tiny green
Tiny green
Wind blows the tiny green
Helicopter seeds
Wind blows the tiny green
Tiny green
Wind blows the tiny green
Helicopter seeds
Oh wandering in days unfolding with
hats fashioned of mud and snakeskin
Oh wandering in days unfolding with
hats fashioned of mud and snakeskin
Of mud and snake-skin
As I think about the ladies who weren't allowed to sing
Sewing all their pretty rows of thread instead of singing
And what about the black braided sisters of Mariee
We sat upon their grinding rock as children used to be
Beneath the knotted pine
Knotted pine
Beneath the knotted pine
At the garden's edge
Beneath the knotted pine
Knotted pine
Beneath the knotted pine
At the garden's edge
Oh laughing little girls clapping
Ghosts weaving our hair to baskets
And ghosts weaving our hair to baskets
Oh laughing little girls clapping
And ghosts weaving our hair to baskets
Our hair to baskets
I can hear the elders whispering in words so sweet and low
The alder trees were listening to songs been sung before
My friend and I collecting skeletons of leaves
Making tiny piles oh and sifting through the weeds
Making tiny piles oh and sifting through the weeds
7.My Brambles
Sun is dancin' my darlin'
Arms been holding me all mornin'
Sea is so far from home my darlin'
But if we'd only feet
It is here that we'd roam
Oh if we'd just two feet
It is here that we'd roam
And your arms would be keeping me all day
'Cause your love calms my brambles
And your hands bring me sweet lavender
Oh you love calms my brambles
And your hands bring me sweet lavender
The glow will dance into the mountains
And darkness falls upon the canyon
And when the heat is gone my darlin'
Please come gather me
Please come gather me
Please come gather me
Please come gather me
'Cause your love calms my brambles
And your hands bring me sweet lavender
Oh you love calms my brambles
And your hands bring me sweet lavender
8.The Ocean
She was always walking singing to her footsteps
Dirt ditch paths and pine cones
Digging up glass bottles
Rusty springs from feather beds
Old hubcaps on the picket fence
She planted beds of flowers
Stayed outside for hours
In spirit she's drifted to the ocean
All those years of waiting for the water
She's watching long shadows caught in the tide
But the sunset by the sea is in her mind
The sunset by the sea is in her mind
And she was always hoping to someday leave the mountain
Domestic chores and children
The darkness of the winter
Painting all these mermaids
Wandering to the sea shore
She wanted him to follow but his heart is with the hillside
In spirit she's drifted to the ocean
All those years of waiting for the water
She's watching long shadows caught in the tide
But the sunset by the sea is in her mind
The sunset by the sea is in her mind
These days you'll find her walking
Singing to the deep sea
But she will always love him
Lost up in the mountains
The sun set in the ocean
Gathering shells and beach glass
Dancing with the rogue waves
Gives her peace of mind
But she will always love him
Lost up in the mountain
Oh she will always love him
Lost up in the mountain
9.Every Path
All the back roads, all the highways
Distance countries that I've passed through
Every path has lead me back to you
Every path has lead me back to you
Down by the river by the light of the moon
I feel the echo of the current in my core as I roam
Every path has lead me back to you
Every path has lead me back to you
But I've around, I want you near
Handsome fellow will you hold me dear
I've seen blue eyes and straight white teeth
Golden minds and sturdy feet
But every path has lead me back to you
Every path has lead me back to you
Down by the river by the light of the moon
I feel the echo of the current in my core as I roam
Every path has lead me back to you
Every path has lead me back to you
Put your hand upon my breast
My little darlin' I know of restlessness
My little darlin' I know of restlessness
10.Tatted Lace
Gold around those fingers shown
Bound for to carry home
Fond of the flattest field
But you know there're bones buried deep below
Tatted lace frail figure graced
That has since been torn and stained
Tatted lace frail figure graced
That has since been torn and stained
And put and put so far away so far away
Novels we don't write
Hearts been lost in flight
Skin in the black of night
Love is a sinking kite
Tatted lace frail figure graced
That has since been torn and stained
Tatted lace frail figure graced
That has since been torn and stained
And put and put so far away so far away
Gold around those fingers shown
Bound for to carry home
Suitcase filled with stones
Snow keeps me alone
Suitcase filled with stones
Snow keeps me alone
All alone
11.Lady Divine
When the day, when the day falls to the line
At the end of my time
I call to the dark
'Take the bones off my back'
And I chant to the black
'You were my lady divine'
'Cause my children are in hiding
Mortar and pestle they grind
Those songs whistled through white teeth
Do scuff the days
With songs for children to sing
Those songs whistled through white teeth
Do scuff the days
With songs for children to sing
When the chairs are tucked into the fading song
And the silver of their pores has grown long
They call to the dark
'Take the bones off my back'
And they chant to the black
'You were my lady divine'
And they glowed like a bitter wine in their bellies
'cause the bones have been removed
from their hunched over backs
And their children are all grown now
Mortar and pestle they grind
Those songs whistled through white teeth
Still scuff the days
With songs for children to sing
Those songs whistled through white teeth
Still scuff the days
With songs for children to sing
Those songs for children to sing
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