Aquacade

It¹s a city designed by sober people

so we could walk around drunk.

A concrete bower, just at the witching hour

When hearts and moons have sunk.

But underneath the everyday:  a hidden waterway.

Join the AquacadeŠ

Tip of the Iceberg

Tip of the iceberg,

meet your bottom half.

I'm busy making ships sink

And all you do is laugh.

I'm everything you thought you cast

into a darkened sea.

But all the while I'm

floating right beneath.

Tip o' the iceberg

Don't you want to know

'bout the murky midnight rumbling

That's going on below?

Because if you decide

to slide away from me

I will collide with all the

dreamboats on your sea.

But when you're ready and willing

To take a long, cold look at me.

I'm really not so chilling

Just everything you don't want to be...

Ah, but don't be afraid

I'm just a trick that you played

With a mirror and shade.

Tip of the iceberg,

I think it's time to melt.

Time to lay back and remember

how the ocean felt.

It's time to ride this wave

until it takes us down.

Cuz if we're only water

We won't drown.

(It's only water).

Paleoclimatology

What epoch does your rain come from?

And why's it left you dripping?

While here I lie, completely dry, demurely coffee-sipping.

What dinosaurs have you not slain?

What saber-toothed desires

have left you holding slabs of me above these ancient fires?

I need a hammer

to break this amber and let the fly fly away.

What era does that cloud come from that rains when I'm beside you?

And what fossilized colossal lies hide the light inside you?

I need a hammer...

I'm falling madly asleep under the spell of history and every secret you

keep. Wake up and smell the mystery.

Let's talk about the weather

That rages right before us.

And let's let it go, that ancient snow that wrecked Tyrannosaurus.

I need a hammer...

Fish

An ornamental fish

Growing huge in a pond

Beautiful as bliss

But not the kind you can feed on.

Flashes of gold

But the water runs cold

And then it¹s time to swim on.

You thought you had me

Wrigglin¹ on a line

Slippery and stunned,

The hook-swallowing kind.

But I spit it out

Cuz I¹m not that kinda trout

And now everything¹s fine.

The mystery of what I want from you

Has got me in a spin

I don¹t know what to do.

I swim upstream

But I am getting tired

Of fighting time and tide and always wanting higher.

Swimming in circles

Til the water turns brown.

Answers are murky

But the questions still abound.

And I may never know

Where to leave my roeŠ

Discovering Fire

Toaster oven still in the box

Dishes packed and kitchen¹s locked

I¹ve forgotten how it feels

To have a homecooked meal.

Iced you out a year ago

Glacier moving much too slow

And now it¹s been so long

And now you can¹t do wrong

And I¹m waiting for it

That springtime thaw

I¹ve been eating everything raw

Winter fell on top of me

Been the very stop of me

Shoulder-deep in the phlegm

Of "I don¹t wanna be them"

And I¹m waiting for it

That snow day cheer

No school for the rest of the year

And every time we meet my friend

It¹s like discovering fire all over again

When you fell on top of me

Saw the forest and the tree

[???I forget what I sang here} in the snow

I never thought you would go

And I¹m waiting for you

Like a natural law

Through the mayhem and may-haw

And every time we meet my friend

It¹s like discovering fireŠ.

Stockholm Syndrome

That wasn¹t a gun in my pocket

I was just happy to see ya

That wasn¹t a gun

That was just a real bad idea

You stayed anyway

Cuz your girl knows nothing ‘bout loving.

She¹s got hotplate

I¹ve got a wood-burning cast-iron oven.

You are getting sleepy.

You are getting so tired

When they finally find you

You will be rewired.

You¹ll do as I say

But you¹ll think that you are rebelling

And you¹ll come around

To this version of yourself that I¹m selling.

You are getting sleepy.

You are getting so small

When they finally spring you

It will be mid-Fall

Venus Records

I still can¹t believe I found you

In Venus¹ used bin

I just can¹t believe that anyone

Would want to trade you in.

Oh, your melody¹s infectious

Your liner notes complete.

You¹re a pleasing combination

Of hard and smart and sweet

You¹re my all-time favorite lucky findŠ

Did she only give one listen

And find you too complex?

Did she trade you for a dollar

So she could have T. Rex?

You¹re my all-time favorite lucky findŠ.

Everything must go

I saw the sign

And then I stood on line

And then I paid my dough

$3.99 and honey

then you were mine

Like you were always mineŠ

So I¹ll take you at the nice price

Tho you are worth much more

Than all the shiny, shrink-wrapped filler

In this crummy record store

Summer¹s Over

Summers over

I¹m not tan anymore

What do the lovers wear

When they come home from the shore?

A loose cotton weave

Will let you breathe

When everything is hot

What do you wear

When trees are bare

And your soul is not?

Another season

Another layer goes on

Naked unreason

Puts on a sweater and is

Gone with the wind

And flimsy things

Oh how my heart would

Sing, if this song

Was one that you

Would want to sing on

Hot house tomatoes

Newly replanted in the yard

Show what they¹re made of

When easy living turnsŠ

Hard Scrabble” days

And restless ways

Your only problem:

You get what you want

Do what you will

Rise Und Shine

Your best work is ahead of you

Today you¹ll meet your greatest love.

That problem you¹ve been worried about

Is all taken care of.

Your clothes are laid out for you

On your favorite chair.

Everyone will compliment you

On your lovely hair.

Why wouldn¹t you want to get out of bed?

Why wouldn¹t you want to get out of bed this morning?

Why wouldn¹t you want to get out of bed?

You have wonderful-smelling hands

We all admire your spunk

And an excellent sandwich

Awaits you at lunch

Why wouldn¹t you want to get out of bed?

Why wouldn¹t you want to get out of bed this morning?

Why wouldn¹t you want to get out of bed?

It¹s a new day!  So Rise Und ShineŠ.

Guru Glut

I¹d quit my job and just give seminars.

I¹d trade the subway train for fancy foreign cars.

Caught in the middle of a giant Ponzi scheme--

How many people really get to live their dreams?

I¹d give my ego up and speak in metaphors,

But I suspect my life would start to look like yours.

Caught in the middle of a giant Ponzi scheme

How many gurus does this world really need?

Waiting For You

While I was waiting for you

I cleaned the living room

And made a pot of stew

Wrote to my pen-pal in jail

Fixed the bathroom scale

And picked up last weeks mail.

And then the river froze and I started skating

Of course I¹d rather swim but I¹m tired of waiting.

While I was waiting today

I wrote a 3-act play

About the one who got away.

I looked it right in the eyes:

Life in death¹s disguise

And cut it down to size.

And then the river frozeŠ

And all these clever

Diversionary tactics

Made your arrival

Anti-climactic

While I was waiting for you

I lived a life for two

I guess I always knew

We¹re on this runaway bus

That doesn¹t stop for us

Paradise or bust.

And then the river frozeŠ

Another Coney Island of the Mind

These lyrics are really stupid, I can’t bear to write them out…

First Come the Joggers

Pages and pages of useless prose...

I drink merlot as the garbage truck moans down my street.

First come the joggers

Then the commuters

I could be sleeping, but...no.

I don't take up space

and I don't make much noise

I freeze all the parts that would frighten the boys

And nothing...

nothing can feed me,

this endless hunger, scratching mosquito bites.

I've watched the night change hands

Seamless and dreamless

Another day

That's all that's left

When God takes your drugs away

And I'm going nowhere

Cuz I am the ocean

And I'm never sleeping again.