July 6, 2003

While he was dying

The same night we broke the rules
The same night we swam in the dark
And laughed out loud
And kept the neighbors from sleeping
That same night a young man died
Drowned in that very lake
He could have been one of us
He could have been our friend

The same nigh we breathed in hot air
And complained about it
The same night we went to sleep only to wake up in the morning
That same night he breathed his last
Alone and afraid of death
He could have been a nobody
He could have saved the world

And we laughed in our ignorant bliss
We revelled in the freedom of our youth
And we slept like we were safe as could be
While the God who protected us called him home

July 6 2003

Remembering a drowned friend

Someone made a cross for him
Set in the earth by the lake where he drowned
I stumbled across it by accident
Crudely made, by whom I could only guess
His friends, his pastors?
Someone who knew him, and wanted me to know him
They wrote his name on the cross beam
Corey Fadden
And on the vertical pole his epitaph
"Lived for Christ"
I never met this young man
Or his friends
I never saw his body
But there I stood and mourned for him
A brother I'd never known
The remnants of candles littered the ground,
Put out by the wind before they were done
Before their time
Before his time
I lit them all, gave them life once more
One last breath of air, one chance
May have saved him

(Cornerstone 2003)

July 4, 2003

Prospect of thirty

Are these the days of my youth
Have I yet to see my prime
Will this claim I've staked be barren
Or a priceless diamond mine
Is contentment round the corner
Have I passed it on the road
Blinded by the light of boredom
Am I too stuck on wishes
To see the truth unfold

Were I wiser
Were I anywhere but here
The stinging prospect of thirty
Would be less cloudy and more clear
Is there really life after twenty-nine?
Or is that when life will begin?
Will I find love, will I find happiness
Is this a game, and can I win?

July 4 2003

Independence

I can do anything I want
No one to tell me where to be
Or what to do
Or how to do it

But still I'm stuck
But still I'm crushed
By the obligation
The inspiration
The what-I-ought-to-do
The sense of waste
The sense of worth
Can be so problematic
Bureaucratic
I just need static days
To be independent
To have my Independence Day

I have yet to be restrained
There are no walls, no doors, no guards
I come and go
I go and come, and come and go.


(cornerstone)

July 2003

I marked my space in my head.
That should have been enough
But they didn't see the lines
I'd drawn in the grass in the dark
With my x-ray eyes

And now my kingdom is invaded
By a U-Haul trailer and a rusty van
I'd pushed myself to the limit
Just to create that open space
Only to give it away without a fight

And the pillagers keep coming on
Without relent they block my escape
And place new obstacles
At every turn in my courtyard
I can scarcely get through unscathed


(cornerstone)

July, 2003

And now that I have seen her she grows on me...

Bust that saddled back
Until it just won't bust no more

July 1, 2003


Scratched

She's got a stud in her eyebrow
Tattoo on her back
She's got her combat boots
and her hair dyed black
She knows the words to the songs
sings 'em front to back
She loves Jesus

She's in the second row
Almost touched the stage
She's got that old school look
yeah it's all the rage
She says the drummer's cute
though he's twice her age
She loves Jesus

She don't know
She don't care
She don't wonder why
She just knows
What to like
And she don't ask why
What was trendy
Last year
Has become passe
Now what's in
And what's out
Changes day to day

And she don't ask why


"Cornerstone 2003"

July 2003

Rudy

Old and unfamiliar faces
You ought to recognize
As should they
Ask their questions
Saunter off
Leaving you to puzzle for a moment

Then making the choice
Putting it out there
Do I know you, mister?
And indeed I do.
We catch up on old times
That we never had.

This unorthodox set of ties
And lack of expectations
Makes everything,
And nothing, a surprise
So we sit and wait and switch gears
As best either of us knows how



(cornerstone)

Summer 2003

Goats at the Diner
(Flory's - Rutland, VT)

15¢ Burgers
the sign used to say
You can still kind of read it
Though it's faded away
God love Flory's Diner
Just outside of town
Though the place is still open
Looks like it's closed down
There's junk on the counters
There's junk on the wall
There's junk in the corners
Don't look nice at all
The burgers are so greasy
They must fry them in lard
But this here's the kicker
There're goats in the yard

Goats, goats
With udders and horns
I guess they're put out there
To keep the grass shorn
There're goats at the diner
They're pretty good sized
I hear no one eats there
Can't say I'm surprised