painted  words  on  a  table  mean  nothing   but  carve  them  and  bleed   burned  into  place  we  slept together   you  were  on  your  knees   she  is  out  there  somewhere   begging  for  our  grief   broken  lines  dot  the boulevard   on  the  way  back  home   she’s  tucked  into  a  pocket  sewn  shut   just  so  no  one’ll  know   i  can  hear   them  laughing   but  i  knew  you’d  go   i  can’t  stand  still   and  you  can’t  hold  back   i’m  gnawing  on  your   tattoos   you  paint  your  windows  black   conversations  beat   my  eardrums  cadence  on  their  own   i  wish  you   were  here  instead  of  out  there   sewn  shut  and  stoned   you  have  to  hold  on  while  i  go  down   the  degree  to   which  she  becomes  a  character   in  my  mind  is  the  degree   to  which  she  becomes absent  from  my  life   i would  starve  to  watch  you  crawl  

Early to mid to late July The plane will land the sky will die And when this happens you will see A brewing storm inside of me A faceless cloud within the moon I say something important a week too soon In the time between then And when I should’ve said I had a say in this I had a say in this And under the belly of the great great moon A face I see in a small balloon A smile a wave your hands in mine Is just my dream in this glass of wine And in the time between then And when I should’ve said I had a say in this I had a say in this Beneath my sleeves there is a scar That I gave myself in an old brown car Fading fast into my skin A last excuse for a life of sin In the time between then And when I should’ve said I had a say in this I had a say in this

two  revolutions  forward   one  revolution  ago   i  held  a  secret  between  my  thumbs   but   had  to  let  her   go  wheels  beneath  the  burning  sky   finish  where  they  started   and  when  does  returning mean   you’ve  already  departed   start  a  revolution  baby   change  your  mind   start  a  revolution  maybe   you’ll   feel  better  inside   it’s  the  silence  between her  words as  she  looks  at  the  sky   moving  on  to  come  back home   baby  take  me  for  a  ride   rock  me  back  against your  chest   let  me  never  stop  falling   comfort  with   the  endlessness   is  better  off  than  crawling   there’s  an  ocean  inside  of  me   filled  with  words  she  never  said   i  swim  in  it  to  know  all   the  places  we  never  met   staring  at  the  edge  of  loneliness   in  a  city  far  away   do  i  dare  eat  a  peach   as  i  stumble  stagger  and  stay  

i  wake  up  in  the  afternoon   after  a  morning   of  not  sleeping  ‘cause  my  feet  were  cold   and  i  turn  on  the  radio   and  hear  the  announcer  say   it’s  a   beautiful  day  in  buffalo   i  think  of  all  those  before  me   who  walked  away  just  to  roam   it’s  a  pulse  that   moves  us  or  keeps  us   it’s  a  rhythym  you  cannot  own   half-­drunk  and  half-­said   carries  words i never wrote   and  i  never  meant   all  these  replacement  words   they have  no  heft   only  stark  reminders  of  what  we   have  left   behind  beneath  between us   it’s  the  space  i  needed   we  could  pull  at  each  other   like  this  all  day   long   lobbing  back  and  forth  our  reasons   for  our  own  secret  songs   but  baby  when  the  sun  go  on  and   disappear   we’re  left  only  with  ashes   made  mud  by  our  tears   so  i’m  building  a  mud  brick  house   a  new   place  to  live   change  all  the  locks   and  pour  a  drink  to  forget   how  much  i  hurt  you   and  how  much  i   changed   and  how  all  of  our  lives   have  been  delicately  rearranged   at  the  end  of  the  day  i  scrub  my  skin   watch  it  swirl  down  the  drain   and  beg  to    start  over  again   it’s  that  dirt  under  my  nails   that  i  just  can’t  rid   so  i  wait  for  the  poet’s  moment   when  i  will  finally forget   that  night  that  night  i  heard  her  sing   was  the   night  i  knew  i  needed   to  start  untethering   so  i’m  building  a  mud  brick  house   a  new  place  to  live   change   all  the  locks   and  pour  a  drink  to  forget   how  much  i  loved  you   and  how  it  felt  when  i  stopped   and  how  the  words  that  i  left  you with   fell  heavy   like  rocks      

A cup of coffee and a cigarette I’m stuck in a glass house Looking through myself again There will be no not jumping Among the lonely and the thieves The lovers are daedal And the widows just grieve Sometimes I only want To paint everything At the edge of a city one night I kissed a girl Who swore like a sailor she’d never leave this world Her arms held secrets between them and her tattoos Pockets of love I never knew she used Maybe it was the city, living in the city That made her feel how queer everything was And that it was something else There will be no not jumping Among the lonely and the thieves The lovers are daedal And the widows just grieve Sometimes I only want To paint everything There will be no not jumping Among the lonely and the thieves The lovers are daedal And the widows just grieve Sometimes I only want To paint everything

i  got  coffee  stained  fingers   and  a  memory  stained  mind   i  can  hear   your  footsteps  behind  me   but  i  don’t  know  which  way  to  run   we  all  wanted  something  baby   but  i  wanted   you   we  all  said  the  same  thing  baby   but  i  know  that  you  wanted  me  to...   i  can  hear  the  thunder  rollin’  in   just  like  every  afternoon   something  about  these  storm-­ridden  summers   makes  me  wanna  be  close  to   you

i’m  moving  on   moving  on  a  wire   i’m  dying   dying  on  fire   don’t  forget  to  watch  me   burn   one  day  she  whispered   we’ll  all  be  set  free   chained  to  the  wind   stirring  up  my  feet   don’t  forget  i   watch  you  sleep   why  are  you  here   and  what  was  your  name   nice  to  meet  you  i’m  on  fire   nice  to  meet  you  i’m  on  fire   we’ve  gotten  stranger   as  the  years  roll  on   we’re  different  people   at  the  ends  of  these  guns   hey  stranger,  hey   i’m  a  tightrope  walker   in  this  secret  charade   you’re  a  midnight  stalker   who  got   lost  on  their  way hey,  stranger  hey

i  walked  out  into  a  field  of  stars   and  i  looked  up  to  find   where  you  are   but  the  blinking  lights  told  me  to  move  on   to  a  world  where  i  can  sing  my  song   we’ve  got   no  answers  for  the  lives  we  lead   sometimes  baby  sometimes  we  just  need  to  believe believe  in  me   believe  in  me  too   where  was  she  when  i  needed  a  walk  in  the  rain   and  where  was  he  when i was staring   through  my  pain only  the   devil’s  awake  at  3  a.m.   except  for  another lonely  insomniac  friend   i  try  to   escape  the  image  of  you  at  my  door   but  in  my  sleep  it  only  bleeds  out  more

there’s  a  broken  avenue   in  this  city  of  hours   take  a  stroll  late  at  night   just  to  look  at  all  of  the  stars   and outside  my  window   all  the  leaves  are  turning  old   the shedding  of  another  year   makes  all  of  us  grow  so  cold   and  oh  help  me  darling   help  me  let  go  of  you   and  oh  help  me  baby   is  there  nothing  we  can do   i  took   down  all  our  pictures   and  carefully  tucked  them  away   for  someone  else  to  stumble  upon   on  another  sad   rainy  day   i  loved  you  to  pieces   which  is  why  we  finally  broke   both  holding  on  too  tightly   to  all  those   words  we  misspoke

hungover  in  the  afternoon   with  the  sun  hung  on  a  string   it’s   been  a  while  since  i  saw  your  face   since  i  even  knew  your  name   wonder  if  you  would  know  me  now   now   that  everything  has  changed   we  were  still  together   still  against  all  that  weather   we  were  still  together   baby  we  were  so  still   i’ve  had  so  many  faces   in  too  many  places   and  one  too  many  names   i  slept  in  her   shadow   under  your  window   but  there’s  no  one  left  to  blame   chasing  down  that  old  dream   from  a  new   direction   than  where  i’ve  been   it  ain’t  about  lonely   it  ain’t  about  heartache   that’s  all  over  now   it’s  about   hearing  my  heartbeat   and  only  my  footsteps   underneath  the  stars

Instrumental

i  left  with  my  instructions   printed  on  your  skin hungover  under  the  olive  trees   wondering  where  you’ve  been   the  bosses  fold  us  like  sheets  into  ourselves   there’s  a  saint  in  the  streets   he’s  got  healing  hands  he  needs  to  wash   darling  won’t  you  come  with  me   to  the  next  prayer  meeting   lift our  chairs  above  our  heads   and  dance  like  true  believers   i  left  under  surveillance   the  bishops  know   where  i  live   i’ve  got  your  razor  in  my  pocket   and  a  shadow  you  won’t  forgive   the  bosses  come  while  i   sleep   slip  a  file  beneath  my  door   they  know  how  hard  she’ll  weep   when  they  have  her  on  the  floor   i’ve   got  the  ghost  in  a  cage   as  a  bargaining  chip   i  wrote  your  instructions  on  a  page   with  the  blood  from  my   lip   you  will  find  me  disguised  as  a  story   in  three  days  i’ll  burn  these  robes   and  we  can  share  in  the  glory