1. |
Raining In Derry
05:19
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The same old song
The same old heartstrings
I hear the call of gulls
on main road cooing
Past two stumblers
Travelling onward
Inching their ways home
Cool dingy parking lots
Tamped with moonlight
Heavy eyes widen
Damp and bright
moments as ghostly
menageries
disintegrate, imaginary
Though I know
the rain will start soon
in Derry
It’s hard to walk some streets
Where I’d caught a feeling
Not quite love,
Though it had my heart beating
I try my best not to
take it as a sign
I see you in places
that were once mine
Watersheds make
Rivers eddy
Intense regardless of
Their brevity
My mind lingers on
That moonlit sea
As I long for places
I would rather be
Though I know
the rain will stop soon
in Derry
The same old song
The same old heartstrings
I hear the call of gulls
on main road cooing
I try my best not to
take it as a sign
You’re no longer in
Places that were once mine
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2. |
Brigid's Bees
08:17
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Verse 1:
I held bluebells in my hand
As the dirge lilts on for you
Funeral clothes, the itch in my bones
Shift me sideways in the pew
Pre-chorus:
Am C G D
And I went to bed with an ache so tense
I woke up garbed in a linen nightdress
Walking towards
The back field fence
Barefoot through the night too early for the dew
Following a dotted trail for two
And for all
For all I knew
Chorus:
Whispered through the trees
Shaking at the knees
A whistle on the breeze
Something otherworldly
Verse 2:
Midsummer under the moon
Small figures far off began to croon
My eyes began to sting when I felt the buzz of wings,
While low drones composed a frightful tune
Pre-chorus:
Caustic murmurations grew louder as I stood
Agape and forlorn in a clearing in the wood
And I was torn as what to do
Eyes held wide, as not to lose sight
Of a Wil-o-the-wisp gliding through the night
Lit a revelrous path
Of a Fairy light
Chorus:
Whispered through the trees
Shaking at the knees
A whistle on the breeze
Something otherworldly
Verse 3:
Small crowd gathered around the embers
With bluebells encircled like a tether
A midnight foray, of what I cannot say
Picked a pocketful for good measure
Pre-chorus:
Am C G D
Sharp gazes darted back gentry eyes in view
When a woman appeared as if on cue
tore a strip of her cloak
‘round my shoulders she threw
Ushered away utterly enthralled
Wrapped in the remains of a regal shawl
To avoid the clutch
of teeth and claws
Chorus:
Whispered through the trees
Shaking at the knees
A whistle on the breeze
Something otherworldly
Verse 4:
She was ablaze like honey and fire,
As we moved swiftly from the pyre
Spared from cosmic treacheries, cut from sternum to seat
Or other tragedy could have transpired
Pre-chorus:
Past thick bramble branches we came upon a well
Shrouded in strips of cloth tied together tail to tail
Peering through much more
Than a gossamer veil
A rope lowered down to a galvanized pail
Still surface reflect a speckled galaxy revealed
Was it heaven or hell?
A lucid spell?
Bridge:
And I fell
Into the stars
Beneath a curving melody
Shining grins of crooked teeth
Wrapped in a shawl of velvet brocade
Suspended in the night between the dark and light of day (x2)
Verse 5:
I awoke with bluebells in my hand
Crumpled ‘tween the sheets of where I laid
Still in my funeral clothes a new itch in my bones
As a distant hum carried you away
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3. |
This Time
05:22
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Born with a heart of hearts forged stronger than steel
‘Til the world blurs the lines of what's deceptive or real
I’ll carry it all without making a sound
I can help you see what it means to be found
A clawing inclination without reason or rhyme
A voice from below pipes up in due time
“The first is last, the lost the least
If patience is a virtue, what did that leave for me?”
Pre-Chorus:
There’s a chance it was only then
So I’ll tell myself again
Chorus:
I'll let it slip this time
Slowly to the ground
I can help you decide
What needs to be found
Lyres and flutists and singers of songs
Can weave such a tale that would silence the throngs
But the tallest of tales have anecdotal veneers
Flash a cheshire cat smile and then disappears
A salesmen of sorts deals the rare and revered
Sells your the world then holds up a mirror
Convinced their hunger is yours to quell
The fuller their cup, the emptier your well
Pre-Chorus:
I thought it was only then
So I tell myself instead
Chorus:
I'm giving it up this time
I’ve laid it all down
I can’t help you decide
What needs to be found
For you to see clearly without looking right through me
If I can’t win this time I should give up the race
The harder I try to forfeit my claim
Not a willing participant, still gunning for first place
Bridge:
Don’t be petty, it isn't right, there’s no time to fight
If it's not helpful or nice say nothing at all
Head down, work hard, get through the day
Formulate the words you are dying to say
I carried it all without making a sound
To help you see what's lost could be found
The first is last, the lost the least
If patience is a virtue, what did that leave for me?
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4. |
Heartstrings, For Paul
03:08
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Heart strings
Laced through me like the bloodstream
Pumping iron, oak and seedlings
Rooted in the family tree
Those ties
threaded through me like a sunrise
Holding anchor over rough tides
Holding fast, holding true
In stories
Held like beacons of past glories
Now passed down in young eyes for these
Precious branches that we lose
Tree rings
Counted back to the beginning
In tandem with the mourning
We hold together ‘fore we go
Heart strings
Laced through us like the bloodstream
Pumping iron, oak and seedlings
Rooted in the family tree
Carved in you and me
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5. |
Heartstrings
03:08
|
|||
|
Heart strings
Laced through me like the bloodstream
Pumping iron, oak and seedlings
Rooted in the family tree
Those ties
threaded through me like a sunrise
Holding anchor over rough tides
Holding fast, holding true
In stories
Held like beacons of past glories
Now passed down in young eyes for these
Precious branches that we lose
Tree rings
Counted back to the beginning
In tandem with the mourning
We hold together ‘fore we go
Heart strings
Laced through us like the bloodstream
Pumping iron, oak and seedlings
Rooted in the family tree
Carved in you and me
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Tessa Cecilia St. John'S, Newfoundland and Labrador
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