Warm Regards,- May 25th, 2017

Warm Regards,

Water stained and rusted, I trusted Toledo more than some

Called out to keep hold, my grip slipped then went cold and numb

Was it where I came from, my name don’t roll off the tongue

Will we please, feel so free

To untether these hands of pleasure

With a thought, but no might

I may just lay here tonight

Father told me said, “Son stop your gloating, you ain’t gold.

Still you’ll pray to it, still you’re made to be sold.”

It ain’t where we came from, it’s how-high in the tree we’re hung

Will we please, feel so good

To cry, “I did it all, I did what I could.”

With no thought, but some might

I may pray, “God make it right”

Now in Toledo they propose it’s better taken straight

Like words of promise, these ladies in long dresses bait

Is it where they came from or from where-it-is they aim?

Will he please, let it fall

Like John’s hammer on the dry wall

So without thought and without might

I may watch God break into fight

With all my thought and all my might

May I please watch God break into fight

Leave it there, oh leave it there

Take your burdens to the Lord and leave it there

Take your burdens to the Lord and leave it there

Rags & Roses

Get down from that high up lorry

Get down from that rocking chair

Hold your hands and ask for glory

Hold your hands tight in prayer

Don’t tell me that no one told you

Don’t tell me that no one came

Don’t offer me another story

Don’t offer me another stay

Babe, don’t it get lonely?

When age turns into wear

Like wine, bottle and buried

Is drank by the boar or the bear

Don’t break my heart and hold it

Clenched tightly in your jaws

Let it pound like a hound dog’s sonnet

The dirt marked by their paws

Let bleed these veins of promise

Let bleed ‘till we go pale

Set off on the first of August

Set course for shores of Hell

Babe, don’t it get lonely?

When age turns into wear

Like wine, bottle and buried

Is drank by the boar or the bear

Shed all your rags and roses

Shed all your golden teeth

Show me improper motion

Let go your decency

Shake, shake like you want it

Shake, show me your wares

Shake, shake like you own it

Shake, shake while I stare

Shake, shake while I stare

Shake, shake while I stare

Northbound

I tried to tell you time and time that I would ride on the line away,

Hard pressed to stay

Darlin’ don’t wanna let you go, I don’t wanna live life all alone

So wrap me up in these chains

And I’ll ride this train of mine until my heart is fine

Winter lies behind the door, the sweat is freezin’ up in my pores,

Like the tears in your eyes

Darlin’ I don’t wanna see you cry, I’ll be back maybe July

But you’ve heard this all before

And I’ll ride this train to Hell or until my heart is well

I’m gonna go where the pine trees grow and where the weather suits my clothes

Oh the North

Canada ain’t that far when, count the miles by hairs on your arms

Or the pains in your heart

And I’ll ride this train Northbound or until my heart is found

And I’ll ride this train Northbound or until my heart is found

Lost & Lorn

Oh, oh lonesome me

Will you come, come here still

‘Cause it’s not right

To chase a new land

And leave me a man

In deepening shade

It’s a thickening storm

It’s a hell done wrong

Leave me lost and lorn

Say, say darlin’ wait

Won’t you warm, warm my hands

‘Cause it’s damn cold

With you out of sight

And no more my plight

Can loving heal

It’s a thickening storm

It’s a hell done wrong

Leave me lost and lorn

‘Cause it’s damn cold

‘Cause it’s damn cold

‘Cause it’s damn cold

Through the Shades

Forty-four more hours and she’ll be yours

Lain like flowers, she’ll be dour on the floor

One less wind did I defy

Thrown from my chest, I was blown West to her boundary line

Go down, go down

Let’s go pound on her door

To have sing solemn and softly like before

Go down, go down

Let’s go pound on her door

To have her sing solemn and softly like before

What have I come to be?

And what’ll she have now for to grieve?

Still on my oath I’ll have her tied

To my feet, but I’d rather greet her as my bride

Go down, go down

Let’s go pound on her door

To have sing solemn and softly like before

Oh and that red set through the shades

Showin’ that bed set still unmade

Her nails, her claws tattoo this beast

Just minutes later I would lay her to sleep

Go down, go down

Let’s go pound on her door

To have sing solemn and softly like before

Go down, go down

Let’s go pound on her door

To have sing solemn and softly like before

Timbre of June

There’s iron in my blood

And iron is my love

But I’ll be the last

To call and grasp for your glove

Sing me word

And sing from your throat

For a bird may call,

But you can carry the note

Well it comes when it rains

And it calms my veins

When I’m weathered and wet

I know I’ll not forget

The timbre of June

The timbre of two

The timbre of you

There’s iron in my eyes

Rust red from the sun

Glistening fast on the hood

Of my Plymouth ‘91

The muffler will sing

Like the tanager in Spring

These melodies think I’m on the brink

And soon my hopes they will sink

Well it comes when it rains

And it calms my veins

When I’m weathered and wet

I know I’ll not regret

The timbre of June

The timbre of two

The timbre of you

My Hated Half

I lost my say

Crossin’ paths with my hated half

Built for crass

Not tilted to the pastured way

Told “lay there, lay,”

My mother tore my pride

Pushed me to stride

But I’m anchored in her nurture’s weight

I feel how high we’ll rise

But still, I see in their eyes, I lied

It’s only when I go home

The crowd grows callous and cold

Sayin, “You’re better off alone”

Marry me to the stream

They all cried, “Do it again

Bank’s worn to the end

The weather won’t change if you bend”

I feel so well

‘Til I feel the bounds of hell

Sink and swell

Shot clean with a minor ring

I feel how high we’ll rise

But still, I see in their eyes, I lied

It’s only when I go home

The crowd grows callus and cold

Singing, “You’re better off on your own”

Now I try my hand

Dealin on the Devil’s path

Caught cornered and I claim that half

They’re lookin’ down from their angel band

I feel how high we’ll rise

But still, I see in their eyes, I lied

It’s only when I go home

The crowd grows callous and cold

Sayin, “You’re better off alone”

Neither Hide Nor Hair

So find me and slide me in some cover

As a cool breeze hides the hard heat of the summer

Cause it’s only now that I’ve gone

Short of breath, I attest, that I ain’t comin’ home

So leave me strong scriptures as I wander

Cause they’ll feed me posed pictures from your mother

As I’m weighed down, it’s further way out that we rode

In two weeks I passed Topeka’s harsh hinderin’ cold

It’s only now that she’s gone, that I feel in my lungs

That still I’m not, fit to come home

So Denver delivered me some progress

From here now, I’ll just cough out in blood red

They say stay out, but dare I to go

Consumed I’ll - fall down and rest in the snow

Right here, my dear, I’ll die if I want

Stranded and branded, I wasn’t born to come home (x2)

Neither hide nor hare, will follow me there

So I rest my case and I’ll die in this place

Neither hide nor hare, will follow me there

So I rest my case and I’ll die in this place

So I rest my case and I’ll die in this place

The Virgin Gaul

I may go

I may take the tightrope home

Feel you wild

A force to feed like child

She stands tall

Like a virgin gaul wanting the road

Wet teeth while in Rome

And she’ll ride

Wild and white

Placing her fate and I will mate

With myself and find a fool

Trying to bind the light through a leper’s rule

Take the bait babe oh break down

Lay my hands in sand and beg to bend to your will

I’m your trophy kill

Kept crucified by eyes waiting for blood

Flowing down

They wait for blood

Beating out

They scream for blood

Get me out

They bathe in blood

I’m fading out

White snow

On her snout

There’s only one way

One way out

Last Red Eyed Goodbye

Last red eyed goodbye

Like a luger in my side

The cold was thick on her hands

She pulled quick on the strand

And it’s one more time, she’s gonna be

Only fine, she’s gotta be mine

She’s gonna be fine

So spell it like it is

Is true love like this?

We’ll paint lines on our face

Put god in his place

And it’s one more drink, I think

I’ll find my own way home and out of disgrace

Pull tight on my lace

Like some cruel dead fool in a ditch

I felt the time for the switch

Feel the steel peel at my neck

Like her cry or her peck

And it’s so few past pictures plastered up

So few plastic mementos of two

Glass remnants of you

Red eyed and blue

Red eyed and blue

Red eyed and blue

California Kid

How long is the hand

Bend down over, bend down friend

How black is the dirt

When it buries an inch of hurt

Comes in times

Comes in times when

Comes in times when I dream like a

California Kid

How blue is the Jay

When it sings its heart away

As the set starts to fade

Watch the sun turn bright to grey

Comes in times

Comes in times when

Comes in times when I dream like a

California Kid

Bloodroot - August 29th, 2015

BONNIE WHITE REST

Be lonesome, be lonesome, lonesome you’ll be

Cried the fated man in his sleep

Be gone, be gone, I’ve gone to be

But in the mornin’ I’ll be free

Oh shackled, oh shackled, iron shackles on me

Like the sparrow to the tree

Oh cold, so cold, so cold I am

But awake me Hannah please

I don’t belong to you, no I don’t belong

I don’t belong to you, no I don’t belong

Oh my son, please lay me down

Oh my son, please lay me down

To bonnie white rest

Be bound to the ground where the seeds are found

Like the dead one to his grave

Take time, take time, cause you’ll have

When your body is not in it’s bed

Be ladylike lovely ‘cause I’m dreamin’ of thee

When I close my eyes in jest

Be seedy and sorry while I’m in the quarry

For tonight is not your best

I don’t belong to you, no I don’t belong

I don’t belong to you, no I don’t belong

Oh my son, please lay me down

Oh my son, please lay me down

To bonnie white rest

HOLD STEADY

My hands are scarred, my lips are blue

And I’m involved with a girl like you

And I keep searchin’

Oh I keep searchin’

Like a child born, still like the morn

My hands are bleedin’ and my lungs are needin’

And I am ready

Oh so ready

So, please hold steady

Please hold steady

I’ll wrap the rope around your waist

I’ll lean down and I’ll curse your face

Cause I am buyin’

The night is dyin’

It’s a wicked wheel, it’s an untracked train

It’s a wild horse and I’m holdin’ the reins

But I am ready,

Oh so ready

So, please hold steady

Please hold steady

Well Gabriel waits down by the gates

Satan sees me and cries, “Please don’t leave me.

Now boy are you comin’?

Boy are you comin’?”

My soul ain’t saved, but I have behaved.

I’ve heard the word and I’ve chosen the range

And I am ready,

Oh so ready

So, please hold steady

Please hold steady

WHERE IN THE GARDENS

Where, where in the gardens did you scar your tongue?

Cause your speech, your speech is so broken, like you’re chokin’ on blood

Beware, beware if you carry no cares your world

Will sink to the bottom below

But dear, oh dear, say can you hear, I’m near

To where the cold wind blows

Where, where in the orchard did you torture your sight?

Was it with ten older maidens that you slay them by knife?

Yes, oh yes, I let them dress in red

Before laying them in their beds

And fresh, oh fresh, was their breath like the breeze

Before slaying them on their knees

Where, where in the meadow did you burn coal to your hands?

Was it down, down by the white shore where they turn ore to lead?

No, sir no, I never will show you where

My hair was tainted black

So beat your fists upon my wrists, but in vain

‘cause you’ll never slit the veins I lack

Where, where in the pasture did you master the light?

‘Twas here, here in the shadows that I let go of the night

No more, no more can I take these words my love

I know not what you’re speaking of

But sir, oh sir I’m ready you see for to be

Your lovely loyal wife

Where, where in this homeland would you like for us to live our lives?

GIRL FROM SPAIN

I was tamed by a countess

I was tamed in the Fall

I was told more than once that I’m not alive

But I just can’t forget you at all

Well, we met on a Spanish moor

Where my ship I did dock to dry

Well, I hope when I die I will be by your side

And these tears you will cry no more

Well, the war did some good for

Revolutionaries with wealth

Now I’m lost in Spain and I’m searching for her name

And she knows not that I’m in good health

I found her perched like a sparrow

In some castle caged by the bay

She said, “Oh my god, I thought you were gone

But I’m engaged to the King of this lake”

She looked cold and wood, like an oak tree

Her soft voice had lost all it’s bark

I saw her ungrateful and said that’s a fate full

Of life without leaving a mark

So, off I did crawl looking for a crown

Or some way to forge a name

Cause in this old life of purpose and strife

That’s that way the girl of Spain will be claimed

I spoke to a man from the mountains

And I spoke to a man of God

They both said, “No regrets, cause you cannot forget

That’s a way to force a smile in pain.”

You’re a way to force a smile in pain

LITTLE CAROLINE

Rollin’ home

That’s three hours gone

That’s three hours left on the track

Steal your heart

And I’ll take the baby too

Take the baby far from you

I don’t why

I can’t explain

I’ll do my time

I’m your’s to blame

Killed a man

Was lookin’ for a pallet

Just lookin’ for that pallet on his floor

Six feet down

Little Caroline she knew

Little Caroline she wept the night threw

I don’t know why

I can’t explain

I’ll do my time

I’m your’s to blame

Steal your heart

And I’ll take the baby too

And I’ll take the baby far from you

I don’t know why

I can’t explain

I’ll do my time

I’m your’s to blame

I’m your’s blame

I’m your’s to blame

TO KANSAS & THE PINES

I’ve been down in Kansas

And I’ve been down in a well

And of both them places

The hole’s better than this Hell

Low was the sunset

And long the dogs did whine

Tellin’ of their troubles

But none the likes of mine

Settle your prospects and settle in time

Swing low and forfeit to Kansas and the pines

So cover your callus

And cover your crime

Like a lady her malice

And a man his brine

Go and tell all the people

With fences built to fend

I don’t want no trouble

I just need a friend

Settle your prospects and settle in time

Swing low and forfeit to Kansas and the pines

Once I saw her standing

And once I saw her kneel

In a garden of roses

And to the back of another’s heel

They say the wind carries a message

To the door of the one in need

But I’ve begun to question

Whether this wind will carry me

Settle your prospects and settle in time

Swing low and forfeit to Kansas and the pines

Settle your prospects and settle in time

Swing low and forfeit to Kansas and the pines

MY WHITE HAIR

I’ve been tryin’ to build a home out of sticks and stones, but I won’t

I’ve been tryin’ to lay foundation in a nation of sensation and care

Oh, won’t you meet me there

Oh, with my white hair

And the dirt’s turned to clay and I’ve been wasted all day, so I think

And my boots they have trod and I myself have gone wrong oh my dear

Oh won’t you meet me here

Oh with my black beard

These pipes they do leak and I can hardly speak my mind

And this desk it is cracked and I’ve nearly broken my back over you

Well what would you have me do?

Oh my empty true

My belt is pulled tight and I can hardly feel right with you gone

And my shirt is tucked in and I can hardly begin to know where to go

Oh in my overcoat

Nearly ten days ago

Simplicity from far comes in Cadillacs and cars in my dreams

Well my neck it is warm while my thoughts they are torn and frayed

Oh my lovely May

You can have your way

These hairs on my chin poke and prod for a friend in the night

And these nails on my toes scratch and bend away from foes for their share

Oh won’t you meet me there

Oh with my white hair

ASK ME OF THE NORTH

My brother went North when I was young

He lived and died there alone

With one brother gone

And the others livin’ on

I learned not to seek the things he sought

Should come a time when I would peak                      

As did the work and then grew weak.

Then the leaves began descending

So did I keep pretending

That I would not repeat my brother’s path

So, Lady my love

Feed me when I come

Ask me of the North

And of course, sleep me on your porch

I was married come the Spring

To Denise, a girl from the East

With hardly a home

Just five acres dry as bone

We set out to work our promise land

But drought gave way to debt

As did the liquor turn to the bet

Those wicked white dice

They rolled over twice

Deliverin’ to me that serpent shot

So, Lady my love

Feed me when I come

Ask me of the North

And of course, sleep me on your porch

How many times did it frost

Before the freeze gave way to loss

I hear my brother in the breeze

And my mother through the trees

Tellin’ me the things I always thought

So, Lady my love

Feed me when I come

Ask me of the North

And of course, sleep me on your porch

Ask me of the North

And of course, sleep me on your porch

LAWRENCE, HE IS FINE

It’s an honest accident

When he lays his hand

On my cheek, I shouldn’t speak or have taken a stand

To his word, spoken first, his lovin’ command.

Well Lawrence, he is fine

Yes, Lawrence, he is fine

When he hits me harder and harder,

It’s so hard to breath.

When he hits me harder and harder,

I can hardly see.

It’s an honest accident, don’t you see?

I should have let it be.

He’s workin’ hard now, he can barely sleep.

Well it ain’t easy and Lord it ain’t cheap.

Well Lawrence, he is fine

Yes, Lawrence, he is fine

When he hits me harder and harder,

I can hardly stand.

When he hits me harder and harder,

I know he’s a man.

It’s an honest accident, when he hits me harder.

It’s an honest accident, when he lays a hand.

When he hits me hard and harder,

I know he’s a man.

It’s an honest accident, he’s an honest man.

It’s an honest accident, he’s an honest man.