1. O, Astoria!
For the rest of our lives we'll be swaying
As laces and dirtied old soles.
From the branches young age's engagements
Have flocked with the sparrows and gulls
To O, Astoria.
'Neath the rails of old engines' abandon
'Tween cracks in the gravel and moss
Where the flickers of memories we flattened
In the copper of pennies are lost
In the shade of our glory
At the hill where the old chapel stands
There is held our beliefs where we left them
In the skin of the tall pines, the rocks, and the sands
Of O, Astoria!
There we on the water took count
Of the moons that have orbited us and gave weight
To our arms that could open but slight
Though our words would change even gravity's might.
With the dust and the ash of our fathers passed
Tucked neatly in our blood
O, what length we've waited for this place to seek us out!
O, Astoria.
In the shade of our glory
At the end of Columbia's breath
Did we know our beliefs when we forged them
In the skin of the tall pines the rocks and the sands?
Of O, Astoria!
2. The Lighthouse and the Hourglass
There are many more of us
Scattered sails among the gusts
Coursing 'cross these haunted tides
With a reason and a guess.
Maybe ours is not of hope -
Maybe our fates lead astray -
For the spell has once been cast,
and once it takes,
We only gather 'round the light and fire the hourglasses make.
There are stills beneath our beds
Stoked by branches of our fallen family trees
There is comfort dressed in casket clothes
And a bottle embalms us as we go.
Well there comes a time to raise
A flag we've managed for so long
That is hidden in the waves among the graves of mariners' children
Who mistook the ocean's way.
There's a lighthouse by the bay
Where our ships and faiths are safe
And with every fading flash
Another wave has crashed
And every grain of sand is sifting through the hourglass.
There are lines meant to cross
There are burdens meant to stand
There are curses that the follies of our great grandfathers and their wives
Have cast upon our lives.
3. The Open Sea
Passing on the water's edge
And wrinkling some time
You set your mind on moving along.
Pacing forth with pant-less breath
In the shade of the shadow-less palms-
Gold pastures of dawn-
O, the open sea!
Though the tides are new and high
Your eyes are anchored still to some old ideas
And some effortless tricks
That comfort you and carry you
While the fleas and flies still b***
Like the salty air on steel
O, what do you still feel?
Passing from the water's edge
And tending the lines
You set your mind on moving along.
For well beyond the breakers' crash
Harvests of the blue horizon's loom
Will offer a new and open sea
That weaves the stars and deep-
Reasons for our faith-
As the currents state and set to reveal
O, what you do still feel!
They'll comfort you and carry you
Where the aging canvas fills
And the salty air you'll feel...
4. The Man Who Sleeps
Let's cut our teeth on what lies beyond
Shaping this whole world cavernous
There is a river-
Endless,
Beneath-
Facing the four winds
Calling dreams we seek.
Can't fool the man who sleeps on his feet
Testing his wax and feathers
Steel in his veins and blood in his cheek
Pressing the storm to weather
Dreams we seek
Dreams we keep.
Give us this day
Blazing at dawn
Dressed in its flames and tallow
Here on this river-
Endless and deep-
Drawn by the winds
We follow
Dreams we keep
Dreams we seek.
5. A Wish We Spoke
From shores of sleep
And drifting on
This ship has gone too far.
The open sea
Full of whales and weeds
The waves rise up and seethe.
Faith is up to us, we two.
What lies beneath
In the arms of dreams?
What shadows long to breathe?
A stone-flecked beach
A mast full of sail
A wish we spoke can't be.
6. Castle Walls
All it takes to make another start
Hung like leaves in fall-
Rising up, the water drowns our caul-
Cracks and climbs these walls.
Diving out, swim for a place to rest
Your hands lose their grasp.
All you hear through the pall and dark,
Whispered melodies sung from afar.
We can't stand on promises
Made of bloodless choruses.
Salt and brine our ragged breath
With our dreams into the depths...
7. The World Of Silence
...Through the swaying coral groves
Brushing past the stones
And drifting 'neath the greenest shade of canopies
Casting shadows as we roam
Down among the manta rays
Twirling 'mongst the bones.
The jellies and anemonies-
Among the shells
And the sunken sands below-
Dance with us on early graves
Call us from the whale.
A pair of ladies hovering and sliding up
From the foot of beds unknown...
8. Along The Shore
...Rest now your head
Upon the water line
Crickets and frogs sing rivers' lullabies.
This drift-
O reverie, lift
Over us.
Brother, I'm holding on!
Let's go sail along the shore a while.
Brother, we can race the rowers and the steams.
Herons and the eagles cross the amusement park
Where we can ride the carousel:
A cloud beneath the sun,
Where ours is just begun
This time.
Old friends,
Dear friends.
9. Cast In The Brine
Hands wither in time
But we cannot stop the branch of the vine.
Days that will come
And nights that have gone
Are washed in the tides
And cast in the brine.
10. The Shaker's Cask
In my time of dying
May peace take your hands,
And the steel that they harbored,
Take earth by my side.
With some help from a son
And the rose at your chest
Every measure of man that you've made
Will soon be replaced.
Lay me down on the open ice
Where the Eskimeaux played.
Lay me down eighty feet in the sand
Where the young pharoah's old gold was stolen.
Lay me down,
Lay me down,
Lay me down as you please.
But take your peace as my eyesight has ceased
And holy grails in old pails I can't seek.
Now this poem and this flask
Where the good word was cast,
And the catacombs that established our homes,
And the dirt on the old Shaker's cask:
They too will pass
And our pride will pass
And the coasts that divided your lies will pass.
And the rivers pass with our brothers' grasps
Like the moons that have orbited us have collapsed,
And the ghosts at the sands of the d***ed hourglass,
And the many shores left, still,
To follow their path.
For the rest of our lives we'll be swaying
As laces and dirtied old soles.
From the branches young age's engagements
Have flocked with the sparrows and gulls
To O, Astoria.
'Neath the rails of old engines' abandon
'Tween cracks in the gravel and moss
Where the flickers of memories we flattened
In the copper of pennies are lost
In the shade of our glory
At the hill where the old chapel stands
There is held our beliefs where we left them
In the skin of the tall pines, the rocks, and the sands
Of O, Astoria!
There we on the water took count
Of the moons that have orbited us and gave weight
To our arms that could open but slight
Though our words would change even gravity's might.
With the dust and the ash of our fathers passed
Tucked neatly in our blood
O, what length we've waited for this place to seek us out!
O, Astoria.
In the shade of our glory
At the end of Columbia's breath
Did we know our beliefs when we forged them
In the skin of the tall pines the rocks and the sands?
Of O, Astoria!
2. The Lighthouse and the Hourglass
There are many more of us
Scattered sails among the gusts
Coursing 'cross these haunted tides
With a reason and a guess.
Maybe ours is not of hope -
Maybe our fates lead astray -
For the spell has once been cast,
and once it takes,
We only gather 'round the light and fire the hourglasses make.
There are stills beneath our beds
Stoked by branches of our fallen family trees
There is comfort dressed in casket clothes
And a bottle embalms us as we go.
Well there comes a time to raise
A flag we've managed for so long
That is hidden in the waves among the graves of mariners' children
Who mistook the ocean's way.
There's a lighthouse by the bay
Where our ships and faiths are safe
And with every fading flash
Another wave has crashed
And every grain of sand is sifting through the hourglass.
There are lines meant to cross
There are burdens meant to stand
There are curses that the follies of our great grandfathers and their wives
Have cast upon our lives.
3. The Open Sea
Passing on the water's edge
And wrinkling some time
You set your mind on moving along.
Pacing forth with pant-less breath
In the shade of the shadow-less palms-
Gold pastures of dawn-
O, the open sea!
Though the tides are new and high
Your eyes are anchored still to some old ideas
And some effortless tricks
That comfort you and carry you
While the fleas and flies still b***
Like the salty air on steel
O, what do you still feel?
Passing from the water's edge
And tending the lines
You set your mind on moving along.
For well beyond the breakers' crash
Harvests of the blue horizon's loom
Will offer a new and open sea
That weaves the stars and deep-
Reasons for our faith-
As the currents state and set to reveal
O, what you do still feel!
They'll comfort you and carry you
Where the aging canvas fills
And the salty air you'll feel...
4. The Man Who Sleeps
Let's cut our teeth on what lies beyond
Shaping this whole world cavernous
There is a river-
Endless,
Beneath-
Facing the four winds
Calling dreams we seek.
Can't fool the man who sleeps on his feet
Testing his wax and feathers
Steel in his veins and blood in his cheek
Pressing the storm to weather
Dreams we seek
Dreams we keep.
Give us this day
Blazing at dawn
Dressed in its flames and tallow
Here on this river-
Endless and deep-
Drawn by the winds
We follow
Dreams we keep
Dreams we seek.
5. A Wish We Spoke
From shores of sleep
And drifting on
This ship has gone too far.
The open sea
Full of whales and weeds
The waves rise up and seethe.
Faith is up to us, we two.
What lies beneath
In the arms of dreams?
What shadows long to breathe?
A stone-flecked beach
A mast full of sail
A wish we spoke can't be.
6. Castle Walls
All it takes to make another start
Hung like leaves in fall-
Rising up, the water drowns our caul-
Cracks and climbs these walls.
Diving out, swim for a place to rest
Your hands lose their grasp.
All you hear through the pall and dark,
Whispered melodies sung from afar.
We can't stand on promises
Made of bloodless choruses.
Salt and brine our ragged breath
With our dreams into the depths...
7. The World Of Silence
...Through the swaying coral groves
Brushing past the stones
And drifting 'neath the greenest shade of canopies
Casting shadows as we roam
Down among the manta rays
Twirling 'mongst the bones.
The jellies and anemonies-
Among the shells
And the sunken sands below-
Dance with us on early graves
Call us from the whale.
A pair of ladies hovering and sliding up
From the foot of beds unknown...
8. Along The Shore
...Rest now your head
Upon the water line
Crickets and frogs sing rivers' lullabies.
This drift-
O reverie, lift
Over us.
Brother, I'm holding on!
Let's go sail along the shore a while.
Brother, we can race the rowers and the steams.
Herons and the eagles cross the amusement park
Where we can ride the carousel:
A cloud beneath the sun,
Where ours is just begun
This time.
Old friends,
Dear friends.
9. Cast In The Brine
Hands wither in time
But we cannot stop the branch of the vine.
Days that will come
And nights that have gone
Are washed in the tides
And cast in the brine.
10. The Shaker's Cask
In my time of dying
May peace take your hands,
And the steel that they harbored,
Take earth by my side.
With some help from a son
And the rose at your chest
Every measure of man that you've made
Will soon be replaced.
Lay me down on the open ice
Where the Eskimeaux played.
Lay me down eighty feet in the sand
Where the young pharoah's old gold was stolen.
Lay me down,
Lay me down,
Lay me down as you please.
But take your peace as my eyesight has ceased
And holy grails in old pails I can't seek.
Now this poem and this flask
Where the good word was cast,
And the catacombs that established our homes,
And the dirt on the old Shaker's cask:
They too will pass
And our pride will pass
And the coasts that divided your lies will pass.
And the rivers pass with our brothers' grasps
Like the moons that have orbited us have collapsed,
And the ghosts at the sands of the d***ed hourglass,
And the many shores left, still,
To follow their path.