I know a girl from the south of Maine, she’s the saddest clown in the show She’s got eyes the color of pain, and has since long ago She’s got a smile that threatens rain, but she’s cool like a midnight snow She knows if she stays what she stands to gain, but maybe she would rather go ‘Cause she gets tired of the urban blur, the noise and the neon...Learn More

Summer came back this week on Tuesday The neighbors are dancing in the melted-snow street We live in shacks and it’s a dark news day But they’re all just grateful to stand in the heat Joyful old women sitting on stools Teenagers cursing and men washing cars Water with lemon drunk by a fool Who’d rather be somewhere else playing guitar A moment in...Learn More

People will hurt you and let you down Trees won’t People sway the politics of your childhood town Trees don’t People have so much they’re angry about When was the last time you heard a tree shout I’m going to live among trees Oh, people want money and people want things Trees just want to grow And people don’t realize what their selfishness...Learn More

I love my work maybe more than I aught And you act supportive, even when you’re not If one day you didn’t, that would be fine I would just resign Resign, resign, resign, I would Resign, resign, resign for good Call me on home, darling, I would not whine I would just resign Now I think that you’d be an excellent mother You’d teach our kids to be...Learn More

Close to the place where I-95 merges with Interstate 10 My family basks in the glow of a tree and stands in my grandmother’s den I am not there, nor is my wife; we stayed in New York on our own Considering our plans for the months up ahead, chiefest of which is this one: We’re going back to the ocean, to the sky unencumbered, back to mosquitoes...Learn More

It was spring and the world was all good things ahead Every child was home and loved, every hungry mouth was fed All the boys were free to feel, all the girls were sure and strong And Sam Cooke was singing on the stereo, “You know, it won’t be very long “Oh, it won’t be long before we walk on those storied streets of gold Hand in hand with the...Learn More

Oh, once again, the next bus is running late NJ transit has me feeling surly I’d gone straight up to my gate Just in time to find the last bus leaving early And I’ve been standing here for half an hour now Watching angry people walking by Remembering why I moved here and with whom and what and how I became another walking angry guy I just wanna...Learn More

A southern transplant in a Bushwick bar defends his indicted nation They got a story and a right to tell it, I’m gonna listen like I would to you I don’t condemn them or respect and forgive them, I honestly don’t know what else I can do Understanding doesn’t mean I approve and compassion isn’t normalization Compassion isn’t normalization,...Learn More

The miracle of motion is a planet falling toward Another one adjacent in the void they’re sailing through In space there is no up or down no moving back or forward I only gauge location through my relationship to you The miracle of motion is my father coming back To help me be a better son when someone calls me “Dad” To use my hands to show them...Learn More

I called your parents on the phone To tell them what I plan to do To tell them all the ways I’ve changed To say I plan to marry you Your mother joked around a bit Your father wept to hear the news When I said how it came to this My eyes were filled with water too I am not ashamed I will never be the same Only you to blame You can have my life and...Learn More