Wait for me, Ghost Child Auld promises fulfilled. I’ve seen the fire in your eyes as you Round-Dance ‘round Wait for me, wait for morning, wait for me, wait. I know it seems far off now as the sun goes down Walk with me Ghost Father Sage Gray-Hair Ancestor I follow paths your feet left. Your hands taught me. Wait for me, wait for morning, wait for the, full eclipse. Blight swallowed. Ghost Earth renewed. Spirit rise to you To you, to you, to you, to you. Wait for me Ghost Mother Strong Willow. Weep no more. With all of your lost children home sheltered from the storm Wait for me, wait for morning, wait for me, wait I know it seems far off now as the sun goes down. Goes down, goes down, goes down, goes down.

Sick and Low Part 1: Time Moves Slowly Past the Whiskey Boat. Well give me one more, make it tall Got heavy things to forget somehow. Thank you for those faultless nights Safe harbor ‘midst my sordid life (well I know) I’ve been false so long And I’ve been living death Prolonged. Can’t move on. Spent too many nights with that little soul. A flickering light Well I know... I’ve been wrong One in a million is never too small When rudderless amidst the squall I held onto your stubborn roots Time shook me with her Holy truth (and I’ll) Scribe with my scratch awl Then cut the kerf. Still yet a thrall. Aye. Forswear my flyblown ways. Don’t go far my brother I might need your hand tomorrow That was what I meant to say…. Ten years penance I’d justly pay To thresh this guilt and mill this blame. I Pray I can yet call you home Lord knows I can’t face this alone And we’ll need our fire It’s the only thing that doesn’t change And I’ll need your smile here as well For your stark golden grace. Unflinching eyes and full embrace. Well I thank you for…everything

Cross the country on a thumb and railway hollow West wind whispers cross my hopes Loved ones left. Questions unmet. Why leave? Why wander? And once found will I even know? The coming winter haunts. It taunts my feet to turning. Leathered ashes bid me go (to the river snake below). Placed all my potential faith in mountains rocky And in the stranger grace unknown So if you get to where you’re going to my Brother Say a prayer for me. ‘cause I’m still walking and I have not found What it is I seek. God, this life aches like a golden memory. Darling. Morning coal’s remembered heat. Can’t find the answers looking in this book So I’m looking on the street So if you get to where you’re going to my Brother Say a prayer for me. ‘cause I’m still walking and I have not found What it is I seek. When I left I thought an age-old truth I’d unearth Some forgotten vein of gold. Well I’ve seen rainbows and I chased the sun But my nights have still been cold So if you get to where you’re going to my Sister. Say a prayer for me. ‘Cause I’m still walking and I have not found What it is I seek. What is it I Seek? …Lover

Feels like summer Heart touch laughter Feels like something wholly new. The dawn grass kissed with dew Songbirds singing Scarlet winged cardinal Meadowlark and finch of gold A sound you’d like to hold Like to hold In your hands like a flower wildly grown In your arms like a long lost loved one of old Sweet forgiveness Help me live in hope Help me love with love untamed Heartwood so finely grained Wine cup brimful Thankful. Simple. Temple. Heart beat hymnal Hearthstone glow Warmth seeps to the bone To the deep river soul where your sorrow takes hold To the tips of your hair in the wind freely blown Like a consummate leaf once released from its hold For that achingly beautiful moment has flown. We have flown.

Five years pass like a drop of rain Like a fleeting smile from a moving train Like a freeway ramp—on then off again Like a street lamp bright that won’t stop showin green Like a breeze that blows a sweet fragrance in And then carries it away again But I hope to find a settling, And I hope to find it soon Like a moment stopped in the in-between I hope to rest with you I’ve barely found my wayward breath That I lost the first time that we met I haven’t grown immune to your presence yet To your kisses, to your beating chest, I still dream about that first time you danced, I held flowers, you held me entranced And I hope to find a settling, And I hope to find it soon Like a moment stopped in the in-between I hope to rest with you Like a summer day, your eyes they shine Like a perfect flame, your skin on mine And I just can’t get enough… Then comes the morning light, that uninvited friend, for the spinning world, calls me from your bed but like a moth to a flame, your pasture draws me in What a feast I’d glean! Oh what a rich harvest! And I hope to find a settling, And I hope to find it soon Like a moment stopped in the in-between I hope to rest with you

I know you’re in a rut Your wheels are stuck in the mud But Brother, Sister don’t give up Push through, push through These clouds will turn and run The darkness fleeing from the sun And in the end good will have won Just push through, push through, push through, push through… I heard the son of man calling I saw the truth come rest on him And I gave, my worries all to him Now I’m free, Now I’m free…free indeed know your feet are worn I know your clothes are torn On the narrow road there are many thorns Just push through, push through And when you find you’ve lost your way Get back down on your knees and pray Surrender marks the path to faith Each and every time, Each and every time… I heard the son of man calling I saw the truth come rest on him And I laid, my worries all on him Now I’m free, yeah I’m free…free indeed Mountain peak is not the end, Our eyes are set on heaven So till we reach the Promised Land We’re never looking back We were given at our birth The treasure of unending worth A kingdom that’s not of this earth Is here and coming, here and coming… I heard the son of man calling I saw the truth come rest on him And I gave, my worries all to him Now I’m free, yeah I’m free…free indeed

Pay no mind to edges frayed For if truth be told, all things decay As twilight shifts in Cimmerian shades We choose our dwelling, by the way (or so they say). By the way, the greatest often floweth from the least of things. Bantam mustard seed. Latent yeast Rangy truth reduced, we may choose to “dwell in possibility”… And dance this world of dreams. Well that’s a weighty crown And it’s a cold cold cold world Trying to dredge up hope. That ‘neath these Stygian depths pure waters flow Doubt filled faith. A terminal Belief. Trying to see again what once saw cannot be unseen. Well it’s clear there’re chains around our shackled feet But are our wings still stronger and have we always had the key? So I’ll meet you there, and we’ll shed these scaled eyes. We’ll together bathe in this last sunrise Cuz it’s we, one with Thee, and its “spreading wide our narrow hands to gather paradise”

Our father who art in nature Well I’d lift my eyes above On a hawk’s-wing rise through naked skies beneath the endless sun And like all the green around me I would try to soak you in Sight-bringer, light, Life singer, bright. Sol. Ply our sky. Our Mother, who art in nature I’d bathe myself in you I’d walk upon those time-smoothed stones Be baptized in the river of truth Oh to feel strong currents ‘round me that becalming steady pulse To Where does it pull? Abide in the flow, to the mouth of the sea. Shone the shimmered moonlight glow upon the stream In the blazing sunrise light illumine me Wind so strong I cannot breathe Seed to flower gives way to seed Blood and ashes, to ashes, to dust and soil we are returning. Our father who art in nature I’d give my life to you Press my thin palms against the tree Feel the life and sap go flowing through And I’d kneel upon the forest floor In the speckled light that streams Bring it inside, all of the life, surrounding me. Shone the shimmered moonlight glow upon the stream In the blazing sunrise light illumine me Wind so strong I cannot breathe Seed to flower gives way to seed Blood and ashes, to ashes, to dust and soil we are returning.

The calling breaks the stillness of the proudly nascent morn And I cannot bear the message, ancient fabric being torn For I loved you all so deeply, though my love be old and worn For while my flourishing transgressions are arrayed before my face I behold my destination, though ensnared in yesterdays Slowly deeply slowly, that’s the only way to change… So Take your time… All the color slowly spinning, seeping yellow through the gray And I’d hold my breath till I turned blue and still not find my way Growing so God damned impatient at this lasting crimson stain. And if we pray for God’s own wisdom to dispel the fear we fight. One more parting of the red sea sorrow seizing at our spine It might take us forty years of desert wandering to find…still Take your time. Time to heal, time to listen, time to feel Close your eyes, I’ll still be here my child, there is nothing to fear Take your time, time to think, time to breathe, and time to drink…deeply For in truth nothing is simple, and in truth nothing is known And if truth be truth the best we do is roll this weighty stone And so hold tight to your shred of hope and I’ll hold onto mine… Take your time. Time to heal, time to listen, time to feel. Close your eyes. I’ll still be here my child, there is nothing to fear. Take your time. Time to think, time to breath, and time to drink…deeply

So, so long my friend, Until we meet again May your nights be filled with music May your days be filled with friends May you think of us often On that road that you are walking And may all your needs be met So goodbye my friend Until that unknown time May new doors always be open May you glean some peace of mind And may you find some sweet release Until the good lord leads You straight back home to me Fare thee well my friend Until your journeys end May your cup never be empty May you have your daily bread And may the good Lord shine upon That road you’re walking down And may all your dreams be fulfilled.

Water on your mind, Water on your mind. Praying for rain. Water on your mind. Water on you mind. Dust in your veins. See the wheat fields, wilt and wither Wind blown soil, there and thither Greedy tiller left no roots to hold Drill the well a hundred deeper Such the practice, much the cheaper Faithful leap Or future fleer be? Trickle faintly, thirsty wellspring Not much left when done the damn deed Not a downstream thought to stem our tide. Bottle. Barrel. Pipeline narrow. shunt the flow to desert furrow (pharaoh) Rivershed no longer sheds its tears. The trouble was the familiar one: Far too much power, far too little knowledge earned.  The fault was our own. The fault was our own. The trouble was the familiar one: Far too much power. The fault was our own. The fault was my own.

Slash and Burn. Too late to Learn Never had a chance to earn A living wage. For long hard days. Work More with less. Less with more Division between rich and poor Has grown so wide. There ain’t no changing sides And you take the land. Nowhere to stand Left me with an axe in hand. A hatchet and some matches And a yearning for a different world For I know this is the wrong way I’m wounded with each cut I make I ain’t got no place. So I’ll burn it all away Stay as long as I can stay. Then I’ll move on. Take all there is to take. Yeah its going down in flames Yeah I’m digging my own grave. But there ain’t no other way Slash and burn Spit and spurn Praying that the tides will turn Poor lives are like the soil and soot Eroding from the exposed roots Cycle repeats There’re mouths to feed Supplanted in our time of our need Somewhere wealth dines And stroke it’s greed Making profit while men bleed. Scorched Swidden lands. Torched ashes damned By desperate men, chipped axe in hand Tinder. Flint. Smoke haze amidst A yearning for a different world Yearning for a better world but… Chorus Stay alive, Stay alive Only trying To provide Only trying. To scratch a life From this hard wood and bitter times Stay alive, stay alive Only trying to provide Only trying to learn to fly With broken wings and distilled pride Send the rain. Send the rain Wash all of our soil away. Wash all of our sins away. Away.