THE WEAKERTHANS - WATERMARK

I count to three and grin.
You smile and let me in.
We sit and watch the wall you painted purple.

Speech will spill on space.
Our little cups of grace.
But pauses rattle on about the way that you cut the snow-fence,
braved the blood,
the metal of those hearts that you always end up pressing your tongue to.
How your body still remembers things you told it to forget.
How those furious affections followed you.

I’ve got this store-bought way of saying I’m okay,
and you learned how to cry in total silence.

We’re talented and bright.
We’re lonely and uptight.
We’ve found some lovely ways to disappoint,
but the airport’s always almost empty this time of the year,
so let’s go play on a baggage carousel.
Set our watches forward like we’re just arriving here
from a past we left in a place we knew too well.

Knew too well.
Knew too well.

Hold on to the corners of today,
and we’ll fold them up to save until it’s needed.
Stand still.
Let me scrub that brackish line that you got
when something rose and then receded.
Hold on.

JOHNNY CASH - HELP ME

O Lord, help me walk
Another mile, just one more mile;
I’m tired of walkin’ all alone.

And Lord, help me to smile
Another smile, just one more smile;
Don’t think I can do things on my own.

I never thought I needed help before;
I thought that I could get by, by myself.
But now I know I just can’t take it any more.
With a humble heart, on bended knee,
I’m beggin’ you, please, for help.

O come down from your golden throne
To me, to lowly me;
I need to feel the touch of your tender hand.

Release these chains of darkness
Let me see, Lord, let me see;
Just where I fit into your master plan.

I never thought I needed help before;
I thought that I could get by, by myself.
Now I know I just can’t take it any more.
And with a humble heart, on bended knee,
I’m beggin’ you, please, for help.

And with a humble heart, on bended knee,
I’m beggin’ you, please, for help.

TOM WAITS - GOD’S AWAY ON BUSINESS

I’d sell your heart to the junkman baby
For a buck, for a buck
If you’re looking for someone
To pull you out of that ditch
You’re out of luck, you’re out of luck

The ship is sinking
The ship is sinking
The ship is sinking
There’s leak, there’s leak,
In the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves, and lawyers

God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on business. Business.
God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on business. Business.

Digging up the dead with
A shovel and a pick
It’s a job, it’s a job
Bloody moon rising with
A plague and a flood
Join the mob, join the mob
It’s all over, it’s all over, it’s all over

There’s a lick, there’s a lick,
In the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves, and lawyers

God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on business. Business.
God’s away, God’s away,
On Business. Business.

Goddamn there’s always such
A big temptation
To be good, To be good
There’s always free cheddar in
A mousetrap, baby
It’s a deal, it’s a deal

God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on business. Business.
God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on business. Business.

I narrow my eyes like a coin slot baby,
Let her ring, let her ring
God’s away, God’s away,
God’s away on Business.
Business…

JOHNNY CASH - GOD’S GONNA CUT YOU DOWN

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler,
The gambler,
The back biter
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down

Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the news
My head’s been wet with the midnight dew
I’ve been down on bended knee talkin’ to the man from Galilee
He spoke to me in the voice so sweet
I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel’s feet
He called my name and my heart stood still
When he said, “John go do My will!”

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler,
The gambler,
The back biter
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down

Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut ‘em down

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down

Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin’ in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What’s done in the dark will be brought to the light

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down

Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler,
The gambler,
The back biter
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut you down

Words by Langston Hughes, from Jericho-Jim Crow: A Song-Play (1963)

Girl Lithe and Tawny

Girl lithe and tawny, the sun that forms
the fruits, that plums the grains, that curls seaweeds
filled your body with joy, and your luminous eyes
and your mouth that has the smile of the water.

My sombre heart searches for you, nevertheless,
and I love your joyful body, your slender and flowing
    voice.
Dark daisy, sweet and definitive
like the wheat-field and the sun, the poppy and the water.

  — Pablo Neruda (1904 - 1973), Chilean writer and Communist politician.
     Translation by W.S. Merwin

PAX

All that matters is to be at one with the living God
to be a creature in the house of the God of Life.

Sleeping on the hearth of the living world,
yawning at home before the fire of life
feeling the presence of the living God
like a great reassurance
a deep calm in the heart
a presence
as of a master sitting at the board
in his own and greater being,
in the house of life.

  — D.H. Lawrence (1885 - 1930), English writer, poet, author.