Sparrow in Hell

I know nothing about
foundations or cellars
I'm not squirreling away
nuts for winter
or laying slabs of concrete
And that storm that's overhead?
Let it bring the best and
brightest lightning
Let it burn this shack to ashes
or shake it from its berth
in middle earth
Let it bleed spirit from
black and blue space
Let hell unleash its nine circles
and let Cerberus bark and yelp to
keep me back from the river Styx
My foot is already passing o'er it
and damn it, as always
as cruel and as fast as disaster
I cannot attach
and I am not afraid

double peine

pour A.B.


la pluie tombe sans cesse
sur ma tête mes pieds glaces
la fleuve columbie dégage
comme un océan
et je me demande
de la patience
pour une fin du monde

à l'archipel de japon
des autres seismes forts
bougent l'un après l'autre
les gens s'embrassent
terrorisés en pleurant
on ne les reproche pas
un instant et tout change

14 mars tu es parti
après avoir disparu
dans tes vêtements
je pensais que j'avais vu
ta main faire signe
mais trop vite
au coin de mes yeux

trois ans déjà
un an que fukushima
crachait de son MOX
il n'y a pas d'antibiotique
pour guérir nos maux
rien ne pouvait pas te sauver
à la fin sans cheveux

nous non plus
nous non plus
laisse la pluie tombe
disant tout
les vagues
sans cesse
sur nos têtes nues

Je ne fume plus - This is not Armageddon

more like new beginnings...

the sea told me
she loved me today
when she swept me up
and made me buoyant

the sky did too
a big blue dahlia
breathing into my skin
an eternal openness

sometimes i think
i can't take anymore
then i cry
and it's over

this is not armageddon
this is an earthsong
this is not armageddon
this is a life that must be lived


 

Je ne fume plus - What I love best

you know what i love best?
the things that are hardest
the things i can't do well
like dance

tell me to go right, i'll go left
i'm movement dyslexic
but i'll dance my heart out
and somehow or other
it will make me feel beautiful

i need to apply that
to "je ne fume plus"
maybe i can learn
to say "no"
and somehow or other
it will make me feel beautiful

Je ne fume plus - Forgiving

okay i loved too much
came too fast
stayed too long
wrought havoc
anything you wanted
you got it

like a superlative
like a gift
repeated in the back
of a minivan
or high above a cliff
falling, failing

sprouting wings now
i'm flying solo
i'm not going anywhere
i'm not coming or going
i'm just standing here
forgiving myself

Je ne fume plus - Astoria Astoria

I'm sitting in an Athens cafe bar
on the corner of Fillelinon and Notara
and it's called Astoria, New York
That's where I was born
56 long years ago to a
Jew who didn't know it
who married a Greek for her fourth marriage
who dragged me around to every
state in the union only to
leave me on foreign doorsteps
when the going got tough
She still expects a lot
but there's something inside me
that just can't be bothered

Somehow I wound up in
Astoria, Oregon in 2001
It wasn't a town I would have chosen
but I struck a deal to stay there 5 years
with my fourth husband
and afterwards we'd move to France
We stayed there 12 years
before he reneged and I left him
clutching to his sad little life
and searching his third wife
I guess we addicts never give up
looking for perfect love
And my kids, surveying all the damage
they just can't be bothered

ωραία! (oréa!) my beautiful "astoria" salad.

Je ne fume plus - Take no prisoners

I'm not going to blame you
you're as much a prisoner
in this game as I am
this game that is no game
because there are no winners
no losers, just cruisers, actors

I have no idea who you are
how could I after only a year
with all the running to and fro
blood hot, blood cold
because I could not sit still
because you stood your ground

I was never what you wanted
a few pieces that were pliable
if I tried hard enough
I might fit inside this berth
travelling at 50,000 mph
but I don't want to

No I don't want to do this anymore
somewhere there's a star above
and it's calling my name, Laura
and it's hollering, Stop!
and it's deep deep deep in myself
and it is myself

Je ne fume plus – Deserts

Where will the metaphor take me next,

Iceland, Paris, Tibet?

So many deserts of loneliness.

I came to Greece

on court and spark:

No one could stop me.

You can have anything you want

if you're willing to

sell your soul for it.