Winnie’s Song
The basket she carries is heavy with clothes
Washed of the secrets they’ve come to know
She moves ‘cross the lawn and the long shadows show
The curve of her smooth silent waist
From her basket she pulls and hangs on the line
A wrinkled white sheet that’s known more than time
It flicks in the morning’s creamsicle shine
And licks at her sun-warmed face
And from the prairie, a sigh
A wing-filled wind in a low hushaby
Saying Winnie come dance
Dance Winnie dance
Oh Winnie come dance
Come taste the sky
Sleeves from his white shirt ruffle her hair
Conducting an opus in the key of thin air
Like popcorn laughter from rides at a fair
Her damp clothes bounce on the breeze
She knows all the work that she should complete
But the lavender wind is candy-floss sweet
A warm swirling chorus that begs and entreats
Winnie, do as you please
And from the prairie a sigh
A cinnamon wind full of bright butterflies
Saying Winnie come dance
Dance Winnie dance
Oh Winnie come dance
Come taste the sky
Swirls of yellow and orange and black
The butterfly wind strokes her freckled bare back
Tangled sun streaks ‘cross her thighs
As all she was wearing takes to the skies
Winnie come dance
Dance Winnie dance
Oh please Winnie dance
Come taste the sky
The Underpainter
You came from New York with your brushes and paints
For the long days and harsh northern light
It was the black of Superior’s depths you sought
And the gilded grays of its white
I opened my world, shared my giant, my joy
And the smooth of my skin fueled your art
But when summer made room for the long winter months
You’d pack and to New York would depart
Burnt orange
And fathoms of silver and wine
You inhale every colour
But you live in black and white
You inhale every colour
But you live in black and white
Like a migrating bird you’d return in the spring
To the season’s gold warmth of my thighs
The earthen giant slept while the grace of your paints
Caught cerulean blue of our skies
You studied my flesh, knew each line of my face
But the surface was all that you stole
In your yellows you seized heat from the sun
But you fenced yourself out in the cold
Burnt orange
And fathoms of silver and wine
You inhale every colour
But you live in black and white
You inhale every colour
But you live in black and white
I searched the map of your nature
To find where your heart was concealed
But you were so busy guarding the site
It seems clear you forgot how to feel
Burnt orange
And fathoms of silver and wine
You inhale every colour
But you live in black and white
You inhale every colour
But you live in black and white
Song For Flury
I’m up on the hill looking down on you
And I’m wondering if you see me
I know you’re told to focus your view
Tether those thoughts that fly free
But I’ve seen you before with the wind in your hair
Your kite wild and brave on the hot prairie air
And I know that while you really do care
You’re not what they want you to be
I know you don’t know what to make of me
Like mother like daughter they say
You’re set on a path of propriety
And you’re told that I’ll get in your way
But I watch you watch me and I know that you’re caught
In a wind filled with wonder that’s warmer than hot
In a confusing breeze that’s better than not
You don’t want to stay away
Ah but when you come, and come you will
And when you climb on up this hill
We’ll see beyond what’s here
Cast off those strands of fear
And with wing upon wing
We’ll soar
You’ve climbed up this hill many times before
Felt its rutted warm earth on your spine
In the mandarin orange afternoons
You’ve left all you know behind
With your eyes both closed you know you can see
Kumquat the colour of tangerine
And though your father would solidly disagree
You can’t get me out of your mind
But when you come, and come you will
And when you climb on up this hill
We’ll see beyond what’s here
Cast off those strands of fear
And with wing upon wing
We’ll soar
Begin Again
Maybe you’ll look out on one cold autumn night
And see in the sky something burning too bright
Maybe you’’ll remember the red heat of mars
Feel the stab of one summer, the smooth of old scars
And maybe
What is just will be
And maybe you’ll begin again
Maybe you’ll wake up to one of those days
When a smoke strangled sun makes a warm orange haze
Maybe you’ll remember lake fondled skin
And hear in the distance those fine mandolins
And maybe
What is just will be
And maybe you’ll begin again
Maybe you’ll skate on a frozen black lake
And see that’s what’s beneath isn’t just for your sake
Maybe those cracks will help conquer your fears
Maybe those cracks will help still all your fears
And maybe
What is just will be
And maybe you’ll begin again
Maybe a full moon, ruby as sin
Will make you think of the places it’s been
Maybe those thoughts will lead you to me
Maybe you’ll find yourself thinking of me
And maybe
What is just will be
And maybe you’ll begin again
And maybe what is just will be
Georgina
Georgina, please will you open the door
And give me a chance to explain
If you hear my side of the story
You’ll see no one is to blame
Georgina, please, I know you’re in there
Still wearing your wedding dress
Come on my love, just hear me out
I’ll fix this whole ugly mess
If you believe in angels
And in stars you’ll never see
If you believe the earth is round
You still can believe me!
Georgina remember that night in the woods
We thought we heard someone scream
Those night birds sure made fools of us
Things aren’t always as they seem
If you believe in angels
And in stars you’ll never see
If you believe the earth is round
You still can believe me!
Our friends are downstairs dancing
That’s where we both should be
Come on my love, just take my hand
It’s all OK, you’ll see
If you believe in angels
And in stars you’ll never see
If you believe the earth is round
You still can believe me!
Can Anyone Really Make Time?
Hello? It’s you, I knew that it would be
Don’t know why, I just can tell
It’s been awhile, yeah I guess you’re busy,
I know, this time of year is hell
What, you can’t meet me Sunday
You’re travelling that day?
Oh, yeah, that’ll be fine
Sure, go ahead – make some time
Make some time for me
We’ve turned a lot of pages in your calendar
I’ve been penciled in those lines
But for all the times I’m in it,
Every planned and precious minute makes me wonder
Can anyone really make time?
Is it possible that there’s a way
To weave those misused moments
Into days?
Why don’t you call when your flight leaves Vancouver
I’ll help you find the Great Divide
Oh remember that time you called from the Stampede
As you were getting onto that ride?
I swear I could hear the wind through your hair
It was almost as good as being right there
What? You have to go?
Oh that’s OK – yeah, I know,
You’ll make some time for me
We’ve turned a lot of pages in your calendar
I’ve been penciled in those lines
But for all the times I’m in it,
Every planned and precious minute makes me wonder
Can anyone really make time?
Is it possible that there’s a way
To weave those misused moments
Into days?
But if you call and I don’t answer
Just know that I know
You’ve made some time
You’ve made some time for me
We’ve turned a lot of pages in your calendar
I’ve been penciled in those lines
But for all the times I’m in it,
Every planned and precious minute makes me wonder
Makes me wonder
I’m Just Fine
I haven’t seen you in nearly six years
Felt the joy of your laughter, the wrath of your fears
You’re cold in that grave, but you’re still so alive
In the weave of my thinking you clearly survive
You always told me that life was unfair
You wore a grudge like a coat of razor sharp hair
I have the scars from when I got too near
‘Cause I just didn’t see what you saw in your mirror
But I’m standing here
And I’m just fine
I’ve sailed without the wind
And I’ve felt guilt when there was no sin
I’ve walked a million miles in shoes that aren’t my own
But there’s earth beneath my feet
And the stars in my nights shine
And I’m, just fine
You showed me you loved me in so many ways
You parted my seas and wrapped me in praise
But frost disappears at the first touch of dawn
In the warmth now I know there’s a long shadow gone
I stand at your grave watching dandelions dance
I can’t help but notice they take every chance
To bloom and to blossom, push through the cold
They shout out their victory in yellows and gold
I’m standing here
And I’m just fine
I’ve sailed without the wind
And I’ve felt guilt when there was no sin
I’ve walked a million miles in shoes that aren’t my own
But there’s earth beneath my feet
And the stars in my nights shine
And I’m, just fine
I’m just fine
I’m just fine
It’s a Dance
When we were first married it was just me and you
We did only the things that we wanted to do
In damp heat of summers we lay through the thunder
Stayed days in bed reading books to each other
Then everything changed when our family grew
How could we have known just how little we knew
But with our feet firmly planted we clung to the sky
And in life’s swelling rush oh the years have passed by
We’ve been coming and going and yes-ing and no-ing
And rising to meet the demands
The everyday disarray is wild but still I say
It’’s a dance if you just take my hand
It’s a dance if you just take my hand
In the dosie do to and fro we both just have to know
It’s a dance if you just take my hand
The demands they are many, we divide and we conquer
Time isn’t something we have to squander
You come home I head out, I come back your in bed
We leave for tomorrow what needs to be said
We’ve been coming and going and yes-ing and no-ing
And rising to meet the demands
The everyday disarray is wild but still I say
It’s a dance if you just take my hand
It’s a dance if you just take my hand
In the dosie do to and fro we both just have to know
It’s a dance if you just take my hand
Oh though the dance floor is crowded and our rhythm is fleeting
‘Cause sometimes we just can’t hear the band
But the divine slips through our steps and our stumbles
When we’re holding each other’s hand
We’ve been coming and going and yes-ing and no-ing
And rising to meet the demands
The everyday disarray is wild but still I say
It’s a dance if you just take my hand
It’s a dance if you just take my hand
In the dosie do to and fro we both just have to know
It’s a dance if you just take my hand
It’s Not a Secret
I look at the view from the top of this roof
And I swear I can see to tomorrow
The sky’s wrapped in gauze and its lovely slow dance
Hints that we soon we’ll have more snow
And you down below
Don’t come but don’t go
Please come on up here, you’ve just got to see
There are footprints that spell the word love
And those tracks in the snow that say nothing down there
Are so clear up here from above
If you sit next to me
I know you will see
Just some of the secrets caught in between
What ever we look at and what we see
But it’s not a secret that time will unfold
It’s not a secret we might one day be old
‘Til way beyond then I want you to see
My love for you
Is not a secret
From up here your garden’s a sleeping queen
You’ve tenderly tucked in for winter
She’s dressed in the gowns you’ve lovingly placed and
Mulch slippers you woven to fit her
If you sit next to me
I know you will see
Just some of the secrets caught in between
What ever we look at and what we see
But it’s not a secret that time will unfold
It’s not a secret we might one day be old
‘Til way beyond then I want you to see
My love for you
Is not a secret
Well it looks like you’re not listening
You’re too busy to bother with me
But I’ll get you up here, ‘cause I know you do care
And I want you to see
That it’s not a secret that time will unfold
It’s not a secret we might one day be old
‘Til way beyond then I want you to see
My love for you
Is not a secret
Christmastime Waltz
Let’s do our own Christmas Waltz in the deepening snow
Spell our desire with our tracks as we go
The sky’s not embarrassed it’s spilling its bliss
In sloppy white snowflakes, its Christmas-time kiss
It’s a Christmastime waltz
In a ballroom of snow
Where the night’s woven scarf
Is the Christmas lights’’ glow
In a slide 2, 3, glide 2, 3 rhythm we go
In the gift of this Christmastime waltz
The forecast called for a very terrible freeze
And a wind that would steal the breath from the trees
But tonight there’s a warmth in this unruly snow
A whirling reminder there’s much we don’t know
It’s a Christmastime waltz
In a ballroom of snow
Where the night’s woven scarf
Is the Christmas lights’ glow
In a slide 2, 3, glide 2, 3 rhythm we go
In the gift of this Christmastime waltz
In our heads we can both hear a lovely waltz tune
But really there’s silence, a yawn from the moon
We silently move through streets dressed in their robes
Stars from a scene of God’s shaken globe
It’s a Christmastime waltz
In a ballroom of snow
Where the night’s woven scarf
Is the Christmas lights’ glow
In a slide 2, 3, glide 2, 3 rhythm we go
In the gift of this Christmastime waltz
As I watch you throw your head back and laugh
I think that maybe I’ve lived life by half
But in the whirl and the lift of this sweet Christmas dance
Vow I’ll never, no never waste this one chance
It’s a Christmastime waltz
In a ballroom of snow
Where the night’s woven scarf
Is the Christmas lights’ glow
In a slide 2, 3, glide 2, 3 rhythm we go
In the gift of this Christmastime waltz
In a slide 2, 3, glide 2, 3 rhythm we go
In the gift of this Christmastime waltz
Miss Ohio’s Prairie Sea
One night I dreamt I was sailing, on a vast and open prairie
In a boat filled with china cups and a painted mother Mary
The captain of the dream cast ship was a girl I didn’t know
But when I asked her who she was she said
I am the one, I’m the only, I am your Miss Ohio
She said heave away, haul away
Just take a look around
Heave away haul away
The time is always now
We sailed across the wide grass lands and anchored in a bay
Where wheat shafts bent to breaking and the sky was flat and grey
I said, why are we stopping can’t you see there’s nothing near
She said, girl, hold your horses
You’ve let your soul lag behind, we’ll wait for it here
She said heave away, haul away
Just take a look around
Heave away haul away
The time is always now
So I sat out on the top deck and I drank a cup of tea
And I talked with mother Mary ’til my soul caught up with me
By then the sky was darker than as a sky deserves to be
And I wonder if I’d learn to feel those things I couldn’t see
Then I heard heave away, haul away
Take a look around
Heave away, haul away
The time is always now
At night now when I go to sleep, I think about that dream
And the ship Ohio’s captaining and the places that she’s been
And on those days when the sky is grey and the prairie seems a sea
I look to see, if my soul’s with me
And I hear Ohio sing
Heave away, haul away
Take a look around
Heave away haul away
The time is always now
Beautiful Betrayal
Crushed snow beneath my feet
Tells a tale I can’t believe
Whispers from the bitter wind
Hint at how things might have been
Though winter’s gentle snowfall or its fury just the same
Will cover up this story, speak nothing of the blame
What’s done is done I know the truth that’s looking at me now
You’re gone and I’ve a life that’s left to figure out some how
I should have known that I could lose you
Should have seen just what could fail
I should have known that I could lose you
In this beautiful betrayal
This morning as I lay by you
And watched the black sky fade blue
The promise of our lives seemed true
I was the queen and not the fool
Now the light is moving from the blue towards the black
I swear I would do anything to have the morning back
We’d stay in bed and sip on tea, eat honey with our toast
And laugh about our children and those things that matter most
I should have known that I could lose you
Should have seen just what could fail
I should have known that I could lose you
In this beautiful betrayal
We came into these mountains
To play beneath their changing skies
It seems a cruel joke
They made us feel so damn alive
I should have known that I could lose you
Should have seen just what could fail
I should have known that I could lose you
In this beautiful betrayal
Let’s Pour a Drink Vera
We’ve drawn our lives in sweeping lines
Our strident gestures indifferent to time
But layers of years are blurring our lines
And time has begun to reject us
We’re old, and God knows the drone of our stories
Is opera to people raised on top forties
Let’s pour a drink Vera
Who gives a damn what the world’s out there doing
We’re not the fools so let’s stop the fooling
They’ve given us minutes, let’s take forever
Let’s laugh, le’s sing, let’s get drunk
I used to march to a well-known tune
Commanded presence in every room
I know that I mattered, and you did too
Now everything’s changed
Now I’m tripping on pieces of your frayed mind
And sweeping up strands that are probably mine
Let’s pour a drink Vera
Who gives a damn what the world’s out there doing
We’re not the fools so let’s stop the fooling
They’ve given us minutes, let’s take forever
Let’s laugh, let’s sing, let’s get drunk
Please come inside Vera
Let’s get you out of this cold
You can’t be warm in that bathrobe
And it looks like it’’s starting to snow
If you come with me I’ll take you home
I’ll take you wherever you want to go
And I’ll have my cognac and pour you a sherry
We’ll drink to the smudge of these lives that are blurring
And spend what time that we have
Let’s pour a drink Vera
Who gives a damn what the world’s out there doing
We’re not the fools so let’s stop the fooling
They’ve given us minutes, let’s take forever
Let’s laugh, let’s sing, let’s get drunk
Let’s laugh, let’s sing, let’s get drunk
