THE HOLY HOUR
I kneel and wait in silence As one by one the people slip away Into the night The quiet and empty bodies Kiss the ground before they pray Kiss the ground And slip away... I sit and listen dreamlessly A promise of salvation makes me stay Then look at your face And feel my heart pushed in As all around the children play The games they tired of yesterday They play... I stand and hear my voice Cry out A wordless scream at ancient power It breaks against stone I softly leave you crying... I cannot hold what you devour The sacrifice of penance In the holy hour
PRIMARY
The innocence of sleeping children Dressed in white And slowly dreaming Stops all time I slow my steps and start to blur So many years have filled my heart I never thought I'd say those words The further we go And older we grow The more we know The less we show The very first time I saw your face I thought of a song And quickly changed the tune The very first time I touched your skin I thought of a story And rushed to reach the end Too soon Oh remember Please... Don't change And so the fall came Thirteen years A shiny ring And how I could forget your name The air no longer in my throat Another perfect lie is choked But it always feels the same So they close together Dressed in red and yellow Innocent forever Sleeping children in their blue soft rooms Still dream...
OTHER VOICES
Whisper your name in an empty room You brush past my skin As soft as fur Taking hold I taste your scent Distant noises Other voices Pounding in my broken head Commit the sin Commit yourself And all the other voices said Change your mind You're always wrong Come around at Christmas I really have to see you Smile at me slyly Another festive compromise But I live with desertion And eight million people Distant noises Other voices Pulsing in my swinging arms Caress the sound So many dead And all the other voices said Change your mind You're always wrong
ALL CATS ARE GREY
I never thought that I would find myself In bed amongst the stones The columns are all men Begging to crush me No shapes sail on the dark deep lakes And no flags wave me home In the caves All cats are grey In the caves The textures coat my skin In the death cell A single note Rings on and on and on...
THE FUNERAL PARTY
Two pale figures Ache in silence Timeless In the quiet ground Side by side In age and sadness I watched And acted wordlessly As piece by piece You performed your story Moving through an unknown past Dancing at the funeral party Memories of children's dreams Lie lifeless Fading... Lifeless Hand in hand with fear and shadows Crying at the funeral party I heard a song And turned away As piece by piece You performed your story Noiselessly across the floor Dancing at the funeral party
DOUBT
Stop my flight
To fight and die And take a stand to change my life So savage with red desperation I clench my hands You draw your claws A hidden rage consumes my heart As fuelled by years of wasted time I close my eyes And tense myself And screaming Throw myself in fury over the edge And into your blood Tear at flesh And rip at skin And smash at doubt I have to break you Fury drives my vicious blows I see you fall but still I strike you Again and again Your body falls The movement is sharp and clear and pure And gone... I stop and kneel beside you Drained of everything but pain Screaming throw myself in fury Over the edge and into your blood Kiss you once and see you writhe Hold you close and hear you cry Kiss your eyes and finish your life
Finish your life Again and again Your body falls The movement is sharp and clear and pure And gone... I stop and kneel beside you Knowing I'll murder you again tonight
THE DROWNING MAN
She stands twelve feet above the flood She stares Alone Across the water The loneliness grows and slowly Fills her frozen body Sliding downwards One by one her senses die The memories fade And leave her eyes Still seeing worlds that never were And one by one the bright birds leave her... Starting at the violent sound She tries to turn But final Noiseless Slips and strikes her soft dark head The water bows Receives her And drowns her at its ease... I would have left the world all bleeding Could I only help you love The fleeting shapes So many years ago So young and beautiful and brave Everything was true It couldn't be a story... I wish it was all true I wish it couldn't be a story The words all left me Lifeless Hoping Breathing like the drowning man Oh Fuchsia! You leave me Breathing like the drowning man
Breathing like the drowning man
FAITH
Catch me if I fall I'm losing hold I can't just carry on this way And every time I turn away Lose another blind game The idea of perfection holds me... Suddenly I see you change Everything at once The same But the mountain never moves Rape me like a child Christened in blood Painted like an unknown saint There's nothing left but hope...
Your voice is dead And old And always empty Trust in me through closing years Perfect moments wait If only we could stay Please Say the right words Or cry like the stone white clown And stand Lost forever in a happy crowd No one lifts their hands No one lifts their eyes Justified with empty words The party just gets better and better... I went away alone With nothing left But faith