hot and cold

I live, I die, I burn, I freeze
I'm hot while I endure the cold
Life's too much hardness, too much ease
My joy and worries interfold
At once I laugh and I'm in tears
In pain in pleasure I've long been
My good goes off and lasts for years
At once I dry up and I'm green
So jerkily love leads me on
And when I think I'll have more stress
I find myself without a trace
Then when I feel my pain is gone
And at the peak of happiness
It's back to my unhappy place

Louise Labé (1526–1565)

diffusion

would that all of us played prophets
meditating on our parts
irrigating lands of promise
with a flood of melting hearts

here comes the sun

The year has left its coat
Of wind and cold and rain
And donned embroidery
Of sunshine on clear sky
No beast forgets its cry
Nor bird to sing its note
The year has left its coat
Of wind and cold and rain
Springs, streams and river pools
For pretty livery
Wear drops of silver jewels
Each one gets dressed again
The year has left its coat
Of wind and cold and rain

Charles d'Orléans (1394–1465)

god only knows

I don't know how I can
My sore heart melts from pain
Dares not tell or complain
My painful lot
My sore life's blot
I want nothing but death
I don't know how I can
A cover I must make
To sing my heart's low breath
Laughter to fake
God knows what I can take
I don't know how I can

Christine de Pizan (1364 – c. 1430)

fourth quarter stand

You bang on about Bannockburn and the fields of Flodden
I keep pissing in the ocean and my feet are sodden
Our mother can't stop greeting, Dad's too thick to understand
And Grandad's still in Ypres – can you tell it to Nan?
Ask if the Bristol slavers ever docked at Leith
And when we scuttle Trident, if we still need teeth?
You've always been the clever one, I'm just a Tory toff
Have we ever had a Queen who cut her own head off?
We're going to have a King, and then another, yes, they're mean
Could their hearts be on the left side and their blood part green?
Folks still can go to Gretna and both keep their name
Will you play it where it lies or take your wee ball and gae hame?
We bridged the Forth together and let's not forget the Fifth
The lion is our savage and the unicorn's a myth

i swear it's not too late

couldn't hold on to money
never flew for free
stuck in my own honey
overgrown bumblebee
playing chicken with the ocean
tinging blue with black
hid the yellow of caution:
might fly off, might buzz back
when i saw a white petal
growing up from green
my stinger hit metal
i was safe to be seen
to make a hard right
waiting on the red light

you only named the animals

I've been there when the walls fell
and I was there for the towers
I can't be there above hell
but I am below the flowers
I may see you tomorrow
but I won't when you are gone
I feel your joy and sorrow
and whatever else you're on
I was there in creation
but I don't even know why
I look at every nation
and I shake my head and cry
I hear you too, all Israel
but you're not my chosen stock
I might prefer these cattle
but my hand is just this rock

are we the world?

My friend says I'm too old for you; it's not a crime
To misconstrue the concept of apparent time
I haven't reached my peak with just one problem solved
We both are adolescents, you're just more evolved
And I do idealize you; can you prove me wrong?
Are you really not the girl in every country song?
Are you sure I'm not the boy you never dreamed about?
Will you trust my rush to judgment while the jury's out?
Preserve I've known, defend, but not protect
I've always given love without respect
In this new hierarchy you're on top
Each word starts music only you can stop
If we ever lived together, would you let me on the lease?
We could be the world: no justice, only peace

mansplaining to a madeleine

je goûtai, tout commença à bouger
le vin que nous buvions devint amer
fille! je ne puis plus collaborer!
ne tente pas d'essuyer ma colère

cousine! tu n'as point du tout péché!
la faute est plutôt celle des grand-pères
il faut monter du sous-sol, du fossé
des noces qui feront ouvrir notre ère

release the hounds

you don't know why i would
you might see that i do
i don't know if i could
do anything for you
you didn't even ask
i hope you're doing fine
i can't see any mask
you even took off mine
i can't wait for a kiss
i could wait for a ring
this is already bliss
now you're in everything
and if you love me back
i'll have my heart attack

trampoline

my love is like a red red rose
no white rose can compare
and since our fingers touched my toes
have only touched the air

well pleased

they told you that he made the world
then let us make it shit
then had us kill him not to die
you weren't having it
they said he loves the animals
but lets us kill them too
you said if that's the case you'd have
nothing to eat but you
and if it's such a sin to starve
then let's all go to hell
you thought you weren't beautiful
you thought i couldn't tell
and i can't rest in peace until
i see you pleased and well

daddy come home

I see you, Robert Lowell, that's why I'm afraid to wed
And Emily – way out west – in your ample bed
I see you too, John Keats, your father fell and cracked his head
And Jess – hematoma in Rome – and almost dead
I know you, William Blake, but your Jerusalem's not near
And Sylvia – your "Daddy"? – such a smear
I know you, Peter Campion, you passed me on the hills
If you fall behind – don't follow – too many pills

we might could build jerusalem

d'un train qui roulait sur la manche
je pourrais voir l'autre côté
la côte à la falaise blanche
qui peut me rendre nouveau-né

welcome me home

le nom de cet oiseau, je veux le reconnaître
rapprends-moi, s'il te plaît, la langue maternelle
grâce au soleil hâtif, je peux revoir le hêtre
rappelle-moi, s'il te plaît, un mot plus fort que belle

next year in jerusalem

two-state solution
Bernie Sanders
peace in our time
?ווער וויל עס אַנדערש

this year in jerusalem

Christ is risen
Matzo's flat
Pharaoh's on the Kotel
Go tell that

♫ I Should Have Known You Better ♫

You said I had high expectations, I said one date
You said it can't be now, so I said let's wait
Said you were trying to be honest, I didn't think that through
You could say I was naive to believe in you

I should have known you better, I only met you once
Turns out the rest of my life was just a mess of two months
I could have learned this lesson a few times before
I should have known you better, but you knew you more

You said you broke hearts, I thought mine would be stronger
You said I would start hating you, I thought it might take longer
You said your mama wants to meet me? Would she apologize
For having taught her pretty daughter pretty lies?

I should have known you better, I only met you once
Turns out the rest of my life was just a mess of two months
I could have learned this lesson a few times before
I should have known you better, but you knew you more

You say you want to do right, but you sound so cold
Say it could happen someday, but you sound so old
Say you're a walking disaster, I was too slow to catch
You must be brighter, you took a lighter to this match

I should have known you better, I only met you once
Turns out the rest of my life was just a mess of two months
I could have learned this lesson a few times before
I should have known you better, but you knew you more

We never flew to Kansas, to see the biggest ball of string
To see a bigger red flag, we'd have to fly to Beijing
Still gonna send those roses, cause my phone don't ring
Still wanna freeze that cake, you still make me sing

You should know me better, you only met me once
It's just the rest of our lives, it's just a thousand months
I could learn your lesson a thousand times again
We should know us better, we should see us when

i just don't feel the same as you

I just don't feel the same as you
My love, there never will be such
Emotions never did go Dutch
Odd numbers don't divide in two

You're not the first I've been into
But I have never felt this much
I just don't feel the same as you
My love - there never will be such

There never will be someone new
I'll go alone or with a crutch
I never could replace your touch
You were the best that I could do
I just don't feel the same as you

significant others

We cluster, Xu and ξ
Our κ's consistently high
Bad νs for a hater
But we (who know β)
Are as transcendental as π

tenencia

tu boca no, tan poca fue mi suerte
tu brazo no, rechazo frío y fuerte
tu oído no, por más que pido verte
tu dedo no, por tanto heredo muerte