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