♫ Ain't Even Trying ♫

I said I got loving on my mind, Loretta
Should I shake it off and try to forget her?
She said maybe, but it's still too soon
Just walk the line, you'll see about June

If you see me walking, that's me living
The sun's in the water, there's light in the west
If you hear me crying, that's me singing
Ain't even trying to get this love off my chest

If you need a manager, I'll play Doolittle
If you want, you can play me like a fiddle
I was playing in the jailhouse, honey
You looked in, I walked out like Johnny

If you see me walking, that's me living
The sun's in the water, there's light in the west
If you hear me crying, that's me singing
Ain't even trying to get this love off my chest

I can't fight like Mooney Lynn
Can I turn out the light and let the moon shine in?
This half moon is in first quarter
You'd make a fine full moon, Miss Carter

If you see me walking your way, I'm living
When you're laughing, I can rest
I'll be singing to you, love, when you're crying
Ain't even trying to get this love off my chest

diamond

how can i fade
emerald to jade
sapphire to topaz
ruby to red glass
how can i solder
steel onto silver
how can i hold
gilt after gold
how can i order
wine after water
how can i share
vapor with air
you left a conundrum
harder than corundum

♫ Get Me Back ♫

Can't waste another day in Margaritaville
I gotta wake up from this dream
Can't take another round with Jose Cuervo
I need another shot at that old Jim Beam

Gonna get me back to work, back from vacation
Get me back to the land I love
Gonna get my radio back onto that country station
If I can't get back the girl I'm thinking of

I used to see you over a pint glass
Now your shadow's on my plastic cup
But when I saw your face in a coconut
I knew that it was time to go home and give up

Gonna get me back to work, back from vacation
Get me back to the land I love
Gonna get my radio back onto that country station
If I can't get back the girl I'm thinking of

Some folks come here to get happy
Some are here to forget who they are
I thought I came to get lucky
But you can't drown bad luck at a swim-up bar

Gonna get me back to work, back from vacation
Get me back to the land I love
Gonna get my radio back onto that country station
If I can't get back the girl I'm thinking of

if i get offa this mountain

she's a drunkard's dream
you're the midnight sun
she is all five senses
you are just the one

about face time

I wake to emails that are not from you
The single buzzes on my run aren't too
Later, the doubles throw names on the lock
screen, but they're someone else's – we don't talk
The T runs late, a fortnight after U
Riders are smiling, texting back, a few
have the correct fair hair, but the wrong face
I check your typing bubble – just in case
The flight east makes a short night run away
I'd have a red eye even at midday
I'll dry, return to touch before the fall
rains mute my will – "Touch to return to call"
The Lune drains slowly west – the day we met it ran uphill
We'll find our level best – I hope you're standing, hope you're still

louisiana

What does the king of Mardi
Gras do when the partys over
when he gets up round twelve
o clock on Ash Wednesday What
do you reckon he gives up for
Lent I bet he takes a stroll
 through the French Quarter
  Maybe he will see a nice
  string of white plastic
   beads like big pearls
    Jewelry just Que in
     a few hours fait a
     ago now a le Roi gutter near Bourbon
    Kings de Mardi Gras Street Yesterday
   litter après la soirée he handed just
   lies quand il se relève such necklaces
   sur le midi le mercredi des to subjects
   Cendres Que renonce-t-il pour le carême
  Il se promène à travers le Vieux Carré  en
 baîllant Il trouve un joli collier de perles
           blanches    perles en plastique
                          abandonnées  hier
                          le Roi   le     rama
                                            sse

Thoughts on 18 July 1997 [at Goldman Sachs]

Kelly LaRosa
is tall and pretty
My tax return shows a
liability
Carolyn Katz
Roberta Goss
I have a job that's
a total loss

pacific

your grass is greener even when it's brown
that buoyancy you found was just a bay
you'll pass the golden gate before you drown
this boy will find you swimming there some day

♫ I'll Make A Move To Nashville ♫

These hands never held your face
But there's teardrops on my guitar case
I'll wait for you, but if you wait too long
You're gonna wind up in a country song

I would move across the world for you
And the way you move already asked me to
They'd write songs about our love, but if you move on, then I will
If I can't make a move on you, I'll make a move to Nashville

There's no letters to return
And just one picture of us to burn
You're gonna hear, if you still can't see
It's tender kisses or Tennessee

I would move across the world for you
And the way you move already asked me to
They'd write songs about our love, but if you move on, then I will
If I can't make a move on you, I'll make a move to Nashville

The move worked out for Elvis
I bet he never had trouble like this
It worked for Alan Jackson
And it worked for Taylor Swift

I would move across the world for you
And the way you move already asked me to
They'd write songs about our love, but if you move on, then I will
If I can't make a move on you, I'll make a move to Nashville

it was just that the time was wrong

without your typing on the screen
the writing's on the wall
without you willing to be seen
april's a fruitless fall
without a happy ending
may is a long massage
without a long flight pending
is june just a mirage?
the last of i don't miss you
was the second since your text
the first of if i kiss you
would steal seconds from the next
see you soon or in some second if i never
catch you later or remember you forever

littorally

Invertebrates can end up like a girl
Luckless in amber, wounded round a pearl
Neither at home in water nor awing
Some fly into a swatter, some a ring