Black and Blues (song lyrics)

I've got a black heart, and a blues soul
Guess I knew it from the start
But now it's taken control
People said keep your head down boy
And you'll be okay
My head's been down for so long now
Lord, all I can do is pray

I got a black heart, and a blues soul
And just like the turning wheel
All I can do is roll
I've known a few good women
But they left me alone
Been dark for so long now
My heart has turned to stone

Maybe took it for granted
But now it's taken its toll
Maybe not all I wanted
But now it's part of the show
You can laugh if you want to
But it don't make a damn
You can cry if you feel it
But it's just who I am

I got a black heart, and a blues soul
Yes, it's torn me all apart
For that sweet rock and roll
Record company executive
Said, "You'll do okay"
It's been so long and the contract's gone
But I'm still here to play

I've got a black heart, and a blues soul
Guess I knew it from the start
When the hurting took hold
People said, get a guitar boy
And you'll go a long way
Been so gone for so long now
Lord, all I can do is play

I've got a black heart, and a blues soul
Never thought I'd get this far
Living out on the road
Spent all of my daydreams
On one long endless night
But when darkness comes and I hit those strings
I know it's gonna' be alright

I got a black heart and a blues soul...

Golden Letters

The letters that you wrote me have
Turned golden in my mind
The yellow pages folded like
The prayerful hands of time

Each smile and kiss remembered like
A child on Christmas morn
Who wakes to white December
On the day that Christ was born

The sparkle in your eyes outshines
The brightest of the stars
Twinkling in the summer sky
I cannot reach so far

But I would hold your beauty like
The heavens hold the moon
Warm me like the morning sun
Until the afternoon

And when our loving time has set
And darkness closes in
Never will our hearts forget
How sweet our love has been

For your love has been to me
The treasure of my days
I have known such pleasure from
Your kind and tender ways

The letters that you wrote me have
Grown faded now it’s true
But it has not jaded there
The constant thought of you

And I will go on loving you
Until the end of time
Even though your letters have
Turned golden in my mind

A Morning Hour

Morning breaks with majestic light
Splintering the sky with shards of pink
The sleeping child in sweet benevolence
Sighs and smiles in blissful dreams

Sun spills onto the grass so gold
Only the shadows and shade are green
Dew glistens at every threshold
Into the forest and towering trees

The arachnid navigates his web
With sparkling skill and certainty
Plucking threads of a spiral harp
To rest in the center of symphony

In the silent music of the dawn
The hare creeps nimbly across the lawn
The owl ruffles feathers and nestles in
To quiet her dark night questioning

A robin begins pacing to and fro
Dainty head tilted at a delicate turn
Listening for breakfast in the earth below;
Perhaps a bug or wandering worm

But the mockingbird finds blasphemy
In a morning with only silent song
And begins his endless repertoire
Shrill and trills both loud and long

And so begins this wondrous day;
Familiar yet somehow different
And now I kneel and softly pray
God, thank You for this hour spent

Was It First the Trees?

Was it first the trees that welcomed me
swaying great green arms in unison,
casting protective shade over little eyes
that squinted under harsh morning sun?

Just beyond windows, seeming far away,
sunlight filtered through waving branches
sending dappled faeries dancing between;
friends that played on my nursery floor with me.

Oh the hours filled with flowers;
among tall weeds and grass, I found the delicate lady slipper
and admired the gladiolus

In the garden, as I grew, I learned of nature's wonder
I met the potato beetle, the grub and corn silk worm
Butterflies on morning glories met with hummingbirds
Days were singing silently, a song that had no words

Still the trees sighed; bent and swayed
To the music of the dance
As birds came to sing the glories of Spring
Before there was talk of romance

There was the pungent fragrance of tomatoes on the vine
The taste of sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon
Purple turnips like giant eyes emerging from a cave
Some underground ogre or troll scratching at the grave

Okra and cow-peas, green beans and green leaves
Full of life and life-giving nutrients
Every corner planted as garden space allowed
Eggplants bursting purple as a summer thundercloud

As I left fields for forest I promised to remember these
I learned the wild animals who had nibbled at my feast
I came to face the music, whistling on the breeze
Whispered among the sheaves of wheat or...
Was it first the trees?

Things I'll Never Do

I never saw a diamond
Sparkle like a spider's web
All drenched in dew at sunrise
Or frozen clods of earth
On a winter's morn

Like amethyst innards of geodes
Crystalline formations
Sprout from nothing but dirt
Where flowers and trees are born

I never saw a sapphire shine
As true as a clear blue sky
I'm more fond of turquoise
Though I could not tell you why

I prefer the glint of silver
Darting across the stream
To the glamour of golden jewelry
And other fancy things

I never heard a poem
As lovely as a prayer
From a mother for her children
As she tucks them into bed;

Never a song more beautiful
Than birds in spring at dawn;
I could not snap my fingers to it
Yet nary a word was said

I never felt a freedom
Like the roving of the wind
Whistling in wild abandon
Past the mustang's tossing mane;

Or through some lonesome canyon
Beneath the eagle's wing
With the wild wolf howling
A secret of something

But I have no regrets
For things I'll never do
When the sun of my life sets
I'll trust the moon and stars to you

Emily My Emily

Soft wind chimes ring for me
Each time that you sing to me
Songs that you bring to me
Emily, my Emily

Softly you cling to me
Flower of spring to me
You're everything to me
Emily, my Emily

When the bright dawn is near
You whisper in my ear
Dreams that my heart can hear
Emily, my Emily

Why do the butterflies
Tremble through summer skies
Why is the owl so wise
Emily, my Emily?

Where do the clouds all go
Daddy, I want to know
When little breezes blow
asks Emily, Emily

Now see the dandy lion
Shaggy old friend of mine
Hide in the grass and find
Emily, my Emily

Hair full of violets
Passion flower pirouettes
Morning glories now trumpet
For Emily, Emily

Night time is time for hugs
And catching lightning bugs
But she will set them free
Emily, my Emily

Life is a fairy tale
I never knew so well
Love ever after tells
Of Emily, Emily

When mother lays her down
Yawning in her nightgown
Angels will come around
For Emily, my Emily

Guard this child while she sleeps
In precious dreams so deep
Blessed is the Lord who keeps
Emily, my Emily
For me.

What Dreams May Come

Dreams
Ghosts or angels whispering
Telling forbidden stories
In the night

Outside
Beyond shutters and shadows
Beneath clouds and golden bits
Of starlight

Hungry
Creatures prowl silent
City streets and forests
Foraging

We find them
Along the morning highways
Raccoon, opossum and rabbit
The occasional skunk

We knew they were there;
All along we knew
But the night holds secrets;
Predators and prey

Dreams hold fortunes;
Fantasy and premonition
And in the naked light of day?
We find them

Run down by raging reality
Trapped in headlights of
Late traveling tourists
Ghosts or angels whispering

"Did you see that?"
"What was it?"
"No matter, now it's gone."
A bit of undigested omelet or Hamlet

I live therefore I dream
Of flying and I am free;
Of love in chains that bind me
Of the dead which oft remind me

I live

Can life have room for dreams?
Can there be an innocent beauty?
Untouched by wheels of labor
Not prey for predator's plunder?

Mankind works for a good life
But labor replaces joy
Time consumed is life
Eaten by desire

He would have painted
Sang a song or wrote a poem
There was no time
It was a dream

And what are dreams?

Dreams
Ghosts or angels...whispering