LEAD US
R. Martin

Take the reigns so we both can rise
I’ve got a handicap
You’re the one who must
Lead us now.

Down the road that twists and sways.
Remember once I’d taken us this way?
It’s different now.
Lead us.

Tell them nothing.
Lead us.

I’m not ashamed to say that it takes this man
To get me back to a place where I’m feeling
More like a woman.

No matter how strong I am
I can be that and needing.
Lead us.

 

HERE THE SAME BUT DIFFERENT
R. Martin/S. Cardenas

Even if you choose to go
On your seperate way
I’m hoping you’ll be back
Here the same but different.

Colder bodies colder still
Swollen in the morning
I remember watching you
Wake into your sorrow.

Helpless there I’d try to keep you
Safe from what’s inside.
Way down where I couldn’t reach you
To rest for just a while.

Will you ever come to trust
In the passing time?
So they’ll be room for both of us
Here the same but different.

 

THESE BONES ARE YOURS ALONE
R. Martin

You’re not what you say you are,
“Broken and tired!”
These bones are yours alone.

The truth doesn’t matter
When it’s twisted and mired.
These bones are yours alone.

”No one knows! No one understands!”
There’s comfort in thinking you’re alone.
Stuffed inside a pearly shell
To keep anyone from getting in.
These bones are yours alone.

You’re not what you say you are,
“Voices and choirs!”
What’s yours is soon coming
It’s tragic, but beautiful.
These bones are yours alone.

 

IF ONLY
R. Martin

Lost entirely to a soft innocence
And a young girls in love.
Trusting everything to his hand
That’s what’s to be expected.

She’ll give her life
Before she even knows it.
Chanting Christian vows
She barely understands.
If only

“God is good”  she repeats to herself.
Everything’s in black and white.
All of the maidens all of the men
Were taken by her beauty.
She’ll give her life
Before she even knows it.
Chanting Christian vows
She barely understands.
If Only

In a starry sky
Filled with flickering wishes.
One for you and I.
I thought I knew.
If only
I could speak my mind
Without the chorus mocking.
If there’s a god
I think he’d disagree
With most everyone.

 

I’D LIKE TO THINK IT’S COMING
R. Martin

If your love is meant for me
What are the questions for?
When love has come to me before
What makes yours unique?

I’d jump through this open door
If I had your word
When everything comes crashing down
My voice could still be heard.

Is that too much of me to ask of you?
Are you just another passing through?
To be loved as much as I can love
I’d like to think it’s coming.

 

IT’S ONLY LOVE
R. Martin

They were searching in and out of city bars
We were lucky nobody had found us.
In the back room you look like a holy man
And I believe in every word you’re saying

Without him she is empty.
But with him she’s unsure.

”Don’t be afraid of what you’re feeling for me
Because this mess we’ve made is only love”.

 

WHEN THE RAIN COMES
R. Martin

When the rain comes
To clear the cuts of summer skins
When the rain comes in.

You will find out
What you’re made of only then
When the rain comes in.

There you’ll know
Which way you’re going.
Start again
But I think he’s watching.

Once was trespassed
Is now looked over and fenced in
Where the rain comes in.

And you wonder
If you’ll find your feet again
When the rain comes in.

Now you know
Which way you’re going.
Start again
But I think he’s watching you.

Take your chances
Leave him now while you still can
Let the rain come in.

 

IT WON’T BE LONG
R. Martin/R. Julian

Her loss came today
Written out on paper
It won’t be long.

The tilt of it’s hand
Had taken forever
It won’t be long.

In a world where no one
Seems to be thinking
Keep your thoughts warm and forgiving.

That’s when you know
You’re turning a corner
It won’t be long.

 

LEARNING
R. Martin

On her way home she starts to cry.
This feeling, though fleeting
Gets worse each time.
It can’t be blamed for trying.

A gentle warning
Pay no mind.
All her wanting was met with silence.
She can’t be blamed for trying.

In a bedroom
Of pine and grizzle.
It’s her home now.
Home.

Strength is a weakness sometimes.
I’d comfort her if I could
But I don’t know how.
You can’t be blamed for trying.

 

EAST ANDOVER
R. Martin

She’s late again
Grab your coat and then
Wake mother from her slumber.

Take her to the bus
Because soon they’ll be waiting
at the corner.

All the times
She couldn’t count if she tried
On her second grade fingers.
Wishing to be with the snow covered trees
In the fields of East Andover.

Late again
What’s the hurry then?
Sometimes mother knows best.
“The day’s begun. Live it like your last one.”
In the fields of East Andover

 

OLD FAMILIAR SONG
R. Martin

Another season’s passed by
Without a sign without a single word.
You used to say that you loved me
And I would say the same to you in return.

Like an old familiar song I’d want to hear
Over again.

I remember you in the city
With yellow hair and moon white skin.
Singing songs that brought the house down.
Forgiving for whatever mood you’d be in.
You could count on it.

With an old familiar song they’d want to hear
Over again.

“What a genius! Their way with words and melody!”
Just like me they read you wrong.

In an old familiar song we’d want to hear
Over again.

 

LONESOME TOWN
R. Martin

I’m staying in the city.
In the dim light I feel complete.
Though the plaster walls
I’ve worked long and hard for
Are moving in.

You will find me sleeping
Without a single soul around.
Someone unwinding
In a lonesome part of town.

In my best dress and make-up
To meet the night.
I can hardly reach the sink.
Everything’s cock-eyed
to the drunk that I’m turning into.

You will find me sleeping
Without a single soul around.
Someone unwinding
In a lonesome part of town.

I don’t want your sympathy
When I go to speak.
Stop and listen to me
Don’t turn away
From the words of the gray and aging.

You will find me sleeping
Without a single soul around.
Someone unwinding
In a lonesome part of town.
Lonesome town.

 

I’M NOT AFRAID
R. Martin

I don’t mind that I’m not afraid.
The weight of words in a sentiment,
“I can love”. He said.

“Finally my heart will lead my mind!
Stop the maddening thoughts
And simply be with you.
I’m not afraid.”

Three flights up to his tenement.
“I’m alone”. He said.
“Finally my heart will lead my mind.
Stop the maddening thoughts
And simply be with you.
I’m not afraid.”

 

GONE LIKE THE SEASON DOES
R. Martin

The wind swept through the valley.
Screaming through the willow up to me.
It’s mostly quiet here but not today.
What will become of me?

Just one touch love and I can see
Your hand’s turned cold and stone-like.
Our love’s only one small part of everything
But love is all we need.
Love is all we need.

To make the days mean something.
Soft and warm as the summers here remember?

Gone like the season does.

 

I’M THE ONE
R. Martin

In a dream I’ve seen a man
Dressed in jet black and saying,
“For as long as I have known you there’s been trouble following you.”

Like a ghost but human
In my head wanting to touch the sands
“For as long as I have known you there’s been trouble following you.”

It’s alright.
Fly away.
What’s to come, you needn’t say.
I’m the one.

 

PLAY FOR ME
R. Martin

Now the door is open
Sing your melody
Play for me, love.

When all the words are spoken
Coarse and empty
Play for me
Play for me, love.

Music is for anyone
Who’s open to hear.
There’s nothing between us
But notes in the air.

You are a beauty.
I can see you
In your song
Play for me, love.

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