With we by our side
With the storm being The Calm
With hope a-rumblin’

With we by our side
With the storm being The Calm
With hope a-rumblin’

These are tender days
Savor, now, what frees shadows
Bravery, breath, time


I neither got to visit Versailles
Nor know wanderlust’s calm at Gare de Bruges
That glory was one beat too far
Moulin Rouge commanded some checklist, foreign to me
And we’d “miles to go”
Topless beaches on the Med, and all….
Damned dogmas
But Kings and Conductors still summon me
For they heard my name
Nightly, I tell them
You’ve known no such power
And masterpiece
Such God-Speed
As me
So this suitcase sits at my bedside
Packed
With ink-pen and parchment
Pinafores and peace
Decreeing
Whistling
Ready
I ask of the trees
What fresh-faced former stranger
To calmness am I?
I asked you then, come away
From pretending
From costume parties
To remove the mask
To wear your name proud
The name borne of your mother’s heart
The name I called you as a child
Remember who you truly are
Remember what you deeply love
Creatures, cars, cooking, calm
Comfort in my crazy arms
Leave behind the aged bones
Leave to find your first true home
I ask you now, come away
A Cardinal, spying from the pow’r lines by my kitchen window, acts tempestuously
Every moment spent on edge
Excitable