Go On

This is my prayer for the people
All the people (and the other people too)
In between the times:
To the place where time won't turn
We will turn and go on
Turn and go on
Turn and go on
We will be the people
We have got to turn on
For the first and the final time
We are resolved
To avoid the automatic ceremonies of destruction
We are convicted
With the evidence of a cosmic spring
We are converted
In the blinding light of homeless eyes
When the aphrodisiacal scent of news begins to tease
We will be chaste
We will be poor
When our hungers urge a little more
And when we are called down the mountain
To burn
To drown
To be swallowed up
To evaporate
We will obey
Because life is stronger than pain
And love is greater than wrath
When our very bodies resonate with the overtones of war
We will produce silence
We will defy aggression when it comes disguised as liberation
Violence dressed as duty
Greed cloaked in prosperity
Vengeance tarted with justice
There will never be another word about nature
Detached from nature
Not another word of loveless truth
From pious morons
We will say no prayers that we cannot answer
God is watching us
Watching in us
Hearing us and in us
And makes the watching-hearing itself
And God says
This is not the first night
You weren't there on the first night
And it won't return
It turned to go on
Turned to go on
Turned to go on
There is a new first day
And it's got to turn on
For the first and final time
When there will never be another tomorrow
When the present hour is as precious as the first
When the child that runs around us
Will not grow old
But become a child again.

Sunrise

Yesterday I sat
Sleepless in a cold sunrise

Isn't it funny
My world turns a thousand miles an hour
The light speeds over eleven million miles a minute
But the sun rises so slowly
If I don't sit still
The earth and sun can't catch me

Today at sunrise
I was in another world
I was fast asleep

Out, Angels, Out

Out, angels, out -- into the world:
With your banners now unfurled,
Bearing the name your maker gave you,
Sharing the word you know will save you;
Out, angels, out: alow, above,
Through the narrow gate of love.

Women, be strong, be fierce, be proud:
No more wait to be allowed!
You are the chasers of your pleasure,
Making the moment, setting the measure;
Out, angels, out: alow, above,
On the rounding road of love.

Children, become the light you are,
Carried from the morning star!
Welcome and talk to every stranger;
Your daily bread is in the manger;
Out, angels, out: alow, above,
From the rising sun of love.

Men, come at last -- your will is done!
Halt the dogged ring you run!
Glory and truth need no defender;
Peace will come when you surrender;
Out, angels, out: alow, above,
Cross the perfect way of love.

Angels, appear, unclothe the soul,
Body, spirit naked, whole!
You are the sign you dreamed of seeing,
Hope fulfilled in your own being;
Out, angels, out: alow, above,
Down the bending path of love.

Bethlehem Is Waiting

Hollow breezes blow beyond the sleeping ear
Quiet blizzards bury up the year
Sinners marching for salvation now stand still
Stranded in a city on a hill

Gilded trees and roasting fires and merry song
Wishful things to speed the night along
Travelers wear the way to their ancestral home
Longing to remain, resigned to roam

No more reminiscing for the old time gone
See, I do a new thing in the old time
Bethlehem is waiting where a child leaps for me
Bethlehem is waiting, young mother

Touches, scents and flavors, warm undimming light
Joys you kissed and lifted into flight
I am under every word you strain to say
Praying for another yesterday

I'll reveal a story from the new time found
Uneffacing glory in the new time
Bethlehem is waiting in a memory of me
Bethlehem is waiting, dear mother.

Sneaking Suspicion

I've got a sneaking suspicion, gone straight to my head,
Straight to my head
Got a sneaking suspicion, gone straight to my head,
Straight to my head
Got to beat it back, or it'll ruin me half for dead

Made a deal with the darkness when the sun went down,
When the sun went down
Made a deal with the darkness when the sun went down,
When the sun went down
Said "Take my soul but leave me this little town"

Saw the good times going bad,
Everybody's luck soon or later ends
Saw the good times going bad,
Everybody's luck soon or later ends
If we can't be lovers I don't wanna be your friend

Now I'm wond'rin' how it goes with my precious soul,
With my precious soul
Now I'm wond'rin' how it goes with my precious soul,
With my precious soul
A hundred friends fell in my empty hole

Don't you come too close, oh please, I ain't no good,
No I ain't no good
Don't you come too close, oh please, I ain't no good,
No I ain't no good
There's no point talkin', though you wish we could

But a sneaking suspicion, no won't leave my head,
Won't leave my head
But a sneaking suspicion, no won't leave my head,
Won't leave my head
There's another life to lose when love goes dead

It appears to be a long time, such a lonesome time,
Before the morn
It appears to be a long time, such a lonesome time,
Before the morn
I'm sleeping till the Son of Man gets born.

December Dreams

December is here, but not the freeze
Cloaking the day in early gloom,
Enticing the fragile winter bloom,
Begging us pity the naked trees.
I ambled beclouded in a fume
And dreamed (in a dream that could not be)
You left your right hand, believed in me,
And rested your head. I will assume,
Experiencing what I feel
And knowing that other dreams will come,
They're only projections coming from
My shadow. But if they are not real,
Someone explain how this was done:
I've fallen in love with everyone.