Two Nine
what the mind can't fathom
what the heart can't feel
what the body can't grasp
the soul will steal
what the ear faintly hears
the whisper on the breeze
You have crossed many waters
just to be with me
what the lips can't kiss
what the tongue can't taste
what the nose cannot smell
but the barren waste
what the hands cannot hold
what the eye can't see
You have crossed many waters
just to be with me
what the grown man kills
what age rejects
what the child holds so dear
and humbly accepts
what the spirit can nest in
like a dove in a tree
You have crossed many waters
just to be with me
© 2006
The Harder They Come
Love feels like an angry blade
life feels like a brawl
troubles rain like a hurricane
they pound against my skull
but...
I won't be afraid
won't be afraid
no, I won't be afraid at all
the harder they come
the harder they fall
well, angel wings don't come easily
triumph only comes with blood
you can't get nowhere on a hand-out fare
can't swim without a flood
so...
I won't be afraid
won't be afraid
no, I won't be afraid at all
the harder they come
the harder they fall
I will not pray for the storms to pass
I will not thirst for happiness
I only ask that my love lasts
through the fires that pave the way
the world it spins but my love fades
shadows climb my walls
seems every time I try failures only multiply
now my heart is drunk on gall
but...
I won't be afraid
won't be afraid
no, I won't be afraid at all
the harder they come
the harder they fall
© 2008
Fire
I am captured
by your fire again
I am bleeding
I'm bleeding
Oh, my friend
I believe in God
and His love for me
...and His love for you
© 2003
Radiate
Lord, I know You’re near
Sometimes I feel You hold me close
You say You’ll never leave me
You haunt me like a ghost
But there are shadows
Darkening my mind
So pour Your mercy
Out like wine
And Radiate
Let Your love light shine
There’s a cold, cold wind
Blowin’ over this heart of mine
Lord, please don’t wait
Radiate
Troubles come and troubles go
But Lord You stay the same
I know You called me from the fire
And still You call me by my name
But there are shadows
Darkening my mind
So pour Your mercy
Out like wine
And Radiate
Let Your love light shine
There’s a cold, cold wind
Blowin’ over this heart of mine
Lord, please don’t wait
Radiate
© 2007
Hassan's Song
A friend told me you were here
Here’s a card
I hope that you get well
I see you lyin’ there
Barely hanging on
Yeah, you look like hell
I know that death seems close
But don’t you dare
Give up the ghost
‘Cause life cannot own you
This world ain’t your home
It’s true that love will prevail
After all
Kings and queens fall
But love, it’s immortal
And I pray someday
You hear the Savior call,
“Come home.”
Well, I haven’t known you that long
But still, you’re a brother to me
So I wrote you this song
Yeah, maybe it’ll help you sing
I know that death seems so close
But don’t you dare
Give up the ghost
‘Cause life cannot own you
This world ain’t your home
It’s true that love will prevail
After all
Kings and queens fall
But love, it’s immortal
And I pray someday
You hear the Savior call,
“Come home.”
© 2006
You Are Good
Tell my momma I'm comin' home
Life is no longer fun
All my money's gone
Spent it on all the wrong things, hon
But Lord, You are good
Some say time heals all wounds
But tell me, how quickly can you clean a tomb?
Just a whitewashed shed
With all the insides dead
Still, Lord, You are good
Tell my friends it ain't them
It's just a matter of fittin' in
when it's all said and done
this burnin' flame will become a sun
'cause Lord, You are good
ooh, ooh, ooh, You are good
© 2010
Friendly Flame
As the sun does rise
on the weak and wise
I lift my head to the skies
to welcome the dawn
I believe in a Friendly Flame
I believe in the power of pain
as of late
Fire innate,
purge me
In my going in
I perceive what I’ve been
six thousand beer bottles of sin
left at the threshold of living
I have seen the end
up ahead through the narrow bend
and the gates that lead in
only welcome the hated
The only way to live
is to freely give
the way Jesus did
to the point of much blood
By the third day
my soul was beat and lame
but we are never wrought in vain
our bruises become bronze
I know what is best
surely only metamorphosis
(and) thanks to a fatal kiss
a new life I can lead
© 2007
Shadows
Well, it seems like it’s so hard to wait
feelin’ like a fire that’s been burnin’ all day
so, I stand alone, sing as I sway,
“Don’t you go in where the shadows lay.”
Life is a child
crawling on the pavement
I am a house
hide my faults in the basement
The light it shines
where darkness lays his head
don’t be misled
young lust bears sin bears death
Well, it seems like it’s so hard to wait
feelin’ like a fire that’s been burnin’ all day
so, I stand alone, sing as I sway,
“Don’t you go in where the shadows lay.”
The skin’s a fire
don’t get caught in the blaze
losin’ an arm
is better than diggin’ a grave
Love is the way
to find freedom in chains
God is the bronze
I, the dove in the cage
Well, it seems like it’s so hard to wait
feelin’ like a fire that’s been burnin’ all day
so, I stand alone, sing as I sway,
“Don’t you go in where the shadows lay.”
© 2011
Just a Walk Away
I hear you cryin’
Just at the break of day
In my simple world
I still got some dues to pay
I can listen
But I ain’t got much to say
I’m just a walk away
I’m still just a walk away
…just a walk away
I hear you weepin’
All I can do is pray
That your darkness
Will flee from the sun’s sweet rays
I hope you’re feeling
More than just okay today
I’m just a walk away
I’m still just a walk away
…just a walk away
I see your sorrow
In a pool of tears you lay
You’re on the sidelines
While the World’s got its games to play
When your whites
Turn just a little too gray
I’m just a walk away
I’m still just a walk away
…just a walk away
© 2007
Been Dyin'
This song
I have not heard before
nor its melody
The sound
brick and stone,
ancient tyranny
I been dyin’ a lot lately
all my pride
I been dyin’ a lot lately
This man
I have not known before
nor have I felt his ways
His robe
skin and bone
all my days
I been dyin’ a lot lately
all my pride
I been dyin’ a lot lately
This land
I have not seen before
nor its give and take
Its ocean
it has no shore
only distant waves
I been dyin’ a lot lately
all my pride
I been dyin’ a lot lately
© 2010
Weeping Willow
There across the street
just past that yellow line
Under that willow tree
is where I learned to die
I was in my teens
on my way back home
I jumped into that stream
to save my burning soul
My eyes were burning red
the rocks felt like fire
That willow cut my head
just above the brow
The meadow was not far
its green light I could see
On the back side of the farm
just past that willow tree
But my breath I could not catch
my spirit would not rise
That tree, it marked my death
beneath those heavy skies
Its branches were spaghetti
the noodles they covered me
My blood, the marinara
dripping from that willow tree
© 2006
Today
Today if you hear His voice
Today if you hear His voice
Don’t harden your heart
Don’t harden your heart
Today
Today if you seek you’ll find
Today if you seek you’ll find
Not a snake will be given instead
Nor a stone will be given as bread
Today
Today if you taste and see
Today if you taste and see
Don’t betray your tongue
God is good, yeah, He is one
Today
Today if you call on His name
Today if you call on His name
You shall surely be saved
For our King has swallowed the grave
Today
Today if you hear His voice
[Don’t harden your heart]
[Today, today]
© 2011
