advent journal: first lines

I was going back through some poems and found this one, so I spent a little time revising it and offer it anew tonight. Feel free to sing along.

first lines

I pulled into Nazareth was feeling ‘bout half past dead
I don’t want to hear a love song
doctor my eyes have seen the years and the slow parade of tears
headlights are flashing down the highway
I wonder if we’re gonna ever get home
a look at you all see the love there that’s sleeping
when you’re down and troubled and you need a helping hand
keep a fire burning in your eye pay attention to the open sky
you who are on the road must have a code that you can live by
you come a-walking with a scar on your soul
taking too much too lightly
you with the sad eyes don’t be discouraged

there’s a river of sorrow in my soul
there’s a river of love that flows through all times
don’t the hours grow shorter as the days go by
there are the ones you call friends
the mississippi delta’s shining like a national guitar
another turning point a fork stuck in the road
people get ready there’s a train a-comin’
you can play the game and act out the part
baby I’ve been searching like everybody else
in the middle of late last night I was sitting on a curb
where have all my friends gone? they’ve all disappeared
like a bird on a wire like a drunk in a midnight choir

I’ve been sleeping for some hours
just woke up and you were there
I will remember you will you remember me
when the road gets dark and you can no longer see
in every heart there is a room a sanctuary safe and strong
didn’t say we wouldn’t hurt anymore
people that are sad they wear a frown
it’s coming on Christmas and they’re cutting down trees
I heard was there was a secret chord
eight years old with a flour sack cape tied all around his neck
I’ve heard love songs make a Georgia man cry
am I young enough to believe in revolution

when it’s dark outside you’ve got to carry the light
the waltzing fool he’s got lights in his fingers
there ain’t nobody asked to be born
shut it down and call this road a day
we’re living in a time of inconvenience
you come home late and you come home early
we are swimming with the snakes at the bottom of the well
all the unsaid words that I might be thinking
the presence of your absence follows me
something in your eyes makes me want to lose myself
here we go again another round of blues
it was all I could do to keep from crying

oh play me a blues song and fade down the lights
so many years so many hardships
just when every ray of hope was gone
tell anybody that ain’t got nobody somebody’s coming
when I was a little boy my daddy told me mister
don’t ever try to climb too high ’cause it’s the fall that gets you
screen door slams Mary’s dress waves
we are swimming with the snakes at the bottom of the well
when you start if you exist God believes in you
I am an old woman named after my mother
I’ve been lately thinking about my lifetime
I can hear her heartbeat from a thousand miles

Peace,
Milton