Distant Drum
(Stockbridge/Pinacoose)

I was on my last commandment
When you fell into your fame
The writing on the wall became
The lights around your name.
I left before you saw me, I
Went back the way I come.
Honey don't you hear the distant drum.

I come in the servants entrance,
I carried my own load. But,
I was out of uniform and
they made me hit the road.
I heard someone say "the things you see
when you just can't find a gun".
Honey won't you hear the distant drum.

Distant Drum.....
Talk of freedom and equality of race.
See the child wipe the spittle from her face.
Before we blow it all to Martin
Luther Kingdom come.
Honey won't you hear the distant drum.

Talk in lecture halls that
Made you feel your roots. For
The sake of Yankee dollars you
Were married to a suit.

It's hard to man the battlements and
Kling to my ballons but
if you're comin' back I'll
Welcome you with
open wounds.
I always dream in color but
we live in black and white,
Won't you hear the distant drum tonight.

Distant Drum...
May it haunt you 'til
Your senses come around. With
A pocket full of posies 'til
Your ashes all fall down.

Lullabye
(Stockbridge/Pinacoose)

Hush li'l baby-lo
don't you cry see
the other side
of the circle when
the sun hides.

Daddy will love you wherever you go
listen to the
listen to the
Water and the wind blow.

We'll grow up and
we may grow away.
I'll love you regardless
of the color that you pray.
Whether you would
ever pray at all.
Hush now baby,
Baby don't you fall.

In Between
(Stockbridge/Pinacoose)

In between open eyes and
Your final night of sleeping,
May a minimum of weeping waste your day.
In between the short pants and
The danace-able occasions,
Be there minimal abrasions cast your way.
In between the mnimum and
maxing of your sentence,
In between the income and
The taxing and repentance,
In between
the river and the road.
In between little sin and
A God still throwing lightning,
Your own children are more frightening
Than the commies used to be.
In between humankind and
The colors of our nation stands
Our present incarnation from
Sea to flaming sea.
In between the bridges and
the dams under construction.
In between the flashlight and
The path to our destruction,
In between
the river and the road.
In between hands and knees and
The crooked cane so painful, may
The wisdom by the brainful, come
To ease your pain and strife.
In between wedding bells and
The youth that you are losing leave
In place of this illusion a
Love to fill your life.
In between the antidotes and
Poisons you're ingesting.
In between carcinogens at
Curbside for collecting.
In Between
The river and the road.

Shadow
(Stockbridge/Pinacoose)

Shadow shines the things that show
when some folks come around.
Speaks in silhouettes and
Leaves no tracks upon the ground.
Jus' cuz you ain't seen him
That don't mean he ain't around.
Shadow.

Shadow walks with Windigo when
Winter wicked whines.
Whispers to the weak of heart and
Freaks the weak of mind.
Shadow sees the seamy side that
Simple folks won't fiind.
Shadow.

Shadows' always somewhere else when
somethins' burnin' down.
Lookin' good on paper while he's
Takin' half the town.
Shadow sometimes sinks so low
he looks up to see down.
Shadow.

Shadow hides between the lines and
corners of the room.
Shadow walks his shadow smile and
hums his shadow tune.
Shadow strangled sunshine for a quarter
of the moon.
Shadow.

Twisted Head
(Stockbridge/Pinacoose)

When my twisted head get messed around....

I think of all the days that
I have wasted on time, hung
Up on your rhymes and
Your apostrophes.

I almost start believing what
you want me to see beneath
your weeping limestone and
chinoisery.

I almost start ingesting with
This brain that you feed I
Feel your manufacture of
reality.

I won't be impressed by
shining objects and the light re-
flected from the sun.
I will not be mesmerized by
fleeting blue horizons and
the prizes to be
won.

I nearly begin doubting all
the shouting I've done,
spitting my own fire at the
rising sun.

I nearly strike a balance be-
tween dark and the light,
thinking I am noble in my
frantic flight.

I crumple all the
pages of an
alternate me. Be-
tween my greenstick
fractures and my
atrophy.

When my twisted head gets messed around....

Eisenhower Jacket
(Stockbridge/Pinacoose)

Wrong side of the mornin'
Or the bottom of the sun
See your life spill over into
Things you shoulda' done.
Watchin' cigarettes and
smokin' Captain Kangaroo.
One a these days these boots are
gonna walk all over you.

Down by the green wood-side........

Went up to the slapneck
in a rusted holy grail.
They had blackstrap molasses
and tobacco there for sale.
Had a lap-top chainsaw and
I took my beer to go.
Had an Oklahoma credit card and
A pocket fulla Jackson Hole.

Down by the green wood-side........

Lifestyles of the disconnected
On the TV screen.
Livin' by the teachings of the
Sacred Steve McQueen.
See the long-stem rosies and
Their clothes are much too small.
I've heard self inflicted gun-shot wounds
And seen the mighty fall.

Down by the green wood-side.......

Outside of the city see
The columns from the fires.
See the weepin' refugees to
roadside they retire
The birdman of alcohol and
My friend-boy Willie Brown
Gonna bust-up every blues band
In this total waste of town.

Down by the green wood-side.......