Come Down South

I got your letter
it came yesterday
but I thought it better
to wait a few days
to respond to your query
I was a bit wary
of what I might say

I'm doing quite well
I'm glad you are, too
No, my book never did sell
but what can you do
Do you think you'll marry
this fellow named Harry
and what does he do

Yes, it has been a while
So tell me what's new
Reunions aren't my still
was it fun for you
Yes, I left school behind
with the yearbooks I signed
but I think of you, too

New Orleans is fine
and yes I still write
Thanks for dropping a line
hope your Christmas is white
Though I'd love to see you dear
I won't be there for New Year's
I can't get a flight

Yes, you could stay here
if you do come down
We'll share Christmas cheer
and I'll show you the town
It would be my pleasure
and I would treasure
your just being around

Oh, just one more thing
before I sign my name
About our last fling
yes I do feel the same
Come down south and we'll see
if we were meant to be
Signed, Your Old Flame

Mississippi Moon

Full and heavy, glowing through veils of mist
Unseen beams gliding over tiny waves
Reminding me of lips that I once kissed
Of feelings hidden in my heart's own caves
How like this moon, my heart, when our lips met
So full and high and gleaming with delight
And anxious for the stark day's sun to set
To merge our souls in dark and wond'rous night
Your skin was soft and white like my fair moon
Your hair, in waves, flowed out like the river
A moment more brightly lit up than the noon
A kiss that yet causes me to shiver
In the faint glow of the moon up above
The waves roll by, and I dream of your love

Never Said

That face
so pure and bright
Those eyes
such a soulful light
She walks in my dreams at night
But I know
I'll never see that girl again
And her hair
that golden crown of hair
A smile
so haunting that I see it everywhere
Never said
that I strangely care
So I know
I'll never see that girl again

Drowning In Self-Pity

How long have I been lying on the floor?
The needle's stuck in the record's last groove;
I wonder how long it will be before
I will no longer have the will to move...
Lost in my music, my thoughts, and my wine,
Waves of melancholy, pools of regret
Surround and saturate this soul of mine
With ambitions I swore I'd not forget-
With women I've loved, lost, and not yet found;
I've tried to write for the world what I See,
But wine and fear have found me on the ground;
Why should I rise to mediocrity?
Perhaps if love had been inclined to stay,
I'd not be inclined to just waste away.

Lost Love Lingers

Come no longer into my dreams at night;
Haunt you not my memory everyday,
And each thing I see; be not in my sight;
The pain of these is more than I can say;
We can laugh and love together no more;
I can no longer feel your lips on mine;
Though above all others, you I adore,
Hurtful is your memory's poisoned wine;
Mine are the shoulders on which rests the blame;
You'll never know now the words came out wrong;
Knowing then my present feelings of shame,
And how my heart would still sing our love's song,
I'd have told you how much I loved you so,
And I'd not have to ask you now to go

Mandarin Moon

Rippling Alaskan waves on the sea
seem to wave back at this mandarin moon;
The whales down below us must envy me,
for they cannot see this strange night-time noon;
And as I turn to the stern of the ship,
lavender shades from a sun not yet set-
black is upon us, yet blue will not slip
from a twin sky I will never forget;
A bright, orange carpet rolls out on the tide,
out to our ship anchored here in this cove;
A carpet of blue to our starboard side-
the sun above Icy Straight never dove;
Icy Straight day blends with Pinta Cove night-
how those whales envy my Alaskan sight

Death's Toll

The sound of the silent bells
After the church belfry fades
It rings in my heart and wells
Up from the depths of Hades
The death of a loved one burns
The flame of a thousand lights
The loss of a child, it churns
My soul in the well of nights
If only what passed could be changed
I'd not have that boy in moulders
If only what's done, rearranged
I'd not have that weight on my shoulders
Oh, how those bells still ring
Through the years, they still will ring