AS THE MUSIC DROWNS

As The Music Drowns

Baby, I hear the tears in your voice

Even though you’re trying to be brave

There on the other end of the phone.

I know you’re sitting there

In the dark as usual

Wearing pajama bottoms and those old socks.

I listen to what you say

And to what you’re not saying

And I keep my silence until you’re through.

You have no idea how much I love you

How I’d like to put my arms around you

And hold you till the pain stops.

I’m just the girl next door,

Your best buddy,

Your sounding board and listening post.

I know you better

Than you know yourself

And I still love you enough to die for you.

I hear you get up and put on a record

Not an impersonal CD

But a scratched up old album from The Goodwill.

Well, I won’t take up any more of your time, you say

And still hold onto the phone

Like it’s a lifeline in the sea of loneliness.

You can call me anytime, I whisper softly

As I lie there looking out my window

And down at your shadow in a dim hall light.

Damn those girls that break your heart!

They have no idea how good and fine and sweet you are!

They have no idea.

But I do. I do.

And I wipe the tears from my face

As Solomon Burke starts to sing the song of my heart.

I’m a man! you say angrily into the phone

(Like you’re trying to convince somebody, maybe yourself)

I’ve been hurt before, I’m not going to cry over it.

It’s okay, I answer softly

Knowing you’re not really even listening

It’s alright to cry sometimes.

Then you hang up the phone

And turn the stereo up real high

And I lie there in the dark alone as the music drowns out our tears.

©By Voo

Dec 08, 08

2:12 a.m.

Cry To Me by Solomon Burke, 

the song playing on the record player

AS SAD AS MINE

As Sad As Mine

I guess there comes a time in life

When you turn that corner

And come face to face with yourself

And you think: How did I get here?

Where am I going? And who am I going there with?

You stop and catch your breath

And realize that no one’s watching

No one notices if you’re late or lonely

And that there are no love letters in the mailbox

Or unwritten on the keyboard.

Life has just slipped away

Hurried by like a night train

To a distant city, full of passengers

That are all asleep and do not see you

Standing in your doorway.

Today I saw a couple holding hands

And I burst into tears

I thought: I used to do that

And I looked down at my hands

And they were empty.

Today I heard a song

And I thought: I used to sing that

There was always applause and always an ovation

But now there’s no song

And no one to sing to.

Where did my life go?

What happened to the love I planned for

But never found the time for 

Or the right person or the right heart?

But there was always room for the wrong.

Tonight I sit in moonlight on the porch

Lonesome as a train whistle in the dark

I hear an owl call out: Whoo. Whoo.

And I whisper back

Who indeed? Who indeed?

Lonely lasts forever, poets tell me

There is no cure but love

And no cure for love but death

I never knew how much I needed both

Until this moment dawned.

There was a face this morning

There in the market, that caught my eye

We exchanged glances that lingered

And looked away and wandered back

And a tiny ray of something blazed up.

Could it be? I wonder now

Is there someone out there in this night

Wondering about the spark that ignited

This morning

Wondering if the face of love was mine?

I’ve turned that corner now

To the place where you come face to face

With yourself and your need and your loneliness

When all your busy life has come to a standstill

And you see hidden things that you never saw before.

Listen to that train whistle, will you?

I feel the porch tremble as the engine roars towards me

The light cuts through the darkness

And I stand up to see the lonely face of a passenger

Pressed against the window, staring, with a smile as sad as mine.

©by Voo

Oct 25, 08

11: 43 p.m.

THE SONG IN MY EYES

The Song In My Eyes

The violin cries

And I catch each tearful note

In my outstretched listening hands

There they lay, sparkling like diamonds

Dazzling like dewdrops, sharp as swords

And healing like the potion of a medicine man.

I drink in the music

And let it fill me, overfill me, drown me

In it's beauty and heartbreak

A tidal wave of motion and emotion

That sweeps me clean of pain and sand

And deposits joy there on my empty shore.

The musician pauses, bow in midair

And I voicelessly scream "No!"

And will him to continue playing until I am spent

Dissolved in tears and filled once more with hope.

Hope that only beauty discovers

And beauty fills

The violin cries and the song in my eyes

Is composed, is played, is shared, is done.

by Voo

Copyright ©2007 

THE ONLY THING MISSING

The Only Thing Missing

Hard park bench setting there

On the banks of the lake

Under the trees

Leaves hanging like jewels

With tiny breezes arranging them

Ever so lovingly with their little wind fingers

Not a cloud in the sky

Not a sound except for bird song

Not a footstep or a sigh

Not a hint of humankind

Not a scent of rain nor tear

Pristine and perfect

I sit and take in the scene

Silently and with reverence

That bench is where we met

Where we fell in love

Where we touched hands in wonder

Of love and were awed by the fear of it

That bench is sacred to me

Those trees are like palace guards

Those birds are like songwriters of my heart

That breeze is like the touch of your caress

That lake is like a silver mirror

Reflecting me and the bench and the trees

And the jewel-like leaves
 Now hanging there like teardrops

The only thing missing is you.

©by Voo

Feb 19, 2005

 5:30 p.m.

NOBODY'S VALENTINE

Nobody's Valentine

Nobody's Valentine

Nobody's love

No cards cut in heart shapes

With a big snowy dove.

Nobody's Valentine

Nobody's girl

Just a tear stained little sad face

Looking out at the world.

Nobody's Valentine

Nobody's wish

Nobody's candy

And nobody's kiss.

Nobody's Valentine

Nobody's dream

Watching ads and those movies

Till I thought I would scream.

Nobody's Valentine

Nobody was here

To tell me they loved me

You know, just like last year.

Nobody's nobody

That's how I felt

Playing my Solitaire

With the hands I was dealt.

Nobody's Valentine

Remembering the past

Thinking red hearts and chocolates

Would make our love last.

Nobody's Valentine

Nobody's Cupid

Just another fake holiday

To make me feel stupid.

©by Voo

Just now 

spur of the moment

Feb 23, 13