The Ballad of Liam Becket

Quotes from my third child, including his famous bathroom cry, "Yoo-hoo!"

 

Gather ‘round you people while I tell you one or two

‘Bout a rough & tumble boy that I once knew

Born inside a rental house

His mama squealed when he came out

Smelled like chocolate, metal, & glue

 

They named him…Liam Becket

 

Always woke up early ‘fore the rising of the sun

Started saying things before the age of one

Said he didn’t want to fly

‘Cause he was frightened of the sky

For Christmas, asked for a guitar & a gun

 

His name was…Liam Becket

 

Yoo-hoo! Liam Becket

Yoo-hoo! Liam Becket

Soon you’re bound to wreck it.

Liam Becket

 

Soon that boy was running & man, he was sure fast

And his temper boiled and sometimes wouldn’t last

At 3 he had some gamblin’ debts

At 4 made his own cigarettes

Give him yellow 5 & he’d punch right through the glass

 

He goes by…Liam Becket

 

Don’t laugh when you see him smiling

‘Tween his teeth there is a space

For her birthday bought his mom a flower vase

He loved to play with his toy horn

And watched as little ghosts were born

If you’re outta line he’ll punch you in the face

 

They call him…Liam Becket

 

Yoo-hoo! Liam Becket

Yoo-hoo! Liam Becket

Might wanna double-check it.

Liam Becket

 

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February Sunrise

A happy song about depression.

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This February sunrise

Flooding me with sunlight

Filling every corner of my room

My quilt is pulled up chin-high

There's matter in my left eye

And the warmth here feels like mama's womb

 

I'm staring at the dust swirls

In the beam, creating new worlds

I know I have to get out of bed soon. 

The light, my window cracking

An aching in my back and

I woke up thinking of this tune

 

And we all get the blues

And even some of us will have the wherewithal to choose

Time to tie those shoes

Head’s glued to the pillow

My hair’s a weeping willow,

Don’t hit the snooze.

 

This February sunrise

Seeing through some new eyes

Like I’m staring at a solar eclipse

It’s way past 7:30

My mouth is dry and dirty

There’s some kind of film across my lips

 

There’s coffee in the kitchen

Leg muscles start to twitching

But an elephant still rests on my chest

Caffeine would probably stir it

I think that I prefer it 

To rolling out of bed and getting dressed

 

And we all get the blues

And even some of us will have the wherewithal to choose

Time to tie those shoes

When you’re fighting off depression, 

it’s a 7 day profession, 

So don’t hit the snooze.

 

Please don’t snatch my sheets

These dreams feel incomplete

I think I’ll finally get with it

If I just have 5 more minutes

 

And we all get the blues

And even some of us will have the wherewithal to choose

Time to tie those shoes

Even when you’re just kinda lazy,

Confused, abused, or crazy 

just don’t hit the snooze.

 

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Heaven Now

From an old Celtic saying, "Don't wait until you die, enjoy heaven now."

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Ain’t nothing like 

Coming home to you

With nothing else to do 

Ain’t nothing like 

Seeing your smile

Going on and on for miles

 

We got it.

We found it.

 

Breathe your softest sigh

We don’t have to die

To enjoy heaven now.

 

Ain’t nothing like

Your cooking in the breeze

And hugs around the knees

Ain’t nothing like

Laying next to you

Your skin like summer dew.

 

We got it.

We found it.

 

Not a faraway trip

Here at our fingertips

Real as the song on our lips

 

So enjoy heaven now.

 

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Zion, Talbotton

Written for an abandoned 160-year-old church building in rural Georgia. If the church is made up of people, but there aren't any, can you call it a church?

 

Genuflect

Just before you take your seat in the wooden pew

Recollect

Great grandmother Suzy smoothed the linens new

I expect

She would cry at the sight of the dusty window sill

Pay respect

There are cruets and a church nave to refill

 

I recall

When they hoisted frames and raised my steeple up

Lift the pall

Pour the wine into that tarnished silver cup

Standing tall

One boy holds a cross, and one boy holds a torch

Not at all

I don’t mind if strangers sleep beneath my porch 

 

Rough-hewn beams

Wooden pegs    

Handmade nails stitch the pieces of my broken heart

 

Amen. Can you call me church if no one’s here?                      

Amen. All the ones I loved are gone.

Amen. Can you call me church if no one’s here?  

Amen. I am left to carry on. 

 

He was five

Little Billy pumped the lever of the swell

I’m alive

Hymns and choir breathed and cast a magic spell

I’ll survive

Bill was shot when yankees captured New Orleans

He arrived

In a pine box from the war at seventeen 

 

It’s a curse

Or a boon

Empty room but I’ll stand here one more year.

 

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Muscadine

For my lovely Molly.

 

Gonna go to the vine

Taste the sweet muscadine

Gonna break through the skin

Of the sweetest scupplin’

 

I don’t mind if you get a handful

I don’t mind if you make you some wine

 

Gonna go to the vine

Taste the sweet muscadine

Gonna break through the skin

Of the sweetest scupplin’

 

Gonna go to the tree

Meet my lovely Molly

See her sitting right there

With her long hazel hair

 

She don’t mind if I kiss her softly

She don’t mind if I make her mine

 

Gonna go to the vine

Taste the sweet muscadine

Gonna break through the skin

Of the sweetest scupplin’

 

Gonna go to the creek

Wanna find what I seek

Gonna lay myself down

Let the water surround

 

I don’t mind if I get my clothes wet

I don’t mind if I see the divine

 

Gonna go to the vine

Taste the sweet muscadine

Gonna break through the skin

Of the sweetest scupplin’

 

Of the sweetest scupplin’

Gonna break through the skin

Gonna go to the vine

Taste the sweet muscadine

 

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Jim, Johnny, & Jesus

If you could have 3 people over for dinner, who would you choose?

 

If I could have three people over for dinner

Anybody dead or alive

I’d pick a dreamer, a saint, and a sinner

A dinner party at the end of time

Opening up all my senses

Healing all my diseases

No puppet shows, concerts, or speeches

Just me and Jim, Johnny, & Jesus

 

I’d get Jim to talk just like Kermit

And Johnny would sing a couple of rounds

And after a few minutes listening

Jesus would stop and say something profound 

 

I brought up how the world is in shambles

What on earth could I do?

They leaned back and laughed and pat me on the back and said

“We thought exactly the same thing too.”

 

Jim said “Make one person smile”

Johnny said, “Make one cry”

Jesus said, “Just open up your heart”

I said, “Hell, it’s worth a try” 

 

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I Know

When I was 16, I made a bad decision, and instead of

killing me, my parents taught me a lesson in grace.

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It was the last call I wanted to make

It was the last fall I thought I’d take

Scared you’d pick up, scared that you wouldn’t

I made a mistake, done what I shouldn’t

 

What would you say when you heard what I done?

That dip in your voice shot harder than a gun

It’s all my fault, I have to live with this shame

You probably want me at the courthouse to change my name.

 

But as my eyes fill with tears

Your calm voice is all I hear

 

I know, I know, I know

I know that pain

I know, I know, I know

I’ve felt that shame

Hush now, my darlin’ babe

It’ll be all right

I know tomorrow’s gonna come 

tonight

 

I don’t understand 

why I do what hurts me most

Like the road of good intentions’ 

lined with all my ghosts

The problem that I have is that 

it felt right at the time

I never think about the fallout 

until I pull the crime

 

I expect another fight

Instead you grab and hold me tight (and you say)

 

I guess for grace to work

You have to let it hurt ‘cause it’s

the best shitty feeling in the world. 

 

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Sleight of Hand

For all the passive-aggressive relationships out there.

 

We’re all tender to the touch

Lying that it doesn’t hurt that much

Eggshells we’ve trampled are making stab wounds in our feet.

 

You ate your fair share of regrets

Then held them close like they were perfect pets

Light the fire then back away ‘cause you can’t stand the heat.

 

Take a drag to breathe the nicotine

Looks cool as hell but it makes you mean

Smoke and mirrors hide our honest thoughts while we wear them on our shirts.

 

Dueling banjos for who loves who more

Empty words declare uncivil war

I realize I love you and perhaps that’s why this hurts.

 

And I struggle just to understand

Why you puzzle me with a sleight of hand

I wonder if even Superman 

Could see through your song and dance

 

Lucky violence ain’t in our vocab

Passive-aggressive tends to pick the scabs

Until we notice that we’re hemorrhaging from a thousand paper cuts

 

Itching like there was a squirrel in your skin

Your lack of insight was your greatest sin

Hard to conjure the surest truths when they’re deep down in your guts

 

And I struggle just to understand

Why you puzzle me with a sleight of hand

I wonder if even Superman 

Could see through your song and dance

 

Drinking coffee way too strong 

Been sleeping sloppy all night long

While you’re keeping copies of all my wrongs 

 

And I struggle just to understand

Why you puzzle me with a sleight of hand

I wonder if even Superman 

Could see through your song and dance

 

And I wonder if I saw you twitch

Would you admit you made the switch

I can’t quite tell now which is which

But this game is your niche 

 

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Hide & Seek

Written for my father who carried a heavy load he could never share.

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Albert's buried in the back

Behind the coats and old shoe racks

Peeks between the narrow beam

Hoping someone hasn’t seen

 

Sitting silent in this room

Secrets forming his cocoon

 

Come find me please

I’ll hide, you seek

I'll reach the trees

So my secrets will not leak

 

Albert's cover's blown at last

Swallows air and darts right past

Really hoping to be caught

He finds a new hiding spot

 

This time he will sit like stone

Secrets he does not want known

 

Come find me please

I’ll hide, you seek

I’ll touch the trees

So I’m safe from all critique

 

Albert thinks he’s won the game

Tamping down the guilt and shame

If only I could tell him now

That I would love him anyhow.

 

No more reasons to pretend

I'd pursue him til the end

 

You’ve found me pleased

I’m done with hide and seek

I’ve reached the trees

At long last I am at peace.

 

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Such Beauty

Written while standing on the beach of Inch, Ireland.

 

The waves slide in, the waves slip out

The wind breathes full, without a sound

My feet submerged, the quickening sand

My eyes trace out the shape of land

 

How could it be, someone like me,

Could dare to see

Immensity, the ecstasy

The Irish sea

 

Such beauty

 

We see for miles from the placid peak

The canopies, the vein-like streets

Mottled orange, red, and brown

The garb of mountain’s amber gown

 

A falcon free, daringly

Flips and flees

A unity ‘tween her and me

I, too, am free

 

Such beauty

 

A masterpiece, the colors bold

The yellow warm, the purple cold

I hear the sound, the steady beat

The chorus starts, and then repeats

 

A melody, the harmony

The symphony

A gallery, the symmetry

Epiphany

 

Such beauty

 

And when I see the contours of your lovely cheeks

The way you stand, your smile so sweet

Your kind esprit

Your joyful laugh, your brilliant mind, your honesty

I’m overwhelmed 

and undeserving

of such beauty

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Dust

There aren't many good Ash Wednesday hymns.

 

Who told you that you were dirt?

Who told you that you had no worth?

Who wagged their finger when you fell?

Who said you were earth under my nail?

 

I see right through you.

I see right. through. you.

And you know what I see is good.

 

You are like dust

Floating high above the atmosphere

Left in the wake

Of a comet’s streaking afterglow

You are like dust

Chiseled from the stone of David’s ear

Rubbed from the hem

And the hands of Michelangelo

 

Remember that you are dust

And to dust you shall return

Remember that you are mine

And to me you shall return

 

Who told you I was out for blood?

Who dragged my name right through the mud?

Who claimed I smiled while you cried?

Who said I disappeared while you died?

 

I see right through you.

I see right. through. you.

And you know what I see is very good.

 

You are like dust

Floating high above the atmosphere

Left in the wake

Of a comet’s streaking afterglow

You are like dust

Chiseled from the stone of David’s ear

Rubbed from the hem

And the hands of Michelangelo

 

Remember that you are dust

And to dust you shall return

Remember that you are mine

And to me you shall return

 

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Tree Song

I like hiking in the woods, where I can

stare up at trees and forget everything else.

 

Did you see the lightning?

Did you hear the thunder?

What kind of storm

Must we be under?

If the world was barefoot

Would we litter the ground with glass?

Don't let your mockingbird mouth 

Outrun your hummingbird ass.

 

There’s a squirrel

Skipping down a rain-soaked limb

Sending drops of water down on me.

There’s a girl

Dancing to an old-time hymn

Tethered to the ground in her bare feet

 

Magnolia roots like serpents

Live oaks were weeping

Just stop and listen

Woods are secret-keeping

Do you remember 

when nights like this were only a dream?

Before the pine straw had fallen

and pecans were a little too green.

 

When life brings us to our knees 

We’ll be staring up at trees

Let our worries gently float along the breeze