Crossroads
Poems and Lyrics
�1975 - 2000 by Lisa Ann Rodriguez
Homepage
SONG LYRICS
Say Nothing at All
Are You Ready?
Love You Like a Pig Loves Corn
Seasons Change
Love Cries Twice
POEMS
Crossroads
Sad Salad Sandwich
The What-if Bus
Sidewinder Destiny
Laugh Slowly
Carol
Eternity
No Fighter Pilots
Sonnet on Death
I Am But a Woman
Sonnet on Albert
Amnesty
Whales' Song
Patience
Stepmother
Relation
The Animal, Time
The Mortal Ring
Rose Along theRoadside
The Traveler
Escape
Empty Spaces
Biology Class
God in his Eyes
Vine on the Wall
Triolet to Youth'sDeaf Ears
Caprice
Like Rain
Almost Anything
Nathaniel's Grave
David and HisDad
Sixteen Shattered
Both Sides of the Bowl
Lingering
Say Nothing at All
1977
Softly as the night upon an unsuspecting day
Gently as the wind within a dandelion May
I need no reassurance of your love, dear
say nothing at all and I will hear.
Like the beauty of a sunset, though it's never a surprise
you can take it all for granted but the wonder never dies.
Then suddenly you'll come around and realize its glow
say nothing at all and I will know.
It would seem a shame to break the magic cast upon our love
by a million faded promises--a smile is just enough..
Already time is crowded with the words that mean no more
than yes, I truly love you but we've heard that all before.
The moment that we're sure is ours is too short to define
say nothing at all for you are mine.
Are You Ready?
1996
Are you ready to meet your maker?
Could you look him in the eye?
Are you ready to meet your maker
if today's your day to die?
It could be 50 years from now
or it could be this afternoon
but either way
you're gonna say
that it's too soon.
You live your life
and at the end of the day
when you close your eyes at night
and all your memories replay
do you rest easy with the pictures
flashing on that screen
or do you wake up
in the middle of a scream?
chorus
Look at a child
look at the innocence sifting out
like hourglass sand
replaced by sorrow and doubt.
What have you done?
Have you been the cause or cure?
Did you hold his hand
or ask him who
his mom and daddy were?
Love You Like a Pig Loves Corn
More than Ben and Jerry's
More than going to the beach
More than Cheech and Chong
Love Stacy Keech,
More than calling in on a Monday morn,
Oooh, baby, love you like a pig loves corn.
More than day traders love Bill Gates
More than Elian loves United States
More than Larry Flint love porn
Ooh, baby love you like a pig loves corn.
More than the Lakers love Kobe and Shaq
More than Scooby Doo loves a scooby snack
More than Fred Sanford loves Lena Horn,
Oooh, baby love you like a pig loves corn.
chorus
Seasons Change
1995
Chorus:
When the grass is green
will I still be with you?
Will the seeds of dreams we planted
grow to be true?
When the flowers bloom,
will we be together?
Seasons change and so do people.
Will I still love you?
Summertime,
and love's a warm and easy place to be.
Summertime
a bonfire on the beach
and sunsets close enough to reach
if we just try....
Chorus
Autumn winds
whipping up old feelings like dry leaves.
Autumn winds
wondering where else we could be
where we could blow away
if we were free.
Chorus
Wintertime
it used to be a blanket on the floor.
Wintertime
we lie there watching raindrops
we talked and loved and held eachother
accepting every storm.
Chorus
Springtime
will anything ever grow here again?
Springtime
this fallow earth which is my soul,
fields aching to be filled
so sad and hard and cannot yield
to be broken and opened and hurt again.
Chorus
Do I Have to Wave a Flag?
1997
You never touch me
when I really need your touch.
And you don't like it
when I need you too much.
When I cry you take offense
my tears you won't allow.
Do I have to wave a flag that says
I need to be held now?
I'll just stay here
on my own side patiently
waiting till you feel
like being next to me.
'cause everything's when you want it.
You've got the key to every lock.
Everything in your time.
You always get to hold the clock.
No such thing as
hugs that lead nowhere,
all I need is affection--
your hand to stroke my hair,
a kiss that means I love you,
that everything's all right,
to find comfort in your arms
when life feels like a cold dark night.
Crossroads
1980
Standing at the crossroads
where the winds of time collide
and two rivers run on separately
but somehow side by side.
Whatever could have brought us here?
What destiny has lied
and brought us to the crossroads
we cannot help but ride?
Sad Salad Sandwich
1997
Sad salad sandwich
between slices of time
childhood's freedom
and adolescence recalled
more fondly than deserved
now that I'm on this side of the cheese,
and the crustiness of elder ages
chafes me when I turn
and all that's left to life is
but the heel.
Listen to me whine!
Like sixteen I still can pout
lamenting over injustice dealt me,
putting music to it
Still, as I celebrate my stubborn immaturity
a song from the 80's
the not so long ago 80's
comes on and reminds me
of things I didn't do
and things I did.
And I realize what my mother
and my grandparents have known for years--
that I'll never ever
never ever
be that young again.
The breakfast club has disbanded
relaxing after dinner,
the kids in bed
the lamplight dim,
the volume turned down low...
enjoying peace.
embracing calm.
Oh, my God.....
how sad!
The What-If Bus
1998
Come take a ride on the What-If Bus
sit by the window and don't miss the view.
We're going to places--fantastical places
imagined by only unfortunate few.
What if the pumpkin bread
I made and gave to family and friends
was baked in loaf pans greased with RAID
rather than non-stick PAM?
What if the burners are lit on the stove
(although I've checked each one four times)?
So I drive back home
the garage door is down--CHECK
the front door is locked--CHECK
the toaster unplugged--CHECK
and touch each knob while the voice in my head
like a constant alarm bell chimes--
OFF OFF OFF OFF
Come take a ride on the What-If bus.
What if the house burns down?
or gas fills up the house
and in carbon monoxide my babies drown?
What if then I lose my mind
and curl up like a fetus, forget all I knew?
Yeah, come take a ride on the What-If bus.
What's the matter--
you don't like the view?
Come take a ride on the What-If bus.
What if I say the wrong thing?
What if I call my boss a bitch
or my husband another man's name?
What if instead of Merry Christmas
I write in my cards things I never should tell?
What if I take off my clothes in church
and run through the aisles
screaming "Shit! Damn! Hell!"
Come take a ride on the What-If bus.
All the passengers get to drive.
And we're all so tired
we'd sleep at the wheel
if only we could close our eyes....
if only for a moment
we could close our eyes.
Sidewinder Destiny
Sidewinder destiny
striking at my feet
smiling in the eyes of every
shadow that I meet,
Every time I turn around
I see my grinning fate
with fangs that glisten life's revenge,
content to lie in wait.
Sidewinder destiny
coiled in the sand,
lightly I must walk upon
this rattlesnake land.Treading in between the truth
that cringes in my soul
and lies societies enforce
like payment of the toll.
Sidewinder destiny
the viper lies so low
the past is its dark hiding place.
The future is my foe.
The rubber band convictions
that only give so far
will snap right back and sting me
leaving wisdom like a scar.
Laugh Slowly
1985
When fields are filled with flowers and feet are bare,
when streams run clear and skipping stones are cast,
when hands are held as if love were a prayer,
Laugh slowly. Allow this happiness to last.
When the jug is full and sweet red wine is passed,
when the throat is parched and fever is running high,
do not let life's pure nectar pour too fast;
Drink slowly. The flask will soon be dry.
When the soul is weary of earth and wants to fly,
and the body too old and weak to bear this strife,
when the shadow is dark and ever drawing nigh,
Die slowly. Savor the last breath of this life.
Time is quick and mortal existence brief.
So hold each precious moment like a thief.
Carol
1985
Deaf since five
she thrives in silence.
A friend in a way,
and yet a barrier exists.
I hear her sighs,
but she cannot hear mine.
Sometimes she closes her eyes
when I try to talk to her.
She wrote a book of poetry.
I tell her I'd like to read it.
(wondering how the quiet hum
of nothing sounds).
She blushes, asking why.
Poetry is the bared soul.
It's the only way
I'll ever really know her.
Eternity
Could you walk alone
till life starts getting late
upon the cliffs,
above the jagged pinnacles of fate....
dying slowly,
knowing wholly
all that's left to you....
so afraid of falling that you do?
No Fighter Pilots
1987
He wasn't a fighter pilot.
Just a mechanic whose dreams
weren't strong enough to come true.
The glow of his cigarette in the dark
and the blue lights on the runway
signaled danger.
But like ferris wheel lights,
they made me lightheaded for a while.
Then the carnival came down.
Tom Cruise isn't a fighter pilot.
He performs aerial maneuvers
from a cardboard cockpit
with fire in his eyes,
but none in the engine.
Fooled again, I walk out half believing he could fly.
There are no fighter pilots--
no aviators in shining armor.
I'm an ace, if anyone,
with an imagination that flies at the speed of light
and a heart that runs on jet fuel.
Tom Cruise goes home after his death defying lies.
He goes to the bathroom.
When he has a cold he blows his nose.
And eighteen is a stupid age
when you think a khaki jumpsuit makes
a fighter pilot.
Coming in for a landing,
I see the control tower in my head
telling me to stop looking in the clouds
for a man.
He's not a fighter pilot
and he isn't up there.
But he's handsome and creative
and he loves me.
And he's right here next to me
with popcorn in his lap.
Sonnet on Death
1983
When death is spoken of by humankind,
though rarely, it may come up in hushed tones.
A vague chill courses up and down the spine
and an icy vein of dread flowers through the bones.
The thought that life is just an ebbing tide
and the future holds finality
is something frightened souls cannot abide.
No one wants to face mortality.
This trepidation seems to make no sense.
To me, a great adventure for us waits.
The ultimate of all experience
lies just within those dark, foreboding gates.
I bear my own demise no animosity.
Contrarily, I've mostly curiosity.
I am But a Woman
1983
Were I only Venus I would soon
let none but good into your mortal life.
And if I were the goddess of the moon,
Diana herself would be no better wife.
If I were wise as Pallas Athena then
I'd tell you all the answers--why and how.
This power would not lead to other men.
My heart would be as constant then as now.
I'd cherish so the touch of happiness--
to solve all sorrow in your life with love.
To smooth your worried brow with one caress.
My heart is strong and true, but not enough.
For I am but a woman--undivine
And cannot prove a passion profound as mine.
Sonnet on Albert
1983
Genius comes in many different faces.
But always we expect to see the stare
of sternness, frowns, wisdom's solemn traces.
It's natural to look for answers there.
But Albert, wild, white-haired and puppy-eyed,
the universe mapped out inside his head,
stumbled in unkempt, undignified
and no one heard a brilliant word he said.
For years mankind considered him a fool,
preferring those who seemed more scholarly.
But finally time and space required a rule
and Albert gave them relativity.
To see intelligence we must be blind.
No longer can we visualize the mind.
Amnesty
1984
The pills didn't work.
You made all your calls,
sending a faint SOS in your goodbyes.
Then you woke, pale and disappointed in a small room
where you started to plan your escape again.
The bullet worked.
The black lead seared through every painful memory.
You erased them from your mind
by blowing away your brain.
If only guilt and fear could be surgically removed...
But like an uncontainable cancer
they spread throughout the body
till death is the only cure.
There are times when I believe
that only you would forgive me
for my life between the ages of
seventeen and twenty-two.
All the diary pages ripped and burned
trying to undo them...
to hide them from myself.
But the ashes sift through denial
into a pile of conscious shame.
If I knocked on your dark door,
you would open it
and welcome me
and say, "I understand."
Whale's Song
1984
Solemn and slow
they glide among the strands
like leisurely torpedoes
through kelp and crystal beams.
Calling and answering
in echoes that follow no sound.
Melancholy music
drifting in and out
the jagged caves...
are they, perhaps, lamenting
over lost calves drug into
cruel steel nets
that sway in the depths of blue?
Or maybe they moan over
faces pressed flat on the glass;
vacant eyes staring,
smearing with fingers,
fogging with opened mouths...
They'd probably love to talk to us.
But their wisdom is wasted
on shallow clams
and absent-minded eels.
Patience
Homage should be paid to the maiden who waits
for matrimonial sanction of her need.
And the bud that long cold winters tolerates
below the frost, until by spring is freed.
The spider must be born with faith and trust
to cling for hours just for one small fly.
Her patience overcomes her hunger's lust.
This insect has more stamina than I.
I marvel at the strong and resolute
enduring time as it drags slowly on.
While I'm inclined to find a faster route
and snatch life up before the chance is gone.
This virtue, patience, reverent and fine
is, unfortunately, not one of mine.
Stepmother
1984
Lying in bed,
shivering with the chill of thirteen
and thinking of your convenient wife in the next room,
her sun-baked wrinkled face
and short gray-black hair--
her head looked like a light bulb.
Waiting to hear the door's sinister whisper on the carpet.
as she crept in to cut my heart out
and feed it to the dogs.
Relation
1982
She sits there in the kitchen all alone
staring deeply at the oven door.
Eleventeen--half little girl, half grown,
waging private adolescent war.
Confusion, vast emotion all inside--
she's closed herself in desperate self-defense.
Remembering mental places I would hide,
I try to ease into her confidence.
This age is like a tide at equinox,
reaching, then withdrawing, still unsure.
I once was at this age of paradox.
I understand, and yet, I have no cure.
The hardest thing, now that I'm finally grown,
Is knowing we all must make it on our own.
The Animal, Time
Yesterday slid in on its belly
whispering,
hissing,
tasting the air of the future
with a cautious tongue.
It left its scales in the hallway
when it scraped its skin off on the door
until it sparkled.
Today walks on all fours.
It bounds into the room
and chases its tail with joy.
It jumps onto the furniture.
Today is a ruffled fur, wet-nosed day.
Tomorrow will be two-legged.
Striding with stern-faced solemnity,
watching the clock,
rubbing its forehead,
yawning and pacing...
Tomorrow will sleep with one eye open.
The Mortal Ring
1979
I'm either dead or dying.
The difference isn't clear.
The dying never answer
and the dead just never hear.
I'm all I have to call on.
I write the song I sing.
But what's the name or tune
within the broken mortal ring?
My feet are far too fast for me.
My eyes can't see the road.
The wires snap impatient fingers
final overload.
My essence is eternal.
No freedom will time bring.
The curse is cast forever on
the broken mortal ring.
My bed is just a box
within a circle, in a space
the boundaries of a lifetime
with fringe of silk and lace.
It holds a restless soul as I,
a kite without a string.
That never finds its place within
the broken mortal ring.
A myth is my existence.
My blood flows from belief.
I stalk, I drink, I never die.
I steal life like a thief.
The tears of ancient sorrows
still cause my eyes to sting.
There is not resting place within
the broken mortal ring.
Rose Along theRoadside
Rose along the roadside,
look at your vagabond clothes--
dust all over your scarlet dress.
The sagebrush and the ragweed grows
around you, but cannot suppress
the beauty in your simpleness.
No garden wall will shelter you
from an August thundershower.
You could have been a royal rose,
clinging to a castle tower.
Held in awe by all the grows--
but no...you're just a peasant flower.
Untamed and without boundaries
your leaves reach to the sky.
In freedom there is dignity.
unpresumptuous and shy.
Keeping common company
you blossom sweet humility.
The Traveler
1976
One day I met a traveler,
worn by time and wind.
I recognized him as we passed
and said, "Where have you been?"
He answered quick and lively.
His fiery eyes were kind
and I guessed he sustained life without pain
from the energy in his mind.
I said, "I know you somehow."
He smiled and said, "You do.
I've been to many lands
you've always wished you knew.
I've sailed on ships of silver
but you were never there.
The reason is a mystery
why you would never dare.
You see, I am your brother--
the other side of tears.
Your Peter Pan of Neverland.
All your hopes and fears.
You see my every memory,
in daydreams that I bring.
I'm your bird of happiness,
forever on the wing.
Love Cries Twice
1982
Your tears sting my eyes when they fall.
Your pain is what hurts me.
Your happiness I hold so dear
that love cries twice for every tear.
Your cloudy skies bring rain to mine.
They chill me to the marrow.
I share your heartache, feel your fear.
And love cries twice for every tear.
Your darkest nights would blind my eyes.
Your sadness is my sorrow.
Your soul and mine have come so near
that love cries twice for every tear.
Empty Spaces
1979
Night, it lies alive outside the window,
illusionary boundaries of a seam.
Leading darkness to its end within a moment,
bringing days filled with my half-forgotten dreams.
Now in crowded rooms and endless hallways
where none will ever dare to stand alone,
somewhere still remains the empty spaces
and they call to all the people to come home.
When the language of the night is speaking freely
and no one cares to either take or give
as all the world lies sleeping in its cradle,
empty spaces wake, unwatched, and live.
Escape
1982
Father, I know to you I'll always be
a little girl, too young to understand.
Much too small and fragile to be free,
needing someone there to hold my hand.
But like a flower grown inside a box,
a crack of light was found and drew me near.
The jail you called my childhood had no locks
and I escaped the moment the coast was clear.
I guess it made you sad to see me grown,
it made you realize your own late age.
Or maybe you were afraid to be alone.
And so you kept me captive in a cage.
You could have let me just grow up and stay.
But you couldn't. So I had to grow away.
Biology Class
1987
Heavily accented professors
with unpronounceable names
that never smile
give multiple choices
to those with no choice
and stalk up and down the aisle.
Pickled pigs in formaldehyde
named "Arbie" by students with knives
as they cut and probe
the anterior lobe
to see how a pig survives.
Jars of death preserved
in see-through caskets on the shelves,
looking through microscopes
and tweezing the pieces apart,
they learn about themselves.
A bucket marked
in professorized letters
"animal parts discarded here"
collects the scraps
of scholastic cannibals
eating away at their sophomore year.
God in His Eyes
1986
In the heavens, in a world,
in a country, in a state
in a city, in a little house
there is a man with faith.
In the midst of dark confusion,
on the blackest, coldest night,
you can find him,
for upon him,
there shines an honest light.
Somehow you can trust him
in a world so full of lies.
It must be you can see God in his eyes.
Vine on the Wall
1984
In my mother's house I lean against the wall
and wonder which is holding which upright.
Without her children's need, her world would fall.
Maternal burdens soon become too light.
Or is it I that helplessly remains
to curse the kitchen that cannot be mine,
the frightened child that constantly complains
but clings ferociously as if a vine?
Dependence is the root between the two.
The new bud cannot bloom until it's free.
Time must finally sever the stem clear through.
God's flowers are meant to blossom separately.
I walk away unsteadily, on my own.
The wall still stands just fine now, all alone.
Trio let to Youth's Deaf Ears
1983
You'll wish youth back
when the thrill is gone.
I'm told, "yak yak yak
You'll wish youth back.
Time takes the slack
when life's overdrawn.
You'll wish youth back
when the thrill is gone."
Caprice
Time is moving softly
like a wind within a door.
I hope you'll understand
I cannot love you anymore.
Time is moving back
and loving you is all I find.
I hope you'll understand again.
I think I've changed my mind.
Like Rain
1983
Today came as no surprise.
The tears that fell, foretold.
My fate to be with open arms
but not a soul to hold.
My heart to be so full of love
but feeling so much pain,
like wishing wells run dry,
like the last goodbye,
like rain.
Maybe it's my destiny
forever to be alone,
to write the words to love songs
but no love of my own.
To daydream far too much
for anyone that's sane,
like wishes ever coming true,
like loving you.
Like rain.
I tried again to care,
to give a little more.
But how much can I give
from the outside of the door?
Still reason bends for wonder
and love may break the chains.
Like the tide that never turns,
like I never learn.
Like rain.
Almost Anything
1985
If I had half a hot dog
I'd let you have a bite.
And if it was a windy day
I'd let you fly my kite.
If you were funny looking
I wouldn't tease or taunt.
I love you so I'll give you
almost anything you want.
If we were trapped inside a fridge,
suffocating to death,
to let you live a little longer
I would hold my breath.
If we were saved and you were cold
I'd build a kitchen fire.
I love you, so I'll give you almost
anything you desire.
If you were an insomniac
I'd stay awake with you.
And if I could buy 40 winks
I'd give you twenty-two.
And if you woke up hungry
I'd fix you tuna fish.
I love you, so I'll give you
almost anything you wish.
Nathaniel's Grave
1983
Columbia lie sleeping as I walked alone
up to the hill that overlooked the town
where tombstones tilted, lost and overgrown,
among forgotten flowers, dry and brown.
I wandered, reading epitaphs of old,
histories etched vaguely in the stone
of miners now surrounded by their gold
that death had finally given them to own.
I met the ghosts that lived in ages past,
soldiers, spinsters, people bold and wise,
but suddenly my gaze was drawn at last
to one small mound that brought tears to my eyes.
Inscribed, "Here lies Nathaniel, cherished son--
born in 1849, died in sixty-one.
I knelt beside that grave and cried with grief
not felt in any heart for a hundred years
for a boy of twelve and a life so very brief.
Time was no great hindrance to my tears.
For as I walked away I saw a field
where once a boy in overalls would run.
I passed a schoolhouse, boarded up and sealed
where once, impatiently, his math was done.
I wade cross a stream where fish were caught
and picnic lunches eaten in the shade
on days when Santa Ana winds blew hot
and carefree hooky with his friends was played.
Then his young soul left this world behind
only to live immortal in my mind.
David and his Dad
1993
When David plays
he'll know how to laugh.
He got his first giggle from you.
And when David dreams
he'll really believe.
You've taught him that dreams
can come true.
When David reads stories
he'll know how to wonder
and make up a few of his own.
He'll hear the sweet music
you've put to his life.
He'll sing it if he feels alone.
When David sees flowers
and mountains and trees,
he'll know how to look with his heart.
You're teaching him things
he could learn nowhere else,
perfecting your best work of art.
And someday when David's a daddy
and holding a son of his own,
he'll know how to love
from the depths of his soul
where the seeds that you've planted
have grown.
Sixteen Shattered
I think it was when we got driver's licenses
and stopped walking in alleys
and riding buses.
the dried remains of that first love
may still lie by the trash bins
and carports, unnoticed.
Why couldn't we go on living
on raindrops and hilltops?
Why did we have to get older?
There was a house in the forest
made of daydreams and moonbeams,
love songs and stars....
why did we never move in?
I think it was when we stopped talking of elves
and thought more of full-time jobs
and getting out.
We put down our guitars and our dreams.
And when the music dies,
so do the dancers.
Both Sides ofthe Bowl
Blue fish
brainless but beautiful,
exploring five inches of universe--
a plastic plant and black gravel,
that's all.
I sit in my room,
20 square feet,
reading alone.
Glancing at the bowl
I realize there are two living things here.
�����������
Blurry-faced girl
on the other side,
why do you stare at me?
If I joined you
in your limitless world,
I would gasp for my own liquid sky.
Yet my thoughts swim beyond this bowl...
beyond yours....
to some transcendent sea.
Lingering
No emptiness is of a truer weave
than when you say goodbye
but never leave.
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