Michael, I’m writing these words to you
Cause I don’t know what else to do
I’ve been trying for a long time
To find a way to get through
I loved you more than a brother
But that was so long ago
There wasn’t enough love in me
So I just let you go
You felt so alone
But you never were on your own
This world is not our home
And we are not our own
Michael, what I’m trying to say,
We can’t make it by our own will
It’s the only good news in a fallen world
The Lord is God and be still
Michael, the Lord is over your shoulder
Why’d you think you’d only fallen so far?
I promise you He’ll give you His peace
If you let Him into your heart
I know you want to go home
And never be alone
This world is not your home
And you are not your own
It was bound to happen
I been scared of everything else
Now I’m older, so much to lose
Scared of life itself
Now my son, my little one
What to wish for you
In all ways be like your mother
With just a little me in you
Times in your life you’ll get so low
Suddenly, you’ll feel strong
Through the dark night of the soul
Bright flows the river of God
Brandon my son, my little one
I will pray for you
That you’ll be just like your mother
With just a little me in you
Like my love for little girls
Just a little drawn to sadness
If I could, I’d give you love
And words and music and madness
Times in your life you’ll get so low
Suddenly, you’ll feel strong
Through the dark night of the soul
Bright flows the river of God
Sweet your disposition
And natural your rhythm
Not in these things your father’s child
Don’t lose them gaining wisdom
I want to be a good father to you
Throughout these tender years
And when it’s asked what I gave you
Your first thought won’t be tears
Times in your life you’ll get so low
Suddenly, you’ll feel strong
Through the dark night of the soul
Bright flows the river of God
Times in your life you’ll get so low
Suddenly, you’ll feel strong
Through the dark night of the soul
Bright flows the river of God
Little Ali, Ali Cat
I’m Alison she says
You know what you want
Never be afraid
Follow the sound of your own voice
Never doubt your heart
Others see God through you
Hallowed be His name
Gentle rolling, Alison Brooke
Flowing with the grace that comes
When you know you have every
Every right to be here
Rolling to the river where
God claims you as His own
Tumbling, laughing
Laughing, laughing as you go home
You’re stronger than the boys
Don’t you ever forget
You’re mama’s little girl
But you’re daddy’s Brookie yet
Wearing a dress that spins
And socks upon your hands
Elton John sunglasses
And dancing with your dad
Gentle rolling, Alison Brooke
Flowing with the grace that comes
When you know you have every
Every right to be here
Rolling to the river where
God claims you as His own
Tumbling, laughing
Laughing, laughing as you go home
There are only three treasures
You can give your children –
Your faith, your love and your time
And those are the same things you owe them
Treasures
I look around
At a lot of the things
That I love
And I realize
They’re the ones I
Hold in my hand
And I think of all
The time I spend on those things
And I can’t take them with me
I can’t take them with me
I’ll have to leave them all
When I go
I look around at the things
I’ve given my loves
And I realize they’ll have to
Leave them behind
How have I saddled my family
With things that hold them down?
Cause they can’t take them with them
They can’t take them with them
They’ll have to leave them all
When they go
Driving down the highway
Crying in the pouring rain
Listening to “Someday Never Comes”
Thinking about your brother’s father
Thinking about your drunken mother
Trying to scrunch off the twinge of tears
My heart is hard
My thoughts are evil
My spirit died long ago
Like this rain, I don’t cleanse
I just take the filth along with me
Why do I go on,
Why do I sing?
How else could I sleep?
I know the Lord
My soul will keep
I’m not looking to give
I take all I can
What can you do for me?
I’m lazy and I’m selfish
I’m a coward and I’m spent
I thought I was so smart
But I’m not
This song’s about me
Aren’t they all?
Can I get to you if I document my fall?
Is there a point to this rant,
This cautionary tale?
Why does the God of all
Hang on to those who fail?
Why do I go on,
Why do I sing?
How else could I sleep?
I know the Lord
My soul will keep
A branch that bears no fruit
The Spirit is not in me
I do that I do not want to do
Destined for the fire
Still my God sends his love,
His sunshine and His rain
I’m broken and I’m blackened but,
By His fire I’ll be pure again
The stars in the pitch
Look down upon just me
Ten trillion personal angels
I’m comforted to know
Almighty God would send them all
To bring back just one below
Why do I go on,
Why do I sing?
How else could I sleep?
I know the Lord
My soul will keep
Certainly we are shaped
By the times we’re living in
There’s a darkness on my soul
And we dance upon our graves
Dark and different still
Born before the shadow came
Growing up in the failing light
Before the fog came rolling in
Stop adding to the darkness
That keeps the others blind
Stop toying with that blackness
That muddies up your mind
Stop dancing with the darkness
That keeps you from the light
Stop dancing in your weakness
That robs you of your fight
Stop dancing
Stop dancing with the night
Could I be a light
As best I can remember
To those who awoke here
After came December?
Hearing music in the prophets’ words
But there’s no prophet here tonight
Stop adding to the darkness
That keeps the others blind
Stop toying with that blackness
That muddies up your mind
Stop dancing with the darkness
That keeps you from the light
Stop dancing in your weakness
That robs you of your fight
Stop dancing
Stop dancing with the night
Stop dancing in the darkness
Stop dancing with the dead
Stop dancing with the devil
Stop glancing with regret
Stop dancing
Father, you have given me
A lot of time
But I’m still trying
To find my place
For decades I have squandered
What you have given me
And I’m still trying
To find my place
You’re my captain
I’m a beginner
Sometimes I felt the fate of saints
Rest upon this sinner
Father, you have given me
A lot of time
But I’m still trying to find my place
Never once was it said,
“Jesus ran”
But He was always in Your place
And time
You were His captain
He a beginner
You’d not let the fate of saints
Rest upon a sinner
Father, you have given me
A lot of time
This morning the sky
Is the same as the river
There is no line
White blue
More white than blue
The sky
The fog
And the river too
Everything is wet except for me
I breathe through my skin like a salamander
I love the sun, but I love the water more
I love the moist gray day and I love our Lord
This is the day the Lord has made
This morning the trees
Don’t look the same
They don’t mourn the leaves
They could not keep
Skeleton shadows
Dance on the breeze
On this sky
On this day
This morning the sky
Is the same as the river
There is no line
White blue
More white than blue
The sky
The fog
And the river too
Everything is wet except for me
I breathe through my skin like a salamander
I love the sun, but I love the water more
I love the moist gray day and I love our Lord
This is the day the Lord has made
My God ties my shoes
And I’m five years old
How can I feel peace
When evil collides with innocence?
How can I feel good inside
When I know my heart?
My God, you tie my shoes
And I’m five years old
My God, you tie my shoes
And I’m five years old
You must receive your God
As a child
To inherit the kingdom
Let the children come
To me
For the kingdom is theirs
My God, you tie my shoes
And I’m five years old
When I wouldn’t give you my all
You’d always pick me up when I’d fall
Still I turned my back
When you were calling me
But every time I was in a jam
I’d call out to the great I Am
You’d reach down and rescue me
Even though it’s just me
You’d always come and make me see
You love me just the way I am
Ever since my salvation
In the Lord, a new creation
How can I live like I lived before?
Living in sin and misery
After you paid the price for me
How many times will I crucify my Lord?
I was made to love you too
But seven times seven I turned on you
And every time you took me back
Ever since my salvation
In the Lord, a new creation
How can I live like I lived before?
Living in sin and misery
After the price you paid for me
How many times will I crucify my Lord?
I was made to love you too
But seven times seven I ran from you
And every time you took me back
I never got to tell you
But I fell in love
The first time I saw you
On the first day of school
When we were just eleven
I made a little cardboard charm
And wrote your name
I wore it under my shirt
And daydreamed you did the same
You never tried to hurt me
Though I caused you trouble
And you could
You just gently took one step back
For every step I took
The brown of your eyes
Was the color of sorrow
Like sunshine refracted by rain
Sometimes I felt they were lit by your soul
When they’d flash and sparkle with pain
There was a hole in my heart
Inches wide and miles deep
And I was losing something
I had hoped I might keep
Pouring out in my chest
Making it so hard to breathe
You knew I’d survive
If you’d cut and I’d bleed
The first time the sun
Lit the gold in your hair
I thought it was magic
And couldn’t help stare
I can still hear your voice
Soft and warm like a child
Dancing like starlight on crystal
The brown of your eyes
The color of sorrow
Sunshine refracted by rain
Dazed by the flash
Transfixed by the sparkle
Haunted by a soul in such pain
A hole in my heart
Inches wide and miles deep
Losing the one thing
I had hoped I might keep
Pouring out in my chest
Making it so hard to breathe
Bleeding at best
My heart on my sleeve
I could be like the rest
You’d cut and I’d bleed
words by May Sarton
If I can let you go
As trees let go their leaves
So casually, one by one
If I can come to know what they do know
That fall is the release, the consummation
If I can come to know what they do know
Love will endure, if I can let you go
Then fear of time
And the uncertain fruit
Would not distemper the great lucid skies
This strangest autumn, mellow and acute
If I can take the dark with open eyes
If I can come to know what they do know
Love will endure
If I can let you go
If I can call it seasonal
Not harsh or strange
For love itself may need a time of sleep
And, treelike stand unmoved before the change
Lose what I lose to keep what I can keep
The strong root still alive under the snow
Love will endure
If I can let you go
If I can let you go
As trees let go there leaves
So casually, one by one
If I can come to know what they do know
That fall is the release, the consummation
If I can come to know what they do know
Love will endure, if I can let you go