Bird Burning Suite

CROW

All the rage inside me subsides
I rearrange the world with clear eyes
The way is wide we’re wiser when we rise
I realize I’ve seen through your disguise

Tonight we are strangers
Tonight we are losing face, erasing all trace
Tonight we are stranger than we’ve ever been before
We are ignoring the distortions of our minds

All the rage inside me subsides
The way is wide we’re wiser we rise
We reclaim the skies we rise and rise
We soar above the sores we left behind

Tonight we are strangers
Tonight we are losing face, erasing all trace
Tonight we are stranger than we’ve ever been before
We are enormous, ignoring our disguise

We’ve been putting on a brave face
Now we’re ready to face
Each other as though meeting
For the first time erasing all trace

There’s no need to talk or teach
Now we’re finally free
From what we’ve been holding
Each other to be erasing all trace of divide

Tonight we are strangers
Tonight we are losing face, the physical fades
Tonight we are stranger than we’ve ever been before
We are enormous, illuminated grace

AIR I - You Dance

You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you
You run inside my mind where no-one hears you
Your laughter hides behind my eyes
Your sighing skips between my thighs
You dance, You dance

We repair the air
The air repairs us too

SWAN

In my mind you follow me home
When I’m alone after the night shift
I put your hand where we’ve wanted it
Since the first time we met

Shaking hands shaking
Taking turns looking, hooking
Each other in, seeing
Seeing each other seeing

In my mind you’re closing the door
And even before you turn on the lights
You put your hand where we’ve wanted it
Since the first time we met

Shaking hands shaking
Taking turns looking, hooking
Each other in, seeing
Seeing each other seeing
Without searching

AIR II - You Left

I dreamt that when I woke
I was stretched out sideways
On your bed the sun still shaping the wall
The way it was before I fell asleep

You left in the night
Even though you weren't there before leaving
You left in the night
I should know that you weren't meant for keeping

You dreamt that when you woke you had two girlfriends
Both of whom were me
One hoped you'd take her gently
While the other wanted all the gentleness taken from her

They left in the night
Even though they weren't there before leaving
They left in the night
'Cos they knew that they weren't meant for keeping

Each morning more of you is missing and I miss you less
I mislay parts of you during the night and when I wake
More of you is missing and I miss you less
Which is probably for the best

You left in the night
Even thought you weren't there before
You left in the night
Even thought you weren't there before

PEACOCK

I see you see me see
Through the crowd to the quiet
Corner where you wait
Illuminating the room

Your smile slices me open
Splits my belly in two
Like a secret your stare fills me
From across the room

It leaves me full and foolish
It leaves me full and foolish

I watch you watch your watch
While we wait for the world
To wake and want us back

But your looking leaves me hazy
Gazing backwards through the blaze
Of our gaze your stare fills me
From across the room

It leaves me full and foolish
It leaves me full and foolish

I see you see me see through
I see you see me see
I see you see me
I see you see
I see you

Air III - Joy

Today I take Joy and sit her down
I tell her I can't cope with copying her anymore
I uncross her arms and I part her legs
I tangle her hair and rub her head between my thighs

I feel sorry but I'm not sorry
I feel sorry but I'm not sorry

The Devil has crept in and is multiplying quietly
Between the bed sheets piled on shelves in the laundry room
I think I must have brought them back as mothers
In my carry-on

I feel sorry but I'm not sorry
I feel sorry but I'm not sorry

PELICAN

Once again that moment when you lifted me
Out of the water and held up my spine
As though stretching it into a staircase 
To the sun or something doing your best
To gather me gather me gather me
As things spilled out of my mind

You are filling my tears
You are filling my tears
You are filling my tears

You are tearing my years
You are spilling my fears
You are clouding my eyes
You are quelling our flame

I chose fight over flight and as I fell
I felt soaring searing through me
Breaking my fear as my fear broke my bones
I crashed I ashed I swept the sky clean
I wept the sky into our sea

You are filling my tears
You are filling my tears
You are filling my tears

You are tearing my years
You are spilling my fears
You are clouding my eyes
You are quelling our flame

Air IV - You Punish Me

To punish me you peel a scab on the side
Of your hand or bite the skin along your thumb
And look surprised when I ask for a second time

Could you not take that nail to my navel
Or take that tooth to my throat the way
I know you want to every time you

You say she slept in the next room
You say she slept in the next room
There were plenty of details

BIRD BURNING

For you I carry fire in my pockets
In the sockets of my body
I am the sun for a moment
Slinky pink and seen only in reflection

The hand in the fire beckons
Reaches for something strong
And strokes the flame beneath it

Stories show up full of flutter
Bellies roll into fists
Something’s bound to happen if you plan for it

I am bird burning
I am bird becoming air
Becoming rain becoming your hair
Or the saliva between my bare legs

I’m burning burning dying embers
I’m burning burning dying embers
I’m dying in this solar cycle,
Dying in display

Air V - You Forgotten

I am forgetting you
I am you forgotten