The People Who Cannot
Say Good-Bye

There are people who cannot say good-bye
They are born this way/this is how they die
They are the keepers of promises
what moves them does not wear out
Their loyalty will tear apart your clocks
These are the people who
can hear the music in songs
They are the Vow carriers
The grandmothers who always
leave the porchlight on
No one is lost to the one who sees
These are the women widowed
by men they never married
These are the girls who wait
even when you don't come
These are the mothers of orphans
They can turn a fake into an original
They will hear the prayer in your self-contempt
As distance is measured
people do not end
It is one of those stories that cannot be written down
except across a lifetime of open doors
There is a holding on beyond the letting go
There is a reunion in everybody's chest
This is how we come to make a family from strangers
This is how we light candles These are the people who
will remember you when you meet them
These are the people you can always call at night
They are humans turned angels by your asking
With each separation they go to seed again

These are the men who
carried you on their shoulders
This is the one you are lonely for
the one who begins and ends your hunger
This is the man who said 'Always'
There is a moment of returning
on the other side of every leaving
It is not something I can prove to you in language
This is what we pray about
...We can kill what we desire
and it grows back
This is something that does not wear out
It is the third part of any two people who join
It opens and closes
There are people alone who are not apart
This is why we listen to the madman when he speaks
People change but they do not stop
This is how we learn "Forever"
There are people you can count on
They are the keepers of promises
They are the candles lit from each other
They can teach us eternity
We can get what we give
This is the instruction
There are people who do not say good-bye
As distance is measured
You are one of them

Something You Can Count On

I want to tell you in a few words
What I could not tell you in too many

I want you to know that it will be hard
to live without you again

You will always be the one I'm thinking about...
When somebody asks me
who I'm thinking about.

Symphony In P-Flat

There are some things I meant to say
to you when we were old.

Not just because we may not grow old together, but
because we may not grow old at all.

You're so much more important to me than
any work I'll ever do.

And just so you know, I would have rather been your lady
than anything I'll ever be.

And just in case you ever think nobody does,
"I Love You."

Twice A Beggar

It's something we all wish for
And something we're all
afraid of.
To feel nothing when it hurts,
And to feel everything when it doesnt.

DELIVERANCE

If a man moves you to feel
like a woman ...the least you can do is let him
You must never let your fear of God
keep you out of Heaven

EPITAPH

When I die
Give what's left of me away To children
And old men that wait to die
And if you need to cry
Cry for your brother
Walking the street beside you
And when you need me
Put your arms Around anyone
And give them
What you need to give to me
I want to leave you something
Something better Than words
Or sounds
Look for me In the people I've known
Or loved
And if you cannot give me away
At least let me live on your eyes
And not on your mind
You can love me most
By letting
Hands touch hands
By letting
Bodies touch bodies
And by letting go Of children
That need to be free
Love doesn't die
People do
So, when all that's left of me
Is love
Give me away