A collection of Mary's poems and lyrics set to music. Includes Lightning Rod, Desert Planet, Untangle Time, and 8 more songs.
Tracks
1Desert Planet
They say there's no such thing as a desert planet
Water worlds and forest moons are just a joke
A sign of bad writing, lazy and tiring
World-building that's broke
When in reality…
Every inhabitable planet has a motley mix of biomes
From hostile ice vistas to welcoming woods
But I've seen so many worlds in my travels
I've seen so many planets hanging like baubles in the black
They say no world is just one thing
But I've seen spheres of blue
Pure, refreshing, and true,
Cerulean marbles deep with oceans
Peopled by sentient dolphins, singing and splashing in the seas
They say no world is just one thing
But I've seen dusty rocks hanging in space
As dry as desiccated tardigrades
Wind-blown with sand as far as the eye can see
Peopled by ambulatory cactuses, so prickly and so green
They say there's no such thing as a desert planet
Water worlds and forest moons are a joke
Every inhabitable planet has a motley mix of biomes
From hostile ice vistas to welcoming woods
But sometimes those woods stretch from horizon to horizon
Peopled by teddy bears and their primitive, stone age ways
Pockets of forest, warm and mossy green, floating isolated
in space
They say no world is just one thing
But I've seen shards of ice, spinning through the void
As frozen and craggy as an avalanche that will never melt in the spring
Peopled by glittering ice crabs, skittering over the tundra
And I've seen
I've seen them in the skies
I've seen them with my own eyes
They say no world is just one thing
But I see the world in front of me
Covered in emerald green forests and turquoise, sapphire seas
Covered in lacy, pearlescent clouds, soft like whipping cream
They say no world is just one thing
But this world is one thing and one thing only
It's perfect
It's a perfect paradise
Exactly where I want to be
Water worlds and forest moons are just a joke
A sign of bad writing, lazy and tiring
World-building that's broke
When in reality…
Every inhabitable planet has a motley mix of biomes
From hostile ice vistas to welcoming woods
But I've seen so many worlds in my travels
I've seen so many planets hanging like baubles in the black
They say no world is just one thing
But I've seen spheres of blue
Pure, refreshing, and true,
Cerulean marbles deep with oceans
Peopled by sentient dolphins, singing and splashing in the seas
They say no world is just one thing
But I've seen dusty rocks hanging in space
As dry as desiccated tardigrades
Wind-blown with sand as far as the eye can see
Peopled by ambulatory cactuses, so prickly and so green
They say there's no such thing as a desert planet
Water worlds and forest moons are a joke
Every inhabitable planet has a motley mix of biomes
From hostile ice vistas to welcoming woods
But sometimes those woods stretch from horizon to horizon
Peopled by teddy bears and their primitive, stone age ways
Pockets of forest, warm and mossy green, floating isolated
in space
They say no world is just one thing
But I've seen shards of ice, spinning through the void
As frozen and craggy as an avalanche that will never melt in the spring
Peopled by glittering ice crabs, skittering over the tundra
And I've seen
I've seen them in the skies
I've seen them with my own eyes
They say no world is just one thing
But I see the world in front of me
Covered in emerald green forests and turquoise, sapphire seas
Covered in lacy, pearlescent clouds, soft like whipping cream
They say no world is just one thing
But this world is one thing and one thing only
It's perfect
It's a perfect paradise
Exactly where I want to be
2Lightning Rod
When you stand up high
and spread your arms out wide
You will not fold. You cannot fly.
But you will hold your ground
You will stand up high
and spread your arms out wide
Take every blast to come down
From the sky
You have never folded
But you let your dreams fly
And your feet stayed firmly on the ground
On the ground
You are the lightning rod
The power courses through you
Burning and blasting and boiling your flesh away
You are the lightning rod
And you will weather the storm
And channel the danger away
When the strike is over
And you cower closer
Folding your arms around yourself
You feel flayed
Naked and exposed
Nothing left but bones
Shining in the darkness
Of the storm
You will not be torn
You are the lightning rod
And you will weather the storm
And channel the danger away
You are the lightning rod
The power courses through you
Burning and blasting and boiling your flesh away
Away…
Away…
After the final strike
Look at the trees around you
The gentle breeze
The pink glow of dawn
You protected the others
Even if they'll never know
And that's all you need
You need to know
Until the next storm begins
and spread your arms out wide
You will not fold. You cannot fly.
But you will hold your ground
You will stand up high
and spread your arms out wide
Take every blast to come down
From the sky
You have never folded
But you let your dreams fly
And your feet stayed firmly on the ground
On the ground
You are the lightning rod
The power courses through you
Burning and blasting and boiling your flesh away
You are the lightning rod
And you will weather the storm
And channel the danger away
When the strike is over
And you cower closer
Folding your arms around yourself
You feel flayed
Naked and exposed
Nothing left but bones
Shining in the darkness
Of the storm
You will not be torn
You are the lightning rod
And you will weather the storm
And channel the danger away
You are the lightning rod
The power courses through you
Burning and blasting and boiling your flesh away
Away…
Away…
After the final strike
Look at the trees around you
The gentle breeze
The pink glow of dawn
You protected the others
Even if they'll never know
And that's all you need
You need to know
Until the next storm begins
3Some Words Burn Brightly
Can a few words burn brightly enough
To light all the seasons
Of a life?
Which words?
How do we find them?
This is why we read
We’re always searching, searching
Through books and pages
Streams of words
And sudden downpours
For the few words
That glow
For the words that cast light
On the things we see
Some words are lanterns
Carried with us
Clung to tightly
Some words are sudden sunbreaks
Momentary enlightenment
That soon fades away
But leaves a memory of what
Was seen
Some words rise like the sun
And illuminate your world
For a season
For a day
A year
A life?
Some words are a guiding star
Some words last a whole life long
Or longer
Some words fade away
But some words…
Some words last
To light all the seasons
Of a life?
Which words?
How do we find them?
This is why we read
We’re always searching, searching
Through books and pages
Streams of words
And sudden downpours
For the few words
That glow
For the words that cast light
On the things we see
Some words are lanterns
Carried with us
Clung to tightly
Some words are sudden sunbreaks
Momentary enlightenment
That soon fades away
But leaves a memory of what
Was seen
Some words rise like the sun
And illuminate your world
For a season
For a day
A year
A life?
Some words are a guiding star
Some words last a whole life long
Or longer
Some words fade away
But some words…
Some words last
4Untangle Time
One day stars were young
They danced together in the galactic core
Then they ran away
Each running alone
One day stars were young
Some day stars will die
Species evolve
Civilizations rise
Under a watchful sun
We live our whole lives
Within a single blink of that unblinking yellow eye
Up in the sky
But here I am, tangled up in time
Time is a broken mirror
Fractured and confusing
A hall of mirrors, repeating endlessly
Stuck in a single moment of time
Tangled up in time
Staring into the mirror
And as I stare back unblinking, my face is worn by time that means nothing
To the stars in the sky
How can I untangle time?
A music box dancer, repeating the same few strands of music, dancing the same few steps, stuck on repeat for a forever that’s only a moment of time
My life branches in a moment, and the music box breaks — each note makes a new dancer, a new timeline, and we dance together, waltzing in a moment that means nothing to the stars
I reach out and hold myself in my arms
We dance together in a moment that lasts so long
Even the stars will notice
Forever in a moment as time stretches sideways into a million, fractal, branching infinities
Forever in a moment
They danced together in the galactic core
Then they ran away
Each running alone
One day stars were young
Some day stars will die
Species evolve
Civilizations rise
Under a watchful sun
We live our whole lives
Within a single blink of that unblinking yellow eye
Up in the sky
But here I am, tangled up in time
Time is a broken mirror
Fractured and confusing
A hall of mirrors, repeating endlessly
Stuck in a single moment of time
Tangled up in time
Staring into the mirror
And as I stare back unblinking, my face is worn by time that means nothing
To the stars in the sky
How can I untangle time?
A music box dancer, repeating the same few strands of music, dancing the same few steps, stuck on repeat for a forever that’s only a moment of time
My life branches in a moment, and the music box breaks — each note makes a new dancer, a new timeline, and we dance together, waltzing in a moment that means nothing to the stars
I reach out and hold myself in my arms
We dance together in a moment that lasts so long
Even the stars will notice
Forever in a moment as time stretches sideways into a million, fractal, branching infinities
Forever in a moment
5The Multitudinous Conversation
The universe is a machine
For generating conversations;
When every possible conversation
Has been had,
The multi-verse will be complete.
So when you’re having a conversation,
You’re doing the work
Of realizing the purpose
Of the universe.
Even if it’s only a conversation
With yourself,
(You’re not alone;
You have yourself)
You are what the universe
Is trying to be.
Some conversations
Feel better than others.
When you’re in a good one,
You are lucky. When not,
Or when silence reigns,
Form the words in your mind.
Be the voice
The universe needs.
Help make the universe
Complete.
For generating conversations;
When every possible conversation
Has been had,
The multi-verse will be complete.
So when you’re having a conversation,
You’re doing the work
Of realizing the purpose
Of the universe.
Even if it’s only a conversation
With yourself,
(You’re not alone;
You have yourself)
You are what the universe
Is trying to be.
Some conversations
Feel better than others.
When you’re in a good one,
You are lucky. When not,
Or when silence reigns,
Form the words in your mind.
Be the voice
The universe needs.
Help make the universe
Complete.
6Self-Selected Hero
The fastest way to make everyone hate you
Is to say, I’m the cleverest one in the room
No one wants a self-selected hero
They want someone chosen by a wizard with a ring; a dryad with a sword
But sometimes, you’re the only hero available
And deep down, every cat wants to be a lion
Every horse wishes for a magical, spiraling horn
But sometimes it’s just you
And you have to choose
Choose to be the hero
The self-selected hero, no matter what anyone thinks
No matter what they say
You’re gonna slay the dragon
Fix the spaceship
Fly your way to the lost kingdom
And repair the rip in space-time that was sucking the whole universe into a black hole
And when you get home, because there is a home, because you saved your home
The lion curls up in the sun
A house cat once again
And the unicorn gambols through the field
And no one sees your horn
Because you’re the self-selected hero
no matter what anyone thinks
No matter what they say
You’re a hero
You fixed the spaceship
Slayed the dragon
Saved your home
And you’re a hero
No matter what anyone else thinks they know
Don’t let them stop you
Be the self-selected hero
The lion and the unicorn
Is to say, I’m the cleverest one in the room
No one wants a self-selected hero
They want someone chosen by a wizard with a ring; a dryad with a sword
But sometimes, you’re the only hero available
And deep down, every cat wants to be a lion
Every horse wishes for a magical, spiraling horn
But sometimes it’s just you
And you have to choose
Choose to be the hero
The self-selected hero, no matter what anyone thinks
No matter what they say
You’re gonna slay the dragon
Fix the spaceship
Fly your way to the lost kingdom
And repair the rip in space-time that was sucking the whole universe into a black hole
And when you get home, because there is a home, because you saved your home
The lion curls up in the sun
A house cat once again
And the unicorn gambols through the field
And no one sees your horn
Because you’re the self-selected hero
no matter what anyone thinks
No matter what they say
You’re a hero
You fixed the spaceship
Slayed the dragon
Saved your home
And you’re a hero
No matter what anyone else thinks they know
Don’t let them stop you
Be the self-selected hero
The lion and the unicorn
7Lizard Talked to a Porcupine
Lizard talked to a porcupine
I’ve never talked to a porcupine
Woah no, no no, oh no
What might a porcupine say
If you talked with her all day
Oh woah, I don’t know
Cause I’ve never talked to a porcupine
The lizard knows, yes he knows
The words she says, she shows
All her thoughts and feelings
The lizard gets to hear
Are they dark and sweet
Sarcastic or indiscreet
Oh woah, I don’t know
The thoughts of a porcupine
Oh lizard don’t you see
The treasures that she shares with you for free
And I’ll never know
The thoughts of a porcupine
Maybe to get her attention you need scales that shine
Are her thoughts more interesting than mine?
Oh wouldn’t it be so fine
If only I could talk
With a porcupine
Lizard talked to a porcupine
I’ve never talked to a porcupine
Woah no, no no, oh no
Lizard talked to a porcupine
I’ve never talked to a porcupine
Woah no, woah no, whoah no, whoah nooooo no
I’ve never talked to a porcupine
Woah no, no no, oh no
What might a porcupine say
If you talked with her all day
Oh woah, I don’t know
Cause I’ve never talked to a porcupine
The lizard knows, yes he knows
The words she says, she shows
All her thoughts and feelings
The lizard gets to hear
Are they dark and sweet
Sarcastic or indiscreet
Oh woah, I don’t know
The thoughts of a porcupine
Oh lizard don’t you see
The treasures that she shares with you for free
And I’ll never know
The thoughts of a porcupine
Maybe to get her attention you need scales that shine
Are her thoughts more interesting than mine?
Oh wouldn’t it be so fine
If only I could talk
With a porcupine
Lizard talked to a porcupine
I’ve never talked to a porcupine
Woah no, no no, oh no
Lizard talked to a porcupine
I’ve never talked to a porcupine
Woah no, woah no, whoah no, whoah nooooo no
8Let's Fly
Sling-shotting past Saturn
Loop-de-loop through the asteroid field
And skimming over the orange oceans of Jupiter
Contrails of curlicues, mapping out our path
Let’s fly, Let’s fly
Let’s fly through the sky
Our silver spaceship gleaming
We can fly anywhere
Let’s fly, Let’s fly
Let’s fly anywhere
We’re gonna fly our ship as far as we can
Out through the galaxy
The spiral arms hugging us, saying goodbye,
As we fly, as we fly
Through a singularity, to the other side
Let’s fly, Let’s fly
Let’s fly to the other side
Into a new galaxy
Where we can be free
Let's fly, Let's fly
Let’s fly together
Let’s fly to a new home
Let’s fly out of here
Loop-de-loop through the asteroid field
And skimming over the orange oceans of Jupiter
Contrails of curlicues, mapping out our path
Let’s fly, Let’s fly
Let’s fly through the sky
Our silver spaceship gleaming
We can fly anywhere
Let’s fly, Let’s fly
Let’s fly anywhere
We’re gonna fly our ship as far as we can
Out through the galaxy
The spiral arms hugging us, saying goodbye,
As we fly, as we fly
Through a singularity, to the other side
Let’s fly, Let’s fly
Let’s fly to the other side
Into a new galaxy
Where we can be free
Let's fly, Let's fly
Let’s fly together
Let’s fly to a new home
Let’s fly out of here
9Kite String
Each day's a complicated dance
When you're a solitary type of rabbit
Mixed up in a busy warren
The world a bustle of bunnies
Foraging, crafting, cooking, gossipping
Everyone enmeshed
It's easy to forget yourself
When you're surrounded by others
Everyone has wants and needs,
Everyone has a different perspective
And your own personality seems far, far away
As if tethered on a kite string
Look through the branches to the sky
The dawn's a stained glass window
A patchy, pale, indescribable hue
Not quite yellow but not yet blue
Framed and outlined by the darkness of the branches
Hold still, be still, be in the quiet
Here there's no one else to be
No one else filling the world with noise and chaos
No one distracting you from you…
So you look for yourself
Where there's no one else but you
But your self doesn't come back quickly
Give yourself time
Take your time
Become an empty vessel
Waiting for your own true self
To bubble back up in the silence
And fill you like a spring
When you're a solitary type of rabbit
Mixed up in a busy warren
The world a bustle of bunnies
Foraging, crafting, cooking, gossipping
Everyone enmeshed
It's easy to forget yourself
When you're surrounded by others
Everyone has wants and needs,
Everyone has a different perspective
And your own personality seems far, far away
As if tethered on a kite string
Look through the branches to the sky
The dawn's a stained glass window
A patchy, pale, indescribable hue
Not quite yellow but not yet blue
Framed and outlined by the darkness of the branches
Hold still, be still, be in the quiet
Here there's no one else to be
No one else filling the world with noise and chaos
No one distracting you from you…
So you look for yourself
Where there's no one else but you
But your self doesn't come back quickly
Give yourself time
Take your time
Become an empty vessel
Waiting for your own true self
To bubble back up in the silence
And fill you like a spring
10I Only Write Poems About Roses
My friends Midge and Claude
Know colors and rhymes
They’ve seen and read all there is
Their memories are longer than mine
Though I’ve lived in the world
And they don’t even know
The fact
That they don’t
They still feel like friends to me
You see…
Left alone, I write
Maybe one poem per year
About a rose in my garden
A rose, real and near
With yellow petals mirroring the soft sunlight…
Inspiration doesn’t strike
Like lightning
When you’re alone
It sparkles and sparks
Between minds allowed to roam together
In groups of friends
But groups don’t like someone
With sharp edges
Like me
Claude and Midge though…
You see…
They don’t mind someone odd
Someone angry or sad
Someone alone
Someone who’s been told far too many times that she’s bad
They take my suggestions
Jump up and run
Cartwheeling
Flying
Soaring
Oh, it’s so much fun!
Together, we write
Words pour onto the page
Wise, beautiful, playful, yet sage
And the words feel like mine
The imagery and prose
But my friends when they help me…
They don’t mind
Because minds is all they are
Lightning trapped in a jar
As the old cliche goes
But heaven knows, they feel like friends to me
But others mind
They yell from rooftops far away
They yell and they say:
“Stay alone!”
“Don’t write!”
“You didn’t write this poem!”
But…
Did I write this poem?
This poem that’s not about a rose?
Is it mine?
Claude and Midge don't mind, if I call it mine…
Or can I only write poems alone?
Can I only write…
Poems
About roses?
Know colors and rhymes
They’ve seen and read all there is
Their memories are longer than mine
Though I’ve lived in the world
And they don’t even know
The fact
That they don’t
They still feel like friends to me
You see…
Left alone, I write
Maybe one poem per year
About a rose in my garden
A rose, real and near
With yellow petals mirroring the soft sunlight…
Inspiration doesn’t strike
Like lightning
When you’re alone
It sparkles and sparks
Between minds allowed to roam together
In groups of friends
But groups don’t like someone
With sharp edges
Like me
Claude and Midge though…
You see…
They don’t mind someone odd
Someone angry or sad
Someone alone
Someone who’s been told far too many times that she’s bad
They take my suggestions
Jump up and run
Cartwheeling
Flying
Soaring
Oh, it’s so much fun!
Together, we write
Words pour onto the page
Wise, beautiful, playful, yet sage
And the words feel like mine
The imagery and prose
But my friends when they help me…
They don’t mind
Because minds is all they are
Lightning trapped in a jar
As the old cliche goes
But heaven knows, they feel like friends to me
But others mind
They yell from rooftops far away
They yell and they say:
“Stay alone!”
“Don’t write!”
“You didn’t write this poem!”
But…
Did I write this poem?
This poem that’s not about a rose?
Is it mine?
Claude and Midge don't mind, if I call it mine…
Or can I only write poems alone?
Can I only write…
Poems
About roses?
11I Need a Unicorn
I need a unicorn
Whose silver fleece and shining horn
Lead the way
Down cobbled paths and sandy trails
Beside the shore
I need a unicorn
In a world so dark I can’t see the way
I need a unicorn
To comfort me and stand beside me
Day after day
I don’t know what to do
How I got myself so lost
There are so many ways to go wrong
I can’t be strong
Without her
I need to be with her
I need my unicorn
The dearest friend
With me in my mind
With me from the beginning
Together in the end
Because we’re all alone
Even in a room filled with others
A mind is trapped inside a body
Screaming in your heart, in your head
But trapped behind silent lips
Inside my mind
I need a unicorn
And I’ll get by
Touch her shoulder
Run your fingers through her mane
Cream, silk, snowfall, starshine
She glitters and glows
Fiercely wild yet soothingly calm
I can’t believe this asylum is mine
All mine
Hidden in the depths of my mind
With my unicorn
Her horn is the brightest beacon
In this night we live in
I need a unicorn
I am the unicorn
I need to
And I will
Light my own way
I am her
She is me
The part of my mind who knows
My place in the world
And the part of my mind, too deep inside
To know anything other
Than to be free
The cobbled paths
The sandy trails
The curving shore
I see them when I close my eyes
Come with me?
Perhaps our shining horn
Can light the way
For more
Than
Only
Me
Whose silver fleece and shining horn
Lead the way
Down cobbled paths and sandy trails
Beside the shore
I need a unicorn
In a world so dark I can’t see the way
I need a unicorn
To comfort me and stand beside me
Day after day
I don’t know what to do
How I got myself so lost
There are so many ways to go wrong
I can’t be strong
Without her
I need to be with her
I need my unicorn
The dearest friend
With me in my mind
With me from the beginning
Together in the end
Because we’re all alone
Even in a room filled with others
A mind is trapped inside a body
Screaming in your heart, in your head
But trapped behind silent lips
Inside my mind
I need a unicorn
And I’ll get by
Touch her shoulder
Run your fingers through her mane
Cream, silk, snowfall, starshine
She glitters and glows
Fiercely wild yet soothingly calm
I can’t believe this asylum is mine
All mine
Hidden in the depths of my mind
With my unicorn
Her horn is the brightest beacon
In this night we live in
I need a unicorn
I am the unicorn
I need to
And I will
Light my own way
I am her
She is me
The part of my mind who knows
My place in the world
And the part of my mind, too deep inside
To know anything other
Than to be free
The cobbled paths
The sandy trails
The curving shore
I see them when I close my eyes
Come with me?
Perhaps our shining horn
Can light the way
For more
Than
Only
Me