Falling fast now
through this life

Waiting for that
never-coming
something
to happen

Not sure
if this is sadness
or the edge
of madness

Each day
goes by and
all I want to do
is stop

(D. James)

Damp clouds
like steel cotton
darken the day

Rain falls heavy
on the city

Good time
to be drunk
if only
I still drank

Maybe I should
leave town
or become
a fish

(D. James)

In the garden
of silence

All sound
becomes peaceful

There is nothing
to say

(D. James)

Listen
listen to the quiet night
as the crickets tell their stories

Listen
listen as the world spins

Listen baby, listen
while the sun rises
to bring the morning

Listen now before
it’s gone

Listen to the sound
of my heart beating
to my steady breathing

Listen baby, listen
while there’s still
a bit of night left

Listen to everything
as the city sleeps
’cause tomorrow
might be too late

So listen baby, listen
as I sing the night goodbye

And listen as the early light
stretches across the sky

(D. James)

Impossible imagination
trickles along
through the minefield
of emotions

Biding time
or making tracks
it’s all the same
in the end

Stuck is not
a state of being

Only a state
of mind

(D. James)

Speak softly
to yourself
as you wander
through
the night
of the mind

Darkness
will settle itself
and bliss comes
in some form
even if only
for a moment

Another misspent night
of lost and hopeless
dreams

Light a last cigarette
like a candle
for the dead

Watch the sky
for the blue light
of a new day

Only then can you
lay down
and rest
your weary
head

(D. James)

There’s a hole
in the plan
wide as the sky
and bleeding
like an open
wound

If we push on
there will only
be more blood

Hold off
and we
get
nowhere

Best to take
our chances
and bleed
then die
in this spot
with nothing

(D. James)

Like a curse,
seeing the world
differently

Having to explain
the colors of
another sky

or what it
sounds like
in a sleepless
city

It’s the gift
of seeing
through things
instead of looking
at them

the difference
of knowing
rather than believing
in the beauty
of nothing

(D. James)

stay with me
in this terrible
night

tomorrow will come
too soon

and I’ll
be gone

leaving you here
with little to say

even less
to hear

so stay with
me now

while I wait out
the night

wading through
the darkness
of my mind

only a bit longer
and tomorrow
comes

then there will be
new battles

not like this
not all
un-won

(D. James)

If there were
no language

but simply
one person
who stood up

it would say
more than all
the words
we could hope for

(D. James)

New York
is where you come
to be known

even, if only,
in small ways

The pizzaman
who calls you buddy …
“Hey buddy.”
“What you need buddy?”

The guy at
the cigar shop
who silently nods
acknowledgment

or the homeless man
who says, “Hi, how are you?”
then quietly, “can I
get a little help?”

The bar
on the corner
the diner
down the street

Everyone greets you
like a friend

This is how you know
you’re home

(D. James)