By: David Francis

Passing Headlights

All I want to do is connect with you
I’ve tried too hard, I’ve tried too soft
I’ve come in at angles
and I’ve been direct

I’ve tried too hard

I’ve frowned and I’ve smiled
I’ve stayed away
and I’ve got in your face
I’ve taken pity and I’ve refused charity

I’m in the dark

What do you call it? failure or success
trial by error
or a cruel game
a surrendering of pride or abject…?

more of the same

Lying in my bed I scheme
regret like shadows on the wall
hope like passing headlights
that fill the room
with a false strange moonlight

###

Notion

Far away
maybe I could have loved her
if I had stayed
maybe I’ll go back one day

A lost love
maybe I could have found peace
in her like a dove
we could have fit like a glove

You never know
maybe we could have loved each other
even though
different yet familiar
what could have been
is put off till tomorrow

One day one-way of flying
maybe back one day to stay
or maybe I’ll just keep sighing
with this daydream so unsatisfying

###

Accept the Charges

You called me in the middle of the night
you know that you always will have the right
you did it just to see if I would bite
for jealousy’s sake or just to excite

the operator said I can’t pronounce her name
I knew of course who it was all the same
she said it’s for you and I felt the old flame
on my time you will always have a claim

no matter where I am I’ll think of you
I’ll stare at all the sights but I’ll feel blue
I’ll wonder why this trip seems nothing new
everything’s nostalgic now that we’re through

my mind is torn up with old images
and what I’ll do next is anyone’s guess
hanging on to you has made me a mess
do you accept the charges I said yes

###

The Last Straw

In love there can
never be the last straw
love is the criminal
who must always break the law

no rehabilitation
can keep them apart
just like segregation
it’s forced, not from the heart

love is like the body
that freezes in the raw
so that some lonely
artist can learn to draw

###

A Translation

When I see you
I see hope itself
when I see you
I see the sun
I see the moon
my night of the soul
you carry with you

Should you leave
the shadows yes
they’ll fall
the cold too will fall
the season I’ll
call winter

All so simple
you see, my blues
follow from your absence
and die when you come back