Words by Ann Christine Tabaka and music by Dale Adams

Wash Me Clean by Ann Christine Tabaka.

Lonely on the mountain
running through the snow
Searching for some shelter
Such a long way to go
He looks up in the sky
Sees the eagle flying high
And wishes for wings

Born to hunt in solitude
An outcast from the pack
Fighting for survival
Never looking back
Never questions why
But he looks up to the sky
And wishes for wings

Free is his spirit
But he’s tied to the ground
Seldom leaves a track
And he moves without a sound
The night will hear his cry
As the moon shines in his eye
A voice inside him sings
How I wish I had wings



Someday his steps will falter
His journey will finally end
But his spirit will live forever
 Running with the wind
His soul will learn to fly
And he will roam the night sky
At last, he has his wings

Dale Adams ©/2018

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Wishing For Wings

On a snowy Nebraska night
I was driving my new ‘55
And that juke joint on the edge of town was the place to be
I had some drinks, and was ready to leave
When the prettiest girl I would ever see
Walked right up and asked “Don’t you want to dance with me?”

We put that jukebox through its paces
All we could see is each other’s faces
In Sally’s arms was the only place I wanted to be
I couldn’t wait to see her again
I knew we’d be much more than friends
I married that girl who asked, “Don’t you want to dance with me?”

Through all the hurts and heartaches
My Sally always kept the faith
That life would work things out with a little more love
She was taken away too soon
But every time I see the Harvest moon
I see my Sally smiling in the night sky up above

So many years have passed since our last dance
My only wish would be for one more chance
To relive my most cherished memory
On that cold Nebraska night
Her eyes shining oh so bright
When she smiled and asked, “Don’t you want to dance with me?”
Dale Adams ©2023

Don't You Want To Dance With Me

Open Windows

False Spring

the autumn daylight’s glowing through my window
i can hear the north wind as it blows
seasons caught between two changing moods
beneath a sky of somber attitude
riding out to a place i used to go
maybe for the last time for all i know
trails covered with the fallen leaves
from bare limbs of sleeping autumn trees
                                                      the cool gray october morning 
painted with the winter’s warnings
stone-faced clouds hanging low
summer’s over, soon there will be snow

a spirit wind from so many years ago
comforts me like a song i used to know
 memories that quickly come and go
echoes from the soundtracks in my soul
underneath wide-open skies of gray
riding in the bluish haze of yesterdays
racing down muddy trails in play
stained by the reddish-orange clay
a lover’s smile at the end of day
her eyes said more than words could never say
like the autumn sky, she still makes me feel this way
a warm touch on a chilly autumn day

©dale adams 9/2014

Autumn Sky

When the morning sun shines through my window
and the night dreams fade away
I hear your breathing right beside me
and close the door on yesterday
I let this quiet hour surround me
softly walk outside the door
daylight’s cleansing breeze around me
golden waves upon the shore
a quiet hour just for me
time to let my mind run free
to ponder what may come to be
a quiet hour just for me.
The sky above is all the roof I need
the ground below will warm my bones
a thousand highways led me to this place 
and when it’s time, they’ll lead me home
the treasure of your love will keep me warm
even though you’re still asleep
I feel your presence everywhere I go
You make my life complete
These quiet hours just for me
sunlight washing over me
shadows dance across the sea
one of your many gifts to me
a quiet hour just for me.
Dale Adams ©2014

Endless Ride

A Quiet Hour

Take a chance on the detour up ahead
never mind what your GPS just said
signs in a language you can’t read
just going wherever life might lead
Whenall you see and all you feel
is the spinning of the restless wheels
every moment you come to
is part of the art that becomes you. 

A fresh look at a favorite verse
One more rewrite for better or worse
another take on the same old song
might go right or it might go wrong
There are no mistakes, a wise man said
every step is a step ahead
everything that you ever do
is part of the art that becomes you.

All you live and all you learn
All the midnight oil you burn
All you think and all you say
Every time you turn away
Every “wrong” turn that you take
is part of the life you have to make
There are no shortcuts you can take.

Every mile through another day
every smile that comes your way
every word that lifts you up
another drop overflows the cup
Every crossroads you come to
achance to try for something new
everything you’ll ever do
is part of the art that becomes you.

Dale Adams © 2018

The Art That Becomes You

Once i lived with the roll of the sea
Out where the vagabond winds blew free
That tiny speck on the ocean was me
And that’s where i hoped i’d always be

The waves caressed me on moonlit nights
sometimes pounded in fearsome fights
the crew prayed my timbers would somehow hold tight
And anxiously awaited the morning’s light

The years did pass, and my engines grew old
I spent months tied up at the docks in the cold
My paint chipped away, and belowdecks grew mold
At last, my aging carcass was sold

But a freak norther blew me aground
A salvage team said i’d never be sound
Now only rats and gulls come around
And nest in the creaky old wreck they’ve found

But once, long ago, i was one with the sea
Every mood of the Atlantic did i see
The bravest of souls trusted in me
I’m the hardy ship in their memories
And that’s where i’ll sail for eternity

Dale Adams ©2017

Photo by Thelma Strong

Abandoned Ship

Under these very steps
We kids used to hide
While the old folks prayed and sang their hymns inside
Out of sight and out of mind
For hours we would play
Shaded from the sunlight of those late-summer days

On these very steps
She first smiled at me
All through the sermon, she was all i could see
Walking her back home 
I held her slender hand
At the age of twelve, our world seemed so grand

And down these very steps
We emerged as one
I’d find us a home, she’d bear me a son
We were both so happy
The future seemed bright
Her smile was my treasure, our love warmed the night

Carried up these steps
A pine box with my bones
She followed close behind, walking all alone
A war so far away
Put an end to all our dreams
My young widow wondered, what did it all mean?


And now these old steps
are weathered and cracked
the congregation mostly are buried out back
gathered all around me
are the elders that i knew
asleep in the ground under ageless skies so blue

Dale Adams ©2018

These Very Steps

My beat’s a lonely stretch of road
that curves around the border
Out where nothing seems to grow
the earth feels out of order
Many days and many nights
I’ve watched those flashing lights
chase the restless ghosts along this highway

I was a rookie back in ‘69
when i first saw those empty eyes
Who knows why he crossed the center line
maybe just his night to die
He stared at me from the other side
broken and bloody from his last ride
the first ghost i met along this highway

That old man in the eighteen wheeler
what was he doing way out here?
Fell asleep behind the wheel
or a heart attack, it wasn’t clear
But he was high-balling on his final run
maybe blinded by the setting sun
as he joined up with the ghosts along this highway


And then there was the lady
still alive when i got there
screaming for her baby
we couldn’t find her anywhere
until just before the sun went down
still, and silent on the ground
then they both joined the ghosts along this highway

I asked for a transfer
to a beat close to town
But that highway had a hold on me
I could feel it all around
I tossed and turned through endless nights
dreaming of those flashing lights
till i came home to the ghosts along this highway

I remember names and faces
of all who perished here
There’s not a mile along this road
where i don’t feel someone near
I know that someday i’ll be found
lying on this barren ground
 just one more ghost along this highway

The little crosses spring up every year
and crumble in the wind
the sun burns hot and the moon shines cold
and another life will end
every night i go there
to this road that leads to nowhere
just waiting, with the ghosts along this highway

Dale Adams  ©2018

Ghosts Along This Highway

“Touch me, said the evergreen to the snow
dress me all in white, let me glow
too soon, you’ll melt away
in the light of warmer days
but embrace me for this moment
before you go

We share this lonely twilight, you and i
wrap yourself around me, for i’m not shy
though i don’t fear summer’s heat
winter is my favorite treat
when the leaves of lesser trees
all wave goodbye

the whisper of the wind’s the only sound
all my friends have gone to ground
or flown away till springtime comes around

Paint me, like an artist with a brush
cover up my scars with your tender touch
let me dream my winter dream
in a moonlit forest scene
before the hands of Time return me
to the dust.”

Dale Adams 2/2019

Said The Evergreen .WAV

Poetry and image by Ann Christine Tabaka, and music by Dale Adams.

It Was Wednesday, by Ann Christine Tabaka

Words by Ann Christine Tabaka
Music by Tami and Dale Adams

Song To The Twilight, by Ann Christine Tabaka

There are stories in my circles
as the world goes round and round
each ring a year of memories
a song without a sound
run your fingers across the ages
read through my ancient pages
now that i’m gone

I was born here on this mountain
some hundred years ago
the sunlight and the rainfall
taught me all i know
how i loved the dancing flowers
the quiet midnight hours
where have they gone?

Now my story has found an ending
the axe has laid me down
the artwork of my lifetime
is stretched out on the ground
the mountain wraps herself around me
the flowers all surround me
and lifegoes on


Dale Adams ©2020

Image by Lars Nissen

Circles

I started writing songs in 2011, picked up the guitar and started recording. My wife Tami plays keyboards, and does the mixing.

Dale Adams

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