Song of the Old


will you write the song of the old
the way it really is
the innocence of a shy melody
the awkwardness of silences
it hurts too much to behold
will you write the song of the old

I dreamt you had fallen
you couldn`t stand
strangers taking
the ship you made with your hands

will you write the song of a child
the way it really is
with so many wise almost words
sung in uncertain voices
by a rhyme the heart is beguiled
will you write the song of a child

seeing you now 
through curtains of then
floating your boat for beginnings
shaking a stick at the end
only a child can write the song of the old

will you write the song of the old
the way it really is
the way it really is


© Robert Cordrey April 2020

Song Of The Old

Leaving St. Seraphina`s

   today I ate pine bark and fiddleheads
   got a full belly of fight
   Brother Remnant Sister Makepeace
   did you miss me turning out the lights
   I`m five miles down the northern pike

  lay me down in trembling alder
  my finger boat crosses the moon
  grandmother grey I found your bear star
  lost my language in a locked room
  scrubbed with lye lies and brooms
  
  I`m leaving St Seraphina`s
  took my name you can`t keep me
  from a house over Malaspina
  scars never show on the sea
  no scars on the sea

  tracks I dawdle down scared of wild eyes
  travel nights like the spirit fox
  Brother Remnant Sister Makepeace
  I am like this black beetle in a box
  your sermons sound like rattling rocks

  I`m leaving St Seraphina`s
  took my name you can`t keep me
  from a house over Malaspina
  scars never show on the sea
  no scars on the sea

  leaving St Seraphina`s
  barefoot again kick off your hard boots
  I`m the grass on the winter prairie
  only died down to my roots
  only died to my roots

    © Robert Cordrey July 2021

Leaving St. Seraphina`s

Find Me

kids are kites in the wind
we cut the strings trying to reach home
sail above clouds sink under the sea
hang on to your ticket to roam

those days were so beautiful
for the boys of mess and majesty
if I ever lost sight of you
close my eyes count to fifty

do you ache ache for the way we used to be
awake asleep endless endlessly
under covers in the trees
little brother do you see
where the time goes
find me

you tumbled off  my map
in my memory you landed headfirst
I`m falling to you like gravity
to find someone must you lose them first

i never tried to hide 
anywhere but in your eyes would you believe
now there`s nothing in all my treasures
more worn out than me

I ache ache for the way we used to be
awake asleep endless endlessly
under  covers in the trees
little brother do you see
where the time goes
find me

I sit in front of our movie screen
dressed up for a journey

do you ache ache for the way we used to be
awake asleep endless endlessly
under covers in the trees
little brother do you see
where the time goes
find me

© Robert Cordrey June 2022

Find Me

Over The Hill
     (for John Hudgin)



from the bard to the Boss
lords of rhyme sing about loss
thinking `bout my friend John
didn't know him long
I know he liked a cool line in a song

imagine my surprise
he rode away up the mystic rise
with no word of goodbye
the deep well of sky
in those gentleman`s eyes

we were lost 
we were laughing
our wheels had wandered
over the hill

oooh ohoo
into the wonder
over the hill

who will be the hero of their own days
show the kinds of kindness that never fades
poets of page and song
know all about my friend John
the quiet ways that make a man strong

we were lost 
we were laughing
our wheels had wandered
over the hill

oooh ohhh ohoo
into the wonder
over the hill


© Robert Cordrey July 2024

Over The Hill  (for John Hudgin)

Prayer Wheels

we left them singing
guitars sliding and haunting the dawn 
shanty children drag their wings
to the Highway of Kings

on our horizon
see them run they run my love
ghostly gleaming horses pure as thoughts
when the Father tied these knots

I would bless and honour your days
signs of a solitary road
steer the other way
when dogs are at our heels
I`ll help you turn 
these prayer wheels

change the antenna
in squalor flowers of such beauty
this is your world roots in the mud
your lotus blooms above

I would bless and honour your days
signs of a solitary road
steer the other way
when dogs are at our heels
I`ll help you turn 
these prayer wheels

tires spin and heal 
our promise turns
prayer wheels

© Robert Cordrey March 2020

Prayer Wheels

Waltzing At The Rainbow`s End


the play begins as an ocean
is folded and hung to dry
seven stars go squawking
like geese about the sky

ropes and rollers rumble storms
where the world falls away
with bricks of many colours
you build an arch
day after day

should the rainmaker relent
in your company I`d be honoured to pretend
waltzing at the rainbow`s end

climbing through a trapdoor 
down the tree of your life
ransacked by ravens
dreams open to the sky

the prompter reads backwards 
the hero loses his way
between maidens and villains
he wanders 
all over the stage

on paper wings to ascend
start the music we`ll pretend
waltzing at the rainbow`s end

waltzing at the rainbow`s end
waltzing at the rainbow`s end
hold on with your eyes
the curtain descends
waltzing at the rainbow`s end


© Robert Cordrey July 2020

Waltzing At The Rainbow`s End

Three Pale Brothers

I forbid this portrayal
I should be her lover in your song
the elder pale brother flushed crimson
with a rifle to the wildlands he`s gone

lie lie lie 
to a pair of blue eyes

get thee behind me brazen serpent
must you sing of her apple cheeks
the middle pale brother in cassock black
resisting her beauty kneels to plead

lie lie lie
to a pair of blue eyes

I will not cease my serenade
this guitar the strings of my web
the younger pale brother with prose purple
wraps her in a promise she`ll regret

lie lie lie 
tor a pair of blue eyes

look to the ledge look to the tower
the maid loves three pale brothers
cross my heart hope to die
say a pair of blue eyes

the hunter the priest and the poet
in two worlds this maids heart they rule
three pale brothers bitter rivals
make her their slave their Queen their fool

lie lie lie
to a pair of blue eyes

walking night and day in the grave yard
the maid bids all who dwell stand erect
point to the house of three pale brothers
as one they show a single crypt

lie lie lie
to a pair of blue eyes

angels on the ledge on the tower
save the maid loves three pale brothers
cross my heart hope to die
say a pair of blue eyes
cross my heart hope to die
say a pair of blue eyes


© Robert Cordrey  June 2020

Three Pale Brothers

Eyes Wide Blind

clinging in the rigging
to reach hard harbour town
took all her wild bird poise
refugee eyes still surprised
she flew into the glass
one time I didn`t laugh with the boys

held her to be kind
her eyes wide blind

searching her circuits
`til  lights turned green again
she walked away I wouldn`t say her heart was read
enduring things to glimpse her wings
somewhere in a crowd
the backrow kid singing in his head

held her to be kind
her eyes wide blind

lay me under senseless stones
my bones tell of the time
I held a bird
her eyes wide blind

is our living only trying
to do no more than no harm 
boats come and go who sees their wake

hold someone to be kind
our eyes wide blind

lay me under senseless stones
my bones tell of the time
I held a bird
her eyes wide blind


© Robert Cordrey August 2020

Eyes Wide Blind

Pure

naturally like the hexagon for the bee
building love strong`s second nature to thee
sweet honey comes with democracy
your love will never all belong to me

so much to add when I seem blue you don`t take it bad
blue mountains seem serious and sad
to the cloud high and wild and glad
I`m looking up to be sure
found something pure

talk of flaws can`t darken my day
seen too much of this world to say 
there`s no sand in a pearl
pure that`s my girl

your creed`s like the dandelion seed
no denying your smiles spread like weeds
on this wasteland you saw the need
I`m looking up to be sure
found something pure


talk of flaws can`t darken my day
I`ve seen too much of this world to say 
there`s no sand in a pearl
pure that`s my girl
pure that`s my girl

© Robert Cordrey  Aug. 2020

Pure

The Man Who Stole The World

there are angels over the arctic
sea monsters swim the margins
a fire breathing horse
gallops the globe
on the first map he stole

Mr Bland the book bandit
tearing pages from the atlas of ages
when the world was still young
hurries them home
to see pygmies at the North Pole

did you find the land you`re looking for
the one Capernicus unfurled
do you like the poster wanting you
the man who stole the world
the man who stole the world


from Yale to Harvard and Chicago
he`s the scholar looking over his shoulder
disguised as a priest
cartomaniac in the stacks
the librarians enemy

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
the aroma of antique paper
when science was an art
or was it the cash
gave maps such ecstasy

did you find the land you`re looking for
the one Magellan unfurled
will you like cell waiting for you
the man who stole the world
the man who stole the world


© Robert Cordrey Dec. 2020

The Man Who Stole The World

Another Name For The Moon

lantern moon lonely moon
once human face
we wait `til you rise in the water
whisper one word to keep a child safe
always and today
watch over our newborn daughter

high crying loon sends shivers
down the sky
her eyes follow so old so young
what should we name this quiet girl
framing the stars
with her tiny finger and thumb

soon soon the canoes will come
greet our wide eye daughter
choose choose say the paddle and drum
another name for the moon
shining in silent water

jump ever higher
grab fistfuls of cloud
dive deep hear the song of the fishes
laughter and stories old and strange
as the once human face
we ask now to grant all your wishes

soon soon the canoes will come
greet a wide eye daughter
choose choose say the paddle and drum
another name for the moon
shining in silent water
choose choose say the paddle and drum
another name for the moon
shining in silent water

© Robert Cordrey  Jan. 2019

Another Name For The Moon

2 Bit Mystic is a singer/songwriter from Canada.
My influences are folk, americana and psychedelic rock.
I collaborate with with ScottC on our band project Spirit Level.
https://soundcloud.com/spiritlevel-ca

2 Bit Mystic

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