James Kavanaugh

We should have met sooner

We should have met sooner
Before the others came along
To scar you and bind you
To tie you with responsibilities
Before the wind was out of your hair.

We should have met sooner
Before mortgages and children
To hold you and chain you
To smother you with demands
Before the wind was out of your hair.

We should have met sooner
And held off the world for a while,
To have time only for each other,
To escape the numbered days and nights
Before the sun was out of your eyes.

Now we must be gypsies in the suburbs,
Nomands in the city park,
Vagabonds with only weekends,
Dreamers who must sleep before the dawn,
Lovers with one eye on the clock.

We should have met sooner
Before the sun was out of your eyes.
Before the wind was out of your hair.

Sunshine Days and Foggy Nights

I was born to catch dragons in their dens
And pick flowers
To tell tales and laugh away the morning
To drift and dream like a lazy stream
And walk barefoot across sunshine days.

I was born to find goblins in their caves
And chase moonlight
To see shadows and seek hidden rivers
To hear the rain fall on dry leaves
And chat a bit with death across foggy nights.

I was born to rub my hands in dirt
And walk green hills
To plant corn and make bread
To build a house strong against the wind
And to live free across sunshine days.

I was born to watch owls in dark forests
And hear coyotes cry
To feel trees tremble and the grass sleep
To taste cold air and smell the damp earth
And watch ghostly shapes disappear across foggy nights.

I was born to love a man wrapped in sunshine
And dressed in fog
To make a pact on a high hill
Ratified centuries ago by the sun
To walk together through sunshine days and foggy nights.

I laugh and cry with the same eyes

I laugh and cry with the same eyes,
Love and hate with the same heart.
I feel my rage and my gentleness,
My sanity and suicide.
When I hide my anger, my joy doesn't seem real.
When I hide my fear, my strength is a fraud.
If I only laugh, I leave no place for your pain.
If I only shout, I leave no place for your tenderness.
I want to be all of myself,
So you can be all of yourself,
And together we can be whole.