TAKE ME IN ( © 2006 L. Fiorentino) I am holding all your prayers In the layers of my skin If you’re willing to be welcome Let your fingertips begin Move them smoothly round the edges Circling every cell Lightly through the mystery Take them gently round the well Cause every layer holds a gift for you Each word another lift for you A place completely safe for you within You can laugh like a lover And dream like a child Race like the blood that runs through a heart that was born to be wild He said take me in Take me in he said Take me into your garden Take me out of the way Take me in he said I want to swim through your summer And linger in the wind from far away Deeper in the middle and shallow at the shore This skin is not sot thin as it was before So won’t you come child, c’mon, there is no secret Let your fingertips begin ‘cause I am holding all your prayers in the layers of my skin This heart is nothing but a prizm This love is nothing but a light I you want, if you’re ready I’ll spread these colors through your morning Your day and your night If you take it smoothly round the edges…

RED RED ROCK 2002 L. Fiorentino There’s a Red Red Rock in a big big sand It’s much bigger than me, it’s the heart of the land And it told me a story, told me to pass it along Let it run off my body like sweat from a song And you can hear your own name In the voice of the ground As if for the first time you’ve been held You’ve been found How long has it been since you came to be How many faces have you had and forgot How many hillsides have followed you How many fires and falcons have not How many words have surely left you for lost How many hymns have you wandered through How many pictures have totally taken you How many continents have you sung in two How many skies have wrapped you up How many seas have saved you How many sands have stolen your heart How many promises have enslaved you How many winds have torn away your tears How many trees have taken you down How many rains have picked you up again How many planets have spun you around How many clouds have pushed you over How many mornings have swung you about How many stones have silently comforted you How many lakes have cured you of doubt How many roads have simply rolled away How many giggles can live in a thunder How many waves does it take to wash over you Till you’re squeaky clean with wonder Don’t try to answer, don’t come all the way through For I could never be as close and as far away As I am right now to you Yes, there was a time when I would climbed and claw To be near, to affect, to be fond of you Now I walk a little slower, one life at a time In the dreaming, in the learning to love you So you must regain your balance At the center of your stone And kiss the face of everything That would render you un-alone Thank you for the salty serious way You have worn your weather How you appear to be so heavy and tough Yet ticklish as a feather Yes, there was a time when I would climbed and claw To be near, to affect, to be fond of you Now I walk a little slower, one life at a time In the dreaming, in the learning to love you

FIRE CHANGES EVERYTHING L Fiorentino Your eyes lick me like fire Your look leaves me no room Bear witness as I burst into flame Bear witness as I burst into bloom I don’t want to know what I will become Does the phoenix for the future implore Do the ashes reach back for the flickering Does a rose long to be a bud once more Something awakens, I can feel it moving Listen, it makes a faint sound The rhythm of wings, the rhythm of blood Of roots pushing into the ground I thought I might rest in your absence I was right, I was cool, I was still But now I’m thick in the quick of your growing season With you scorching what’s left of my will A moth or a flame, what am I now Which offers the greater thrill? Am I moving out of living alone Or moving in for the kill Oh but it’s not the end This love is a circular thing Water falls, rocks rock and wind will sting But Fire Changes Everything Fire Changes Everything And I wouldn’t want it any other way And I live with the knowing When I’m smoky and glowing I am sucked into everything that breathes And if you ask I will tell you to do as you will And if you do, I’m going to do as I please And this is pleasing me, yes it is Yes, you’re pleasing me And I wouldn’t want it any other way I wouldn’t want you any other way I’ll take you like you are Wouldn’t it any other way Fire Changes Everything

NOTHING ( 2002© p L. Fiorentino) Give me everything you need Grow me from a single seed Take everything but the rest Leave me every other breath I’m going to give you everything I ever wanted Give you everything I require Give you everything I ever flaunted Gonna quench your thirst with my fire And when there’s nothing left to lose Nothing’s going to be my enemy Nothing’s what’s going to be my friend And I’m going to mean nothing to you And you will be free To mean nothing to me Nothing, my love, is ever going to come between you and me Nothing is the only way to be Give me everything you need Grow me from a single seed Take everything but the rest Leave me every other breath I’m going to give you everything I ever wanted Give you everything I require Give you everything I ever flaunted Gonna quench your thirst with my fire

Apple 2/27/03 L. Fiorentino As tall as an orange, as short as the sea As tasty as a nightmare, as sane as sane can be As loud as the slightest touch, as brave as a spoon As wide as a cottonwood, as brazen as an afternoon As sure as tenderness, when you’re frightened as the sun As warm as the certainty you’re not the only one As sound as a star, as big as a bone Flailing seems to be at times, as funny as a stone As time is but a wrinkle, as pretty as a tree As long as you can stay awake you’ll not lose sight of me For there’s a river that’s worn a trail and made a canyon where it flows Overturning every rock making certain each suppose As soft as a shoulder, as long as a road Carries every conscience that never knew a load As sweet as a swallow, as aloof as a pool As careful as the cutting edge, as pointed as a fool As fat as a finding, as shallow as a bug As neat as a hurricane, as timid as a thug As silent as hope, as sticky as a speech As soon as I can get there, as violent as a beach As sleepy as a jailbird, as spunky as a nail As haunted as a muffin, as blind as a sail As language is a puzzle when it doesn’t make a sound As if I have not been lost, and therefore can’t be found So you can take as long as you want, as time alone will sell Your feathers will not make a sound when struck against my bell As soon as things stop spinning, as before’s the same as soon As the stairway leads to heaven as the piper calls the tune As ignorant as an island, as helpless as a shark As shiny as a jellybean, as sacred as a spark As petty as a poet, as thoughtful as a thief As sad as sand in an hourglass, as radiant as grief As if man were made with much to give and woman had the space As if love knew only how to leave and leave nothing in its place As weary as a watch, as wiggly as a war A-ticking and a-talking like bare feet begging for a floor As if someone will notice, there’s always been enough It will never be as bad as bushwhacking in the buff As if gravity tired of its pulling, as if it had all it could take And heaven bolted up the door just for heaven’s sake As a magnet loves its iron and hates its own desire As smoke is smitten by the glow, and hates the flaming liar As I could never help you without holding you down As you would never want me to, as if you owned this town As we mentioned the day we met, as if we always knew We’d never be a couple, we’d always be a few As sure as there’s no story, as sure as there’s no word As sure as there’s one secret, there’s sure to be a third If you can stick it in, there’s always been a hole And down there at the top, sits the center of the soul As sharp as a shield, As useless as a blade As skilled as a child, As bright as a shade As needy as nature, as clean as a baboon As heavy as a heart, as busy as the moon As perfect as a plan, as friendly as a foot As tight as a grip where promises are put As far as you can see, as far as we will go As far as I can tell, no one will ever know I used to be an angel, an angel is a seed Like an apple born knowing all it will ever need

O MY CAPTIVE 2002 L. Fiorenitno Time is on it’s own side Spilling over the edge for the thrill of the ride And it’s falling from my pockets So far from saving me Running out, wearing down eventually O My Captive, O My Captive, O My Captive You’ve got to get yourself down to the sea O My Captive, O My Captive, O My Captive I t is what it is and it’s not about me Just when every tongue is tied When every hand is full You’ve got to scratch your own eyes Just to see through the wool When every thing I’m feeling Fights with everything I say My heart walks by, my head turns the other way O My Captive, O My Captive, O My Captive Not this time, it’s not about me Of course She does What were you thinking Now happiness is reeking So much havok with me now Why is living with Who Cares And doing Anyhow I’m finally feeling fatal I’m going to fly right through the fall There ain’t nothing I can do with Love It’s Nobody’s call O My Captive, O My Captive, O My Captive You got to get yourself free

HOUSE OF DOORS 2003 L. Fiorentino House Made of Doors coming unhinged Falling into the thick of the night Walls talking, alleys walking Through the sun and out of the fight Darkness like a pocket turning inside out Becoming a magnet for the light And the one in the middle Is the one with an ear to the ground Hidden but not out of sight Hey you, yeah you You with the grin made of tin Get in, get in, get into the swing of the swim It's no disgrace, get out of my face Go on, get out of this place, Go on, go on Get back to your heart where you belong Day-ba day-ba dah do dah Just walking down the street singing Rivers growing wings of their own Babies talking bout things they never seen Shoes stop fitting, dogs stop sitting, atoms splitting And leaving the scene Rain forgetting how to fall to the ground Ladders forgetting how to lean Truth getting tired, lies getting wired To the soul of the mean machine Hey you, yeah you.... When you drop a penny it remembers your name But a penny that's dropped will never tell Secrets grabbing a hold of the nerve Feeling so good just to yell Fists unfolding snapping out the stiffness From holding so tight to the bell Tied down to nothing, in the eye the storm Snow is falling in hell Hey you yeah you Can't you feel it What you doing so far away From your heart where you belong You know the way Back to your heart where you belong Snow is falling in hell Can't you feel it

THE BELLS OF RHYMNEY (WELSH TRADITIONAL) Oh What will you give me Say the sad Bells of Rhymney Is there hope for the future Say the brown bells of Merthyr Who made the mine owner Say the black bells of Rhondda And who killed the miner Say the grim bells of Blaina And what will you give me say the sad bells of Rhymney They will plunder willy-nilly, Cry the bells of Caerphilly. They have fangs, they have teeth, Say the loud bells of Neathe. Even God is uneasy,Say the moist bells of Swansea. and what will you give me say the sad bells of Rhymney They will plunder willy-nilly, Say the bells of Caerphilly. Put the vandals in court Say the bells of Newport All would be well if, if, if, if Say the green bells of Cardiff Why so worried sisters. Why Sang the silver bells of Wye And what will you give me Say the sad Bells of Rhymney

TERRACE 2002 Laurianne Fiorentino A long long time ago Somewhere above a jungle village once stood looking out over the tree-tops Of the sea-side palace The river to the west slipped into the eternal ocean Sparkling with setting sunlight And forest songs wove themselves through my fingers Getting happily tangled in my dreams And in the tapestry threads As they softly keep time with Dancing summer breezes Every evening, every evening You stop and wrap yourself in a single white cloth And smile very very slowly to yourself Then you walk silently towards me Across the sun-drenched stones And slide you arms around my waist And lean your chest into my back With your cheek at my ear And see what I see, and become what I hear And I will slowly turn towards you Like a lost season Until I look eye to eye’ Into the pure face of Pure Love And your lips rest upon mine And as our tongues share private memories We will disappear, again and again