Crazy For You (Live) by Adele

momentary

time lapse (briefly) and
i

am running out on you,
jaded

and determined
to self-destruct

in

every way i can... cobalt
rompers

on the floor

and
mounds of shoes   on shelves
and

scarves   like lost daylight
in the trees

it is

everything (i never wanted) to
be.

i throw my coldest shoulder
to

the watch
by the clock  

and miss you, one
tired old second

(second)   at a time...

Acoustic #3 by The Goo Goo Dolls

born

i play hearts (three of them,
face down

on

the table, holding on, hands full).
numbers   count

and

rocket toward the sky
as

i leap
over billboards and billiards.
i

find the hand i hold
to

be too much   for you,
and

i win, gradually,
taking time

to  take it down

and
make my millions.
i keep trying,

after all the cards have been taken.
i

place all my bets on  you...

Get Through by Mark Joseph

solo

i hang up the gauze
to fall

all around you,
shades of gray    (at your fingertips),

spinning

under  velvet curtains  and
pink feathers,

which i cut into pieces.
i

cut them all into pieces,
cut

myself into pieces,
fall down

between the shards  (and make believe)
i'm

better than i am. with
outstretched arms

i feel un-human  and (special but

not in a good way), and i hum along
but
the real tune

of the bird song     escapes me.
i

hang up the wall,
praying

no-body will notice...

Samson by Regina Spektor

terrycloth

holding on to
non slip

buckets

i wash the floors, a
cinderella

reincarnate

and
i watch you    try to fly.
in

a cage  (you are a bird)
mocking me,

trying not to cry,
being

a girl   and

i look in the mirror.
even

with the fake red lips (i)
can't forget you,

the boy who broke my heart,
the

boy who clipped my wings. i
keep cleaning.

Red Right Ankle by The Decemberists

is this art?

on a walking tour of tulsa
i

surrender to the whim
of

gaudi

and keep   my ayn rand book
in
my pocket, where it belongs.

this art deco world
is

built around me
like

a leaning deck of cards, and
i like it.

i like
the big pink chair
and

the pieces of car
on

the walls.
i

like the metal sheet rock
and

the ways
you have
for

remembering me.
i surrender to it,   to
the broken smell  of paint,
and i

keep on walking.

November by Azure Ray

hotter

three days without rain . i
wish

for you, talk to you,
close

the door on you / and dream...
everything

in the sky, held back by clouds,
drops

down

one by one / in pieces,
locking keys

and holding on beside

hot smoke
on the pavement, i
burn.

i miss you.

Revelate by The Frames

wildflower

i leave church
with

my hands
still twisted into steeples, clutching

 the sweaty/faded little
weeds you

brought to me,

(face)

upturned, with those sleepy eyes
crying

and fish
falling down your cheeks
like tears.

joy, this time, right?
pure

joy, uninhibited, raised
high

like the pitch black embers
on

the ceiling
of this place,

twisted roots    stretching
up sweetly in my hands...
and

just like that, i leave (with my flowers),
taking

all the pretty petals / and none

of the dirt.

Light Year by Gregory Alan Isakov

incept

i let this little light
shine

in the dark,
in

lonely theaters
in

the night, on your

way home, alone.i
let it shine.

i keep it in(my eyes) the
spirited lines

and

they play out across
my forehead

like a script or
like a scene

in
a film(and)
i am here.i

let it shine
all night...

Career Day by The Format

mockingbird blue

taken aback, i
take out

the background, stitching circles
around

you

as i try to see (the way you do), all
googly-eyed.

it's a bird thing. i
keep my

eyes

on you, wild-hearted pygmalions
running around

with

out-of-focus dreams
and

i try to keep them tame,
keep them

whole.
it takes me back.
three

baby bird eggs
in a nest, and

all i see is you...

Giving Me Wings by The Frames

feathers

i traipse   through the wind
like

a bird, and settle
on

your nest.
i find it, and

all the little eggs,
dark shells

like freckles

and  tiffany blue flecks
like

tiny little marbles.

from (the way you stare), it
appears i've

landed

just in time.
the wings flutter    as

i drop like superman      out of the sky,
and

realize
that time is
just

a bag of eggs,
soft and lonely,
in

a tree...

Cry On Demand by Ryan Adams

places

how long (have you waited
for me,

while your hair
grows longer

while

this thing grows stronger, while we
grow like weeds

and further-more
while

someone sings)...
i see you

in the forest, in
the distance,
in

the light,

(calling me   to you).
that's

how long
i will wait.

for you?

Won't Back Down by Matt Kearney

treed

deep nights come  (and)
the

backwards  whirling
will commence,

as soon as you  get back.
i hear them

with my ears off.
i

cut them down
like

daisies, spinning around
madly

in a blank canvas sea
of faces,

van gogh - isms

on the wall.
i paint them red.
in

the dark      i can hear them
swirling,

basking in the mad delirium
i

offer up to the trees
with

a single squeeze   of
      the trigger.

it's a water hose, in my hand,
and   i hold it up to the sky   as

i ask God (to let the
migration)

commence.

Zombie by Jay Brannan

barn doors

red glass jar    //   bells surround us
caught up

in beaches    //   shirts undone, tuxedos
on the floor,  i hear

morning.

two verses later   //   gates open, and
there you are, like six pages

in a magazine   //  unfolded, just
waiting

for me.
white glass cups    \\   and two gold rings
on

my finger    \\   it is you. (you're the one).
ocean

back to ocean   \\   i keep waiting
for you.

you come, blue lights flashing   \\    and i know.

(at last).
you're the one.

Outloud by Dispatch

dublin

standing (unknown) on your shoulders
i

go to face the challenge
of the sea.

i fly up (with the power)
of its wake,
floundering

like a ragged bust   of athena
out

here, on the front of the boat,
holding on and climbing

evermore

up to the crest, trying to save
(someone else) from

the godlike power
of its beat, from

the charming, churning swirl

of ocean

as it stands, all alone,
against the

shoulders of the world.
i try

to save you      from the sea...

Under My Skin by Peter Bradley Adams

nullah

letting go, i watch you
crawl

under my skin, facing time

like   it's made of steel,
spinning

smoke lines down
like snakes

and

i feel the shrouds of   your skin curl
around

my neck, like

birds with fingers     and
i wish you

hadn't come.
it gets hot out    here
in the summer.

i hold

your reptilian gaze
scaly, slow,    i hold it down          

and

i
listen

to the steady sound   of
your

hissing laugh,   like a heat lamp...

Walkaways by Counting Crows

rime

i think about
the three times    you left me.
you

stay beneath
my skin    like a cystic growth.

i remember you
being

between the lines,
fondly        and then
not

so fondly,

and it leaves me     like an empty house.
i like it

better, this way.
foreign,

and grown,    with falling down
edges

and criss-crossed lines, faded
dresses

and albatross.

Things You Call Fate by Sondre Lerche

nom de guerre

i picture you (hunched over) reading this
at your computer

in

your room, and
everything is gray (except)

for

the little bit of paint
on

my face, the red and blue,
dripping down

the gauntlet of my nose
like
(teardrops)

and

i picture you
(painting a picture of me) thinking,

head in hands,
about the human condition,

and

about what happens (when) we
paint angels

that never come out
of

their rooms...

Come Round Soon by Sara Bareilles

vice

i gather all of them
up

in my arms (like flies),
my vices

(one by one)

i throw them down
while

holding on (and you, you break
over

and over again, ripping
open

boxes

like somebody else's christmas
until, finding nothing,
you return

to light it up
just

one more time) and
i come back.

i throw them all (in your face),
the reasons

i subscribe to you.
i

blow them out
(like smoke)...

Coming Down by David Gray

air

empty morning
(we keep trying)

to
spell out your name
in

the shape of the trees,
morning sidewalks

and

stoic little arcs
of
the sprinkler systems

(we keep turning them on)
and

the glue
that holds this suburbia
together

is
the empty longing
for

the coolness of you,
(the cheek tug and lonely burst  of winter),
and

how you blow through,
unannounced.
(we keep on going...)

Never Think by Rob Pattinson

walking

rhythm of footsteps
(hungry for the rain)

i wait.

i wait for the approaching doom,
for

the inevitable cessation
of life

as (the mockingbirds) know it...
they

swoop and dive,
laugh

at us

divining plans (for futures) from our trees
and

i listen.
i listen to the branches
hum and sway,

knocking out sunlight
and

spreading (gnarly) old branches
toward

the grass,
and

i think (i think) about the day
the

tree will fall...

Breakdown More by Eric Hutchinson

bees

without you
(the nursery buzzes), baby

in

georgia o'keeffe - type sounds

and (oh), i see you too.
you

look like santa fe:
circles on the floor,

asking (me to sing).
i

like  you too, if
only

you would ask.
the kids (who) call me mother
talk

about you

all the time, turquoise eyes
and hands

like pottery barn
and

steeples,
hot air balloons

in the desert.
i'm the queen.

Elizabeth, You Were Born To Play That Part by Ryan Adams

clutch

fighting (tooth and nail)
cut open,

frames on (the side of the road)
and

chain smokers
(off the chain)
going

slow, (there), i didn't.

i flung it open.
i saw you

(going by),
holding on, thumb out,
waiting

for me.
(don't hear it) i listen,

wait for dark

to overtake us,
wash

off the things (i didn't like).
i

wait for it to come (to surrender),
wholehearted,

to the white     unknown.
it

is the chance (i take).
some things, like nebulas,
you

don't (want)   to remember.

Another Lonely Day by Ben Harper

ruching

staring at the wall / i study
the stucco,

analyzing patterns /

and

looking for your name.
i

discover my own, written
backwards,
by the door,

all alone.

someone / put it there
once,

(one day)

thinking of me / and
so,

(still believing)
the world of possibility awaits, and
i
look for it, upside down,
decorative pleats

crying hard
like steam
on

the mirror...
things

always end /where they begin.

Do You Think There's a Heaven? by Danna/Devotchka

poshly

standing un/edited in
the sun,

lens flare (and starbursts)
brushes

on my head/the freckles beam

and
maybe it's you.

maybe you're a stoner,
un/done,

calling me/from above
and

waiting
to catch me/in a net
of

ultra/violet

light.
that's all.
maybe it was you.

i keep checking,
opening

the/pandora's little box,
exposing

the world (with light), and
finding

nothing. it's you.
maybe it's you.

Yellow by Chris Martin

aperture

yes, these are (paper flowers)
latin

america (twisted)
into plastic fronds

(lying) still
above my heart,
giving up

before
they

start to melt,
puddles of petals

laid down
(dogs barking)
life giving

into you,
holding on.

i fill these vases
with

memories (hollow thin)
false(hoods)

and

hold them up
for

you to see, (for you to photograph)
for you to

idolize (and break),
forever...

i          

hold them up for you.

Leave by Glen Hansard

travesty

seeing my name written
back/wards

in the wall, letting go
(one

purple cotton robe with
dis/mally frayed
edges

broken

on the ground (it seeps in)
now)

that you/re gone.
one

year gone (and idiotic advances)
three/steps

back (i

exit stage left/ and
open up my hand.)
you

fly out/like birds
and

i pull away,
just like before

Somebody Fix Me by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

trojan

last night
the walls fell down

(like flags)

they folded
and

i heard the rush, the whoosh
of air

(it sounded like a musket)

in my eardrums / on my bed
i

read all the little stripes (and lies)
and

the white parts in between.

she won.
the country, the stars,
the fireworks (of) one year ago


(she) broke tradition
and (she) fell in love and (she) chose
independence

which is exactly / what i will do.
last night
(the walls fell down, and) i will leave them.
some

things were meant to be this way:
completely empty,

like the barrel of a gun.
this is
(why i run)...

New York City by the Peter Malick Group featuring Norah Jones

tautology

it is true. one
sleepy

little girl (sits very still)

at the table,
moon sand
around her feet

and (mellow)

with my red shoes -
i

slide the broom
back

and forth (while i wait for him
to

walk through the door) so
it

is true,
that  i

am

just the girl
sitting

at the table,
swinging her feet,
with

moon beams falling out

of her toes...

Cold Water by Damien Rice

nicotine

trying to quit you (copper pennies in
the light socket)

like

(traveling back to ancient france and
countrysides)

and living
day to day

(with invisible patches
on my wired, flabby arms)

trying to

get over you.
(fences tall inside my mind)

i cry out "shane"
into

the wind (humming haunted
lullabies

like irish folk songs)

while

horses carry me away, and (here i sit)
on paper benches

(waiting)
until paris stops glowing, so
i

can

stop

this medieval craving  (for you)...

Say It To Me Now by Glen Hansard

cinematic

(under my hollow skin)
i

mourn you, i mourn the
loss

of you, years (before we met) and
even

after losing you
(i still ) have yet (to gain you)
and

under the bed
i

keep a box
(that smells like you)

i

open it
and smile (like a parakeet)
when they come

to tell me (you've gone),
but

it all feels the same,
bird (lost)

bird found

and (you), under my hollow rails
like

skin beneath my bed.

Every Moment by Jet Black Stare

satin stain

pulling back .feathers. i hold
this bird
in my hand, folding wings
backwards

like a ballerina
doing a plie

i feel the pile of soft white
fuzz at the base
of the feathers

plush carpet by your bones

and i hold the end of the flight
in my hands
like .a broken catapult.

it's a bird, a
beautiful paper aeroplane
.under. my wing.