Mississippi by Train

sacred

as i plot
(my way) out
 of here,

i feel

you nudge me,
little

black nose
on the back of my neck

and

the dusty rabbits scatter.
i wrote

it down, about you,
(my vanity),

upending

all the rightness
i have won

to

see how

you send me, less
than confidently,

awkwardly (and tenaciously)

in the direction
of
my dreams...

Name In The Sand by Brenda Xu

holga

i am not afraid.
bells

ring and sun shines, i
walk

down the awkward street
with

cherry blossoms in my hair

and
i see you.

straight into the light
i stare,

eyes small and senses heightened,

lifting up my hopes
on

wings like doves

and
i hoist myself with them

into the air,
taking off.
the

blossoms
look angelic...

Lesson Learned by Ray LaMontagne

shepherd

if nothing else  (i know)
how

to make a / first impression
lifting

solid
hearts and pushing them

through breezy soil,

downtrodden

fabrics / bring us down.
i

come in (low),
swoop down

like / dresses   made of  birds
and
lonely nests in grass

/

i know.
you

will remember me,
even

if

i don't grow...

Another Like You (Piano Version) by Sean Fournier

buzz

a thread floats (through
the air)

and

lands in my eye

(i see you) even

still,
and i float around

you

like an orb,

drifting
through the air.

i
find you.

i float through
the air...

hi.

Please Don't Tell Her by Jason Mraz

hello (go)

without saying
(a word)

i melt

in your hands, i don't
see

but (i) put my
ear / rings   on for you,

(sun) shiny jewel tone people
walking
and

head / bands

in shapes
(resembling you).

i walk down the street
/

away

/
from you,

as i slowly fade.
this dream

(i had), it melts

like liquid gold in
hot chocolate

summer hearts...

Full of Grace by Sarah McLachlan

pink azalea

how many times (i found you)
i

don't know, but
everywhere

i turn / i reach
so

much further
towards

finding you (i find the sun) and
days

like this
come,     they go.
quickly

i turn. / i breach
the

oath (i swore to you) to
stand blithely

beside you
and

now

i grow alone. (how many times
i

found you, left you...)

I Need to Know by Kris Allen

imply

i keep running
duck
             (and cover)

holding on.

in the morning,
birds

swim beside sun-shine (and)
trees wallow

in the willow water, waiting

for their savior
to come.

we drive home

the point. it
is endless, this chase, (this mockery)

of the insane trouble
you

keep around yourself

like
fleece (and feathers),

to insulate your heart

from
the derivations of the flock...

Haven't Got Much by Matt Belsante

half-life

i'm still here.
shot down

by everchanging whims

i

run (like wind), blowing
smoke

at potholes, running

fast and everything blurs.
i am

still here (and numb things away so
i don't have to feel)  i

still live here (but)
part

of me is gone.
there

is a whole wide world
to explore

and half of me drifts like smoke
across

parts that

i might never see...

True Love Waits (Live) by Radiohead

shock

caught up / in the ramifications
of

turmoil, this aftershock
and

echoes

of the way you hold your hat
that haunts me / on

the black,

the sideways twist
and
volcanoes

talking

in icelandic voices,
hushed tones / afterthoughts

in darkness (the shadow)
of

the unused bays of (this)
portrait studio,

i wait.

9 Crimes by Damien Rice

sync

long day and (i come home)
again

to you, flash

bulbs like light (bulbs)
in my
head,

and wrappers
in my eyes, i unwrap

everything

in front of you,
upon

your desk,

reaching

out like (office) supplies
toward you.

i

only tripped on
one

sync cord...
it

was you.
i

turned things on,
and

loved you.
i go (in slow motion),
back

to you and
all your

brights...

Go Down Low by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

rhombus

sorrow / solemn sound (yell loud)
i

exhort
myself upon you, your
mercies

rampant love / and vicious want

i lie

just to get
what

i deserve.
everything colors its /own self

wild(ly)

throwing paint
and asking my heart (questions)

you
will not find.
i /

will be bold,
with

or (without)

you.

Bend in the Road by Donavon Franenreiter

claw

by any other name
you

would be
just as sweet, cat,

crawling

on the nothing words i say
(i hum

like strum a guitar with nimble fingers),
i

find you.
like whiskers

the tendrils

(on your strings)

caress my face, make music.
i learn to make

sounds

unlike (anything), purring
to

myself / and you,

you are just for me.
my

kitten crying song.

When You Say Nothing At All by Alison Krauss

over/easy

like a broken
music box

it doesn't play (out) like
i wanted

or

expected it to, and
at

the end of the day
a

broken (prom)ise
is

just the same

as a broken piano

(and shards of broken glass
like notes of music
float

in

from the other room) but
it

is over,
it is through.
there shall

be

no more music.

Bedshaped by Keane

hoarders

oh heavens  i
keep

your memory

all the time,
like

raindrops  on roses, it
comes back

to me

sweetly,
on its knees,

green and fragrant

curled like bones
and
slightly pink  

/

oh cherub
i

keep your precious
pieces

in my heart

as the   rain blows
you

away...

Reasons To Love You by Meiko Kaji

held (on)

i love you
        because (you're blue.)
without

light switches / fancy covers
it

all turns
nothing / on me / this time / your face

its color, like
twilight

tinged with cyan

you cry
without me / you wallow

in picasso-hued moments

/

you swallow
    your joy

and you make me feel
un-

    alone.

i love you (because) you are blue.
like me.

Please Me Like You Want To by Ben Harper

rusted

i wait / right here
open
  
       spout / twisted

rain coming, i wait
for

you
to walk. you come

all / the way

back here, back to me,
stripped

      down / to nothing

jaded (turning red)
for me.

as

the oxygen / blurs
my

body will rise up
next to yours
and

       realize / finally,
i

can rest.
as

we become
some

thing new...

Ain't No Way by Aretha Franklin

gerber

i hinge my thoughts
together

with hometown clay,
singing

quietly / to myself     while i sleep.

these things grow (in my head),
lullabies

written about you.
you

ring doorbells

in my day, in
the midst of my dreams about  you

/and your legs

behind the door, they don't look
like yours.

i plant my/self firmly

to this (no), thinking
we might

somehow   kiss
behind closed doors, hiding /out

in front of love,
killing it softly.

water. water. it grows.

Out Of My Mind (iTunes Session) by Colbie Caillat

belonging

(to you) i go
before

morning
(while they are sleeping)
beside you.

all alone
like

fred astaire

i dance / around this foolhardy idea
of

happy endings. tulle
grows

out of my ears, i listen
in

living color / mgm
like

nothing in my head (and so)
it's just you,

and me,
and a leslie caron song

looking for love

(hard-headed) until
the very end.
i

eat my snack, and
wait

for you...

Gulf Coast Lullaby (Part I) by George Winston

telephone lines

(you) stretch your potent wing/span
across

the sky, clouds
arguing

for the pleasure
to

bask in your (flowery) presence / and
i / speak

with you, cross country,
phone

lines

bowed (under the pressure of regret)
bend

and touch
those

errant little hairs / on
the back

of my neck.
they tell me  (i was right)
in

saying no,
in

continuing to breathe
(without you)
and

wake up

feeling
sweet...

Killing Me Softly (iTunes Session) by Colbie Caillat

doubt

i know you
(i die /

i die a thousand times / wait for
your

bear paws

to come back /in my life ) i

call you (like i call the birds,)
creeping slow

up to your
sleeping

bear mountain    / wake up, wake up
i say

(i crawl /face first/ beside you)  /

i climb up
to your tower,
try to save me

from yourself,

from your doubt and from
your fire, stranger.
i strum you

on my guitar. / i know.

Chocolate by Snow Patrol

break

standing (cock)-eyed
in the sun,

arm bent / hips forward


skirts like petticoats / and corsets
i

stare at you.
you, like the nares on an orange,
gaze

right back at me.
i

bend my knee /
   (and twist)

i /

(heart) this life
with

you in it.
holding / on  (breakneck pace) i

grow so fond of you
(my) clothes
turn

gold...

i go [whole mole] for you.

Plane by Jason Mraz

whole

i run [free]
on

yellow hills,
green bounds [leaping]

flower heads
bobbing

and the wind
[like butter].
it

feels good,
tulle

flying,
and

i run [fast].

pink umbrellas
[and tulip faces]

soar

(i wish they were all) like this.
like me.

free.

Dancing Shoes by Gavin DeGraw

bird

listening to you
(crawling)

oh, bug

i need you.
the

happy wind whispers
and

the hardy reeds [rush]
to meet you.

beneath them all,
i

sit. i wait for
you. [it is

my

bliss].

i find it.

Wanted by Holly Brook

giant

looking up (from below)
i

sit on the ground.
i look

up at trees. / they seem bigger
than

they really are, leaves shaking
in

the wind. they shine.
i

feel smaller, too.
one

life will end (paper balls crumpled up
beside me) / .

/ the tree says
it's okay.

it's bigger
than

the crease (above my head)...

Opportunity by Pete Murray

dancing

seven hours later (as i / attempt
a

massive

clean, your name comes up.
it surfaces

quietly, like whip cream / in
dish soap (and)

it consumes me.
you

drive.
/ far.
/.

two hours (in)
i staple

a cotton ball
to my / cup of tea

and realize
what i've done.
ripping

up receipts), i
tore you out

of my heart, and
it

felt good.
(things)

washed clean.

Fallin' For You by Colbie Caillat

post

you (verve) trot towards me
and

say, trotting / a trollop / with

the audacity
to tell me

i didn't love you
(good) enough.

well

i don't have (a horse) but
if i did

i would point him
far

away / from you (and)
your

vicious tenacity,
your

pursuit of perfection.
it

annoys me (the nerve) the
fast

gallop
into dalliance, the
defiance

of
kid-hood.
take it away.

Humble Me by Norah Jones

window

oh (wary angel)
shine

on me,
light in my eyes/ you sit
next to me,

licking your paws.
i

wonder.
nine lives
(are not)

enough
to glory/you   (glorified)

presence/ you,

still here.
i'm not enough.
twelve years

you sit and (wait) for me,
faithful

in
every/thing.
shine,

oh shine,

that little light on me.
i

pray...

Twenty Years by Augustana

eat

i am two.
i

light a candle
(on my cake)

and blow it out, i
puff.

i am fluffy.

i look for eggs
(i put green things

on

my nose)
i find scruffy

dogs
inside my pockets.
i

am two.
(two).

and i love you.

Come On by Ben Jelen

trial

easter (saved me) with
her

fluffy

/ flowers / her feathers
curled up in a ball.
i

take my bath
like a bird,

holding friday

(as a saturday)

in my pocket.
easter

grass / pink dresses / kingdom come.
i

tie my days in

a bunny-colored    k(not)...

Summer by Derek James

growth

erupting (out of spring) i
 wonder

who you're talking to

when (you say things)
like

periscope

and floral / percolation.
i

pick myself up
off the ground,
growing

fast
/
and hoarding
little flowered shoot(lets)

/lace-edged faces/
and

i tell you no.
you

must be (kid)ding...