One Flight Down by Norah Jones

crawl

i ask you
to

say smoke.
you do.

it comes out
in a puff,

between

your lips like ants
spit

out,

curling around the corners
of
the ceiling

until

lights go dark
and

turn off

with laughter.
i say it one more time, asking,

begging

you to take me
with you,
to grow up

safe

in your arms.

Blue Eyes by Cary Brothers

post

my life arrived

today,

in new york,

in

a big white envelope

with little pink stripes

and a lifetime of

self-sabotage.

now

i am afraid

of

what will come, 

what it will bring.

pink 

stripes unfold

into clowns

and

big white tents

betray

what i (in faith)

was

trying to say.

my life arrived today,

and

i am far away....

Blue by Patsy Cline

blues

baby i got
the cobalts, the royals

the navies and the skies,
like

snow

and the bluish tint of daylight
trapped

beneath the sea.
the

ocean breaks with missing you
and

blue is all i have.
your heart,

your eyes,

your soul... i sing them cool
like jazz

in

a smoky little room,
and

i miss you.
i am blue.

I Still Care For You by Ray LaMontagne

bonsai

like a tree

(we sit), in heat
all twisted and curved

back to ourselves,
in dirt,

without comfort:
with every twist
i say

i love you.
and

we grow backwards

like branches of a tree,
until

they are upside down,
all gnarled

and puckered burlesque bones
like ancient

japanese signs

that say
i

(still) love you, (bonsai)...
because i do.

The Sea by Corinne Bailey Rae

angst

intrepid dancers

leap,

my sandcastles shut down

and

you are left

wanting, shadows

fade

and 

seas are    just a byproduct

of

wishing (so hard) 

your dreams evaporate like cliffs

and

i build new ones,

still ashamed of myself.

i leap 

towards ocean,

biting 

dust and shaking off (my) sand

between

tides    as they come in

to

destroy me

once again...

Stuck by Norah Jones

baby steps

i mailed (an old pink) letter
to you,

first class

today. i sealed it
with

a mental kiss (and prayed) that
it would

find you well.

i
hope against hope
the post/man

believes

i am old enough
to
be in love with you,
to

give this page to  you

with the fervent, youthful wish

for (happy).
it is brand new, this

small pink thing, and
it

sleeps so (sweetly)....

Georgia On My Mind (1955) by Ray Charles

boon

i ask you (for this)
one thing,

that

you love me

(without cause and
       without ceasing),
no

matter how long
my

boat stays out
    at sea.

i

will give you wind,
i
   will give you sail

(if only)
you

promise

to keep me,
    and

hold my hand

above water...

Sleep All Day by Jason Mraz

moat

money gets lost here,
with me.

we both float

in / these same puddles,
joyless

and fluid, held / up

by only penetrating thoughts
and
as yet

un/realized dreams.
it

eludes me,
sinking

down
just when i reach

my soggy hand

out to fish
for

those green edges...
like

seaweed it floats away,
sodden

as
the water
in which it soaks...

You And I Both by Jason Mraz

audit

all (of it), you
got

all of me
this morning,

i drank coffee and
handed

you your keys,

hoping
for something in return

but

all you did was (look at me)

and your eyes
changed colors,
milk

to cream
and

we built this tower
out of

legos.
it

falls down (quickly),
swirling

cream and sugar
in my face,
and

you,

you got all of me.

Can I Stay by Ray LaMontagne

skein

like yarn  i unravel

(you pull

one little edge

and

i am broken down,

frayed /

unkempt / and hairy lackluster)

i keep it together.

one tiny snip

and

you could have my heart,

pulling

ends like

spaghetti

and meatballs (i knit sweaters

up

for you) and

this is hard:

making

something out of nothing...

Don't Mind Me, I'm Only Dying Slow by Jackie Greene

jasper

chugging along, i have a thing for lonely trees.
they

grow all
by themselves,

on hills or in the valley

and
i love them (for their

solitary stance).
holding

on, i tread earth
like water  /  i dig

myself
holes

in shell-shocked mountains,

and
i have a thing for lonely branches.
i like the

hush / they keep
inside

their boughs.

Endlessly by Green River Ordinance

seeds

in paradise

running (through)
strawberry fields, your

mouth

hangs open / hair like horse's tail

flowing
as you run

(fear is just a padlock) and
it

keeps you in.
the pasture / garden / love

beats hard, it runs

fast
(and you) are
right

there with it.
a

horse

in strawberry heaven...

All My Friends by Amos Lee

horses

i cry (crocodile) tears,
crawling

above everybody

to find you, holding on
with

teeth
(mad as a march hare)

and you go on,
oblivious,

turning stripes like zebras

on
this buffalo chapstick love,
you,

oh,

the zoo (of it all).
it's  you

who

creeps beside me
as

i run...

You Got Me by Colbie Caillat

ebb

backlash
against the beach, i am

just a grain of rice
in

an ocean of white sand
pieces (soaring

like open particles in some
deviant spider's web)

and with you

i cover up every
new

soft spot

with a harder case, a shell,
a dynamite sound

that separates me
from

the pack, and (with you)
i

swim against the grain, against
the

realization
that i am

just a piece of sand...

Empty by Ray LaMontagne

holdup

fighting this
with all i know,

i fill

the bowl
with troubles
coming

back

to lick the tops (like oreo cookies
i

just dunk everything
in milk, and

it tastes better).

i open
all the cupboards, filing you
in

alphabetical order
by

the bees.
you

(the honey) i
fight you

with all i'm worth...

True by Mike Schmid

c'est la vie

hold (on) little bird,
i hear you.

i hear
(your song)
sing

in the morning
as

the sun comes up.

i hear
(your voice)
call loud and clear, little mocking bird,
rising

like the wind
on this
magnanimous plain,

(your spirit)
talking to the sky.

i hear
(your dreams), little bird.

i greet them

every day...

Hummingbird by Never Shout Never

host

the rapidity (of love) i
exit

poste haste,
hands full of you

(fingers outstretched,
clawlike hearts)

and i run

unencumbered
toward this

new (harsh light) toxicity,

dreaming you (not me,

finding every way
to

self-destruct) so
line-less,   i go.

stage left.
it

is all i can carry, with me,
your heart, my breath,
our

speed...
toward the end.

Arms Of A Woman by Amos Lee

alias

the sun disapproves / of me
(i say

in my audrey / hepburn voice)
pulling lilies up
like

rain
(bows) i curtsy

to you, and all your genes

oh, wishes spanning
all
seven generations

you.

and me.
like happy

in the wind   /  ow
how

it burns

my skin / and all your fascinating
trials,

the sun like rain
on

all our backs.
i love    /   and

yet it disapproves...

Lonelily by Damien Rice

albeit

feathers come and feathers go
(the

ghost birds lurk

in places
outside windows, before mornings)
and

you go.

the past

gurgles up, tepid water
(empty cages)

too much food

and a
bath  /

the feathers come. (the water

sits alone, waiting
for you while

others sing

and flutter by, but silently
i creep)

they go.

All The Wild Horses by Ray LaMontagne

compass

i edit my self (pare
my heart

down to shreds,
tossing

whim up to the whim / trying to decide)
which

way to go:
into the east,
the

rising,

the uproarious melting pot / and snow
that

waits for me (again) or

toward the west, where
sunset

tinted earthquakes and
alfalfa covered dreams

flaunt

the unhumid heat
of perpetual summer?

i edit my words,
pare

my dreams down to shreds,
trying

to not be split in half
(by

incongruous dreams)...

Better Man by James Morrison

stuck

(sticker shock) too heavy
on my mind,

this thing / called love
weighs

me down / oh /  so

much, in fact, that
my soul
no longer flies

when they open the door.
i build

my own cage / inside a cage,

enamored by
my obsession

with you

and bound by the edges
of

a sky so blue, so crisp, so hard

it breaks me down.
it holds me in.
it drags me down.

(too much, too much) i paid
for you...

The Nothing Song by Sigur Ros

may day

wrapping ribbons
around our history

(our love)

i let the edges fly
(away),

catch the threads as
they begin to fray

and i

cry, not because
i miss you

but because i found you
and

you didn't found me back.

i wrap
my heart

in fraying yellow ribbon,
finding

ways to keep myself intact

by holding threadbare thoughts
up

to my heart. i wrap
them

in love...

Sleeping to Dream by Jason Mraz

scotch

you cling /  to your post
like glue,

like me.
part

of the way we were / remains,
perfect,

in a shape
like a thought bubble / above

your head, beckoning love.

it
was one of those things

that stay / with you / everywhere
you

go, forever, /

and

every time you let go / it clings
a little tighter /

to your skin, ripping
off

the little hairs, braising hearts / and crossing lines...

When I Call Your Name by Vince Gill

scaramouch

rat-ta-tat tat (you are
a

children's lullaby
in my head, that song

you can't let go,

three mice
evading gravity)

and speckled little frogs

(turn it up),
sing loud, chords

honest . true . blue . un-

ready (for this world),
so

call the moon
down

and

make him listen
(now)....

Mess I Made by Parachute

whole (ness)

i am the cheerio,
whole

but

not so much (there are pieces missing)
and

i float off alone, clutching
my

life vest,
i

drift

in milk white nothing (i am here,
just waiting for you).
i
see

your heart, i do it good.

Bulletproof Weeks by Matt Nathanson

hamlet

(indeed) i hide. my heart
beats

one fragile chamber
(at a time). in miles per second

for millenia. you.

i go back (there). antique stores
and pink

hat feathers (speeding,

chasing cars) and         holding on.
for ages.

(most definitely) i hide
my

destination

from you.
(indeed).

She Is Love by Parachute

feathers

one (i pluck
each

falling
by my side, fingers nimble

touching solid)

two (and they go, each

before another, falling down
and flying high)

three. (it's done, he loves /

loved me not /
and

that becomes (the end) of it.
plucking

fingers (feathers) petals

off the ground, holding each
after the other

up

to my face (seeing what went wrong) i hold them

beside my cheek.)
soft, soft, red.

three

two

(they smell like you)

one....

Lovely by Sara Haze

reach

the blades of your shoulder
fold

under (in places)

like my backyard, the pins
in

your wings

like splinters (under) my skin,

i   fly.
so

do you.
the breadth of your jaw

opens

wide (in sections) and
i

keep

my old hand
on

your timid shoulder, just in case.
those blades (upon)
which

you (soar) play
me

hollow as a    reed...

Sleep All Day by Jason Mraz

out of (it)

out of nothing, out
of

no(where) i sleep,
standing

naked in a field of bluebonnets
(in a dream

like clouds
i float) and

every step

falls down
one new stalk,
and

no(body) hears

the little bird

beating his fists on his chest
in

frustration, out of
(happi)ness

he sings, and
i'm just here,

out of nothing, out
of

nowhere...

Can't Find My Way Home by Mig

dresses

all this (searching) for

an answer, he forgot
who

he was talking to (and)
as i placed

the highest bricks on

tallest towers, i

thought to myself (i wonder)
who he
thinks i am.

it fell down,
alone,

sometime (after we left) but
you

know, it doesn't
diminish

anything

i thought you were...
he knew it

wasn't me,

all along...

Addicted by Charlotte Perrelli

rags 

i wear a blue / bonnet
(i keep it

on my head).
the

petals fade
and

stems go sour
(but i keep it)
long / after
                        it is gone,
simply

because (it) reminds
me of you.

i

wear a blue / buttress
on

my heart,
(i keep it

long / after
                      (you)

are gone.