Into the Green

Into the green he calls me, into the green, now follow
A lifetime of scheming, and soaring like a swallow
Over oceans and duckponds and rivers and dreams
Into the derry derry down green
Silvery scenes are falling, into my dreams they follow
All crystal and gleaming, shining like diamonds in the long blue winter shadows
By the window at evening I spin and I dream
Dream of the derry derry down green
Hey Trapper Joe, people say you're crazy
They told me so, said, "Look out for him, baby!"
Still I've got to know, what's this song that calls me to you?
Into the green he takes me
Back to the streams and lakes, Yukon Flats, muskrat traps and willows
The Tanana's breaking, springtime is making her way on up to Barrow
And the wild cranes above you will sing in your dreams...green
Well I don't know, people say I'm crazy
They told me so, think I'm slow and lazy
Still I've got to go, what's this road that draws me to you?
Into the green he calls me, all of your schemes are hollow
A lifetime of meaning--daytime work time playtime
Then the nighttime that must follow
Follow, follow, on into your dreams
Derry derry down green

Words & music copyright © by Cici Porter 1998

For the Ironwood

When I was a child I dreamed of a great land
Fearlessly wild and taken by no man
Green as a long summer's day
I never understood when they told me, "Don't believe it,
You'll never get it back that way."
So I dreamed and I played, I watched the trees fall around me
Those mean city ways, they never ceased to astound me
"It's all right," they'd say, "Didn't need that old thing anyway."
But when I was alone an ironwood tree consoled me
A few miles from home, strong branches would hold me
If I'd ever known it was true what they told me
That my friend would fall some day
I'd go to the hills, the crowd overwhelmed me
I'd go to be still, the loudness repelled me
What could the ironwood say?
"Listen to the wind, come on girl, climb in.
You just got to be strong and pray."
So I dreamed and I prayed and I made my escape plan
A long string of days never taken by no man
"That's all right," I'd say. "Didn't need no old man anyway.
Oh but I was afraid, I started growing my own armor
The ironwood swayed, I couldn't stay and watch them harm her
So I ran away To a place where no foreman or farmer would ever lay claim
Go to the hills, the trees they won't blame you
Go to the sea and the sky will reclaim you
Throw all your armor away
Pick it up again if you think you really need it when you go back someday
Pick it up again if you really need it when you go back someday

Words & music copyright © by Cici Porter 1998

February

If I could sit you down and try to explain the way I'm feeling
The hot sun and frost since you came into my heart
It's a seasonal transition, it is nothing to be scared of
It's just rain upon the garden in the winter
Waiting for spring, waiting on February
If I could get you to hang around long enough to hear my words
Calm the fleeting bird that beats its proud wings against your heart
It's a difficult position, it is all you ever dreamed of
Versus everything that seemed to come apart
Waiting on spring, waiting on February
If I could tell you all the things I see and feel deep down inside you
I heard something with a rhythm, I coulda sworn it was a heart
It's a terminal condition, it will beat until it kills you
If you're too afraid to open it and free the singing bird from the dark
Dark of winter waiting on spring
Waiting on February

Words & music copyright © by Cici Porter 1998

Song for Lisa

It had been so long since I'd seen you, I figured you were someplace dead
And then I hear that you're three years clear And you're so full of life instead
You were the sister that I needed, the child I had lost
You made your way back home again and you paid the cost
You made your way back home again and you paid the cost
You told me you were getting your history straight, I told you so was I
We held each other and we cried
Together hand in hand again we can let go of a lie
And Lisa, I believe I could fly
You were the mother that I wanted, A companion through my fears
The friend I had in silence over all those years
You were the friend I had in silence over all those years
I don't know when I'm gonna see you again, When I might pass this way
But I hear you speak in the people I meet, I hear your voice every day
Saying keep on moving full circle girl, Keep on keeping on
Bless this path you walk for it has made you strong
Bless this path you walk for it has made you strong
Bless this path you walk for it has made you strong
Bless this path you walk for it has made you strong

Words & music copyright © by Cici Porter 1998

Wild Wolves

Hey girl, You know it ain't the first time you ever fell in love with a face
Whole wide world, Only a playground for you to take up the chase
Silver and gold for you, tell me what's it take?
Listen to them wild wolves howl
Listen to them wild wolves moan
Hey girl, where you been all night? Your dog's running wild
Dark sails unfurled, eyes all shiny bright and there's ravens in your smile
Following paths into the wilderness child
Listen to them wild wolves howl
Listen to them wild wolves moan
Listen to them wild wolves howl
Listen to them wild wolves moan
Ooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooo
And she came into the wilderness
And her soul was filled with song all night long
In the morning he could see that she was gone
Hey girl, you know it ain't the last time you're ever gonna make a mistake
Whole wide world, Sun and the moon for you, tell me what's it gonna take?
What can he offer when his love is at stake?
Listen to them wild wolves howl
Listen to them wild wolves moan
Listen to them wild wolves howl
Listen to them wild wolves moan
Ooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwoooooooooooo

Words & music copyright © by Cici Porter 1998

Love is Born

I'm building a love rich as the earth, blue as the sky
Weave dreams into songs, songs into wings, teach me to fly
And maybe that way I can find you
Maybe then you'll give me a try
I'm building a boat, nails made of hope, sails made of time
There, deep in the hold, waiting for you, treasure so fine
And all the storms that could rage on this ocean
Could never sink this boat of mine
And blessed are the meek for they shall inherit
And blessed they who mourn
For in the darkest hours of waiting without you
Patiently, Love is Born
I'm building a home close to the earth under the sky
Stream teach me to sing, make my voice clear, teach me to try
And maybe if I can just hold on
You never know who'll drop by
And blessed are the pure for they shall see heaven
And blessed be the scorned
For in the darkest hours of waiting without you
Patiently, Love is Born
Love is Born
Love is Born

Words & music copyright © by Cici Porter 1998

Hey John

Hey John, river feller
Hey John, salmon selling man
Hey John, merchant sailor
Long time story teller, uses his hands
Build you a stove out of nothing
Build you a home right out of the land
Hey John, philosophizer
Each day gonna make you wiser, you know that it can
Hey John, speculator
Long eared wisecrack-maker, oh you ornery old man
You and long-haired Elizabeth, living like a couple of kids
Hey isn't it grand?
It was out on the river where I met you two
You was living underneath a tree
Now you're building you a boat and you're gonna float
Down the river til you get all your dreams to the sea
At the tender young age of sixty five--or was it seventeen?
You told me once, but I just can't seem to remember
Hey John, buck knife giver
Hey, hey John on the river, you're taking your stand
Hey John, eyes that tickle
Sharpen that smile and giggle, you're making your plans
Build you a life out of nothing
Nothing but time and love on your hands

Words & music copyright © by Cici Porter 1998

My Story

It's a whole new language I gotta learn how to speak
To say what I've got to say
Somewhere between striking with a knife and turning the other cheek
Not just look away
Deep inside the silence a woman starts to scream
Is it his or her story? Hers or history?
It's a beautiful house and a beautiful yard and a beautiful family
The mother was modern the father worked hard, the lovely children three
But every night at bedtime I could not trust my dreams
Is it his or her story? Hers or history?
Like a bird in a beautiful cage
Or a rat in a maze
Someone else's shadow play
(But I'm not going to play that game)
Sometimes words that you say
Or just the look on your face
Makes me hide my head in shame
But I'm not going to lie for you no more
I'm going to tell my story my story my story
It's the cruelest betrayal, the strongest taboo
This song, this wrong I gotta write
It's exactly the last thing that I want to do
Start this losing fight
But deep inside the silence a woman starts to sing
Is it his or her story? Hers or history?

Words & music copyright © by Cici Porter 1998

Pompeii

Beneath the skies of Pompeii we laughed as we splashed by the pool
We drank and we gossiped as ash fell upon us
As silent as snow in the roseate glow of a fool
The desert was burning the sun was blood red
We sat unconcerned until somebody said it's the news
So we all left the pool side and gathered around the TV
It said all roads to Rome would be closed for the day
The fire was burning it was heading our way just the same
And our bridges were burning, the sky was aglow
We scrambled like rodents with nowhere to go but the flame
Just take what you can carry, somebody grab the wine
We are refugees now but we're sure to be fine
Cuz the gods that we worship are loving and kind as can be
Beneath the skies of Beijing they trudged thru the mud and the rain
They had gathered to talk from all over the world
They were powerful women they were scared little girls filled with pain
But their eyes were all burning with something to say
Though the focus was blurred it was there anyway on the news
And I read all about it from my bed in the haunted hotel
The place was deserted, all shiny and clean
Except for the sounds of a scene that I knew all too well
The mother was screaming, the father was sad
The children were silent, the silence was scary as hell
Just take what you can carry,anything you can
We are refugees now so we must have a plan
Cuz the god that we worshipped was only a man after all
Now the party was over the darkness had covered the pool
The TV was on but there was no one to hear it
We worship a spirit mysterious loving and cruel
And the churches are burning they're counting the dead
And the ashes are falling on all of our heads
And the smoke in the sky makes the blue moon turn red as a fool
There is nothing left to carry, don't look so forlorn
We are refugees all from the day we are born
And we'll trudge thru the mud and the fire and the storm everyday
Home from Pompeii

Words & music copyright © by Cici Porter 1998

Over Oceans

Over oceans and frozen lands I have chosen you
Over east and west and the deserts I've traveled through
Over summer storms in Minnesota, mountain lakes and an outhouse with the perfect view
I will be your partner if I can... the rest is up to you
Singing like a siren pleading screaming like a sea bird in the wind
And I would send my dreaming out into the ocean waves that never end
They'd just come crashing back, smashing on me
Dashing all my hopes against the rocks again
After eons rock turns into sand... We walk it hand in hand
Sailing over rolling tundra, autumn colors blaze the summer's end
And a hundred rivers slither through the hills like veins upon a hand
Some get tangled up and caught in oxbows, strangled by the knots that they will never understand
I will be your partner if you're free... the rest is up to me
Hanging with my true love thirty feet above the midway at the fair
Rising up around us all the sights and smells and sounds on summer air
Bands were playing, sheep were braying, barkers calling
Hypnotists and lovers falling everywhere
I will walk this midway mile with you... if you'll walk it with me too
Over oceans and frozen lands I have chosen you
Over every season, every reason that another love could do
Over artist's lofts in New York City, pretty boys and girls and the ever-changing view
I will be your partner if I can... the rest is up to you

Words & music copyright © by Cici Porter 1998