desderata - gauge, january 2000
words/music: bonner

light through the window
is a sliver on the floor
your fist curls the blanket
it’s a dream you’ve had before

the idols we’d long tended to
tower mute and dark
a waning moon begins to fall
abandon in the moment with no warning
and now these secrets call

desderata

in space between words
and luxury in years
and the ghosts that come unbeckoned
down these halls would say
if only they could speak
"not meant to be to left alone
but never meant to be"

and the day that you were left to me
was the day that i became
taillights on the interstate
motel rooms in appalachia
fighting for a picture
of the way the world should be

i know the dark horizon
followed you here
we understand reasons
we pretend not to hear
like a fable in the twilight
torn down from the sky
and measured out across our lives
in grace we walk the measure of our lives

from that memory the color slowly drained
no remains
somewhere staring empty in the dawn
the world moves on

full-length mp3 (128 Kbps - 6.21 MB) | real audio clip

this was not an easy studio birth. of all the tunes on gauge, desderata has the distinction of 1) being remixed the most, 2) having the chord structure rewritten the most, 3) having the lyrics rewritten the most, and 4) having the cd liner artwork redone the most. grateful thanks to joe capps and donovan andrews.

for those wondering about "desiderata" by max ehrmann, the answer is yes....or, sort of....if she might be made manifest.