you always got those dark sunglasses covering half your face but if you promise to take them off i promise i won't squander your gaze i will be picturesque i wi...

-for lucille clifton I opened a bank account when I was nine years old I closed it when I was eighteen I gave them every penny that I'd saved and they gave my b...

fourteenth street and the garbage swirls like a cyclone three o'clock in the afternoon and I am going home F train is full of high school students so much shout...

I'm gonna turn and walk away you can wait til I am far along then run and come and catch my arm and say you'd die if I were gone I want to hear you call my name...

my breast is cradled in the curve of my guitar I'm breaking strings and other things playing hard no I'm not on the rag but I'm not on the run I am matching the...

I'm holding here a book Notable, but not the greatest Stolen for me by the latest In a long line of thieves And I'm just about to drop it Down that manhole of m...

Millennium theater Get out there and buy that water and gas Ramadan orange alert Everybody put on your gas mask First leak it out about the president Then stan...

You wandered in To the forest Following that shiny red ball And by the time you looked up You were lost But that's not all You confused your journey With my jo...

In order to Say thank you to you I must do it intentionally But tonight with every breath I can feel my death Sure as I can feel my knees You were my modulatio...

Most of the time I'm clear focused all around Most of the time I can keep both feet on the ground I can follow the path, I can read the sign I can stay right wi...

Most of the time I'm clear focused all around Most of the time I can keep both feet on the ground I can follow the path, I can read the sign I can stay right wi...

When I was four years old They tried to test my i.q. They showed me a picture Of 3 oranges and a pear They said, Which one is different? It does not belong They...

My name is Lisa Kalvelage, I was born in Nuremberg And when the trials were held there nineteen years ago It seemed to me ridiculous to hold a nation all to bla...

I know so many white people I mean, where do I start? The trouble with white people Is you cant tell them apart Im so bad with names and dates and times But Im ...

they told you your music could reach millions that the choice was up to you and you told me they always pay for lunch and they believe in what i do and i wonder...

I hate you sometimes But I love to be your queen You are my muse Got me smoking nicotine I watch you sometimes From oh so far away But I can't forget you Or an...

growing up, it was just me and my mom against the world and all my sympathies were with her when i was a little girl and i've seen both my parents play out the ...

In a forest of stone underneath the corporate canopy where the sun rarely filters down the ground is not so soft not so soft they build buildings to house peopl...

your body foreshortened below your shoulders your face so close it's out of focus way down the hallway comes the sound of your shoes that is what i what i think...

if you ask me i'll say yes please to you today so don't ask me cuz i'm weak that way just don't ask me ok i'm so glad we got that straightened away if you see...

death has been your lover he has brought you the edges of your life and now you are looking over and all we can say is it's gonna be all right and I am looking ...

Do you ever wonder when the damage will be done? Do you ever feel like one times one times one? Do your eyes scrape the pavement as you shuffle from the sun? Do...

I am an all powerful amazon warrior Not just some sniveling girl So no matter what I think I need You know I can't possibly Have a need in this world Come and ...

the butter melts out of habit the toast isn't even warm the waitress and the man in the plaid shirt play out a scene they've played so many times before I am wa...

just the thought of our bed makes me crumble like the plaster where you punched the wall beside my bed and I try to draw the line but it ends up running down th...

No no no no no no no no no no no no No more No no no no no no no no no no no no No more No no no No more It's gonna be sudden It's gonna be strange I'm gonna t...

I search your profile for a translation I study the conversation like a map 'cause I know there is strength in the differences between us and I know there is co...

pale purple nipples goose pimpled she shivers shifts from a walk to a trot alone in the city infested with faces immune to new friendships interested in places ...

I was born to two immigrants Who knew why they were here They were happy to pay taxes For the schools and roads Happy to be here They took it seriously The seco...

Thirty-three years go by And not once do you come home To find a man sitting in your bedroom That is A man you don't know Who came a long way to deliver one ver...

You're a wild one I like your smile You do amazing things And I can't believe you're everything You've got perfect fingers A velvet voice Your eyes hold the ke...

been through and through this i know just how it goes you'll have no idea you'll have no need to know cuz i will make your body grow wings and take flight i wil...

How come I can pick my ears but not my nose who made up that rule anyway how can you say that's the way it is that's just the way it goes why don't you decide f...

i'm a pixie i'm a paper doll i'm a cartoon i'm a chipper cheerful free for all and i light up a room i'm the color me happy girl miss live and let live and when...

Life knocked me off my platforms So I pulled out my first pair of boots Bought on the street at astor place Before New York was run by suits And I suited up for...

Lately I've been glaring into mirrors picking myself apart You'd think at my age I'd thought of something better to do Than making insecurity into a full time j...

you're taking up lots of space your shit is everywhere your breath is all up in my face your hands are swarming in the air you're the first one out the car and ...

you crawled into my bed that night like some kind of giant insect and I found myself spellbound at the sight of you beautiful and grotesque and all the rest of ...

As dolls go I am broken And you could just let that get us off the hook But from under the umbrella of the unspoken I see you giving me that look Baby, you're ...

Come home and my guitar Has nothin to say to me I recoil from all my friends And then I'm in misery Been so long since I've been held Really since I was his Pro...

New Year's Eve, we dropped mushrooms and danced around the house Making music with everything that we found Incantation replaced resolution And we vowed to allo...

Manhattan is an island Like the women who are Surrounded by children in the car Surrounded by cars Or manhattan was a project That projected the worst of manki...

I had to leave the house of fashion Go forth naked from it's doors Cuz women should still be allies Not competitors And i had to leave the house of god Cuz the ...

You were so in love That it was all you could talk about And I think I felt a little left out You were on cloud 9 all the time Ehile I was levelling I was wring...

It's rock, paper, scissors as to whether I will get over you at all It's hand against hand Both hands are mine It's standing in a circular line Which is not to ...

tending the garden of noise when I grow the traffic and the churchbells and the neighborhood boys singing to myself as the solitude sets in in tune with the sym...

I could sing you 'round a pole I could talk you up a tree But when it comes to what really matters You are way more clever than me I know I wanted to be challe...

rush hour and the day's dawning the rain came and pushed me under the awning the puddles grew and threw themselves at me with every passing car I'm shielding my...

second intermission anticipation you know the third act small talk drops out of the play you're standing in the lobby tightening your tourniquet waiting for it ...

You're my seeing eye dog and I am blind You take me there every time With that winning combination of loyal and kind Your eyes like wells to the water of your m...

yes, us people are just poems we're 90% metaphor with a leanness of meaning approaching hyper-distillation and once upon a time we were moonshine rushing down t...

pavlov hits me with more bad news every time i answer the phone so i play and i sing and i just let it ring all day when i'm at home a defacto choice of macro o...

he caresses every bottle like it's the first one he's had saying it ain't love but it ain't bad it's the only reward bestowed upon me and I have served faithful...

i cannot name this i cannot explain this and i really don't want to just call me shameless i can't even slow this down late alone stop this and i keep looking a...

she says forget what you have to do pretend there is nothing outside this room and like an idea she came to me but she came too late or maybe too soon I said pl...

I had to leave the house of fashion And go forth naked from it's doors 'cause women should be allies And not competitors I had to leave the house of god Because...

what's with that halo hovering above that thick skull spare me if i do say so - i think you're covering 'course there was nothing could've prepared me for the ...

the heat is so great it plays tricks with the eye it turns the road to water and then from water to sky and there's a crack in the concrete floor and it starts ...

I always escape where I have been I leave you looking for my face, Wondering what it was you?ve seen Down the long dark hallway in flight heading back from whic...

Everybody's looking over your shoulder Seems they can't wait to hear what's next Everybody's saying she's looking older Could it be there is a cruel sun Next to...

She was hungry So hungry She was trying to think clear She kept opening the fridge door Staring at the mustard and the beer Then finally she went out into the ...

She was shaking and talking Louder and louder Each sentence was sifted To a very fine powder Her face was wet and tight Her grip was cold and light A strong win...

I don't mind waiting in line, no, no I don't mind if the bills pile up and the work is slow I don't mind the gas or the groceries or the grind Long as I'm with ...

I don't keep much stuff around I value my portability But I will say that I have saved Every letter you ever wrote to me The one you left on my windsheild Outsi...

Love gets started and next thing you know It leaves everything else behind Love sets fire to your schedule And then calls an end to time And love ain't far beh...

I am out here studying stones Trying to learn to be less alive Using all of my will To keep very still Still even on the inside I've cut all of the pertinent wi...

On one hand i'm walking The way that i do Lookin like i'm lost in thought But i'm looking for you It's so subconscious The way i that i feel Too bad my subconsc...

well your arms hang parallel to the curtains your gaze falls perpendicular to the floor your resign yourself to the hurting the lines in your brow are deeper th...

Sunday morning Slow beats seething Through the screens in The open windows Eggs frying Legs shaking After we stayed lying So long in bed Sunday morning Both of ...

sleep walking through the all-nite drug store baptized in fluorescent light i found religion in the greeting card aisle now i know hallmark was right and every ...

i'm cradling the softest, warmest part of you in my hands feels like a little baby bird fallen from the nest i think that your body is something i understand i ...

You keep telling me I'm beautiful But I feel a little less so each time Your love is so colorful It flashes like a neon sign But I finally drove out where The s...

he said ani, you've gotten tough 'cause my tone was curt yeah, and when I'm approached in a dark alley I don't lift my skirt in this city self-preservation is a...

I shut my mouth Cause they are the law And I am alone Ohhh, the boys in blue Have decided I need a good talking to Though I?ve done nothing wrong He is less th...

I'm calling from the diner the diner on the corner I ordered two coffees one is for you I was hoping you'd join me 'cause I ain't go no money and I really miss ...

hello it's me I'm returning your call it's monday wednesday friday between noon and three he says I usually just let the phone ring but I've always got a minute...

the slant a building settling around me my figure female framed crookedly in the threshold of the room door scraping floorboards with every opening carving a ro...

I would have returned your greeting if it weren't for the way you were looking at me this street is not a market and I am not a commodity don't you find it sad ...

your basic average super star is singing about justice and peace and love and I am glaring at the radio, swearing saying that's just what I was afraid of the sy...

we can touch touch our girl cheeks and we can hold hands like paper dolls we can try try eachother on in the privacy within new york city's walls we can kiss ki...

got a garden of songs where i grow all my thoughts wish i could harvest one or two for some small talk Seems like I'm starving for words whenever you're around ...

tiptoeing through the used condoms strewn on the piers off the west side highway sunset behind the skyline of jersey walking towards the water with a fetus hold...

they caught the last poor man on a poor man's vacation they cuffed him and they confiscated his stuff and they dragged his black ass down to the station and sai...

the sun is setting on the century and we are armed to the teeth we're all working together now to make our lives mercifully brief and school kids keep trying to...

The light blue flickering rhythm Of the neighbor's big console TV Is basking on the ceiling Of another insomniac spree And outside sleep's open window Between t...

you were fresh off the boat from virginia i had a year of new york city under my belt we met in a dream we were both nineteen i remember where we were standing ...

He had all kind of reasons Why she was unable to love him She was just too young She was too high strung She was afraid of commitment But all of the theories Th...

think i'm going for a walk now i feel a little unsteady i don't want nobody to follow me 'cept maybe you i could make you happy you know if you weren't already ...

points the spire of the steeple but god's work isn't done by god it's done by people up up up up up up points the fingers of the trees the lumberjacks with the...

I'm still here because I've got nothing else to do you're an asshole but I'm getting used to you I like the fact that you talk incessantly I got a thing for ass...

virtue is relative at best there's nothing worse than a sunset when you're driving due west and i'm afraid that my love is gonna come up short there is no ther...

I'll tell you what there is plenty wrong with me But I fixed up a few old buildings and I planted a few trees And children seem to like me and animals too Like ...

welcome to no amount of stoned makes you feel okay and welcome to this year's alone brought to you by christmas day and welcome to the darkness into which prayi...

What what what what what did you think you were doing? How how how how how did you think this would go? When when when when when you showed up on my radar Where...

Today we are only whatall is nice about us Today we turned on in the blue light of dawn And made love And you were not a dot dot dot Waiting for me to complete...

There's no place in this world where i'll belong when i'm gone And i won't know the right from the wrong when i'm gone And you won't find me singin' on this son...

The windows of my soul are made of one way glass don't bother looking into my eyes if there's something you want to know, just ask I got a dead bolt stroll wher...

Originally by dusty springfield Covered by ani difranco in my best friends wedding soundtrack Wishin, and hopin, and thinkin, and prayin, Planning and dreamin ...

lying on the floor four stories high in the corridor between the asphalt and the sky I am caught like bottled water the light daughter I wonder what you look li...

you think you're not worthy I'd have to say I agree I'm not worthy of you you're not worthy of me which of us is deserving look at the human race the whole plan...