I carry the words around like a key

One of my favorite songs by one of my my favorite bands, Iron & Wine. The lyrics get to me. The melody does too, so check it out on their album The Creek Drank the Cradle & give it a listen.


Bird Stealing Bread
by Iron & Wine /Sam Beam

Tell me, baby, tell me
Are you still on the stoop
Watching the windows close?
I've not seen you lately
On the street by the beach
Or places we used to go

I've a picture of you
On our favorite day
By the seaside
There's a bird stealing bread
That I brought
Out from under my nose

Tell me, baby, tell me
Does his company make
Light of a rainy day?
How I've missed you lately
And the way we would speak
And all that we wouldn't say

Do his hands in your hair
Feel a lot like a thing
You believe in
Or a bit like a bird
Stealing bread
Out from under your nose?

Tell me, baby, tell me
Do you carry the words
Around like a key or change?
I've been thinking lately
Of a night on the stoop
And all that we wouldn't say

If I see you again
On the street by the beach
In the evening
Will you fly like a bird
Stealing bread
Out from under my nose?

a short poem that says plenty

I have to tell you

by Dorothea Grossman

I have to tell you,

there are times when

the sun strikes me

like a gong,

and I remember everything,

even your ears.

one memory

(poem in progress)

You Ask for One Memory of You

After a night of shiraz and smokes

and people I hardly know,

you walk me home

through the thinnest hours

before dawn and snow,

so cold

our teeth might freeze to our lips

if we dare smile.

On the icy sidewalk

outside my apartment

we shake hands

through thick mittens.

That is as close

as we ever get

—wool on wool—

and it is enough.

HMMooreNiver