Like Wind I Go

Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument
About it and about: but evermore
Came out by the same Door as I went.

With them the Seed of Wisdom did I sow,
And with mine own hand wrought to make it grow;
And this was all the Harvest that I reap'd
'I came like Water, and like Wind I go'.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1859)
Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883)


We come with the Dust
And go with the Wind

Pastures of Plenty
Woody Guthrie (1912-1967)

Chrome Horse

Buggies and Blues, Mandan, North Dakota
June 2007

You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

Leave the Light On

American Cancer Society, Relay For Life
Bismarck, North Dakota
June 2007

If I were young again, I’d pay attention
To that little known dimension
The taste of endless time
Just like water, it runs right through our fingers
But the flavor of it lingers, like a rich red wine.

In those days we were single
We lived them one by one
Now we hardly see them, they don’t walk, they run
But I’ve got plenty left I’ve set my sight on
Don’t wait up, leave the light on I’ll be home soon.

* * *

These races that we’ve run were not for glory
No moral to this story
We run for peace of mind
But the race we’re running now is never ending
Since space and time are bending, there is no finish line.

* * *

I’ve been left for dead before, but I still fight on
Don’t wait up, leave the light on
I’ll be home soon.

I’ve been left for dead before, but I still fight on
Don’t wait up, leave the light on
I’ll be home soon.

Chris Smither. Leave the Light On. 2006

How Can I Keep From Singing?

Parshall, North Dakota
May 2007

My life flows on in endless song
Above earth's lamentation.
I hear the real, though far off hymn
That hails the new creation
Above the tumult and the strife,
I hear the music ringing;
It sounds an echo in my soul
How can I keep from singing?

Words and Music by Robert Lowry, 1860.

New World's Born at Dawn

Band Day Parade, Bismarck, North Dakota
May 2007

See them tumbling down
Pledging their love to the ground
Lonely but free I'll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

Cares of the past are behind
Nowhere to go but I'll find
Just where the trail will wind
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

I know when night has gone
That a new world's born at dawn.

I'll keep rolling along
Deep in my heart is a song
Here on the range I belong
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

Words and Music

by Bob Nolan, 1934

Smooth and Steadfast Minds

Dakota Zoo, Bismarck, North Dakota
May 2007

He that loves a rosy cheek,
Or a coral lip admires,
Or from starlike eyes doth seek
Fuel to maintain his fires;
As old Time makes these decay,
So his flames must waste away.

But a smooth and steadfast mind,
Gentle thoughts and calm desires,
Hearts with equal love combined,
Kindle never-dying fires.
Where these are not, I despise
Lovely cheeks, or lips, or eyes. . . . .


He That Loves A Rosy Cheek
Thomas Carew
1594-1640

A Day Too Long

Missouri River, North of Bismarck
April 2007

Every step of the way we walk the line
Your days are numbered, so are mine
Time is pilin' up, we struggle and we scrape
We're all boxed in, nowhere to escape

* * *


Got nothing for you, I had nothing before
Don't even have anything for myself anymore
Sky full of fire, pain pourin' down
Nothing you can sell me, I'll see you around

* * *

Walking through the leaves, falling from the trees
Feeling like a stranger nobody sees
So many things that we never will undo
I know you're sorry, I'm sorry too

* * *
The steamship "International," Waterton Park, Candada
September 2005

Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast
I'm drownin' in the poison, got no future, got no past
But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free
I've got nothin' but affection for all those who've sailed with me


* * *

Well, the emptiness is endless, cold as the clay
You can always come back, but you can't come back all the way
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long

"Mississippi," from the album "Love and Theft." Bob Dylan (2001).

"The International"

Dream Street

In the Clearing Stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade,
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down,
Or cut him til he cried out in his anger and his shame,
I am leaving, I am leaving.
But the fighter still remains.

"The Boxer," Paul Simon

Fargo, North Dakota, Civic Center
April 2007

I saw the champ running down by the river
With his trainer and his stretch limousine
I don't recall the year but it was late in his career
When he was featured in those glove magazines

They never leave the ring until it's too late
They never seem to quit in their prime
I guess you take it as a given that a champion is driven
So he can always win one more time

Chorus:

So there's a new reservation on Dream Street
With a room with no view of before
It takes years for some to check-in, but Dream Street will beckon
Till they're mumbling their names at the door

Some do it out of pride, some do it for the dough
Some do 'cause it's the only thing they're ever gonna know
Promoters take the money, the fighters take the pain
They find a new sucker and they do it again, whoa.... whoa...

From the time before he won the title
Till the referee stopped his last fight
Oh, I swear there was greatness there
Till those younger guys put out the light

Now he's in his ever after
With money to last all of his days
Oh but the price makes you shiver, fate's an indian-giver
She giveth and she taketh away

"Dream Street," John Gorka
Land of the Bottom Line, 1990

Cowboys Aint Easy to Love

Denver, Colorado. February 2007

Cowboys ain't easy to love and they're harder to hold
And they'd rather give you a song then diamonds or gold
Lonestar belt buckles and old faded Levi's each night begins a new day

And if you don't understand him and he don't die young

He'll probly just ride away

Strasburg, North Dakota
June 2005


They'll never stay home and they're always alone
Even with someone they love

"Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys" written by Ed and Patsy Bruce and performed by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson (Waylon and Willie, 1978).

Desolation Row

San Francisco, November 2006

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood
With his memories in a trunk
Passed this way an hour ago
With his friend, a jealous monk
He looked so immaculately frightful
As he bummed a cigarette
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Now you would not think to look at him
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
On Desolation Row

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world
Inside of a leather cup
But all his sexless patients
They're trying to blow it up
Now his nurse, some local loser
She's in charge of the cyanide hole
And she also keeps the cards that read
"Have Mercy on His Soul"
They all play on penny whistles
You can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough
From Desolation Row

Desolation Row, Bob Dylan