I. EPITATH

Mother may I reach for the stars?
No, my son. No, my son!
They’ll burn your hands and
mark you for their own.

Mother, may I touch their light?
No, my son. No, my son!
They’ll blind you when the day
is done.

Mother, may I long for the sky--
and worlds never seen?
No, my son. You mustn’t be hurt;
settle for a lesser dream.

I want to be a starman!
and hold the universe.
Yeilding to my thirsting soul
can’t be such a curse.

I want to be a starman and
know God’s primal church.
One with flame and darkness,
I must join the endless search.

Mother, will you love me still
even though I can’t stay?
Mother...Mother...
why are you walking away?


II. THE CALL

There’s another world
Somewhere out in time and space--
Where the air is clear--
restoring life with every taste.

The loam is dark with promise
still to be realized.
Her hills roll on forever
on the farside of the sky.

And I know I’ll find her.
There’s nothin’ else to believe.
All I need are wings of fire,
and a chance to leave.

There’s another world,
Layin’ claim to heart and soul,
a shining jewel in darkness
where the brave dare to go--
Across the endless silence,
with open arms she waits;
a dream needing a dreamer
to toss the dice with Fate.


III. THE PHOENIX

Unfolding wings of fire
Consume the shivering air.
Engines burn bright as the sun
Climbing like a prayer.

My heart is pounding loudly.
Thunder is all I hear.
Free-fall arrives, and I survive,
finally jumping clear.

I am the Phoenix.
I rise in flames
and ride the waves
of time.

I am the Phoenix.
I can’t be contained,
and all of the ages
are mine.

Science conquers reason--
for light-speed’s way too slow.
We’re racin’ our own thoughts now
into the great unknown.

Goin’ where no one has been,
I don’t know what I’ll see.
I come alive in overdrive,
awake and finally free.

I am the Phoenix, I’m given form
on the star-born wind.
I am the Phoenix, the fire of life.
I die to live again I die to live again--

A gray ghost in cosmic mist,
tearin’ through the endless night.
I brush the stars out of my way,
gathering their light
With wings cast wide in silent flight
through the country of the soul,
lost in wonder, in silent thunder,
my heart’s racin’ out of control---

Forever passes in a blaze of glory
tomorrow came and went yesterday
The stars exchange their containance as
distance surrenders and order gives way---

I am the phoenix, facin’ my fate.
ever outward bound.
I am the Phoenix, shaping the dream
of all that’s lost and found--

I

am

lost---


IV. DARK STAR

The fold of night’s reality
gives way beneath the strain.
The heart of the void
is lost in mid-night flame.

And I’m caught in the penitration
where even a dream may die.
I burn with radiation
as light bleeds from the sky.

And there’s nothin’ I can do.
Nothin’ I can try.
I am swept away and I can
only wonder why.

Make a wish on me.
I am a falling star.
Make a wish on one
who has come so far--
So very, very far--


V. SOLILOQUY

Chances fade like winter grass
on a deadman’s grave.
The words you’ve hidden in your heart
turn to dust in the light of day.

You never opened up to me;
you thought a kind word would kill.
You never helped me with a dream,
and now you never will.

Well, I won’t be back for Christmas.
light a candle, say a prayer.
If I’m home for Christmas,
I’ll be a ghost upon the stairs.

Shadows hold you.
There’s no release.
Blind eyes stare at photographs,
and the silence won’t give you peace.

You should have spoken years-gone-by
when it would have done some good.
I’ve cut the ties that held me down,
and it cost more than it should--

I won’t be home for Christmas.
Light a candle say a prayer
make your peace with me
I’m the ghost upon your stairs--


VI. PLANETFALL

Systems fail.
I hear the wail.
of wind against the hull.
The only chance I have
is planet fall

Engines strain
for all I gain.
I’m becoming a fire-storm.
I’ve just a prayer to keep
me out of harm.

I hear the darkness call.
I must resist the call.
the siren-song tries to take hold
as I begin to stall.

Mountains rise,
Both stone and ice.
disaster’s very near.
The life I chose to live--
might end right here--

I hear the darkness call.
I must resist the call.
The siren-song screams in my head
as I begin to fall.

Like a star threading the night,
I’ve become a splinter of light.
I now confront my destiny
as my ship disolves in flight.
My eyes are full of glory.
My mind refuses fear
though the ground is way too near--
and the sound of my own scream
is all that I can hear.

I must resist the call.
I must resist the call.
The siren-song tries to take hold
as I sail into a wall------


VII. REQUIEM

Silver and broken.
All hope has fallen
to the ground.
she’s manned by the dead and dyin’
a coffin of the damned--

This is the end
of the line,
Reached before
its time.
There is no sign--
we can ever fly again,
we can ever try again
to rise.

My heart is torn
and I cast it out,
to ride the winds
beyond the storm,
and find amid the ice
and winter cold
the halls of Shang-ri-la.

My spirit flies
like a wounded song,
seeking refuge
where evil dies,
and only dreams belong.

I lay beside the wreckage.
My blood turns to ice on the ground.
The sky is cold and grim.
Thunder’s all around.

Passing through the darkness,
waiting for the end of the night,
I only have one question;
will I see the morning light?
Oh! Where is the mornin’ light?

Layin’ in the snow
with all the blood I own
runnin’ free,
I hear again the song
from kingdom of Death
layin’ its claim on me--

Nearing the end--
The end of the line--
I mourn the dreams
left behind to die.

My heart is torn,
and I cast it out
to ride the winds
Beyond the storm
and find amid the ice
and winter’s cold
a Starman’s paradice.

My spirit flies
like a wounded song,
seeking refuge
where evil dies
and only dreams belong--

Everything has grown clear.
I have no room inside for fear
My grave will soon be here;
far from the stars I know.

I see the ravens fly
against a torn and bloodied sky,
and I see the sun,
risin’ above the ground.

I see the ravens fly,
with hunger in their eyes,
And the winds--oh, the winds--
are callin’--callin’--
Like a lost and weary soul
with nowhere else to go.


VIII. EPILOGUE

Across the face
of the universe
A child raises his head
to confront the tragic sky
and his mother begins to cry


IX. PROLOGUE--THE CYCLE CONTINUES)

I want to be a starman!
and hold the universe.
Yeilding to my thirsting soul
can’t be such a curse.

I want to be a starman
and know God’s primal church.
One with flame and darkness,
I must join the endless search

Mother, will you love me still
even though I can’t stay?
Mother...
Mother...
why are you walking away?

This is lyric poetry, originally designed to be sang with guitar.