Sarah Goslee Reed

White Picket Fences

Sitting on the corner where the dandelions have

Gone to seed and blown away

A little girl is weaving daisies into a chain,

While the sound of the marching band fades

Strapping on his holster, it’s the 4th of July,

With his hat and chaps of real suede.

His pony has two wheels, crepe paper wrapped ‘round the spokes,

Hopin’ for first place in the parade.

CHORUS: Where are the white picket fences,

               That took all summer to paint?

               An American elm with a hammock,

               And a stand selling 5-cent lemonade?

In black patent leather shoes and white cotton gloves

Mother and daughter’s elegant lunch

On the escalator to the twelfth floor and back

Home with a hat box, our laps full on the bus

Swingin’ on the front porch with their heads leanin’ back

There’s a full moon out there on the rise

Driftin’ to a rhythm only new love can hear

And if it’s cloudy there’s still stars in their eyes

GOIN' BACK

CHORUS:

She's goin' back where she came from

Forget that other one

He left her here to wander in the wheat fields all alone

And as she's packin' up she's spent

So much time wonderin' where it went

And where it all came from she's goin' back

She never felt much like she belonged here

With just one step she was a little out of place

Always awkward inside But she was able to hide

The sorrow in her voice with a smile upon her face

CHORUS

Just a dull ache and a longing to be elsewhere

Yet the days turned into years and so she stayed

But when the thought of tomorrow Left her nothin' but hollow

In just one breath her decision was made

I HEAR THE BIRDS

I hear the birds singing

It’s morning light they’re bringing

Across the sky through the blue to my window

I hear the birds

Phoebe calls again I hear her

From the line she is nearer

Last year’s nest is beckoning at my back door

Phoebe calls

Lonely dove cries its warning

Of heat to come after the morning

Later on she’ll coo again before the owl

Mourning dove

Daylight’s pulled in each direction

Like a piece of soft confection

Spring is sweet like the song

Of the bird as day grows long

THE FLOWER PRESS

Cornflowers and Queen Anne’s lace, your blue eyes and smiling face

Dandelions and daisies fair, all the gold that’s in your hair

Press them here between the pages, save them for another day

Let them mellow with the ages, till the sadness has gone away

Till it’s all gone away

Pine needles and fields of green, conversations in between

Cozy covers on rainy days, violets in the summer haze

Press them here between the pages, save them for another day

Let them mellow with the ages, till the sadness has gone away

Till it’s all gone away

Late some night I’ll take the memories

Sprinkle them with dew

In the morning with the sunrise, maybe I’ll find you….

Ironweed and wild phlox, layered with our deepest thoughts

Place us here upon the shelf, tightly shut, never give ourselves

Press us here between the pages, save us for another day

May we mellow with the ages till the sadness has gone away

Till it’s all gone away

FIREFLIES

Winding along a dusky road

Daylight is fading ‘round the bend

Misty summer evenings in the wheatfields and the corn

Memorize it so it will not end

There’s magic in the scene before my eyes

A chorus of cicadas fills the trees

The scent of clover in the air is something I might hold

In my hand as it passes on the breeze

And the fireflies rise

Drifting toward the darkness with their light

While the woodthrush song fills the skies

As the fireflies rise

Like strand on strand of tiny blinking lights

Signals flash and so begins the dance

Daylight evaporates slowly while I watch

And wonder at this delicate romance

And the fireflies rise

Drifting toward the darkness with their light

While the woodthrush song fills the skies

As the fireflies rise

And sometimes when they’re on the wing

I’ve heard it said that fireflies sing....

And the fireflies rise

Drifting toward the darkness with their light

While the woodthrush song fills the skies

As the fireflies rise

UNDO

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wondered how we got here

How can it be we’ve got all this There’s no answer that’s clear

We’ve struggled, we’ve cried,

We’ve shrugged our shoulders and sighed

We’ve waited, we’ve tried

To learn what works best but in spite.....of it all

CHORUS:

I did this to you, you did this to me

We did this to each other

You can blame it on a rotten past

You can blame it on your mother

I firmly believe that some things just

Happen on their own

Whatever it takes to make us last (trust)

Whatever takes us home

Whatever it takes to set us free

Is what I have to do

To undo what you did to me

And what I did to you

All I Know

My happiness relies on something that I can’t control

The thoughts within my mind attack until my brain explodes

The ground I walk is stripped away from underneath my toes

I want it all to disappear so I can be the girl I used to know

In my dreams I’m searching for the answers that I need

But sometimes all my fears are just laughing back at me

So many things I want to say, what I would have done differently

The only thing I know for sure is where you are is where I want to be

I can see you standing there without a care

It seems to me but I don’t really know

Just a few more minutes pass but that moment lasts

Forever and on and on it goes

When I wake up in my bed it’s hard to make myself believe

That this is somehow where I am, this is my life this is me

So many things I need to say what I want to do differently

And still the only thing I know is where you are is where I want to be

I gave you all I had to give but I would give it all again

Just to know there’s peace within your soul

WHEN THE CHILDREN COME HOME

CHORUS:

When the children come home when they’ve been out on their own

On their pillows their tired heads rest

When the children come home you’re no longer alone

And the family is there in the nest

And a mother feels truly at rest

Oh the babies will cry when they’re tired

Their days were so full of play

They’re safely tucked in, eyelids are closing

At the end of another long day

The years pass and their circles widen

They come and they go with their friends

You leave the light on way after dark

Sleepless till they’re home again

CHORUS

BRIDGE:

You wonder how time went so quickly

Life is more than just gathering wool

The phone rings less - it’s so quiet

The rooms are empty yet full...

Soon it’s Christmas and there’s a commotion

Doors fling wide and everyone’s in

At nightfall they’re all safe in their beds

There’s no greater peace than when...

CHORUS

SMILIN ON ME

CHORUS:

Great horned owl in the middle of the road

Woodpecker callin from a tree

Praying mantises in my house

Someone is smilin on me....someone is smilin on me

Like the owl my eye is watchin'

Silently earthbound

Piercing the darkness with my stare

For movement on the ground

Listening for that sound

CHORUS

Like a woodpecker I’m searching

For some sustenance

Pounding on this wood as hard as I can

Balancing on this branch

Lookin for a chance

CHORUS

Like the mantises I’m praying

Hoping to make amends

Forgiveness - understanding

For the healing of a friend

Even peace among all men

BRIDGE:

Tragedy beside me - Disaster on my sleeve

Can Mother Nature guide me - Teach me to believe?

CHORUS

WORRY

CHORUS:

People are the only things that worry, worry, worry

Antelopes and canteloupes don’t worry, cause they’re having too much fun!

This little river keeps rollin along

Going where it’s going cause it’s gone where it’s gone

Bumpin into rocks as it flows downstream

Not thinkin much of gravity...

CHORUS

This little maple is rooted to the spot

Thankful that it has whatever it’s got

Patiently waiting for rain and sun

Not plannin a summer vacation....

CHORUS

Dogs and cats sleeping in the sun

Glad for a treat when the day is done

Happy to play but they don’t think much

Never worry ‘bout keeping in touch

CHORUS

A big old mountain is nothing but stone

He goes to work by staying home

Rain and wind will wear him away

But if the mountain could talk, I bet he would say...

CHORUS

TIME TO FINISH

CHORUS:

Some things take time to finish

Some things come undone on their own

Sometimes it makes me wonder

What should I give away, what should I keep and call my own

When I missed a day of school I had to stay in bed

Weaving potholders and listening to the radio

I knit a hat that covered up my ears and chin

It kept me warm on days when I played in the snow

I even taught some friends to knit, we made our Barbies clothes

Scarves and dresses, hotpants and a matching vest

Years later there were baby things, even something for myself,

But family called, a front, a sleeve went in the cedar chest

CHORUS

My high school friend reminded me of a sweater she had made

The front and back were short, the sleeves a foot too long

She said we’re all like stitches, knit together, firmly bound

Time will not unravel us, our yarn is good and strong

Those pieces of my sweater flew out from the cedar chest

The yarn and needles found their way in to my hands

Twelve years from start to finish, now I wear it in the cold

I wrap myself in friendship and I understand

CHORUS

Some things take time to finish

Some things come undone on their own

Sometimes it makes me wonder

Some things I give away, but friends I’ll keep my whole life long

THE REAL THING

CHORUS

It was the real thing on a day in June

It was a diamond ring not a paper moon

It was the real thing it was the real thing

I found it hard to believe something could be so easy

Just within my reach right there in my hand

Always before I had tried to be someone more or less

All I could do was sigh...

CHORUS

BRIDGE

Then I saw life could be so different

When I learned not to try at all

Good things come when you least expect them

And when you’re not bracing for a fall

CHORUS

It was the real thing on a day in June

It was a diamond ring not a paper moon

It was the real thing it was the real thing

It was an evening with so full a moon

Dancing full swing to a perfect tune

It was the real thing not just a paper moon

It was the real not just a paper it was the real thing

LIKE THE LIGHT OF THE MOON

The dog was in the hallway, spaghetti on the stove

There was music coming from the small back room

In the quiet time before we set the table and sat down

We heard the melodies Dad played on his bassoon

It was such a melancholy sound that he would make

Up the scale he’d go to the highest notes

Then he’d take a big deep breath and make the sound that made us laugh

For those low notes tickled us in our funny bones

Daddy won’t you play me one more song

You know it seems I’ve been gone so long

Daddy won’t you play me one more tune

Mellow sweet and pure...like the light of the moon

I was there the other day in the place where he lives now

He was playing as I rested on the couch

As I drifted off to sleep and felt the years slip back as well

I walked the floors and touched the walls of my childhood house