APARTMENT D (© 1994 laura chandler, lulu bucket music)
we lie in your bed wordless poets
our eyes closing to the night’s refrain
moonlight slips in through half open blinds
and lays like fingers on your body
with each breath you shake this hand
i watch you sleep
i want to wake you, i want to feel you
i want to hear you whisper my name
(chorus)
last night in apartment d
i learned what i was made of
last night in apartment d
i fell in love
i listen through the open window
my mind retreats
outside the city murmurs “summer”
a baby cries, someone laughs on concord street
i touch your shoulder
i kiss your skin
your lips part the way they’ll part tomorrow
when i have to leave again
(chorus)
there were no promises made
we both knew it would not be fair
so i lay back and wait for morning
to come and settle in your hair
now a breeze disturbs the blinds
moonlight dances on your face
you do not move
you do not feel me
waiting for the moon to take her hand
WAITING (©1994 laura chandler, lulu bucket music)
you sit in your tower biding your time
you’re spending hours when you could be spending mine
i see you all day building those walls
late at night i hear you walk the halls
you say you were burned, you believed in a liar
now you’d rather be cold than caught in a fire
i say love is kind of like walking the high wire
don’t look down and just follow your desire
(chorus)
you’re just gonna wait
you’re just gonna wait
you’re just gonna wait this one out
if i were your saviour i’d come bearing a cross
i’d talk to you about love, hope & loss
as it stands i can’t fill that role
i’ve got enough to worry about with my own soul
i’m not your hero, i didn’t ride in on a steed
i’m down to zero when it comes to god speed
but there is one thing i think you should know
there’s not a lot of time left before we have to go
(chorus)
i know you just want to be heard
i’m gonna sit back, i won’t say a word
unless i feel you start to hesitate
i’m gonna remind you darlin’, this is fate
and i’m gonna wait
i’m gonna wait
i’m gonna wait this one out
MAPPING TERRITORIES (© laura chandler; lulu bucket music)
all the wild boys and all the wide-eyed girls
play cops and robbers in the yard
they play catch a falling star
they hold hands in the dark
down by the lake
where the tender flesh of innocence
is always at stake
young man lights a cigarette
from a matchbook with one hand
he leans cool against a tree
to contemplate his plan
there’s a loud motor running
he dreams of trains
to take him any place
a fast track or a fast lane
(chorus)
you’ve got to take your chance
read it like a sign
pointed in one direction
split into nine
little girl with her skirt
blowing in the breeze
she’s got her thoughts in the clouds
got her mind on the trees
is this love she asks herself
the sound of speeding cars
her blood’s racing, she’s chasing
what she’s here for
(chorus)
we’re mapping territories
charting lands unknown
seeking treasure buried
far beyond our home
that little girl will look back someday
when she’s grown
over the life she’s made
and the love she’s known
back to the games in the yard
and the hand she held so tight
back to the stars over the lake
and to the innocence
LOW LIGHT (© 1989 laura chandler, lulu bucket music)
you played me like a record
an old forty-five
just some melody
in the back of your mind
you were like a phonograph
you set me to spin
now we both know
what we knew back then
i was like a starving man
set before a feast
always takes the most
and is left with the least.
i’m the least of your worries
i’m the least of your cares,
but i won’t be the one to cry
that this isn’t fair.
(chorus)
because i like what i hear
in the low light
i like what i hear
in your low voice
you played me for a fool
again, yes again
now that old theme
is wearing a little thin
you were like a phonograph
and you set me to spin
now we both know
what we knew back then
(chorus)
THE RETREAT (© laura chandler, lulu bucket music)
the retreat begins under a blazing moon
on a path winding and unfamiliar
it leads to a place, the great lake
where we all come from
my skin sheds like the skin of a snake
i swim easily out and under
from beneath i see the light that once called us
to the dry chill of the land
(chorus)
the light reflects and bends
the retreat begins
i move into the darkening self
engulfing, i am slowly engulfed
i pull away, or am i pushing deeper in
the darkness stands like an ancient wood
the wind is softly chanting
behind me ghosts howl,
beneath me future treads
(chorus)
LETTING GO (© laura chandler, lulu bucket music)
remember that poem you wrote
about the last leaf on the tree
resisting winter’s coming
like you and me
you compose under cold grey skies
the calm in your voice never matched
the fury of your words
the storm of your resisting
i wrote the song about
how it’s sad to say good-bye
i guess you could say
we’ve become cliche
now i stand composed under
your cold skies, trying to match
the fury of your words
the storm of your resisting
remember that poem
and how you turned to me
what will become of them
the leaf and the tree
you said “as yet untitled”
and “i do not know;
what would you call it love”
and i said, “letting go”
letting go
letting go
we agreed upon this
letting go
WHEN I FELL (©1994 laura chandler, lulu bucket music)
(chorus)
when i fell for you i fell hard
when i fell for you i fell hard
it’s not the kind of love you take for granted
it’s not the kind of love that fools around
it’s not the kind of love like when you’re younger
and you keep trippin’ over it
(chorus)
it’s not like it was my first time
i’ve been in love before
but i always wandered in another direction
looking for more
(chorus)
i don’t think about tomorrow
it will surely come to pass
i just know that when i’m with you
i want to make every moment last
(repeat first verse)
(chorus)
FALL (© laura chandler 1994, lulu bucket music)
she shakes the fall from her hair
golden, burning, fair
puts away the picture books
scraps and pieces, backward looks
her old sweater, the colors bleed
his jeans, worn at the knee
there are boxes of ties and sunday shirts
packed away to hide the hurt
in the lawn sits a weathered sign
for sale, her house and time
her children gather like leaves at her feet
swept up in the season’s retreat
friends still come dressed in black
faces, smiling, bring her back
to his breath like the autumn air
gently shaking the fall from her hair.