Monday 17 October 2011

Oh Liberia

October 5th, 2011
Katrina Boguski
Oh Liberia!
I too feel your pain,
Different story but the same refrain
Right here, right next to you
Oh Liberia!

I saw your house and it set me free,
No roof and growing trees
Some might see a hanging post
But I met up with another ghost

Two small boys and a chimpanzee,
Oh you set me free,
You seemed so much like me
You showed me too what I had been
You reminded me what I had seen
Oh you set me free,
You seemed so much like me

Some have dogs and some have cats
Some have chimps but we all have pets
Right here, right next to you
Oh what could I do?

Photos took me to my own home,
The one where I had grown
My home lost its roof like yours
We all live through different wars

The mad man came to my home too,
Right here, right next to you
Oh Liberia!
Your summer is hot my winter is cold;
When Winters came the roof didn’t hold!
Oh Liberia!
Oh Liberia! Oh, Oh Liberia!!!

Winters came and he killed my cat
For years I couldn’t go back
Different blood; different ground
Same heart beating the same sad sound
Oh Liberia! Right here right next to you
Oh what can one child do?

The naked truth and the naked lie,
Right here, right next to you
Oh Liberia! Oh what could one man do?
Right here, right next to you

Oh, you set me free
When I discovered you were just like me
Right here, right next to you
Oh Liberia! Oh what could one girl do?
Right here, right next to you

They can take my house
And destroy my home,
They can burn my photos
And can break my bones
Right here right next to you
Oh what could we do?

One’s shots taken with different eyes
More important than he realized
Other shots drunken with blood shot eyes
So destructive and he agonized
Some sad stories just harmonize
Some worlds closer when the sun does rise

War shots fired from a different gun
Fly out faster than a child can run
Oh Liberia, we are just like you

Different bars in the same big zoo
Your sun shines the whole day through
We place eyes between the rails
The same big prison just different jails
Different cells the same big block
Different times the same big clock

Different skin some white some black
Oh we all go back
Two cells at the very start
Same sad sorrow in a different heart
Winters came and damage did
Oh we were only kids
Oh Liberia! Oh what did they do?
Oh to me, to you?

He’d kill for nothing; he’d kill for more
Same devil fighting in a different war
Same child crying in a different room
Same child lying in a different tomb
The same bad sorrow the bad fight
The same bad dream just a different night

Some burn photos, some a bridge
Same young soldier just a different badge
Same bad baggage just a different bag
Same old journey just a different leg
Same young traveller with a different pack
Oh we all go back

All of us get cast adrift
Same kid jumping off a different cliff
I anchor you, you anchor me
Same raft floating in a different sea

I see your house and I see those trees
I smell the surf I feel the breeze
Right here right next to me
Oh you set me free

Same old ruins in the same old spot
Oh we have grown a lot
We grew up and the trees grew tall
Oh I could hear your call
Oh, Oh Liberia!
Monkey see, and monkey do
Monkey tree grew at my ruins too

Same old puzzle the same old plot
Same old story I had forgot
Same old shadow was chasing me
Oh Liberia! Oh you set it free

No roof means the stars shine in
Some day soon we might begin
Seeing things that still could be
Living dreams that wake in me
Hanging in a jungle with a chimpanzee
Oh Liberia!

Some foundations are set in stone
Oh Liberia!
Some old photos just can’t be torn
Oh Liberia!
Some old memories just can’t get burned
Oh Liberia!
Some old lessons can still be learned
Oh, Oh Liberia!
Some old secrets just can’t be told
Oh Liberia!
Some old Winters are still too cold

Some cats don’t get all nine lives
Some dads see through different eyes
Some kids die and some kids live
Some folks take and some folks give

Oh Liberia, oh what could you see?
Oh what could you be? Oh Liberia!

Freedom starts with a different gaze
Living comes in different ways
Writing stories on a different page
Waking up in a novel age
Oh Liberia, oh what could you see?
Oh what could you be?
Oh Liberia! Freedom still lives on in me

The only difference between death and life
The only difference between peace and strife
Between being kept and being free
And the kind of being that we might be

It’s what we see in a different place
Within the space between the bars, 
Between the homes with only stars
Between the worlds, between the wars
Between the worlds between the words
Between the notes
Between the hopes
Oh Liberia!

See no evil only peace
Boat still drifting in a far off sea
See the smile upon my face
Walk a mile in a tiny space
Between the meaning in the lines
Between the memories in our minds
Between the space between you to me
Chimp still swinging in a jungle tree

The Job is not done

Katrina Boguski
October 12, 2011

The job is not done,
Not done, no not even begun
The job, the one you worked for
It’s still there just beyond the door

That loud annoying sound
That woke you late last night
That was opportunity, it finally came around
So go another round and get up for the fight

Just getting to the forum does make you champ
Just getting to the ring doesn’t win the prize
Just get up off the matt, regroup, rework, revamp
Just get up, just show up, just open up your eyes

Brawler that you are prepare another day
Clinch the fighter hitting you,
Your shadows and your doubts
Flash knockdowns do not count as out

You may have kissed the canvas
You may have cussed the referee
You may be on the ropes
But at least you still are free

Motive for a haymaker, motive for a win
Motive for a comeback, Motive for a moment
The one you’re living in
Open up the door and let that chance come in







Talmida


Katrina Boguski
October 5 2011

Talmida and tell me true
What more meaning could I take from you?
Ketuvim and a coat of arms
Kettle drums and no more harm
Kettle boiling for a cup tea
All still learning what to see

Senseless words from senseless fright
Senseless lines and a whole new life
Sentence writ and sentence gone
Whole new life gets carried on
Whole new work and a whole new way
Whole new page gets wrote today

Tell me Talmid tell me too
What more meaning could I take from you?
Learning meanings and living songs
Leaving lines and leaving wrongs
Leaving lines upon my face
Some still learning fall from grace

Simple meanings simple lines
Simple chords and simple rhymes
Simply written in simple time
Working purpose and wanted sign
Working well and making sense
Working soon to pay the rent

Talmida and tell me true
What more meaning could I take from you?
Kitchen parties and kitchen sink
Catching thoughts for you to think
Kesef, coin and copper line
All still working for a different kind

Tell me Talmid tell me too
What more meaning could I take from you?
Understanding hope, in folk
Whole new meaning to invoke
Under siege and overcast
Some still hurting from a tortured past
Hope can move your thoughts from pain
Taking you toward different gain
Give out more than you take back
Hope can give you what you lack

All still learning how to feel
All things turning in a great big wheel
All still walking in different shoes
All still learning different news
Tell me Talmid, Talmida
Tell me truly what you saw
Tell me everything you know
Tell me how the future goes

Some Come Together

Katrina Boguski
October 5th, 2011

Some come together some fall apart
Some come loving with a different heart

Some go over some come back
Some bring peace and some attack
Some live mourning all their dead
Some bleed blue and some bleed red
Some have hunger some have bread
Some come lying in a different bed

Sun comes up and sun goes down
Some start losing what they have found
Some lose heart and some lose minds
Some lose dollars some just dimes
Each one betting on a different game
Each war ending much the same

Moonlit night and a dream
Tender moments with another being
All bring memories of another scream
Projected on to a different screen
Some come together some fall apart
Some come loving with a different heart

Some stories end and some never start
Some notes flat and some notes sharp
Some keys black some keys white
Some come together for another fight
Some sing songs and some fight fright
Some shoot guns and cry at night

Some hold arms and some hold hands
Some come together from different lands
Some shed tears and some shed blood
Some tears flow and some tears flood
Some taste life and some taste death
Some breathe spirit, some just breath

Each wave breaking on a different shore
Each song bringing out another chord
Each foot walking on a different floor
Each spirit walking through a different door
Each priest preaching out a different word
Each soul praising the same old Lord
Each one calling him a different name
Each knee bending just the same

Some tracks lie on different lines
Some truths revealed in different times
Some arrows fly and some just fall
Some friends write but some don’t call
Some get up and some get down
Some guys smile and some guys frown

Some have rhythm some have words
Some come crashing into different worlds
Some have more and some have less
Some conceal and some confess
Some have the excess others lack
Some men working on a different track
Some work breaking on a different back

Some kids will and some kids won’t
Some kid do and some just don’t
Some skip rope and some skip bail
Some be the hammer some be the nail
Some arrows swinging on a different rail
Some bars keeping us in different jails

Some play games and some play songs
Some write words and some right wrongs
Some folks teach and some folks learn
One bridge built another burned
Some graves cry and some graves turn
Some money stolen some gets earned

Some soldiers marching to a different drum
Some cry out for what they’ve done
Some drummers drumming to a different beat
Some soldiers marching home on different feet
Some fights begin with a fleeting need
Some wars started from a different creed

Some take a shot some shoot drugs
Some men hanging out with different thugs
Kandahar and Iraq
Some fall forward some fall back
Some come home Making Waves
Some got lost and some got saved
Some come together some fall apart
Some come loving with a different heart
Some come together…

Words to Mulholland

October, 8th, 2011
Katrina Boguski


Oh hey, hey Mulholland,
Oh hey, hey, old man
You’re a complex hero
I’m a complicated fan

Oh hey, hey Mulholland,
Oh hey, hey old man
You’re a California dreamer,
Born in Ireland

From school, to digging ditches
At the start of your career
Working hard each day,
Rose to chief engineer

You did change one city’s luck
Bringing water through that duct
Taking drought and doubt away
Became the father of L.A

You worked when clipper ships
Still sailed the sea
Though you couldn’t walk on water
You brought life to me

You took a group of hard rock miners
You rocked them night and day
And no matter what they say
You brought the water to L.A.

They could bring L.A. to the water
Or the water to the town
So you took mules, men and whiskey
And you brought that water down

Now I do know there’s more to say,
That your story ain’t all grand
The folks of Owens’ Valley
Lost the water in their land

It was a pretty big diversion,
You know I’ve had my digressions too
But every time I raise a cup
I still think about you

Oh hey, hey Mulholland,
Oh hey, hey old man
Water pipes ‘n heavy drinking
Is how that water run began

Then of course there was that day
At St. Francis dam
When water breached wall
Flooding all the land

Now I know you hung your head
When you thought about that day
I know you envied dead men
In the graves where they did lay

Being father of the city
Couldn’t take the pain away
Oh it wasn’t very pretty
Yeah we’ve all had bad days

Now they blamed you at first
Said ‘cause of you the wall did burst
The fields below immersed,
But they still quenched their thirst

Now hey, hey Mulholland you listen to me
There was something beneath the dam
That you simply could not see

Deep beneath the rock, well below the wall
There was a great big fault
And when that crack let loose
Dam opened like a vault

Oh hey, hey Mulholland,
Oh hey, hey old man
When mother earth is fractured
You don’t stand a chance

So go back to that victory day
When water flowed at will
Go back to that grand cascade
Roaring down that hill

You go back and say
I am the father of L.A.
“There it is; take it”
It flows out everyday

I’ll take my tin cup running
All the way back to you
It started with a vision
One I did have too

Oh hey, hey Mullholland
You ain’t all that bad
Days when I was crying
You were all I had

And now my words are flowing
Gushing like your steam
Oh hey, hey Mullholland
We have all got dreams!

Lullaby Revolution

Lullaby Revolution
Katrina Boguski
October 7th 2011

Oh child soldier lay down gun
Oh child soldier evening’s come
Oh child soldier lay down head
Oh child soldier sleep in your bed

Where do you sing from? I hear you clear
Where do you hail from? I feel you near
Bullets still hailing fast overhead
I cannot sleep now I might wake up dead

Oh child soldier close up your eyes
Oh child soldier I hear your cries
Oh child soldier bullets will cease
Oh child soldier sleep now in peace

What do you mean ma’am? The bullets still fly
What do you mean ma’am? How do you hear me cry?
I cannot see you amongst all this smoke
Day’s worth of killing in blood I am soaked

Oh child soldier I’ll wash it out
Oh child soldier don’t ever doubt
Oh child soldier please sleep in peace
Oh child soldier stain and fear release  

Why do you sing to me? Why do you care?
Why be your sweet words sounding my ear?
Maybe this killing was all I could take
Maybe I’m dreaming while I am awake

Oh child, no child really I care
Oh child, sleep, soon sunrise be here
Oh child rest now others rising too
Oh child slumber they’re rising for you

Who are these people you say rise up?
Who are they fighting? Will more war erupt?
Where do I run now? Where do I hide?
I’m so tired of killing and God knows I tried

Oh child no child they rise up calm
Oh child no child they don’t carry bomb
Oh child they rise up singing instead
Oh child, sleep now peaceful in your bed

I’m too tired to run off too tired to fight
I’m too tired to shoot back and still filled with fright
I am too young to die now I just want to weep
I am too young to die and your song makes me sleep

Yes child, yes child I know your fright
Yes child, yes child still sleep all night
Yes child, yes child I sing you to sleep
Yes child, yes child feel free to weep

O ma’am I hear you my arms growing tired
I can’t hold this gun up but still shots are fired
Enemy surrounds me; please sing to them as well
Maybe they hear you and sleep for a spell

Yes child yes child we sing to them all
Yes child yes child soon all guns do fall
Yes child yes child they hear too
Yes child yes child they’re tired just like you

Children now; enemy no more,
Just another sleepy child starting to snore
Shh! Child Shh! Child do you hear the sound?
Arms are getting heavy arms are falling down
Shh! Child Shh! Child do you hear that noise?
Eyes are getting heavy responding to our voice
 
Oh child turn now turning in your bed
A new revolution fought with song instead
Oh child wars start first with brutal words
Oh child long before a bullet is ever heard
Bullets fly by now, but words fly out too
Oh child peace words fly in lullabies to you  

Tuck in your head now, tight in your bed
Try to sleep softly remembering what I said
Take in the sweet air wafting from the sea
Turn in tonight child listening to me

Ahh I do hear you and hear guns no more
Ahh I do breathe the air wafting from the shore
Ahh I do close my eyes and start now to sleep
Ahh I do thank you for hearing us weep

Good night child, Good night child
Good night children all
Thank you for sleeping and hearing our call

The lullaby revolt has started tonight
The lullaby revolt will win without fight
The lullaby revolt keeps children in bed
The lullaby revolt keeps them living not dead

Sing now! Sing now! Sing now all!
Raise up your voices join in the call
Sing out a lullaby to some child tonight
Lullabies at bedtime are every child’s right

They’re our children now; enemy no more,
Just another sleepy child starting to snore
Shh! Child Shh! Child do you hear the sound?
Arms are getting heavy arms are falling down
Shh! Child Shh! Child do you hear that noise?
Eyes are getting heavy responding to our voice
Shh! Child, Shh! Child Shh! Child Shh!