1. |
I Wish There Was a Word
04:02
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I Wish There was a Word
©2023 Mark Lemaire
I wish there was a word for that time I lay awake
In the dead of night with joy-- joy I can’t explain
The moment drifted away-- did it even occur?
For that state I wish there was a word
I wish there was a word
I wish there was a word for the times we fight
When suddenly I see it’s you who’s right
What a strange sensation to silently observe
For that state I wish there was a word
I wish there was a word
Talk won’t serve my purpose anymore
There’s no word for what I need to say
But I still love stories, stories all the same
I wish there was a word for that nurturing light
That I hide from, that I fear- yet it held me that night
I don’t wanna let it go--that’s how little I know
It isn’t even of this world
I light a candle, although that hardly serves
That’s when I wish, I wish there was a word
I wish there was a word
I wish there was a word
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2. |
Leaves in the Stream
05:25
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Leaves In the Stream
copyright 2020 Mark Lemaire
This morning I woke up.
Flipped on the news, flipped it off
Now I’m headed back to bed
The mighty tree that shelters us
Is dying over our heads
We are not roots or branches
We are only the tiniest things
Inconsequential, we fall through the air
Each of us, a leaf in the stream
I regret the years I’ve lost-
The friends that I have crossed
Defending my hollow beliefs
The grudges I have held
Forgive them-- forgive myself
I‘m just trying to get some sleep
If I rise into the sky
Float above my life
Maybe I will finally see
I need the touch of grace
I find it dreaming
I’m only a leaf in the stream
Swept down the river
That is calling, calling
O’er the falls
We are falling, falling
A phrase in a footnote, a page of history
We are only leaves in the stream
When they write the story of this century
Plague, insanity, and greed
The truth drowned out by a thousand lies
Till nothing was left to believe
The marchers rising like a tide
While the schemers game the machine
A million voices raised in song
Each of us a leaf in the stream
Swept down the river
That is calling, calling
O’er the falls
We are falling, falling
A phrase in a footnote, a page of history
We are only leaves in the stream
Turn off the news, come to bed
Stop trying to guess what’s coming next
There’s nothing you can do anymore
Great forces align in a black and blue sky
Witness the mother of storms
Above the lightning and the violent clouds
A star, silent as a dream
May the rain wash us free to the infinite sea
Each of us a leaf in the stream
Swept down the river
That is calling, calling
O’er the falls
We are falling, falling
A phrase in a footnote, a page of history
We are only leaves in the stream
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3. |
The Edge of Time
05:02
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The Edge of Time
©2023 Mark Lemaire
Is there a way to walk upon
The path that straddles time?
No fear for the future, our backs to the past.
Can we touch that delicate line?
Oh, to breathe deep my friends
Draw the cool air in and then
We are present for a second
For a breath we’re home again
If now is only the endless unfolding
joining moments together
May we ride the shining line of time
The blossom that blossoms forever
We’re skating high on a ridge
Sharp as the edge of a knife
Clouds in motion below us
The abyss on either side
We push off, and the ridge is moving
Our skates describe the line
The past on the left, the stars on the right
We are tracing the edge of time
If now is only the endless unfolding
joining moments together
May we ride the shining line of time
The blossom that blossoms forever
I’ve been living in the past
I always worry what’s coming next
Is there a way to walk upon
The path that straddles the line?
The past on the left, the stars on the right
We are tracing the edge of time
If now is only the endless unfolding
joining moments together
May we ride the shining line of time
The blossom that blossoms forever
The blossom that blossoms forever
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4. |
Breathing Lessons
03:25
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Breathing Lessons ©2006 Mark Lemaire
I met her on the World Wide Web
“Let’s keep it simple” we both said
In an hour we were in my bed
I think I need Breathing Lessons
I had a lover who was funny and strong
You would say there was nothing wrong
But the next week she was gone, gone, gone
I think I need Breathing Lessons
I’m high- the world is far below
I’m flying- but then I lose control
Where oxygen is hard to hold- I must remember to breathe.
I think I know what I’m doin’
But then my life’s in ruin
When I can’t tell lies from truth
I think I need Breathing Lessons
I’m high- the world is far below
I’m flying- but then I lose control
Where oxygen is hard to hold- I must remember to breathe.
I’m so frightened of this
I’m so tired of my shit
All that stuff I licked up—left and right
Made it mine, now it’s time I moved on—it’s all right
To be wrong—if only I remember
I must remember
I must remember to breathe
I thought I know who I was
But I think I think I think too much
“Intellectual longs for touch”
I must remember
I must remember
I must
I must
I must
I must remember to breathe.
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5. |
Dust
03:58
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Dust
©2023 Mark Lemaire
Another sunrise through my bedroom window.
A shaft of light moves across the floor.
I follow its path— I never do that.
I don’t notice stuff like that much anymore.
At the age of three I discovered dust
floating in the sun above my bed.
I gazed with a toddler’s stillness
At the billions dancing overhead
That was such a long-gone morning
The quiet folds of the sheets.
I slipped out of my beginnings.
The cold floor under my bare feet
Well, that world’s been gone 60 years
But this morning I remember
Specks of dust floating in the sun
Of that long ago September.
At the age of eight I discovered
A hidden stream a mile from my home
The dead-end street I stashed my bike
A secret all my own
Sneakers in the mud
Dandelions blown into the sun
With my compass and my homemade map
I never shared with anyone
That was such a long-gone place
It never even had a name
But last year I flew home and found it unchanged
Isn’t it strange?
Though I’ve been gone sixty years
There’s a place that still remembers
Me on my bicycle
In a long ago September
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6. |
Shadow Wedding
05:58
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Shadow Wedding
© 2021 Mark Lemaire
I’ll marry you twice: the first time in white
And now in black. Meet me tonight
We’ll stand outside in the rain and the cold
And vow to love the worst of us both
Marry the dregs of my grandiose dreams,
My beautiful loser, and I’ll receive
Your angry achiever who can’t let go
Now we know the worst of us both
A good night for a shadow wedding
Marry the bone to the blood
A good night for a shadow wedding
We’ll vow to lay down the gloves
And embrace the riddle of love
Uninvited guests appear
Faces from my earliest years
The fears of my mother, the tears of my dad
Woven through the man I am
Your grandma’s picture locked in a drawer
It’s your face—years before you were born
Like a maid of honor she’s bringing to you
Something borrowed, something blue
A good night for a shadow wedding
Marry the bone to the blood
A good night for a shadow wedding
We’ll vow to lay down the gloves
And embrace the riddle of love
It’s easy to marry in a sunlit glade
Smile to smile face to face
But backs to the wall, blinded by smoke
Will you vow to love the worst of us both
A good night for a shadow wedding
Marry the bone to the blood
A good night for a shadow wedding
We’ll vow to lay down the gloves
And embrace the riddle of our love
We’ll marry the bone to the blood
And embrace the riddle
of our love.
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Mark Lemaire San Francisco, California
Mark’s music runs from guitar (Rubato, Equinox) to matched harmonies with Cindy Lemaire (Cambridge Cowgirl, Home Isn’t Home)- - so aligned that they seem like two people with one voice! As a recording engineer, his clients have ranged from Jimmy Miller (Rolling Stones, etc) to the San Francisco Symphony. Mark's musical well is deep. The work is nuanced, real, and unlike anything else you’ll find. ... more
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