tamale lady

she set up shop across the street
on Thursday afternoons
with a cooler filled
with tamales
she and her husband
would sell their wares
to the neighborhood folks
and the families
and people would stop 
and ask for their choices
in pigeon Spanish
God bless the tamale lady
wherever you are

she made tamales every night
helped by her daughters
after homework was done
everybody knew
she made the best tamales
under the northwestern sun
she'd smile at you shyly 
and silently help you
to get what your stomach needs
God bless the tamale lady
wherever you are

no one knew what happened
or why they never came back
with the cooler filled
with tamales
some people worried
but nobody heard
what became of them
and their family
if the were taken
in the dead of night
or the bright light of day
God bless the tamale lady
wherever you are
God bless the tamale lady
wherever you are

no easy way

there is no easy way I've found
to explain this ol' world spinning around
I have my theories
I keep them near me
where no one can hear me
I'm confused and alone
there is no easy way I've heard
everything's smothered in too many words
when I think I know something
it turns out to be nothing
but I'll tell you one thing
I'm not going home

full grown man

I went walking this morning
I saw a bluebird sitting on a branch
I would fly like that bluebird
if I ever got the chance
I would rest on tree trunks
I'd eat bugs and seeds
and I would have everything
that a bluebird needs

          oh, but I ain't no bluebird
          I'm a full grown man
          questioning everything
          and doing the best I can

company time

working on the midnight shift
is getting old real fast
this job is more
than just a pain in the ass
I hate to complain
but I know that I am
there's gotta be some way out
of this traffic jam
boss makes a dollar
while I make a dime
that's why I smoke weed
on company time

a problem like you

I need something to look forward to
I need to find a way to make a move
I need to move away from a problem like you
a problem like you
there is nothing left for me here
except an reason to disappear
I've found no other way to make it clear
there's no other way to choose

          you don't want me
          you don't need me
          what I say
          you don't believe me
          where are you
          can you see me here
          what am I to do
          with a problem like you
          with a problem like you

I need something to make me want to live
I need to remind myself if
I'm with you, I'll have to learn to forgive
a problem like you
now, I ain't perfect
I make mistakes
sometimes I'm genuine, sometimes I'm fake
but I don't know if I have what it takes
to do what I have to do

          you don't want me
          you don't need me
          what I say
          you don't believe me
          where are you
          can you see me here
          what am I to do
          with a problem like you
          with a problem like you

walking to your house

I am walking to your house
I am knocking at your door
I am trying to bring us back
to where we were before
but I don't get an answer
that would ease my troubled mind
I once knew where I stand
but I left that far behind

          why don't you believe me
          when I tell you I can change
          whenever you see me
          you look the other way
          

and I'm lonely

I got all the beauty for my eyes to see
I got all sorts of music to wash over me
I can be anything I think I can be
except there's no one around
and I'm lonely

I got books to read about places to go
I got flowers and trees, around me they grow
but I'm down on my knees and all I know
is there's no one around
and I'm lonely

          I keep waiting for this emptiness to end
          there ain't nothing I wouldn't give to make a friend

I got a big screen TV with lots of stars
to keep me from hanging out in sleazy bars
but that won't help till I know where you are
there's no one around
and I'm lonely