AUGUST
Underneath the gaslight, down in the street
Gleams the frost like polished granite
It’s the very edge of December
I wonder if you remember
What you felt in August at the lake
I saw your hair in a pile of snow
I stared till I was blind
Cold through my body
Your letters are kind
I tried to write back but nevermind
I was told that you found him, when you moved out at home
That your sister has left for New York town
And this August that lifted the cover off me
Was just another mellow summer for thee
Was just another summer for thee
Was just another summer for me
Copyright © 2024 by Jonathan Binhack
SILVER LADY
She came home from Argentina tonight
To say her world is cleaner now
She fell asleep on my pillow
And her eyes move wildly in a dream
She went to work this very morning
When I was still asleep
She disappeared between two lantern lights
I couldn’t tell if it’s still night
Oh, my silver lady
Oh, my silver bride
I saw her lately
Blending into the light
I saw her dancing in his attic
What can I say, it made me smile
To see her many sweet companions
To be the traitor in her file
Oh, my silver lady
Oh, my silver bride
I saw her lately
Blending into the night
Her eyes have grown darker now
The easy child moved soon
Telling me it is November now
But my garden, still in bloom
Copyright © 2024 by Jonathan Binhack
HOW TO LIVE FOREVER
I found a travel-heart companion
He who’s never seen the canyon
Still he leads you deep into the mountains
Then you’re lost, you wonder why you followed him
Who has these eyes so bright and wise
You could not see beyond his beauty
Now you find yourself in heights
That you have never trained to climb
But that applies to every single matter
That begins with birth and ends in sheets
So white they might reflect the final light
Upon your face as you grow silent
A light upon your face as you grow
For now you think you have to stay
Until somebody leads the way
To springs with waters pure and holy
Though no one came, so you remain
A wanderer who’s driven by a thirst
You cannot still with bottled water
That’s been sold to you for years back in the valley
Have you ever learned to love
Before you took the road above
The clouds which seal the valleys of the mortal
„I don’t know“, you lie because you came that high
To find a path around the ties you forged with every secret lover
The ties you forged with every single one
As they begin to carve your name in stone
You join a list so long and old
Of all the poets who came by here
Like you, they made a choice to cross the bridge
To trust their voice, although the ridge never echoes the unworthy
You look behind to see the life
That others lead, a job, a wife
Discussions how to cook a green banana
Although you know you’re missing out
You wrap your tired head around
The lonely path of how to live forever
Listen, kid, I think you are too clever
Anyhow, let’s talk about the weather
In that canyon we should always stay together
Always stay
Copyright © 2024 by Jonathan Binhack
LADY OF THE LAKE
Got invited by the lady of the lake
Read beside her by the water in the sun
She was here, I was there
There was nothing to be done
So much fun, so much fun
Wrote a song
And I told her she can fold it, make it swim
And if it sinks, well, let it sink
If it sings well, let me sing it
Let me paint in tarnished colors on your mind
Your favorite flavored lilies that were planted in June
Now they die in July, we know why, we know why
The Lake is dry, the pages torn
The summer romance has outworn
I’m in the mood for an interlude
Copyright © 2024 by Jonathan Binhack
BACK TO OBLIVION
That blue-eyed poet who truly speaks to me
Selling millions of shirts by phrasing his words
Far on the road with Dean and his song
I’m highly convinced he found out for long
That even this madman had to come home
Back to Oblivion
And Lara, her heart was born in Paris
Though her passport said she came from Germany
She’s a third generation Marianne
Wearing blue leather coats, drinking coke from a can
Soon she left for the sake of her son
As I’m stepping back to Oblivion
Now I put down some verse like the masters have shown
As you startle my ears with that vibrating phone
I pick it up, put it down again
What’s that texting about? I can’t remember when
My words had that power to move you on
Back to Oblivion
I knew what it was but you proved me wrong
Brother, let’s carry on
I’m the last mortal witness of Babylon
Heading straight
To Oblivion
Copyright © 2024 by Jonathan Binhack
JONNY DO IT SLOWLY
It’s a silent winter night
Can’t spell the name of God
The sink is full of silverware
You’re everything I’m not
I’ve spoken many words about an ocean that was calling
I had a many thoughts about the life I wasn’t living
I came along too easy with teachings of the holy
When you whispered in my ear
Jonny, do it slowly
Just saw your eyes ten thousand miles behind the border
September night with rollerblades tied to her feet
She’s picking figs out of the California night sky
But it is you who glides ahead at walking speed
Tell me
What’s the flavor of an orange peel
Who’s the boy that knew how to read
I got water, I got wine
I got so much time
And I’m living down the street
There’s something I never told you
That only know so very few
It’s a tale of secret lovers
And one of them is you
Copyright © 2024 by Jonathan Binhack
MAYBE IWO JIMA
One day I’ll be off to Lima in Peru
Maybe Iwo Jima or Granada with you
To walk on marble floor where my father’s been before
Oh Boy the times have changed, his story stale and strange
Are you telling me one more
Heading north to Iceland where my father’s never been
Hiking in the highlands in blue waters I swim
A fairy tale of solitude on rocks of black and green
I found I’m just another kid, a white boy playing games
Looking out for unique stories like the other ones I blame
Well, meet me on the ocean with the winds I seek my fate
The strongest mast will sink the ship that has no counterweight
Comes a time you see no shore and you’ll believe you’re free
Comes a time to sing this song to remember me
One day I’ll be off to Lima in Peru
Maybe Iwo Jima or Granada with you
I’ll visit all the ruins where I’ve never been before
And even though it will sound strange
And even though the times will change
I’ll be telling you my story when I’m knocking at your door
I didn’t come for Christmas, the new year has just begun
Wind is cold in Montreal despite the winter sun
Came here to write in solitude and solitude I found
But I’m not writing words of love, I try to sew my broken glove
And tell the ragged morning dove that I feel homeward bound
I sailed pretty far, still my eyes are rather blue
I saw Iwo Jima, in Granada I kissed you
I even flew to Lima but I lost you in Peru
Turns out I wrote rhymes and lines outside a lover’s strict confines
But whenever I feel pure and true
I share my wine and bread or book a room for two
Copyright © 2024 by Jonathan Binhack
BOY MEETS GIRL
The other night, you said I’m shooting for the moon
And I admit that’s pretty high
It came too early and it stained the afternoon
With a perfect promise on an empty sky
Boy dreams of girl
That’s how it was and who we were
Girl dreams of man
Well, if he can
Can you hold my tired eyelids one more time
Close to the lifeline in the palm of your hand
Then I see another sunrise and I taste a stint of lime
And I smell wild roses where it ends
Now they gave me this apartment
With a window by the street
Learned to balance on a needle
Kept forgetting how we bleed
Boy dreams of girl
That’s how it was and who we were
Girl dreams of man
Well, if he can
I don’t say it should be easy
I don’t say it must be sweet
Just simple, just make it simple
Boy dreams of girl
That’s how it was and who we were
Girl dreams of man
Well, if he can
Copyright © 2024 by Jonathan Binhack
HEIGHTS OF VERDUN
Mrs. Johanna
I still hear your grief
About your dead son
At the heights of Verdun
A hundred years ago
He wrote you words he didn’t know
He had to fall in the morning
Far too soon
He was just twenty-two
Madame Marie
I still see your trembling shoulders
You had to suffer all alone
Because your lover left his home
He was buried unknown
At the heights of Verdun
You never read his words
The bombshells erased every letter
My dear Antoine
You’re still standing guard
Waiting for your father to return
Every morning, every night
You never needed a hero
Just a father’s guiding heart
Henri et Antoine
Father and son
Until the heights of Verdun
Copyright © 2023 by Jonathan Binhack
SUNFLOWERS
From one who is young
To one who is cold
Is it war that we need?
I see them falling
I hear your lies
And I stand with the dreams that die
And the sunflowers bloom
You can’t fight the spring
A sunflower blooms on every tomb
The same kind of treason
The same shadow-play
That we saw in 1939
A lifetime ago
When the faces where grey
Seems not so far away
The tanks will corrode
Blue birds will sing
A sunflower blooms on every tomb
I send you my song
In yellow and blue
In white blue and red
I send it too
May be your colors
No colors of death
And remember that you’re only passing through
Your pipe dream is old
And your legacy thin
A sunflower blooms on every tomb
Copyright © 2023 by Jonathan Binhack