Diverting Direction (1978)

The telephone in my dream is silent

It need not ring anymore to remind me

What had been received was already sent

To those who were to blind to see

The doors are locked and will never open

Closed for the future and the past to remember

Reminiscent of some unforgettable sin

That began fourteen months ago in September

The lights have flickered to the dimness of reality

My house is dark and therefore resists reflection

The spirits are lifeless along with their deity

So come forth new ruler and show no rejection

Discovered you were in a school and saw you in a coffee shop

Spoken words from your lips come forth. An interesting conversation.

Alert and wise. Remembers well and doesn't ever wear a watch

Telling time is of no concern. I have been brought to that realization.

Not to know that opportunity fails in places of seclusion

Try again to seek new goals of peculiarity and subversion

Secret places hold riches that hinder desperate intrusion

Knowing if you must what is behind the doors of reversion

Eyes are glancing towards that ceiling of white

Hands busily working with paper and grass

The dream has begun so follow what is right

You walk water when he stains the glass

Don't leave when it is important to stay

Interested enough to seek new adventure

Pleasure in what you may find today

Tomorrow becomes prospective indenture

Not hearing those rings and knocks

Shouldn't bother those who don't care

Importance lies in the future talks

And games of truth and dare

When Deities Die (1978)

As the clouds ascend the windward side

Of mountains blackened by a sorrowed sky

You need remember that a special secret lies

With all those that have spiritually died

From the pagodas of Southern China

To Cambodia's temple of Angkor Wat

No people of this culture could be finer

Then that which inhabits the melting pot.

Those who stood behind your Catholic church

And they who laughed at your graduation class

Seeking a new lifestyle is a desperate search

Losing face is like disowning your caste

If in forbidden places you sought to dwell

And now regret your position there

It's too late to return from Hell

A deep secret with him you now share

Mistakes of previous days on cold floors

Are not erased in forthcoming years

Someday they may knock at your door

You open them and remember the tears

Lest we forget that ten thousand miles away

In fenced in gardens with rocks and trees

Memories seem suppressed and fears allayed

But for one experience you fall to your knees

So establish your concubines well

And make your skills known

But remember your place in Hell

With those you tried to own

To Be The Last One (1977)

Shimmering sunlight of a summer gone by

Lakes of glass shine as if sparkling pools

Now a cold air ushers in a corrosive cry

The water rust brown from silversmith fools

May you make again shine

Water now brown with decaying rust

How has something oh so fine

Turned to misery of wanton lust

How many have gone away

In fear of some dying place

That holds their souls in disarray

By this new and elusive race

They've gone releasing themselves from within

And I am to be the very last

To remain in what others define as mortal sin

Facing the truth of a retched past

Escape! Escape! all my fellowmen say

You are free to leave so do it now

If you do not a price you will pay

For to be the last is to die a Kao*

But I have been captured to live a new way

To be a new person and to adopt a new life

The kind of person that sees no new day

And a hand that in fear grasps only a knife

*Cambodian surname

Oriental Deity (1975)

Tell me of a different land

Where silent breezes blow

And people walk on desert sand

To reach the place they know

The sun and moon have made one pass

Over the bleak and darkened sky

And one can hear the Buddhist mass

Heard over the hills so high

A village is far across the hill

And many people are filled with joy

For now they are at the mercy and will

Of some new strange and powerful boy

He guides them down a jungle road

Where lies a temple black with time

He tells them this is his abode

They begin to chant in harmonious rhyme

Our master has come to save us all

With black hair and sparkling eyes

We kneel to him and praises we call

For his eternal spirit never dies

But evil lurks behind the smile

He wears upon his lustrous face

And the demons for quite awhile

Will plague his special race 

Enlightenment (1975)

Ten days I followed a forgotten road

In the land of total enlightenment

On the eleventh day I came to an abode

To where all faithful souls are sent

I enter a temple decorated in bronze and gold

And walk to the statue I love and praise

It was a powerful leader that I did behold

Kneeling I offer prayers. His soul I raise

I offer a strange and secret prayer

In a language foreign to my own

And a pleasing odor fills the air

My body now spirit. No longer flesh and bone.

Realizing now that new life has begun

I see a light that is not from the sun

Friends (1976)

Friends are people who care
Friends are ones who love
Friends are always there
I place them up above

Friends can always do
What most of all is right
They are like me and you
In the blackness of the night

Don't judge them by their creed
Or even by their color
Friends are people who need
What comes from one another

Friends are a special thing
Wherever they may be
So all rejoice and sing
That they last an eternity

Strange Journey (1975)

Traveling on I see a light
Far across a silver sea
I follow it throughout the night
Until stopping at a bodhi tree

My journey ends at this unfamiliar place
And I fall asleep upon the ground
When I awake I observe a special race
Now comes a strange and eerie sound

I stand transfixed in an unknown world
A strange and violent dance about to begin
Strange people start to twist and whirl
Dark colored men holding knives against their skin

Across the Sky (1975)

Far beyond across the sea
Lies a land of mystery

It lies in jungles bearing fruits
And water trees that have no roots

The seething sun glows a vibrant red
Upon a deep and muddy rice bed

And a strange people from within the hills
Come down to valleys by others wills

Their skins are smooth and shiny dark
Their eyes are black and seem to spark

They come in search of those who are weak
To control and possess them is what they seek

Showing them the pleasures of the body
And wearing fine jewelry that is so gaudy

Desiring only an attempt to feed
And planting some strange and evil seed

Once their sorrowful deed is done
They walk on slowly back towards the sun

Remembrance (1975)

We walked along an endless beach
The clouds drifting through the sky
I looked ahead and tried to reach
All who passed us by

But somehow they have gone
And the sun in brilliance lights the sky
So when the day begins at dawn
He looks at me and wants to cry

Remember life in a silent land
Where a red sun warms a dampened field
And familiar people hold your hand
Then all the pain seems to be healed

A dream of a special life can never end
It will be felt forever in the silent wind

Love and Death (1975)

A boy I see with shining eyes
Black hair that flows in the wind
He stands besides a lake and cries
And thinks of life again

I walk to him but do not speak
And he turns to look at me
Is it love or evil he will seek
As he explores this new country

I kneel to him and bow my head
And tell him of his great power
In some strange way I feel I'm dead
Could this be my last hour

For it is for all of us
Who raise him to the sky
Adoring the idea and filled with lust
He becomes our only almighty high

For he looks across a lake no more
His followers have granted him the key
Now able he opens the secret door
Blind fools they were to never see

Be Like Those You Remember (Part 1) (1975)

Be like the Japanese woman
Who sits and plays the samisen
In melodious tune that tells no story
And remembers to remind us of tomorrow

Be like the Japanese man
Who practices the art of the bow
While silently combining Zen thought
And dreaming of wasted memories

And that of the Cambodian boy
Who grew his fingernails and painted them silver
In hopes that someone would join his soul
And relate their thoughts to him

The Cambodian woman
Who disliked the Vietnamese woman holding her head
Above her child's rice bowl
And placing his hands upon the hashi encouraging him to eat

Oh, our silent memories
How they fade into oblivion
Like the water that shimmered in the fading sunlight
On a lake where we once together mingled in contemplative thought

Be Like Those You Remember (Part 2) (1975)

Be like boys and girls
Who watched the sun rise
Over the misty waters
And greeted a new day

Be like the encouraging and helpful people
Who tried to teach them what they would never learn
And for reasons unknown become transparent spirits
In a life that offers opportunity they cannot understand

Be like the seductive Polynesian
Who dances on a shiny floor
And intrigues you with his mystical coordination
Your mind escaping as your body loses control

Be like the Siamese
Who wore golden rings about their ankles
And watched you as you invaded their kingdom
The sparkling eyes of an unsure civilization

Be like those you wondered about
And how they used you advantageously
Remembering that night when he sat and cried
Curiously wondering how much you cared

Collections of Yesterday (1975)

Is it the Tao that teaches
That life is sorrow
And when we search we seldom find
The secret that makes us happy

Oh samurai sitting sadly in silent solitude
Slowly searching for some secret satisfaction
That some say secretly satisfies

I saw the boy sitting near Angkor Wat
Playing the samisen, watching the clouds,
Searching for peace, replacing the stones
Of a broken wall, silently singing a melodious tune
That whispered through the vines
Happy with life and then he was gone

Be like the Japanese man
Who slowly slides his finger
Across a melodious samisen
And watches the sleeping dragon

Be like the Cambodian mother who dislikes her child
Learning the art of hashi when taught by a Vietnamese
She stands with her head low and secretly
Raises her eyes to observe what has been done

Remember the little boy who offered you the tea
And was it his home you had slept in this past week
And did the tea make you forget or did you want to forget
And what time was it and did you really sleep

As the lake shimmers and reflects
What we all believe to be true
Always remember that misty morning
When you awoke and looked outside

The upstairs bedroom always made us happy
Helping us dream, create, imagine and fulfill
It was always there with the sun on the other side of the house
And the wind during the cool autumn nights
Our memories of a summer five past the seven

Be like the friend you remember
Who sat near a silent lake and cried
Because he could never forget
The way in which you comforted him

Searching for Renewal (1977)

Those dreams and fantasies are coming true
But you exceedingly lose what was so hard to obtain
Now is the time to decide what to do
Count the losses and achieve what you have to gain

Some people are suddenly dramatically interesting
And they seem to be walking roads you've walked before
They stop to observe and intensely listening
Begin to see what you've lost and promise you more

When walking along dusty roads to distant places
Stop at the seductive temples along the way
And step inside and observe the faces
It seems to be the beginning of a new day

Looks like the color of your sarong has changed again
But your infinite direction remains the same
Face the east each day but commit your western sin
It's intriguing to make wrong moves in your game

The characters in the parlor game of Mahjong
Cause you to resort to the reliability of I Ching
Each Geisha with a samisen plays a different song
Little boys always say, I do my own thing

Temples never collapse when you remain inside
Dynasties never fall when rulers are kind
Young men enjoy their seductive pride
Two deities, in both, satisfaction they find

So with careful approach watch your school friends
Behind their secret smiles may be something new
When you've seen top, bottom and both ends
Check the angles. In the temples you find plenty to do.

Let's See What Happens This Time (1976)

Its been just about a year
And I've waited for so long
A strange voice I hear
Telling me something's wrong

Heed that voice or ignore it
Either way it is a continuous call
That which you contemplate and sit
Wondering if it may be nothing at all

Are you frightened of a little boy at your door
Who says he'll come back everyday
And promises to be your everlasting whore
Remaining faithful, loyal but undoubtedly gay

Look back at the pictures and the faces
See the smiles, the secrets and the lust
Remember these memories as traces
Of something you think is a must

Like the quiet rooms with the satisfying boy?
Seems like old times in a place you know so well
He steps in, turns around and acts slightly coy
Everyone wishes you a fine time in a makeshift hell

What's David doing with Sarann? people say
Seems to be with him everywhere everyday
Some think he's hard up, others think he's gay
Not much else to do. Guess he turned out that way

Suppose you'll pay the price or maybe you're all he wants
Find that out by trying what you were told to never do
I guess buying your feelings is worth the daily jaunts
That take you to secret places of deja vu

However, what about your future and how about today
Think about the horrible price you'll have to pay
For enjoying what you could the Oriental way
To little Sarann, you're just another game to play

Make a decision and make it now
Tell your little boyfriend yes or no
He's waited a long time for a why and how
And a which way should I go

Summer of 1967 (1975)

I've been smoking the weed of chance

Of which the autumn breeze will enhance

Take me to a place I know so well

Where people buy and buyers sell

If there are places you would like to see

Then make sure to take a trip with me

And run away to death again

To places you've gone and never been

The boys and girls of yesteryear

Have lost their minds and souls

Remember those who drank their beer

Now only smoke their bowls

His hair is black and her hair is red

It's not just a coincidence

The latter is the one that's dead

Caucasian defies her innocence

There is no reason she should die

For what she cannot comprehend

But then she must not live a lie

Cause she's just getting stoned again

And people you meet along the way

That talk in silent disarray

A mindless conscience soon will die

And along with it the silent high

Timeless tunes of music cry

Singing songs to those who die

And people who have nothing to say

Don't mind wasting another day

Sellers stand on silent streets

And cops patrol their boyhood beats

The ones they cannot catch anymore

Have gone to fight a useless war

Remember San Francisco and Vietnam

Not too many of us give a damn

But we've all learned one lesson well

Our dreams will take us straight to Hell

The boys of Nam were telling lies

To so many of our American GI's

They led them into lives of sin

Dirty memories of Ho Chi Minh

Secrets told before their time

Cause lots of trouble everywhere

Silent, soft and oh so kind

The stories wives will never hear

So now were back and working hard

But friends have gone astray

Our lives will be kept under guard

In each and every way

Those who knew your life before

Have vowed they'll stay behind

Another magical mystery tour

Would not work out this time

An Onward We Must Go (1977)

An onward we must go

To where we do not know

For what we do not care

And why, for who and where?

To know how things will change

To where we rearrange

Our thoughts, our minds, our dreams

As dull as they may seem

A fight to find our place

In the failing human race

And to know on what we stand

To fight, win and understand

The life we take in stride

To hold our heads so high

To realize where we are

And not to go too far

 

Cycle of Perversion (1976) 

The boys we sought to find

And to them we were so kind

We taught them well to know

And watched them learn and grow

Then turned them to the door

And didn't know what for

The lives we chose to own

And now we're all alone

They've gone their separate ways

And onward march the days

When each and every one

Will continue what we've done

Open a Different Door (1978)

This isn't the world you open your door to anymore

There is some place else you desire to explore

And how, why and what it's all for

Is something you left behind another door

The dirt driveway has vanished with the street

And so have all the people you used to meet

No more Christmas, Easter or trick or treat

On a strange land you have placed your feet

It's a different world out there

But for some reason you don't care

The past has been too unkind and too unfair

And you've decided it's time to go somewhere

But people are different and don't understand

You've given up trying to lend a hand

And your smile is imported from another land

As fake as your personality but you don't give a damn

So you've learned a lesson to take along

To a place some say you definitely belong

And whether you feel right or wrong

You say you have waited much too long

It's time to go and leave the place

You seem to think is a disgrace

But are you sure it's not a waste

And you're just trying to prevent loss of face

Remember where you've gone and where you've been

Things you've done that can never be attempted again

It's remembering that if you commit that sin

You'll be at an end with no place to begin

Life will change dramatically for you this year

And it's not as if you were living here

When nights are long and you begin to fear

Remember always that someone is near 

Slanted, Straight and Small (1977)

I understand that you are unable to comprehend

From whence you came and where you will go

There is nothing you have and nothing to send

All is here for you to see and never know

Jump a boat that's taking passengers across the sea

An outlook not yours becomes somewhat of a reality

And when someone asks concernedly if it is something new

Tell them it is something interesting you would like to pursue

So what if you never come back the same

Remember all those slanted and strange

And it's a festive and intriguing game

Losing fortune is to gain some fame

Saw the sky turn yellow over China

And observed the red flag falling to the ground

America thinks nothing could be finer

Then see itself continuously put down

I am black, red, yellow, green and blue

Slanted, straight, narrow, curved and brown

There is nothing to see and nothing to do

I'm walking here, there and all around

Morning is afternoon and night is everywhere

Mountains rumble and buildings fall to the ground

I told them I would never care

And they told me not to come around

I came back slanted and small

An outcast within my society

Off my pedestal I must fall

Into degenerative mediocrity.

They Can Lie (1975)

Strange boy walking along the endless beach

Seeking an adventure he will never find

Neither the clouds nor the sky can he reach

For there are secrets locked in his mind

Little boys learn that they must never tell

What the masters say would destroy them

For their gratification remains in Hell

And with all lust seekers who join him

Mothers and fathers who watch their children now

Lose sight of the misdemeanors they commit

When alone with friends they can make a vow

In rooms with closed doors and candles lit

Authority keeps a son honest and true

Leniency allows him to run from you

The Contradiction of Red (1976)

Is red the color of the sarong you wear?

Be happy then for red is the color of the East

The deities look upon you as an omen fair

They are inviting you to the ceremonial feast

Do not hesitate and honorably accept the invitation

Those who await you are waiting in the garden

They wear multicolored sarongs that hinder speculation

So greet them kindly expecting an understandable pardon

Even though you fail to contemplate their view

Accept it as if it were your own

The color red the generations ensue

And those who wear it are never known

Return now to your rice fields and cultivate them well

Prosperous and virtuous men watch the eastern sky

Red in your sarong, red in the sky and red in Hell

A combination guarantees that faithful skies will cry

Secrets (1975)

Shadows fall across the floor

They join in unison

An experience from the night before

Reflects some lustful sin

Secret things and impure minds

Hold what one should never know

And may no innocent seeker find

The seed no one must ever sow

For if the seed is placed

In a soil that it does not belong

My community will be faced

With an evil destruction to be prolonged

And you and I shall fall

Into a category of mockery

And all the people will call

Our sin a violent hypocrisy

Weed of Chance (1976)

Stand by your kitchen window to smoke the weed of chance

Odors of which the autumn breeze will definitely enhance

Watch the sky of pale yellow and green

A living medley suddenly so serene

The money slips through your fingers

In the air the smoke silently lingers

Pay the price and let them come

Hours of pleasure to which you succumb

Secret circles of sweetness relating only lies

How many have enjoyed their short lived highs?

Roll between your fingers the tobacco of Siam

Think of all the little boys that will surely buy them

By dawn you know not where you are

Reaching for the keys to start the car

And onward down the road of no return

Holding the weed that forever will burn

The windy road is wary of those unaware

Who drive under the influence of something back there

They don't go back from whence they came

Knowing that they have nothing to attain

They risk their lives in unusual ways

Trying to recapture the memorable days

At first to think that they can fly

But then to know that they will die

Next Generation (1976)

See the little boys and girls of 1997

A generation on its way to Heaven

Or it could be Hell they're headed for

They've asked for so little and received much more

Like colorless clouds they cross the sky

Uniform patterns of likeness waiting to die

What have they done that was so wrong?

Possessing a dream and carrying it along

Play the same games all your life

Corrupt your begotten children, desert your wife

It's the time you have been chosen for

Your brother's homosexual, your sister's a whore

Going places you don't want to see

The children like what they're doing to me

And they can't spell, write or read

All desire to commit an evil deed

Don't you read books anymore?

The voices of forgotten lore

And do your parents send you away?

Find something to do! Go out and play!

My friends don't go to school

And who broke the golden rule?

They walk, talk and look the same

My brother's dead for all his fame

And I liked what was going on

Permitted it to happen for so long

We liked what we had become

Stupid, illiterate and practically numb

Fantasy with a Dead Serpent (1975)

Saw a boy standing under the Bodhi tree

Eating curious fruit that really wasn't there

And he enjoyed what couldn't possibly be

As if it wasn't an apple, maybe a pear

I watched him brush his long, silky black hair

And the sun was bright and the air was clear

His body was naked and nothing did he wear

The garden was quiet but not free from fear

The temples were few and the gods were many

A kingdom of smiling faces and empty promises

Their value was worth not more than a penny

And I saw the crucified laid upon their crosses

Suddenly he turned observing me in the trees

And like some lustful sin approaching

I could feel myself dropping to my knees

In awe of what was encroaching

Like the little boys that walk your street

Ignoring your daughters and corrupting your sons

An infestation among those you meet

That is seeking joyless pleasure in each one

As he comes a little closer to you

The sky will turn black and vegetation will die

A danger holding evil that thus will ensue

Turning filthy laughter into horrible cries

You seem to like the paradise you are in

It's gone with a creator that has no name

He spread the lust the preachers call sin

Achieving his fortune by losing his fame

It is a fantasy with a dead serpent

That is crawling to a nowhere place

Is there anything in what was meant

To turn paradise into a disgrace?

Losing the Way (1975)

Young man you must realize and you must know

That there is no place else to go

And something left your life last night

Wonder still if you were right?

There's no sky to look at anymore

And you've forgotten about the door

The one that left your life astray

Find yourself another day

The road was endless and straight

And someone stood alone

Picking up a memory late

And taking it on home

That living memory you can't possess

Is gone and won't return

And what you've done is for the best

The teacher cannot learn

Dreams are those that run away

From friends they cannot trust

Something left your life today

And lost itself in lust

Strangers on the road of life

Become your silent friends

A husband soon betrays his wife

And follows all the trends

Can you turn a road around

And retrace a thousand steps?

The lotus girls, their feet are bound

A hundred years they've wept

Time will tell the reason why

You had the chance to be

The boy who caught the dragon fly

But never drank the tea.

I'm Leaving Tomorrow (1975)

Watching the sleepy sky turn red

Like your body when it's dead

If smoking doesn't give you head

The bong you sleep with will in bed

Keeping you happy is the way

To tell your friends to stay away

Mother says go out and play

But the head shop isn't open today

So lay down and cry upon the bed

Cause someone's messing with your head

The pills you're taking are cherry red

And tomorrow morning you'll be dead

It looks like life is getting you down

And days and nights are spinning around

Your sister walks into the room

And falls into your arms too soon

If love is what you want and need

And incest seems to make you bleed

From your soul and within your mind

Comes the kind of love that's blind

Life is just a blissful seed

Keeping you friendly with the weed

You live and die for what it does

And it get a buzz from what it was

The sky is gray on Saturday

The moon was shining bright

I've lost myself so far away

And cannot see its light

So let me run from whence I came

And leave my life behind

I've lost what I cannot retain

In some forgotten time.

 

And Now I Must Go (1978)

We shall leave behind

What we understand

And forge ahead toward

What we do not know

It's time to run away

To another land

And live in a big city

Called Tokyo

There are lessons to be learned

In places far away

And the past disappeared

A long time ago

I've awoken

To a different day

And have decided

It's time to go

And if and when

I ever return

I'll tell you

Of happiness and sorrow

Because we know

From both we learn

The elements

Of our tomorrow