Getting the words out

Its dark in the street behind you,
I'm listening, but I'm looking over your shoulder
And I'm seriously considering throwing this champagne glass.
Not because Im angry,
but because I love alternate realities as well.
Like you said, lets not rule out the choices that don't make sense.
These are still choices too.
There are ways that quietly fuck with your mind.
Like raindrops that drip back up into the clouds
Or a girl in a white evening dress simply walking at the park
That's what our entire night came down to,
A thousand ways to die, and ten thousand to live.
And each one just as sane as the next.
Do you understand that's what I mean?
Do you believe that this is all make believe?
I hope so. I do.
I mean, I do believe it.
I'm rainbow trapped in a mud-puddle.
Who I am, and what I seem get stumbled up on the way out.
Exactly.

I know you see walls.
But they aren't too keep you out,
I put them there because people are as much afraid
of beautiful as they are ruthless,
I'm not talking about me,
I'm talking about the time I bought twenty dozen flowers
and gave them away to strangers.
Because I have the same hope you do.
That we are all ok. That love is real.
People are scared, even when you just want to give them flowers.
Thats sad yet understandable.
The world wants leaders that believe in purpose.
Because they make us feel like life is worth living.
But I already believe life has worth.
Even without purpose.
So. I will lead that group.
I meant to say, right before I thought about throwing this glass.. that
I miss you. I miss your abandonment. I miss your uncertainty.
It was so good when you didn't know, There are so many people with answers.
Telling us. But we are making it all up.
I laugh because it doesn't matter. What I say. What you do.
Like you said, Lets not rule out the choices that don't make sense.
Maybe I don't make sense.
I'm a rainbow made of mud.





Andrew Tipton

fight no more forever

Just the Ripples

I took a solo trek into the Little River Canyon this week.. to get some inspiration, and for the sunrise. The sunrise there is so beautiful because it happens incredibly slowly.. filtering in through the leaves, the sun comes to the river stone by stone. I woke up well before dawn.. started hiking down the gorge, just so I'd be sure to be there when it arrived.

I met a man named Kyle the night before, right at dusk as I was packing up my books and my wine about to hike out of the valley. I was taking one last look at the river when Kyle walked up smiling and sat down beside me. He was heavyset, southern drawl, sandy brown hair. He asked me my name, and asked if I wanted to hear some stories about this place.. I said yes!
For the next hour Kyle told me about the river.
He told me about coming here as a child, before anyone knew how beautiful this valley was. He told me about diving into the water during a thunderstorm.. how it felt to be alone with the river and the pouring rain. He told me about how life changes.. how people change.. how places change.
He told me, "You can see all the beauty in the world just in the ripples".
I laughed.. I told him that was such a true thing to say,.. and then he laughed.
He offered me some "Early Times" whiskey straight from the bottle.. I accepted. We shook hands.. and I was on my way.






Andrew Tipton

She Loves Me

I feel like sometimes I am walking the thin line. All around me god is kissing the earth.. and I notice how delicate her lips are. You can't help but tilt your head back, close your eyes and hope it rains; its a firece thing to live.
Sometimes the color of her mouth makes me hurt all over.




Andrew Tipton

Fetish

A friend designed this fetish for my dulcimer.. it is made from the wings of four different birds, beads and a wrapped leather chord... I love that these birds are now part of my music. Its as if we're creating songs together.






Andrew Tipton

I'm Not Yours

I don't want to own you. I don't want to hold you so close that you can't breathe. Or for so long that my arms get tired. My arms need space.
I like wondering where you are.. and not caring who you're with.
Because life's made for experiencing people.. all kinds of people.
Its a sexy wonderful thing when we're together,
but I dig it when you aren't around.
My body needs space.
We're so afraid of space..
We're afraid that people won't come back if we give them space.
But we all need space. We breathe space.
I don't want to get used to you.
People get used to things, and they stop marveling.
Like when you get used to the ocean.
Or when you get used to the air in Telluride.
I like it when there are stories between us.
I am not yours.
I am not your reason in the morning to live.
I am not your escape from the shadows of night.
I am not your yours. I need space.
That's what I love about you..
that you aren't afraid of that idea.
That you aren't afraid to let go.
You know that the world doesn't belong to anyone.
So it would be foolish to try and hold onto any of it.
We live with our hands open.
I'm not yours.
Wherever you are.. enjoy life. And I will do the same.




Andrew Tipton

The Fleet

A summer rain storm came out of nowhere today at sunset. I got out to feel the breeze and watch. the sky completely changed into a sea of color right before my eyes - swirlling, twsiting together until it was like molten waves. Then these smaller clouds stared to move in a slow, simultaneous arch to the left, like a fleet of ghost sailboats, out for a cruise before the stars came out to claim them.



Andrew Tipton

Drawing Circles In the Darkness

Andrew Tipton

We Are Us.

Its hard to see through the skin sometimes.
Hard to see what it is. See.
Why it is sometimes. that we are the same thing.
No you. Not a me.
Just the us.
The doves and the antelopes.
The groves and orchards.
The music.
We are all. There is.
I watch science sometimes. See it up close.
See the smallness that makes us the largeness.
All the same. Up down and sideways. The same thing.
Through my skin. Into the air. Through the air. Into your skin.
Our skins.
We wear them together like a blanket.
Around everything. A sheep's skin. A baby's mouth.
A house made out of the ocean. No roof.
Together.
Tell me. Why. That is so hard to see?
To believe in.
If God loves you, then so do I.
Because we're the same. Me and you.
Me and god.
We are us.
You're my heart. I'm your lips.
He's my sweat. I'm her kiss.
They say love is the best thing.
Maybe. We should love ourselves.
And that would take the spaces out.




Andrew Tipton