MY PRIMITIVE JOY  

Sometime last spring in the Cascade Range
When the first warm winds did blow
I watched a river burst its banks
And flood the fields below  

On the ridge looking down
I got drunk on red red wine
It was so good I thought somehow
This sweet world could stay mine 

But I awoke so alone
And darkness traced the trees
And I felt as I left that place
A wild and patterned grief 

Then freed of all sense of pain
Listening for a human voice
I wound my way back through the rain
Forgetting my primitive joy 

I was making love with Cassie
She looked me in the eye
And said “You must not be afraid
Don't look away if our love should die” 

"What do you mean?" I said
She said “I think you know
Love marked in time
In time may go” 

The she smiled and said
”Don't fall in love with what fools enjoy”
But I'd already fallen back
Dreaming... about my… primitive joy   

They say each muttered prayer
From each loosened tongue
To heaven finally flies
That each tender care and dream unsung
Must have a home on high 

But we are born bound in time
Slaves to mystery
And so I wonder if these hopes at last
Will abandon me 

And I'm a fool and I'm in love
With what time destroys
Yet somehow still I'll rest with you
My secret soul, you my primitive joy