Tom Flynn

Keep your pace and stay in line

The train pulls away on time

Race through the turnstiles on the concrete

Fill the aisles and every seat

All through the tunnel underground

The subway hums a numbing sound

Open the doors to the walking feet

Empty faces fill the street

See the Automatic People

Lining up in a row

With a minute to go

See the Automatic People

Moving along

The assembly line

Traffic throbs in the busy street

Masses move to the city's beat

A red light holds back a flood

Every car a cell in the city's blood

Follow the signal as you go

Forced to motion by the flow

Pumped through a vessel you depart 

By the pulse of the city's ticking heart

Daily grind

Absent mind

Pay the toll

Remote control

Move on through

Without a clue

All arrive

Half alive

Time card day

Collect pay

Vacant Stares

Everywhere

Up and down

This over crowded ghost town

Fuel Line

I drive at daybreak

Up before seven

Revin' 'til my engine reels

White steam rises off my blacktop home

The highway under my wheels

This early riser

Wants to reach the horizon

And shift 'til the gears hit a stride

Venture to challenge the scope of the distance

On a fast track freeway ride

Kick this motor headed for a drive

A valley or steep incline

Spirit glows in a fire kept alive

Down in the fuel line

I planned arrival

At destination

Hours before sundown

Delayed on back roads that steered my travels

Through another backwoods town

Cylinders turn as the moon trails my flight

Wherever the course may lead

Every road block left on a rough dirt road

Leaves no chance for cruising speed

That barricade broke the promise of morning

My hopes tangled in a maze

These twisted streets won't kill my desire

To keep the flame ablaze

Gasoline burns through the fuel line stream

The flare flashes dim or bright

Intense as energy I sustain

After the sparks ignite 

Tradition Trains

Once a little boy boarded a train

For a morning ride

The whistle blew as he hurried to his seat

With his mother at his side

Staring through glass at steeples he passed

On churches along the way

Feet tight in his shoes for the Sunday routine

He was told to obey

Minds remain on tradition trains

Rail cars ride through old terrain

Bodies lean on the same routine

In time that rhythm ingrains

On tradition trains

The years rode on, he traveled every week

Doubts clouded his mind

Dreamed of a day to wander alone

On routes he might find

Sat distant in thought in a congregation

Watching passengers fade

They walked down the aisle and stopped at each station

In a drowsy parade

Rusty wheels rumble on boxcars packed like rolling jails

Travel wide open or ride in the narrows of endless rails

The engine shuffles on as he weaves through the crowd

With an eager stride

Escapes to the street to start on his own

Glad to breathe outside

Certain with each pace, he leaves tracks in his wake

'Til the station's gone

The rattle of the train thunders through his brain

As he travels on

Just a Song

I can work on these words 'til the meaning strays

Mold the melody, match it to a phrase

Sing in perfect harmony, still get it wrong

Toy with devices when it's just a song

I'd refine each verse given the chance

Rehearse the rhythm and miss the dance

Draw out the tempo 'til it gets too long

Might obscure the mission when it's just a song

Just a song to release

Soon to let go

As we sing with ease for a short time

The sweet sound won't stay

It plays in flow

As we ring in it's breeze like a wind chime

We can roam on the street to seek a thrill

Park our elbows on the windowsill

Debate whether to sing or string along

Play it straight or swing it's still just a song

A chorus run in constant stream

Sung by a voice in an unending dream

When our palms seem to grasp a little too strong

We can remember it's all just a song

Beautiful

Beautiful, oh what made you

Turn your eyes from this world

Was someone harmed close to you

Over time your dragons grew

Was there a cry, a desperate plea

A burden you could not set free

Could it be that all you had to bear

Drove you to hide within your mind

A shield from the fear you built up for years

Is so hard to leave behind

Beautiful, I never saw

The darkest days you lived through

Home should be the safest place

Free from strife you walked into

With every strike, she could not flee

Still it haunts your memory

Beautiful, a million thoughts

Race like moths inside your head

The buzz around lost and confused

But what you fear won't come true

Someday your mind will let you be

You're beautiful, that's what I see

Your Trail Goes Cold

Some who seek riches will come up empty

When opportunities are not what they seem

Prospectors had to settle

When they missed that precious metal

Let down by that California dream

I'm not one to go rush in

For some fortune no one will ever find

But you made me a believer

A forty-niner with gold fever

To hunt treasure with all sense left behind

I'm a miner in your icy stream

With a pan of your fool's gold

On this chase for your kiss

To warm my lips

There's no trace when your trail goes cold

The night you wrapped your arms around me

Those lips were inviting and free

But your brushed me off so soon

Like a drunk in a saloon

To sweep away with the dust and debris

I hit the mother lode of nothing

Drawn inside your mine

Brought the promises you fed

My wallet lacks the bread

From those schemes you designed

Long Line Waiting

There's a long line waiting

Down at the corner store

Hopeful buyers hunting 

For a bargain they can score

A hollow faced woman

Clad in denim add one more

We stand in line as it grows and winds

Down the sidewalk far beyond the door

In a long line waiting

There's a long line waiting

She says "Heaven comes with a price

We creep up to the counter

Where they dish it by the slice

Though you'll stand for hours

Young man, take a load of advice

It's a rare gold mine, so stay in line

For your portion of paradise."

In a long line waiting

There's a long line waiting

That looks different watching from afar

Those worn out souls

Frayed on concrete and burned on tar

As my feet tread lightly

Through a street lined with idle cars

They can wait for their prize while the moon's on the rise

Found my gold in a sky full of stars

And left the long line waiting

Tick Tock Man

Let me tell you 'bout a foe who haunts humankind

Who fought for control of my mind

I fell prey to his crime

Deceived by time

When his clockwork scheme began

He drove my thoughts to run astray

And dwell on the memory of yesterday

This thief in the night who twisted my sight

Is known as the tick tock man

One day I woke up to the alarm's command

With a bold idea that might seem grand

My wound up brain could not restrain

Desire to work out a plan

You might laugh or disagree

Say I'm fooled by fantasy

But hunger inside fed my need for a ride

To track down the tick tock man

That morning I left on a long desert road

Loaded with baggage quietly stowed

Scorched by the blaze of blistering rays

'Til I covered all I could scan

I combed the sand 'til the night sky shined

But the loss of a woman weight on my mind

While licking my scars my eyes missed the stars

And they missed the tick tock man

I wandered back home consumed by dismay

Fell asleep as a dream started to play

Relived in my head the night she fled

We were due to be wed when she ran

Cast in the scene of this sad nightmare

I touched her face and soft brown hair

Her body and charmes disolved in my arms

And there stood the tick tock man

I longed to run but could not move my feet

No matter how I willed to flee

I knew my secrets, I could see it in his glance

His heartless eyes cut right through me

Our faces locked in a frozen stare

I felt the chill of his icy glare

My insides shook in the grip of his look

Tremors quaked in my hand

He curled his lips and spoke with a grin

"We meet at last where should I begin"

His dead voice droned an inhuman tone

"You dare to conjure the tick tock man

You chased my shadow out in the wild

That's a fantasy fit for the mind of a child

All the places I'd hide and you search outside

Go on catch me if you can

I live on your thoughts in the space upstairs

Where the rent is free and so are my cares

So that's where I've been, there's no place like within

For the home of the tick tock man

You dwell on days gone and your whole life is spent

That's the price you pay for the past you invent

Your regrets conspire and spread like fire

The futile flames you fan

I'm no father time, I don't care about you

But let go of the girl, you might get a clue

I've told you the score but there's eight billion more

Who play host to the tick tock man

I'll make you miss the moment at hand

'Til you cut the last grain of hourglass sand

I grease the gears that drive human fears

You spin for an infinite span"

As those words rang in my ear

I woke in my room as sight became clear

With reason to feel, imagined or real

We all know the tick tock man

Lullaby Your Way Home

Let me take your bags, your flight awaits

It's a long way to the gate

The parking lot is sleek with freezing rain

Walk with me, we'll make it to your plane

Wipe those tears, let your eyes clear

Crying won't make you stay

When you're far away and unravel at the seams

Let music play in your memory and your dreams

Lullaby Your Way Home

Lullaby Your Way Home

It's not time to fall asleep

Here's melody to keep

When long nights creep

And daydreams wander home

Seems you always need to fly away

And obey your job's command

When summer comes there's time for you and me

My calendar marks the week that's free

We'll greet the waves and walk the beach

Warm our feet on the grainy sand

Now you're set for business overseas

Before our skin feels that ocean breeze

I can smell exhaust, watch the curb

Gotta drag this suitcase through

Flow with the crow as you hold my hand

'Til we find our place in line where we'll stand

Got your ticket here, and a short goodbye

One kiss before you go

As you hurry through the gate and disappear

An easy song rings in my ear