From the recording Singles

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Oceanside Cottage

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Poet Billy Collins was asked whether he started by writing cringe-worthy angsty poems in junior high school. Of course, he said. Everybody's born with 200 bad poems inside, and the sooner you get them out, the better.

Well here's one of my 200. It's yet another way of asking why am I the way I am. To serve the heavy contemplation, I retuned my guitar to make it awkward and unfamiliar. It was a struggle to find the chords. So I've suffered for this song, and now it's your turn. ;)

Lyrics

Oceanside Cottage

Scent of that old rented oceanside cottage
Pine, oleander, and boxwood behind
Out on the dunes the sea grasses are dancing
Gray rollers foaming spray fly in the wind

The more I think about it I wonder
Whatever happened to the sleepy-eyed child?
The more I think about it I ponder
Whether to play life domestic or wild

Torn screened-in porch wrapped around it on three sides
Jays and the salted-air gulls call the sun
Though it was home just a few summer days, somehow
I knew inside it was always the one

The more I think about it I wonder
What nudged that light child's nerves off the edge?
The more I think about it I ponder
Where is the power to break through the hedge?

Breathe humid light streaming in through the reed shades
Hear dry cicadas sing afternoon on
Feel sandy heat on the cobble of brick sidewalk
Aching the hours that soon wander gone

The more I think about it I wonder
Why I can't leave the ghost children behind?
Secretive, shy bitterns hide in the marshes
Broad-reaching spinnakers fly in the wind

(c) Dave Nealon November 26, 2020