And woman
I’m waiting for you
So that my fingers
may kiss your long red hair
& I may touch you once again

--JDM to PKM, in a letter, June 1971




Dark Angel


From a song I wrote for Jim...and also for Jimi, Janis, Kurt...all our lost and loved ones...


Something that we never expected
Something that came as no surprise
Hand on our shoulder cold out of nowhere
Closing our dreaming, opening our eyes...

We only had you while we had you
Should have understood you could never be owned
You were just here on a one-way ticket
We never guessed you were only a loan

None of us ever thought you would leave us
We watched you bank your magical hours
Coining your blood to buy art on installment
We should have known you could never be ours

Never found yourself a place to shelter
Crashed with us when you needed a friend
Hardly even got to unpack your baggage
None of us dreamed there was so much to mend

We only had you while we had you
Didn’t understand you could never be owned
You were just here on a working visa
We couldn't see you were only a loan

Who could have thought you’d run the table
But that’s just the way your loaded dice were thrown
You were in town on a visitor’s passport
Even in our hearts you were always alone

We only had you while we had you
Nobody saw you get sliced to the bone
Nobody heard you bleed out silent
Nobody noticed you leaving alone

I only had you while I had you
Didn’t want to believe you weren’t meant to be owned
You were just mine by the grace of our loving
Even in my arms you were always alone...