The Basement

Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little
temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. B. Franklin

The Basement


Penny on a snowy day.	Isolation on a cliff overlooking Shasta Lake

Penny the killer.


One of my favorite bands: The Beach Boys. These are some of the pictures I took from the front row in 2000. That's Bruce Johnston on the left and Mike Love on the right. They wouldn't autograph the 8-track tape I brought to the show.

Sunrise somewhere on Interstate 5 after an all-night drive.

Into the distance, a ribbon of black
stretched to the point of no turning back
A flight of fancy on a wind swept field
Standing alone my senses reeled
A fatal attraction is holding me fast
How can I escape this irresistible grasp?

Can't keep my eyes from the circling sky
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I

Ice is forming on the tips of my wings
Unheeded warnings, I thought I thought of everything
No navigator to guide my way home
Unladened, empty and turned to stone

A soul in tension that's learning to fly
Condition grounded but determined to try
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I

Above the planet on a wing and a prayer
My grubby halo, a vapor trail in the empty air
Across the clouds I see my shadow fly
out of the corner of my watering eye
I dream unthreatened
by the morning light
could blow this soul right through the roof of the night

There's no sensation to compare with this
Suspended animation, a state of bliss
Can't keep my eyes from the circling skies
Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit, I...

D. Gilmour

Updated September 11, 2004