My latest project is a planned album called 'Pantheon' where I do a more modern take on the Greek gods. Sometimes though I like to go straight to the source. So this song describes a summoning of the witch-goddess Hekate as accurately as I can make it. Enjoy - but preferably not at midnight at a crossroads!

The wind ghosts through branches Bare of leaf, slick with dew Full moon reigns over the hard-edged stars In a sky of midnight blue Throws twisted shadows on the rutted dirt Where two roads join and part Like tortured souls in a frozen trance Who wait for their dance to start They buried suicides six feet deep The unhallowed souls of the lost There for the goddess to claim and keep Where these two byways crossed Now darkness takes a firmer shape Ripples like smoke into fur An ember-eyed hound stands there four-square Where once empty shadows were A sigh stirs dust from the ancient path In the light of a pale moonbeam Three shadows stretch from the crossroad's heart Unreal as a fevered dream Like breath held too long the stillness breaks Soft as a spider's thread Where none had burned now three flames leap From the kingdom of the dead Terrifying in her beauty, Framed in the wild torchlight Hekate of the Underworld Child of the star-filled Night Triple-bodied, she owns the dark Maiden and mother and crone No plea nor prayer could bring her forth She answers need alone. The honey and the keys await The fruits of sacrifice Who called the goddess here and why In what need and at what price? True ruler of the darkest night The mistress of sorcery The demon lady of the pale moonlight Goddess, queen and mystery Terrifying in her beauty, Framed in the wild torchlight Hekate of the Underworld The child of star-filled Night

With the forests and mountains all around, it's great to go hiking there. I hope this one captures some of that feeling.

Walk with me - there's a pathway In the shadow of the spruce and mountain pine The sun's not yet high above the mountain And today should be yours and mine I know you'll tell me that you're busy You've people to see and things to sign You can't make memories in an office As you can amid the spruce and mountain pine Walk away, walk away, give yourself today Come out where the air is sweet and pure You don't know what we'll find When the world is yours and mine In the shadow of the spruce and mountain pine Stay with me - there's a cabin Over by that wild hemlock tree Let's pretend that the world ends at this valley And there's no-one in the world but you and me Whatever might become of tomorrow Nobody can take away today We can leave our hearts here in the mountains For the mountains will never go away Why not stay - why not stay? Give yourself today Out here where the air is sweet and pure You don't know what we'll find When the world is yours and mine In the shadow of the spruce and mountain pine

After Lady Belladonna has gone, you try to pick up the pieces. But how to help someone who is hurt too bad to get vulnerable again?

Mike's Cafe and Takeaway, Second Street at 5 pm I'll find him With coffee and the broken dreams He can't put behind him You know the hurt will never show Behind the smile and ice-cold eyes To look at him you'd never know That when he sleeps, he cries There's flesh and blood beside me But he's a million miles away Locked inside his nightmares Not believing in the day He sits beneath the neon light His smile like sun on winter ice I wish that I could make it right With words of comfort or advice All that's left to him is pride So he guards it carefully Locks his sorrow deep inside And fears my sympathy Something deep inside of him Won't let him give in Though he knows surrendering Is the only way he'll win There's real feeling buried deep, Behind the part he plays so well, He doesn't dare to laugh or weep And show himself outside his shell. But I'll go on drifting Seeing where it leads me Mike's Cafe and Takeaway Second street at 5pm He needs me

A while ago I was studying in the city. I lost a friend, and wrote this song soon afterwards.

In the city's bitter winter when the weeping clouds hang low And through the avenues and alleyways The restless breezes blow Scraps of paper, mist, and memories Swirling to and fro And through these icy corridors My lonely soul must go Wandering through the silence, Of the empty neon glow, Every footstep echoes hollow, Down the streets I used to know. Shadows stretch like memories, Whispering your name, And winter keeps reminding me, That nothing stays the same. I walk the ice-cold streets alone With just a ghost to guide me And memories of other times When once you walked beside me Searching for the answers That once I thought I knew Trying to lose illusions That once seemed so true Trying to forget the dream That for a while was you And sometimes, I just don't know If I can last the winter through I walk the ice-cold streets alone With just a ghost to guide me And memories of other times When once you walked beside me I need a spark, a distant hope A flicker in the night Somewhere beyond the frozen dark, And past the winter's spite A place where time will thaw the past, And soften all the pain, And someday when the winter fades, I'll learn to love again.

This is a late night smoochy jazz number. The music is romantic but the song is not.

You play such a pretty game dear I hope I was worth your while Now since I'm going to leave you Let's say goodbye with style We had a very good affair Though I wasn't keeping score I think you'll find it hard to tell Who used the other more In the soft twilight we'll say our goodbye That last embrace where dreams go to die No burning passion in that cool night air But one last time, pretend you care But we had enchanted moments Beneath the star-filled skies We lay back in each other's arms And told such lovely lies Talked of love and romance With just lust in our eyes In the soft twilight we'll say our goodbye That last embrace where dreams go to die No burning passion in that cool night air But one last time, pretend you care Some day you'll find a pretty girl With flowers in her hair Lead her to some enchanted bower Find true romance waiting there But in the meantime sweetheart Cupid will understand If we choose to manage our affairs Without his helping hand.