Anderson's travels have largely shaped this album. "Don't Tempt the Tigress" was hatched on safari in India. "Island Time" was inspired by the island of Viecques, off Puerto Rico. "Dandelions" came from Anderson's neighbors in Durham, Maine. "Beautiful" came about by watching a couple at an airport gate. "I am Her Own" came from the ruins of Tulum in Mexico. All lyrics and music by Azaima Anderson with lyrical help on Cream Puff by Oliver Payne Don't Tempt the Tigress At crack of dawn on velvet feet, I comb the copper trails of Bhandhavgarh. By height of noon I seem asleep, but don't be fooled. I know just who you are. Don't tempt the tigress. I'm waiting for the kill lounging in my finest dress Although I'm sitting still, I'll humble you with one flick of a paw. Don't tempt the tigress. Your tender eyes stare into mine displaying just how safe you feel with me. I draw you in like fishing line. I never give my sympathy for free. Don't tempt the tigress. I'm waiting for the kill. Lounging in my finest dress Although I'm sitting still, you touch my hand and I'll extend my claw. Don't tempt the tigress. chorus: Open up my heart and you are walking into fire. Never underestimate the power of desire or tempt the tigress. The silver moon high in the sky illuminates the remnants of a kill. I lick my fangs, seem satisfied, but don't assume I've ever had my fill. Don't tempt the tigress. I'm waiting for the kill, lounging in my finest dress Although I'm sitting still, I'll humble you with one flick of a paw. Don't tempt the tigress. chorus Island Time Small dog bites the big dog's tail. Big dog barks to no avail. Horse brings traffic to its knees. Walks the road slow as she pleases. Brahma bull moos in the night. Mice just visit. They don't bite. Rooster wakes us. That's alright, it's island time, island time, island time, island time. Cow steps in the swimming pool. Steps right out once she gets cool. Water's out and the phones are down. No problem, they'll come around. Drink the sun until we're tan. Watch the road and eat some sand. Nothing goes quite as we'd planned on island time. Island time, island time, island time. Sco be do ba be do way. Me be wid Olee ba pay. Dippedy do Frito Lay Soak your body in the bay. Seen all that we need to see. The main attraction's you and me. And we don't charge an entry fee on island time. Island time, island time, island time Parting Gift You've lost your taste for rolling in the trash, no longer chew up logs on the lawn. There's no more ball of sheets and blankets on the bed. The perfect yellow lab I love is gone. The sticks you choose are shorter than before. Where's the dog who lived to retrieve? You can't be dying, cause I'm not ready yet. I cling to you and beg you not to leave. When we swam, you towed me with your tail. When we ran, you pulled me up the hill. When I cried, you sat by and licked away my tears. When I was cold you took away the chill. Now you howl you're ready for the end, lying blind, paralyzed on the floor. You gave me everything, you sweet and gentle friend, and now you don't have to suffer any more. When we skied you ran knee-deep through the snow. When we hiked you carried your own pack. When we drove, you watched the road with your head on my shoulder. I'd give anything to have my Caspar back. I ask for a piece of your heart, assurance that a love like ours endures. We hug chest to chest, and with your final breath, I'm kindled by a glow I know is yours. Sweetness I'm fighting off a craving that grips my belly tight. I need a little sweet thing to help me sleep tonight. If I could only have a taste, I'd sugar coat the empty place. I'm reaching out for sweetness, not supposed to cry. chorus: Pouring honey in my tea, wishing you were here with me, sweetness with no headache in the morning. I would feed you with my fingers, stroke you with a feather, save ice cream for sundaes if we could be together. Running through the tidal river, wishing we could float forever, if I had you every day, I'd save dessert for dreams. chorus I'm fighting off a craving that grips my belly tight. I need a little sweet thing to help me sleep tonight, Help me sleep tonight, help me sleep tonight. Dandelions The yellow field stretches before her. She isn't sure she has the time. But she'll try with the patience of 89 years to w**d every dandelion. Her sisters don't care for the garden. Her nephew's not right in the mind. Sharing her secrets, although we've just met, she's weeding the dandelions. chorus: The silver seeds fly and she may lose the race, but the breeze on her cheek feels sublime. She forgets where she is, but she's always at home when she's weeding the dandelions. Her sisters are curling their hair today. They cluck and they roll back their eyes. But hers twinkle cause she's got a job to do. She's weeding the dandelions. Inside me awakens a hunger for the ease of her simple designs. She just pursues what she loves to do, and she's weeding the dandelions. bridge: Three times an hour she tells me, a smile creeping over her face That she was the one who got married, though now she's returned to this place Where the yellow field stretches before her, and she isn't sure she has the time But she'll try with the patience of 89 years to w**d every dandelion. chorus Cream Puff I toss and turn for hours. I'm tangled in the sheet. I need to take a shower to dissipate my heat. I long to plumb your deepness, to wear you on my hips, to plunge into your sweetness, to taste you on my lips. chorus: I can't fight. It's not right. Just one bite is never enough. You satisfy too fast, my cream puff. Again I play the fool. You beckon me to stay behind the glass so cruel in your chocolate brown beret. Quivering with lust, I sink into a dream. I penetrate your crust and I reach your precious cream. chorus bridge: So sweet you give me headache. So rich you give me gout. Fill me 'til you kill me. I just can't do without. Take your kale and beans and rice. Take all that healthy stuff. I would sacrifice my life for just one more cream puff. chorus I Have Carried I have sparkled. I have crumbled. Furnished grandly, later humbled. I have had my large panes broken by a young boy's errant ball. You have pounded, you have fussed, you have covered me with dust. But I have carried you all. I was built by loving hands to withstand the ice and snow. I have sheltered seven families and watched their children grow. I have shaken in the hurricanes, seen trees around me fall, but I have carried you all. chorus: I have cradled and I have carried you. Some day soon I will hear my call. If I go down in decay, I will cherish all the days that I could carry you all. The postman and the teacher, the farmer and the preacher The singer and the mothers, the babies in the hall, The florist and the baker, the cobbler and the Quaker I have carried you all. chorus Swallows' nests adorn my eaves. Red squirrels climb in as they please. Field mice pass the winter safely every year they come to call. I have starlings in my gutters and spiders in the shutters I have carried you all. chorus Beautiful He calls me beautiful. I've never been the kind to turn a head. Now I'm beautiful cause that's what he said. He takes my arm snug as his cane. Goes where I lead him without worry or strain. All he ever wanted were eyes to see. Now he says he sees the world through me. Sometimes he feels a few of the lines on my forehead, or he'll trace the track of tears that I've shed. His brow is smooth. He's conquered his fears. And though he's 70, he's younger than his years. All I ever wanted was someone to care. When I need to see the light, he's there. chorus: Touching my face, he's reading my mind. Who is to say who sees and who's blind. If this is heaven, I'm not surprised. We're all we ever wanted. Our mirrors tell no lies. chorus He calls me beautiful. I've never been the kind to turn a head. Now I'm beautiful cause that's what he said. He calls me beautiful. Cry of the Loon Gus gave away his navy blues, just grateful he survived. He never talks of friends who drowned. It only makes him cry. But salt's in his blood. He sleeps on a boat where the waves can wash nightmares away. Whenever I visit, he picks up a skillet and shares what he caught that day. chorus: Behind the calmest facade, the widest of smiles, there's a night without any moon. There's a wailing in the dark, cry of the loon, There's a call with no response, cry of the loon. Their mother flew south, so Gus kept the ducklings too young to fly. He gave them the aft deck, mashed up some corn. By spring, he'd waved goodbye. Gus can't hold a job. I've heard his son tell him, "Old man, you're better off dead." But when Gus talks of birds, he beams me a smile that lights up his toothless head. chorus bridge She's got a secret. He won't talk. We each conceal our hell. The ties that might bind us close are tales we're too scared to tell. chorus One too Many If my mother'd been like you, I'd have worn loafers and drunk cokes Dressed up and played charades, and I wouldn't have had to hid my smokes, mm hmm People say you stole your best friend's man, and gossiped about your separation. Your naps got longer and your drinks got stronger. One too many temptations. Lost your spark. Lost your hope. You told us in your letter. You were the same as other folk. They just hid their vices better, mm hmm hmm chorus: 20 years after you pushed us away, you took your life in isolation. We don't know the facts. Your secret's intact. One too many temptations. If I had pierced your cigarette haze, brightened your dark, warmed your cold We would have played the way we once did before we gave up, before we got old. chorus I am Her Own On lucky days I find a sister in a tree, a cousin in a firefly or shell. Sometimes I believe that nature lives in me, but often I forget what I knew well. I flew to Mexico so I'd remember before the walls of winter closed around me I walked the ruins of Tulum to have my senses stirred until I'd found me. The softness of the heat, the red clay at my feet, the purple sky a feast for tired eyes I savored every gift. I felt my spirit lift with every day's adventure or surprise. It was the kiss of the coatimundi, It was the face of the crone, Ixchel The touch of the shaman's palm. It was the tamarind fruit that fell. The tail of the spider monkey, the belly of the crocodile The heat of a fresh tortilla, the altar in the stone pile The reef in the crystal waters, the baking sun at noon The taste of the guacamole, skinny dip in full moon. A thousand miles from Maine, I have come home. The earth has staked her claim on me and now I am her own. I am her own. I am her own. I am her own. I am her own. Sharp Edges Hot tears on ice blue sheets, half moon, freezing outside Harsh words, hollow apologies/ Said he didn't mean it, but she thinks he lied. Stand tall, stiff upper lip. She won't crumble again 'til one glare and pointed finger Shatters the place her mask has grown thin. chorus: She turns. She hits sharp edges and longs for softness surrounding her heart. Grasping for satin and velvet shelter. No matter what he says next time, she won't fall apart. One step follows another, one breath in and out. One straw. Is it the last one? Time to decide better with or without. bridge: "Please save me. Please hear me," she prays into the wind. Hard to jump from the carousel, to know where to stop and when to begin One step follows another, one breath in and out. One straw. Is it the last one? Time to decide better with or without. chorus