I was never one for rebellion,
Going against the rules was never my thing
I didn’t get a kick out of making trouble
Or starting controversy.

But I learned from a young age to stand up for what’s right
Those were your words, your teachings
And as I stand for the things I’ve learned, and the things I love
I wonder where you are.

I remember when I was introduced to a man who loved the World
Do you remember leading me there?
You told me he forgave even the largest sins
And he could see into my heart.

Now I am standing here alone
Representing a lifestyle I call my own.
And though I know you don’t agree,
What happened to the one who supported me?

The one who told me “God is love.”
But I guess love is only for a few
A chosen breed,
Chosen by you.

I stand here now, unafraid
Knowing all my sins are saved.
And who told you love could be a sin?
Will you ever love me again?

You may see me as a monstrosity,
But I am built by your teachings
Composed of the lessons you taught my young heart
We see the World differently,

But you gave me my start.

Do not bother your articulate tongue
The time for speaking has ended
The thoughts lingering in your mind
Need not be forced out of your lips
Tell me a story without engaging my ear
Explain everything by revealing nothing
The sweet euphony created in silence
Makes a clear canvas for words
Our minds can formulate ideas
To float in the air between us
The World may call on us to respond to its siren calls
But we will pay them no attention.

Saturday,
A blank slate placed in front of an adventurous child
My imagination took me across the globe,
While my feet danced across my backyard.
Freshly cut grass grew into a weeded jungle,
Only a six year old could appreciate.
The sun was only a summersault away,
And I reached up to the sky with my stubby fingers
To form marshmallow clouds into pirate ships, and circus animals
Back when the moon was made of swiss cheese and superheroes really could fly
No one dared to whisper the word ‘impossible’
To a boy who feared nothing

A cushioned seat high above the earth,
Buzzing with power and bloodlust,
Sits empty once more.
Echoes of a thriving kingdom
Are buried by a din of silence.
When rulers abandon their perches,
Palaces crumble.

I’m afraid you can’t see your own delicate beauty
Because I’ve become as addicted to watching you torture yourself
As you have become obsessed with putting yourself through pain
Your porcelain feet, fragile and small
That danced so freely, so intricately
Now stomp through the shards of a broken existence,
The one you created for yourself
You’ve gone back to your torturer
The man who left you broken
Painted his own self-satisfying portrait
With the deep-red stains from your skin
Shall I let you continue
Your broken waltz with destruction?
He leads you
       You let him
            Caught in-side
                  Hyp-no-sis
        Mind con-trol

Will a fatal cascade be your means of escape?
The fall of a tragic ******
Used to getting her fix,
Your daily dose of pain

When you are mangled and twisted
Bruised with the fresh knowledge of someone else’s cruelty
I’ll cover your wounds
And ease your pain

Help you reset your emotions to be battered again.

I was born into comfort’s cradling arms
And bounced on the knee of a lap of luxury
Raised in an age when the World was coddling
My lullaby was a song of interdependence:
“There’s no need to worry, you’re never alone.”
Quickly, I learned to step like the others,
March like the soldier who never says “no.”
In a land full of freedom, society raised me
To grow into a man without a conscience of his own

Now the World is on fire
And I watch it burn
Smoke rises with prayers from all of Abraham’s children
If I close my curtains
And turn on my TV
I can pretend I don’t see a thing
Put a locked door between myself and the cries of a nation I don’t know
Their burden is not mine.

My car is filled to the brim
An iced coffee in my cup holder
And one of Smashmouth’s two well-known songs blares through my radio speakers
As I pass rolling hills, barbed wire fences, and corn stalks taller than my 1998 Ford Explorer
Everything tastes familiar
The flavor of my favorite drink
A nostalgic song from my childhood
And the pathway home

Set before me is the most gorgeous scenery anyone could ask for
The road that takes me to the place I most want to be
Three grain elevators sparkle with all the allure of the emerald city
Beckoning me forward
Taking my heart back to the place I can always return to
Trees wave their branches covered in elaborate displays of amber and green
As if they know I have returned
The boy who used to climb their thick trunks
With a posse of dirt-clad children from the neighborhood
This place is painted with beautiful memories
And nowhere else can be so inviting
I am home.