We are mere custodians
From the cars we drive to the clothes we wear, even the bodies we carefully inhabit all will fall victim to the erosion of time
We focus on material possessions that give us status, wealth & security.
But no amount of wealth can protect against the erosion of time,
like the tide lapping at chalky cliffs, it's ever-present, crumbling into the depths.
Our comfortable lives come at the ultimate cost, the sacrifice of our time.
The possessions we have around us we do not own.
If we're not careful the balance shifts & they begin owning us, praying on our weary minds.
We observe them until our watch is over & we pass the torch or they are consigned to the ash heap of history.
All we can claim proprietary over are moments in time
The vivid collections of joy, happiness & trauma spanning over the decades of our lives.
The embrace given to console a loved one, that perfect Christmas morning, or the way a smile plays out across somebody's face in those fleeting moments of joy.
We guard these moments in time, committing them to memories so they might be used to keep the darkness at bay.
The beauty found in these is their ability to be passed on to one another.
While they may not be physical.
They are in some relevant sense eternal.
Living far beyond the physical world.
Even as our bodies let us down & the slow erosion of time continues its relentless march our protected memories are shared with those closest to us.
So upon leaving the physical world we can be reunited with those we love in some transcendence.
May 3, 2021
May 3, 2021 at 2:43 PM UTC
I’m a stranger in this world,
But I’ve got a story to tell
All about love & heartache,
Through the night as I wake
Jotting down what’s in my mind,
Stuck by the ties that bind
In confusion my conclusion,
This life an illusion
I must express my disinterest,
Of what I see the press
It makes me feel so depressed & alone,
Everybody on their phones
Searching for what no one knows,
Is there meaning in this life
Short & fleeting,
Full of strive
But then my thoughts turn to you,
How you can turn grey skies blue
Your awkward smile,
Pretty hair gorgeous face
Is there room in that scared space,
Next to you where one is two
I see your eyes,
Those flaming symbols of the night
You are a beacon,
That burns so bright
Will you take with my flaws,
Ever knowing I am yours
All my love you deserve,
This higher calling I will serve
To justify this sacrifice,
Is the meaning you give this life
So let me stand by your side,
Hand in hand for the ride
I can’t do this all alone,
Walking through the great unknown
I make my pledge I am yours,
This lack of meaning your love cures
Mar 21, 2019
Mar 21, 2019 at 12:52 PM UTC
As time passes on, I hear many songs
Songs of old, songs of new
Mornings haze, dusks stillness
Lonely nights, city living
County air, summers medows
Winters lonely streets
Death of the old, birth of the young
A guitar, a band, a note, a strum
Busking, travelling, clocks a tickin
Waters flowin, trains a rollin, end of the line
Dreaming, fighting, crying, dying
Oh father of night
Oh father of day
Oh father to you I pray
You require no faith
You are past, present, future
Forever with us
In our cars
In our rooms
In the darkness
Share the joy
Your words
Your chords
Your voice
Guding unyielding to the truth
What's right
What's wrong
What are minds are thinking
What our hearts are feeling
I drift, I flow
Years go bye
You remain
A ship that can't be sunk
A dream that can't be thwarted
Wherever my restless heart wonders
You will be found
Robert Zimmerman we are forever yours
The disillusioned
The faithless
The loveless
The lost
The wiry
Now and forever
Till the day we pass
You're the father
You're the light in the dark
You will never die
Your star burns brightest
In this life or the next
God willing
We'll meet again
Oct 18, 2015
Oct 18, 2015 at 6:08 PM UTC
What is this world
Do I belong to it?
Cheap Drinks
Cheap ****
Is there nothing pure
Pure and meaningful
Something I can hold on to
Hold tight to in the darkness
When the loneliness begins to bite
This can't be the only way
This foolish man
Doesn't know right from wrong
I knew I would come crashing down
Down to earth
Reality Bites
Can't catch a breath
Join the rat race
A race to the top
A race to the bottom
Cruel paths lye ahead
Spiralling through life
On a pre destined **** storm to the grave
I look in my soul
For the strength to fight
There just has to be something, somebody, somewhere who feels as I do
Coke, **** **** and speed
Will numb my wits
At least a while
Lying in bed at night
Shivering till morning light
That's when realities cruel cold grasp takes hold
That's when you know yourself
No as a character
A character you're playing in life's cruel game
In a vain effort to fit in
You're different man
You can't escape
Can't fight it
It's just you
But what do I know
I'm just a man, boy, child
Naked and alone a million miles away from home
No direction, bound by societies expectations
What am I saying
What am I thinking
On this page I'm writing
On this guitar I'm picking
On this road I'm walking
Is there an answer
I've been low
But never this lost
Common there's someone out there
Am I going crazy!
Drinks flow
Dance floors a ravin
The loneliest place on earth
In which I don't belong
Where do I look for this hope
Hope that's a missin
It ain't in no ***** house
Or down a movie stars blouse
That's a meaningless distraction
From the gap that's a burin
Burin away at your soul
The gap that can't be filled with psychedelic pill
That **** just makes your mind feel ill
You look at these people and think
Do I have to be like that
Do I have to follow this path
The path to the bitter end
Where nothing but the abyss awaits me
I want to be remembered for the good I've done
When my ship comes in
Will it be filled with joy and happiness
Or hate and anger
This glorious life is for livin not drownin
Drownin in sorrow
There's purity out there
You've got to search after it
Seek it out
Get up wash, dress face the cruel world head on
Let it know it ain't got you beat
It ain't got you worn down
You're a human being of this world
That you're hear to rise above
Above the river of meaningless **** to a meaningless bitter corrupt end
But you're hear to make yourself know
Making sure your time here meant something
It might be to late for me but there's still hope for you........
May 9, 2015
May 9, 2015 at 10:31 AM UTC
Gather round people I got a story to tell
Call me a romantic but I like to dwell
Dwell on the past & loves that are lost
And sacrifices made at a great cost
There's a darkness in this world that makes it a lonely place
You get blood on your hands and dirt upon your face
It's a bust and it's a beat up but we'll push right on through
Cause baby all I'm ever gunna need is you
Our love will see us through those long winter nights
Grippin each other tight till the morning light
The grimnesses of this would will not see so bad
Because I've got you and for that I'll always be glad
You telling me you're pregnant I'm over joyed
We've got ourselves a darling young boy
Our new lives can finally start
Our beautiful family will never be apart
We moved from the city to the countryside
Our son graduated college oh what a sense of pride
It's a time I remember well my dear
The world seemed glorious and without any fear
But I remember walking with you through those hospital doors
Wonderin what life's worth livin for
To see you get taken so cruelly from me
But from your cursed burden finally set free
In the dark and lonely hours you'll be at my side
Not there in person but you'll always be my bride
There is just one question I got to know
How am I gunna make it though without you??
Jan 26, 2015
Jan 26, 2015 at 2:35 PM UTC
I'm a walkin
These city streets
After midnight
Lost inside my mind
Cities like a dream
Questions rush to me
Consuming my mind
This sense of home
Ever will I find
Cause I'm wearin
My cloak of anxiety
I know somewhere
There's a girl for me
Oh sweet lady
Can you hear the robin sing
Bringing all the joys of spring
Oh is it all in vain?
Anxiety I won't be your servant again
Can you hear me?!?!
I know she's out there
Watin for me
Common, common and set me free
Cause I'm wearing
My cloak of anxiety
I know somewhere
There's a girl for me
Ohh she's got long curly hair
Eyes that pierce though mine
Oh common baby be my be my valentine
Jan 21, 2015
Jan 21, 2015 at 5:03 AM UTC
The shaking stops, numbness ensues
Restless nights take hold
Suppressed negativity rushes to me
Like a title wave of unwanted emotion
When will it stop............?
When will it stop.............?
Dawn breaks over the city
The temptation to reach for the bottle... ever growing
Shaking continues
But this time with rage
Sweat drips from my brow
Drink..........
Drink..........
Drink..........
The voices start chiming in my mind
Diving under cover the bottles clink...
clink.......
clink.......
Empty bottles surround me
Just a drop to relieve my pain
I can't bare this a second longer
The 4 walls of this room, my own person hell
Click!
The electric meter cuts off
Change is hard to come bye
Just empty bottles
Rage flows through me
Smashing up the room I leave
Walk that'll help
People though
People looking
People everywhere
Eyes in every window
Looking.... judging
The agony of the sober anxiety, taking hold consuming my mind
Card rejected a new low
I find change for bread
Managed to pay
Sweating uncontrollably
I can see the apartment block
My head clears
Stumbling into the darkness
I look around the room
The sobering realisation
I have nothing, no one but these empty bottles
Oct 11, 2014
Oct 11, 2014 at 1:50 PM UTC
You can't begin to understand what's in my head
As I lye awake all night in bed
Fearing to leave this security
For being hurt by your beauty
You say my problem is I over think
But my mind races quicker than you can blink
It's all to easy for you to blame me
I want these shackles to be released and to be set free
With you I thought I was strong
In your arms is where I belong
Thought I'd finally thrown down my cloak of anxiety
Created by this consumption society
You left when things got heavy
All these emotions you tried to bury
So much of us is left to the unknown
All I've got left is this poem and another sleepless night alone
Aug 27, 2014
Aug 27, 2014 at 11:40 AM UTC
I've lost my sense of home
Walking these city streets so alone
Where do I belong?
Where do I come from?
Questions rush to me,
consuming my mind
This sense of home, ever will I find?
By those around me happy I'm told to be
The house that was my home
So deescalate and unknown
This house can't hold the two of us
I'll pack up my things,
get on that inner city bus
Ride out to the darkness on the edge of town
Lose myself in the faces that frown
Make my way to the river crossing
Falling from the bridge I begin to drown
Until a kindhearted stranger reaches to save me
There's a sadness in his eyes,
a sadness he simply can't disguise
Telling me he also believed the lies
The lies they fed him
The lies that left him homeless and thin
Looking at each other no words are said
I embrace him in my arms, for without him I'd be dead
The simple act of a stranger restored my faith,
my faith in the kindness of man
God might not have for me a master plan
But a second chance to me he granted
Gathering my things I hit the road
Embracing the desire to roam
Out there in the far off distance
A place I can finally call my home.
Aug 18, 2014
Aug 18, 2014 at 7:16 PM UTC
100 Years to the day
We remember the hero’s
Who left behind a nation of widows
Their sacrifice such a price to pay
We sit behind our computers and judge
While the hero's dragged dead bodies through the sludge
The hero's faced the horror of the trenches
The hero's ghosts now reside on manorial benches
From the sky's on London to the battle of the Somme
The brave young hero's fought so very strong
We must not glorify war
But instead question what did the hero's die for?
War is still in the news
With so many more young lives still to loose
To this day war remains a constant threat
100 years on lest we forget
Aug 4, 2014
Aug 4, 2014 at 9:49 AM UTC