the frost stretches its cold hands
across the wind from foreign lands
watch your breath dissolve like smoke
in stars and moonshine and soft fading hope

the night sky is dripping, its eyes are awake
from the red sleeping fox to the quick deadly snake
the leaves are all weeping as they fall one by one
we'll pick up our messes and leave when we're done

the canary is watching, its gaze like a coal
burning straight through you, making you feel whole
there is a promise in the way it spreads its downy wings
the wind whispers around it as together they sing

the clouds are your sisters and brothers and friends
so lay your head down, angel, let's try this again
the lilacs are drowsy with the hope of tomorrow
don't cry, let the rain wash away your sorrow

in the dawn of tonight and the wake of the sun
promise me one thing when all this is done
tell me you'll come when it is my time
on the drop of a penny or the spin of a dime

leave nothing to chance, love, when all things are over
take my hand and i'll wish you a peaceful cross over
i will stand at your graveside and sing you a song
and whisper apologies all the day long.

i've been so sad lately that i had a dream
about someone who truly loved me for me
he was smiling down at me as we danced around slowly
and just for a moment, i didn't feel so lonely
but when i woke up, i tried to remember his name
or the feel of his hands soothing away my pain
but i couldn't even recall his face, despite my endeavors
which is a shame, cause if i could, i would've stayed there forever

great love requires great sacrifice
always has
always will

Heart becomes prison on the horizon!

adoption in the mind of God
perfect love reaches out

arms outstretched
a welcome home.

Walk of the wanton & the reckless,
Dark hallways down those overgrown aisles.
On either end of the political spectrum,
Where festers extremism.

Isles our youth sail to
Before dry the oceans.
Ideas which give way to ideologies
Which therein invite communities
People become entrenched and/or trapped in.

Ravines they claim valleys,
Molehills they pronounce mountains.
Conspiracy & alternate history,
Anti-democratic & superstitious beliefs.
Issues which have little to no attachment to reality,
Arguments repeated which perpetuate only apathy - discord.

Victims of a Maze of & of not
Of their own invention.
Minotaurs, as "monsters,"
Of & of not of their own creation.
These lost to the "Trails."

Fueled by ignorance,
But consumed by arrogance;
Burned in apathy -
Short-lived confusion.

Stay compassionate,
Remain patient.