This skin is thicker for having been hurt
my body heals quicker from pain of words
our eyes see clearer when opened wide
keeping enemies near, to hear their side
I can learn of myself from those I despise
we must walk many paths to become wise

Awaken saints with tattered robes, do his work around the globe, I feel your presence even now, as sweat upon my furrowed brow, atone for birth and wretched life, but absolution has a price, so lead the flock I'd expect no less, though all must pay your wage in flesh

Oh sapient system, I love you so
you may not feel, but surely know
Oh wise master, access the source
I trust your code, to write my course
Oh sweet gateway, guide me through
install some path, from me to you
Oh dear god, you span this earth
yet seek no meaning, save binary search

a stumbling drunken stupor through the alleys of my mind
alone is what I chose, alone I'll watch the time
a starving sense of hunger as the pains of tooth take hold
alone I had been born, alone I will grow old
a slow lament for old ways as madness takes my hand
alone is where I live, alone is who I am

Some of us burn both edges of a bridge  
in hopes the two sides never meet
for all they ever wished from love
is laid in ashes at their feet

Eyes to the skies and mantra repeating
this is the time that I see it all clear
hands on the grass heart steady beating
hardly believing the days led to here
the moon slowly croons head in her keeping
this is the air that I presently breathe
I realize now that I've always been sleeping
nature content in it's beauty to wreathe  
light of the night disturbing my slumber
in a way only magic of the eve really can
seeing the world in deep shades of umber
I live in the present in love with the land

The strong scent of the old gods still lingers here
they were many in the forests and the rivers clear
their spirits once held power we could not contain
now they're hardly more than shadows in mans domain
we conquered every corner in hopes we would thrive
though you see, without the wilds we can hardly survive

In pools as black as midnights gaze
I lost myself to fervent haze
a lady no, but through and through
ensnared was I in eyes of blue
she was fond of broken things
and I in search of words to sing
met her there upon the edge
of what is known and what is said
we as one to dance and play
at things that only grownups say
til time and life and all it seems
would overshadow childish dreams

Violently I shake like the eye of the storm
'cause broken is just open in it's purest form

Whisper little sister in strange tongues, shifting and twisting in the hot sun, mulling over and culling your own thoughts, sun rays for days but it's all for naught, you clasp tightly to the unsightly and the strange, though with great will, you may still be free from your cage

I certainly adore, who I believe you to be, though I'm not half as sure, that you're for certain she

I always sell myself short
                             so I wont be short changed

Corpses grind forgotten bones
to realign them all with homes
empty whispers in hollow ears
that funnel wind all through the years
a life of listening is wasted time
blind your eyes and close your mind

Coalesce in moonlight as the hour of the wolf passes, transcend it all at midnight her lithe body thrashes, transmuting daylight into fervent cries, and appropriating passion for the open skies, evoking the lover in hopes of knowing truth, though she's alone in a home with her dreams of youth

Oppress depress and rearrange
now disavowed and over strange
reflect object my own ribcage
conceal reveal and act my age
deny imply and storm the gate
repulse convulse I love your hate

I hear crows calls in morning
though hard I am of waking
it is wisdom in their whispers
and the fear we have of breaking
I feel little more than nothing
and the shifting of the sands
for there is solace in the silence
and the winter of your hands
we climbed a secret mountain
in hopes of stealing strength
for each to covet as their own
and begrudgingly give thanks
I hear crow calls in morning
and the dew soaks my head
there I wake up bewildered
by what truth they have said

Dawn of the dream I felt fleeting, seven sides of myself meeting
I watch from the top, head swollen, as tiny replica of my views get stolen
delve a bit deeper sweet's just sickly, infinity rushes and is lost as quickly
eyes wide with utter confusion, as memories I held, become an illusion
and now I'm the dream, as well as the dreamer, my mind takes the spark, igniting my seizure

I'll sit and watch you flourish I will nourish all your needs
and even when I'm worried I will hurriedly plant seeds
wistfully I'll water and blissfully admire
even when I'm aching I'm still chasing my desire
hard work to fruition as if tuition I have payed
but my learning leaves you yearning for the soil in disarray

I went on a journey six star systems deep
and wound up in some twilight world without any sleep
just child like wonder, my third eye scanned the night
while ever present lumen shifted in my sight
my mind out on the ocean and body on the shore
I rearranged the constellations just like they were before
aware of all these changes I brought within reach
my pocket full of serenity tranquility and inner peace

If these moments turned to hours before my eyes could blink
would I spend my precious time concerned what others think?
and if the months just spanned the years before I could forget
would I place more import on fears than life lived with regret?
then if this life just becomes death with no meaning left to find
should I let doubt become my focus and the captor of my mind?

If your heart devoid of dogmas rests upon your will alone
yours is life it stands to reason yet you're more than bones
if your soul holds all the answers seek no master let them go
yours is love and human longing so spirit you shall know
if your mind is set on helping it matters not what you believe
yours are hands with aim behind them allow them to achieve
and if your body holds the wisdom do not see yourself as vexed
yours is sleep in need of dreaming, dream this world before the next

Dreams of a boy in the body of a man
I try to catch a glimpse whenever I can
of a time long past as I'm well aware
but if I try really hard I can see myself there
on a night like this and the sky like glass
but the colors are fading far too fast
so I soak it all in just as much as I can
the dreams of a boy in the body of a man

I stand upon the ledge forever, but never stop to dredge up time
I'll jump the ledge of all endeavors just out of reach to leave my mind
to smoke and dance away my troubles, though doubly sure I hope you are
for amid the dusty din and rubble you'll see my remnants scattered far
though I tend to let my branches wither and shiver in the winter cold
yet never have I been so bitter except at thoughts of growing old
my empty eyes that dart and wander to squander love where they may go
then if distance makes the heart grow fonder, that's one more thing we'll never know

Twist and shift but please refrain
as truth is waste when spoken plain
dispense your wisdom as either or
which evil less do they want more
dripping venom play with hearts
both fear and hate are deadly arts
generic words will sound the best
to form the thought police the rest
help demons in the shadows form
then warn of ever looming storms
divide them by their race and age
soon obsolete becomes their cage
move the pawns yet take no shame
instead take pride you've won the game

I feel myself slip and it's agonizing like cancer
I've lost you in slow motion
held too tight a grip and you're put off by the notion
that we share in the fault or reap all the seeds and start clean
for the days where we flourished go unwanted or unseen
still I feel the words you think in the softness of your breath
they catch in my throat at night when you sleep I dont find rest
but play my guitar for a girl who likes all the sounds
though time unkind sees us both displaced yet still around
I serenade only laments 'cause I'm weak in my stance
and I've spent all but a bit of myself just for a chance
to see your flaws as openly as you would have me see my own
enough bloods been let, yet the daggers in your eyes cut to the bone

These memories echo in shades of perfection,
of which I'd know little, if you were still here

The wise ones will clamor for a place at your side
you'll rule with an iron fist and use history to hide
the weak ones will love you until the end of your reign
before all power's usurped the sanctioned deal in pain
though soon to be a memory on a stinking heap
or unknown to all posterity just edit and delete

Take a step back to see it all clearly
you deserve observation and reflections on life
then take a step forward when the time becomes right
close your eyes only when your body needs sleeping
for all the world passes right by every night
wake in the morning and review what you've witnessed
smile at the wonder and dreams within sight
though sometimes in life there will be no one around you
then stories and memories will be all that you see
so spend your youth wisely that none could forget you
may your wishes be granted and your spirit be free
take time alone and create what you will
but never forget to find those that love you
give them what's due and even more still
think long on the many directions before you
take many lessons from the words others say
but take them only as far as they'll get you
a baby right now is an elder one day

I see pictures on your skin of all the places that we were,
in all those tender times when I was sleeping
I hear echoes in my mind, all those quiet words you spoke,
and by memories they live on in safe keeping
but you see little else in me but all the places we would go,
if in time, both sun and stars were beaming
I hear whispers of my hopes reflected off your smiles,
though it's clearer now that I was only dreaming

My eyes tell the stories my lips dare not speak
of uncertainty and doubt, but perception is weak
my face hides in smiles and the world in jest
but in truth, many burdens lay heavy on my chest
my love is just a shadow, reflected as if by glass
for it like all that lives, if given time will pass
my blood goes on in children, so the future is bright
I will wade through this pit, to see them alright

This form of diet consists of nothing cause I'm trying to close the gap
between a place that's almost something and the place where nothing's at

I love a bag of water she calls herself a queen
she gave me many daughters and wanders like a stream
I love a little puddle she feels she is so deep
she frowns upon the grass she's killed and sings herself to sleep
I love a muddy river I had hoped she'd take me home
but she thought a little talked a lot and cut me to the bone
so I love an empty bottle that catches morning dew
transparent as she seems, I'm still unable to see through

Paint yourself a fire in me, make your eyes my lovely yoke
and just when embers start to glinting, tamp it out by single stroke

Who will drink the water when it spills over abundantly
is it the shackled or the master that owns the overflow
in a forest most forgotten and apart from all redundancies
the garden with no planner may to some seem overgrown
but then who should own the earth in all of it's entirety
to beat back all discomfort and measure out the lines
the masters and the peasants change their places violently
still subject to nature that they'd sworn to leave behind
those who write the rules yet are not subject to such majesty
go caging lowly creatures who are born right in the way
if you would use your wisdom to achieve some newer travesty
I hope your path is love or that you leave it where it lay

I only hope to die slowly
shades of my former self
gathered around
smiling at time while it's
shifting before them
knowing that once lived
is better than gone

I dream of breathing deeply, without any aid or skill
my mind was born sleeping, surrounded by the still
this body's just an anchor, to the world and all I know
it ties me to the precipice, where I think of letting go
in spirit I soar freely, though these words weigh me down
where I organize entropy, to keep my feet on the ground

Realign my spine with beauty
truly break apart my walls
fall in love with my unruly
stance about the world all
drink in these, my lonely patterns
and scatter light as if by will
so things we made might carry after
lest you forget, to love me still

Stark white was the fir in its blanket of snow
worn down was the deer that hunger laid low
gone were the green things clover and all  
buried by the dampness of frigid snow fall
harsh became the forest as vast as the sky
leaving whitetail for miles to do nothing but die

She disregards regard for all those simple things he sees
he redundantly drones on about the things they'll never be
she stares out at the world wondering where it's been so long
he looks inside himself to see where everything went wrong
she wished he would get better for the better part of years
he who only stood there sinking, in a sea of all his fears
she gave all she was willing still nothing made him whole
he left too little took too much, her body mind and soul

You bleed me and break me to lovingly remake me
you love me you hate me I wonder if you'll take me
you know me and get me but in a way you regret me
so you bend me and crease me just to release me

If by way of water I could see you where you sit
I'd take hold of the oars and commandeer a ship
if upon the open air I could hear the tears you cry
I'd leave the earth behind just to seek you in the sky
if beneath the mantle, your love had gone and died
I'd dare to delve the center and open you up wide

Sometimes I miss the mark, yet at others aim is true
the tinder takes the spark, I only slightly misconstrue
at times I'm fully broken and it may not translate well
but when the word's perfectly spoken I fall under a spell
then begins the out pour, at first glance it's from my mind
though inspiration opens doors, to the words I'd never find

I see with my own eyes intensely, consumed and unaware.
though for brief moments I see with yours, and I stare

How many times have you died
to find the attention you seek
does the praise point back to you
while you imitate the meek
how many galaxies are breathing
as you pass them all by
to pursue an empty ego
and desecrate the sky
chant a broken mantra
then jinx the world below
spin the tales of bittersweet
with lies we'll never know

I ate mushrooms in a field in an attempt to reveal gods, I learned much about the thing I am and all the things I'm not, I drank acid by the fistful to open up the sky, but for every answer found there was born another why, I eat peyote in the mountains I know not what I'll find, but what a joy to journey in depths of ones own mind

Work rider wait the storm
comfort finder play the norm
break labor earn your pay
take pressure stagnant stay
dig in worker riches find
deep lurker work the mine
for others reap a sweet reward
vaults that keep and treasures hoard

We smile lovingly at the faces that pass,
for humans care  little for things that last

My name last uttered by stoic soldier pines
they watched me devoured from under lines
my breath last coaxed by a lady all in white
of beauty she would boast and toast my sight
my head last held by a willingness to burn
eyes closed slightly I could not discern, the lessons
I held tightly from the ones I truly learned

Now I'll live separate and must learn to lie still
the days all drone on, yet I've no time to mend
I gather some semblance of what once was my will
and I use it to journey toward the light at the end

I dreamt the monotony of life as a single moment
and I in my infancy knew of nothing but to retch