I see just a hint of inspiration hanging there
Tantalizing me beyond despair
a vision in the fog
could be a prince, could be a frog
Have I the curiosity to care?

For I'm not sure a poets life's for me
Full of pain, angst and constant agony
Paint my heart upon my sleeve
for the tales that I weave
and publish for the whole world here to see

Could it be though that I suffer for my craft
or has my poetry become my own life raft
am I burned because I write
whether morning noon or night
or am I doomed to be consumed in its backdraft.

Like trying to catch a butterfly out of reach
or counting grains of sand upon the beach
chasing feathers on the breeze
counting colour on autumn trees
the gift of poetry is mine to teach

To find the proper words can take some time
even longer if your poem is to rhyme
Select your rhythm and your style
set your tempo all the while
waiting for the warning bells to chime

You see originality is what you seek
but we're bombarded with so much noise from week to week
The lyrics of a song
can make our masterpiece go wrong
and bring us crashing down from our lofty peak.

But with luck the end result will never show
just how to hard you had to work to make it flow
Touch my spirit, touch my soul
bring me to tears and leave me cold
Show me things only a poet ought to know

You've told me in the past
my eye's show the truth in me
I wonder if you saw them now
just what it is you'd see

Would you see the pain I'm feeling
the disappointment and regret
of losing something never held
yet impossible to forget

Would you see right through the veil of tears
thats building up inside
tears I vowed again I'd never shed
tears I want so much to hide

Or would you see what the world sees
mr happy go lucky me
the guy with time for everyone
in a mask they cannot see

You go to school and study hard for what?
For a job that saps what little life you've got?
You work all day you work all night
And yet you have not a single right
You go to school and study hard for what?

The first one in and the last to leave so what?
You think you're the best employee that they've got?
The more you give, the more they take
You work for free, the more they make
The first one in and the last to leave so what?

So you've been here now for 30 years, know what?
We can get two kids for half the price is what.
As employee you've been top notch
so we'd like to give you this shittly little watch
Are you glad now that you stayed in school, guess not.

How can something that brings so much joy
turn around and cause such pain
It takes you out to bask in sunshine
yet leaves you naked in the rain

It fills your stomach with dainty butterflies
and ***** you in with its **** pout
then the moment you let your guard down
it pulls your guts right out

It leaves a gaping cavity
and an ache inside your chest
makes you feel your very worst
after feeling your very best

Where once you were king of the world
now you only want to hide
building walls that would make Hadrian proud
you lock yourself inside

But alas we are too stupid
our optimism too sublime
because we tell ouselves in a year or two
"it'll work out different this time"

Only it doesn't.

Is it really worth the anguish
is it really worth the pain
is it really worth the effort
just to end up here again?

Is it something that I do
Is it something that I say
Is it something else I could have done
That keeps me ending up this way

The only thing I truly want
is a love I've never known
but it seems it is my lot in life
to end up here alone

If your tomorrow never came,
could you get by on yesterday?
Did you feel you did enough,
say everything you had to say?