Do you forget you have the power
to change the way things are
to make it better for everyone
no matter if near or far

If you don't like how its going
stand up and raise your voice
I know it may not seem like it
but there really is a choice

Our leaders are there at our behest
we're the one's who gave them power
but we've forgotten that they work for us
like we came down with the last shower

Just as our votes did put them in
they can also take them out
but we've lost faith in democracy
apathy is winning out

So ask around your neighbors
your family and friends
and see who amongst them's happy
see the message that they send

Then ask them just how many
went out last time to vote
when you ask them why they didnt
you'll find that they've lost hope

So we need to get beyond this
to renew our hope and verve
til then we wont get what we want
but what apathy deserves

Come, lay down here beside me
and hold me through the night
and as I dream don't slip away
please stay and hold me tight

As the night turns cold embrace me
blanket me with love
and as our bodies do entwine
would you fit me like a glove

When the rising sun opens my eyes
will you face be the first I see
Would I awake still in your arms
or would it be just me

"Spare some change?"
you hear me say
but the voice in your head
screams "Go away"

Or you see me there
and cross the street
so you dont have to come
within thirty feet

You look down your nose
at people like me
yet you have no idea
who we used to be

How we were like you
that you probably doubt
but its a trip not far
to going without

It starts when you lose your job
and the money stops coming in
and all of a sudden that buffer
is starting to wear real thin

Then the money saved
becomes money you spent
and you sit there at night
working out where it went

You behind with the mortgage
but not very far
then all of a sudden
they're taking your car

Now you got no job
no means to get round
and hope starts to slide
to that hole in the ground

And next thing you know
you're out on the street
with suitcases and boxes
right there at your feet

And suddenly famlies
are all torn apart
and words fly like daggers
right into your heart

and next thing you know
you are truly alone
with no one to lean on
and no one to phone

and then when you start
just trying to survive
to sleep through the night
and wake up alive

and the friends that you had
are not friends any more
crossing streets just like you
to stay away from the poor

I long to write the words
that move people to tears
to create the perfect poem
that survives throughout the years

I long to paint the picture
that all the world can see
that gives true hope to everyone
not just to you and me

I long to make the statement
that makes people stop and think
that gives purpose, cause and clarity
to paper, pen and ink

I long to live the life
both worthwhile and fair
and pass from this world to the next
in peace and not despair

There is a faded headstone
I walk past every day
I've never stopped to read it
least not until today

The names are hard to make out
and the numbers just a blur
There's not very much to tell you
just who these people were

It seem they were a couple
Mary-Beth and John
She passed away aged 38
He died at 41

I imagine childhood sweethearts
who didn't live that long
A short but long lived love affair
that in death still lingers on

I sit here at my desk again
watching the day go by
Working on the weekend
Why me again, oh why

It's not like I dont have a life
and things I'd rather do
but instead I sit at my desk
looking out the window, feeling blue

And what do I get for my efforts
what makes this all worthwhile
Well to be honest not that much
I dont even get a thanks or a smile

So what say we make this the last one
The last time I sit here like this
Next weekend it will be different
If they dont like it, my *** they can kiss.

You say you pick your battles
I say you run away
You say that its not worth it
So what is this game you play?

A year from now you'll be back
complaining nothings changed
Forgetting how you walked away
and left things still the same

You've been fighting the same battle now
for going on two years
because you choose to walk away
when she turns on the tears

It's not about you being mean
or cruel, even unfair
It's about your right to be happy too
You don't lose that just cos you care

It's time you stood your ground my friend
and finally saw it through
before this fight thats going on
gets the best of you

Your legs go all the way from your flip flops
right up to your cut off jeans
when my momma warns me bout certain girls
I can see you're the type that she means

There's a look in your eye
and a thing in your walk
that i struggle to fully describe
and everyone knows when your man
he'll sure be lucky to survive

you're trouble in a cut offs
so everyone says
but I think you're just misunderstood
and wrapped in that passionate chassis
is a heart that feels nothing but good

so sure I'll go to the dance with you
then maybe down to the lake for a walk
we can sit on the shore til the sun comes up
and listen to music and talk

and when we get back home next morning
and I drop you early and bright
you can guess what the neighbours are saying
but hell we'll know we did right

so trouble in cut offs she aint all that bad
not as bad as you'd like her to be
there's a side of her people don't think of
a side that chose to show me

waiting for something to come in
waiting for something to go out
waiting for something I'm sure of
waiting for things which I doubt

waiting for a phone call
waiting to get off hold
waiting for it to get hot
waiting for it to get cold

waiting for something to start
waiting for something to end
waiting for a nice long straight stretch
waiting for whats round the bend

waiting for her to get ready
waiting for him to turn up
waiting for the play offs
waiting for who wins the cup

just how much of out lives are spent waiting
for things beyond out control
is it a week or a month or a year
wait there while I take a quick poll

There are more than a few
questions in life
that at first blush sound like a trap
like does my **** look big in this
or how do I look in this hat

Or perhaps you've been asked
to guess someone's age
or perhaps even worse guess their weight
to all of these questions the answer should be
to look in their eye, tell em straight.

"I could tell you the truth
as it appears to me
but is that what you want to hear
I get the feeling you know the answer
and getting it wrong's what I fear"

"So if its OK with you I'll pass on that one
and the reason for this is, you see,
While certain answers have
an upside for you
there's just no upside for me."

Last night another soldier
lay down in his cot
and closed his eyes upon the world
a world that he forgot

A world amongst his family
his friends and neighbors too
A world where he's just dad
not some LT's number two

Last night another soldier
stayed awake all night
watching over brothers
hurt and injured from the fight

A night like many other
for this corpsman now deployed
he's face to face with horrors
that no war can e'er avoid

Last night another soldier
went on patrol, did not come back
he fell amidst a firefight
from enemy attack

An enemy he never knew
nor even understood
An enemy he only fought
cos someone thought he should

Last night another soldier
celebrated passing out
tomorrow night this cycle
will repeat, there is no doubt

For each night there are soldiers
who do all of the above
hoping we may know true liberty
freedom, peace, and love

Is there anything so arrogant
as the species we call man
That for reasons of pure profit
interferes with natures plan

So blind we miss the harmony,
the balance thats here on earth.
Instead we change the way things work
to control just what its worth

We change the way that rivers flow
so our hotels can have pools
but we fail to see the value
in keeping open schools

Our priorities seem somewhat warped
twisted and out of sorts
I guess thats to be expected
in the land where money talks

And now the earth is fighting back
against this virus known as man
Global warming is its tool
you see she has a plan.

We miss the point when we rant and rave
about a planet in decline.
Its we who are on our way out
the planet will be just fine.

And two hundred million years from now
when to us, the earth will seem old
It will look back on global warming
as the fever that got rid of the cold

I know a girl who's face to me says everything will be alright
Her smile can take a pitch black room and make it bright
Her eyes sparkle full of life and thoughts of love
She is an angel sent into my life from up above

And when she looks directly at me I just freeze
Like everything I am has just been seized
And captured and embraced within that gaze
Those few seconds always stay with with me for days

Her voice to me is music so melodious and divine
It almost like casting pearls before swine
She must see something that I just cannot see
Whatever it is I am so **** glad it lies in me

I lie awake each morning
looking up at the tiles on my ceiling
count them for a little while before losing count and moving on to something else
the dim light through the window tells me not  to rush
rain awaits or at best grey skies full of nothing good

Dawn colours my room
Its hue a clue to the day
That awaits outside

slowly I stretch, already sad at the lack of sunshine.
Wishing that today, like yesterday I awoke to an orange glow within my room.
On those days I skip the count, stretch, rub my eyes, slip on my robe and greet the day with a hearty hello and firm handshake.
Today I skulk off to the shower, head down, wishing it was yesterday.

when will mankind learn
theres a bell that always rings
to warn us of the changes
it is the cycle of things

we eradicate a pest
and it food source multiplies
its a shame in all our wisdom
we missed that with our eyes

so one problem gets replaced
with one caused by other things
you'd think by now we'd recognise
it is the cycle of things

How much of what we use, is really what we need
and how much do we buy, to feed someone elses greed

We used to open windows and now we buy febreeze
then wonder why the allergies make everybody sneeze

Our homes are airtight boxes, like live-in tupperware
And yet most of us are ignorant to what poisons linger there.

We've been told that if we buy this stuff and do things in this way
Our lives will be much better, than they were just yesterday.

But yesterday the air was clear and you could hear when Robins sang
How did we ever get this far, without ylang ylang?

I cannot wait for Friday night
when its time to fall asleep
as I lay there naked in my bed
into my dreams you'll creep

This happens to me every night
but Friday nights the best
'cause my dreams of you,
wont get disturbed
by alarms or other pests

As I turn my collar to the wind for the first time this year I wonder how much of fall is left. And standing there alone at the shore, the river like glass, I look down to see reflected perfectly, the signs of change. Winters arrival written in the sky to the west.

A pinky grey sky
Winter snowfall beckons me
Hurry home to warmth

A fire's orange lights the room as snow begins to fall. Sat in the sanctuary of home, watching flakes dance on the wind before settling to earth. The mournful moan of the wind punctuated by the snap and pop of logs on the fire. As we fall into winter, this becomes my lullaby.

What is it that I fear,
fear most of all
is it the loss of liberty
or the sacrifice of soul

Do I betray my very self
and keep my life this way
or do I tell the truth and
let the chips fall where they may

Down one path lays liberty
down the other I keep my soul
Is it better to be partly free
or imprisoned as a whole?

You know that little voice,
the one in the back of your head.
I heard from mine the other day.
You'll never guess what it said.

"You know that girl thats on your mind
who's presence makes you smile
well if you asked me I'd have to say
you've been on hers too, for a while"

Well as you can imagine
this caught me by surprise
Did he see something I didn't
hidden there within your eyes?

So now I have a dilemma
please tell me what should I do
Should I listen to the words he says
tell me is it really true?

So you want to take away their rights
its all over the news
but before you check that ballot box
tell me which one would you lose?

You see theres a new rule in this game
if we take away their rights
we have to give up one of ours
we too have to sacrifice

Oh its not fair I hear you cry
and isn't that the truth
you really should have thought it out
before you stepped into that booth

Just because you don't agree
with what someone has to say
does it really justify
taking free speech away?

How can we claim were civilized
if this we choose to do
All men were supposed to be equal
now we're more equal than you?

Sometimes I get frustrated
by things I cannot change
by things that I cannot control
things I cannot re-arrange

I know these things I cannot change
are things I should ignore
but theres something deep inside me
that wont let me shut that door

And perhaps the thing about this
that frustrates me most of all
is that I cannot change myself
so in this trap I'll always fall

It seems without you here
my bed is twice the size
acres of extra blankets
now you're not by my side

Suddenly I've extra pillows
now you need not rest your head
despite never using yours
and sharing mine instead

And nights seem somehow longer
yet i get no rest from sleep
Though not totally without you
as into my dreams you creep

I wish my nights were not like this
and we shared a bed once more
waking in each others arms
all but one pillow on the floor

The only roads worth travelling
start further from the end.
With higher mountains to climb over
and deeper valleys to descend.

To commit to making the journey
is a commitment made to you
to face life trails together
and to always see them through

The first step of this journey
for me began the day
you turned your back upon the others
and started to look my way

But uncertainty surrounds me
about the path that I am on
should I even make the journey
or did I get the signals wrong

Give me a sign to let me know
I am the chosen one
Dissolve these doubts around me
so I can journey on.

When I finally depart this world
and my body's all that remains
Remember I'm now a free man
no more shackled in chains

Send me off with joy not sadness
Remember my life with a smile
For I had my share of ups and downs
but morbidity's not my style

Weave me a casket of wicker
place me high on a funeral pyre
Set me alight to set me free
And drink as the flames grow higher

Let nature take my ashes
and spread them on the four winds
give me one last chance to make it
to those places I never have been

I remember Sunday dinner
that granny used to make
enough to feed an army
piled on each and every plate

three kinds of potatoes
boiled, mashed and roast
Chicken, pork & roast beef
and a glass of wine to toast

and veggies from her garden
that grew right there herself
no canned corn from Guatemala
would you find upon her shelf

there'd be carrots, peas and parnips
brocolli & cabbage too
and anything that wasn't ate
ended up in her famous stew

but desserts, they were the best bit
there was custard, pies and tarts
an the only bad thing 'bout it all
was knowing where to start

The city skyline
so far removed from home
chimney pots and aerials replaced by
redbrick buildings amidst fume stained concrete towers
rooftops infested with rusting air condensers
clematis and virginia creeper replaced by
conduit and cables, the ivy of the city clings to every facade

country life contrast
urban decay cannot last
function over form

I sit and watch the homeless
trying to comprehend
what life must really be like
at societies other end

I complain about my home
being too cold or being too hot
When I really should be thankful
For everything I've got

At night I get a proper bed
Three meals a day I eat
While they sleep in cardboard boxes
with newspapers for sheets

I take so much for granted
have way more than I need
In future I'll remember that,
and feed others, not my greed.

They line up at the kitchen
like they do most every day
half of them not knowing
how their lives turned out this way

They come from different places
no two stories are the same
but its safe to say that none of them
are winning at life's game

There's drinkers and drug takers
just trying to ease the pain
lining up for a hot a meal
not knowing when they'll eat again

Its not until you see all this
that your troubles seem so small
compared to these poor souls
I have no troubles at all

Do not ask my forgiveness
for who am I to you
does it really mean that much
what I say or do?

I am just a man like you
a man like any other
what kind of man would it make me
to not forgive my brother

Revenge is continuity
of everything thats bad
It does not quell its victims wrath
just drives the whole world mad

It's just a single word
that when fully followed through
can end this tragic cycle
that we might start anew

A simple little concept
alas for some too much
the euphoria of justice
has become society's crutch

Forgiveness starts with you and me
it starts right here and now
lets eradicate the ignorance
and show the whole world how.

I thought I understood your pain,
please forgive me, I was wrong.
There was once a time I would have,
but I see now its been too long.

To see the tears well in your eyes,
brings me crashing to the ground.
To think I am responsible,
causes guilt just too profound.

I did not say the words I said,
to try and cause you pain.
But to comfort and console you,
give you shelter from the rain.

I came to say goodbye to you,
and to bury my lost friend,
'cause you never know how short life is,
until you reach the end.

So please forgive me leaving
for its time that I was gone
I will carry you both in my heart
so you'll never be alone.

There's never been a time,
when I had it all planned out
when I knew where I was going
without a shadow of a doubt

The path ahead has always been
unfolding as I go
which way it will now take me
I really do not know

Whats behind me does not matter now
for that I cannot change
but I'd like to know the future
and what fate has pre-arranged

Will it be just more of the same
demons faced and trials passed
or perhaps a change of pace
maybe relationships that last

If I can help to shape my future
this is what I'd like to see
Health and wealth and happiness
and someone who's there for me

So now I've got my order in
lets see what lays in store
as I close my eyes and fall asleep
to dream whats through that door.

The deep dark soulful abyss
draws me in, falling,
losing myself in your gaze
Everything around us drains away
like sand through an hourglass
Wrapped in solitude, silence
only the sound of our breath remains,
getting heavier, heart beating faster
chest heaving in anticipation
anticipation of this moment
this moment where finally
finally we can be free.
Free to love, to make love
to feel love, to share love
Free
Free to be together, to eat together
go to sleep together, wake up together
to be together, completely.
Completely without reservation or hesitation
Completely without fear, or nervousness or doubt.
Completely.
Until that day...

The grandfather clock in the hallway punctuates the darkest moments of my life
Not the plastic passing of time but the deep resounding timbre that you only find in proper clocks
Proper clocks with keys and not batteries, with brass faces and ornate hands.
With roman numerals and not numbers, chains and weights and wheels and chimes.
A sooundtrack lost in the hysteria of day that, but as darkness falls
it becomes the very essence of a sleepless night
.
.
Tick
.
.
Tock
.
.

Another day without you
means another day of waste
Another day to miss
the way your lips do taste

Another day without you
24 more hours gone
To wake up here without you
seems to make the day drag on

Another day without you
without hearing your voice
everything is background
undefinable white noise

Another day without you
meals eaten, nothing savoured
sitting alone at the table
facing food that has no flavour

Another night without you
a bed too big, the night too long
Another moment spent without you
can be nothing else, but wrong

Sometimes a wave of sadness
just washes over me
sweeping all my happy thoughts
right out there to sea

Leaving me awash
in a darkness of my own
I'd hoped this was a phase
by now I'd have outgrown

I don't know where it comes from
or when its on way
But depression always finds me
any time of night or day

And just as without warning
it comes, it goes away
and leaves me reeling and confused
to fight another day.

I write about religion
sometimes yours and sometimes mine
I write about the people
some still here some left behind

I write about my loves
some are living some are dead
I even write bout ***
on the floor and in the bed

And I write 'bout politicians
and the futility of war
and how their self serving actions
appall me to the core

I write about love
and I write about hate
the changing of the seasons
and how I'm always late

I write about ideas
that come into my head
what it feels like to be alive
and what if I were dead

I write about so many things
from different points of view
So for opening the floodgates
consider this write, a thank you.

Why is it when I look for you
you're nowhere to be seen
I can't do this without you
do you know just what I mean?

And other times you're with me
even if I travel far
At home sat on the couch
or when I'm in my car

Where do you go when you're not here
Do you go and see another
Will I find out you have been with them
when they tell about their lover

When they share the secrets of their soul
in words only you would use.
Is that when I will find out
what happened to the muse.

No matter what I do
I'm always running late
To be the last one to arrive
seems to be my fate

I try to get up early
set my alarm just so
But when the buzzer sounds
my body just won't go.

Its the same when I'm at work
like I have no concept of time
Things I expect to take an hour
always end up taking nine

Its not lack of respect
or anything so grand
see my internal hour glass
has a problem with its sand.

I think the sand got wet once
so it doesn't smoothly flow
and now you have to tap me
just to make me go

But I think I have the answer
The sand just has to dry
So I'm off to Bermuda
on a sunny beach I'll lie

My plane leaves at four thirty
got my ticket, know my gate
Arrived here four hours early
to make sure I'm not too late

As I walk up to the airline desk
to check in, get on my way
You're not gonna believe this
my flight left yesterday!!!

How does it feel to read this
and know that its all about you.

When you recognize the moments
what does it make you want to do?

Do you feel somehow betrayed
like your secrets have been shared

Or does it fill you with a certain warmth
to see how much I cared

Does it make you smile to yourself
because you know who its about

Or are truly terrified
in case someone finds out

Fear not for I will tell no one
it is my secret too

The only ones who know the truth
of this tale are me and you

Loved up, twitterpated,
call it what you will,
there really are no words,
to describe the way i feel.

When I hear her voice,
my spirits start to rise,
but pales in comparison,
when I look into her eyes.

When she's around I feel complete,
like all of me is there,
but when we're not together,
I fall victim to despair.

I have no words to describe this,
and I don't know what to do,
because I've never been affected,
the way I am with you.

You ever feel you're on the brink,
of something truly great?
You feel success is imminent
like you hardly have to wait?

But then when nothing happens
you start to give up hope
You feel like a climber
running out of rope

And then for no reason at all
the feeling it comes back
But still the dream is unfulfilled
and you don't know what it lacks.

Well that's been me for some time now
teetering on the brink
I'm sure when it comes it will be great
but this waiting sure does stink

So come on fate, show your cards
at least give me a clue
if this "something great" will come to pass
or if there's more I need to do.

If my life became a book,
how many pages would there be?
In the gallery of friends and loves,
how many faces would you see?

Would you recognize the chapter,
that covered me and you?
Would reading it bring happy back,
or turn your world blue?

Would there be revelations,
that helped you understand,
the choices that I made,
when I let go of your hand?

And the chapter covering regrets,
would you see your name in there?
Under "People that I truly miss,
those for whom I truly care".

Maybe you would read this book,
and maybe you would not.
Perhaps I'm a part of your life,
you already forgot.

If your life became a book,
how many pages would there be?
In the gallery of friends and loves,
would there a pic of me?

Would you include a chapter,
that covered you and me?
Would it bring a smile to my face
reading how it used to be?

Would there be an indication,
of just what my leaving meant,
would it make me regret me choice,
wish I'd acted different?

In the chapter on Love & Loss,
would my name appear there?
Perhaps under "Losers,
where they went I do not care."

I think that I would read this book,
not just for time to ****.
But because after so many years,
thought of you appear to me still.

As darkness falls I lay in bed
I see you, there you are.
T'was not that many weeks ago
I saw you walking to your car.

Memories of that awful night
replay inside my head
The midnight knock upon my door
to tell me you were dead

And as the tears flow down my cheeks
and I hate that I'm alive
Despite everything we have been told
I chose to drink and drive

I don't know why I didn't stop
I knew it was too late
I figured I could make it home
then get my story straight

I'd been home barely minutes
when they knocked upon my door
as guilt and grief consumed me
I collapsed upon the floor

I know that nothing I can do
can ever make it right
I would gladly sacrifice myself
to undo that fateful night

But now I lie in purgatory
as the cell door it gets slammed
the consequences of my actions
mean I am forever ******

For even when I leave this place
and I'm free from prison walls
I have to live with what I did
and I'm not sure I have the *****

So if I choose that I should die
don't let any tears fall
but make my death a lesson
a lesson to you all

Think twice before you have that drink
Thrice before you get your keys
You don't want be the one to bring
a parents,
childs,
or spouses life,
crashing to its knees.

I appears I'm slowly dying
I just found out today
there's a cancer in my body
as I type it eats away

So now I'm kind of lost
I don't know what to say
All the words that dwelt within me
seem to have gone away

There's a death that lies within us all
we seldom get to see
so in a sense I'm lucky
to see the one that lies in me

So with the time that I have left
I don't know what to do
Should it now become all about me
and less about all of you

So there it is, my recent news
or sentence if you will
its seems that I have to swallow
the bitterest of pills

I have lived my life with no regrets
and there's been mistakes I've made
So I guess I'll see what happens next
when in the ground I'm laid.

What does silence sound like,
does it even exist anymore?
In these days of everything electric,
with their tiny little hums,
and the sound of noise pollution,
everywhere you go.

Is there a place left nearby,
or anywhere on this earth;
Where it's so quiet you can hear the breeze;
Where it's so quiet you can hear the dew,
pool on grassy stalks and trickle down into the soil;
Where it's so quiet the very sound of your,
own breathing seems like an intrusion;
Where it's so quiet that you can hear everything, and yet nothing.

If such a place does exist,
it's only because we haven't found it yet.

She's dancing in the rain
when the heavens open up
She's your favourite herbal tea
drunk from your favourite cup

She's that unexpected note
upon your locker door
She's the twenty dollar bill
you find upon the floor

She's the cold side of the pillow
the first slice of the cake
She's the coffee in the morning
you didnt have to make

She's the right place in the line up
when a new cashier comes on
She's remembering the words
to your forgotten favourite song

She's everything thats good and great
thats happened in your life
She's the one that makes you proud
when you say she is your wife.

I feel like I am lost,
no longer in the race,
just a state of constant free-fall,
tumbling through space.

No sense of where I'm heading,
even less of where I've been.
I must be just about,
the saddest thing you've ever seen.

At this stage of my life,
I was supposed to have it made,
but everythings falling apart,
no foundations ever laid.

So I sit and stare and look around,
at the pieces strewn nearby,
and wonder why it feels like,
my whole life is just a lie.

It feels like a plan.
is the one thing that I lack,
along with passion and commitment,
to get me back on track.

But then self pity, my new best friend
comes along and sits right down
and I wonder why I bother
and once more I start to drown

The love the lives within my heart
for you is hard to find
and being kept apart from you
causes pain of the worst kind
if we both moved in similar circles
I really wouldn't mind
but is it fair of me to ask
that you leave all that behind

I know that what I'm asking
you to leave behind is tough
and compared to what you had before
this place will seem a little rough
so I ask in ways half heartedly
semi humorous, off the cuff
I would hate to end up losing you
because I alone was not enough

I find myself constantly torn
should I go or should I stay
and leave you amidst a better life
while I turn and walk away
to leave would be the noble thing
least to myself thats what I say
in a bid to regain self control
and keep my tears at bay

I wouldn't say that I was polished
if anything I'm kind of rough
and I cannot help but sometimes feel
I could never be enough

I know I can be charming
I do generosity not greed
But I have this nagging doubt
That I can't give you what you need

I know that I could love you
as good as any other man
But will love alone be just enough
to keep hold of your hand

I've seen the life you had before
the designer names and tags
and I know compared to you
I run around in rags

So its time for me to ask you,
please speak honest, true and free
can really say you'd give that up
to build a life with me?

It ok if you're uncertain
or if the answers no
it better that we know this now
so our ways we each can go

I wish you luck with everything
I really truly do
I hope that next time on this earth
I have enough for you