You are the man I wanted to be when I grew up.
The man who taught me to take care of others.
The one man I would follow to the ends of the earth.
I have always loved you more than any other,
And I haven’t seen your face in fifteen years.

You taught me to love unconditionally,
To live every day like it’s your last,
To never take what wasn’t given freely,
To help anyone in need,
And ask for nothing in return.

There are so many questions I never got to ask you,
So many stories I never got to hear from your lips.
Like how you got your purple heart and bronze star.
I found out years after you died,
When I found the military report,
And as I read of your selfless acts of bravery, I wept.

You laughed like a child,
Wept like a widow,
Had the eyes of an angel,
The hands of a carpenter,
And the heart of a saint.

You taught me that the caliber of a woman,
Can always be seen in her feet.
And the worth of a man,
Is always in his hands.

You were a farm boy.
Poor, uneducated, long hair and no shoes.
Your mother, with her fiery hair,
Couldn’t read a word but
She sure slept with a gun under her pillow.
You knew what it was like to live off the land,
And you inspired me to believe
That we can grow beyond what we’re born into.

But as I’ve grown up,
I’ve learned of your faults.
After all, even saints have their sins.
You were spineless against the wrath of your wife,
You let your daughters be abused
Because you simply didn’t want to fight.
And despite that I’ve always tried to follow in your footsteps,
Help those around me,
Be nice for the sake of being nice,
Never pass judgement,
And greet your enemies with open arms…
The last words I heard from your lips were these,
“Don’t be nice to people, it will only get you walked on.”

Now as I’ve grown up,
I’ve learned you weren’t perfect.
You were just a man.
Perhaps a great man, but a man nonetheless.
And I may not look on you with rose tinted eyes,
But knowing your faults just makes me love you more.
Because now I know that you were made just like me,
You stumbled,
You fell,
You made your mistakes,
You bruised your knees,
And cried yourself to sleep.
I know that I can live up to you,
I can make you proud,
Despite my mistakes.

So I didn’t shed one tear at your funeral,
Because I didn’t believe that you were gone.
And I may cry from time to time now,
But I still know you aren’t really gone.
Because you’re alive in my heart,
In my dreams and my hopes.
Because someday I’ll be a good man,
And that’s thanks to you.

You see, I’ve always wondered
Why I’ve made it through hard times
And harder times still.
Because, truthfully, I’m not quite that strong.
And I know I can’t get by on my own.
So, I think that someone up there,
Is looking out for me.
Holding my hand when I feel alone,
Picking me up when I can’t go on,
Giving me courage when I’m scared to death…
And I think, I wish, I hope and I dream
That maybe,
Just maybe,
That person is you.

We can save the world.
We can wear capes if you want.
My baby brother.

sometimes I feel like a still life
that won't sit right on the wall.
sometimes I feel like a guitar
with one broken string,
so all the chords come out slightly wrong.
sometimes I don't feel at all
and I'm not sure I mind.

I'm a study in grey.
And I've nothing to say
as I paint my portrait of dissatisfaction.

I eat ash with my hands
and ***** ink on the page.
And if I sit real still,
I swear I can feel myself age.

In a room full of silence,
I have conversations
with the space between echoes.

I'm always running,
but going nowhere.

I'll meet you in Big Nothing.

I unlocked your mind you know
just to see what I could see
And if you promise to pay the postage
I'll mail you back the key.

I really hate to interrupt you like this
but could you take your eyes off that blank screen for
just one second?
I'd like to ask a favor of you.
Look into my eyes
and tell me what you see
If you see a heart that's a little off center
and an Italian picnic on a too American
countryside
then I'd like to have a little more of your time

-but-

If all you see is the tear streaked face
of a child trying too hard to be a man
then just keep watching your after-shave commercial

Sittin’ on the corner of 5th and Life
The place where little children sat and made their dreams
Night stretches on past a horizon of endless street lamps
While whispers of time gone by slink across the flesh on stale city winds
And in blind foresight the stars dim and fade
Fade to black and black on white
Sitting in the place where hopes met dreams
When lovers smiled and kissed while the days were still the days
But those days are gone, long gone
While a sigh may just be your soul escaping
My dreams still breath life into this world of everdying sighs
And the dreams are all we’ve got as the lights sink and the cold midnight calm creeps up your neck
Stale sweat and rusted cans dust the forgotten streets
Their eyes focus on the gray in-betweens and thoughts slow down like stagnant honey dripping from yesterday’s wounds
The taste of gunmetal and filterless cigarettes play on taste buds without a tongue
And now I lay me down to sleep and in these dreams my faith I keep
Of hopes and dreams and days long gone
Of better times and happier hours when we were
Sittin’ on the corner of 5th and Life