Bring us your dead
your empty caskets
and wilted flowers
bring us your lost hope
and forgotten dreams
because these nightmares
never rest
bring us your despair
your beautiful
little disasters
and we'll close them
all up
in little boxes
bury them
at the foot
of long lost mountains
bring us your sins
and your secrets
and we'll burn them up
and you can be reborn
because all those dead
things are taking up room
and crushing your insides

Sometimes I just wanna feel
all that's right and all that's real
because I don't wanna be numb
I wonder if i'm the only one
with chaos raging in my head
I think of all the times I bled
for others, and their empty hearts
that I don't know just where it starts
the separation from others
sisters and brothers
because I feel like a vessel, a force
when i'm just trying to stay on course
they bleed into me, shed their tears
confess their sins, confess their fears
come to me when they're broken, as if I can heal
when I just wanna be alive (and feel, feel, feel)
something that's mine, don't take that away
always searching for that better day
I feel it building, in my eyes a storm will rage
my insides feeling empty, my heart in a cage
building up walls
just to watch them fall

some nights i can't sleep
because the silence is so loud
and i find my mind wandering
& i won't attempt to lie
when i tell you i'm scared
of where i've been
and the confusion
of not knowing where i'm going
i try so hard to keep the faith
to plaster that smile on my face
but sometimes i cry myself to sleep
because the world seems so big
and i'm not sure which way to turn
because i've never been so good
with directions and choices
some nights i can't sleep
because i'm so exhausted
that i feel tired deep into my bones
and i just wanna rest
but i'm always on the fight or flight mode
running, running, running
from everyone and everything
because sometimes i don't want
people to know me
because people leave
& you're left with memories
that burn and ache
sometimes i can't sleep
because this is when the questions
keep bouncing around in my head
and i don't know how to silence it anymore
but sometimes i just wish
that i could sleep

he liked to play cards
with the old men
at the hospital
where his mama worked
because they'd tell him jokes
that he didn't quite understand
he could laugh and no one
would make fun of him
and sometimes they'd give him
their desserts
sometimes the old man
named George would cry a little
when he looked at him
and that would make him sad
but he said he reminded him
of a boy he used to know
and that he hoped he stayed
just the way he was
the kids at school
called him slow (stupid, *******)
and played tricks on him
sometimes he would cry
but sometimes he would
feel those fists flying
because they hurt him first
and then his mama would cry
because they'd send notes home
and she would say "i have my hands full.
why can't you just try harder?"
so he'd try harder and he'd keep
things to himself
and he wouldn't tell
what it was like when one of his teachers
took him into a closet after school
and made him do terrible things
and he wouldn't tell when
mama got a new boyfriend
and he'd hit him every time
that mama was gone
and he wouldn't tell
how much it hurt
that he knew he was different
but he couldn't change
and he wouldn't tell
when he went into the bathroom
to swallow some pills
because sometimes it's so hard
not to tell

He started out, just a young man
with big dreams and a spot of land
he worked his fingers to the bone
determined to do this on his own
all the people in the town
knew he worked from sun up to sun down
they'd shake their heads with worry
because he never seemed in a hurry
to build a family, find a wife
he seemed content with a simple life
then it happened without much warning
as he was sitting in church on Sunday morning
and he heard her voice, it was honey-sweet
he couldn't calm his heart beat
and when she caught his eye
he didn't stop to question why
no one had ever made him feel this way
gave him so much beauty, reasons to pray
they started courting, falling fast
his first love would be his last
because he was a serious man
who loved his woman, loved his land
and he wanted to build a life
with the lady he asked to be his wife
they were blessed for many years
struggled through laughter & tears
grew together, made a home
she never made him feel alone
she put the song in his heart
put him together when he fell apart
and he loved her, like the sun loves the sky
but now he sits and wonders why
death came slipping like a thief
left him alone in his grief
she was his world, his queen
and he still finds her in a dream
dancing among the silky grass
and he wants those moments to last
how he is so full of life, of love
but then he wakes up
and she's gone, she's really gone

They were country club boys
who wore polos and expensive cologne
riding around in cars
bought with Daddy's money
and sneaking to smoke cigarettes
out in the edge of the woods
and they would mock her
they'd laugh at her
for being “beneath” them
for not having the proper
upbringing or the nicest clothes
until the shadows started to fall
and night crept in
it was her they came to for comfort
it was she who held their secrets
as they'd cry into her arms
and whisper all their thoughts
the boy with the crew cut
who didn't want anyone to know
that he liked other boys
or the boy with the shaggy hair
who hid the bruises where
his father liked to beat him
& she would cry with them
for all the pain they felt
even though it wasn't hers
and they never looked at her
in those moments
like she was an object
or beneath them
in those sweet moments
it was she who saved them
from themselves
from others
& during the days
when they'd shift their eyes
and go along with the jokes
she'd hide a smile
because she knew
this was just the image
and not who they really were

You can't touch me
unless you're so full of intention
& I can see where you've written
promises all over my skin
you can't hold me
unless I know
that there are better days ahead
because i've had quite enough
of people trying to break me
because they can't handle
the way I shine sometimes
and you can't love me
if you don't know me
which is the good and the bad
the secrets I hold inside my heart
all the darkness that I used to know
you can't want me
if you don't try
to keep me
which means never
making me feel
like i'm second best
because i'm not one
to play games
when I know
how short
this life is