When he ran
it was fire that followed.
An orphan with a family.
Remembering all the wrongs in the world.
These false pretenses
will be the death of him.
Forget what the past says,
and just keep running.
Through fire and wind,
change will occur.
Only when it is least needed.
These lies are eating up the insides.
They are making for a dark future.
Regret.
Regret nothing.
Just look for the wrong answers and
find the truth hidden in
this scorched Earth.
When he ran
it was fire that followed.
It was fire that extinguished
the truth.

Damnably grey, I sink into
A lightless sea.  My breath falls
In gasps of air, my eyes
Shut as gas rises.  Dear Pity

May you have my lungs fill with
Cold, watery iron until the
Sharks carry my pieces like
Prayers to fishing boats.

Stuck in the colloid
Of my wasteful life I create
My own shadow - malachite jaw
Swallow me before I am

Forced to burn the belly of
A whale.  Moon thief lends
My paper body a dapple of stolen
Light to dry my soggy skin.

If only the black water could
Clean between my numb ears -
Instead it sits tepid and full of
Mosquitos leaking with eggs and blood.

All I wish is for a wind to
Uncloud me, for air to inflate
Me.  I breathe, I breathe -
More fool I.

I woke up this morning
Sporting a Beret
Speaking in an accent
Parlez-vous francais?

With a scarf around my neck
A pencil thin moustache
Afraid I might have woke up French
A slight giggle to my laugh

With a strong urge for fresh Baguette's
I head to the grocery
I told my cat I'd be right back
He looked at me... Cest la vie

The empire has fallen.
Olympus is on bent knee.
Stars and stripes are no longer stunning.
They are littered among the ashes of American exceptionalism.

This country was to aspire to higher ideals.
Our marble columns were not to be built on the backs of injustice.
These shores were meant to welcome the little guy in us all.
Now, they are littered among the the ashes of American excpetionalism.

Falling back to earth, this place is nothing special.
Patriots stand idle.
The name of the country is being dragged through the mud.
Dirtied by the ashes of American exceptionalism.

We are the devils we always feared.
The ones we swore to protect the world from.
Now, darkened souls torment our government's door.
Riddled by the ashes of American exceptionalism.

Is there hope? Can there be change?
Can we see the error of our ways?
Is this ship too far off course?
Are we guided by half mast American exceptionalism?

Tell me what keeps you up at night
and I might just tell you
What keeps me sleeping through the day