Hard candy on her tongue
A sweet salvation
On another day clinging to sleep
It rolls around
Then dissolves away
Tickling at senses now long numb

A wilted iris in her eyes
Mere days away from bloom
In a field where colors melt in the sun
They are blown about
Then dissolve away
Saturating scars that sprout here every year

Soft pillows on her head
A clever distraction
From the thoroughfare of men
They breathe hello
Then dissolve away
Leaving a sour and bitter aftertaste

String puppets in her hands
A disembodied redemption
In a heroine's games of right and wrong
They flail about
Then dissolve away
With an austere smile, she clips the tethers

Drip.
Drip. Drip.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Like a flood it takes me over.
Hands of life come ever closer.
Water, tides, and waves crashing.
Simple, sample, teeth ever gnashing.
I call out your name and the echoes shatter.
The shape of our outline never matters.
Simple, sample, tongues ever dancing.
Water, tides, and waves prancing.
Hands of death come ever closer.
Like a flood it takes me over.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Drip. Drip.
Drip.

Terrors in the night again
That slither like serpents in the sheets
I ward them off with manufactured lullabies

Cold sweat runs down my spine
Burning my flesh, yet chilling my soul
I clutch my pillow and dare to dream again

The visions have evolved again
From grey to colors as vivid as your eyes
And I am invested, beyond hope of repair

Under willows, the apathy weeps upon my face
Leaving my guardians paralyzed
And yielding all of the secrets within my bones

Pierced through, watching myself bleed out
I smile a broken, transparent, smile
And drift away, where angels dare not tread

My edges are fraying
My colors are running
My shadows are fading
My dreams are fleeting
Yet, despite all I have lost
I shall still wear my sins
As tattoos carved into
Both flesh and brittle bone
Yes, I shall still wear these sins
Because they are mine
And mine alone

"You have rendered me useless, world!"
He shouts from the bottom of the sky
His arms flail about as he sinks beneath
The implicitness in the error of his ways

"This gain is no longer worth the pain!"
He shouts from the bottom of the sky
The clouds break like porcelain
Piercing his flesh with drops of his deity

"Terrors of the light, be free of me now!"
He shouts from the bottom of the sky
Encumbered shoulders unknot themselves
And the depths swallow him, to be made anew

Wretched
The stains of red seep deeper
And deeper within my soul
Befitting that it would come to this
As my colors erode
And my heaven explodes

Terrified
Balancing on a highwire
Raised ever higher
Westerly winds and a scarecrow's smile
Cause a bleach to rain
And lovesick ignorance to feign

Granted
Take me there and leave
Every splotch of innocence
Shrouds me in handwoven temptations
Save me from all their comfortable lies
Save me from becoming a dead man's prize

Silence!
The field mice have scurried off,
With the last of our sinister seeds
In their spangled, spiteful masquerade
Now the reddest of rivers carry wistful reveries
Out to a cold, callous sea
Tomorrow, the sun may climb once more
But where peace sleeps, war dreams

Coveter!
Dwell within your own spirit,
For these souls have wretched memories
And their willful, wanton deeds
May yet still sunder sons and daughters
From mothers and fathers
Tonight, we stitch our children back together
Because where peace sleeps, war dreams

I'm easing my thoughts into mountains distant
Settling them down on a plot of empty land

No automobile could reach this perfect place
No telephone could interrupt my dreaming

There's just breath here that I've failed to inhale
And altitude that brings my mind full circle

There's no money here, nor the madness that shares its DNA
Only me, alone with self-preservation

Have I ever been anywhere more serene than nowhere?
Outside, the mindful breeze flies my burdens back to city lights

I hear only the simple noises; no more bickering, clatter, or static
So I can finally break this fever that's burned me for years

I trip over another word
Yet I'm suddenly speechless
At the realization that we have no dialogue
My hands begin to quiver at the sounds
Of your voice, and of your name
But suddenly, all is calm here in the dark

I take another drink
Yet I'm suddenly sober
At the realization that there is no going home
My mind starts to swim beyond doubts
Beyond streams, and beyond oceans
But suddenly, there's nowhere left to swim

What is relevant?
Am I?
The guardian of my world and its core?
Defender of my lies and my saline?
Protector of my secrets and my dreams?
Or does my immobile body lie still?
Still as a fallen tree, years after erosion

What is comfortable?
Am I?
With the innocence that I victimize?
With the harvests that I destroy?
With the choices that murmur their doubts?
Or do my bones creak with malaise?
Locked into place like a villain at the end

What is everlasting?
Am I?
With a court of misconceived notions?
My mortality held in question?
The bevy of epithets dispersed in my honor?
Or does the realm erode with every misdeed?
Cracking from the strain of my imprudence

What is fallacious?
Am I?
The sayer of nays from a golden throne?
Baseless breaker of laws and hearts alike?
Miscreant traitor of my own kin?
Or is this truth aching for the surface?
Like a seedling stretching out for the sun

I remember our heyday like it was yesterday
Starswept and bittersweet
I revolved around your sun
And jumped in with both feet

I remember our heyday like it was yesterday
You were extra and I was ordinary
I dismantled my world and myself
Everything but you was secondary

I remember our heyday like it was yesterday
Feast or famine, we ate our fill
The minute-hand lost its meaning
Time, a well-behaved child, sat perfectly still

I remember our heyday like it was yesterday
Three hour drives within a culdesac
Just to grasp at the straws of you
Just to drift away into a sea of black

I remember our heyday like it was yesterday
Golden years brought silver tears
But we weathered and eroded away
Became sandstone, and finally disappeared

If I had a wall between myself and truth
I'd climb it, but only halfway
For beyond a point there is no handhold

If my eyes are plotting against me
Don't tell me, because blindness
Is a place where the world is brighter

I won't second guess my decisions
For I'm second best, and that I accept
As a wanderer of this broken earth

I cannot lay about any longer
I'm restless, no sleep comes
To the spirit that elicits this enterprise

Folly
I told you it was folly to come here
These baseless accusations haunt us
And even on tiptoes, we make far too much noise

Our greed is insatiable
Our lust runs even deeper than the greed
And with every molehill we shape into a mountain
It's no wonder that our bones ache at the climb

Carefully
I told you we must tread carefully
There are gnashing teeth at our broken ankles
While every footfall brings us closer to demise

Our vanity is everlasting
Our sanity has taken flight to bluer skies
And with each hour exposed to this blackened sunlight
It's no wonder that our hearts rival the darkness of the sky

Without a vestige of sanity left
Seems I have succumbed to the space between
The space between what is warm, and what is frigid
The space between what is fixed, and what is broken
The space between what is real, and what is figment

Without a vestige of brown in my eyes
Seems I have succumbed to the space between
The space between what is white, and what is black
The space between what is subtle, and what is manifest
The space between what is merely past, and what is prologue

Without a vestige of love left in my heart
Seems I have succumbed to the space between
The space between what causes a smile, and what causes a tear
The space between what floats, and what sinks
The space between what is found, and what is lost

Your lies are insurmountable
But they are brittle as glass
I move the stars around the night sky
To hope that somehow,
I will move you

Your eyes are undeniable
But they are darker than the night
I move these colors around your halo
To hope that somehow,
I will move you

Your second glances are unattainable
But they're not as clairvoyant as they seem
I move these cars along this highway
To hope that somehow,
I will move you

Your aftertaste is unpalatable
But it lingers beyond the morning
I move my lips along the shadows on your skin
To hope that somehow,
I will move you

I stand upon the ledge overlooking the world
And I wish that I had wings
I try to fly, try to sail away
Into the comfort of your dreams
But just like all the times before
I can't keep this air beneath me
So here I am now, just a broken man
Pieces of the wreckage I knew I'd be

I walk upon the edge of the ocean
And I let the tides heal my wounded feet
My footprints along this shoreline
Have become a history incomplete
But the horizon turns the pages
On all my forgotten days
So here I am, a broken man
As the waves carry me away

It feels so cold out here tonight
My warmth has all but floated away
It's been quiet here out on the water
But the voice in my soul has more to say
I'm still here, still the same broken man
Pieces of the wreckage I knew I'd be
But after all this, barely adrift, barely alive
Did I find you, in the remains of me?

He is a pariah
Tossed aside like a scrap of food
Antiquated
Ever-changing like a demon's mood
His words are pale
Like leaves blowing in the wind
His eyes are a stark contrast
Dancing among hues as he transcends
He is a smuggler
Housing the secrets of a generation
A benevolent rain is falling
In this desert of hibernation
He dreams in allegory
Brandishing an army of mystery
Waking up only starts the dream again
To stare down barrels of his own artillery

Step 1: fall, and fall hard
Step 2: give up a piece of yourself that you won't get back
Step 3: take a piece of someone else that they won't get back
Step 4: rinse
Step 5: repeat steps 1-4

I will court the most beautiful woman
I will sail the most enchanted sea
I will dangle on the edge of greatness
Plummeting to the depths of my destiny

I will not die whimpering in the night
I'll not creep tepidly into the morn
I will not shatter the illusion of a rose
Not even to escape the thorn

I will carry her fantasies upon my lips
I will strip her naked of her fears
I will bite the hand that feeds my appetite
To make her heart beat through all the tears

I will not evaporate like dew in the fields
I'll not shame myself into ascension
I will not carve my name into granite finales
Just to become her honorable mention

Serpents in the undergrowth
Slithering and slithering
My heart has mutated from the venoms

I'm no longer king of my castle
I'm no longer ruler of my facets
I'm just debased, polluted, paralyzed

In the belly of the beast
Writhing and writhing
The decay of my soul is expedited

I'm no longer the guardian of my gates
I'm no longer the sire of my court
I'm just devoured, absorbed, obtuse

The memories come
The way a flood comes to a desert
But it's too late, I am parched again
Footsteps
Footsteps linger through forgotten halls
But as a father I'm just an echo within

Bitter is just a different sweet
And sweet is just a different bitter
Tread lightly, each step is more reckless than the last
Trespasser!
You trespass on ground not made for your two feet
So move thyself, and do not return til' storm has passed

I once spent uncertain days
Drowning inside the wishing well
Dry, and drier still the wishes would become
Terrible
Terrible, all the things that I would rip undone
I devoured the essence of all I loved for just a meager crumb

I'm chased by demons
But I'm not sure I want to get away
Branded by blissful consequences
I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to bring rhythm
To these chaotic days

Are you the plague on my heart?
Or the antidote I've been waiting on?
Are you dawn that floods this darkened room?
Or the black hole absorbing everything?

I'm chased by demons
But I'm not sure I care who catches me first
Branded by blissful consequences
It's clear I have no hope of ever quenching
This undeniable thirst

Are you the wooden door to my memories?
Or the padlock resting against it?
Are you the blood coursing through these veins?
Or the edges drawing it from these open wounds?

I caught a glimpse of you
Behind the wall of tinsel
And a thousand words exploded in my mind

You stood there so eloquent
While your eyes told me fables
Though your gaze I could never find

Like a distant rainbow
I kept debating within myself
"Could I ever catch you if I chased you?"

Was there a *** of gold?
Or just me playing the fool?
Unanswered questions burned through and through

I was whisked into deep daydreams
Where my hands would set sail
Across the ocean that was your skin

Your lips met me softly
There was a hunger awaiting birth
The fabric of bedsheets between us, paperthin

Then I cursed reality for its unwelcome return
To exact revenge upon my conscience
And you disappeared, fiancée closely in tow

I should have disconnected
I should have burned the prologue
But happily ever after beckoned me to say hello

Timpani,

Set the beat of my disposition
Be the background to a frail condition
But don't stray too far from this broken heart

Echo the pain of my convictions
Bring forth rains that drown ambitions
But don't stray too far from a hollowed chest

Timpani,*

Become the music in my musician
Erase the scars of this inquisition
But don't stray too far from my humility

Pilfer just a hint of intuition
Become the sound of my ammunition
But don't stray too far from the edge of my sight

My mouth is dry.

Drink.

I spoke all the words, though not necessarily of wisdom.
You respond with your patented silence.
And what little of my soul remains,
Seeps out from my pores to further stain the floor.

Drink.

Then, like a westerly wind you sweep through,
Temporarily rattling my leaves
Upsetting the rhythm of my heartbeat
And dividing the spoils of my treasures
Then everything turns calm.  Everything is dim.

Drink.

Somehow, you always avoid reaping what you sow
Nothing ever changes, be it from scream or whisper
So I salvage my belongings
And build a foundation that's at least stronger than before

Westerlies.

The mortar in the cracks of my heart soften and crumble at your feet
The crevices are just enough to slither your way inside
And like a termite, you devour all that's within
Do you have no conscience?
Are you pre-disposed to destroy?

My mouth is dry.

My mouth is unfathomably dry.

*Drink.

Outstretched hands
I'm governed by a cycle of choices
Wash.
Rinse.
Repeat.

Dirt under my fingernails
I listen to a thousand voices
Wash.
Rinse.
Repeat.

Gripping a shovel
I break earth and hit layers of shale
Break.
Stop.
Withdraw.

Eight barren harvests
Yielding no fruits, just broken, rusted locks
Break.
Stop.
Withdraw.

I suppose by now my disposition is bitter
The gravitas courses these bloodless veins
Write.
Speak.
Destroy.

I collect no glee from your failure
Nor scintillating coins that rattle like chains around feet.
I just write.
Speak.
Destroy.

In the palm of my hands
There is stone
There is lace
And a rope bridge between heaven and hell

Ashen-haired symphony
I am resolved
To tend your wounds
So you can save my heavy soul tonight

I am not a castaway
Just a weathered picture frame
A drop of midnight
In an ocean of morning dew

I feel a hand touching mine
Not of stone
Not of lace
But made of love and atmosphere

And through the darkest nights
Unable-bodied as I am
I finally give way
To the grace that crushes my empty lungs

With each step that I take now
I am hellbent,
Yet heaven-broken
Caution is the property of the wind

When push comes to shove
And hate turns to love
We clamp down until fingernails break the skin

He curses his dastardly shadow
And looses his cowardly arrow
All without aiming for the heart deep within

We break molds with our sadness
Make bold statements in madness
Knowing there are more wishes than wells to grant them

Set in motion by dying cultures
We leave bait for the vultures
Exasperated children, we have no men left to defend them

If I repaid you in kind
It wouldn't be so kind
For I am astray and unable to find
The grace for which I need to forgive and forget

If I repaid you in kind
It wouldn't be so kind
Silent misery drenched and undefined
Vengeance fills my lungs faster than oxygen

If I repaid you in kind
It wouldn't be so kind
For I am simply the blind following the blind
Tripping over skeletons and shackles in this pitch black

If I repaid you in kind
It wouldn't be so kind
Drop another coin in the wishing well
Always a devil at the bottom waiting for his due

Darting to and fro
This early spring has set me on a path
That I may or may not remember
I keep growing older
Yet not necessarily wiser
Because winter lingers on in my daydreams

Shadows are cast
On jagged rocks and sorely lacking hearts
For I am all but shattered now
I keep veiling my eyes
Yet I am blinded by the glare
Of diamonds that shimmer from within

Emptying all its glory
The sky bleeds drops of fear and sympathy
Blooming weeds that have no business here
I keep sleeping on cold, hard, ground
Yet falling out of bed
For my attention is divided among better days

The power of pain is ungoverned
As faith slowly bleeds out
Children transfixed and mesmerized
While cannons cauterize our wounds

Mother moon, over hills and lakes
Eyelids can't resist the weight
Arms vanquished and immobilized
As dawn breaks our last awakening

By splendor's dying light
Treason has spoiled meager hearts
Eyes squinting and crestfallen
We are but a fraction of this mutinous crew

For our deaths may be inevitable
And our honor may be unenviable
But betrayal blinks and relapses
As shield and sword seed the earth

I lead, grey follows
I shepherd it in ways my heart commands
I bleed, grey follows
I stitch up the wound and start again

I am unabridged
The death that I fear is only part of my story
I am tumbleweed
But I am blockaded by these shimmering cascades

I retreat, grey follows
Back to a world where my pen is my only weapon
I awaken, grey follows
I recognize that I'm completely off the beaten path

I am captive to my skeletons
And I cannot start from the beginning anymore
So I thatch a roof above my head
And build a floor below my heart

I am, in ways, a disappointment to my father
Who never once failed to disappoint me
But, my heart was revived once I realized
That I am greater than the sum of disappointing parts

There's but a fortnight now
Until the shadows run off with what's left of me
You should know that there are only scant remains
Of the man you once knew

They say to just be still
And wait as a bystander to my own life
But waiting has never come easily to a man with thorns in his hands
So I fly instead, like a fool with his eyes closed

There's a moonlit ocean in the distance
A place to sink, or learn to swim
For a moment, the shadows have diminished from my sight
And her radiance erases the vile inside my heart

I bite down on a sliver of silver
That connects your lip to outer space
I cleanse the stars of all diseases
But find my heart cannot keep pace

I bite down on a sliver of turquoise
A talisman fit for an everyman king
But like the rings around Saturn
Escape velocity is hindered upon your string
                                                          ­                     
Poach me of my skin
And coat me instead with rust
I awake to a lute playing out of tune
Causing my dormant senses to all combust

Teach me to be a vulture
To sink my talons far beyond the surface
So many sharp facets, so many blunt edges
And my one and only distorted purpose

Darting in and out of atmosphere
A slave to bloodstained convictions
You own all the lands between life and death
And all the roads between fact and fiction

We were the exception to the rule
We were the silence in the wind
We were the weapons of mass destruction
We were the end in every friend

We were the moonlight in the daytime
We were the covenant of emptiness
We were the broken raft on the beach
We were the clumsy in clumsiness

We were the railroad headed nowhere
We were the meteors in the atmosphere
We were the liars in the candlelight
We were the dry eyes behind the tears

We were the serpents in the underbrush
We were the venom in the veins
We were once the pillars, yet now the pillaged
We were once the sun, yet now the rains