My language is
A magpie's nest of
Shiny skyjacked mechanisms
A labyrinth, a mishmash
Of clashing competing components

Here and there
I wander the world
And recognize the shape of something
We took home
A thousand years ago

Melted and reformed
Bent and woven
Into our own
Piecemeal makeshift chrysalis
Our stolen home

A wall once wove all through the town
Fraught fractured freedom fenced and furled
And on the day the wall came down
It was a good day for the world

There is a little row of stones
And in some places that is all
That stands between the sundered lands
Knit back together in the fall

And you can walk across the border
Without knowing that you've crossed it
Where the guns and guards kept order
Checkpoint Charlie, Friedrichstraße

Only thirty years have passed
But it's not the same place at all
Tyranny is not built to last
We all know what happens to walls

I look and see God far away
I look and           see God near
I look and see                      God everywhere
       Its shape is                            a perfect sphere  
And though I do                            believe in God      
And though                      in God I trust
I believe we don't        understand God      
And God does not understand us

My soul
Is bright
Like a kaleidoscope
Shine a light inside
And find
A labyrinth
Of rainbows

My soul is dark
Like the midnight sky
Look deep inside
The darkness
Is shining
It is full of
Light

Gold shines the dragon
It is made of fire
And where it burns
The velvet veil of night
These are the stars

Gold shines the dragon
Deep within the sky
And in the bright ocean of day
We see
The dragon's golden eye

On the outside
I am the same
But deep inside
My soul is
c              
h          
a    
n
   g
      i
        n
             g
s      
h  
a
   p
       e

Little flock of birds
Silhouettes across the Moon
A handful of sand

I am the dragon
I am the bear
I am the hunter
I am the hare

I am the phoenix
I am the Pharaoh
I am the compass
I am the arrow

I am the mountain
I am the scorpion
I am the river
I am Leviathan

I am the Sun
I am the night
I am illusion
I am the sky

The forest is
          dark                  quiet          
    slow        calm       gentle    
                       cool                   still                          
           full of magic            
the
trees
are
whispering
listening as I read

I walked out in the sunshine yesterday
On my way I passed by a cherry tree
Delicate flowers had begun to bloom
I felt such joy I laughed aloud with glee

Somewhere the winter is still long and cold
Somewhere there are no flowers on the trees
But I am in a place where it is warm
And at long last spring has begun for me

I have forgotten who I really am
While trying to find out who I should
Be
I think it's time that I take a step back
Find myself in the music, in a
Tree
Always searching but too busy to look
It's time I take a moment just to
Be
And maybe lose myself in a good book
I think that this is where I will find
Me

When I was young my belief was strong
But one day I thought I had been told wrong
And I decided I had been deceived
That was the day I no longer believed

And for a while I tried to look
I found lots of gods in holy books
It seemed these gods were all the same
One light
Many shadows
Many names

And though I studied, though I tried
I found that I could not decide
I thought these books must all be wrong
So I did not believe in God

But I kept looking year by year
I even prayed
God, are you here?
If you give me a sign I'll see
Tell me your name
And I'll believe

Until one day I had a thought
What if it's not that kind of god?
What if it rules but not by fear?
What if it moves but does not hear?

I don't believe God thinks like us
But something has created us
Unbreakable, we call it law
So powerful: can this be God?

It does not know the ones it rules
It is not merciful or cruel
It is not good, nor is it bad
It does not smile, does not get mad

It made the Moon, it made the stars
It made us just the way we are
It made the tree, it made the dove
It is below, it is above

And though perhaps mistakes were made
I don’t believe I was deceived
I find I have always obeyed
I find I have always believed

And I have questions all the same
How many gods, how many names?
Shadows enough to fill the night
Ten thousand shadows and
One Light

One raindrop may become a sea  
The sea brings storms  the sea brings life
One seed may turn   into a tree        
It bears fruit, tears stone    like a knife              
        The wood may burn     the wood may build
  A campfire, a cross     bridges, fences
Knives cut, knives defend      knives ****                  
       And who can count      the consequences?
    Saplings may seem       pure and simple
                 Time gives trees      a thousand branches
                  Just a stone      until it's thrown
And time turns stones to     avalanches              
Shall I hasten                  to obey
Some lying leader who    alleges                  
            Their way is    the only way
     When we know all swords have two edges

To create
To destroy
It is the same
It is to rearrange
To change

The northern world is waiting
It's like time has crystallized
Still frozen, hibernating
Waiting for the Sun to rise

And when I walk the winter world
So still and so serene
I spy on time still tightly furled
In hope of tender green

^
I
am
always
searching
for
the
?           ←                               way                               →           ?





↓


?

I have too many thoughts
I have too many feelings
I can't sleep
When I wake up
I will be a stranger
In a stranger world

If you want some perspective
Look at the big picture
Sometimes this can be
Really hard to do

You may feel afraid
To move out of the frame
'Cause the big picture isn't
A picture of you

Then life isn't just
About you and your interests
It's about your friends
And your family too

But if you take a step back
And look at the big picture
Your family and friends
Are all right next to you

So life isn't all about
Family and friends
It can be about your
Fellow countrymen

But if you take a step back
And look at the big picture
There isn't one country
But hundreds of them

So you care about humans
In all other countries
You want to help all of them
Flourish and grow

But if you look a little further
There's more than just humans
There's plants and animals
We don't even know

So you look at the planet
A beautiful planet
Gold grey and brown
White blue and green

When you're up this high
Looking at the big picture
There are no countries
Or people to see

It's a beautiful planet
Not the only planet
It's a beautiful Sun
Not the only Sun

If you take a step back
And look at the big picture
It's easy to wonder
About the other ones

So you send them some music
You send them some pictures
You send your address
Hope they'll write back to you

You take one small step forward
And take one big picture
So deep in the darkness
Our small world is blue

We've never sent anything
Out of our galaxy
We are still guessing
Its shape and its size

And if you take a step back
And look at the big picture
Some light is too far
To ever reach our eyes

The Universe is too big
For us to measure
We don't know what's out there
What could be, what is

And if you take a step back
And look at the big picture
There could be many
Other Universes

There is always
A bigger picture
You can always
Take one more step back

We humans all live
In a world full of color
But the bigger picture
Is dressed up in black

It might seem so dark
It might seem so cold
It might seem so empty
That all might be true

But if you take a step back
And look at the big picture
There is no distinction
Between the Universe and you

So don't be afraid
To take one more step
You're not out of your depth
It is deep within you

If you take a step back
And look at the big picture
Then every picture
Is a picture of you

Glittering
Like a metal chandelier
The city of lights

So many years
My people wandered
Far and long and wide
They roamed

On foot and wheel
And wing and sail
There always was
Somewhere to go

They knew the wind
They knew the way
They knew the sky
The stars
I know

I look up the same way
Today in my new place
And I am home

Sometimes I'm afraid to decide
For fear I will make a mistake
But I have found nowhere to hide
For hiding is a choice I make

I try to hem, I try to haw
I try to stall, to delegate
But making decisions is not
Simple to circumnavigate

Should I blink once?
Should I blink twice?
With every step I roll the dice
I cannot count the consequences
Never know who pays what price

But silence is a message
And there's meaning hidden in elision
Saying that I won't decide
Is still no less of a decision

Still I am afraid to speak
Unknowing what it will inspire
Like a dragon afraid to breathe
Lest it should set the world on fire

And slowly I have learned to try
To take the step
To roll the dice
And slowly I have spread my wings

I have decided

I will fly

Somewhere beneath the smooth façade
Lies someone rough and raw and flawed
She makes me want to **** and fight
She scratches at me in the night

Tense and lethal as a crossbow
As she crosses o'er my shadow
In the dark she wakes and laughs
I have become the shadow half

Read my palm
Between the lines
You cannot answer
Neither can I

Soothsayer tell me!
How will it end?
I cannot answer
Ask me again

Why do we take the time to judge?
The real sociopaths won't budge
And anyone redeemable
Will look at us and hold a grudge

I'm not sure where we got the nerve
To tell them what they don't deserve
Does it make us think we are better
As if God grades on a curve?

Who says who deserves to live?
Who condemns and who forgives?
Who dares to judge on their behalf
If such a Judge even exists?

Why do we dish out scarlet letters?
Shame is such a cheap vendetta
Let's be honest, we do it
Because we don't know any better.

On a ledge
Wings outstretched
At the edge
Of the nest

Will I fall
Will I go
In a moment
I will know

No more fear

I say to myself

No more fear


Why am I

So afraid

Of fear

How easily our minds can turn to hate
Another or some others or ourselves
But this serves mainly to contaminate
And we may only poison our own well

The reason why we hate the ones we hate
Is seeing their reflection in our mind
As if this self rejection mitigates
A poison which may leave the whole world blind

Are there still days if there are no more stars?
Eternal night unbroken by the dawn
The darkness was here long before the light
And will be long after the light is gone

Remember when we
Turned against one another
Those days are no more

And I feel joy
That you are my friend again
And I am yours

Even at the very end
I will be with you
Forevermore

There can be no certainty

Ever
Anywhere
This is all I know

One and
One is two
Maybe I am mad
Maybe I have been lied to

I don’t
Really know
Things that I believe
Just because I have been told

What if
All of this
Is only my dream
In a world I cannot see

We shall never know; we may only believe

There can be no certainty

I went to the sea
And I saw
A red bird in a tree

In my mind
I felt
Silent

And still

It is to dance
On spiderwebs
And never know
When we may fall

It is to wander
Through the night
By hidden light
Where shadows call

It is to wonder
At the sky
To wonder if
We know at all

It is to love
Deep in the dark
And never know
Whose name we call

I believe in myself
I know I am real
Because I think
Because I feel

I might not be
How I appear
But I know
That I am here

The world may be
A grand delusion
Altered wavelengths
Of confusion
Illusional
Balance wheel

But I KNOW that I am real

I truly believe that everyone
Is pretty much the same
We all share ninety-nine point nine
Percent of our DNA

We love to look through those old books
And say how much we've changed
But take away the new veneer
Reveal an ancient face

We all say those people are bad
And these people are good
We all think
I am too strange to be ever understood

Oh how we cling to anything
Which sets ourselves apart
As if that naught point one percent
Is who we really are

If we had no identity
Beyond humanity
I wonder who we would become
If we were really 'we'

Maybe one day we'll join as one
We'll all stop keeping score
On that day I'm not sure if we'll be
Human anymore

when you measure yourself

against another
remember

that

Everyone has secrets

Where did we come from?
We ask
Eyes wide
Always the same answer
We came from the sky

Where will we go next?
Trembling
We ask
Always the same answer
We will go back

Forever goodnight
Forever goodbye
Dream your dreams
Upon the sky

Forever speak
Forever sing
Beyond the blue
And graceful wing

And light the way
Our secrets told
Forever known
Forever gold

Sing your songs
In heaven above
Forever hope
Forever love

Made us real
Warm
Alive
Mother Ocean
Father Sky

Write our letters
In the sand
Hold the ocean
In our hand

World our home
Turn and turn
On we grow
On we learn

We return
By and by
To the Ocean
To the Sky

I know how much you love the stars
How much you love the light
I know that you are always searching
Reaching for the sky

Safe in your arms I feel your hope
I feel your peace inside
You make me feel just like a bird
Like someone who can fly

If you don’t know
There is still hope
She lives in shadow
The unknown
Shadow of faith
Shadow of fear
She turns to joy
When you are near

The Moon and stars
They shine so bright
Deep in the night
I keep their light
How beautiful they seem to me
I wish that everyone could see

We hide what we don't understand
And bury it deep down below
In darkness under land it slumbers
Hidden numbers
Where the Sun won't go
Nurtured by our hiding hand

And there it learns to live in darkness
Deep below it learns to grow
The buried shapes deep down beneath
So many rows of dragons' teeth
Lo and behold, we did not know
The darkness only makes it whole

As time goes by a form takes shape
Some hidden shadow faint remembered
Learns to move before it wakes
And as it dreams the whole Earth quakes
Rivers rush and mountains tremble

And one bright day it all breaks free
Once more to greet the fiery Sun
And all the shadows rise as one
To take wing, take flight, to take form
A form which we have always known
And never understood

If there is only so much stuff
Then there can never be enough
And this is why we're all so rough
You can't survive if you're not tough

We scratch and scrape and strike and steal
Do anything for our next meal
We don't care if we **** each other
Fighting brother versus brother

There is only so much here
Crushed beneath our greed and fear
Humanity becomes garbled
War ants swarming on a marble

When we have trampled all our grace
There is always more in space
Mountains and oceans and dunes
Diamonds as big as the Moon

Wonders and riches untold
Moons of silver, stars of gold
All the elements on Earth
Strewn throughout the Universe

There's so much space, there's so much stuff
The journey will be very rough
But if we're clever, if we're tough
One day we might just have enough

When the truth                                                            ­    
shines too bright                          
and to see                              
   blurs our eyes
                      we weave a
                               veil of lies
                                   and we hide
                                                            ­     from the light.

We paint ourselves with angels' wings
The Sun our halo melting, gleaming
We eat other animals and wear their skins
Shepherd, can you hear them screaming?
One by one, they're heard no more
Destroyed by greed and fear and violence
Let us leave them in peace before
We leave this world at last in silence

Vote today
Make a choice
Don't let them take away your
Voice

Shining bright
Sun writes fire on the horizon
Sparkling lights
Diamonds chase the golden dragon
Starry night

Seal our soul and paint it gold
Dream a poem without words
Into what the future holds
Who will know what they will learn?

Spark the darkness like a storm
Silent sail a tide unbound
Hold our soul and keep it warm
Even when the Sun goes down

You who bring the stars to life
And bring the worlds to wing
And blow a cool blue Moon into
A thousand shining rings

You who bring the tides to rise
And bring the world to bloom
As shimmering the glitter rings
Fall back into the Moon

I sit in a pew
And someone tells me what to do
I sit in silence
And try to drown out all the violence
Do not be afraid
If you believe you will be saved
I bow my head and smile
I haven't believed in God for a long time