One nation under assault,
one nation under pressure,
one nation claiming greatness against
an outdated measure.
With liberty and justice stockpiled commodities
and legions of disgruntled youth
left to deal with the atrocities.
One nation under-loved
One nation over-policed
One nation claiming Jesus
wearing the tell-tale mark of the beast.
With hate in the left hand, and hate in the right,
and both hands balled up like we're dying to fight.
A New Day, they call this perpetual night
This suffocating darkness that chokes out the light
And EVERYBODY THINKS THAT THEIR SIDE IS RIGHT.

One nation underwhelmed by the policies they chose
One hypocrisy of a democracy, calling their own stink a rose
One thing after another, no wonder the kids are cynics now,
thinking "You CAN'T make it better, WE don't know how."
Love is lost in the struggle between apathy and hate
America, the beautiful. America, the great.
America, the fractured paragon,
We cling to ghosts of a changing time
We've fallen for the distractions, and
our pedestal is too high to climb.

Oh brothers, oh sisters, what else can we do?
If you'll look out for me, and I look out for you,
just a ripple in this pool of ****
may clear the waters, just a bit.
But as long as there are white votes
black votes
Latino votes
left votes
right votes
there'll be no vote of confidence
in the future of these divided states.
We'll rip ourselves apart,
tear out our own heart
waving our flags the whole time
and claiming no blame for the divide.
God Bless America,
and do it quick.
All sides of this society
are dying or sick.

Gave us oil and gave us matches,
didn't give us fire...
Told us we were on our own but,
kept us on the wire.
Stale green heads of famous dead ones
always ruling us.
On their backs we write reminders
of in whom we trust.

Vicious cycle, circumstance will
find us set aflame.
Take a breath and burn to ash leave
nothing but a name.
Lies in print and moving pictures
bought at market price;
cold and hollow, hard to swallow,
still our favorite vice.

Fundamental narcissism
glory be to we~
Sinners drenched in good intentions
wild dichotomy.
Liars, haters, instigators,
nothing good to say.
Everything will be just fine if
they don't have to pay.

Final cycle, broken bible
read selectively,
love and hate up for debate but
neither one is free.
"Follow blindly close behind me"-
so the lemming said.
We'll find out who's wrong and right, as
soon as we're all dead.

It's been a while since I've seen the sun
The stars
The sky
That edge to edge expanse that goes on forever
It seems we've been under a heavy cloud
of doubt, fear and anger.
With the doom and gloom hanging so low overhead
And the tragic condition of we here below
It's hard to imagine that there's a ray of hope to be found.
Such loss and rage reflecting the dark and shallow canvas above us,
and where do you turn to add color to this gray existence?

It's been a while since I've seen the sun, but today, it warmed me.  It illuminated the sky, broke through the clouds, and for a moment, embraced us down here in the midst of all our doom and gloom.  And tonight, if the clouds stay away, I will look up at the stars, so many millions and millions of miles away, and be encouraged in the fact that no matter what happens to me down here, it is all incredibly small compared to the grand design of the Universe.

It's been a long day, my dear friend
But it at last has seen its end
Lay your head down, and let if fade away
You can only hold on til you have to let go
So let it go, because you know,
Tomorrow's another day

You've come a long, long way
and you're far from where you planned
And how you ended up here
You may never understand
And the days and years slip from grip
Like tiny grains of sand
You can't count the squandered moments
That fell right from your hands

You've had a long day, my dear friend
And to say it is over, I can't pretend
For now, close your eyes, and let it fade away.
You've done all that's in your power
You've earned repose at this late hour
And tomorrow's another day.

I'll sit here, and watch the night for you
Protect you while you sleep.
I'll keep the whole world quiet for you
It won't make a peep.
And if I could carry your load for you
I'd take it off your hands
But all I can do is hope for you
I hope you understand.

It's been a life-long trip, dear friend
And this is just another bend
A rest stop along the road you have to take
Tomorrow's another day, it's true
And you'll do whatever you must do
Your way through hell and high water to make.

But for now, lay down your head
Close your eyes, and fade away
No burden can't be laid down
And picked up the next day.

I am human.

I was born, just like you.  I crawled before I walked.  I was small once, looking at the world with wonder.  I believed what I was told, and didn't bother myself with what was hidden.
I grew up.  I got in trouble.  I made mistakes.  I was good and I was bad.  I made them proud.  I disappointed them.  

I knew everything, and I was invincible.
I am Human.

I have bled, and I have drawn blood.  I have broken hearts and had mine broken.
I've watched the sunrise at different times, and thought "So beautiful" or "Not again" depending on what life was giving me.

I have lied, and I have told the truth.  I've owned up to my responsibilities, except for the ones I've abandoned.

I am Human.

I am a man, but that is irrelevant.  I am a brother, an uncle, a cousin, and a friend, but in these things I am not unique.  

Beneath the skin, past the flaws and the ego, past what you don't like about me and beyond what I hate about myself, I am human.  Nothing more, and nothing less.

I am human, and you are human, and in that fact neither of us have the upper hand.

Intoxicated
With one taste
Of your cherry lips
I'm blitzed
Drunk and powerless
to resist
Smashed, trashed
Plastered.
I'm useless,
You've got me hooked
From one sweet kiss.

Today I cried, my heart is rent
For somebody I didn't know.
And for the fact that, nowadays,
They say "that's just the way things go".

A man was slain without just cause,
An officer behind the gun;
And instantly, divided we
Debate justice, where there is none.

Regardless of public record,
The man was slain for not one sin-
He died because of ignorance.
He died because of his dark skin.

The officer might go to trial,
And just as likely, he'll go free.
And we'll be told "respect the cops,
They're here for their community."

All aboard and mind your step
As this train leaves, there's nothing left
An epic journey, winding tracks
And no chance or choice of looking back
It steams its way towards parts unknown
Where it has never, ever gone
And through it all, the only hope
Is to hang on to that proverbial rope

The tracks will twist and turn about
And turn your perception inside out
It'll blow your mind, and make you scream
At times you'll think it is a dream
But still, it rolls, never receding
Sometimes it'll leave you broken, bleeding
And in those moments, you'll only cope
And hold on tight to that damnable rope

You can't stop once it's going full steam
And you'll feel you're coming apart at the seam
Still the ride goes on with no way of knowing
If you're speeding up, or somewhat slowing.  
Without effort, it'll rule your world
As forth and back in the car you're hurled
And when it makes you want to mope
**** it up and hold onto the rope

The train won't stop again for you
You have to board, and see it through
Or let it go, and bid farewell
Let the lost opportunity put you through hell
The best you can do, is take the chance
Board the train, join in the dance
And welcome the chance, embrace the hope
And HOLD ON TO THE BLASTED ROPE!

Old Gary Blue made lady's shoes,
from flats and pumps to stilettos.
In every size and many hues,
with lots of closed and open-toes.

He fell for Debra Derby, true,
the smith's daughter, with crimson hair.
He wooed her til she loved him, too,
and wed her in a Spring affair.

Her father, old  and stubborn soul,
had been a smith most of his life.
He had some  issues with control,
just ask his daughter and his wife.

For Debra Derby's dowry,
He had conditions to be met.
Gary's work was too flow'ry
for his daughter.  He was upset.

"Fire up the bellows, Gary Blue!
Now you'll forge a diff'rent course!
You'll never make another shoe,
unless it fits upon a horse!"

Poor Gary was despondent, now,
though love was bound to find a way.
He had to  pull this off somehow,
with his love and his art to stay.

Then GENIUS!  Inspiration struck!
and Gary knew just what to do.
Got paint and felt off his old truck,
and set off, every horse to shoe.

Now flats and pumps, stilettos too,
in pinks and violets, clad in felt,
donned every hoof that Gary knew.
Left many fillies looking svelte!

Will you meet me at the river,
where the waters lap the sand?
We can find a place to sit, since,
I'll be far too tired to stand.

You made it there before I did,
so many long years ago.
Along my way I lost the path,
without you here, the way to show.

I wandered, lost, once you were gone,
somewhere amidst hurt and denial.
Before I realized I was lost,
I'd been that way for quite a while.

I've tried to find that old, green path,
but signs of it are out of sight-
as if the daylight never shone,
and you carried the only light.

But I know where the river runs,
and I will get there, by and by-
if I must carve my own, new path,
I know I can, if I but try.

So find a little shady spot,
where we can sit and pass the time.
We'll catch up on the days we lost,
and laugh at life's unending rhyme.

Until the specters fade from sight,
we'll count no moment there a loss.
Then hold my hand, as I descend
to Judgment's waters, there to cross.

Today another human
was buried in the dirt,
and other humans gathered round,
and cried because it hurt.
And nothing in the time that he
had spent upon this earth,
could, in those tear-filled mourners' eyes,
diminish that man's worth.

No label he had ever worn
could sway their human hearts.
With no conditions, they loved him,
the sum of all his parts.
Now under six cold feet of ground,
he lies before his time.
And other humans wonder if
the sentence fit the crime.

Another human was his mom,
another was his dad.
Some others still had been his friends
since he was just a lad.
They had laughed and cried with him,
been true through thick and thin.
Now they've thrown handfuls on the box
they buried the man in.

Now the streets are burning-
other humans, filled with rage,
lash out at OTHER humans,
with the city as their stage.
Man and woman, boy and girl,
bear witness what you're seeing-
the aftermath of the wrongful death
of another human being.

I do a little ditty, a little ditty-doo,
A finger-snappin'-somethin'
That I dittied just for you.
It may not be an anthem,
A ballad for the times,
It may not be the bestest words
Or have the slickest rhymes.
It won't make sense or flow so well
Or tell a lovely tale,
And if you seek inspiration-
Sad to say, it's sure to fail.
But still I did the little ditty,
Little ditty I did do,
And typed it up for giggles
And put it here for you...
And if you find my ditty
poorly made or lacking class,
Rest assured, this poetic ****
Was pulled straight out of my...

She loved the world too easily,
She had no way of knowing
That life will wait to strike you down
When your soft side is showing.
She gave of self, such sacrifice
And when little else was left,
Twas cast aside most heartlessly
Left broken-down and so bereft.

Now bitterness her sword and shield
She wields with silent fervor,
And keeps her love from light of day
And those who don't deserve her,
And trust, it seems, the stuff of dreams,
She's buried far too far down,
In self-defense, it makes no sense
To ever let your guard down.

She has forgotten how to love
As she did way back before,
Before heartache had worn her down
Until she could take no more.
Perhaps someday she'll find a way
Her heart can again be free,
Til then, trust seems the stuff of dreams
Of some faded yesterday.

I bade sunlight to linger on,
her hot sweet kiss upon my skin,
For every time I find her gone
I doubt I'll see her back again

Here in the winter of my heart
The ice crawls deep across my flesh
And sunlight, love, had to depart
To leave me blue, my torment fresh

How I long to hear the sound
Of icy crackling window panes
And feel her warmth, though past the clouds
Turn sleet and snow to soothing rain.

I bade sunlight to come again
Renew my soul and thaw my heart
But darkness seems my lot in life
I've felt her light and warmth depart.

If I should fall in love with you
You'll never know my feelings true
I'll keep that **** under my hat
Pretend I don't know where it's at
And silently I'll pine away
Though never in the light of day
Like some lovelorn ethereal ghost
Beneath black skies this love I'll host

I'll glance your way through shaded eyes
And tell myself a million lies
To keep my heart safe and alone
Locked up tight in its cage of bone
Til I am sure the chance has passed
When you've moved on, I'll breath at last
If I should fall in love with you
I'll deny it til we are through.

I didn't read the news today
I just didn't care what it had to say
I rolled it up and put it away
I'm gonna keep the peace
I've got no reason to cry
I'm not gonna look for a reason why
Let the whole world pass me by
Cause I'm gonna keep the peace

There's enough to fear and dread
Without shoving more **** in your head
So, write it off and go back to bed
There'll be enough time to stress when we're dead.

The days are long and life is short
Facts are things that they all distort
Just gimme sports and the weather report
And I'm gonna keep the peace.
I hope you'll pardon my dismissive tone
As I turn off the TV and silence my phone
But all the ******* can leave me alone
Cause I'm gonna keep the peace

She spoke a lot of mercy
Though she hardly knew the word, 
And it echoed in her heart
In the verses she had heard. 

She smiled in spite of logic, 
Braced herself with quiet grace, 
And not a line of worry
Could be seen upon her face.

She sang aloud Amazing Grace, 
And it saw her soul unbound. 
With tear-filled eyes and longing smile
She loved "how sweet the sound".

And though her days were numbered, 
She refused to count and wait. 
She composed herself as though
She had no fear of fate. 

Though gone, never forgotten, 
Every sunrise bears her face.
Her voice is always echoed 
When they sing Amazing Grace.

Today another human
was buried in the dirt,
and other humans gathered round,
and cried because it hurt.
And nothing in the time that he
had spent upon this earth,
could, in those tear-filled mourners' eyes,
diminish that man's worth.

No label he had ever worn
could sway their human hearts.
With no conditions, they loved him,
the sum of all his parts.
Now under six cold feet of ground,
he lies before his time.
And other humans wonder if
the sentence fit the crime.

Another human was his mom,
another was his dad.
Some others still had been his friends
since he was just a lad.
They had laughed and cried with him,
been true through thick and thin.
Now they've thrown handfuls on the box
they buried the man in.

Now the streets are burning-
other humans, filled with rage,
lash out at OTHER humans,
with the city as their stage.
Man and woman, boy and girl,
bear witness what you're seeing-
the aftermath of the wrongful death
of another human being.

Come lay your weapons down, my son,
the battle's through, the race is run,
and you've done all that you can do.
Your verse is sung, your part is through,
the need to wield your fire is done.

Behold, the setting of the sun,
as ushered in on smoking gun.
Your heart, in battle, remained true,
Come lay your weapons down.

A life of blood and tears now shun,
grant no more thought to either one.
Your world was always set askew,
and vicious when twas through with you.
Yet, you fought til it was done.
Come lay your weapons down.

I dreamed about you just last night.
Woke up, and the world's just not right.
My head hurts from the blast of daylight
My heart hurts but I play I'm alright.
I pick up as the day rolls on,
Chin up although my face is long
Fresh reminder you're really gone
I feel weak from acting this strong.

I'm doing well enough, you'd be proud.
I've learned to walk against the crowd.
I don't play my music as loud.
Feet on the ground, head in the clouds.
I remember all that you told me.
Each praise, each time you'd scold me.
Trying to live to be an old me.
Trying not to become a cold me.

The hardest part of life is that it ends,
That we say goodbye to kin and friends,
That's why I work on making amends,
Instead of keeping up with the trends.
Though you taught me to be a man,
I feel like a child now and then.
I face life with a will and a plan, but
I'd trade it all just to hear you again.

I move on, man, I'm strong enough.
I've been doing this long enough.
I've sung my old sad song enough;
Now I shut up when the road is rough.
But if it's weakness that I cry at night,
It's not a point that I'll try to fight.
I feel weak, and my chest feels tight,
I need to hear you say I'll be alright.

We all used to be cannibals.
We tore flesh with our mandibles.
Times were hard for neanderthals.
Kinda men but still animals.

Did we still mourn those that were gone
as we were gnawing on the bone?
Behold the upright hairless dawn,
the greatest beasts this world has known.

Even back then, it took gumption
to prep beloved for consumption.
Grief gave pause, but safe assumption,
hunger led to feast's resumption.

Fast forward to the present day,
the greatest beasts still have their way.
As in that ancient yesterday,
upon the weak and ill they prey.

It's dog-eat-dog. Life's a mother,
til beneath the dirt we smother.
We're all cannibals, my brother-
feeding off of one another.

Early one morning, before sun took to sky,
they came to take Johnny.  It was his time to die.
The town had all gathered, the crowd circled in.
As Johnny was strong armed, by four big men,
and lead to the gallows, to hang until dead.
They called for his blood, and he just turned his head.

Johnny stayed silent, as the hateful calls came,
with no pleas for his life, or innocent claim.
He stepped to the noose, with no fear in his eyes,
not every man chooses just when he dies.
But Johnny had taken, the life of a man-
with no explanation, with his own bare hands.
The crowd raised their bibles, demanded him dead,
the called for his life, and he just turned his head.

The priest at the gallows, looked him in the eye,
and said to him "Johnny, you're fixin' to die.
You've been tried and sentenced, and haven't been heard.
You're found guilty of ******, and y'ain't said a word.
It's too late for you now, to make recompense,
but do you have any last words, to speak in defense?"
The crowd was voracious, they wanted him dead.
He just cleared his throat, and lifted his head...

The silence that followed, was stuck in their throats,
as Johnny spoke up, in no broken notes.
"The man killed my brother, and then was set free.
He was friends with the judges, that execute me.
If justice shall fail, then take vengeance instead-
so I took the man's throat, and I choked the man dead.
Now I face the gallows, I do so with no dread."
The crowd remained silent.  Each one turned their head.

The sun broke the darkness, on the top of that hill.
Johnny stopped speaking, and stepped to the ****.
The noose was pulled tight, up under his chin.
He looked towards heaven, eyes vacant of sin.
The old oak trap door, creaked under his feet,
and with a pull of a lever, the deed was complete,
and a peaceful expression graced the face of the dead;
and even the hangman, had to turn his head.

Later that evening, as the sun left the sky,
she sat at John's grave, with no tears left to cry.
She dropped a red rose, on the freshly dug earth,
and said goodbye to the last child, she'd ever giv'n birth.
She'd buried the other, as she buried this one,
one died for the other, to see justice done.
She sat there and pondered, where the road had lead.
Then she stood up, heartbroken, and just turned her head.

Oh, Jesus, are you listening? 
I forget how to pray. 
The folks you gave for guidance, lord, 
You took them all away,
And left me here to walk alone, 
Beloved I have none-
I am nobody's brother now;
I am nobody's son.

It's not my place to question you, 
Divinity, I'm not, 
But for a man as young as i
You've put me through a lot. 
So Jesus, if you're listening, 
And truly have my back, 
Now would be a perfect time
To cut a guy some slack. 

I don't feel that I'm owed a thing, 
I know I'm not exempt, 
And all of us know suffering
At times we all have limped. 
But lord, I'm barely crawling now, 
I lack the strength to stand. 
I'm not asking a bailout, lord, 
I only need a hand.

Help me get back up on my feet, 
I can take it from there. 
I haven't asked for anything, 
I think it's only fair. 
I'm not the child that lost his world.
No longer- I have grown.
But right now, Lord, I need a hand, 
I can't do this alone.

Yellowed monochrome photographs
Like albums packed with epitaphs
Lie stacked one upon another
By the bedside of her grandmother

With weathered hands and weary eyes
She turns each page, and softly sighs
As fragile memories return
Her heart will ache, her eyes will burn.

For hours, she will reminisce
Though piecemeal, memories persist,
and she'll whisper a prayer, eyes wet,
"Jesus, please, don't let me forget."

I wrote a little poem,
I wrote it just for you,
to match the way
You make me feel
I wrote it all in blue.

I wrote it on a napkin,
I had to keep it brief,
I swore a bit,
And cried a bit,
It caused a lot of grief.

I pondered on delivery,
pondered til I was sick,
Then settled on
this method here
I wrapped it round a brick.

The next time that I see you,
In person, with some luck,
I'll remember to
give it to you,
And you'll forget to duck!

Some folks aren't thirsty
til there's a line at the fountain.

I take a breath and close my eyes
And whisper "please, just let it pass".
My heart beats fast, my chest is tight, 
I feel I'll break, I'm made of glass. 

I want to scream, but lack the air, 
The best that I can do is cry
And in the midst of all of this
I'm certain this is how I'll die. 

I just need you to give me room
I just want you to hold me tight
I need silent reassurance, 
I need to think I'll be alright. 

My legs are weak; my heavy arms
Can do little to calm the storm. 
My mind, my trap, my prison cell, 
My oldest foe in truest form.

I close my eyes, I clinch my fist 
And take another heavy breath, 
And silently, I pray for peace, 
Some cadence or merciful death.

When I couldn't see the light,
You would show up with a candle.
Now through darkness I must fight.
Night is something I must handle.

Not just light, but warmth you brought
An arm around me, shared my pain
Such comfort, to this day I've sought
I'd give all to see you again.

Statues may tumble
But hate still stands
On a pedestal, proud
And foolishly clinging
To a dying light
To a long since lost battle
That will never end.
Walls crumble, steel bends
And the spirit bows
But right or wrong, friend,
It just does not break.
Even standing there
In the rubble of "what should be"
Realizing that doesn't exist now.
There is only "what is".
And all you can do is fight.
Bridges burn, and we'll never
Make it back to where
We were before the fires.
Simply standing on the banks
On our pedestals
In the rubble
Chest puffed
Chin out
Needing to break something else.

Icarus, with feathers and wax,
flew too close to our fiery sun.
His ego grand, his wisdom lax,
hubris saw Icarus undone.

Though some may judge his passing's worth,
I feel his heart and mind were true.
I'd gladly burn and fall to Earth,
to spend a moment close to you.

Will you see me to the river?
I fear that I have lost my way.
Could I find her muddy waters
Then I know i would be okay.

This path, I cannot recognize,
The shadows here are tall and fierce,
The lights that used to guide my steps
This twilight haze they cannot pierce.

Lead me to her raging rapids
Waters cool and unrelenting,
Let her hear my last confession
Close as I come to repenting.

Let her take me to the ocean,
Let her bury me in the sea,
The salty air to soothe my soul
On the warm sands of memory

I'm just waiting for that check to come.
The world is burning but I feel numb.
TV is awesome and outside is dumb.
So I'm sitting here waiting for my check to come.

I'm holding my breath when I go to the store
And they're still out of paper, like the 5 times before.
But when that check hits, it's ******* galore.
I'll buy it all wholesale, it'll be a big score.

Just a few weeks til I get that sweet cash
Then it's Amazon Prime, Grub Hub and DoorDash.
I'm sure that this plague will be done in a flash
And we'll go back to life with our fat wads of cash.

So I'll sit on my sofa and watch the train wreck.
In my fortress of Lysol and standard-grade tech.
With my *** getting bigger and pain in my neck
Waiting patiently here for my stimulus check.

It's a quiet little love,
Doesn't have a lot to say,
But it works its quiet magic
Without penance, everyday.
It listens without judgment,
It shares both joy and pain,
It never hides itself away
When sunshine turns to rain.

The movements are so subtle
That she oft forgets it's there;
still it moves to lift her spirits
Any time and anywhere.
It's not what she's been looking for
But when push comes to shove,
She'll find a certain comfort in
That quiet little love.

"Can you feel it?
Almost close enough to touch.  It's pure potential
And it is only limited by our own crippled souls.
Our willingness to stop advancing.  
Fearing change.
Fearing failing.
But forgetting forfeit is also a loss.  
We pass on our own destinies,
Choosing to live vicariously through nothing-
Because NOTHING excites us.
NOTHING moves us
NOTHING motivates us
And NOTHING is all we take for ourselves.
Nothing is heavy around our ankles, keeping us as it is...
Can you feel it?

I've always struggled with tomorrow
Because I'm stuck on yesterday.
If I had some time to borrow
I'd probably **** it all away.
Because I'm lost here in the present
Afraid that all the best has passed.
It's hard to think about the future
With how long "nowadays" could last.

I've never struggled for the right words
But all too often used the wrong
I tend to sing out with bravado
Not knowing one word of the song
As causes go, I am a lost one,
I'm lack of reason, weight of rhyme...
I'll hit the chords with broken echoes
And fail to ever keep the time.

If I was still the sort to wish on stars
I'd find the one of deepest blue,
And I'd beg it with my everything
To bring my broken heart to you.
But stars, they seldom hear the wishes
Of men who chase their dreams away
And here in "many years ago", my dear,
Is no place you should have to stay.

They called him Wit the Mystic
though his real name was unknown.
Just another John Doe, he,
on the edge and most alone.
But with a dusty derby hat,
and a little dedication,
he became a vagrant wizard,
mastered prestidigitation.

Misdirection, sleight of hand,
the man could do it all.
An expert with a deck of cards,
or three cups and a ball.
And somehow, out of thinnest air,
with magic palpable and real,
he managed to manipulate,
create many a hand-out meal.

Oohs and ahs in multitudes
would shower him with praise.
He plied his trade with pride in spades
on even the rainy days.
Though masterful and powerful,
old Wit still struggled through-
living in the shadows, man,
can be a tricky thing to do.

Old Wit the Mystic had one trick
that he had always feared.
Alas, the man's last bow had come,
and then he disappeared.
Where the wizard ended up,
nobody really knows.
Among the stars and legends, or
with the rest of the John Does?

Nary a **** was given that day,
as the writer decided to fade away.
He tightened the rope, and whispered a prayer,
and took that final step off the chair.

Folks mostly wondered "What was he ON?"
Rumors and whispers, all when it was done,
but he wasn't "human", and now he was gone,
and no **** was given- no, not a ****** one.

I've been trying to lie I've been telling myself that the pain that I felt at your hand wasn't real
I know that I'm broken the drugs are a joke, just a bandaid on top of a wound that won't heal
I'm cussing at cars as they're passing me by and they're flying, I'm dying, reminds me of you
Nothing of beauty that moves at that speed can be caught, it's for naught, it is just passing through.
But let me reflect, course-correct, recollect who I was before you took the parts that you swiped
Do I wanna be the same me that you see when you see me and think that I'm pro'lly your type?
Whatever it is and whatever it ain't, it's a taint on my memory of what it was
And I am resigned and inclined to define what is left, and what's left is some words and this buzz.

It matters not that years may pass
and take with them parts of us,
or age may sneak across our faces
and throw us under the bus.
Still seemingly a sculpture
or an ageless nursery rhyme,
you hang there, art for soul displayed
beyond the touch of time.

I witnessed as you robbed me
of attention elsewhere spent.
You blossomed like a cherry tree,
and I lied to mask intent
A craving for a fresh Spring love,
that very tree to climb,
and to swing there, from your branches
beyond the touch of time.

I wanted you like Summertime,
I reveled in your heat.
The long, hot days turned into nights
Where I sought to compete
to bask there in your sunlight...
I'd spend my final dime
To ride the sky with you, like stars,
beyond the touch of time.

I fell for you like fiery leaves,
carried forth on Autumn wind,
and dried up on the forest floor
A season, there to spend,
Nestled in your deep laid roots,
it should have been a crime
To fade away as you stood there
beyond the touch of time.

I loved you like a blizzard,
but you came across as salt
Melting me to clear the way
through my wintry assault.
Yet danced around me like a flake,
held aloft by the sublime,
and hung there in the frozen air
beyond the touch of time.

Full circle, and full cycle,
the revolution's done.
In the aftermath, the epilogue,
it's hard to say who won.
I still see you, through the seasons
and you live on like a rhyme,
written upon  infinity,
beyond the touch of time.

We tend to land wherever we are hurled.
I lost the will to count on the unseen
when I became a man and met the world.

To tell the truth, it left me caught between
maturity and blind and childlike faith
I lost the will to count on the unseen.

Beliefs and conscience haunted like a wraith.
I struggled with identity and trust,
maturity, and blind and childlike faith.

Alas, in time, we all learn what we must,
and give ourselves no small amount of grief.
I struggled with identity and trust.

Was it for self or kin I claimed belief?
We tend to ask ourselves what we can't know,
and give ourselves no small amount of grief.

Maturity, it seems, just comes on slow-
we tend to ask ourselves what we can't know.
We tend to land wherever we are hurled.
When I became a man and met the world.

You and me. 
Me and you. 
Doing things that
Children do. 
Lightning bugs
And double dutch 
Grownups think
We talk too much. 

But you know, I think
We did alright.
Those endless days
That never turned to night. 

Me and you.
You and I.
Watching summers
Pass us by. 
Year by year
It seemed so slow
Watching one
Another grow. 

Falling in love
Beneath the silvery light
Of carefree days
And endless summer nights. 

Two of us, just
You and me. 
Working on
a family.
Trying hard to
Get it right. 
I mess up and
Then we fight.

Sleeping on the
Couch again tonight. 
But I still believe
That I was right. 

You and I
All I know, 
Love is such a
To and fro.
Seasons come and
Seasons go. 
Remember when it
Moved so slow? 

Wish I had another life or two. 
Another 150 years with you.

Serendipitous existence
in the midst of burning journey-
oh, to die within your hands,
safe from sun and searing sands.

This is my paper.
This is my pen.
These are my knuckles,
this is my chin.
This is my deep thought,
This is my muse.
This is my rhythm
this is my blues.

This is my front door
This is my street
These are some people
I'll never meet.
This is my corner
This is my block.
This is my culture
This is my shock.

This is my city,
This is my shame.
This is the scene, man,
This is my game.
This is my future,
This is my life.
This is my blood, Cuz.
This is my knife.

This is my one truth,
This is my fact.
This is my promise,
This is my pact.
This is my chaos
I'm taking back.
This is my heart, son,
Under attack.

This is forever,
This is all done.
This is me crawling
When I can't run.
This is me bursting
To flames in the sun.
This is my bible,
This is my gun.

This is not hello,
This is goodbye.
This is where hypocrites
Go when they die.
This is the nothing
That I owe you.
This is the curtain,
This show is through.

I think I am allergic to
These old photos of me and you
My eyes water; I sniffle, too.
Throat is scratchy, heart aches for you.
I wonder if there's a remedy
For this pollenated memory
Allergic to it, I must be-
Your image makes a mess of me.

You're never all the way alone,
Someone will always care.
In spite of darkest solitude
A light is always there.
Don't hesitate to reach right out
If you should need a hand,  
And if no-one should catch your fall,
Someone will help you stand.
Life is full of broken hearts
And lonely, pitch black nights
And looking at the gloom they cast
It's hard to see the lights.
But rest assured, when all seems bleak
And life's torments abound
You're never all the way alone
As long as I'm around.

I wrote you a letter in Latin, 
But I couldn't read it. 
I admit, I thought the class
Was an easy credit. 
Not the phrases, but my nuance
Needing mending. 
Felt a lie, and I'm not so good
At pretending. 

You just couldn't see the hand
I was extending,
As into the wallpaper
I kept blending.
Perhaps it's my fault, since
I wore that shirt. 
Standing out's the quickest
Way to get hurt. 

But speaking from the diaphragm
I can bellow, 
And orate like some old dead
Roman fellow. 
Standing out and looking 
Like a plain fool
Reciting broken Latin 
Learned in high school. 

My only benediction is
The violence of my voice, 
To compensate the losses of
The silence of my choice
Standing naked 'fore the masses
Flawless Latin being read,
Without the slightest clue as to
What any of it said.

Then you looked at me with pain
In your dark brown eyes, 
When at last,  my folly 
You had realized. 
You said that, though my effort
Brought you much joy,
"Latinas don't speak Latin, 
My dear, dumb boy. "

I woke up today, and the Earth was still turning.  The sky is still up, my home is still here... the world, in all its splendor, still hangs silently in its little corner of eternity.

People are angry, spouting all kinds of vile words towards their fellow man.  They doubt their place in the world.  Yet, the world keeps turning.

People are scared.  They don't have power, and it's getting colder.  They don't know when things will get better, they just hope it happens before it's too late.  Still, the world keeps turning.

People are sick and dying.  People are losing loved ones.  They're incarcerated, they're unemployed, they're in trouble...  They're staring down the end, they're staring down death.  Things are tough all over.

But the world keeps turning.  It turned for eons without us here, and when we are all gone, it will keep on turning.  All empires rise and fall within its revolutions.  Any mark we leave on it will be lost to time and tide eventually.  Many hundreds of thousands of years passed without us and many more will pass after our departure.
So think REALLY HARD about our place here.  In the grand scheme of things, we're a really small part of the story of this planet.  You can choose to believe that it doesn't turn without you, that it is "the end of the world" when things aren't going according to YOUR plan.

You have a brief time on this planet.  Spend it on love, not hate.  Spend it helping, not hurting.  Spend it reaching out, not retreating inward; because after all, we're here for but a few breaths... why waste them?

It won't be forgotten
How you fed me
When I was hungry
Played music for me
When I was down
And we'd share a buzz
And a few blue jokes
Whenever you came 'round.
When I listen to Jerry Garcia sing
About a Mission in the Rain
You won't be forgotten
And what you've sown,
We will maintain.

In your name, we will maintain.

What's at the end of the rainbow?
I tell you my brother, I know.
I saw one across the meadow,
and I knew that I had to go.

I went with a heart of wonder,
bright as the arc I was under,
I marveled at fading thunder,
clouds as they drifted asunder.

My spirit was lighter than air,
my mind had but only one care,
to follow that colorful glare,
to what's at the end of it, there.

The closer I got, I would sing,
my steps would pick up a fresh spring,
when I get there, my heart takes wing,
as I find there...


Not a ****** thing.

We all used to be cannibals.
We tore flesh with our mandibles.
Times were hard for neanderthals.
Kinda men but still animals.

Did we still mourn those that were gone
as we were gnawing on the bone?
Behold the upright hairless dawn,
the greatest beasts this world has known.

Even back then, it took gumption
to prep beloved for consumption.
Grief gave pause, but safe assumption,
hunger led to feast's resumption.

Fast forward to the present day,
the greatest beasts still have their way.
As in that ancient yesterday,
upon the weak and ill they prey.

It's dog-eat-dog. Life's a mother,
til beneath the dirt we smother.
We're all cannibals, my brother-
feeding off of one another.