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've said it before, kid,
said and repeated:
Don't let the bad times
find you beaten, defeated.
Life won't quit swinging,
it'll press the attack.
No quarter is given
if you won't fight back.

This isn't the end
of the world or the road.
Sometimes, it gets tougher,
and progress is slowed.
Life will get better,
and life will get worse.
There's ups and there's downs
between here and the hearse.

But don't let it beat you,
it'll turn out alright
if you hold your head up
and continue to fight.
So cast thoughts of surrender
right out of your head.
Those who just give up
are as good as dead.

Here we stand on the edge of extinction
Shaking fists at the sun
Snarling through clinched teeth
And casting fault for the burnt flesh
We chose not to shield.

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!

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.

Goodnight, dear one, the day has passed.
No ray of light is meant to last.
Our time is short, as verse to song.
Goodnight, dear one, you've been so strong.

Goodnight, dear one, eyes closed in peace,
let pain and struggle, at last, cease.
The battle that you fought is done
Goodnight, dear one, at last, you've won.

Goodnight, dear one, you've earned a rest,
for all the lives you've touched and blessed.
While in our thoughts, you're never gone;
goodnight, dear one, we'll carry on.

Goodnight, dear one, but not goodbye,
within our hearts you'll never die.
As precious as our time has been,
goodnight, dear one. We'll meet again.

I ask you not to keep me, Lord,
I've no fear for the coming storm.
My life has led away from harm
My resting place is safe and warm.

Instead, my God, I beg of you
To keep all those that seem but lost
The broken, sick and destitute,
The battle-scarred, the tempest-tossed.

If some great blessing you had planned
To cast on me, I don't deserve.
Instead bestow that act of love
On those the world sees under-served.

(Foreword:  the word Gvgeyu'i (pronounced guh-GAY-yoo-ee) in the eastern Giduwah Cherokee dialect, means both "I love you", and "love" as a noun.)

Gvgeyu'i
by light of fire
'neath full moon's gaze
and shaman's drum,
the young brave
and the princess fair
dance alone where day is done.

Gvgeyu'i
he hears her say,
as embers dance
between the two,
the flames give way,
to passions blaze
'neath starlit sky
ancestors' view

"Gvgeyu'i"
he echoes back,
never turning
tail to flame,
"Gvgeyu'i,
my sun and moon,
even if you don't
feel the same."

Gvgeyu'i
the spirits chant
enchanted by the
dancing fire.
The longing lovers
drip with sweat
as voices crack
and muscles tire.

Gvgeyu'i
the princess sighs,
the spirit-flame
glows in her eyes,
Gvgeyu'i,
her lover true,
utters back her
lovelorn cries.

Gvgeyu'i,
they sang with glee,
the night, the silence
echoed, too,
Gvgeyu'i,
they sang together,
and followed it with
i-go-hi-dv.


(Footnote: i-go-hi-dv is pronounced "ee-go-he-doo" and means "Forever")

If those young men had looked like me,
how diff'rent everything would be.
There'd be no blood or teardrops shed.
Had they been white, they'd not be dead.

If Mike Brown had been Michael White,
he surely would have been alright.
"Don't shoot!" would not need to be said.
Had he been white, he'd not be dead.

From Ferguson to East L.A.,
we hear the stories every day.
"Protect and Serve" til streets run red.
Had they been white, they'd not be dead.

Call it racial immunity,
where skin-tone is impunity.
Don't let yourself be so misled-
had they been white, they'd not be dead.

As more and more young ones are slain,
and protests are met with disdain,
you may debate what I have said,
but were they white, they'd not be dead.

Heaven holds no paradise
that I've not found in your embrace.
No golden hue, divine device-
Heaven holds no paradise,
to beckon me look even twice.
No glory there to match your face.
Heaven holds no paradise
that I've not found in your embrace.

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.

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.

If I haven't told you
If I forgot to say
Let me clear the air now,
Before time slips away

In case you missed it, baby
If the message failed to send
I'll try to make it clear now
Try to help you comprehend

If you wonder where my heart lies
You can lay that doubt to rest.
Nothing else in this whole world
Puts this thunder in my chest.

So in case I failed to mention,
To be certain that you've heard
You should know how much I love you
Without a single spoken word.

If I don't wake up tomorrow,
from these words, some comfort borrow-
know that until the very end,
you were my heart, and my best friend.

If never more I see the dawn,
or watch the stars burn from the lawn,
believe that I died pacified-
my soul content, you by my side.

If this old heart should beat its last,
it will not beat for forlorn past.
It's final pulse- though weak, still true-
will be driven by love of you.

If the sun were to shed no light,
and darkness turn the day to night,
no other star could dare to shine
and light a world as you have mine.

So, if this were my final breath,
and this exhale would mean my death,
I'd form your name with my last air-
I only lived, when you were there.

I gotta get outta here, man.
The smell of broken dreams
Hangs thick on everything
Til you can't wash it out.
The whole ****** town is
Self-medicated into a state of
Absolute acceptance of
The **** they're hip deep in.

I gotta get out of here.
My empathy is contorted
Into apathy, because it's easier
More convenient to not give a ****,
To hide in my sociopath shell
Knowing the world is burning outside
But my AC works, so ***** it.
I'm good.

I gotta get outta here
Before I become what I hate
Or somebody that I hate
Hate, in general, seems to be
A motivating factor in all this.
It seems now to outweigh the love
That used to make all my major decisions.
Call it a defense mechanism
Or cynicism, or whatever.
I'm starting to think it's evolution.
It's part of the cycle, the great circle-**** of life,
It's all vigor and enthusiasm
Til you've peaked.
Then comes the shame and regret.
I'm joking, but only slightly.
****, I gotta get out of here.

Daylight broke the night in two
Forgot to pay the bill again
I can't believe I'm calling you
with drool and anger on your chin
The night was split, and you don't care
It's like we never got the note
I like the way you pulled my hair
Hence, the insults that I wrote.

Stupid me! I nearly faded
twisting knuckles in the wound
I worry that you've become jaded
and your harpsichord is tuned.
Look at how you look at me
when you're so certain that I'm dead.
I've never understood the glee
that comes from such an empty head.

Still you judge as though you know
the way we were in ancient caves
You collared me with thorns and grace
and took me to the sickest raves.
So now, so long, and fare thee well,
I only wish I could've met you
Catch you in my private hell!
If you want to paint the town, I'll let you.

Last night I wished upon a star
That I could split the night,
but wishing didn't get me far
the star was just a satellite
So I hung my head in disbelief
where I knew that you would find
my love of life is rough and brief
and my third eye is blind.

Do these drugs make my existential crisis look fat?

The exhale that followed
The gasp that was you
Left me blue, dying
For another breath
That will not come

I want love like I've never had
Where it feels so good and hurts so bad
Long nights and long fights and we make up
Come hell or high water we won't break up

I want love like it used to be
The kind'll make me forget about me
Somehow my feet never touch the ground
And people wonder why I'm never around

I want love like a fairy tale
You know the old story fairly well
No matter what else we get into,
Love as one, can't be split in two

I want love that's just like me
Comfortable in my insanity
Take it easy as a rule of life-
I find that, and I'll make her my wife.

We are of one song,
but the verses ever change,
and no two of us are the same.
One chorus, in billions of keys,
and it doesn't always rhyme.

In a perfect verse,
we're born and we grow,
find love and a happily ever after,
then when we're old and gray
silently slip away in our sleep.

But the song is more often
melancholy than melodic,
less rhythm, more blues,
and we struggle to keep time,
and it doesn't always rhyme.

But SING!
Sing for all you're worth,
sing out of tune,
sing the wrong words,
sing at the top of your lungs
because it's YOUR verse,
YOUR voice,
YOUR efforts that make
the song worth singing
for those around you.
Find harmony in our
lack of melody,
find comfort in
our cacophonous refrain,
find yourself
in the words of the song,
and remember,
it doesn't always rhyme,
but you're never singing alone.

Thought I saw you today
But I was wrong
Was the hair that got me,
Chestnut, so long
Almost followed at first but
Good sense came along
And I knew within my heart
That you were gone.

It would be awkward anyway
Talking again,
I would lose my voice after
"How have you been?"
So much has transpired
'Tween now and then,
I'm a different man
Since you've been gone.

I thought I saw you again
But I let it go.
In spite of what it looked like
At heart I know,
I never saw you leave, but
come ebb and flow,
Time keeps telling me
That you're still gone.

Maybe it's some stress-based
Hallucination.
A figment of an exhausted
Imagination.
Anxiety tied to this old
Separation.
But I know it's not you, here,
I know you're gone.

I thought I saw you, again,
In flesh and bone,
Didn't look a bit different since
You left me alone.
The world keeps on changing
So much is unknown,
But I know I couldn't see you, now,
The dead stay gone.

I used to write poetry,
quite prettily,
With flow and effervescent soul
Firm of form and splashed with
The color of a thousand heartbeats
Of dreams and tears and please-accept-me's,
Humble offers of a crumbling spirit
And you could hear it in my words
If you cared to put your ear to my shell,
The ocean in my broken heart churning
Threatening to swallow me whole.
I used to write poetry,
But times have changed,
seen me turn orange and
fall from my branch.
Dry and brittle on the forest floor
I feed the worms.
I feed the roots.
Summer is gone, and winter bears down.
I used to write poetry,
Now I chisel away pieces of
My stony disposition
And fantasize of the warmth
That once kept my heart aflame.

I used to write poetry, 
quite prettily,
With flow and effervescent soul
Firm of form and splashed with
The color of a thousand heartbeats
Of dreams and tears and please-accept-me's, 
Humble offers of a crumbling spirit
And you could hear it in my words
If you cared to put your ear to my shell, 
The ocean in my broken heart churning
Threatening to swallow me whole. 
I used to write poetry, 
But times have changed, 
seen me turn orange and 
fall from my branch.
Dry and brittle on the forest floor
I feed the worms. 
I feed the roots. 
Summer is gone, and winter bears down. 
I used to write poetry,
Now I chisel away pieces of
My stony disposition
And fantasize of the warmth
That once kept my heart aflame.

John Doe died this morning,
a man of indeterminate age
They found him in an alleyway,
a blanket of newspaper lining his cage
They said it was overexposure,
hypothermia and bad luck.
He was pronounced, tagged, thrown in a bag,
and loaded onto the truck.

John Doe had lived in that same spot
for fifteen haggard years.
Yet nobody knew his real name,
or listened to his tears.
Was he once a father? Or
was he always just a punk?
The community just passed him by
To them he was nothing but a drunk.

Whether or not John Doe had seen
better times seemed irrelevant.
Legally, John wasn't a human being
just a negative urban element.
His last words were "Spare some change
for coffee and hot bread?"
But nobody could spare the time,
and left John Doe for dead.

I wonder how long John sat dead
before anybody saw or cared.
I wonder how many handfuls of change
really could have been spared.
A little bit of warmth and hope
Were all that he desired;
But John Doe never saw a break,
until his time expired.

Old John was unidentified,
no license or social security;
no family reported him missing,
see, John was just an "impurity".
The mortician took his organs out
and stitched him up with wire.
Threw him on the metal table
and slid him in the fire.

John Doe was disposed of
in accordance with local code
Then they cleaned up the alleyway
He lived and died in, his abode.
John Doe is dead and gone now,
but I guess it's all the same.
John had never really lived
since the world forgot he had a name.

Just between you and me,
I've got this little fantasy
about a beach in Waikiki
where nobody else goes.
We could lie lazily
in the shade of an old palm tree,
a world apart where we could be
a story no-one knows.

Just between me and you,
I'd get lost in the ocean blue,
dancing mirror of sky's hue
riding on the tide.
Could it ever come true?
Maybe, if we follow through.
A little happiness is due.
I'd find it by your side.

Just between you and I,
instead of simply getting by,
we should give the dream a try-
just pick a time and day.
If you're not afraid to fly,
we'll be there in the blink of an eye,
and kiss this humdrum life goodbye
and steal paradise away.

It sounds like a broken record
Feels just like a revolving door
When another tin-star soldier
Explains what somebody died for
When both sides are crying "justice!"
But when all things are complete
There's another broken family
There's more blood out in the street.

And there's nobody to answer for
The systemic elimination
Of innocent black men and boys
Across this old and broken nation.
When guilt is predetermined
And last resorts become reflex
A whole race of Americans
Are forced to worry "Am I next?"

You don't have to like the truth
In order for the truth to be.
You can cry out furiously
When men in protest take a knee,
But if you deny the evidence
When the truth is brought to light
Then, you're a sucker or a liar,
Either way, you're just not right.

Keep me today,
the day is long
and I'm a bit tired
of being strong.
I want to hide here,
but I have to press on,
so give me a hand,
for my strength is gone.

Guide me today,
that I will not fail.
This world may rise up
my heart to assail.
I know that, big picture,
my burden is small,
but it's still hard to carry
when reduced to a crawl.

Lift me today,
I'm feeling too low.
Let your reassurance
be the one peace I know.
Put a hand on my shoulder,
arm around my neck,
and help me stand strong,
though I feel like a wreck.

Help me today,
so I know you're not gone.
Just a pat on the back
and I could carry on.
Believe me, in body,
I can stand on my own.
But my heart needs the love
that only you've shown.

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

Kiss me goodbye
don't say a word
you've said enough
it's all been heard
I'm letting go
so don't hang on
The time has come
and I am gone.

Perhaps I failed,
I've been known to.
It could be me,
it could be you.
I place no blame,
no guilt I feel.
No fairy tale-
this ending's real.

Kiss me goodbye,
I'm on my way.
You'll live to love
another day.
I'll carry on
in my own form,
my conscience clear
to keep me warm.

So close your eyes,
and purse your lips,
come here and grab
me by the hips,
and kiss me, like
you used to do-
when you loved me
and I loved you.

Kiss me goodbye,
without a sound,
tomorrow I
won't be around.
And all that I
am gonna miss
will pale beside
that one last kiss.

To me, you are a paradise
Stretched far beyond the mind's frail grasp
What glory found on simple sands
Could elicit such awestruck gasp?

None other, love, but you alone,
Could promise such without a word,
But with a look, a simple touch,
Make silent sentiment so heard.

Endless summer, boundless heaven,
Far from the path I thought to trod;
You've echoed hymns they've never sung
Words written by the hand of God.

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.

You and I, again
Dancing on the edge of love
Pretending we're not

Liberty is bleeding,
but they say she's doing fine.
Took the cloth off lady Justice,
now only fools are blind.
Threw a tourniquet together,
tight around her reddened wrist,
to hide it from the sunlight,
and the salty harbor mist.
Liberty is bleeding,
you can't see the blood-soaked truth.
The old girl's barely standing,
and a little long of tooth.
The torch rests a little lower,
and the tired and huddled masses,
read a plaque that says "Turn back,
or we'll shoot your troubled *****."
Liberty is bleeding,
she can't hold up her head.
If everybody saw the wound
panic would be widespread.
In the sun on Ellis Island,
you can tell that she is hurt.
She's stepped down off her pedestal.
She's standing in the dirt.
She's leaning, doubled over,
like she's gonna fall apart.
Liberty is bleeding,
because we tore out her heart.

I cried out to God for answers
While waiting for his reply
I forgot to do some living
'Ere I fell down to die.

Beheld I no great majesty
In wonders he had wrought
But pitied self for circumstance
That time and life had brought

Forbid that I would ever look
Beyond my meager station
And witness those at deeper lows
and show appreciation.

Hence, the twilight of my life
Has come, and shadow's fallen.
At last, across the great divide
I hear His voice is callin'.

Our answers come in all due time
And so little time is given,
So while you wait you might as well
Go do a little living.

I've embraced my nothingness
My cosmic insignificance
And my indomitable will
And drive to make a difference.

So though the world forget my name,
and **** me with no shred of fame
I'll take my chances just the same
To bridge the gaps that leave us lame.

I'm not so vain to need to know
Who'll miss me when it's time to go.
Even if my crew won't grow,
My heart, my fellow man, I'll show.

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.

We live as if reality
Is only in our head
We live as if we'll never die
We live as if we're dead
We chase the stars while standing still
We hide behind the moon
We count the days unnumbered til
We die, hoping it's soon.
We're swinging from the chandeliers
We're tearing down the walls.
We'd be the future of the game,
but We haven't got the *****.
Told for so long how we might fail
But not how to succeed
We've watered insecurity
It grew up like a ****.
We dance with love and apathy
We sleep with shame and lies
We carve a niche and wait to see
How everybody dies.

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.

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.

The way you bend moonlight
Around your frame
Draped like satin from your curves
Is enough to shame the sunrise
And turn monochrome
Her fiery red-orange skies

I've been pretty patient with you
You *******.
What's up?
How you gonna ****
Every
*******
Body
Else
And leave me here with a bunch of ******* I don't even know?
Spineless ******* skeleton.
You ain't reaping ****.

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.

My heart hurts, but I'll be alright.
I just won't be alright tonight.
Most of the time my spirit's light,
My silver linings shine so bright.

But sometimes life gets in the way,
And you can't see the light of day;
I know the pain ain't here to stay,
My heart hurts but I'll be okay.

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

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.

Okay, Cupid, tell me true-
The hell'd I ever do to you?
You flap about, your bowstring drawn
Aiming just to lead me on.

"Oh, she's the one!" You always say,
And with a 'thwip', arrows away!
And when it hits, right in my heart,
Proceeds to tear the world apart.

And then you just flutter away,
No doubt thinking "good job, today!"
But Cupid, sir, you fail to tell
That my poor heart is in for hell.

Now, love is grand, don't get me wrong,
But never seems to last for long.
Those arrows you're so fond to fire
Are sometimes too quick to expire.

So, Cupid, mate, step up your game,
Or redirect your blasted aim.
If love is such a complex trick,
Don't shoot at me you little *****!

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.

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.

There is no tomorrow where
there is no yesterday.
We all came from somewhere
and we're all going away.
Forever is a long time
that encompasses the past
Forever keeps on going,
no matter what won't last.
How can you hate the rainfall
yet love what it may grow,
or hide out from the light
in spite of what that light may show.
The future holds more of the same,
don't even play pretend-
joy and pain walk hand in hand
only the dead have seen the end.

We all come from somewhere,
every acorn has its tree.
The past may not be pretty,
but it's part of who we be.