A better man than me would rise above his station,
sacrificing comfort for the bliss of separation.
Caring not for wealth or power,
finding his only joy in indignation.

A wiser man than me would know this was the hour,
to act upon his hopes for dreams,
even with his chances slim and outlook dour.

A braver man than me, would stand against oppression,
from the injustices of life that offer no concession.
Standing to demand restitution,
of his life that by right should be in his possession.

But I am just a man of a weaker constitution,
frozen by the scope of tyranny and greed,
shackled and enslaved by the chains of institution.

A better man than me would rise above is sorrow,
a strength within his heart, that his hope might chance to borrow.
Alas the day is lost with the setting of the sun
and I can only strive to be a better man tomorrow.

You weren't there to check for monsters
hiding underneath my bed.
So I hid under my covers
as I lay awake in dread.

There were monsters in the daytime too
one even stole your shoes.
Hiding deep inside myself
was all that I could do.

You weren't there to show me how to fight
when the bullies knocked me down.
So I lived a life of fear
insecure upon the ground.

You weren't there by my side,
but you were always in my heart
and I grew into a man
even though we were apart.

Father to a beautiful little girl
with monsters hiding in the night,
but I chase them all away
and tuck her covers tight.

I hope you’re there for her
the way you couldn't be for us
a growing little girl
needs her grandpa’s love.

look into my eyes
come close let me see
the only person who knows
all the secrets of me

give me your hands
mine know them so well
holding onto each other
they've made it through hell

put your lips to my lips
your breath in my chest
only wrapped in your arms
may my weary heart rest

lay here by my side
let our shadows entwine
know I’m eternally yours
whisper you’ll always be mine

You are only as strong as your ability
to lift yourself up off the ground.

You are only as wise as your ability
to see the world as it is
not as you want it to be.

You are only as free as your ability
to take a step towards your hearts desire
and appreciate whatever it is you find there.

two bolts of lightning
flash at the very same time
you streaking your way
and me streaking mine

for the briefest of moments
together we lit up the sky
then the whole world went dark
with no one left to ask why

that brilliant light is gone forever
all that’s left are cloudy skies
and your afterglow in the lonely dark
at night when I close my eyes

if god does indeed exist
i doubt he will be able to hear us
until we grow enough
that we can look him in the eye

Although I speak your language
Our words are not the same
Although I play by your rules
I’m not part of your game

Although I share your history
Were not from the same place
Although I run behind you
I care not who wins your race

Although I live among you
This is not my home
Although I walk beside you
In truth I walk alone

Although your eyes are working
You’ve yet to truly see
The truth found in my wording
That might finally set you free

As a child I searched for shelter
Safe behind my mother’s arms
Only time revealed the truth
There are many kinds of harm

Adolescence brought my search
To find what constitutes the self
I found we are all made up of parts
We assembled off the shelf

Perhaps my greatest search
Was to find my one true love
I discovered love must be built
It's not just a gift from up above

Now all I seek is forgiveness
In the depths of someone’s eyes
After revealing all my secrets
And surrendering my lies

Have you ever made a mistake,
then passed by every opportunity to rectify that mistake,
for fear that, you will make a new mistake.

You live your entire life
thinking maybe it’s a mistake not to fix your mistake
for fear that, you will make a new mistake.

A picture is just a picture
An instant memory of light
One thousand words find their worth
In our imagination of the sight

A memory is just a memory
A vague retelling of our life
Each memory stripped and shaped
By the hesitation of our knife

A life is just a life
A passing reality of mind
One thousand pictures slowly fade
As we leave the past behind

A sunset is just a sunset
A daily dying of the light
All we have is just a simple picture
As day surrenders to the night

Time is like the surface of an ocean,
that flows for eternity into the future
and flows for eternity into the past.

Anything that has ever happened,
anything that will ever happen,
anything that is happening right now
exists on the surface of this ocean forever.

We conscious beings are a wave
rolling from the past into the future.
Our passing changes the face of the ocean
but the ocean is eternal.

Reading someone else’s poetry
is like trying a weird side dish at a party.

It’s that strange dip that your friend made
and they just keep begging you to try it.
When you finally give in and you take a bite,
one of two things is always bound to happen.

It’s amazing, you love it,
you eat the whole bowl.
You shower them with compliments
and ask them for the recipe

or

It’s bland and it’s dry
can’t even finish your first bite.
You muster up your best fake smile
and squeak out, “This is great”.

It’s imperative that you keep in mind
No matter if it’s good or bad
if it rocked your world or burned your tongue
you will probably only taste this once.

Man is a curious animal
who afraid of his own mortality
went and conjured up spirituality.

Which begs a curious question
if religion our fears meant to quell
why then go,
and conjure up hell.

My heart soared and fell broken
all in the same moment.

I saw my future, forgot my past
and wept at my good fortune.

Then I awoke, forgot my dreams
to a life consumed by torture.

It’s amazing how the moment turns
on such a tiny thing.

On the ******* of your left hand
a tiny golden ring.

A silent solitary surrender
Is all that it would be
Just one small transgression
No one need ever see

A battle fought in every second
To what rhythm does my heart beat

My conscious softly whispers
Advice I’d rather disregard
It knows the wisest choices
Are oft times doubly hard

Who can face down temptation
When surrender tastes so sweet

A thousand small surrenders
Lead to the darkest night
When each surrender leads
One step further from the light

a poem for the perturbed
partially peeved
marginally miffed
indirectly disturbed

not for those in love
not for loss or for longing
not for the haughty highbrow
half hazardly happy saps
that drown you in their
dizzily delerious
words about joy and wonder

this poem is for the average joe
joe sixpac joe normal
kicked back, laid back
ignoble informal

working class
pain in the ***
foul mouthed, burnout
college drop out
that doesn't have two
sweet words to rub together

this poem is for me

and you... if you want it.

Thunder troubles a darkening sky.
Wind rustles the sun dappled grass
as miles of meadows wander by.

Shadows dance on a distant hill
of monsters meeting in the air,
tired of merely standing still.

The sun it tries to stand and fight
piercing the monsters with beams of light.

The light if fades from a shattered sky.
The monsters merge with all their might
and the evening darkness begins to cry.

The very air it begins to howl
stirring every branch and blade.
It regards the monsters with a scowl.

The monsters throw their streaks of light
a raucous symphony of sound and sight.
A false dawn drives back the encroaching night.

But the wind is a force that won’t be denied.
It vows an oath to take back the sky
and drives the monsters upon the tide.

The moon and stars are all that remain
to comfort the tears of a war torn sky
and remind the monsters they fought in vain.

beauty is of many faces
found in many forms and places
first is seen the beauty of the face
it's the greatest at the start
but before its dead it can swell your head
and leave you naught but a broken heart
all and all a rarer find
is the beauty of the mind
it grows and flowers with each season
it’s one true love is love of reason
if this beauty grows to great
it can see the need for love too late
if too much of this you own
expect a hard thought life alone
the most amazing of all is set apart
it's the deepest beauty of the heart
traces found almost everywhere
it’s on the wind and in a prayer
you'll find it anyplace that's wild
and in the laughter of a child
its the beauty that will never fade
still found today as god first made
when this beauty you can confess
you'll find true love and happiness

We all live together in boxes made of light.
As our moments pass they overlap,
bundled loose with neon twine.

We all think out loud with minds made of light.
Our most private thoughts escape our heads
setting sail on copper skies.

We all sit together sharing lives made of light.
One family gathered round a global hearth,
texting tales of cyber life.

Life is like a broken car stereo,
on a hundred year road trip.

For the first few years everything is great.
You have the sun on your face, the wind in your hair
and you are hearing every song for the first time.
All the roads you are driving are familiar and close to home,
you don’t have a care in the world.

Around about year 13
you start to drive into unfamiliar territory.
The **** falls off on the death metal station.
You find yourself mad at the world for no reason
so you forget about the songs of your youth and
just go with it.

Making a pit stop at year 22
You find that pesky **** under the seat.
You start searching for the happy stations
you recall from the beginning of the trip,
but by this time you have picked up passengers
and they have taken over any station decisions.

Cruising through year 30
You decide to get your road trip in order.
You have preset all the stations that everyone listens to
and come up with a schedule so that everything is fair.
But at year 34 you cross state lines and the stations change,
leaving you with unhappy passengers and the daunting task
of figuring out the stereo all over again.

Obeying the speed limit around year 45
You finally have more control of the music of your trip.
Most of your passengers have stereos of their own now.
Unfortunately your stereo has started to wear out
and your favorite stations only come in clear occasionally.
You suffer through the static with the hopes
that the station will stay clear just long enough
to hear your favorite song.

Looking for a rest stop close to year 80
You can barely hear the music anymore and
that’s if the stereo will even turn on these days.
No one is left to disagree with you over the stations
so the radio stays permanently tuned to your old favorites.
You find yourself pretty sure you have heard all the songs
on the radio and are really looking forward to your destination.

The radio breaks close to year 100
As you get out of the car and head into the light of your destination,
all the songs of your journey play to remind you of the
people you have loved and the places you have been.

Reflective light from broken glass.
Reflects the moments as they pass.

Train of thought from a broken plan.
Remembers the pain of a broken man.

Continued exposure to a grand illusion.
Has led my heart to a false conclusion.

Passionless words end a passionate fight.
Silence the symphony of a passionless night.

A year or two
older than me
I wore brown shoes
we drank sweet tea

I touched her face
she kissed my lips
We tasted love
between the sips

I was born a butchers boy
I never lacked for meat
Purse strings tight as a bishop’s ***
My childhood lacked for sweets

My sweethearts now a butchers wife
Two lamb shanks for a ha penny
We waste our coin and copper hair
By eating sweets a plenty

The merchant comes to peddle time
The reaper dreads his arrival
Those with coin and copper hair
Can purchase their survival

I will die a butcher’s death
My sweets have sealed my fate
With empty purse and graying hair
The merchant comes to late

rainbow colored  butterfly
floating through my dreams
delicate and fair
full of life and rare

you flutter at my periphery
daring me to touch
always just beyond my grasp

better if I should never hold you
wrap you up inside my palm
within my arms enfold you

for then my dream would end
and I would awaken
with blood and butterfly wings
stuck between my fingers

Childhoods end
Around the bend
In fields of innocence
We may no longer tarry

Summers eve
Takes its leave
Of grownup burdens
We grow weary

Sweethearts kiss
A simple bliss
As adolescence wanes
We start to let it go

Breaking heart
As memories part
The hardest goodbye
We may ever know

Setting sun
Were almost done
From childhoods dream
I depart alone

Closest friend
We’ll walk again
In fields of innocence
When I get home

never feel guilty for not doing something,
                                   that you still have time to do

Cigarette smoke and despair
I’ve come to know the smell
It adorns the walking dead
As they haunt their waking hell

They have gathered here to die
Desperation has its price
Cigarette smoke and despair
Is the flavor of their vice

Neon lights a sirens call
Taking comfort in the glow
Cigarette smoke and despair
The last smell they’ll ever know

years ago I know not exactly when
my journey came to a quiet end
I retired here to these spacious halls
to live out my days inside these walls
I’ll tarry here forever more
while life goes on outside my door

I had my days beneath the sun
the sun has set but my days go on
life’s river flows on towards the sea
but I find myself upon the beach
and whatever life was left to live
has flowed well, beyond my reach

when an inherently talented singer
steps out under the bright lights
and bares her soul in song
some would say that takes courage

when a genetically gifted athlete
leaves his heart on the field
and leads his team to victory
some would say he was brave

but I would say true courage
is stepping out under those bright lights
or running onto that field of competition
even in the face of almost certain failure

yes I believe true courage
is speaking up when no one’s listening
playing your heart out even when you can’t win
and standing up again even if you fall

am I clinically depressed
or am I just crazy

chemically imbalanced
motivationally challenged
or am I just lazy

attention deficit disorder
hyperactive distracted
interactive media addiction

progressive techno optimist
idealistic unrealistic
future obsessive affliction

am I terminally indecisive
or am I just manic

in need of professional help
to just get over myself
or should I just panic

am I clinically depressed
or am I just crazy

Minutes pass into hours
Hours into days
Though my life pass into twilight
I will still dream of the people and places
Of my youth

I dream of endless summers by the river
The smell of fresh water in my hair
Laughing voices in the distance

A giant stone church
It’s steeple standing tall
Sentinel of our sleepy borough

Fresh cut grass
Dirt stains on my clothes
A pleasant ache in all my muscles
After a day of playing ball

A warning siren blows
We all rush off to meet it
Perilous adventure of my youth
Dousing wayward flame

Star filled summer nights
Chasing tiny hand held lights
Mad dashes through the town

The smell of funnel cakes
Brings smiles for miles around
At the annual street fair

Minutes pass into hours
Hours into days
As my life passes into twilight
I long for the freedom and the faces
Of my youth

*** isn't the only thing that sells
death sells too
think about it a minute
and admit that its true

war correspondent reporting live
from the middle of the war zone
another thousand people die
from the hole in the ozone

ebola outbreaks are trending
getting millions of views
while little girl abductions
top the evening news

we demonize *** on t.v.
like were ashamed of creation
while at least one prime time show
will feature de-capitation

the next time you buy a ticket
to the mass media fair
just stop and think a minute
buyer beware

we all stand at the threshold
to the doorway of tomorrow
on the other side
awaits a wondrous ride
where dreams are sure to follow

imagination soon set free
from mere pictures in our head
our thoughts made real
our hearts made feel
inhibitions will be shed

the future has embraced us
our dreams are sure to follow
eyes made of light
see wondrous sights
through the doorway of tomorrow

dreams know the truth
that you hide deep inside
and they won’t let you live
with a life full of lies

dreams know the truth
and each night they’ll remind you
of all the things in your past
that you can’t put behind you

they burn in the spark
of your secret desire
and each night as you sleep
they rekindle that fire

dreams know the truth
that you keep deep inside
you can lie to yourself
but your dreams won’t abide

I can almost hear her laughter
Her face almost makes me smile
But I know our time together
Is just a sweet short while

All the music notes fall flat
The colors start to fade
There is nothing left but sadness
In the games that we once played

The sky keeps getting darker
I can’t seem to find the light
As I slowly forget the sunshine
All I am left with is the night

I am drowning in my sorrow  
As I lose my fight to be
And I am not sure if tomorrow
Will find anything left of me

Is it really Happily Ever After
If it's when the story ends
Was it worth the stories heartbreak
Because in the end it mends

How many parts we play
Just to hide our hearts desire
How many sad farewells
Until our story will expire

When the last star falls
and the rainbows start to fade
whats left to give us hope
and grant the wishes that we've made

how can I be there for her
when noone was there for me
how can I teach her things
that I have never learned
how can I show her love
that I have never felt

beautiful things can be
built from broken pieces

I'll kiss her boo boo's
while hiding my scars
fight the monsters under her bed
and lock my demons in the closet
I'll be the father she needs
and never the father I fear

I feel safer when it's dark
just knowing your nearby
that I might have within my reach
a little piece of sky

you light my way when I get lost
brighten up my day without a cost

the dark would overtake me
if ever we should part
you are my flashlight
you light up my heart

have I somehow forgotten
what it feels like to be in love
just because my arms can hold
what my heart was dreaming of

have her lips somehow lost
their deep soft kiss appeal
just because my mouth knows well
how those deep soft kisses feel

have my hands lost their longing
to go exploring in the dark
just because my fingers know
how to quickly find their mark

when did our words find their edge
when did our bed get so vast
how did our love become this desert
when it was endless oceans in our past

lying here my heart remembers
every deep soft kiss and every touch
and as I put my arms around her
my tears remind me
what it feels like to be in love