Hanging from a single thread like a spider from a strand of web, I dangle at the end of fates cruel hand. Blown about in the wind, twisting from end to end, I bounce up and down. Pulling on the single strand, I realize how mortal I am as I feel the line grow taught around me. I must be careful that my thread doesn't break, I take care to not tempt fate, but the cruelty of destiny taunts me. I want to climb the line, but fear takes hold of me, what if the strand breaks then where will I be? So I dangle just a little bit more, as I carefully try to climb the cord and I can only hope that the fates are with me.

Mushrooms talk to me when I lay in my back yard. Ducks stop by to say hello. I often forget some of my clothes when I go out to drink. My last girlfriend said I was too out there. So I wander between what is loosely defined as reality and the world that is normal to me. I really don't want to hurt anyone, I just want to live like me. So I step across societies line and have a little too much fun. Walking on the dark side of life keeps things interesting, give it a try sometime.

There is no peace on earth and we have lost good will towards men. We only want to hoard up wealth and to get more than we give. The cheer has gone out of our lives and we find no joy within. Would someone tell me where Christmas is, can anybody answer me?

Arise all of you who live under the heavens. To all who live life, let us give our God adoration, let us praise his name. Cry out with a shout of exaltation. Let the heavens proclaim his greatness, from horizon to horizon. Let the name of the lord be made great. Give thanks for his mercy and let us give him praise.

To be a king I would wear a heavy crown, because I would bear the burdens of my people. I would not take my ease until the poorest among my people was fed. I would give more than I would take. I would not seek riches or lands, but wisdom as my treasure. I would absorb knowledge so that I could help many and not a few. I would seek out the humble and wise to be judges and not the rich and powerful. The door of my castle would never be closed to the poor or those in need. In all things I would show mercy and give justice in kind.

Below the deep blue water lies a world of wonder. Built upon rocks and clefts of the earth rising to meet the dim rays of light, Coral reefs hold wonder beyond belief. Plants fan in the current's flow and small colorful fish dart among sharp bards for protection from a lurking foe. Starfish creep around looking for a place to rest or perhaps their next meal. Life thrives in abundance in the salty brine of the sea. Beneath what appears to be a lifeless waste, Coral gardens flourish waiting for their beauty to be seen.

If I slumber and rise not again, do not cry for me. For good or ill I have lived my life in pursuit of what made me happy. I have done my best to share with others and to remember those in need. I am content that I have will left a better world than the one I entered into. So shed no tears of sorrow, if tomorrow I am gone. Remember the good and not the bad of me. Continue on your journey and know that somewhere down the road, I will see you again.

As I awake lying beside you, I see the rays of the sun break the horizon. I look at the shadows as they begin to fade. I see the image of you beside me, you are cast in a golden silhouette as you lay quietly. I want to just reach out and touch you, but you are too beautiful to disturb. So for the moment, I will simply watch the vision of love that has been painted for me in the morning light.

Wiping my eyes I awake from a long slumber. To thundering voices I arise. For eight long years I have slept in a nightmare, now the sun has risen again. My country was under siege but not for much longer. The tables have been turned and I am now awakened. At last the long winter of discontent has passed and a new tree is growing. Liberty has been restored and hope is springing anew. Liberalism has been routed and conservatism has again taken root. Soon I will be fully awake and basking in the new day. Finally I will be free of the chains of oppression and be able to live without fear. For the nightmare is over and my country has been returned to me.

Yesterday was great but today the world has changed. No longer am I cheery, but I want to be friends with a kitchen knife. I hold it and see how shiny it is and wonder how it's cool edge would feel. Then I fall even further and look at my medicine cabinet. I pour out the pills onto the floor and look at all of the pretty colors. If I just scoop up a hand full and wash them down with beer, I can pretend that I am swallowing a rainbow. It is then that I look in the mirror and decide I can stand my hair. I get the scissors and cut and whack it until it is shorter than I might like, but now I fit the darkness that has taken hold of my mind. So I go and sulk on the couch and wash down my sorrow with *****. What I am drinking I am not sure, as long as it numbs the pain. I will pass out when the bottle is empty and perhaps I will have a better mood tomorrow.

Sitting on a stone by a slow flowing stream. I close my eyes and feel the Moss beneath my feet. I hear a bird chirping in the tree above me, I can hear the water as it washes over smooth stones. The wind gently blows cool air around me and I can feel the rays of the sun shining through the clouds. In moments of solitude, I can reconnect to who I am and refocus on my life. It is in a quiet place that I feel most alive.

He did it, no it is her fault. I wasn't there it wasn't me. I didn't say that, it was someone else. That is offensive don't say that. So it goes among the people day in and day out. No one is to blame, no one said that or made that decision. Despite the river of mistakes and lies that are constantly spewed out by our leaders, there is no accountability. A constant game of blaming someone else, is the order of the day. Common speech is now offensive and the right to freely speak is curtailed. The only freedom that is left in truth is the freedom to shun responsibility and put the blame on someone else.

Two homes were built to keep families safe and warm. Eighty years  before a man planted an Acorn in the ground. The seed sprouted and shot up to the sky and grew to its full size. Then it was hewn down and built two houses that are now called home. A single grain of corn was planted in the earth and one plant grew and produced in abundance. The ears were harvested and saved and replanted the following year, acres of corn came up and bushels were brought in. The grain was sent to another land where people were in want. The hundreds were fed and were saved. A person gave someone two dollars that allowed them to get on a bus. The bus took them to their home. A family waited for their loved one who  returned safely and was able to care for them for another day. The smallest thing can do the miraculous.

When night closes in and all my wealth is spent. When I am rejected by others and hope seems far from me. I know that I can run to you, for you are my better half. You are my greatest treasure, you are the center of my life. It is your love that sustains me. So when all else has go away and we stand alone. The world does not matter when your love is all I have.

Twirling around in your embrace beneath a glistening sky. Lights from a thousand galaxies shine down with ancient light as we bask in the glow of love. Wrapped up in each others arms, we forget our cares as we move to the music that is in our hearts. Enjoined as one soul, we are knit together. Our fate joined until eternities end. I look into your eyes and see the reflection of a single star that twinkles just for our love and I simply melt into your gaze as we are dancing under the stars in a celebration of our love.

The lights are blinking and the tinsel glistens in the night like silver strings. People are shopping for their loved ones and anticipating the things that they will be given. The world looks on as we celebrate our good fortune. As we share our love with those close to us, let us not forget what it really means. When you see the cold, offer them something warm. When you see the hungry, give them more than they can eat. When you see the homeless, offer them a place to stay. Help someone out in the season of giving, and perhaps the world will be a better place.

Often I pray and wonder if I am worthy. Many days I do not feel that I deserve to be forgiven. I ask the eternal question so many must often ask, why did he die for me? In a moment of peaceful clarity I came to understand what exactly I am to him and why he died for me. When all of creation was given unto him, I was his greatest creation. I was made to honor him and live in his service. Sin separated us for a while then he saw I needed saving, so he gave up his throne, riches and  honor to live as I lived. When he had done what he came to do, he underwent the ultimate suffering and shame. In that moment he showed his eternal love for what he had created and that is why he died for me.

As new seeds of hope are planted and new flowers bloom. Let the minds of our children be the fertile ground of change. Let the horrors of war and want be lessons learned and not repetitive actions that are an endless cycle of grief. Let us be the purveyors of wisdom and lets us teach discipline and kindness with a firm but nurturing hand. Let our children grow up and become the rule and not the exception. Let new ideas drive our world forward and enjoin cultures from the old divides. Let vines grow across ideologies and let knowledge create opportunities. From the old waste lands of hatred and distrust, let new friendships emerge and grow. Let the next generation give hope and let there be a new tomorrow, better than our yesterday.

Pose for the flashes and give them what they want. Become surreal life an image trapped in time. Walk the way your supposed to and become the thing of fantasies and dreams. You are one of a kind, you are for the moment. You are a face in the crowd, the one the crowd wants to be. Give away all that you are and just a little bit more. Bask in the limelight and  become dissected as the Paparazzi pull your every move apart. Looking for that fatal flaw, trying to find your more human side. You are part of the image, you are the trend that others have set. So smile for the camera and enjoy your fleeting moment in the sun.

The gate swings open and the air rushes over you. I limp forward slowly and look around at the sky. I scratch at my beard that is now turning hues of Gray. I step outside and I am on my own. The grass still looks Green and the pavement still looks rough and dark. Other than that, the world has rushed by me. I have been in a time capsule that lags behind everything else. Behind walls of cement and wrought iron gates, I have lived a life under control. Every aspect of everyday planned out for me, from the time I eat until when I go to bed. Now after 30 years, I am on my own. One random act of violence took my freedom from me and now my freedom is what really scares me. The not knowing what I must do next is disheartening. I am not sure I can make it on the outside. Part of me is terrified and runs back to the iron gates, but another part wants to see what it is to be alive. So I will hobble forward, broken and worn down by doing all of my time. I must learn to live day to day. Life after 30 years behind bars is going to be a challenge, I hope that I can find the strength to move on.

They may not show their wings or walk around with glowing halos, but that does not diminish their work. People who walk among us everyday going about their normal business, but who affect the lives of others in the most extraordinary ways. It may only be a word of kindness to someone who has lost all hope, or a handkerchief to someone who needs to blow their nose. They may give a few dollars to someone who is in need or perhaps they will give their time to teach a child to read. From preparing a meal for a stranger, to helping out a neighbor or friend, the miracles are miraculous if you could truly see their end. Each person who lends a helping hand, sends kindness and hope along the way. These ordinary Angels who walk among us, working not for fame or glory, but simply seeking to make the world a better place.

Poverty is not mutually exclusive to one place. Want and despair are not specific to one race. Ignorance is not limited to one group. Many of these things we share as people. When one group prospers, another lacks. When one person commits senseless violence, many people are hurt beyond the intended victim. We are blinded by ideology and are limited by our own selfishness. On a world so full of diverse life, we are all of one kind, that is human kind.

Black, White, Yellow, or Brown the skin color matters not. Red haired, Blonde, or Brown hair one thing does not care. Tall, short, skinny or fat it bears no malice. In life there is no true equality, for we are all human and will always have a bias. Only in death is there equality. Only then are we all the same. Though we might be born to wealth or poverty, all of us die equally. The last act of the play of our life may be dramatic, or it may be peaceful but it is our end just the same. Once we draw our last breath, our part is done in this life. What comes after is open to interpretation, but in this one thing, equality is achieved. We are all mortal and we will all die.

I look into your eyes and say no words at all. I hold your hand and feel the warmth of your touch. I hear you breathe and I forget the world around me. I am not sure how you can love someone so much. I want to freeze this moment and keep it in my heart forever. I want to let you know how deeply you are loved. I am just not sure what to say or how to express it when words are not enough.

Tensions boil over as poverty creeps into neighborhoods. The perception of social injustice fills the news. Violence leaves already shatter families ripped and torn apart. Liars make promises they have no intention of keeping as cities burn to the ground. The seams of societies fabric begin to fray and tear. Pressure percolates under surfaces until threads begin to break. The strain becomes too great and everything explodes in chaos as those in power look on from their fortified Ivory towers waiting for the whole thing to be broken so that they can sweep up the pieces and throw them away. Then come in and rebuild it and fill the pockets full of gold while people scrounge in the streets half starved as they buckle under even more pressure as they see the inequality of a system that is broken and simply repeats itself.

I have no need of golden crowns or mighty halls of stone. I have no desire for piles of Jewels or silken sheets and fine linens. I find joy more in a Chili dog or being able to breathe clean air. I have a greater love of running in a pair of worn shoes than riding in a limousine. I have no desire to know the secret to life, I just want to live it. I do not care to spend my life stuck in books that I cannot understand. I want to drink water from a cool stream and climb a tall Oak tree. I want to see the world for myself, I do not need someone to do it for me. Some people have to pile up wealth in order to be happy. I just want a place to lay my head in peace, that is fine with me. I just want to be left to my own devices, I just want to live and be free.

The road is hard beneath your feet and the burdens are heavy. Let me lift your shoulder and walk with you. Let me bear your burden with you and help you move along. Let me show you that mercy is real and that love is not forgotten. Despite the obstacles we face, we shall move on together. We shall raise each other up and bear our burdens as friends who help lift up another.

When I enter through the gates of Pearl and walk upon streets of God, I will no more have any sorrow. I will see the wonders of Heaven and behold the angels band. I will see the ageless saints and Son of Man. Around the throne of eternity where the lamb shall reign, I will join the redeemed in singing his praises with no end. Despite all of the wonder and the streets made of Gold, it is their maker that I cannot wait to behold.

On ravens wings as dark as midnight you come. Sailing down from the celestial plain. Blacking out the light of the stars you stand over me. I shiver in anticipation of what is to come. You cover me with your wings and pull me into your embrace. All of the light fades as you pull my spirit from my body and we ascend into the ethos. High into the darkness we fly. I lose track of time as we enjoin ourselves. Then the sun breaks the horizon and I fall back to conciseness as you pull back into the shell of darkness where you dwell. Exhausted from my flight into the forbidden pleasures of your touch, I collapse into my body as I wait for you to come break my spirit again as you feed on my passion and desire for you.

Ice covers the earth and I slip and fall. I slide quiet a distance and knock you over. Packages go everywhere and you are mad at me, then I see your sparking eyes and I cannot breathe. As you fuss at me, I am mesmerized. I mindlessly pick up your packages and sheepishly smile. All of a sudden you stop and begin to rub my nose, it turns out I spill my hot chocolate all over my face and clothes. You exclaim that I am quiet the mess, I don't even notice as I still can't catch my breath. I stand up and hand your packages and I find the strength to ask your name and on that one winter's day, my life forever changed.

I run up to the cliff and look over on my tip toes. I stare into the abyss and wonder how deep it goes. Time and again I play this game, each time the end is the same. For once I think I will give it a go. I will jump into the unknown if only just for show. I am not sure where I will land. I am not sure if there is even a bottom. I would use a parachute, but that would take all of the fun out of the game. So over the edge I go I wonder what is waiting at the end?

I am the monster you created! I am the life that you hated! I am what you would like to destroy, now I am here to distress and annoy you! I am the ***** secret you wanted to bury. I am the thing that children find scary! I am the burden you have to carry. So why don't you admit that I am real and we can get on with learning how to deal with our co-existence as I torment your mind. I am your monster, I am your Frankenstein!

Though I lay on the floor broken and ******. Though I suffer a temporary defeat. I will not surrender to your will. You can crush my bones and rend my flesh, but I will rise again. I am an ideal not just a person. Though I am trampled down to the ground, I will find another way to grow. I am the thoughts of freedom and justice and you cannot destroy me.

Cuts and gashes inflicted on me by society, I bear the marks of battle. Where flesh was torn and emotions were bled out of my veins by cruelty and spite, I bandaged the wounds and healed the places as best as I could. Now scars adorn my body, not that I was beautiful anyway. I have survived the crucible of hate and venom thrown at me and now I am stronger for it. Though some are repulsed by my appearance, my scars tell my tale. Each one was won through adversity and hard fought battles. Now I stand above the fray and I ware my scars as a coat of honor for all of the world to see.

I want to look pretty for my time with my daddy. I want to make everybody happy. As we walk up to the building with the high fences and the tall towers, I think it looks like a castle. The tall man with the keys talks to mommy and lets us past the gate. We have to put our stuff through a big humming box, then we have to wait. I hear a buzzer go off and we walk through another door. We get our name tags and sit and wait some more. Finally we are taken down a long hall, we walk across the shiny floors and between dark walls with no paint, they are just gray. Out a small window I can see more fences and tall towers, mother motions me to come on. Finally we enter a cold room with more shiny floors, the chairs are made of plastic and there is a mean lady at the door. She doesn't smile, she only turns her key, then rattles them as she takes us to our seat. After we wait some more, my daddy finally walks in. I reach out to hold him and he hugs me and puts me down again. We sit down and we talk or at least he and mommy do. I just sit and smile just like I always do. Soon we get some cookies and a drink from a machine. Then we sit and talk some more, until its time to leave. Daddy has to leave first, then mom and I walk away. I wave at him as he looks back with tears and I wonder why he always cries this way. We go back out the way we came in as I hear the last gate close. I wonder why daddy lives in a castle and he can never visit us at home?

I see what I want and I take it. I do not care about the consequences of my actions. I would rather be feared than loved. I do as I please and revel in the satisfaction of making gains. I walk around politely and appear normal, but inside I am a menacing form with little in the way of remorse. I do not act with reason but in self interest alone. I prey on the weak and the unsuspecting. I leave broken and shattered lives and destruction where ever I go. I wear a mask of illusion for I need no reason at all.

Oh how she tried to impress. Oh how she fought to put the worm on the hook. With patients of a saint she fought the mosquitos and flies on a clear and sunny day. After all the plays and gallery openings, finally she agreed to do one thing I liked. Manicured nails and highlights in her hair, she endured wildlife hell on earth. Slinging her rod and reel in a wild flailing motion, I watched true beauty in rare form. Despite snagging herself with a wormy hook and pulling in a fish that nearly got the boat turned over. I would not trade our fishing date for anything, because now I know she truly loves me.

Holding the knife as I lick the blade. I think it is sharp enough. I slice a piece of paper and listen to the sound with my eyes closed. I rub the cool steel blade along my wrist. I look as the veins pulse. I wonder how long it hurts, I wonder how the flowing blood feels. I am not sure if I will do it just yet. I am still undecided. Each day I sharpen the blade, each day I contemplate make the cut. I only know that if I decide to do it, I will cut it long ways.

Clang goes the wrought iron gate as I step inside the fortress where my fate awaits me. Behind me is the life I knew, before me is uncertainty and conformity. All aspects of my life are regimented from now on, my life is no longer my own. I lost that right when I hurt someone else, all for my selfishness. Now as I see the specters of half humans hovering around me, I come to see the faces of those that I hurt that will haunt me. I want to hide from the guilt that is inside of me, but the ghost of the past won't let me. As I walk into my new home eight feet by eleven feet is what I now call my own. A space reserved for people like me, behind an iron curtain that is drawn behind me.

Scratches on the wall, each one a tiny indention of my life. The bars that I look through are not my prison. The thoughts inside my mind are what hold me. Remembering the tears of my children as I was lead away in chains. Hearing the screams of my mother as she disowned me in anger. Feeling the separation from the emotional ties that bound me closely with the ones that used to love me. Knowing that someone else is filling the void that I left in the wake of my incarceration. Each scratch in the wall, is a day off of my life. Each mark in the hard concrete reminds me of the things that I should have done. All I am doing is marking time, in a prison of my own making.

The sun beats down on the asphalt and the heat rises like an oven. Scalding the air until it burns your lungs just to breathe. A red cone sits on the corner, holding back the blood of the streets. Then from no where, the tap is pulled open and the flood of water rises into the air. Running slowly so as not to fall flat on the sizzling street, you dash into the spray and feel the semi-cool water wash over you as you run back out into the blazing heat. As quickly as you become wet and get a minor bit of relief from the urban hell, the water evaporates and steam makes the air even more unbearable, so you dash back into the downpour and try to stay in the wild stream as others dash around trying to escape the umbrella of fire that covers the whole neighborhood. In a few stolen moments, a fountain of life spews forth and makes you feel a bit more alive as the street crackles and cracks from the water as it releases the heat demons that were trapped in the asphalt and cement of the city sidewalks and streets.

The sound of keys echo down the cellblock. The footsteps of the officer follow in kind as time passes at a snails pace behind iron bars and stone walls. Looking out of a ***** window you get a sense of the hopelessness as the grey skies pass and the rain falls into a barren and lifeless yard. Nothing grows down there but a few scraggly weeds. It feels like your in a pressure cooker and that something has to boil over sometimes. Yet the days drag on and the bland colors of cement and steel drain the life out of you little by little. You grasp at every thread of sanity you can imagine, but in the end all you hear is the familiar echo of keys and the foot steps of a never ending watch. The pieces on the chess board occasionally change, but the game remains the same. Sitting behind the walls and fences stuck in a lifeless room, waiting on something to change as you die a little each day.

In human years the world seems to move by slowly, but in truth mortal lights flicker and fade out. In one moment we are here then in another we are gone, while the earth moves on without us. To hold a belief that we can make a permanent change to the environment is an illusion. We may pull up dirt and rearrange a few stones, but in the end our attempts at change will fade. Just a mighty kingdom and it's treasure will be split when it's king is gone, so is the way of humanity. The best we can hope for is to make a positive difference in our limited sphere of influence, for the world upon which we live will only abide so much change before nature corrects the imbalance, so let what ever change we make, be for good and not ill.

The world had grown dark and silent. For three days all was still. The end had come swiftly, quicker than anyone would have believed it would. From teacher to criminal to death all in a space of one day. There was weeping and fear the day that they took the master away. The followers were scattered and hid in terror behind closed doors. What would become of them was the thought, where would we go from here. Then on the first day of the week, to all who saw it they were amazed. The sealed and guarded tomb was empty, it appeared that he had been taken away. Confusion was rampant among many, his followers and the guards at the tomb were in dismay. Then he appeared at the break of morning, he had come back to show them a new way. The light had dawned on salvation, as darkness finally had to give way. Sin had lost the final battle and righteousness had finally found a way. Redemption was finally realized, all on that very first day.

If I gave you my heart, would you keep it safe? If I commit my heart to you, will you promise not to break it? If I let my heart belong to you, will you promise not to share it with anyone else? If I open my heart to you, will you share your heart with me? If I let my heart be vulnerable, will you be gentle with it? If I let my heart love you, will you let yours love me?

Wash away the dirt and grime, leave old problems behind. Open up a new door and walk through it. Make some new friends, its not that hard. Live life on your own terms. Run away from negative people who want to hold you back. Carry on a conversation with yourself and let the mirror do the rest. Close old wounds and take new chances. Find some music and learn a new dance. Immerse yourself is something you didn't know before. Forget about grievances and trying to settle old scores. Give something to someone you just met, when they have a need that they cannot fill themselves. Close the first day of a new path with a laugh and a song. Wipe away the bad things and let the slate be clean for tomorrow.

Hear the wind of my discontent howl! Feel the rumble of my shaking determination! See the lightning of my enthusiastic fervor! I am one among many, but I am empowered! I believe in my principals, for they are at the core of my being! I am a movement like unto a tidal wave! I will wash over my opposition and prove that I am right! I will change minds like nature changes the seasons! I am a force to be reckoned with and I will no longer be ignored!

To be honest with ones on self is the hardest thing to do. Looking at our own faults often makes uncomfortable. To admit that we are less than we think we are is the first step to our own humility. When we judge ourselves, we are more critical than anyone else will be. The problem lies in the fact that we want to dismiss our faults and project our imperfections on another. When in fact we should be listing our deficiencies in order to remind ourselves everyday that in truth we are no better or worse than another person. It is simply that we must acknowledge the truth about ourselves.

Drops fall down and wash the trees and the earth. The sky is a pail hue of silver. I step out into the down pour and let it wash over me. I let the cold rush through my soul. I look at the earth as it soaks up the water and holds it until it burst forth and runs down into streams and rivers. I see how the earth renews itself and I feel the spirit of life as it flows. As I dance between the drops I know that I am alive and that I am only a spark of light in the greater landscape of the earth and all life that lives around me.

In the world that is self absorbed and immersed in darkness, let each one of us that walk in faith be a light. Shine in the night and in the day time, cast out the shadows and bear the burden of your fellow person. Show kindness and patients and forebear cruelty. Stand firm on the principals of justice and faith. Embody all that is good and shun wickedness. Be watchful of the path that we walk and consider each other that if one shall fall, that we will pick that person up. In these things let our lights come together and form a beacon of hope that others might follow the example and walk the path of righteousness.