I will bring the nails if you bring the hammer. I know someone else who has some wood. I will bring a frying pan if you bring some flower, I know another who has some plates and spoons. Lets pull our resources and work for the common good. Lets give our neighbor a helping hand. Lets reach out to another and together we will take a stand. Despite our differences, we can find common ground. We can offer others hope, when we gather together. We can build bridges and feed many needs. If we decide to be cooperative, we can solve many problems. Let's work together to make our world a better place.

Pierced and nailed to a tree, the most precious blood that there will ever be ran down to earth. Many looked and ask why this must be, but the blood must flow you see. Upon the alter was placed a perfect lamb, without spot or blemish was the son of man. When the sacrifice was made sin knew it had to go. The powers of hell were shaken salvation was given. So though it may seem like an awful fate for salvations sake, let the blood of the lamb flow.

When I give a glass of water to some who thirst, let the glory be God's. When I sew a seed of hope, let the glory be God's. When I answer a friends call for help in the midnight hour, let the glory be God's. In all things that I do that are worthy of honor and praise, let the glory be God's.

In utter darkness, I stand as a lone candle. Surrounded by endless night, I struggle to shine out. My efforts are eclipsed by so much suffering, that I often wonder if I can be seen at all. Then when I think I cannot make a difference, I see another like me. They are shining through the night of despair, reaching out to those in need. I press harder and shine just  a little bit more, until the light cuts through the darkness and joins with theirs. It is then I see more candles in the darkness, each shining a tiny bit of light. When I realize that we are all joined and are poking holes in the veil of night. I see a tapestry of stars giving hope and guidance, to a world so desperately in need.

When all of the stars have gone silent and their light Fades away. When the moon retires from its Vigilant watch and Dawn breaks on a new day. I will arise from taking my rest and see what things may come, with a new morning the sun will shine and the clouds were all the way. I will find new adventures and better promises in the plans of a new day. So let the old night be forgotten and let Dawn's light shine upon the way. Let the morning come and bring with it a new day.

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.

You took my heart away and shattered it into pieces. Now I ache just thinking about you. My eyes cannot see, because the tears cloud my vision. Just like a cold rain, they drench my soul and leave me numb. I fear that I will salt the ground and where they fall nothing again will grow. Though I pleaded with you, my words fell on deaf ears and now you are beyond my sight. So I will sit here in sorrow for a while longer, until my eyes are all dried up, but until then I must let the tears fall, for I miss you so.

Down I go into the murky deep. Let the dark water wash me away. Down into the depths I descend. I am forgotten and I want to forget. On the sand bottom of some deep water, in the cold darkness I am immersed into numbing silence. At last I can lose all feeling and have no memory of the pain. Let the water become angry and the wind howl above me. I will rest now and forever in my new safe haven as I let the waves roll over 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.

I call on you to join with me. I ask you to help your fellow man. In a rain storm give someone shelter. In the snow make them a warm place to sleep. In the heat of the day give them a shade where they can rest. When they are lonely give them a friend. Offer your extra change to buy someone a meal. Let them know that you care, show them how kindness feels. Remember your neighbor who has no one, stop by to say hello. Drive out the darkness and the loneliness, let true mercy show. Together we can make a change in humanity one kind act at a time. If you join me we can make things better, through kindness and caring and bring the world hope once again.

Into each others arms we are swept. Embracing as two hearts beat in unison. Holding each other as only lovers can. We feel the warmth of each others spirit as our souls unite. In the falling of twilight we embrace in a closeness that few can know. We become shadows in the fading of day. Let us dance into love in our own special way.

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.

What shall we worship, to whom shall we give reverence? A question as old as mans written history. In grand temples built of stone and ivory, many gather in ritualistic apparel and burn incense to idols and images. In wide open clearings under a silver moon, people with no clothing dance around a fire and sing before a slab of stone as they drink from a cup a mystical drink that releases all inhibitions and lets them be free to do anything they feel. In simple cobble stone buildings, people sit on hard wooden pews and recite songs handed down from their ancestors. They hear words taken from an old book that has been translated through the ages. They bow their heads in reverence to a piece of wood with a man upon it and hope against hope for forgiveness of their sins. Whether in grand buildings laden with fine Gold and Jewels, or in the Cathedral of nature under the grand open sky or in the simplest of buildings that are painted with piety, all of seek something more than we are. So let us go to church and hope that we have chosen well.

Let all knees bend and all tongues confess the glorious name of the holy lamb! Let everyone give adoration and exaltation to the king of kings. Let all of creation sing in one accord to the father who sent his only son. Let every heart open and find his peace and accept his sacrifice. Let all who will accept his gift and receive eternal life. Let all look towards the East and lift up Christ holy name, let all who will humble themselves and let us pray.

Let us cry unto Heaven in unison. Let our voices be heard over the harps of angels. Let our fears and our hopes become a joined song. Let our desires to be heard overwhelm the peace of glory. Let us reach out beyond the darkness and let us keep the powers of hell at bay. Let our supplications become sweet savor unto our God. Now let us all kneel and pray.

Let we the people of faith stand up in one accord. Let his holy children pray unto the lord. Let us come together in every public square and let us declare that we will meet to praise him there. Let us see who is right, let us ask with a unified call. Let us ask him for his justice and to see the wicked fall. Let us repent of our indignation and show we will not sit down, but we will gladly kneel before our God and make a joyous noise, until his holy name. Let us openly speak of the one true God again.

Hate and ridicule comes to the forefront. Anyone who disagrees is a bigot you see. Differing opinions must be silenced, that is just how it has to be. Hiding behind children used as human shields, to deflect attention from the problems that are all too real. Spreading lies and fomenting dissent, that is the mantra they live by everyday. Dissenting at the ideas of cutting a budget or project, that uselessly gives tax dollars away. Individualism is overrated, on government you must depend. If you dare to move off of the grid, you must be insane. A disease for the unwashed masses who walk around like a heard of Lemmings. Liberalism, the modern incarnation of Marxist communism.

Taking away guns and killing freedom of speech. New York City the once great international city. Fallen from grace as a beacon of freedom, to become a haven for oppression. No rights are held with in your hallowed streets. Your cruel overlords with distorted points of view. How they have hated and tormented you. In a socialist experiment gone bad. Once you had your freedom now it is as if it never existed.

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.

Tatters of reality lay at my feet. What used to be is now incomplete. I lay on the floor wretched and undone. My emotions are rippedto shreds as I wait for what comes next. Gaping wounds let my soul bleed out. Tears run like rain to the rivers. I am awash in misery and emotional turmoil. I feel as if the ocean has welled up inside of me. I do not know where to go from here. I sit at the bottom of a well of despair. Perhaps I will just lie here until my feelings have all been drained, then I may have the strength to climb back out again. I hope one day to again see the sun, I may yet survive the things that have been done. My love was shattered by you without a second thought, how could you leave me this way. Just sitting here with my life broken into pieces.

We are born and we begin to grow. The first thing we do is **** on our fingers and toes. We learn to stand and then to walk. We begin to journey and explore our world. We become conscience of ourselves and we develop an image. The toes we once played with we now hide with shoes because we might think they are ugly. Our own sense of self becomes evident in our dress and in our friends. We lose the free spirit that we were born with and are pushed into conformity. If we resist to much, we are pushed outside of the normal boundaries of society. We strive to be individuals but with in a box of ideals. We want acceptance but crave our freedom to be ourselves. We go through many changes and yet we must adapt to a structure the we did not create. Only in the end to find that through all of our life changes that none of it really mattered anyway.

To all things there is a pattern. Life as nature has a certain rhythm. Old things pass away and new things take their place. As one flower blooms, another goes out of season. To each thing there is a time. In all things this rhythm exist. In some instances it can be seen, and others it is more subtle. No one can truly say why some things exist longer than other, only that the rhythm continues beyond mortal time constraints, constantly rebalancing itself. So that it can maintain the flux of the journey that everything is set on.

The world is full of riches, but they are held by only a few. The many are left to fend for themselves. There is little in the way of equality as greed and avarice blinds the eyes and stains the hearts of people. Many would be king and think they know best, only to find that it must be by the sword that they rule. Then war and poverty scar the landscape as many die for no cause other than they do not believe as a would be monarch. In truth there is life in abundance, and it is we the people who stamp it out for our own selfish ends.

Lights flash and music blares out of speakers from a store. Signs try to get me to spend the money I don't have. Cars race down the street in a never ending stream of vanishing people. They just look forward not seeing the people they are passing by. I go to school and then come out here, the streets are lined with tall buildings that choke out the sky. At night they look pretty, but they are empty shells that I can never get into. In certain dark alleys, you can hear the sound of a baby crying from an apartment back deep into the shadows. On a side street littered with garbage and the shattered dreams of kids, who don't know what having enough is I walk. I listen to the hustlers talk their game as they run with the rats that come up out of the sewer. They sell their false hopes in the form of pills and lies. The only difference between them an the rats is the number of legs one has over the other. I climb up a rusty fire escape in hopes of finding the sky. I see a few bleak looking points of light that I think might be stars. After a while I just shuffle back down to my room and crawl into bed between two other people an fade into the darkness of an uneasy sleep as I dream about life in the city.

Life is a bucket of water, in so many ways. When you start out from the well the bucket is full. If you sit the bucket down it is jostled and a little water spills. Life often spills over into other things that we plan. The water in the bucket comes out cool and refreshing, but if you let it sit a while it becomes warm then it can get hot. Life is often filled with cold moments, warm moments and moments of heated passion. As water in a bucket, life will evaporate quickly. So it is best to take a big drink while you can and be careful not to spill any. Because while you can go back to the well for water, you only get one bucket of life to draw from.

There are many destinations that lay before us. Though some of us may never leave our home town, we will still take many journeys that we do not expect. While others that travel abroad, may only make a few random stops. All of us are on a road trip that is filled with unforeseen twist and turns. All of it is an adventure, despite what we may believe.

Not everyday will be a good one and not every person is a friend. There will be potholes in the road you travel and things will not always go your way. Some days there will be clouds and rain, but not all cloudy days are bad and sometimes rain is a good thing Life will test our resolve through all of these things, there is no pass or fail just a multiple choice test. We must sometimes take test over, until we get the answer right. It takes some longer than others, but in the end we all must pass for ourselves.

Life is a tree that has many branches. On each branch fruit grows. The tree of life grows many different kinds of fruit. Each piece is different from the other, yet all are connected to the tree. We are born on the tree of life and we all are connected. We grow together and mature in due season. For each of us to under stand each other, we must accept that this is how life is. Only when we accept that we are connected, will there be harmony on the tree.

People decry inequality, but they fail to sit and realize that life does not discriminate. While people may be bias, life is not. Life can be equally cruel to the rich and the poor. Life can be ******* persons of color an on those who are white. Many scream about one group being privileged over another, but tragedy knows no lines. Money does not mitigate sorrow and life does not care about status. Death is the great equalizer, just as all will age. All these things are aspects of life that cannot be blamed as being biased, for life is color blind, it affects all of us equally.

Crayons fit together in a box, so should we. The colors don't mind if they get mixed, so why should we. They don't question what kind of picture they are drawing as long as it is a pretty one. If they are shared they don't get mad. Letting a friend borrow your favorite won't end the world. Sharing is part of being friends and not letting differences come between the colors is how things all fit into the box .

Dandelions grow close to the ground, then sprout up with a golden bloom. They are not all to complicated, here today and gone tomorrow. They are somewhat abused, but still find a way to grow. In the end they turn white and puffy and just blow away. Life and a Dandelion are alike in so many ways.

We put down roots and try to blossom into a life. We try to create a thing of beauty. Then we want to have children just as a flower puts forward buds. We live for a season then we must pass and be renewed.

Japanese cusine takes precison and care to prepare, life also takes great care. For some, eating sushi is adventurous and for others it is mundane because it's what they do every day. The same goes for life, living outside of the comfort zone is exciting to some, while taking risk is of no consequence to others it's just what they do. If you find sushi palatable and eat it often, then you must keep it well or it will spoil in begin to stink. Life must also be kept well, if you don't take care about how you live, some of the things that we choose to do can also have a stench about them. This is why if you look carefully you'll find that life and sushi have a lot in common.

I am entitled, I should have it now, the words of the selfish and the hateful. Once work wasn't a four letter word and selflessness was acceptable. Now many want to be coddled and have become idle and selfish. When did it become wrong to labor, when did the entitled out number the hard working? Life is many things but often it is not fair and it definitely isn't free.

A woman lamenting the death of her child is a tragedy, a bride dancing at her wedding is joy. A mother giving birth is both at the same time. Life does not imitate art, life is art. Each picture is a moment of humanity. Each story needs to be told. To write another persons story is to speak volumes of the world outside of your own sphere of control. Without poetry, philosophy or stories written, we would lose our history and not know where we came from, who we are or what we can become.

Down into a seemingly endless dark hole men go with picks and shovels. Down below the mountains of Kentucky, and West Virginia. Listening to the water as it drips down over the rocks, they go beneath the earth. Off of an elevator into a dark and damp world, filled with dusty black rocks. They walk or ride a rail towards the end of the line, where they break the ribs of the earth. Shovel by shovel they tear at the black parts of the underside of now hollow mountains. Stripping out the guts of what is left until another vein can be found. There is no way to know the time or if the sun has risen or not. They simply dig a little further, sending the black rock on it's way out to who knows where. At the end of a shift, they crawl back out of the midnight colored hole, and try to wash off the dust of the earth that clings to them like so much ink. Laying down their weary bones and resting a spell, they rise at an appointed time to do it again.  Back into the pit of midnight to mine out the black rock. This is the life of a miner of coal.

Drink up the intoxication of the moment and carry it with you as you go. A short way down the road your car will roll over and you will be a wreck. What you thought was going to last forever has run out of luck. You have hit a pothole in life and now your stuck. Not all days will be good ones some will be bitter and cold. The magic doesn't last forever, at least that's what I am told. So when you do have a good patch, enjoy it while it last, because life can end you up on the rocks pretty fast.

A life without pain is no life at all. Imagine no labor in giving birth, then the joy of the new life would need no celebration. Imagine no anguish in accomplishing a goal, then the point of the goal would be lost. Imagine no sorrow, then there could not be compassion. One cannot exist without the other. Pain is not welcome, nor is it wanted, but it is a part of who we are. For what makes us hurt can also cause us to care. It is the factor of humanness that cannot be quantified or calculated. It is a part of us that we must have in order to grow stronger and become caring, thoughtful and it can be the best part of ourselves.

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.

Lipstick comes in many colors as do my moods. If I am wearing Rose Pink then you know that I am content. If you see me wearing Blood Red then beware because I am frustrated. If I am wearing Yellow then I am feeling lighthearted and would love to be shopping. If I am wearing black then I am angry at the world. If I have on Sliver then I am feeling mysterious and I am ready to play. If I wear Blue then I am moody and unsure of what I want next. If you should see me wearing White then I am ready for a break. There are many colors of lipstick, I am not sure which one I will wear today?

Stop suddenly and close your eyes. Hear the wind blowing and the birds singing. Let sound fill you and give yourself to the emotions that are carried in each sound. Stop in to see an old friend and say not a word. Simply sit quietly and hear what they have to say. Release the bonds of this world and listen to children at play. Just stop for a few quiet moments of reflection each and every day. Just listen.

Chips fall away from the stone as it is cracked and chiseled into what I am not sure. Each piece is whittled away as I dig into the Marble. Lines begin to emerge and a from takes shape. I listen to the stone as it tells me what it wants to be.

Sit quietly upon a rock and close your eyes. Hear the sound of the water flowing over stones and around curvy banks. Hear ducks quacking and splashing in the water. Listen to a frog croaking on a Lillie pad. Hear the distant call of a squirrel as it races from tree to tree along the muddy banks as deep cool water flows by. Become part of nature, if just for a little while. Listen to what the river says as the water speaks to you and the different creatures that live because of it tell you their stories, each in their own unique way.

From the first step into a rainy day through summers and winter snows. From making friends and suffering loss, we must be bold and show no fear. Though we will feel hurt and find wonder, we must embrace living life. Only once do we get to experience life, then it fades away. Our time is finite and it must be absorbed like the warm rays of the sun. When we choose to live life, a tapestry is built that leads us on a wonderful journey,which allows us the richness of self discovery and the ability to share a little part of ourselves with others. In this we create community and experience the human condition. So in this until our end live life for we never know what our legacy might be.

The heavens wrap around me and immerse me in the coldness of it's touch. Between warm stars that give their light to celestial bodies where life may flourish. I drift from point to point with no concept of time. All things are simply beginning and ending, then starting again. I have seen worlds that are the things of imagination where mystical and unnatural things exist in harmony with reality. Consumed by the eternal journey, I drift among the points of light in search of myself.

The only words I know are life and death. The only game I know is being the only one left. The streets are where I will be judged. You cannot live while you hold a grudge. You always got to be strapped if you want to stay alive. The game we play is for keeps, there is more at stake than a corner to sling, this is just like a coke, it is the real thing. People sell their lives for a couple of grams. The racket has made me who I am. The cars and bling are just for show, it is how I let everybody know. I am not faking it, I am living out this ****. I made my first **** when I was 15 now at 25 they call me a king. I am all that in my neighborhood. Saint or sinner, only history can be the judge of me. I hope one day that my mother and God will forgive me. I was born under a bad sign and in a life of poverty. The streets are the only way I see that is left for me. So I will venture out one more time, riding with my homies, hoping I can make it back from the edge alive. With each deal I finalize I become richer, but each time I can feel it all getting nearer. The po po are always on my case, it is truly life or death in this rat race. I just hope that my 9 will get the job, an early grave or life in the penitentiary is not how I want to end my run. So until I find a way out of the game, I will just keep living by the gun.

The world loves all that I personify, I am the epitome of greatness. I am self absorbed with my own personal appearance. No opinion matters except mine. I am correct and the rest of the world is wrong. I am a success at all that I do. All of these things are realized before I get out of bed at noon.

The statue of white stone turns and speaks to me. The flowers outside my window sing when the sun comes up. I walk up the rainbow and look into the sun. I leap from cloud to cloud until I find a fluffy one, then I settle down to take a nap. I awaken to dark skies, so I grab a lightning bold and give it a twirl, I then jump inside a rain drop and ride it into a river. I swim with some Trout and talk to them for a while. Then jump out of the water on to the river bank and sun myself with an otter, until we are both warm and dry. I paint pictures in my mind to find a safe place from reality, then I awake and wonder am I dreaming in a nightmare of a dreary existence and perhaps the other world was the one that was real.

I do not like to explain my clothing, I like it to be extraordinary. Shocking and bold suits me just fine. I must confess that I like to be noticed. My comfort zone is what ever I feel that day. I try not to stay in a little box, I want to be an expression of who I think I am, not who you think I should be. I will not be defined by social norms, I will live my life open and free. So you may think I am radical, well aren't we all at times. Just do no harm to another and you will be just fine. Wanting to be different, should not be a crime, at least I think it isn't. If it is then I should get that law changed, it just isn't right you see. So I will color with my own Crayons, I have 64 in my box. The colors are so diverse, there can be no accusations of non-inclusion. So I will go out and enjoy the sun or wear vibrant colors as I dance in the rain. I will fill my life with rainbows and unicorns no matter how ridiculous it seems to others. Embracing what the day brings and killing negative thoughts with a warm smile, I will be the ray of sunshine in a room full of dark clouds, I will always live outside of the lines others have painted for me.

Screaming at the mirror I see the true person that is inside of me! I want to crack the glass and slash my wrist, but insanity won't let me! Instead I look at my reflection and look for a way to jump in and strangle myself! It is not enough that I must live with my own sins, but now I am beginning to drag others into my own personal hell. Some want to fix me, others are trying to understand me. I simply tell them that at worst the should just accept me and at best run like hell from me. I am my own worst enemy and the source of all of my hate and rage. I no longer want to keep my sorrow or malice inside, I want to let it out and take it for a ride. I am not sure how long the journey will last, but I know it will be one hell of a blast! So I look at the mirror and scream once again. I will be my own destruction, I will finally live out my pain.