little boy wanders through the cold dead town
he doesn't know how love ever let him down
like leaves in the wind we all blow away
and little boys wake up to another empty day
little girl in blue jeans and her cowboy hat
doesn't know much but knows where she's at
leans over and brags that her daddy's in jail
says she sends him letters in the US mail
old man on the curb got nothing to lose
runs his mouth a lot but the act's all a ruse
he's been through life he knew the beat
burnt it all to gain a streetside seat
momma on the corner's fourteen years old
the high point of her story's already been told
she had her dreams and her talent but that's all gone
the sun set on her life before she had her dawn
they call it "people" and show the faces on TV
name it culture and a new way for men to see
but not in the reflection of the mournful eyes
there's no joy in the echoes of their sighs

twirling landscapes on my fingertips
rummaging the depths of the sky
the shattered world at a glance
broken pieces failing to mend
and in the yelled whispers waiting
the syllables of frozen fear
echo the heartbeat of silence

the compass casually announces its disturbance
as if it weren't obvious by the needle of spinning red
guess I should've left the magnet alone
but I'm famous for finding every attraction irresistible
and it seemed so very near the road

swirling colors in my hand
sweet chocolate turns into dirt
believing in the impossible
but living in the now
I want a cutting scream
ripping through this mistiness
to break against the night

the roadsigns are all covered by dark green ivy
and the path is overgrown with tall brown weeds
I conclude I'm traveling in the wrong direction
but maybe only few find their way out here
and perhaps I'm supposed to continue on

maybe
if I stayed here
maybe
I'd be all right but
maybe
it'd be a dull life

lost in the old cliché
for every step forward
falling two steps back
it's life in full reverse
when I try to speed ahead

I repeat every single word
but lack even the least of these
the utter emptiness within
isn't some delusion or slight
I'm not sure I want more tonight

by grace you are all
I said I knew the truth
but this breath you gave me
to ever sing your praises
grows short through my misuse

I was born audacious
my life in pursuit of change
it's all from your perfection
but if in you I find completion
can I still call myself complete

where's the line divisive
marking my individuality
if I lose myself in you
will I ever again find me
isn't it illusive fundamentally

lose me and keep me
the paradoxes of truth
bound by my four dimensions
and I know you are free
but it is I who cannot see

standing here in holy hope
trusting what I cannot believe
faith alone and simple words
to sum the things I can't conceive
lying far beyond my reach

it's you I say so confidently
but I know not what I speak
if I begged you like solomon
would I become any wiser
if you showed me what I've seen

black and white with grey about the edges
my honest words just stopped ringing true
and with all the wandering in specific directions
this haphazard life always comes back to you

when truth falls from unclean lips of stone
and the ground rebels at the acid stain
the flowers decide to reluctantly grow
and you wash them in redeeming rain

speaking the language of overflow
sound piled up in scattered heaps
the needle lost herself in the last straw
but this memory of light she keeps

the water is clean and my hands are not
yet I'm supposed to shine in the dark
four thousand tongues are still too short
and you alone can make your mark

how often do I see
the darkness that is surrounding me?
and does my heart
ache when I see that you're falling apart?
I want the words to say
to show you the sunniest side of the day
but they don't come
the magic inside doesn't come

a smile can be guilty
in the presence of utter despair
you couldn't forgive me
if I laughed when you were like this

joy shuddering
your emotions are only fluttering
but you stare at me
is silence all that my answer can be?
I want hope on your side
but all mine seems to be hidden away inside
in your dimmed eyes
before the face of truth imitation flies

and I don't know I don't know
I can hold you when you cry
and mourn when you mourn
but it still seems excruciating
the pain you've internalized
is something I could never see
but I'm here if you can stand me

wearing your size dress
I took a walk near the moon
I pretended I knew
why everything ended so soon
and the world rusted away
like the wind in my hair
it was another language, then
but we didn't really care
worship the elaborate
and sober the beauty
behind our lucious dreams
lie our delicate screams
and the woman at the window
has got something to say
about fragments of the memories
that never got us through the day

sweet dreams, close your eyes
be still for it’s late at night
and the dark has come to take you away

sweet dreams, try to understand
all the pleasures and the pains
that compose this thing called day

sweet dreams, sail tonight
let your sail be caught by dreams’ sweet light
as silent and still you lay

on this ocean you will see
the storms are many on this sea
and while you’ll find you love to roam
you’ve got to remember to come back home

sweet dreams, sweet dreams
when you awake wander back to here
dreams are sweet but life’s more dear

dream sweet

how many years can it wait before we forget
how long can we travel through this time
is this my burden to bear in solitude
does your heart have this along with mine

did I scare you as much as you scared me
or was the awkwardness limited to one
where are we now if we try to compare
the notes of all we had seen and done

how were you the hesitant party
when I was impulsive and carefree
but we were never the daring kind
if we opened our eyes we might see

time goes and comes and drains
a portrait of childhood cliché
true in every essential but lacking
the frozen moment of that single day

and after that time I knew you
stolen moments in brighter shade
the sun came out and we were left
with these new dreams we'd made

in this world I never included you
and in yours I've had no residence
this somber finale delicately wrought
and deliberately unregretted since

I know we can't pretend that all that is never happened
but this twisting is too -- I might dissolve into memory
that should be all right with me but it's not
my life is a constant state of euphoric pandora
secured in a set of paradoxical chinese handcuffs
and the harder I pull away the nearer I become
they say when you're sinking to look for the light
but this sand looks mysteriously like the noonday sun
I've lost every sense of gravity and direction
swimming in my three-dimensional model of earth
in the movies this is where I'd get the inner tube
but this isn't the titanic and this water isn't cold
do I want to leave this halfway trip to comfort
this warm floating feeling is more than reminiscent
and my head is far too full of foolish talk and chatter
I know air somersaults are better but it's safer here
it's not my comfort zone but I'm still content
then I brush the rough ocean floor softly
imagining faintest trails of light in my wake
and I can't forget the breath of freshness
that I'll never find if I stay where I am

vague and undefined
do you believe my irreverent lies
this pretense of mine
capable but far removed
I know it all but I don't understand
knowledge does not wisdom find
I can hop on one foot with ease
but I can't stand on these two feet
so it's all elbows and knees
spinning tumbling crying mumbling
squinting to keep the sunlight out
while looking for it with my whole heart

it is supposed to be better
to have a life unlived
than to sit in dark corners
and commiserate grimly

The empty chair sets on stage
frightening me with its rage.
It asks words of a wise mage, which I'm not;
this blot I can't assuage.
If I dared, they said that night,
I'd soon be over this fright.
But I have seen the spotlight shining cold,
and told tales of its might.
Far be it from me to know
the intimate secrets low
which help them vanquish their foe of rank fear
to jeer at my shadow.

in the silence someone hears the singing
the mismatched hymn that time begot
their ears attune to the voiceless ringing
tying the world into a careless knot

in the softness you can hear it
the echo of the ages rolling past
stirring within a fire yet unlit
straining from its birth to last

in that moment all is peaceful
the strains of the day begin to fade
but all tranquility can be deceitful
every ounce cuts like a weighted blade

in the time that divides all time
earth looks long and hard for her answer
but all she finds is written in rhyme
and with this music she is no dancer

in the silence someone hears the singing
the mismatched tune that time forgot
they take some bells to set them ringing
being dissatisfied with their unearned lot

I woke up to the shining sun
ignorant of the day to come
who knew a knife's power
to make perfection cower?

innocence and I fight and lose
I must not get to choose
not that I could wish this day
or the truth so far away

still it's here without rescue
I know I'm going to lose you
but it doesn't hurt to say
the new today is my cliché

if you dare to dream
who knows what you’ll find
you might find you’ve got ambition
something other than an ax to grind
and if this world is too eager and fair
and can’t get you out of its mind
then lay some on with powerful fruition
and decide if you’re the hurting kind

mom ought to be
home soon
and the door will creak open, like
a shot of red lightening soda pop
pop pop
this web is well-spun, isn't it?
aint it. isn't. aint. apostrophes stuck
to the ends of our tongues like
candy from the local metaphor shop, where
the commas and the poems get
together
to rhyme about their punctuated lives.

i know that i'm not worthy
but today it seems doubly true
and once again i find
i am nothing without You

am i swimming in self-pity
coming short of the mark
how did this darkness
make its way into my heart

the moments when I stand
are encompassed by Your grace
and I'm no more sufficient than
when I falter and fall in this race

still i don't want to be here again
where every flaw is shown
pride wants to keep me
from being helpless before Your throne

nor do i want to bring You displeasure
when my life was made for Your praise
so please Lord, God, teach me
and on Yourself turn my gaze

you alone have been the witness
         to every single fall
little things, big horrid things
         my life's a long tale of them all
the only persistent plot is you
         your presence alone never ceased
this amazing grace abounds the most
         whenever I deserve the least
I'm still standing here in flawedness
         despite acquaintance with truth aflame
for your words and my eager attempts
         I remain very much the same
I've mercy encounters with the almighty
         but the effect is most understated
your self demands my life and thought
         but I can't even qualify as dedicated
you promise to give me every desire
         to plant that seed deep into my heart
I, the child repentant, again beg my only plea:
         complete the work you didn't hesitate to start
the vows you made are never broken
         your plans are nothing but purest perfection
and for this tonight I bring myself
         a sacrifice laced with grace-given affection
to shudder at your power and yet pray
         for this promised grace to be fulfilled
mold me, shake me, hold my heart close --
         take the darkness and have it killed
and in the shadow of your omnipotent hand
         keep this your wayward child
make my life to sing your glory
         until to you I'm reconciled