The Bottom Of A Glass

His face told the story
Of a man who'd seen his share
Of broken hearts and promises
And it seemed that no one cared

He finished off his whiskey
Then stared down through his glass
He said somehow I got lost in this
And watched my life go past

He said life had been his teacher
  He had learned from his mistakes
It had been a long hard lesson
That he learned all to late

Said you only have one life
And it goes by to fast
Don't waste your life looking at the world
Through the bottom of a glass

He said he couldn't see it then
But now it was so clear
That the bottle got the best of him
And it wasted all his years

He knew time had closed the door
And he could not change the past
Those answers he was looking for
Weren't in the bottom of the glass

Life had been his teacher
He had learned from his mistakes
It had been a long hard lesson
That he learned all to late

He said you only have one life
And it goes by to fast
Don't waste your life looking at the world
Through the bottom of a glass

Robert Gene Browning
Carl Joseph Roberts

those nasty thoughts linger
in her head
sitting there alone in her room
on her bed
she wanted it to stop but it
kept on going
it's driving her mad, her mind
is insane

she's getting restless, her patience
grows weaker
she's a loner with no friends
or a foe
she needed to find a way to
let it out
and writing on her skin was
the only way she knew how

and so her beautiful skin became
her diary
all the marks of her misery
each lies an untold story
where she kept it secretly from
*everybody

I sat
on the love seat
staring out the window.

I knew you knew

You had a heart of gold
a sweet companion
a
**** nature too
well known
on the pathway to enlightenment

You knew I knew

My mind had absorbed
too many years
of
being witness
too
to much misery
and you were so kind.

We both had touched each other
without makeup, costumes or disguise.

You didn't know
I had a fatal flaw
that
kept me alone
but
I knew it far too well.

I didn't know
but
you knew
your eyes said yes
but
your heart says "no".

No wonder
we both
had one hand out
saying,  "stop"
While
the other hand
beckoned
to come forward

Push
pull
approach
avoidance

Neither of us knew
we were meant for another.

I
got up to close the window
as the breeze turned cold
and the sun went down.

Running down that Ecstasy Highway
as fast as my little legs can carry me
I'm blind as a bat with ear plugs
But we  were both
searching through this night time
skyway
reaching out to touch some one
and be touched.

All the guide books said this is the way,
turn right at Desire
turn left at Oblivion
and head on down
to the
neon lights, you can't miss it
as long as you are riding that
Ecstasy Highway.

I was told
some people find it at the end of a needle
others wait for the drop of the cards
and there are those who throw themselves
off that mountain side cliff looking for the winds to ride.
Some find it laying with you.

I've gone somewhere else I can't describe
made a wrong turn
thought it was a Transcendental highway
maybe
because I've been up and down,
made wrong turns right and left
made a wrong turn
at the corner of Sanctuary and Bliss.
I'd ask directions but there is not a soul around,
smacking my GPS
lost beyond words
with nothing familiar
in
neighborhoods looming
stark cracked out buildings
and
broken street lights
people with apocalyptic eyes
even the cops won't come down here any more
and the only help I've found
the only guide I have
is delusional and lost
though occasionally profound
dressed in piercings and tatoos
and she keeps yelling at me
something about going home to you.

Too tired to go on.

Had lost that bat back at the beginning of dawn
finally sat down at the coffee shop
at the corner
of
Love and Compassion
ordered up some hot self-acceptance
took a breath and looked around
still looking for the way back home.
I know it's just down the road
a stop light or so
maybe there's an on ramp
or a sign pointing out the way
to get back
on that
Ecstasy Highway.

I stopped at a gas station
talked to a guy
who told me lefts and rights
but my eye lids fluttered
fell asleep
right when he told me what I wanted to know
and when I opened my eyes
the station was closed
not a soul around
and I was running down
unfamiliar roads.

So if you hear a small lost voice
in the night
that's probably the sound of me
standing at the crossroads
of
Self-pity and Remorse
knocking at the Post Office
trying to mail these words
at a place that been long closed.
Please give me a hug or two
and send me on my way
if you give me any advice
I probably won't hear a word you say.
You see
I'm trying to make my way
back again
to that
Ecstasy Highway.