Why do we always look to the skies
When we can't find the answers around us?
What are these inexplicable ties
That have encumbered our minds and bound us?

Why can't we admit the glaring truth?
No one from another realm hears our cries;
Though you may find my thinking uncouth,
I find no proof of heavenly allies

Only to each other are we linked
Through all the miseries that Life imparts,
When the sobbing's heard, clear and distinct,
Help comes only from caring human hearts

I observe the world through tear-filled eyes
As deceitful bounders don their disguise,
Pretending to care for the down-trodden,
Their pledge of compassion soon forgotten

But I cannot help but answer the cry
Of the hopeless whose lives have gone awry,
Marooned on Life's sea, left with but one oar,
Why am I compelled to pull them ashore?

It pains me to hurt any living thing --
Rather than **** a bee, I'd let it sting;
In my heart I know this is who I am ---
A willing martyr, a sacrificial lamb

Can this be choice? The instinct is so strong,
This astute awareness of right and wrong;
Perhaps in my reasoning I'm blundering,
But such principles leave me wondering:

Kids who tear wings off of butterflies ----
Is this a behavior they can revise?
Is this really free will, or do you suppose
Just inherent traits that we can't oppose?

I can't help but think choice is preordained,
At birth some dark souls with evil are stained,
While others carry their cross up the hill.
Do we really choose . . .  do we have free will?

A confident smile rests upon your lips,
A surge of  light radiates from your eyes;  
Like a happy child, your heart jumps and skips --
Wild expectancy is hard to disguise!  

Somewhere from the darkest depths of your soul  
Come the sweetest notes of a singing bird;
Woe and despair have relinquished control --
Within your tortured heart new hope has stirred

Has the voice of hope not deceived before,
Whispering such sweet lies into your ears?
And that cloak of joy,  flung upon the floor
To absorb the streaming flow of your tears?

Is the purpose of my tale clear to you?
(I'm not sure how some minds will perceive it);
When hope delivers its deceitful cue,  
Think twice whether you'll take it or leave it

The arms that held you at end of day
Were not the arms you were dreaming of,
But how can a starving heart turn away
Anything vaguely resembling love?

A long time have I traveled alone --
A journey of twenty thousand days;
From my sojourns, wiser have I grown,
But I do not seek undeserved praise

I'm not the first to endure this state,
Many lonely hearts have journeyed thus;
It's not that we embrace this cruel fate --
Rather, destiny has chosen us

Lonely wanderers we're meant to be,
We view the world through a sullen eye,
Cursing our preordained destiny,
We raise our weary arms to the sky

Then we clench our fists and wring our hands,
Questioning why life must be this way;
Our castles are built on shifting sands,
Only to collapse at end of day

How above our plight are we to rise,
Seeing our dreams trampled on like grass?
Observe frail birds braving stormy skies!
So our hearts through such torments must pass

And amidst it all, hope finds a place
Somewhere in a corner of the heart,
Camouflaging its deceitful face,
It holds the day and the night apart

Nighttime finds us lost in welcomed dreams
That harbor us from our world of pain;
With loathing we greet the sun's first beams .....
To face one more day of Fate's disdain

Why does love keep tormenting us,
Why can't it just leave us alone!
Yet, when it comes calling, how we fuss,
Though its fickle ways are well-known

Love has an inflated ego,
And for that we are all to blame,
For as soon as it calls, off we go,
Darting like a moth to a flame

If we could just ignore love's knock
And batten the door to our heart,
Wouldn't that deliver love a shock!
(This scheme may fail, but it's a start)

We should be strong and just say no
When love's song serenades our ears;
(Although, I tried this once long ago
And found myself knee-deep in tears)

In my wisdom, or lack thereof,
I've found this advice still rings true:
Lay down a mat that says "Welcome, Love,
My door's always open to you!"

I run out of patience, I run out of time,
Life's clock tells me I'm running out of years;
When my mind's weary,  I run out of rhyme,
Why is it I never run out of tears?