As life's burdens collapse on my shoulders
And reality knocks me off my feet
I realize that time has again arrived
to escape to my beach retreat

I feel the closest to my Lord possible
as the golden sand envelops my toes
Here I enjoy our sacred relationship
as my spiritual faith in him grows

Witnessing waves breaking into a clear blue sky,
Tell me, who could ask for more ?
What better place to relish God's work
than sitting on the ocean's shore

I have yet to outgrow my beach retreat
in spite the years that I grow older
I'll always associate the beach as a refuge...
A place where I can encounter the vast meaning of life

a place to lean on my Lord God's shoulders.

You woke one morning feeling like an unhappy song,
So empty and sad, where has love gone ?

With an ache in your heart and thoughts of the past,
Where has love gone, why didn't it last ?

A moment ago you were so happy and then, it's hard to
Figure out, when did it end

You try to recapture a moment of bliss, why did it have
To happen like this. Where has love gone; when did it leave;
Why am I so unhappy and why do I still grieve ?
Like the end of a season it came to past; what was the reason,

Why didn't it last ? The change came so gradually, why couldn't
I foresee this tragedy

I stand at the window, gazing at the sun, wondering what it was
I could have done. I try to recapture happiness long past;
Where has love gone, why didn't it last ?

The contentment and peace of that day on the beach, but a lost
Love I cannot reach. If I could have foreseen it would come to

This, I would have protected my moment of bliss,
As seasons come and go, the season for love will come again I
know. And when it does, I will relive this love and hold it fast
My lost love will come again and I know it will last.

Shackled From The Madness

Written by: Mario Vitale
Save the drama for your momma
Shackled
We look deeper then ever before
Lest I implore
Darkened caverns all around
Fountains with water to quench
Through the lens of a man
When to understand
The lapse in memory to uphold
Crazy dragons in the fire
The fuel for the mire
Cries with the faint in heart
Viscous long hanging fangs that fright
Evil minds that plug destruction
Having tombstones for eyes
The elusive imagery of blackened caverns
To dull the innate surface on my brain
Satan laughing spreads his wings
The gallows of darkened mysterious décor
Shackled from the madness
The inner swell of an opened wound
Gone are the days I used to frolic in a haze
Today I'm just a mouse who is stuck in a maze
Going insane spread out in the membrane

a quest to see the dream of you
long faint cries of driveled hue

through her shattered cries I can still hear
a faint whisper of a pin drop

solace the mast of a chalice place
eyes with spots having holes

you suffer in silence onto the next episode
to hold you in my arms as a cage of fear

to numb the inner silence from the pain
not having you in my arms is driving me insane

thirst for words to quench our desire
take it higher then a funeral parlor

she dances in a ring of fire
yet throws off its challenge with a shrug

to love is the mere essence of my existence
we must endure with hearts saturated with truth

this is in order to withstand the true test of time
sublime

heavy hearts out on a whim
we have come to depend upon a power greater then self

some insist on putting that book right back on the shelf
still will take her higher then ever before

to realms unknown as high as the eagles does soar.

eyes with spots
ears yet dull in hearing
sullen asps with dull emotions
viscous long hanging fangs that bite
dripping blood off side
eyes with tombstones in their head

say whatever they feel
pay no attention to what others may think
they are the first to judge
yet for themselves they are perfect
they feel they do nothing wrong
they worship sin, self & Satan

they have hardened their hearts as to see the truth
instead the live in a world based on self
shadows block them only for a season
As a leopard doesn't change their spots so they stay
lost all known sensitivity of what true love is
instead they embark on the hate from within
no one wins in their glamour life of sin

blackened death filled with evil stench in their extremities
dull eyes that close tight at the sound of love's expression
they abort their child in the womb & think nothing of it
trapped in their own tomb of heartless fantasy
they lie, cheat & steal
think nothing of it like its no big deal
when will this madness stop doesn't anyone care ?

The arrow points the way to heaven up above
It is part of God's gift this mission of love
We all need a direction to go with our lives,
There's no better way, there's no compromise

The first step is Jesus as he points the way
It is by his example that we should live each day
He died on the cross so that we can try harder,
To learn of God's wisdom and to love one another

We next must believe with all of our heart,
In God's ultimate goal and our important part
He loves each one of us for what the bible says is true,
But to love and believe in yourself is entirely up to you

As our love grows for what life has to bestow
It should become quite evident what God wants us to know
That the glory of loving others and caring for our fellow man
Is to love almighty God and to carry out his supreme plan

These steps are all necessary for a life ever after
So keep them in mind as you begin your next chapter
We all will falter on our way to the top,
But it's so very important to keep loving and to never stop.

Death, thou was once an uncouth hideous thing,
Nothing but bones,
The sad effect of sadder grones,
Thy mouth was open, but thou could not sing

For we considered thee as at some six
Or ten years hence,
After the loss of life and sense,
Flesh being turned to dust, and bones to sticks

We looked on this side of thee, shooting short;
Where we did find
The shells of fledge souls left behind
Dry dust, which sheds no tears, but may extort

But since our saviors death did put some blood
Into thy face;
Thou art grown fair and full of grace,
Much in request, much sought for as a good

For we do now behold thee gay and glad,
As at dooms day;
When souls shall wear their new array,
And all thy bones with beauty shall be clad

Therefore we can go die as sleep, and trust
Half that we have
Unto an honest faithful grave;
Making our pillows either down, or dust.