I walked a dry creek bed praying for a blessing
But nothing new can happen that happened when I was younger
It may be new to you but I don’t think it’s new to me
I just feel I lived that life already so that’s for you to pray over

I once sailed across a lake in Europe surrounded by mountains
There was a storm brewing and I thought we had enough water
Now I’d take those winds home with me if it meant I’d have a drink
It’s twenty years later and if I never sail again I will still remember

When will the water rise again?
When will the tide sweep over the land?
When will we wash our sins away?
When will we take God’s hand?

Everything I ever touched felt or thought is ready for me now
To not accept the truth of my travels is patching holes in my shoe
I finally realized the answer was really just passing things on
If it comes to my mind somebody gave it to me to give to you

When will the water rise again?
When will the tide sweep over the land?
When will we wash our sins away?
When will we take God’s hand?

I could run away from all my troubles
In fact that’s exactly what I’ve been doing
Discovering the science of life was more important
I never knew that it was me that life was fooling

When will the water rise again?
When will the tide sweep over the land?
When will we wash our sins away?
When will we take God’s hand?

If the worst you can call me is naive
Then I will accept it
If the worst you can call me is pacifist
Then I will live it
Because if I am these things
Then I have conquered my nature
For it is the violence within
That heaven will judge for it's favor

you found flowers inside my head
because you watered me with kindness
so gentle
that breezes blow
following the trace of my veins
along-side my mistaken beliefs
what is dark is evil
what is inside conspires
becoming vines
clinging desperately to who we are
but you changed all that
effortlessly
opening me up to you
with whispers so fragile
I became rigid
so each goose bump could set sail
to the cool air of your love

He was always looking out for the girl
He'd shield her from winter winds
And the loneliness that followed her everywhere

She liked the way he smiled when he talked
He had a friendly heart
He knew when to let go and when to care

They didn't ask each other questions
The decided to take it slow
They preferred the shade over the glare

He thought about her all the time
He knew what she wanted
It was just time the he wanted to share

There was a time he'd sweep her off her feet
Now he was afraid of his own desires
Was it her or just her beautiful hair?

She knew he wanted to settle down
He just didn't know how
It was his heart she had to repair

I could stand in front of a pyramid
But I didn't carve the stones
Or die to live inside

I could ask the sun
To make my skin change
But does my mind remain white?

I could hold a book with strange pictures
Or just put it on my shelf
Would it make you think I’m smart?

I could write about things I know
And things I don’t
But I'm still a dilettante

I could stand in your shadow
You will never know who I am
Until I choose to walk away

I could fall for a pretty face
In fact I always do
Until my darkness reminds me of you

I’ll take it in an empty space
I cannot be shared otherwise
I’ll take it in an empty glass
So I can drink my disguise

I think it’s over there
Always so close, I will be
Watch me think about it
The love I cannot see

The one I saw once before
Knew who they already were
But that was because today
Was the only thing that was sure

There was irony in what you said
Actions speak louder than words
I changed when you told me to stop talking
My intent was devoured by what you heard

I'm not going to stop thinking about you
   the way I do
No matter if you know
Or care
I’ll still be thinking about you

I'm not going to believe in anything except
   what I know is true
No matter if you lie
Even to me
I’ll believe in what I know to be true

I'm not going to forget the things we did
   when I loved you
No matter if you do
Or don’t
I’ll always remember the things we used to do

I'm not going to be who I was until I hear you say
   you love me too
No matter my life
Or yours
I’ll wait to be myself until you tell me it’s true

He supposed he should be grateful
For all that he needed was apparent
Air for life
Roads for travel
Water for drink
And dirt to remind him from where he came

He was not ashamed of his past
It was where all his dreams were born
He could ride a horse
Work with his hands
Love a woman
And live alone no matter by what name

He saw the people with sad faces
Even though they lived their dream
With new cars
Talking on phones
Beautiful homes
But they had already lost the game

They could never imagine love was enough
For a man who left his country for more
For his children
For his wife
For his mother
It is his will to be proud no matter how plain

Inherit the truth
  whatever it may be
For though men ****
  in the name that is he
It will never **** that is he
  for if he that is exists
Then the history of man's rise
  with clinched fists
Is irrelevant to he that is
  because he that is lives
In the believing heart
  that is and only gives
No matter the province of Caesar
  holding his grudge
On earth not in heaven
  where he that is may judge
Against those who reject
  instead of accept
The truth that was written
  by men who wept
But not in sorrow
  but instead with joy
For the truth as revealed
  was not a fire to destroy
But a fire burning within
  from breathing air whole
Instead of mother water
  for he was a fisher of souls
Yet you nibble at the lure
  of world *******
A tragic trail of human evil
  swallowing mountains
Peace, fishes and loaves
  children, animals and truth
Skin different than your own
  things taught to our youth
Until questions of conscience
  from the mouths who suffer
Swallowing instead swords
  than injure another
Judging only themselves
  knowing that to live right
No matter time passing
  is well pleased in his sight
For what treasury of satisfaction
  can be measured once
Or eternal like the stars
  under which a mariner hunts
For his own nature and image
  before his God
And why his fears of creation
  stain the holy sod
Yet the word lays before you
  pure as new
The sum of what God has placed
  inside his shoe
You see his strength of belief
  hidden inside his fear
As are yours of differences
  forever far and near
Yet what is the still night
  and the quiet moon
Is it not the honor of worship
  reserved for high noon
Along with the mid of night
  for it is he of the life he gave
And only you who obeys the soul
  that he would save
For in this life whether he is risen
  in books or by the spirit
It is not yours to bring death
  upon the path you did not inherit

You once talked so much
You were beautiful
The face of love
And all the boys wanted you

You had a husband once
He loved you for a while
Then he stopped thinking of you
Even when the song was slow

Still you decided love is worth the pain
Even though you love the sun instead of the rain
You wouldn’t let him buy you a drink
But you told him you’d change your life
If only love was true
If only love was true

What did he say
That you hadn’t heard before
But this time you wanted to play
Giving in is a game you wanted to lose

Did he get your attention?
He sounded so different
But you needed another month
To know if it was real

You decided love is worth the pain
Even though you love the sun instead of the rain
You wouldn’t let him spend the night
But you told him you’d change your life
If only love was true
If only love was true

The things he described were you
Was it a lucky guess or was it him too?
You admired his taste in women
Because you admired yourself

Though the rope was getting tight
You had will power no man could understand
But you were weaker than he knew
It was always up to you

You decided love is worth the pain
Even though you love the sun instead of the rain
You wouldn’t let him kiss you in the car
But you told him you’d change your life
If only love was true
If only love was true

You watched him drive away
But you didn’t know he liked it
You didn’t give yourself away
His pride smiled in the mirror

You wondered what was next
You gambled that rejection was a turn-on
And even though you were right
Would his courage overcome the doubt?

You decided love is worth the pain
Even though you love the sun instead of the rain
You wouldn’t let him know how you felt
But you told him you’d change your life
If only love was true
If only love was true

There’s nothing so precious
as a man’s farm land
or falling leaves waiting
at this year’s deer lease;
there’s nothing better than
walking your own trail
except when your soft eyes
tell me to do as I please

There’s nothing so graceful
as love waiting by the moon
for a kiss to be delivered
by seasonal birds flying;
guided by what they know
without question or fear
except your soft hands
guided by your sighing

There’s nothing so hard
as rocks resisting oceans
or walls staring quietly
at stones thrown by children
who laugh at the lines
that will always remind
except the uncertainty
of ever seeing you again

Time reveals all that is true
But will never tell us what to do
It does not rule fate or reveal it's whim
Neither can it feel the struggle within
It is only the heart that can truly act
For though time is spoken as fact
It cannot hear our cries or decide who is worthy
But will reward well those who choose mercy

I knew my love was acting too tame
Though my eyes started a tempest from within
You said you dreamed about me
But I said things that saved you from my sin

That wasn’t what you wanted to hear
You wanted me to scare you
To say things that made you feel *****
To do things you never thought you’d do

How do you treat an angel
When you want to act like the devil?
I know the things I want to tell her
I want to take it to another level

But I wasn’t really in your dream
Only your image of me was there
I don’t know the things you want
Should I keep it safe or conquer the fear?

I gave you a glass of wine
Then I kept pouring it all over you
It matched the dress I wanted undone
The purple silk gave me courage to touch you

How do you be a gentlemen
Holding doors open for a princess?
I want lock the door on morality
So your dream will die inside my darkness

Find the truth, for whatever it may be about why men are killing each other it does not **** God; if he exists then the history of man's inhumanity towards one another and why they may puzzle you with their behavior is irrelevent. Stop justifying that which is the province of Caesar. Are you concerned with being a world power or with being a fisher of men's souls? Regardless of your religion, read the sermon on the mount carefully, then ask yourself what is being asked of you. Then when you see someone who is different than you, you will know what to do. Drop your sword. Do not be afraid. For what you profess to believe is not about how or when you die but about how you live. You cannot judge. Think of your own nature and how you must appear to God. You do not know why another man acts the way he does. You do not know why he is afraid of you because you are only concerned with why you are afraid of him. Elevate yourself above geopolitical politics. Protect the rights of all men. Honor your God in peace. He does not require your help against those who do not believe exactly as you. That is not what is being asked of you. If he is God, then he will never die no matter what happens on Earth. But is it his will that lives or dies in your life? Who decides? You know what to do.

Do you know which mirror to break?
Is it the one that hangs there with beauty smiling back at you?
Or the one doing all the talking?

How can you tell which one is safe
When both of them know what it is that it you will pretend to be true
And what it is that they both will be mocking

Where is the darkness?
Have you found it in the light?
Next to your sadness
Because of your children
Or the lover who rejected you
Or your job
Is that where the darkness is?
Or is it in your mind
Soiled
Fouled
Absent of light
Disgraced
A bottomless pit
But is it?
Is the absence of light
The same as blackness of skin?
Who said a word must define what you are?
Who said that what you are is that word?
The question is asked because you believe the world
You have judged yourself as they would judge you
Black is bad
White is good
But we know everything that is good can be scorned
And everything that is bad can be praised
And you have decided that what is black envelops your mind
Do you believe certain people do not love their children?
That they do not cry?
That they do not fear?
That they do not die?
Yet they walk with their head held high
Why can’t you?
You must find out who you are
You must find out what you know
You must know your consciousness
You must know what makes you aware of your existence
Then you will begin
For who knows of this existence other than the physical body
And your voice
It is your voice that is driven from within
Yet you speak with their words
Because you think with their thoughts
You must begin to think with your thoughts
You must ask them why they can be so easily swayed
You must ask them why they refuse to stand alone
You must ask them why they cannot be who they are
Do not let anyone take away from you that which was given to you
For they do not feel your existence like you do
Break every mirror
Ignore every flattery
Ignore every insult
Ignore everything that diminishes who you are
For who are they?
Who gave you life?
Not them
Who will be there when you die?
Not them
Who holds the key to heaven?
Not them
Who knows you?
Not them
But who hurts you?
Them
It is time to be what you cannot see but can only feel
Close your eyes
Are you not still alive in the blackness behind your eyes?
Who lives there?
Not them
Only you
But not in anger
But instead in calm realization
That is who you are
That is where you will begin

The shoes of a dead man
For you to walk
And his blade
For you to ****
Every page vanished
And every memory
But not the paper upon which it was written
And the dust
Under which it was hidden
Traces of direction
Windblown
A new future
Waiting for ripples to die
To see the reflection
And the form
That must be overcome
In the eyes of others
To determine need
Though not enough
In the eyes of others
To speak
Or live in silence
To write
Or to think
For who would listen
Or learn
From a man wearing a dead man’s shoes?
Because they are not wearing them
Only you
The blasphemy of discarding his past
But saving his presence
Is only for you to know
The willful generation
The one that learns from the past
But lives for the future
While others
Ignore the past
And die before they say amen
But not the man walking in a dead man’s shoes
Inside a book
Inside another book
Choosing the prophecy
That fits his needs
But not the worlds
Because they wouldn’t understand
Even if it was written in their language
Nobody can understand
Except the man walking in a dead man’s shoes
He knows death
And every word is life
So he reads
And prays
And does not bring who he is
Because he is not the book
He is only the man walking in a dead man’s shoes
He cannot hear anything
Or see color
Only the desperation that fills the void
Between men
And their confusion
That he is unafraid
And able to walk between people
Without explanation
Or justification
Because they wouldn’t understand
Nobody can understand
Except the man walking in a dead man’s shoes
So don’t ask
Don’t ask
You do not know how to ask
Or what to do with wisdom
They are just words
Words that amaze you
But cannot change you
Because to you they are words
To him they only describe
An approximation
A sketch
Of smoke
From a fire
That you cannot see
Or feel
Not like him
Because you are not a man wearing a dead man’s shoes
It is much worse than you think
Because you won’t confront it
You are insensitive
Dehumanized
The only ones worth living must believe as you do
Thoughts are life to you
Certain thoughts
Thoughts that may be right or may be wrong
Thoughts that cannot be described by one man the same as another
But thoughts that he will not speak
Because he is walking in a dead man’s shoes
Without the blade
For he does not come to you by the sword
For separation is only by choice
His alone
Without bloodshed
Without the desire of what you have
For he is not a thief
He will live without it
He will never take it
For his interest is not in what you have
But in what he can earn
And what is provided
As it is given by the world
As it is described
In the prophecy
That best fits his needs
Because he is a man walking in a dead man’s shoes

If only we were in love
We’d be planning our day
We’d be excited about flowers
And romance our special way

If only we were in love
We’d know just what to do
But it wouldn’t be just one day
It would be all the others too

If only we were in love
If only we were in love
If only is all we can think of
Because if only
Is only what lonely people think of

If only we were in love
We wouldn’t have to wonder
Our eyes would burn like embers
From the spell we are under

If only we were in love
Every day would tell our story
We would believe in tomorrow
We’d know when to say I’m sorry

If only we were in love
If only we were in love
If only is all we can think of
Because if only
Is only what lonely people think of

The moat we dug with our own hands
filled with our blood
carries us around the castle erected on foreign lands
while we wait
for a door to open before we drift to the wrong side of empty sands
and what did we learn
except not to drown hoping for the current that was beyond our commands

But is there no consciousness
that will reveal itself to another in the same manner that it reveals itself to you;
is there is no revelation
that will ask less faith of you than what you have already been told was true;
is there is no love
that has not already lost that is less painful than the one you already knew;
is there is nothing beyond the next sunrise
greater than making another person feel worthy of your love too?

She said
Could you really love me
If I became the woman you wish I was?
Would you forget our past
If I became like a woman you know nothing of?

She said
How can I compete
Against someone who pretends to be free?
How can I make you remember
I was once the girl who was different than me?

She said she’d try again
She said she’d try again
But she said she couldn’t be new
New like your new friend

She said
Ask her my love
Is there nothing she wants for herself?
Ask her my love
Is there nothing else except love itself?

She said
Ask her my love
How she thinks it will one day be
Ask her my love
How long will it take for her to be me

She said she’d try again
She said she’d try again
But she said she couldn’t be new
New like your new friend

I never fully understood what we had;
there was never a time we actually felt sad
   but anger, frustration, shame
all the suffocating rising waters to the ceiling
scarcely time for the things we were feeling
   until the end we knew finally came

Everything you ever wanted to say
was spoken before we were ever in play
   night after night a game of chance
like thieves jumping between cars
and walking backwards between stars,
   we mastered the secret science of romance

We played every song we carried in our heart
as for that one moment we would never be apart;
   it was a time to talk about the last one
as if we were leaving a library the final time,
satisfied that this love story was the ultimate crime
   against the things that we had become

Long away memory standing near smiling,
without normal inside a heart that remembers crying
   was our mistake the only thing left?
or were we waiting for the pride the we carried
to expose itself, naked fearless ready to be buried
   if our goodbye was not loves final theft

You want me to say I love you
But I can’t even though it’s true
It’s not about being a bride and groom
Or a home to share the same room

It’s not a question of my feelings
Or the words you’ve been needing
It’s not about what I know is real
Or whether it is my heart you will steal

It’s about the moon and the sun  
How we are apart but live as one
It’s how the sun sees its own reflection
And how the moon starves for attention

Yes, everything is true
But it is on earth where love lives in pain
And though the lights of the sky are who we are
It is in quiet solitude where hope will remain

You want me to say I love you
But you know it’s already true
It’s not about until death do us part
Or wondering if you are in my heart

It’s not wondering about if or when
Or a foolish game of private pretend
It’s not about what we know is real
Or whether I share what you feel

It’s about the moon and the sun  
How we are apart but live as one
It’s how the sun warms your soul
And how the moon regrets long ago

Yes, everything is true
But it is on earth where love lives in sin
And though the lights of the sky are who we are
It is in quiet solitude where hope begins again

The distance between real life
and living your fantasies is the distance
between piano lessons and playing by ear;
expression cannot be taught, it must
be lived, bled, left for dead and
brought back alive by the one who knows

The problem with our pain is the why
behind the experience; is there a
redemptive quality like the pursuit
of spiritual growth and humanity or was
it merely fingernails on your back from
someone you’d rather see naked than to
actually get to know them

As soon as you stop being impressed by
anyone you meet you can clear the way
to be who you really are; stop thinking
of what they have done because that
time has already passed; the further from
imitation the closer to originality even
if it take ten years for you to gather
your thoughts

What you have to understand is nobody
is going to tell you a secret that will
change your circumstances; you have to
know that inspiration is lying next to the
man on the next corner that you pass
because that is the meaning of life right
there but did you notice him or were you
instead reading something that somebody
else said

If you want to be a mystic then you have
to stop waiting for proof and instead look
for truth in things that are not apparent
to you such as why your heart beats without
your intervention or why consciousness
is far beyond physical capabilities; but
as soon as you declare yourself to be a mystic
then it’s already lost because it’s not something
you can elect to be

The problem with that way of thinking is
in the eyes of your child; the one who is now
living the moment of true belief in the wonder
of the things that you found to be fleeting
in their love for you; you at least owe it to them
to more than feed them, if you only speak of
the future you will make them like you, a person
who wishes he were a child again

A free man walking
Suffers from no illusions
But what grows green from rocks
Is what he seeks
It reminds him that hope never dies

A free man talking
Suffers from no emotions
But what he hears from ticking clocks
Is how a baby sleeps
Not knowing why his mother cries

A free man provoking
Is like kicking sand into oceans
People hear the way he talks
But ignore why he speaks
They only see white in his darkened eyes

A free man trying
His mind rocked by constant motions
It’s not so easy to feel these thoughts
The truth of the matter is all he keeps
While she drowns in seas that only rise

You are his will on earth
For in this blink of life we all live
Despite the denial of our own mortality
And an unknowing purpose before God
You have taught us how to give

My body was ok
My heart
Not so much
I wanted to be close
I wanted to feel your touch

Then I had a dream
But it was the same
Only pictures of you
And now you're gone
Along with the love I knew

We were lovers
But that day is done
For a moment we forgot blame
Now we live apart
Our desire lost its aim

We were standing so close
You couldn't hide your smile
You remembered how it felt
But you are too strong now
There was nothing left to melt

You don’t know them
If you want to give
Do it only in God’s sight

Reliance
Confidence
Honesty
Look within
And above
Walk straight
Know truth

A stepping stone for your feet
The foundation
But not the beauty
How did they become this way

Water
Earth
And sky

******* every side
And within
But the water runs freely
They stand still
Letting you pass by
Rocks are the family
Water is the life
Our dreams pass through their life
They see what we have
And our unhappiness

The stone wears what you refuse
And becomes what you ignore
You want them on one side
Or the other
But they do not take sides

There is no side but life

They believe in miracles
But they do not wait
The unforgiving earth is the last rite
They showed us their wounds
A scar is surrounded by life
An island of strength
A reminder of survival
A life inside of death
Reality for them
A source of goodness for you

Do not weep for them
And then wash yourself away
Leaving rocks misshapen
Forgotten
At the bottom of the lake

Everything you assume about me
Has already crossed my mind
But it doesn’t mean anything
Except something I’m trying to find

It’s nothing I’m trying to draw
It’s just bridges to the other side
I see the suggestions of life
And there is no reason to hide

But a suggestion is not a decision
And my wonder is only being free
For what I am thinking of my love
Are bridges that bring you to me

If we never get back together
Then I'd rather die alone
I know who was the one
What's another year on my own

You never made me feel strange
You knew how to sit next to me
I never had to explain it
You just did it naturally

Yeah I'd rather die alone
Than try to pretend
No one else is you
You're my only friend

The moon lives only at night
But the earth thinks of her all day
It seems our life apart
Is just like natures way

We're not going to tempt fate
We're going to get out of it's way
Whenever it decides what to do
We'll know if the past will become today

Yeah I'd rather die alone
Than try to pretend
Nobody else will do
You're my only friend

Thank God you’re back
Did you find a home there?
Was it why you went that way?
Did you adapt it to your life
Or did you reject it?

Are you euphoric?
Are you at peace?
Are you disappointed?

Because you did come back
You’re eating
You’re talking
You’re in the middle of where you lived

Did you chase fate
Or fortune?
Did destiny meet you there
Or was it just a hint?

I wonder how far it took you to come back
Did you think you’d lost your way
Or did we accidently meet again?

You changed your shoes
Are you preserving the dust
Or burying the memory?

It seems you aren’t yourself
Troubled but determined
Not wrong
But not right

I know you don’t want to be here
You expected to be there
And there was not there

Yet

It’s only your desire
But a dream is never fully formed
It’s an idea
Like a song
But the rain
The heat
The wind
The cold

These are the things that are real

And they weren’t there in the dream
But they are there in your life
So maybe you are already there
It’s just that you didn’t recognize it

You almost did
But you didn't

You just have to get used to almost
Almost as you imagined
Almost as you wanted
Almost
Not exactly

Like life

Almost
Not exactly

Why can't the one I love share what I do?

I have found peace
Boredom will bear my scars

My mind has become a discovery

It is an island at sea
It is a mountain peak
It is a place to be free

I traveled to a place
And retained my senses
But that was all I brought
Not my memories
Not my heartaches
Not my desires

Only my senses

The canvas was blank
I wanted to borrow colors
And steal the things I see
It was a chance to be new
I wanted something good
But it didn’t have to be

I took all the stars
And herded them to one side
I wanted to see how far darkness went
But the only thing that could penetrate was light
So did I find the end of the light
Or the end of the darkness?

Regardless the answer
I asked the question
And I forgot about anything
And anybody

That's the point

It’s so easy if you let go
It's your place
Somebody may fit
But it's still yours
And it's good

Let go of the outside
Let go of what was said against you
Let go of being alone

Because you’re not

I’m not worried about why
I just want to know what
I’m not afraid of sinners
You have room to open up

Everybody has their own taste
I don’t think much about yours
That’s part of getting old
I’m autumn leaves making floors

Holy forgiveness
It’s more than I can do
That kind of acceptance
Is for people worse than you

You turned out a certain way
But I’m not the one who did it
Unless I really meant that much
I must have been your cigarette

Holy forgiveness
It was easier with you
The things you did to me
Are nothing compared to what I do

I thought about it enough
I know where I went wrong
Whatever I did to you
It's pulling us both along

Holy forgiveness
It’s hard to accept what’s true
I’ve never been the one
Who had the right to forgive you

I never knew
How ***** my blood was,
Until I mingled it,
With your own.
I thought
What ran through my veins,

Was pure,
But black became clear,
When you left me alone.

I didn’t want you to leave,

But it was obvious,
You were going to run...
You took away
My driving force,
And the seeds were planted
For what must be done.

I had to ride on,
******* and lost.

What I carried
Inside of me...

Was gone
I knew what to do,

But I was exhausted.
All I had,

Was the chance
To prove you wrong.

I finally betrayed myself to you.
It took one more no
To make me strong
There wasn’t enough hate,
To show me the way home.
So I let cold springs,
Prepare the place,

Where I belong...

"Justice runs down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream"

Martin Luther King, Jr.

------------------------------------------------------------­----------------------------------

Brothers and sisters
Arm in arm
In grace
With faith
And agape love
Marched towards hate
And the steel of repression

     No door to heaven is easily opened
     Sometimes the only choice is to die
     Not quickly
     But slowly and painfully

The arc of justice bends under the weight of human sacrifice

They thought
"This is it for me"
Yes this was it
But it was time
Time for the signs to come down
The signs that said
     "You here"
          "You there"
               "Not for you"
                    "Sit in the back"

Separate but equal
A lie of monstrous proportion
There is no equality
When all is not shared
There is no equality
When a night stick crushes inalienable rights
There is no equality
When a child is called a __
There is no equality
When the love of Jesus
     Is not enough for some people
When the love of Jesus
     Is not enough for some hearts
When the love of Jesus
    Is not enough for grace on earth


Let me take a moment


To cry


To feel the shame


Let us take a moment


And understand why some among us remember Selma
A memory of pride and pain
A memory of the willingness to die
For what is right
To give up their life
To give up their complaints
To give up their selfishness
To give up what we take for granted
So that they might die
For someone else
Because it was time

I do not know if what I say to the questions of our absurd existence
is a suggestion or an offer of supposition inherited from the dreams
of a previous life or the dreams of my ancestors

It is not enough to be loved by a silent creator because we must entertain ourselves while we wait for the one who cannot be described except within the limited knowledge we possess of our own being

The question of taking oneself seriously must be answered with regard
to the value we place upon ourselves; are we special because we say so
or because we are loved by a parent we have never met?

But could it be the love of a child that makes us special in that the innocence of children protects their worth as what they desire from us protects our worth as the desire for one another protects our collective worth?

I once found the pursuit of my desires to be the path to meaning; it was as if pleasure was God but it was a God of selfishness and the pursuit of my own glory and when the truth was revealed I became nothing

Is it the impossibility of sustaining the meaning of life for its own
sake that draws forth the belief in the supernatural while simultaneously abdicating a belief in our ability to be empathetic towards those who share our fate?

She watched me down the river
The bend arrived too soon
She wanted to cry
But I left alone
I told her nobody got me
And the way I said goodbye
Was the way somebody talks before they die

I knew how to love her
But it would have been an act
And she would have fallen for it
That's why I can't come back
I helped her walk away
I acted crazy enough to save her
How she would describe it mattered
And I made sure she knew what to say
I didn't want her to live with regret
So I took it with me
I wanted to bury it along the shore
Where only a loner knows the way

I had to start somewhere
It was the next day
I was still alive
But I felt a different way
I was down a step
But on the same stairs
I tried a different building
But those steps didn’t care
I wondered why it was important
I can’t hear it
But I felt it too much
I decided not to wear it
It’s not going to be bigger than it is
I thought this candle wouldn’t melt
I’m sad that I got over you
I wonder how the ring felt
Now my hands are held high
Lost in a sea of experience
Some wrote a book
Others an unfinished sentence
Walking between my business
And the questions you asked
I can tell you this but never again
You killed me but I buried the past

Is there a word to describe how I allowed it to happen?
Each day that passes I frown at what I carry in my mind
Without taking a stand I awaken far away from who I am
For in humble comfort it is behind closed eyes I hide

As I lay under a canopy of floral blue sky windows
The things that have passed beg for my forgiveness
The light I see offers nothing in return for my gaze
Except to blink away the clouds of my weakness

He became death reaching his zenith rationally
The glass maker could only explain himself to ambition
The pollen he transported under his wings simply worked
And he created the fear that became the human condition

There was no consult with his maker for he was not the executioner
If not by him, by whose hand would Kings wield their power?
Though he knew all the saints died in the fires of human inquisition
His revulsion quietly buried his triumph in the garden of dishonor

I don't want any pills
Or any bottles
If I can't feel the pain
Then I don't know where I stand
If it hurts
Then I want to know
Go ahead
Tell me
I'm man enough to hear it
And I'm man enough to take it
How do I know?
You told me long ago

A dream lives forever like angels
Until you decide which one to steal
The thoughts that dance as we sleep
Are the only one's that are real
Quiet slumbers forget past difficulties
And remind of what was always meant
But distance is circumstance frustrated
Unable to touch the dream that was sent

I thought the future would be different
All my problems would be solved
And I would be floating on air
Instead I am drowning in sentiment
And the fears that my emotions are real
I have filled the ground beneath my feet
With the tears that I gathered long ago
It was then that I floated upon your lives
A presence that made me happy
And when you left the air was dry
As was the meadow and the streets
And now that I am growing older
What I once thought was me
Is really you flowing out of my heart
There is no place I can go anymore
Without  seas and oceans surrounding me
And I know now why the rains have fallen
The tears of a lifetime were given to me
Because I knew you long ago

There's so many stars to count
One for your every heart beat
When you're not with me
I look to the sky at night
And as I count them again
I see your heart within my reach

I am not the point of a spear
And because of this
I have drawn the walls near
But I feel no discomfort
For there is nothing left
Except what I hold dear

We cannot **** everyone
We cannot arrest everyone
We cannot **** a burning bush

The world stands to one side
Watching the violence of men
While the conflicted who cried
Sleep between culture and truth
Despairing for our innocence
Standing accused inside the divide

Why do we believe we are the chosen ones?
Why do we violate the rights of others?
Why do we value one child over another?

The old one could never understand
Why we cry so easily about life
When his friends bloodied white sand
But we question our choices
As history reveals only death
Our history will not be as they planned

Every generation watches as it dies
Every generation wonders about the end
Every generation listens for Gabriel's horn

I do not need to prove my freedom
By mocking another man’s beliefs
Because that is not freedom
That is fear of the unknown
That is fear of our own faith
I thought we were all God’s children

Do not speak ill of me because I did not fall in love with you
Just because we touched

Your worth is not my approval
Your emotions are not my love
Your heart is not that weak

Do not speak ill of me because my life had already spoken
Before we ever met

My past is not who you are
My dreams are now my consciousness
My heart cannot live up to your fantasies

Do not speak ill of me because I was not jealous of another man
Even after you leave

We cannot be healthy without trust
We cannot be healthy without our own life
We cannot be healthy with an imprisoned heart

Give me your feelings
I’ll have them back to you soon
In an altered state
Not what you walked in with
So you must be ready
It may prove something to you
Maybe how little you actually control
Because what I choose to say
Are the things I know that make you care
But not for me
Or for you
Or even us
It will be about someone else
Or something else
Something desperate
Something so overwhelming that you won’t believe
Because nobody can believe what is overwhelming
But it is true
That kind of fear is true
That kind of courage is true
But what good is it to think about these things?
What good is it to listen to a song?
There is nothing left when it’s over
You are the same
Whatever your situation
But deep down inside something changed
You sense it
You know it
But you cannot prove it to anyone
Except to the one who did it to you
Because they wanted to pass it on to you
And they sensed it inside themselves
And to prove it to you
They had to do it to you
And now they know
And now you know