That's ok baby
Dress up nice and clean
Be professional
Listen to your friends
But when you're with me tonight
Stick that needle in your arm
Be a **** star
Shove a knife into your art
Write words about suicide
Smash your guitar upon my soul
All I see is fire in my bed
And in your heart
And tomorrow we can begin again
Like the good little people we are

Nothing lives well in between the lines
Too many rocks and not enough water
Exhaustion in the morning
Dropping the needle to play back time
Nobody understands what you mean
They cast shadows when the light is blinding

It’s a game for those who are young
Telling each other they’ll die for love
Now we try to live without it
We can’t cry without any tears
We can’t say bye to our fears
It’s more than we can ever admit

Walking the street or fast asleep
Loneliness wandering inside a dream
You have a promise to keep
All or nothing, all or nothing
The middle is just an empty street

How can you talk forever when you can see it
It’s not something you want to think about
So much time to make mistakes but no longer
Is it because it takes that long to see the world
Or to fix the things we know aren’t right
I could let you drive but I’m not a passenger

It’s like walking the same sandy shore
We love the gulls and the way the sand sinks
But the jetties loom where can’t cross
So the day ends and we go our separate ways
Until the morning where  shells are waiting
And I find a lucky sand dollar for you to toss

Walking the street or fast asleep
Loneliness waking up inside a dream
You have a promise to keep
All or nothing, all or nothing
In the middle there's nobody to meet

The travails of our skies
Helplessly waiting each day
Blue seas pierced by the sinking sun
A nebula that finally arrived
With the words of a lonely man
From long ago
It was the only way we could know
For nothing written
Can fill our eyes
And what is truth
If not the silent witness
Of God's canvas
Our daily bread
And a thousand bursting suns
Lambs blood upon our door frame
Brooding as it draws near
Waiting not to torment our souls
But instead to be loved

I’m faced with it
Being happy for you
I remember your longing
The willing lover
Now pleasing another

I don’t want to think about it
We both know what it means
You have to pretend
It’s never been like that
Or maybe it’s true

I keep expecting
It’s how an obsession lives
The reason it ended
Was not about love
Only about life

The way the sun sets
It’s all I know now
The town doesn’t care
So I find something that does
Lost lovers always do

Dancing across a memory
It’s not my floor anymore
I could find it again
But someone has to want me
That’s how it once began

You say goodnight
I expect you to try
That’s the hard part
Giving your best
It once was mine

I wonder if anybody lives out on the limb
I’m not wearing a dead man’s clothes
I don’t have to worry about getting ambushed
My homestead is mine and nobody minds
The frontier is no longer about stealing land
It’s about why young men take their own lives

I’m not casting any nets because I live in one
I’m caught already and tangled up in twine
I don’t have a horse to cross a river full of ice
I don’t have a people, but I have a family
I don’t know what I am anymore to anyone
But the sun on a golden canvas is still my friend

I gave her so many hints I thought I wrote a book
But she won’t move like she’s a stone in the tide
Then she tried to get me to meet her friend
It was like a trickle of water to fill my canteen
Was she as afraid of me leaving as I am of staying?
There’s plenty of time to talk about things like that

The river I once crossed by bridge waits for my sins
The melted ice tells stories of warm beds of silt
Where the river ends is where my fingers join yours
Somebody else can choose the time of my funeral
I can only choose the road that I want to walk
And if dust be my skin then you will be my bath

I want to cry
I want to scream
But I won’t do it
I want to laugh instead
I need to laugh instead
I should laugh instead
I’m going to laugh instead

What do I deserve
How strong am I really
What do I deserve
How blessed am I really
What do I deserve
How privileged am I really
I know how much
I know how much
I know how much

I feel everything you do
But it looks like I’m numb
Or maybe it’s that I don’t feel
At least not the way you can

I want to be your shoulder
I want to be your heart
I want to cry for you
I want to inspire you
But how can I
When I only think of myself

No I’m not going to cry
And I know the reason why
I know what I deserve
And it’s not my own tears
It’s not my own tears
It’s only yours
Because I did it to you
Because life did it to you
And I’m still here
The same as ever
How can I cry
When you beat me to it?

I look at the sun and sky
I squint not in cynical repose
It’s just that it hurts
It’s that simple sometimes
I know why things happened
I was there the whole time
I can take it
I can take being wrong
I can take being strong
Because I am
I am because I can cry
But not about me
Not about me
Only about you
I can cry about you
Even walking the streets
Like being asleep with my eyes open
I can cry
And they won’t know it
Because it’s on the inside
And they think my eyes are red
Because I stared at the sun
And I did
Yes I did
You were the one who burned me
So why do I keep looking up?

But I’ve not had enough
I won’t sink too far
I like to swim
I won’t tell anyone how deep
They might try to save me
I know how long I can hold my breath
Maybe it’s that we’re in the same place
And if you see me then you know
You know how bad it is
Because that’s how bad it is for you
We can swim alone
Or together
But oceans aren’t for dying my friend
It’s only a place to fall
It’s the quiet life
Where everything can only stare
The way I am walking the streets
Dodging the light from above
Because I know it’s you

I rub my eyes every first moment I see
A tiny new cut invited every light for a drink
Even the ones that kept me awake all night
A glimmer of a life only a dream can think of

I rubbed the skin raw right above my heart
The cutting knife guided my blood to the levee
The clock ticks louder next to the flood
I’m listening but time cannot drown love

I rubbed the bottom of my feet until I laughed
The cut between my toes stayed too long
My socks mopped up like tea steeped in water
Walking on my own water is better than a drug

I rubbed my ears while a preacher talked
The cutting words asked me a question
Do you think what he can see is real?
Can I have believe in a grave that will be dug?

I rubbed my head right where my hair starts
Can a cut heal in a holy way if I'm not clean enough?
Burning hands full of nail ends try my mind
But I’m going to call on a willing heart laying on a rug

I rubbed a piece of paper full of my mistakes
I cut my hands hoping they would go but it’s just me
I can take it now because here is not there anymore
The past is too blind for me to live below or above

I'm not climbing to higher ground;
it's holy enough where I stand
It's my fault I planted the wrong seeds;
scattered about by my own hand

The spirit hovers over silent waters;
it's life unconcerned about my fulfillment
Desert sands burn my swollen feet;
my pain has become my sacrament

Don't weep for me
Don't sing for me
I'm not a martyr
My life is my burden
And yours my blessing

Have I humbled myself too late;
a story already written enough for dust,
settling on the bounded spine of memories
Where regret blooms and pride can only rust

I pray for my friends
I pray for their children
what else can I do?
what else?
what else?

Don't weep for me
Don't sing for me
I am not a prophet
My life has been chosen
And yours keeps me guessing

I pray for you my love
I pray for you my love
what else can I do?
what else?
what else?

You know you might could just do it
Do your own thing
But nobody’s gonna’ pay you for it
It’s only a way to pay yourself

Go ahead and be you
It’s not easy being different
But it’s easier than being something else
Don’t pick the wrong version of the story

When you decide to breathe again
I hope you’re the one who’s there
When you decide to speak again
I hope you’re the one who cares

It’s time to quit pretending
There’s nothing but pain there
It will happen soon enough for you
But now you belong to your own heart

When you decide to see again
I hope it's you standing in the mirror
When you decide to love again
I hope it's my heart that becomes nearer

I'm not better without you
I can handle myself
But I need a few stones to walk on
And a garden to sit and slow down

I'm good at doing my own thing
Sometimes I stare so hard
It jerks my mind
Like a car wreck when I wasn't looking

Standing on a piece of wood
High up on the side of a tree
You don't want to come down
But so much is happening on the ground

It's not a crisis
It's just so much selfish discovery
I think about you constantly
It's just that I can't find the opening

I don't think I'll check myself in
I know what I'm seeing is real
I'm not gonna' run away from a bottle
Drinking makes it easier to sin

Sometimes it's like the girl I missed
I wonder if I make them feel like that
It's the blues waiting to cry once again
I hate packing them with me but they insist

I'm not saving for anything else
It's already spent
You don't have to loan me
You don't have to owe me
Let's just drink tomorrows rent

You won't have peace in your bed
Not if you drag me in the girls room
That's the crazy stuff we'll remember
A line of girls knocking in some bar

I'm not praying for anything else
They've already been sent
God don't have to listen to me
God don't have to speak to me
Maybe my own will is what he meant

We couldn’t be the first
Somebody else got all of that
We wanted to be the last
But I’m the next to last now
A soul washed away on a beach

I thought we were chosen
But the tide was too high
Now somebody else walks
Putting a trail upon your heart
But is it still soft or made of stone?

What drove me to this point
I could only flex my cheeks
I could look at her like that
And she knew I meant it
Whatever it was I was feeling

The breath I held inside
You never did see all of it
Still what you felt was loud
The breath you could hear
Outrageous virtuosity of lust

You wanted to take care of somebody
But I had to take care of you
You couldn’t pull yourself together
Still, it was so easy to love you
I was holding a diamond in place

Nobody had to teach me to love you
I didn’t have to talk to my mom
You looked at me a certain way
And I just knew what to do with you
The science of love was already art

We developed our own sound
It was us without influence or past
Even strangers tried to chill with us
I felt like my hair was always wild
No matter how old, I was young

You can’t find that with just anyone
Any pretty girl can catch my eye
But I don’t move too fast anymore
I want to know what you’re about
And if you like to talk harmonics

Can you sit on a bench at the beach
Just to talk for a couple of hours
Not worried if it’s going anywhere
Just talking about anything really
Watching seagulls laugh at our nerves

It's really that easy when it's true
Nothing complicated; a breeze
But nature doesn't have to explain itself
To be the last fire in a forest that's ready
You can burn me down if you want that

We're glad we're the kissing kind
Whether son or daughter
We are the one's who wait
Walking deserts, believing in water

A blue storm builds inside us
We feel it's fight and fury
But we are the one's who can
It is faith that slays our worry

Wherever we are in the knowing
Of what tomorrow may bring
We will continue to live with love
Holding hands at dinner's bell ring

We summon every happy moment
Christmas morning in June
Singing our song of joy and love
Our smiles, the Lord's harvest moon

It is our kind that just as soon believe
There is every miracle under the sun
What another man cannot understand
We see in the glory of our rising son

Rising to meet the day once again
To light our life without grief or malice
The wick of every melting candle, and
Gathering wax inside God's chalice

i could paint you
red and white
still couldn't get it right
but you'd smile anyway
you like those colors
but not if it means you have to stay
that's not being free
somebody's fantasy
they hold you tight
their mind has it all figured out
but you say
not tonight
that's ok
i have it figured out
i love you
and there's nothing more than that
one day
little bit at a time
you'll be in in my flat
can you live like that
you could if you would
that's it isn't it?
if you would

I think we're all holy
It's just we don't believe it
Some of us act like it
But it's just talkin' instead of prayin'
Well I believe it now
And that's what I come to say
I'm no better'n you
And when you bury me
Don't be sad about my closed eyes
Being mad won't matter anymore
But I can live with it
It's just I want you to know
I'm acceptin' of my time
And I'll pray for yours
If you'll pray for mine

As the darkness entered her eyes;
they widened instinctively,
as a barren landscape in the migrant rain
or a guilty heart
reading a book about grace
She'd lost the spirit;
oh it was still there,
like the soil after a long drought;
but it wasn't good for plantin' yet
It had been a good life,
up to now;
now she straddled her youth
and what remained of it;
at least what remained of her pretty face
She was still pretty
They told her everyday
It seemed they wanted to move too fast
As if she was desperate
Desperate for a man
But she wasn’t
She was no tombstone waiting for a chisel
He was gonna’ have to his job
She was gonna’ make him do it
Even if she only had a week to live
He had to put in six days to get the seventh
And she’d wait for him;
she'd be resting on the porch,
just like God rested;
waiting to see if anyone deserved all of that

Traveling far away,
just away
To a level of discomfort
Like sadness or euphoria
Why is it all so fleeting?
This longing for comfort
It is not about meaning

The line we cling to
Pulling in some direction
Only to be discarded
At least I've been able
The poor can’t even say that

Did you ever think
This is something to listen to
Something to believe
Speak only into the silence
Hear only that voice
Then decide on your own

Who told you how to dream?
I tithe to the man on the corner
Not the man holding a book
Am I going to pay for that someday
or will my choice stir the lambs blood?

It's not that I want to give up the fight
What am I doing except begging?
I don't need another coin in my cup
I can take the dark clouds above me
Just don't tell me they are really light

Love is not life or death to me
It's just a way of life
I don't want to listen to the wrong song
It's ok if it's the wrong one for you too
You don't have to live a way you can't be

I've stood out in the rain before
Sometimes I'm glad I'm out there
The words I said all washed away
We wanted to be about forever
Instead it's about nevermore

I hate how it feels like we never met
Goodbye to what could have been
We smiled at another hoping heart
Instead we can't even be friends
But a near miss you never forget

I love how uncomplicated you can be
when you walk away from considering
what's in it for you; but it's not easy to
to live life day to day like that

The path is clear for you, even though
the emotional toll it takes is exhausting;
it's not that you are there for those who
cry; it's that you are the cry itself

You feel so connected to everyone yet
the loneliness behind the wheel on a
country road is a beautiful sunset that
can only try again the next day

But you allowed hatred to poison your
beautifully rippled pond; the birds all
flew away because you threw rocks at
the reflection of stormy skies

You became a mad mind full of care;
how can you find yourself again, we
want the flowers and the cool breeze
that you were so long ago

I want to complete you my love but you
cannot stop the caring you have for our
world; I love that about you but you chose
to light the wood underneath your feet

I didn’t know I needed to travel so far
A cup of coffee in a Sunday café
That was all I needed to explain
the things I found inside myself

But how could I know if I remained behind
Next to a fence deciding which side I’m on
And I knew that it was both
I can come and go,
remembering you either way

Mile markers waving goodbye
The top of the world,
white caps and wilderness
I knew where I was from,
what I was to become;
will you walk with me?

Winter carved summers underneath my feet
Glaciers waving to the lakes left behind
So much, the melancholy of nature
But I wasn’t sad,
No I was not

I longed to tell you something
I wasn’t gone; only away
But in everything I find new
I was reminded of why I love you

It is not courage that is easy
A hero is willing to sacrifice
Without thought or hesitation
They feel the same fear as we do
But it is not acceptable to run away

To live a certain way
Believing a storm will never end
And that they will never mend
Is to live without hope

But even if it never does end
The life we are given is not a promise
It is the life to come that we seek
And to be God’s voice
Was not your choice
But now we listen to whales speak
For the story began from within
And it is the song we hear from the deep

It is you who began playing music
that never knew what it was
until your hands began to move again
and we are amazed
for the sounds of the instrument that you play
is the measure of eternity in your soul

You have made the rain go to church
To beg forgiveness for not raining in the desert
Along with the concrete sidewalks of man
for not letting flowers grow

I can’t spend all my time
figuring out what you want
when you don’t know it yourself
I can only be gentle and kind
the only way a regret won’t haunt
is to just always be myself

I want to have a private moment
A place rocks and arrows can’t find
I wear no armor, only separation
I’m not broken, I'm not chosen
I need a soft voice but I’m not blind
I have to change my expectation

I was thinking about you
the whole way through
I knew where I was going
but I needed to know it’s true
I changed my point of view
not where my heart is pointing

It’s hard to grow old and follow
I woke up a long way from here
There was nothing but a reflection
I looked hard but could only swallow
I prayed hoping you would be there
but you didn't understand my direction

He woke up like he was in a police lineup
Almost flunking out never became a regret
The library wasn’t exactly where they met
The people he knew are still his friends
The ones that are gone he’ll never forget

He smoked a few packs every ten years
But he didn’t really smoke you know
It was easy to quit ‘cause it was all for show
Not being paid for acting never mattered
A friend is being planted in the same row

He thanked Jesus enough to be noticed
He never felt worthy enough to pray
Who asks for what they can’t give away
It’s hard being an artist with limits
So he said the hurt will never play

He didn’t want anyone to take care of him
It was hard because he kept his own mind
He was going to learn on his own time
She told him he didn’t want a family
He said he already left his mom behind

But one day he noticed his children
That was the reason for living now
That old prayer was telling him how
He still dreamed of long flowing hair
But it’s love that his life won’t allow

I don't have to know you to cry
I don't have to know you to pray
I am unable to say goodbye
And hello I never did say
But I know I saw you
As we silently walked by
The ground you trod
Was the same as I
To know where your feet have been
Is enough for this message to send
That a stranger can still be a friend
Even if it's too late to try

She wanted everything
But the world was not enough
She said it was too shallow
He showed her the moon
But she said it made her sad
So he gathered up the stars
And made a necklace
But she said it was too heavy
Then he took the rings of Saturn
And placed them on her finger
But she said it was too cold
Then she started to cry
Because she finally knew
What she really wanted
Was not everything except
Everything about you

The nights take care of themselves now
You decided you can trust me
I’m not going to carry an empty bag
Then leave you at the curb

We reflect upon each other
Your eyes the sunset
Mine the sunrise
Your blood mingles with mine at noon

I know what I should
It’s not trying to ****** your past
I don’t want to sleep with all of that
That’s why I call you baby

A heavy load is what we dropped off
It's not our problem anymore
Waking up, not worrying about the day
It's something to talk about later on

I was hoping you could sing
I wanted everybody to be amazed by you
But what only I can hear inside you
Is why you’re my rock star

Her eyes were reddened
By the burdens of time
Her sons becoming men
Her passions now routine
But dignity will never die
Inside a beautiful heart
Because the blood of her life
Has become a fountain of love

Nobody ever met me in a bar
There’s not enough room in there
Where do I put my childhood
All the friends I’ve known
All the times I've been alone
I wonder if anybody would care

I wonder if I’ve had my finest hour
Maybe I could ask my daughter
I think it was when she was a baby
But only I remember those times
Only I remember those rhymes
And not the baby held by her father

I’m not hard to get to know
The book is always open
But there aren’t any pictures
You’re gonna’ have to read it on your own

I left myself behind in the car
I just don’t want to talk about it
Being a stranger is easier
Just someone for you to walk by
Just someone who won’t make you cry
You’ll never know that I’m worth it

I’m not hard to get to know
Sometimes the book is out on loan
But I’ll be back on the shelf soon
I know there's a lot of pages to turn

We The People
Sailed the same course
Some willingly
Some by force
Our Constitution
A document to inform
A more perfect Union
To weather any storm
No more kings
No more oppression
No taxation
Without representation
Checks and balances
And the rule of law
Mitigating injustices
Safe harbor for all
The secular trinty
President, Congress, Court
Power to be divided
Veto, fiat, tort
Our common interest
Of self defense
With liberty for all
And justice for any offense
Our common tranquility
And general welfare
A more perfect union
Our resources we share
American rights
And protection
From a despotic government
Or an insurrection
To worship my God
And you yours
Even to deny him
Our right secures
Open discourse
To speak out loud
We must be heard
Not follow the crowd
Collective grievances
Peaceably petitioned
We walk together
But never threatened
To bear arms
For our security
Never being forced
To quarter unwillfully
To remain secure
In our sanctuary
Unless presented
With writ of entry
Neither held
Absent habeas corpus
Or loss of property
Without payment to us
Never forced to testify
To contradict our denials
Or brought forward
In duplicitous trials
To face our accuser
In much haste
Represented by counsel
Our peers hands to be placed
Not just one but twelve
Examining the facts
Brought forward to be sworn
But only this court acts
Reasonable recompense
For fine or bail
Cruel or unusual retribution
Shall not avail
An enumeration
Provides illumination
But within the penumbra
Exists more freedom
From God or self-evident
There is no list or count
None to encumber
None to surmount
A union has formed
But sacred the individual
The tyranny of the majority
Is never permissible
A living breathing document?
Or static words unbending?
Even as we amend
Change never ending
Open to interpretation
If you see a right
Others may disagree
There may be a fight
The spirit of intent
Is there to see
Freedom to choose
Secured by liberty
We The People
A sacred quest
We The People
Freedom will never rest

Every day I hear the news
Everybody’s fighting for something
I tried to change the channel
Can't find one to choose
There's too many people singing
Singing the red white and blues

Open another bottle of *****
America needs to start partying
Heard a fire ******* go off
That’s a sound you can’t refuse
There’s too many people crying
Crying the red white and blues

You’re treatin’ America bad
It’s the only one we have
The red white and blues
The red white and blues
It’s not my kind of song

It’s late enough
But I can’t sleep it off
The world makes my sheets sweat
I’m bleeding and I can’t tell you why

You’re treatin’ America bad
It’s the only one we have
The red white and blues
The red white and blues
It’s not my kind of song

It is not
to achieve things for their own sake
A continuous line
is the end to the means
To keep alive
what forgotten souls once felt
And not
the promises of kings and queens

To accept
who you are instead of judgment
To be unique
and a friend of uniqueness
A shoulder to spare
and a tear to give away
And strength
to understand human weakness

we imagine
a fire surrounding a princess
we don't want to be afraid
she is worth the agony of our fantasy
would we die for her
because her smile reflected the water
as a dream reflects our sorrow
would we?
or is it just a myth
the greatness of one man
willing to die for love
or is it only his people
who love the story
for it is their fire
and it burns inside their minds
to risk death is to say
love is theirs to keep
and beauty
is not to be bound by dragons
or shallow men
blinking as a light skips past
like a rock
across water
held aloft by the force of our desire
to walk upon water
believing in the impossible
believing in love
no matter the cost
no matter the loss

It seems I know a stranger
better than I know myself
I once believed the paper
now I to believe something else
what to think about my neighbor
and how the ice melts
Being afraid wasn’t my nature
I can’t find anything now that helps

I’ll decide on Mondays
It’s already a bad day anyway
I’ll see what the news says
And forget it at the end of the day
Then I will begin to pray
And hope God shows me a way
To not worry about hiding food away
in a cave when autumn skies turn gray

I don’t live near a seaside;
where the land becomes the coast
I can’t see the continental divide
or even an old ranch fence post
I wondered where a child might hide
Away from the sticks and ghosts
When I realized fear was a poor guide
I thought about what I loved most

It wasn’t anything new really
I had to stop trying to be something
Making rhymes and acting silly
is what a child’s heart can bring
I once knew a girl who was pretty
and even gave her a diamond ring
But what should I do with a memory
When tomorrow says don’t bring a thing?

It is your decision
How do you want to live?
Clinging to what is wrong for you
To assuage your loneliness?
Or facing your fears
And taking control of your life?
There is always an answer
You are too beautiful to settle
Love and loyalty
A virtue and a curse
You have made no vow to God
You only have a feeling
And one day you will discover your gifts
But how far away will they be?
There is no time to love what cannot learn for itself
It is instead time to love what is worthy of you
If only you believed in you

It was so easy
To make a man love her
Or to think she loved him
They could meet on Tuesday
She would then pick the day
At least until the weekend
He would be thinking of flowers by then
And breakfast
It wasn't ******
Being lonely wasn't her idea
Besides men don't ask questions too soon
That was good
She had nothing to say like that
It was better to seem simple minded
It made him feel secure
While she grew apart from him before church
Guilt made it seem as if she tried
Even though she knew it was a lie
She wasn't in charge of civilization anyway
Only the condition of her heart
She thought of her new name for next week
Bronte
Yes that would make him write poetry
What else can a man do with a name like that?

I never was a wheeler dealer
So don’t pass me the wheel or the cards
I don’t do puzzles either
I don’t like picking up the pieces
or taking my time just to **** it

I don’t drink to get drunk that much
I don’t like the morning after
or waking up with a stranger
We can drink for each other though
There’s something about love in a bottle

I was trying to decide something
It had to do with falling in love
Trouble was nobody was around
The love letter I wrote was really good
It never got mailed but I would’ve

I’m not much for attention anymore
After the cameras are all gone
What’s left but you and all my fears
I don’t want anybody to know what I got
Somebody might want to come take you

For some reason I’ve found myself here
I loved you but I didn’t like you sometimes
It’s not that you weren’t a good woman
It’s just that you wouldn’t quit doing things
Talking to your ex or drinking more than me

Some of these people sure don’t seem real
I don’t know if they know which candle to burn
A home away from home is hard to find
You have to say hello to every stranger
Even if you’ve never seen their type before

I’m on my very own yes I own it now
Freedom is something I’m ready to pawn
But that’s what I said last time
A girl I once knew said I should go for it
But it’s not right to steal her away

I was thinking about hind-sight
But that’s nothing but a song to sing
I’ll take the crystal ball from you
But you don’t have one do you?
That’s why mistakes just happen

She always made him laugh
She'd say crazy things like
"It ain't cheatin' if we done it before"
He couldn't argue with that
'Cause some of him was wantin'
what she was wantin' some more

That country straw logic
He knew she was a good girl
But she lived like a survivor
The scars always did the talking
She remembered how good love felt
The way it was is why it wasn't over

Burnin' the bible with sin
She cried and cried over him
She found her another
And he said he loved her
But true love was the devils friend

She never finished school
but she was smarter than him
Having to 'splain her to his friends
She said that's how it would be
He said let me worry about that
But her heart was too hard to mend

Burnin another bible with sin
She wanted to love her old friend
What's wrong with a mistake
One kiss for sinners sake
Then a prayer before death do her in

There is nothing contrived
It’s not being different
Or the same
Opposite or synonymous
There is no thought
Not about that
Only feeling

When I began crying
It was not a decision

I didn’t ask you
I didn’t tell you
I only wanted you to know
The lover I wanted to be

But I had to find out first
Could we talk about another
And not think about going back
Could we talk about tomorrow
And see the longing in our eyes
Could we know what we want
And not try to make it happen
But instead let it happen

I’m racing into your head now
Moving the hands forward on your clock
I would wait forever for you
But why should we
Don’t believe in time
Believe in me

I don’t want to be compared
How do I make you feel
That is all that matters
Everyone thinks you are beautiful
Do they make you feel safe
Everyone thinks you are a mystery
Do they understand you
Everyone wants to be your lover
Do they want to be your friend

i could reject everything
but i have to love something
don't i?
It's easy to love nature
or animals
there's no trust involved
but people
who are so much more
can be so much less
don't pretend on me
we either belong together
or should just use each other
to practice our manners
but you don't have to
i'm ok if you move on
we never really knew each other
we kept our clothes on
my bags are still in the car
can you tell me though
which side of the cage was i anyway?

ake the time if you can
Pretend that you are wrong
Release it inside yourself
But first, choose a flower
The bees will come later

Don’t abandon your morals
You’re here to rearrange them
It’s not an astrological profile
Or even coloring your hair
It always grows back anyway

Think of impermanence
How little actually ever is
Only love is untainted
By politics or who you are
It is perception that corrupts

There are only a few
Our parents and children
Everyone else is conditional
Too vulnerable for more
Still we believe in forever

The mind is loaded first
The will becomes the decision
It is you pain that must die
Fed by the anger of  others
Free speech lights the match

But that is not intellectual
It is the instinct of a follower
And when he finally says yes
The rhapsody of religious revival
Becomes the darkness in his heart

You must stop studying the map
There is a form to life from birth
Whether culture or a weak father
You cling to it indiscriminately
Until you discard the point of being

Think about your enemy
It may be you’ve never met them
You only know what someone said
Was it really what they have chosen
Or the context of their turmoil?

There is always a consequence
You have to decide how to live
Is it better to have nightmares
Or sleep soundly with ignorance
The songs chorus can’t help you

To live without classification
Is to think without influence
But the desire to cling tightly
To your past and your mistakes
Is to trade salvation for mortality

The light always seems to streak
Like the hair you keep changing
I was staring as you walk by
Wondering how not to get burned
By a lady I can’t seem to meet

You seem to enjoy being different
You laugh easy but then you don’t
You always change the way you think
Or maybe I just haven’t figured out
The way the river shades the current

There’s a shadow in your smile
Only I can see
I know you want to say something
I know you want to say it to me

It’s a feeling only a fool tries twice more
He’s not afraid to be shot down again
It’s not the sign of weakness in a man
It’s the same shadow he saw once before

There’s a shadow in your smile
I feel it when you talk to me
I know it’s not what you really wanted
I know it’s not the way you want it to be

I used to think dying wasn't fair
Now I'm happy it’s a slow death
I need to stick around a little more
I'm not gonna’ ask what for

I’m not ready for streets of gold
I don’t know how to live like that
Maybe it’s just my imagination
This world is only good for complainin’

God I’m outta’ control
God, are you outta’ control too?
Are you still throwin’ paint at us?
Are you still trying to create us?

It feels like some sort of made up game
I’m no tourist I don't care where I go
I just live here
I’m not very biblical
Just a part-time saint and a full-time criminal

I’ve been movin’ around
I’m not a part of anything
I just remember the people I met
And when it rains they still get wet

God I’m outta’ control
God, are you outta’ control too?
Are you still throwin’ paint at us?
Are you still trying to create us?

there comes a time
you do things for yourself
to yourself
but now you need to talk
lullabies at night
as the clock watches you
quietly becoming time
becoming
words
becoming
desire
becoming
desperation
becoming
you
becoming
time
­for waiting
for love
for you
for you
for you

This is a place where prayers are made
Where the children of need are born
We grow but even a forest can burn
Before their time to shed their skin

Though the sun hides behind dark clouds
We learn to hide our fears behind a smile
We enter our closets to put away our day
Knowing we stand in the chamber of prayers

We pay for a body guard with our tithes
We leave the fallen harvest on the ground
Alms and first fruits are blankets we weave
And faith is sand facing the next hurricane

A bullet speaks of peace after it comes to rest
The damage bears no guilt as it forgive its victim
The life we endure when we bury our children
Is the resurrection of a prayer we learned long ago

I can give you peace of mind
For a day, maybe a little longer
I’ll be standing right here
I won’t be that hard to find

I know all about your darkness
Why is your sorrow so much stronger
Than the heart that I can hear
How can I make you believe this

It’s only a matter of time before you’ll know
You need more than me to make the sadness go
I didn’t hang the moon I didn’t make the sun rise
But I’ll try to bring back the life in your sad eyes

You haven’t been abandoned by love
It’s just that you can’t feel anything
Like a desert flower without rain
Your beauty a bird without a wing

I saw you smile the other day
You didn’t know I was watching
I wanted to take your picture, but you said
Your heart wasn’t wearing any clothing

Everybody says we shouldn't judge
That's not what I'm doing
It's just I'm not understanding
How I'm loving what believes in nothing

Did you close your eyes like I said
You won’t see anyone else
You won’t miss anyone else
This is moment where you begin

Remember how you felt as a kid
Everything is still inside you
The time is now for discovery
Like a child on Christmas morning

You just got here
You brought all your fears
You remember too much
The past only makes tears

You’re too beautiful to care about that
You’ve felt too much to hate like that
You’ve seen too much to pretend
You’ve loved too much to let it end

Don’t try to be old
Don’t try to be young
That’s not who you are
But you are going to care

You just left that place
You think there’s no other place
That’s not true that's not true
Unless you're too tired to dream

You just got here
You brought all your fears
You remember too much
The past only brings tears

I know you care
I know you’re there
Even if you don’t
Soon you will be
Standing alone
Is when life begins
For a human
Who finds itself

Can you take a chance with me
Having faith with what you can’t see
Can you walk away with me honey
Away from what we don’t want to be

I’m going to say forgive me first
I already know what I’m going to do
It’s going to be a very human thing
I’m telling you the things that might come true

I remember how it feels
Building a life around love
We’ve both seen our homes fall apart
We can leave the pieces on the floor
Or see if we can build one more

Falling down from heaven
The promises of we make
Falling like leaves all around
Reminding of the chances we take

I’m never too sure of myself
I never dream of tears to come
But I will let you break my heart
Because that’s where I come from

Do you remember how it feels
Building a life around love
We’ve both know how to live on
We can forever give up on love
Or see if we are what it’s made of

I don't have to remember words
Only the feeling you left behind
I don't have to remember a place
It could have been anywhere
I did not notice the setting sun
Or the reflective mountains
Or the glistening shore
You are the painting
And a frame is of no matter
For the colors of your love
Is why nature bows to you

I don't know if he loves you more
I don't know how he makes you feel
I just know I saw tears in your eyes
From happiness that could not laugh

There was nothing left for you to give
You were everything a woman could be
And now you are gone away with him
How can it be true that there is more?

When we kissed you drew me near
The blood in your hands was mine
Not from a heart that was breaking
But the flesh where you buried your past

You never did belong to me my love
But desire was in the palm of my hand
Our exhaustion was all that was true
I won't ask, I know you remember

Oh London
We weep for you again
Hatred upon your streets
The cancer over which we weep

Oh London
Is it so the next life to be lost
Is less than the virtue inviolate
We preserve no matter the cost

Oh London
Is it so the fears we harbor
Are less than the courage
Of the martyrdom of the free

Oh London
Is it so we walk the streets
With carefree gait and whistle
While evil threatens our peace

Oh London
Is it so we must forever believe
In faith and innocence first
No matter the life we grieve

Oh London
Never surrender
The final refuge of civilization
Rests upon your ****** crown