What I would think to say
To be true
Like someone you once knew
But no longer love
Is the same as a stranger might say
To someone like you
Beautiful
But distant too
Hoping we will remain friends
After we meet
Instead of the way of the stars
A part of every dream
But never touching
Never knowing
Only looking
Longing
Alone
In the midst of disappointment
Where hopeful strangers once walked
Only to be reminded that it happens that way
And though while caution knows best
Our hearts will this time not set again, until
The fear of heartbreak no longer speaks to us in the night

The other side of normal; forward
motion progressing to what is actually
the natural state of being a person,
meaning I don't care how old I am;
nothing can stop what I have become

It was a chase or maybe a pull to
please my upbringing but what looked
good on paper wasn't what or who I
really was

Normal has a downside; not falling
but instead a remnant flickering in
the dark; a curiosity but not a life to
believe in

No longer drawn to external forms;
all that is left is to know what you
believe because you already know
enough to tell us without preparation

You said it once; your mistake is
that you didn't write it down so now
you can't find what you already know
about what is worth fighting for and
what you should be afraid of

All you have to do is stop worrying
because whatever is happening in the
news is intended to make you look;
don't look, what good is it to you?

But are you living in a good place;
does it help the way you feel about
who you are and what you want to
do because if not, then what are you
doing?

The best thing you can be is humanistic
no matter with whom you are speaking
because what could go wrong when the
gentle truth of who you are and how you
care is always moving forward?

I can see forever in your eyes
You have become the sun and stars
Where dreams and memories fill my skies
Held together by your heart
I wondered what it might say
But I know they will always stay
Even if I watch for them alone

I can feel forever in your arms
A blanket covering my body
Where the night can cause no harm
Lying still there is nobody
That can make me stray
And I know your love holds sway
Inside a life that needs a home

I can live forever in your memory
A dream that can never end
I am still how you remember me
That is why you are my friend
Even if my heart lost its way
It hears your voice even to this day
Because your love laid the path I roam

Why do I keep throwing my memories away?
Every new girl wants to **** my past
Now that you’re gone
The next one will want to **** you too

I don’t want to deny my past
I just want something that will last
Why waste time talking about her?
That’s all behind me now

I never think of them
Except when you bring it up
I’m not the type to go back
Why do you want to go there?

Don’t make me deny my past
I just want something that will last
Why waste time talking about her?
That’s all behind me now

You were supposed to make me forget
But you kept reminding my heart
Why did you do that?
You turned us off before we could start

I put on a slow song about the coast
And then I said, “Let’s dance”
But before long
You said, “That was ya’lls song”

It must be terrible to be so afraid
Why are you scared of a ghost?
You worry about what will never happen
You keep thinking about that song about the coast

Don’t make me deny my past
I just want something that will last
Why waste time talking about her?
That’s all behind me now

I want to heal
from the feeling of being misunderstood
It’s not easy
to be yourself when nobody will let you
I could tell them
my dreams are like stormy weather
But they might say
they fade away like the morning dew

I want to feel
the freedom of being who I am
You may remember
but I’m not that person anymore
If you want to live
in a place where the past is about you
Just don’t ask me
because I’m about now and not before

I want to kneel
where I can talk to God all alone
If you stand close
it may be harder on you than on me
I’m not proud of that
it’s just that I had let some things go
Now that I’m able
what I’ve become is the way it will be

I want to steal
things from my former self that I own
What is mine
is the way I will love someone new
What is yours
is the memory of how I loved you
But there is no place
that can tell the lie that I know is true

“Everyone is tired of what I have to say,”
He said to nobody but himself
“The more I complain the more they walk away”
There’s no time to mourn
The death of an innocent boy
Even though he does not know it yet
His fate is in the hands of someone else

A crazy man tires of dream lies
He scares everyone with his rage
He doesn’t care if tomorrow comes or goes
Without his hope we are afraid
The locks on the vault watch closely
Because truth is their greatest fear

As the quiet of the evening approaches
Their senses remain on alert
They let him live and that was their mistake
The witness wonders about silence
Advantage is not easily gained
Is his voice worth the cost?

I’m not going to conjure up
Rabbits blinded by stage light
Or with nothing up my sleeve
Prove my love will make things right

Even with the many hands of my sins
That I have extended like casting demons away
I was not the sorcerer that made love to you
Instead I was begging your heart stay

I don’t make magic
I only discover it
I’m not full of tricks
Only a shot of wit
Drink if you must
But first you better sit
It may not feel well
So drink only a bit

I am hardened by our world
The mystical nights we shared
Did not obey a man of tricks
Instead I found someone who cared

How perfect it was
We knew by our eyes
It was as true as a trick that lies
A soul mate from stormy skies

I don’t make magic
I only discover it
I carry no bag
That I will admit
Let it happen now
But first we must sit
This time is different
The magic is our spirit

It was so long ago
Or was it… yesterday?
Separated by fears
Of love that would not wait

But if I had known
How I would feel today
I would have taken your heart
And shown it a world
Where dreams really do
Dreams really do come true

It’s like a regret
That you always feel in your heart
It’s like a love affair
But only you will play the part
How can I live
When time has left me no choice
But to die or be alone
Because love never found its voice

But if I had known
How I would feel today
I would have taken your heart
And shown it a world
Where dreams really do
Dreams really do come true

I want you to wear scarves, layer upon layer
Flowing like the ocean that I may enter at peril
And what is mystery except what I want
The sun sets in paradise and rises in your eyes
As your hearts glow illuminates the night
With ebbing waters begging to be heard
By the moonlight streaking upon them
Your curtains pull from me desperate love
Out of the tides of unbridled hesitancy
Until the falls crash all around you
From melting snows of a faraway place
Warmed by the passion that burns in your veins
Until the silent sun rises again looking for shells
Though I begged never to leave the night before
As your silhouette reminds of all my dreams
That came true in the instant you smiled
I entered your heart with loving violence
Every arrow from the quill of desire
Digging deeper further than you realized
Killing the doubt that died once before
By promises that were never true
But given new life by misery’s hand
Waiting until the sun sets again
And the night calls me to your side

I never forgot you my love
The ten years between us have passed
I knew I had no choice but to wait

Every morning I remembered
But I walked slowly on distant shores
Because love said it's never too late

There are no broken mirrors
Or paintings of jagged edged emotion
You were always my friend
Even when you said till we meet again

We both know how we once felt
I don’t know if you live for something new
Or for someone who believes in fate

Maybe I’m just a bridge you once crossed
But the fire you see in the distance is my torch
Because the moon tild you never to walk straight

There is no broken glass
Or songs about bitter love that was lost
If we can only be friends
I will still smile about you no matter the cost

I can only imagine
Where we all live together
In a world where our eyes see the truth
Instead of the lies we conceive
Where a family loves for love
Instead of shutting doors on one another
Because of perceptions they believe

I can only imagine
The bitterness that dries our eyes
Replaced by tears of joy
Because we no longer grieve
Where the blessings of the wicked
Are not the prayers of the meek
Lying in wait hoping we will receive

Can a nation forgive?
Or must everyone die?
Which generation
Will walk a grudge by?
Did the Jews forgive?
Did Nagasaki forget?
How can the heart become
What the mind won’t let?
Did Jesus speak to you
Or to a nation?
Did he command the soul
Or write a Constitution?
Where exceptionalism is assumed
With a mandate from God
A people destroy the ground
Where holiness did trod
It is written
An eye for an eye
But is this for Caesar
Or for you and I?
It is written
Turn the other cheek
But is this for a superpower
Or only for the weak?
Why do we cheer
The death of a man
When God’s own son
Gave us a plan?
Or did he?
Can no man believe
That which his brother
Failed to conceive?
You abdicate your wishes
Behind a closed curtain
Believing in the good
Your vote always certain
The republic gathers its sons
And its daughters
But the outcome is decided
They’ve parted the waters
The collective never yields
The individual a myth
Ancient documents pretend
What rights do you walk with?
As the national interest swells
Our destiny is manifest
The chosen many
March East and West
Civilizing savages
Extracting resources
Stealing fruit from peasants
Mitigating encumbrances
The walls pushed further out
As we play in the yard
We pray before commerce
While someone stands guard
I call for our memory
Of a man in untouchable clothing
And for the son of slaves
To bring peaceful reckoning
Beaten down over and over
Suffering the indignities of a lifetime
Laying down before charging horses
To show us power’s crime
What is the seed of change?
An atomic bomb?
A protest march?
Or a Psalm?
What have you been told?
What have you witnessed?
A miracle has occurred
And yet you are calloused
I speak to you now
As you show me your smile
Will each eye seeks its mate?
Or will you walk the first mile?
And then the next
As it was spoken
But not for Caesar
For he will never be broken
Will you walk
And accept your mandate?
Will you give another man your coat
Or will you hesitate?
Can a nation forgive?
Can you or I?
Can a newborn baby?
Or will you teach it an eye for an eye?

I’m going to do different this time
I’m not going to do waiting
I’m not going to do afraid
But who am I kidding
I’m the one whose heart already paid

The screen behind me is full of sound
But you can’t hear anything
The images are all about life
What’s it about, seeing, believing
I’m sad that you can feel so much doubt

Did you notice something?
Everybody was together
Laughing and crying
What is it about, color?
I know we’re the same
We all want a lover

I don’t want to be at war with anybody
Say it loud, how are you anyway?
We all wasted days, so many
Stop thinking that way
It’s still your life
Nobody has taken it away

How did we meet
So many leaves, floating aimlessly
We both fell from the sky
Our eyes met, wet from the rain
Our bodies felt, the cold of the rake
Will the wind scatter us once again?

No matter how long the table
Or the age of the wine, born today
We can’t take it home unless we dream
We kissed with our eyes open
We both wanted to know
Can you love a heart already broken?

You can read what a man says;
you don’t have to believe
but what if he says something
you already knew to be true?

Do you wish to discover the meaning of life
or is it just that you need a friend
who already thinks like you?

I called for all the words to gather
but only twenty six letters arrived,
each an island
surrounded by promise
separate but equal
for what was one without another

Except for I

Then I realized it’s the same as a piano,
everything is there that I need;
it’s all up to me

Every person who suffers
and every person who laughs
can never be fully described
until someone decides to make people see

Boys were once ready to be men
but the girls wouldn’t let them

So they crossed the river to the other side

But instead of love
they only found broken glass walls
and grown women smiling, until
they laid on no bed for a bride

Then they find someone;
and love them always,
until they don’t

The tides of emotion rise above us
and we think,
this is it

That’s when you know it’s in God’s hands;
for we weren’t meant to swim
in waters he refuses to part

We live knowing how we feel,
anger, sorrow, joy
and sometimes,
we even know why

Is it our destiny to watch women pass
while we wait to catch their eye;
and what could we say without a word
that they would always remember?

It was how we communicated as children

That we recall
love from afar
the imagination
able to pair
with another
but fired by
uncertainty
not so different
than now

I may never again speak of regret
for what good to a condemned man
or a man who walks freely
as he did as a child

What good would it do?

What good would it do?

Can you tell me?

Take my letters
use them as you will
the answers are all there

I cannot look at them any longer

I looked up to the sky
Only to see the stars were gone
In their place was God's hand
Revealing the painting that was drawn

It's his land
Not mine

My eyes were opened
Even as they remained closed
Suddenly God's hand was gone
And Earth's pain was exposed

It's our pain
Or is it his?

I looked down
And saw my devices
My hands were holding
A book with blank pages

It's my life
I have no answers

How can I be sure?
Upon confusion I depend
Searching the mind of another
Do you know my friend?

It's his land
Not ours

Give me your hand
Show me God's love
I open my hand
Inside a dove

Is it an illusion?
Or is it real?

Foot prints in the sand
Traces of the escape
Erased by the tide
What we remember
Remains quietly inside

Hands on the pavement
Traces of their fate
Preserved by what dried
Frozen still every December
By what your life was denied

Candles on the bar
Traces of every mistake
Shadows on their sighs
Beach combing ember
My light by your side

I cannot judge anyone

I cannot say,
you are right,
you are wrong

Unless you hurt someone

The mirror of life
shows me my failings,
as there is no safe harbor;
I no longer wish upon it;
I only ask for forgiveness

I will not tell you how to be a man,
or what it is to be a woman;
these things are not why I live;

I will not tell you how to worship,
or what to believe
these things I do not know

I read the words about peace
and love
and planks in my own eye
and then I know

For whatever man may be different,
and whatever woman may be different,
is no longer my concern

What would you say,
when the one you thought was evil,
weeps and cannot sleep at night;
and the one you thought was good,
smiles and sleeps even during war?

Would you ask them what made them that way?

I do not know who was sent to us

I do not know who confuses us

But when a man kneels,
and is kind,
and is a peacemaker,
and is a lover of all that we are,
then I want to know that man

No matter who he is

No matter his race

No matter his belief

No matter who he loves

Because that man is a better man than me

I had to tell him
It will make your soul bleed
But you will never see it
It will make your heart burn
And one day you will feel it
But it won’t be what you thought
Because it was drained, not filled
Even though you once smiled about it

Somebody will tell him
To master your desires is the seed
But you won’t understand it
You think it is your turn
And being a man is accepting it
It won’t be sold, but instead bought
Because it’s the garden you tilled
The fruit you chose will die in it

Somebody will say so
Somebody will say so
Live the night
Forget the light
Somebody will say so
Which way will you go?

His mind will tell him
This is how a boy is freed
But you will be a prisoner to it
They say the hard way is how you learn
And a weak man will always choose it
What you found and what you sought
Would it be you were tempted or willed
The way of your prayers will reveal it

Somebody will say so
Somebody will say so
Live the light
Reject the night
Somebody will say so
Which way will you go?

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

All you see is darkness
You thought there was no life
But light is unnecessary
Not even to know me

I asked you to get closer
It’s more honest that way
Our bodies are so close
But I want what I cannot see

You may think I’m hiding
Instead I’m beckoning
Like stars standing aside
Or God parting the sea

As long as a moment
As short as a lifetime
My eyelash touching yours
A kiss is what we will be

If I knew I was dying
I know what I would say to you
There would be no promises
Only words I know to be true

I could think of life after death
Or of dying after living
Which one would mean more
If it was to you the eulogy was giving?

Sometimes it seems so close
But only when I think of you
We gave each other a chance
Now you're on to someone new

I remember every kiss
Now it's something I can't find
Did you give them all away
Or did you just leave them behind?

If I knew I was dying
I would know what to say
I would be so honest
And you would live for today

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

Living life as a metaphor
A face without features to explore
Emotion without skin or form
Rain and wind in the eye of the storm
Chambered piano notes fading, carried away
By wingless birds with feathers waiting
A horse with a river for a tail, trailing
A brush with colors, an artist unveiling

I am a myth and a sinner
And I am dead
I wrote the words some preach
But I forgot to include everyone
You never met me and can only imagine
How is it that I was so wise and so cruel
It took two hundred years
And widows and slaves
And burning crosses
And bridge marches
Did it finally make shame my neighbor
And blood on a cross their only savior

I am a ghost and a prophet
And I am dead
I wrote the words some hate
But I did not mean it that way
I never met you and yet I guide you
To the place where a man lives in squalor
Is it his or another man's faults
Is his welfare your profit
Is his grieving your happiness
Is his sadness your blessing
Did it make indifference my neighbor
And an empty tomb their only savior

I dared to be happy for so long
Now I'm almost afraid to smile
I wonder if it's time for me to pay
For when I laughed all the while
Nobody told me how to get old
It seems my body knows what to do
My Daddy has the same problems
He's been through all of this too

     now it's my turn
     you never think this day will come
     then it's here
     your entire life in an instant

I know hard times are waiting for us
It's something money can't solve
I guess the glory days are in the past
Now it's time to face deaths resolve
I think I'm gonna have to move him in
Soon he won't know who I am
He say's it's my responsibility
Taking care of a parent is part of being a man

See them all in their little holes
Even the big ones are small
There is so much to place just so
But they spill out onto the road
Where we walk upon them together
Wondering about the noise we hear
It’s the same as the one we make

Where is the life we once described
It was a beautiful story
We dared to dream it as we planned
We waited for it to happen
It was almost true as we spoke
To say yes this is how it will be for us
We should not have spoken of it at all

What is it that makes us torture ourselves
We never know how it will end
So we think of it in terms of the pain
But now I think of it like it was the story
Not what we dreamed of
But instead how we lived
Because we were together then

I'm nothing
If only a faint sound
An echo
Of past glory
Vanishing
As time races by
It is no longer
My time
Or my place
Only a song
Exists
One of complete
Loss
Playing over and over
Until
You smiled
A stranger
With a gift
Of life
Thank you
You made me live
Again

Upon the receding mass,
we float, imperceptible
gathered with pieces; clues,
hints of what we assume;
perception of truth; together,
we know; but we cannot,
we cannot because we are not,
we are not together, we are not
together, we are not together;
we are only apart, gathered,
but scattered, fragmented,
a song that cannot begin
or end; pausing, hesitating,
charging, hurting, confessing,
but not to each other and only
if it makes the pain go away;
we know when to cry; we know
when to open the box, spilling
the contents before us; pieces
pieces of our heart; and they
will pick one; the one that
our children walk with; to join
the leaves that blow; to join
the rivers that dry; to join
the money that bleeds; to join
the promises that lie; to join
the love that hates; to join
the assurance that confuses;
to join the winds that die;
for what helplessness cannot,
prayer will replace; if only
to believe that someone will remember;
remember we love them more than
we love the days when we were young

We don’t think too much
‘cause we don’t know
We say something too far
then let it go
There’s always tomorrow
if we give it some attention too
It could be, but maybe not
there’s no promises,
but I like chances is anyway
it’s better than knowing I lost you

You wouldn’t come inside my house
it makes you think about giving in
You stayed out on the lawn
you don’t like to think were you’ve been
I don’t want to remind you,
you’ve heard every promise that there is
I’m gonna’ leave you alone
even if it means wondering what went wrong
still I know you almost came home
being on your mind is where I belong

I hate listening to that song
It sounds like something I once knew
how come so many people live like that
nobody likes old, just something new
I could never make you feel it
that happened a long time ago
it’s easy for you to shrug your shoulders
I once told you things, now you heard it before
I wonder why it has to be somebody else
loving you this long should mean something more

He wanted to make a t-shirt
He put Einstein’s picture on it
Underneath the words said
“You don’t know ****”

He imagined being a crazy singer
One who made the crowd go nuts
Not because he gave them happy talk
But because acting crazy takes guts

I’m not sure what I’m going to do
But I can guarantee
You’ll remember what happened here
Because I made you feel crazier than me

It made him feel connected
Not to the fools all around
But to knowledge of those that did
But most of them are underground

He read about the place they blew up
All the horrors tried to run and hide
But somebody finally gave a ****
And dug up the truth lurking inside

I’m not sure what I’m going to do
But I can guarantee
You’ll remember what happened here
Because I made you feel crazier than me

That's right
Crazier than me
I made you crazier than me
You'll never know how easy it was
To make you crazier than me

Passion is violent but not durable
And once the race has been run
What is left but contemplation
Vast and fertile
Horizons always beckoning
A test of true love
Loyalty and devotion
To a promise that has cooled
As does beauty of the flesh
Yet the fire of life remains
As does inner warmth
The love of the heart aches
And taking its place
Is the love of virtue
Enduring strength of the spirit
Like a lighthouse across the sea
Guiding those who wish to cross
To live within its purpose
Of a life never consumed with the end
But instead with how it is lived
Remembering the days when passion set its sails
And the winds of loving you cast their spell

It’s a life of fear living inside the life of my own
I threw everything away except some common decency
I want to do what’s right by my children but it’s so hard
I had to find myself in order to get on the right frequency
My folks always felt the same way
But it was me who didn’t want to care

I decided to open every box I’d packed away
All were labeled wrong except for one labeled right
Since I was the one who decided these things
I needed one to be lit only by the natural light
My folks knew this would happen
But it was me who waited too long

I try to explain the ways of the world but who can say
We decided the best road was to manage our own
I opened their eyes just by asking if everyone is the same
I hoped their hearts were made of blood and not of bone
My folks never tried to burden me
But it was me who ignored what they know

I have to let go of the things that once scared my folks
There’s no chance what they want is for my peace of mind
It’s a feeling I get when I’m alone thinking if I can take it
I shouldn’t care but then it would be my heart I couldn’t find
My folks decided to let me grow up
But it was me who didn’t know how

Someone asked if I was feeling blue
I said I hope so
Especially
If it means I'm a clear spring sky
A deep ocean sea
Staring into your eyes
Then yes
I am

Someone asked if I was sad
I said I hope so
Especially
If it means I am thinking of life
A day the way it ought to be
Of you
Then yes
I am

Someone asked if I was sorry
I said I hope so
Especially
If it means I am forgiven
A feeling of humility
About you
Then yes
I am

Get your own sound
Where you get it don’t matter
Borrow it
Change it
Rearrange it
Till they don’t recognize it
Then it’s yours
Think about it
Live with it
Become it
Till you recognize it in a dream
Then it’s you
You found it one night
But you didn’t write it down
You were driving a car
Long ago
It all came together
You didn’t trust yourself
The information wasn’t enough
It wasn’t whole
It didn’t feel like Sunday afternoon enough
You wanted it to be about peace
But is that your sound?
It may only be a moment
A break from the past
Or the concern
What atmosphere did you suppress?
You didn’t recognize it
That’s why it was you
You only can recognize someone else
You aren’t CONFIDENT about new thoughts
Nobody is
You have to suffer through it
Walk with strangers
Sleep on concrete
I saw a man do that the other day
Everybody stepped over him
And you have so much more
But what do you hear?
Stop reacting
You have heard every word there is
You have felt every emotion there is
Put it all together
There was a friend once
The one you tell stories about
Their genius was being different
But they were too much for you
You couldn’t live like that
They were too loud
You couldn’t hear yourself
They were primitive
Without any dignity
Yet you remember
Raw
But then elegance and poise
Elegance and poise
Is that what made you stumble?
Just words that strangle
Sunday afternoon
Is that your sound?
Are you listening?
It may be that you are not
Mere existence
Not knowing
Not hearing
Not you
Not less
More

Every morning when we see
A great ball of light
It is our rising son
Every morning when we see
A great white cross
It is our rising son
Every morning when we see
A stone rolled back
It is our rising son
Every morning when we see
A picture of a child
It is our rising son
Every morning when we see
A winged shadow
It is our rising son
Every morning when we see
My garden growing
It is our rising son
Every morning when we see
Love in your eyes
It is our rising son
Every morning when we see
Grace faith peace
It is our rising son

What’s to become of a setting sun that cannot be with you always even though it will return in the morning to ask your sleepy eyes if you made love to the moon?

What’s to become of a solitary moon adorned with my kisses to be sent to you each night in remembrance of the past and a hope for a dream that is so old it has borne children that have taken their place in the heavens?

What’s to become of a dry creek bed that once ran wild to your seas in anticipation of becoming one in a mating ritual that can no longer move even the smallest pebble when once boulders shuddered to think of the passion play that ruled the night?

What’s to become of the lone wolf who howled each night in your forests that have now burned to the ground with not even a remnant of smoke from a fire that consumed our past lives and is merely ashen powder with no resemblance to the beauty that he once devoured?

What‘s to become of a stone tied to a leg attached to a body that once had a heart that was held in your hands and instead is drowning and decaying under the weight of oceans that will make quick work of its flesh leaving only the chain that mercilessly did your ***** work?

What’s to become of the abandoned sailboat with clanging hardware on a mast that stands alone without a sail to catch the wind; instead left to drift aimlessly while you walk away from the dock where you dropped the knife next to the cleat where you cut it loose and set it free?

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

If you have a moment
That's what I am
If you are strong
Then so am I
If you have no questions
I am the answer
If you only need a smile
Nobody will ask why

She said being lonely is better than what time drags along
It reminded me of a conversation from long ago
It ended because nobody would admit they were wrong

All my dreams vanished because I can’t sleep long enough
A mind full of hope is like a sail full of promise
But the wind only laughs when the seas get rough

I thought about jumping
But I started climbing instead
I thought about crying
But that’s not what my heart said
My memories were once in my pocket
Until they tore a hole in the thread

You said it to me but there wasn’t time for it to sink in
I didn’t listen but I hear it now
You hear a voice but an echo tells you how long it’s been

I thought about jumping
But I started climbing instead
I thought about laughing
But not because of what you said
My memories were once in my heart
Until they tore a hole in my head

I know the hole is there
i haven’t filled it
instead i step over it
(mercy to my past)
i can’t fill it
i won’t
it is who i am

But if i fill the hole
i must use the dirt
the dirt that was in the hole
(before it was a hole)
it’s next to the hole
and i could put it back
but it won’t be the same

To write about it
is to put the dirt back
it is your life
(it is all you know)
and it must be filled
it must be filled, right?
any way you can

Your life is in disarray
you didn’t ask for this
but you are still alive
(someone needs you)
we can’t speak our minds
unless it is art
dirt that becomes art

But must i fill the hole?
what would i accomplish
i would rather be myself
(what i have become)
so instead i speak
i’m not going to fall in
I’m not going to bury myself

I cannot deny myself
what path born to us remains?
instead it is my challenge
(to land on my feet)
i cannot live in my hole
but do not be sad for mefor
it is my light that has escaped

What did I do with it;
what was handed to me without my request,
but a discovery to bring myself to bare; to
perform or be anonymous, a fearful animal;
but first I needed to be fed

What did I do with it;
what was given to me by my demands or else
I would never silence the stark selfishness of
my needs, yes to be angry because I was birthed
without permission, so  tend to me now

What did I do with it;
it was at this point that my life was fully in order;
I was never late, never a disappointment though I
could annoy a dog; a baby; an easy life, I was loved

What did I do with it;
a disturbance, I was to wait my turn, another
baby with the same rapport with my creator;
another outrage, within my soul I learned that
nothing happened with my permission

What did I do with it;
I said a word, then walked with it alongside a
window; looking out, the fact that poor people
existed or that my dog wouldn’t live forever was
not in the picture I thought was real

What did I do with it;
the sound of black bean mambo; no green egg  
could undo what was cooking in the living room  
as the dancing man was too happy to concern
himself with the  loss of his country

What did I do with it;
how can you lose something so vital; to have
in your own image the worlds fears and anger;
the migration of  the heart followed by feet that
only moved to a poor man’s trumpet?

What did I do with it;
you can’t live in someone else’s past; the same
blood flows but the stones move the water in
different directions; every river goes its own
way no matter the headwaters

What did I do with it;
learning to be a part of the world; not to watch
as the sand does wondering how it will be moved
today; but instead to push my  way forward, and
even in retreat knowing I will return

What did I do with it;
loving freely, easily; learning my lessons, as only
love can teach; making promises that failed to
germinate; hearing promises that one day realized
it was a river too

What did I do with it;
a chilly night, a young man, wanting to believe;
he did; but not the way he was taught; whether
faith or grace, it was for him alone to decide; for
what miracle to believe must he choose?

What did I do with it;
the world has now become a game for those
who wish to play; for others a curse; life, all
it’s dreams, in the face of a beautiful girl; yet
even she cries alone for love that did not last

What did I do with it;
it became a plan, to be an adult, for that is what
the baby needed; he never knew that he would
need love as before but it brushed past him while
he held his children’s future tightly

What did I do with it;
time, a commodity that cannot be sold; only taken
for granted; I saw love glance at me from the ship
passing while I washed ashore; the tide never letting
go, the moon all I will ever know

I am emotion
No matter my wisdom
No matter my age

A tear in every moment
As I have lost my voice
Where once I thought of joy
Now I have a choice
To laugh or cry
In the face of pain
To see the sun
When all I have is rain

I am emotion
No matter my education
No matter my wage

A laugh in every moment
As I find my voice
Where once I thought of sadness
Now I’ve made my choice
To laugh
In the face of pain
To see hope
In the drops of rain

I am emotion
No matter my freedom
No matter my cage

A poem in every moment
As I hear my voice
Where once I thought of nothing
Now I accept my choice
To express my fears
In the face of pain
To see my heart
Dancing in the rain

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 is time to find yourself
What may have been your destiny
Has become a whispering voice
Sit next to me my friend
Tell me what you hear
Burden me with your grief
Ask me the questions of life
And though I may answer
I cannot change the past
Yet I wish to comfort you
To tell you of your beauty
Of the dignity within your pain
Of the purity of your thoughts
Of the worth in your suffering
For you, life has begun
You have known love and loss
Every emotion has become yours
You may begin again
With the wisdom of living
Of being a human being
With no fear of misunderstanding
With the honesty of one who grieves
Unafraid of sadness
Unafraid to bear your heart
Unafraid to cry
Unafraid to pray
Worthy of good
Worthy of blessings
Worthy of love
To receive
And to give
For as you knew to love your children
Now too you know how to say goodbye
It is the message you could only feel
Not from your parents
But from life
As not everything can be taught
We cannot be taught sadness
We do not seek this lesson
Though we know it is written
And while the world sleeps around you
You are now awake
Forever
Because life never sleeps for those who have suffered
But should life be easy or hard?
We experience day and night
But there is light at night
And shadows by day
And shadows by night
And light by day
There is good
And bad
In time you will know the answer
It will come to you along your new path
As you compare your misfortunes
With those of others
In the knowing that all men must perish
And that our time is not for our glory
But for his
And in this you find your place
So that you may heal again
As you ready yourself again for your life
Yes
Sit next to me my friend
And unburden yourself
For in troubles
We come closer to God
And in comfort
We come closer to each other

Let us climb together
Each step representing the difficulties of life
Walking away from the past
And our differences
But as the mountain narrows before us
Creating common ground
Closer to God
Where the air is pure
And the skies are clear
We will share what little we bring
And what we bring is only what we need
Yes
Only our body
And consciousness
Of life
Our life
And we will then come to know the life of each other
For as the mountain narrows before us
We will become human again
And not a race
Or an object
Only spirit
Wisps of humanity
Filling the spaces between words and deeds
Remembering our place
Not of advantage
Or of dependency
But as equals
And yet I hear your cries
Echoing beyond the valley inside our hearts
Where the battle is fought
Some of your friends will not walk with you
It is the same for me
But we will find others taking their place
And we will welcome them
While lamenting those who chose not to join us
But praying for their walk
Hoping that the clouds that pass before us
Are the spirits that have reconsidered their choice
Ready to bond with us
While the morning fog reminds those who remain
There is still time

I'm staring at a fountain blue
It was what you decided to be
Throwing coins and wading too
I wondered if you noticed me
I don't know how long it will last
Something better happen soon
I can't live tied to a passing mast
Hoping for another harvest moon
I wondered if it would be enough
I watched the side of her face burn
Could she love when life was rough
Or does beauty ever take its turn
To hear you whisper after midnight
While your blinding colors sleep
Will tell me if you prefer the light
Where our confessions never meet

I just don't know
I can only think about how it makes me feel

I will never know the word numb again

What is more raw than going there?
Let's go there

I want to think about IT

You giving your storms to another bird
You giving your oceans to another ship

They can only survive you

The dark separates the light from itself
But the dark is how to find the light
It always happens before the light
Like a porch waiting for the sun to dry itself off
You have to walk through it
You can't turn back
Time never does
The earth rotates the same way

North is north until the curve makes it south

Dark is dark
Until it's not

Because what happened, happened
You already were there

It's gonna repeat itself

You have to adjust to it's appearance its not going away you can't forget it's you or instead what happened to you your choice pick one

All the pages are soaked
You wrote them
Then tried to burn them
But your tears put out the fire
That's why you cry
To put out the fire
Put it out
Or let it burn
But do you want to burn

Or be a survivor?

As tempting as it is to walk only with slaves, I find what
my children need instead is economic freedom; for my own
austere nature took a lifetime to achieve and I cannot assume
they were born for this until they know for themselves their
own nature and how best to cultivate the good from within;
they will breathe in the same air as I but what they exhale will
be who they are for they cannot hold onto my own exhaust any
more than I can theirs

There will necessarily be a raging river between myself and
those with whom I sympathize the most; for whatever it is
that I have become it was forced upon me by privilege; there
is nothing I can say to comfort a suffering life except to assuage
their pain for the moment and be reminded that there is
no satisfaction inherent in observing the poor before taking
leave to waste more food

An invention of expediency, a convenience to nurture destiny,
fear is the ultimate tool to control those who have no time
for anything except to raise their own children; and as we
watch them accept instruction from those with whom we
disagree we can only counter their influence by the scant
degree to which we have deviated from the same fears
that were placed within us, but it is only until we are old
enough to know and by then it may be too late

The ability to become what power grants, to the detriment of
polite acknowledgment of the moral rigors necessary to
maintain the underground movement that once objected to
personal gain but now embodies it, is what draws us near; the
power of authority cannot survive without force in the
absence of either moral clarity, obvious merit or grantor of
favor; but because in our fantasies one man is stronger than
our collective minds to whom we willingly bow because we
look for a savior among us forgetting that the savior is in
our time of worship, waiting for us

We are cut and bleed openly on the pavement, but
our body heals itself; the scar that remains reminds us
but it is in our minds that we’re not allowed to reveal
our pain; it is our consciousness that must forever act
sane even though it lives in the past; judging how many
lovers a person may have had or how many they have
set free; we must benchmark ourselves because that
is the only way we can prove we are not one speech
from taking the rights away from an entire group of
people because we can demonize anyone as long as
it is not what we have become

The words that speak of redemption and humility clash
with the psychology of ambition for within our personality
lies the unquenchable trauma of our life; we seek revenge
instead of rehabilitation because revenge is easier to refract
reality in order to find our place where normalcy exists and
the belief that who we are was not our choice or in our
power to alter; we know this not to be entirely true yet
we are powerless to consider the alternative because there
is no place to find true acceptance

The most moral thing I can do is accept the inconvenience
of kindness, empathy and truth in the company of those
who wish to exercise their own freedom to insult others and
place blame upon others for their failures in life; for the ability
to remember who suffered not by their own hand but instead
by the hand of others is something one must learn even if
it means rejecting the heart of those whom they once loved

I’ve retired behind clouds; living to light your world
when the smoke of your travails giving witness
to the truth that cannot be found gathers itself
for a moment, eclipsing my gaze in the shape
of a white heart, void of color, even blackness;
for in the senselessness of humanity’s struggles
love must be found by one light, removed
from the source of burning hearts and instead
regaining the purity of celestial bodies, prayed
to for centuries, guided by their presence, linked
by our imagination, named for our Gods; promised
to us for the moment the light parts the curtain
of doubt and shines upon your gaze, smiling; not
at a doll, but a woman; not at an ornament, but
a mystery of misunderstanding, longing and hope
for her heart to be weighed down by the color
of love, no longer able to float amongst the clouds;
removing itself as the prism of my healing touch,
to await the return of a man’s naïve hopes in life,
lost for too long behind the clouds of his pain,
his losses, his betrayal, his cynicism of a pretty
face only interested in perpetuating itself in
the glory of its reflection and the madness
of his pursuit