An angels breath burned my bridges down
There's not enough faith if you don't cross
I was given the one chance to linger in town
Walking with voices offering to take me across

Playing with matches unable to find my way
My conscience knelt in a closet where I grieve
I pray alone as the sword decides who stays
She hid her beauty inside the empty sheath

I turned my back to gaze upon never again
But how can I say goodbye to all that I know?
I lied in my prayers though she was my friend
It was only sin that made me happy long ago

I can only believe what my soul tells me to
To every candle I ask the same question
Is it that I have always known what to do
Or are my bridges an angels reflection?

I have the power to over-react
Or make people feel uncomfortable
But I'm the one who has to live with it
I can't change the world
Only how you feel about me
But that might take a lifetime
I'm going to let you be who you are
That's the only love I know
I hope that's not disappointing
Honesty can be that way
So can freedom
Especially if you don't want it from me

As you turned your head slowly
I could see black shadows changing to crimson
While the flame in your eyes flickered in wait
The light walked it's way up my body
Like the sunrise up a stone mountain side
When we met we didn't turn away
We stared longer than we could endure
But the pain of being unsure was not greater than love
The excited faces all around us became blank
Our hearts were no longer buried under our fears
No longer demure, your eyelashes drew me near
Your breath made my hair stand on end to catch the wind
I wanted to sail beyond all sense of where I'd been
And yet as I walked towards you we knew the games would begin

My shadow painted the room with your memory
I wanted to see it when I turned the lights on
Nobody would know you were there except me
It always made me think maybe you weren’t gone

I can’t think of you in the darkness that still remembers
I need to see the shapes the way they changed every day
You tried to hide around each corner, still I found you
Standing between light and fantasy was the only way

What hurts so much except love cast before you?
Red yellow or orange is all the same to me
But blue and black seem to know best what to do
I don't miss my shadow, just the things I can no longer see

I only have myself to depend on
That’s what I realized today
I can’t ask too much of you right now
It would be romance and not love

The hands on the clock won’t wait
We can’t seem to slow things down
You might think I’m hiding from you
I’m just waiting for time to tell you it’s ok

You have to decide if it’s wrong to stay
But first you have to come my way
We can cry about our sins later
That’s when we will ask to be forgiven
If only we have the time

My hands are reaching for you
But first I must pray
Pray for love
Pray to love the right way
Pray you won’t decide to run away

I have to think about the light of sunrays
Time is the only thing I can depend on
There’s never been a day without tomorrow
I have to ask you if you believe in it too

You have to decide if it’s wrong to go
But first you have to tell me what I know
We can cry about longing later
That’s when we will try to keep living
With what’s left of our time

If I have to be somebody's ex
She gonna' think about regrets
Her friends are gonna' say ****
You walked away from him?

That's right it's gonna' get better
You're gonna' forget her
But she's gonna' remember
Because you didn't let her win

They might think it's over for you
And between you and her it's true
But your life is so much more
It don't matter where you've been

I know why you did it
I know why you quit it
I'm no bargain for a lover
You had to fight for it
And you didn't want to do it
That's what love is about
But the honeymoon was not it
You said I was in charge of it

I can love you desperately
And watch you reject me
Tomorrow will still love me
Yesterday will be your sin

Don't think I didn't feel it
I can't lie, you did steal it
But you can't **** my heart
In between each beat I mend

I know how goodbye feels
There's nothing more real
It's time to wonder about life
You're not the reason it will end

I know why you did it
I know why you quit it
I'm no bargain for a lover
You had to fight for it
And you didn't want to do it
That's what love is about
But a honeymoon is not all of it
You said I was the reason for it

She knew his eyes were different
It wasn’t how they looked
It was what they could see

His eyes shined down upon her
He told her she was beautiful
Though she turned her face to his
She didn’t believe he was truthful

She knew her eyes were different
It wasn’t how they looked
It was what they couldn’t see

The mirror cast shadows upon her
She thought it was being truthful
Still he turned his face to hers
His heart only saw what was beautiful

He thought about his goals all too often
Sometimes he drove right by them
He never seemed to know where he was
Except his dreams that always waited for him

Nothing mattered as long as he believed
He had faith that his desires were worthwhile
It was the life that he decided to live for himself
But he couldn’t decide if it was a foot or a mile

He finally realized accepting reality was life
Trying to impress strangers could never last
The people that he knew always felt left out
He won not by winning but by accepting his past

Ignoring his mistakes sustained him for years
Pretending to be different is easier than it seems
But he decided he measured with the wrong cup
Loving a woman was harder than chasing dreams

I'm trying to remember
When they told me how to live
I know how to get to heaven
But I don't know how to forgive

Isn't about time somebody said
You're gonna' hurt real bad
You won't be ready for it
You're gonna' be real sad

What am I gonna' do with that
Stop loving my girl
Stop loving life
I can't stop I'm committed
I'm gonna' keep gettin' hurt

I don't care about being a man
I don't care why I'm still alive
I didn't ask for it
I didn't ask for it

I heard about her leaving this place
More beautiful than she knew
She could have lived across the street
Now her mother weeps next to me in a pew

What am I gonna' do with that
Stop believing in God
Stop believing in you
I can't stop I'm committed
I'm gonna' keep gettin' hurt

Mock those who do not smile,
be glad you are not one of them;
but know you have not begun to live, until
you have found a way to live freely,
with everything that happened to them,
when it happens to you

We spend our entire life looking for it
Even before we knew life was a search

For
A word that is more than a voice
For
A voice that is more than dream
For
A lens that is more than a vision
For
A smile that is more than a child
For
A feeling that is more than birth
For
A love that is more than life
For
A life that is more than death
For
A God that is more than creation

We spend our entire life playing pretend
Even when we believe we have found it

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 don't always want to dream
Sometimes I only wish for sleep
But until I find peace
Or love
I will dream
And while I may seem weary
What I carry
Is only the struggle of desire
Like a potted plant
With roots holding fast
To petals dreaming of the sun

You should just walk up to the door now
Go ahead, it’s the only way you can know
They will look at you and see stained surfaces
Only the imagination knows what lies below
You cannot convince a stranger of your past
They nod, wondering how much could be true
Everyone knows we have shaped ourselves
A real friend lets you become someone new
Experience is not how we wish to be judged
Our mistakes prefer the silence of blue deep
There is nothing to see if you forget yourself
Or remember if you see what you can’t keep
A life devoted to becoming duty and toil
You are now where birds gather not fallen
Swaying on swells, limbs and suns setting
And legs swollen with life giving pollen

Our friends are mercenaries
They have their own love and mission in life
And you may have troubles that cannot be helped

But still they come

Though what they may leave behind
Are rivers carving valleys you have never seen
Where green meadows await the night
Chasing their children home
So the breezes can sweep the dust from the porch
Cooling the sweat upon your brow
Guiding the sounds of a pedal-steel guitar into their hearts
Where each season waits its turn
Accelerating the change from warm to cool
And the migration of nature from north to south
From leaf to limb
And ice to garden
Yes all of this is what they may have come to know

But still they come

You can build a life of honor
No matter how poor
Dignity or hunger
The choice of some must make
It has always been so
Or instead to make a stand
There is no advice from a white man
For someone on the bridge
You can only walk beside them
But you cannot be them

But still some came

Sometimes that is all that matters

We watch while anger enters our space
Choosing to understand is that easy
If you can only clear you mind
Forget from where you came
Even if they cannot forget their past
There is no community without open doors
There is no country without open minds
Each of our troubles takes its turn
Like the seasons
It can never be the same
Happiness is not a life
But a moment to cherish
Suffering is not something to ignore
But a moment to live
What kind of a life would it be
To wait until it happens to you
Is to close the windows into your soul
Without sunlight
Or air to breathe
Or truth

But still you expect them to come
Because now it has happened to you

And they did

When you can no longer live in your natural state
As the desert once it has felt the rain
You begin to curse who you are
For dry air and sparseness offer no relief
And while the heat recites a story of certain death
The sand and cactus, as the heart and mind
Parch and wither, forlorn, waiting for its mate
But she no longer believes in possibility
Or you
For as she rained down upon you
You made no pools for her to gather
No rivers for her to roam
Instead she was only to vanish
And die
As you do now
Until the rain answers your prayers
To try again
To effect your very nature
As an oasis would
Where those who live hard lives go
For life

I think you could teach me what I forgot
Or maybe it’s just that I never knew how
I don’t know if you’d take the chance
On love that needs time instead of right now

I’ve been trying to lose my pride
But it keeps finding its way back home
It’s a feeling I don’t miss when it’s gone
But it’s something that can’t live on its own

I wonder if could do it
Would you risk another vow?
Is it good enough that I want to love again
For you to show me how?

There’s the right way to feel
And the right way to care
I just want to know
What’s the right way to share?

I’ve been going down my own road
I’m not lost but I haven’t been found
We’re both heading in the same direction
But are we walking on the same ground?

I wonder if could do it
Would you risk another vow?
Is it good enough that I want to love again
For you to show me how?

It’s a matter of knowing
What seems only sadness can comprehend
That a smile is all that can part tears as they fall
Like rocks in a mountain stream riverbed
Swiftly steering the wash along its way
As only a stubborn will to live can
The only voice that matters, the oceans call
Not despair, but happiness instead
No matter how distant
Through faith that can apprehend
The belief, not in sorrow
But in where shells are floating
No longer living for the shores reach
Instead, embarking upon new lands
Gazing at the revealing stars
Whose glow reflects not tears of pain
But the way a smile learns to swim
In unfeeling headwaters
Where only the strong know how to mend

It was one of those days
Like being all out of paper products
Or your last pair of dress socks
Only worse
Much worse
It’s not so much how much you love them
But the realization of how much they loved you
They planned for you
And thought of you
Before you were even born
And a day never passed
That they didn’t love you
Even when you let them down
And cursed their name
And counted the days until you could leave home
And then that day came
And you rejoiced
While all theycould do was cry
And now history has passed
Everything you have ever known
Or read about
Is a part of them
A world that collapsed
A world at war
Nations fighting over holy land
Because they couldn’t share God’s love
And the fight for a man to be treated like a man
And an eagle that landed
All of this happened
And the entire time they loved you
And while you knew they wanted something simple
Such as a phone call
Or even a thank you
You still held them at arm’s length
And now you want them in your arms
To tell them these things
But it’s too late
Too late because it is
A moment has passed
A lifetime has passed
And suddenly you know about life
And each day brings a reason for tears
Because your entire life is now day to day
Because it’s your turn to be the one who loves
And as the leaves turn brown
You look to your children
And hope that while they curse you
And long for freedom
That one day they will know this day
And realize what you meant to them
And what they meant to you
And in the dreams of the future
And remembrance of the past
Today shall mark time
And watch the sun set once again
As the chance to come together
As parent and child
Has lost another day

I don’t have any style
I might have a religion
There’s nothing in my threads
Maybe just my opinion

There’s a place to start
It’s not knowing anything
The older I get, you know
It’s back to the beginning

It’s a feeling inside
I know it well
It’s the same as yours
The one that knows
But will never tell

Why am I here anyway
Was it just for my folks?
What did they get from me
Some love and a few jokes?

You know I’ve grown
But not in how I dress
I’m trying to be calmer
I learned from duress

It’s a feeling inside
I know it well
It’s the same as yours
The one that knows
But will never tell

I have a mental flashlight
And a heart-shaped microscope
I’m not confused for long
Or fall in love without hope

I can’t say it enough
Eventually I’ll decide
I might stare for a while
But then, the feeling inside

It’s a feeling inside
I know it well
It’s the same as yours
The one that knows
But can never tell

There’s no reason
Is meaning important
My emotions say yes
They’re my informant

To know myself
Then always to act
If the truth always hurts
Will you ever come back?

It’s a feeling inside
I know it well
It’s the same as yours
The one that knows
But can never tell

Only until dawn
Will I consider purpose
But I shall find it
Only by day
To become effort
Then I will rest
Only until dawn
To reflect upon progress
Then I shall embark
Only by day
To awaken forgiveness
Then I will measure
Only until dawn
The distance traveled
To turn the arc of recourse
Only by day
Where the sun reveals
What will burn deeply
Only until dawn
For which I shall suffer
To begin again
Only by day
To pray once more
For my strength
Only until dawn

Disguises No More

I don't have to make a change
The desert is always wet
the clouds are always dry
I don't make it happen
The mood figures itself out

There might be a girl walking
Somebody about the lord talking
My car drives back and forth
Trying to decide which one is me
I stopped thinking about where to go

My disguise is laying on the floor
My why's walked out the door
I'm a banjo playing like a guitar
I'm not born to play a certain way

I don't really try to do anything
The first thing in my mind is a story
It will make sense after I'm gone
Somebody might tell me what it means
That's how we get to know each other

I'm not going to duck anymore
The birds gonna fly by either way
Standing still is being part of the action
You can feel a good fire next to a cactus
The distance in the sky is bigger than now

My true self doesn't need me anymore
It became what it never was before
They look the same but it's a different star
The way they move tells time a different way

I sometimes wonder when my mind will catch up
Whoever thought us up had something in mind
I never can tell if I’m learning or just surviving
I just hope I’m a chord somebody is trying to find

The sign said the line for life starts right here
I looked down and it was where I was standing
But is it Rome or my own home, how to know?
Maybe it has something to do with not pretending

I don’t have a ticket but it’s playing in my head
But they can’t tell you if you’re the salt or the water
The ocean is beautiful but you can’t drink from it
Whoever made us won’t say why it’s mixed together

I decided a t-shirt was enough of a statement today
But I had to be sure that how I lived could be worn
The only thing that made sense was either a word
Or a picture of a man dreaming of being reborn

You had to tell me the limits of my capacity
It was as if you told me tomorrow was my last day
I can’t question myself all the time or else what?
That’s the choice, a question or a time to feel okay

I saw a man shrug who could make people happy
He walked away thinking he missed his chance
Everyone else wished they were him for a moment
But whoever made us won’t let us wear his pants

The things that hold tight the most can’t be seen
The light forms at the line between heaven and earth
We can choose which way to go while darkness decides
The only path to take is the one that challenges your worth

Every promise I ever made  was important in the end
I never told anyone things like I would except if they did
We can believe in nothing and rearrange furniture at will
But breaking a promise became a life from which you hid

My face is changing, I know it
Like sand dunes after high tide
Spread about, white with no end
Seaweed hair, tossed, unable to hide

People leave footprints, looking
The shells left behind don’t last long
Sand dollar smiles, conch wisdom
So much to say, I hope it’s not wrong

I’m glad someone thinks I’m worth it
Though the ocean beckons, I’m close by
Lay your towel down, I will warm your soul
Shifting time sands, either a laugh or cry

You burned your feet, I’m so sorry
Shadows became night, they felt a chill
I can’t get it right, the sun or the moon
My life can only bend to the wind’s will

At least once, I wanted to know
it seems everything I touch
or see
Is a beautiful sunset,
a moment to treasure
or a revelation of the choice I must make,
to pretend I am free,
because what is free without industriousness;
could it be only the fantasy of the young;
those who once thought of changing the world,
who never believed that time would change them;
bending them towards reality
for who would care for them as they reject convention
and what is convention if not a way to survive?
is there the reflection of fire in our champagne
is there the cloud waiting at the bottom of the ocean
each drifting, an image or unseen, but real
we forget our past and drink to the future,
or we remember the times we loved,
and wonder if it could ever happen again;
or instead must I choose to accept that I am not free
I have a role in life, a cloud to provide water,
a root to feed the wood; a leaf to cool the ground;
the grass to feed the fauna;
a hind-quarter to feed a family; a child to grow;
a book to teach; a thought to decide;
to decide if I am free
living on my own
apart from the world that was built by others
to reject it because I believe it is wrong
to think that I don’t need them
or it
to wander before canyons
and peaks
to live off the land
and to pass without asking for help;
is that my freedom
or is it just my desire to play freedom,
until I realize that the world does not care for me
and then what;
what did I build for my life
for my children, if I would have them;
for my aging body
will I laugh at convention then
when I am no longer able to invent my own language
because those who follow are inventing their own
and making the same choice
to pretend to be free
or to begin digging the same hole that swallowed me whole

It wasn’t just your pictures
It’s the desperation I had just to kiss you
I couldn’t think
I couldn’t sleep
I couldn’t wait until you told me it was true

I remember everything
The time they told us we seemed so happy
They could see it
We could feel it
I wanted to hear you say you believed in me

There was nothing to fear
Except what everyone else thought
We couldn’t be what they wanted
It was as if we remembered what they forgot

For once I knew what was right
I wanted you to smile at me whenever we met
I knew it
You were it
It was a time to dream of someone without regret

There was nothing to fear
Except for how easy love seemed to be
We couldn’t think past our last kiss
It was the only time we knew how to be free

The sky,
flattened, tranquil,
like black and white tile;
For a moment,
I thought it was the ocean,
then I realized it was;
the clouds, shaped by the wind,
like white caps
dotting a distant sea,
they seemed the same to me,
though the land upon which I lay
and the air through which I see
could never agree

The cloud,
triumphant, imperial,
like continents dividing the earth;
For a moment,
I thought it was a mountain
then I realized it was;
the clouds, plateaued,
by the weight of the rain,
a gift of honor for the sun
they seemed the same to me,
though the land upon which I climb
and the air that I breathe
would argue endlessly

The star,
bright, ethereal,
like a burning bush revealed;
For a moment,
I thought it was a cross
then I realized it was;
the light, burning
by the prayers we whisper
for love and life,
they seemed the same to me,
while the land upon which I kneel
and the air a flame needs to be
could only watch silently

How many tears have been eaten
Sweet tears
The sugar of her toils
How many memories have been discarded
Bitter memories
Of a time she lived without love
How many beautiful eyes have been closed
Taking with us their souls
Because we could not leave our own behind
How many times have I cried alone
She knew how to say no
But not when I begged her to

She once was just another star you drowned in your light
But when our little world stopped spinning
All that remained was the end of another long day
The night sky seemed good only for a long goodbye
Instead it became the light that helped me find my way

I decided I wanted to be in love again
But you said I fell for the first star I saw that night
Maybe what you meant is not what for me to say
There is nothing to regret if the first hello always lasts
And nothing to forget of the light that chased your shadow away

It’s not our opinions upon which we must judge
Sometimes we wish to untie old knots with words that bind
Our hands were left free to choose another place to stay
But what was left of our minds held close our parting
Knowing our spoken words were not how small children play

I can’t say that I’ve paid any dues
I had a doctor once give me bad news
It didn’t put my life into a death bed
There was nothing except fear in my head

Let’s pretend I’m drunk and confident
Even though I’m not
You said all I had to do was ask
Why would desire make me wait
There had to be a reason for it
Maybe that’s why you’re always late

I don’t have a palette full of pretension
All I'll remember is the money I spent
I can only swallow the plans of tomorrow
I can only paint all of my mistakes
I saved a spot in the middle of a canvas
Drank cheap wine and painted your sorrow

Am I tempting God without a prayer
Am I so fatalistic that I don’t even care
I heard someone tell me it was God's will
It was as if life had no meaning or thrill

Let’s pretend I’m sober and shy
Even though I’m not
I told you why I could live without you
It’s too easy when you feel free
There had to be a reason for it
Maybe that’s why a sunset is all I can see

Just tell me what you want
Tear my head off so you can see my heart
But do you know who I'm talking to?
It’s there ready for your hands to pull it out
But you’ve been bloodied enough
So I have to be the one to hand it to you

You ask yourself
As if you were preparing for a play
How would you have reacted?
Mostly calm mostly calm
So you wish to say
How would they remember you?
Mostly crazy mostly crazy
So they do remember
You made things happen
But it was all an act
Honesty was their enemy
You watched as your friend became them
Was he corrupted
Or just afraid?
I do not wish to become old
But it has become my last hope
Duty all I have
Love a lone tree far inside a meadow
Each leaf a picture of expectation
My children the light carried by the breeze
Running long with discovery
Will I live long enough to feel young again
If I see it in your eyes then I will believe
Look upon the way that I live
Fill the distance laid upon the horizon
Bring the calm that I need
The love that I miss
The life that I dream
The meaning you have become

We saved Satan’s jewelry in the ossuary
Skulls adorning the walls
Bones piled together without a cross or star
Their shadows braided by death
No longer living in mud stained fear
The end when a poets life begins,
where a hand reaching for God
is consumed by rhymes lost in time
is only remembered by those who march willingly;
to be scorned by those who would try again
to control the destiny of those who love their children
There is no applause in the gathering place
No conversation or last rites
Their once covered their faces of shock and
their glazed eyes that once pierced every conscience
stripped by time to feed the living
No one knows their names
or who ordered them to their death
But he shot those who would run
They lay in wait for someone to say,
“That is my friend”
But nobody came
Only their mothers know they never came home
And they wait hoping someone wiped their brow

I’m standing on the waters of my birth
reaching for the end of the skies that only my eyes can see
there are so many paths connecting the stars
and my love for you will travel each one
until I find the one you left inside of me

I’m standing on a carpet left behind
by those who rode it so their God could set them free
there are so many paths connecting our souls
and my love for you will travel each one
until I find the one I can finally believe

I’m standing on a sidewalk still life
painted with blood cast by a memory’s shadowed marquee
there are so many paths connecting our hearts
and my love for you will travel each one
until I find the one that will not let me be

I am standing on a dream of my own
returning from the escape from which only I can leave
there are so many paths connecting our life
and my love for you will travel each one
until I find the one that will no longer grieve

He’s got half of what a man ought
Still he climbed up on that horse
Luckily it already knew what to do
Chase that calf no matter its course

He finally knew what they meant
When people look but cannot see
But he didn’t have to ride a horse
To find know who his friends might be

A one-eyed cowboy
Half himself
But now twice another
While faith flowed in his veins
It was grace that gave him back his reins

His wounds were unexpected
At least not while he was wearing his boots
What he thought God took away
Instead he used to lay down new roots

He found his calling was vision
How no man is an island
How it is not so hard if you choose to be
Someone who can live a new life
By the light that despair finally set free

A one-eyed cowboy
Half himself
But now twice another
While faith flowed in his veins
It was grace that gave him back his reins

"... as her sister was dying she said, 'all I can think of is that Jesus died because he was good and that must be why this is happening to her'..."

Crying as others mock him in deaths throes
Weeping while others divide his ragged clothes

They dared not blink even once
Would it be the last time they would ever see?
They could not understand
How could this be?
Who would **** the son of man?

Yet they did not deny him as the **** had already crowed
The soldiers scowled that anyone could be so bold
But what they didn’t know
Was that a thousand years would pass
And they would lay at the foot of a bed
Remembering the tears that would forever last

For who was good gave them life
And who is good is praying for life
It was all they could see
But this time they blinked away
The tears that would never let them be
For they knew that those who would believe
On earth may one day grieve
But in heaven God's promise they will receive

You speak so close with only a look
But I hear things from beyond the horizon
Safe
Imagined
Hopefully you
You became like a silent book
Full of life but waiting for my attention
For love
From me
To you
But am I a saint or a crook?
Neither for my mistake is honest apprehension
For how can I know
About me
Or about you?

Do we belong together?
Is there something greater than desire?
Is it fate?
Is it destiny?
Is there a difference?
Does it matter?
Two souls that are alike
Beautiful as snowflakes
But not as different as they are to one another
Or is it a coincidence?
Was it easier to open that door
The one where I stood
But I love you
No matter the reason
My mind is made up
I know it's true
Yet love asks more than that from us
It's not enough to know who you love
Fate is not enough
Nor destiny
Or an open door
It's not enough
I have to feel hurt from you
Difficulty
Anger
And remain by your side
I have to say goodbye to someone else
Be loyal to you
Tell them you are with me now
And show you that we are
I once knew how to do that
But now
I only know who I love
That's all I know
It's all I can do
Just know
You

What if you took everything you ever said
and piled it in a corner?
Would the words fall apart and become
aimless letters strewn all about?
Would they remember if they were happy,
sad, loud or soft?
Or will they just lay there waiting for your
imagination to sprout?

Will you sit and watch for them to begin a
new life without a past?
Will you lay among them knowing they will
wait for you to choose?
Will you begin to reconstruct your life with
the loves you failed to notice?
Will you say the things you were unable
because you have nothing to lose?

Nothing you say will change what was said
thirty years ago when you were so sure
But the pride of yourself remains, stripped
of what you thought you once were
You have the chance to look at each letter
closely, remembering it’s place
What shape or form could possibly come to
mind that would change her?

Maybe each letter should spend a day alone
with a memory that you tried to forget
And informed of who you were and what you
failed to do they whisper as you sleep
Yes it happened as you remember and we know
why you cannot release yourself
And now that we know what to do let us return
all the words over which you weep

I gave you love that was all I had
It was almost enough
There was so much between us that mattered
But uncertainty dimmed the light

You were over my head
That's why I talked so much
I wanted to give you a life to believe in
But it took a movie to keep you around

I played a part
I made it easy for you
I made a mistake
I made it too easy for you

Now you look at me that way
I throw stones into quiet ponds
You didn't know how to reach the other side
I never knew it was me who brought it to you

How close to God
How close to love
Could we even think like that
When only sin made it last as long as it did

I played a part
I made it hard for you
I made a choice
I made it hard for you

I want to tell you that I love you
I want to tell you now
But why do I have to wait so long

I can't let loneliness separate me from you
I won't settle for anyone
Because anyone would be wrong

I will wait as long as I have to
Even if someone else has taken my place
Even if you're already gone

There is a place for what we once had
And it is still alive inside my heart
There is a place and that is where we belong

He loved what could not love him back
He could hold it in his mind for years
A purple dress in the moonlight
But really it was someone else’s woman
A ranch road driving with two friends
But really it was the stark desolation
The dry air was not so sweet to his mind
And yet the memory was pure confection

He was drowning in thorns he thought holy
Blood drawn from the body gives life
He saw a man with his hand open
And another with his closed
Their hearts felt strangely the same
Neither holding a dove or a rose
Mountains rising inside their dreams
Pushing clouds to places no one knows

The cold is never as cold as it seems
Except when you believe something
That’s not as true as it once was
An angel flying apart from the sun
Turning back for one last look
Lonely for the need of someone
She couldn’t get him to notice
Not even a glance, not even one

He no longer felt the need for a tailor
And was comfortable in dull black shoes
Passing through his mind like insects
Mere curiosities for pretension
He prepared his table for importance
In the minds of his growing children
Yet even in cold air he held open the window
His love for her could no longer remain hidden

He was too curious to ever be lonely
Without a plane he traveled the world
He could see the eyes of pain all around
Except the one that could see it in his own
The mistake was no longer caring about time
It was like a kiss that had always been alone
But when his lips parted the sun and moon
A shivering angel asked, “Will you take me home?”

I read the news today
She doesn't know if we care
Her lifeless body is in our hands
Do we have a moment to spare?

I saw her picture
A life of love and flowers
Hate became the poison
That turned years into hours

I cried once again
I am willing to say how I feel
Life passes much too easily
I don't want to forget what's real

I'm so sorry beautiful child
Must innocence pay for our sin?
Is there nothing we can do
But to ask God to forgive us again?

I wanted to speak plainly,
but as nature has reached you,
so should I in the way only love can hear

If you can listen to me now,
while I am still alive, you will always know
of my desire to draw you near

There is nothing left between us,
only desperation, for the time has passed
for lovers to wait for their dreams to appear

I am circling your world, drawn
by your longing for eyes that open at night
to show you what you once watered with tears

I want to whisper to you now,
so that you must come close enough for me
as the exiting calm begins to disappear

I will not touch you until you are ready,
but the hair on our arms will rise before us
as nature's calling will turn fate away from our fears

I was death
Flying high above caring
For what was my life other than suffering?
Though I saw a rainbow
What *** of gold could my soul desire
When a storm is the only way I can dream?
Until my love
I walked upon the shore
And I knew I'd never leave again
For the light I saw
Beckoned
And when I came upon your life
I turned one last time to the sea
And the light upon the waters was no more
For it was now shining on me

If only one man is free
Living in harmony with everyone
Should he walk back into prison
For what right is there if they have none?

Give him the key guard
Let him show us he too can be a slave
For one man to smile is an abomination
That is what they told him

Does hope live in solitary
Where there is nothing but memories
Bitterness has no imagination
For nothing cools in boiling blood

One man buried himself to grow
Another man is the fruit of the tree
Walking apart from his own people
Is the choice a free man must make

Would you enter a world even if no one would follow
What part of yourself would you give up to remain behind
You might jump up on a stage or instead use a camera on a gorge
But tranquil waters wait for those who do not care what they find

Would you chase a car on foot knowing it might suddenly stop
Is it a metaphor for restlessness or do you want to see your past
I thought an artist was only a reflection of life until I met you
You took your clothes off and said morals weren’t meant to last

Would you leave a world if everyone else left before you did
Why would you go knowing they it would be the same game
You told me perception was easier because it let you sleep
To most people the truth was just a way to shift the blame

Would you rather everyone pray or lay their hands on you
The commune was a choice between the faith and fear
The hallway between them was the only place for true reason
I only saw fear, not faith and the desire to draw someone near

Take off your armor
Life is not to ward off the arrows
But instead your heart must feel the pain
You are no longer at war with yourself
Deciding if you are crying or dying
And if you can hear the air part
Then what I sent has already hit the mark
There is no preaching that can save you
Love is the chance to resurrect your life
Or remind you that you are still living

They made him carry a cross
They whipped him until he bled
Why would a God allow
What no man can endure
And as he fell once again
His neighbor remembered what he said

They nailed his feet without mercy
And then his hands
He cried out to save them
They know not what they do
It was greater than loaves and fishes
Forgiveness they could never understand

They lanced his side
Though he was already dead
When water poured out
They filled their cups
And before they could drink of it
They saw that the water was red

The took him down
And divided his clothes
What did they do with the cross
Did they burn it
Or build a church
I wonder if anybody knows

The placed him in a tomb
And sealed it with a stone
He said destroy this temple
And in three days I will rise it up
They saw it with their own eyes
Still no man was able to atone

The stone invited them in
The angels told them the news
He has risen
And when he returned
He showed them his hands
And said, this church is built upon you

Tell me what you saw from the front row
That was the problem
I was on the stage and didn’t ask you to join me
I was on top
You were on the bottom

Tell me how it looks from inside your eyes
Was I real to you
I didn’t feel that way very often
It was all an act
That much was true

Tell me if I’ve left the room empty enough
I may have left you a chair
I never did ask what you want me to do
It’s easier to pretend
It’s easier not to be there

Tell me about the reason you can’t hear me
I know you already said why
I just remembered the night you didn’t care
I said hello
You said goodbye

do not want
what a possession
is
to another

beyond
comfort
what else is there

do not want
but for need

what could we want
that is possessed
by
another

for what you possess
is not for sale
it is only to discover

if you will only look