Trying to make them love with hatred
Trying to make them forgive with judgment
Trying to make them understand with ignorance
Trying to make them give with selfishness
Trying to win hearts and minds with bombs
Trying to change the world with intolerance
Trying to end racism with predominance
Trying to make them happy with power

I live in my own mind,
but it is open for you to travel
My opinions play by one rule,
the truth of the matter
If I don't know
then I will have no opinion until I know
My voice relies upon temperance,
but first I will pause
What I believe is personal,
I hope my actions are enough
I value your freedom and mine,
coexistence
All I know is who I love
and they will know it too
What I advise is balance
and empathy
If you wish to change me,
I'm not for you
If you have a life,
I can respect you
If you understand me,
I could love you
To live alone is not rejection,
only discovery
To live together is about the soul,
will it survive?

That’s alright son
Go ahead and shock me
Tell the world how you feel
Show me all the things you see

The only way to be
Is to live for you and not for me
I can take anything you say
I believe you no matter the plea

You don’t have to be clever
Or worry about wasting words
The breath in your anger is valid
Just like the wings on angry birds

Whatever is all around you
It’s not something you should fear
They don’t know you either
The way to walk is to keep yourself near

That’s alright son
Go ahead, listen to your command
I don’t mind dying inside your mind
Because it's a man who wants to stand

You might be tempted
Or maybe you’ll become the tempt
Don’t forget that what you hear
Are weak minds selling contempt

It’s the fate of evil to meet you
But you know that already
The sword is now in your hands
What caution said is now your reality

But whoever you must slay
Will never agree that it should be intended
Just know that your aim must decide
If he is a fool or the one who ascended

That’s alright son
Go ahead and blow my mind
I did it to myself long ago
And now it’s you that I hope to find

I want to write a book someday
The pages to be drawn by the things I know
But the story has no way to end
Or any way to go
I thought it would be about me
Until I heard what you had to say
It was about holding hands with God
And it made me want to pray
So maybe now I know where to begin
Even if I don’t know how it will end
You taught me something that day
And it made me want to be your friend
I started thinking about setting suns
And forest fires begging for rain
But then I thought about green grass
Growing where the soil once felt pain
I wanted to take you for a walk
We'd go where the land is flat
I wanted to see how the earth curves
It reminds me how life is like that
Still you didn’t want to see the end
Then you told me the things you said
I didn’t know what anyone could say
But you raised the cup and ate the bread
I hated that I worried about how I looked
Then I realized the book had no pictures
I’ve never seen the real me anyway
I decided to listen to you read the scriptures
I know what God said but this time it was different
I wanted to be you because it was all so real
I don’t know you because we’ve never met
But I love you because you make me feel

I was wondering how old my blood is
I haven’t bled in a long time
At least not on the outside
Maybe I should set some of it free
Free to find another
Another body to love

Say goodbye when he goes off to war
He won’t be what you remembered
He might not talk for a week
It didn’t make him wise
It just made him aware
That’s why his smile is so old

I was wondering how old my tears are
Seems like they are born every day
A gully inside every reason
A reason inside every drop
No particular place to go
Just a scar soon forgotten

Say good morning when she wakes up
The sun in her hair may set too soon
I will have to live with a regret
But I know I will always love her
So when tomorrow comes
My mind won’t feel so old

Sitting on a sofa watching my mind travel
beyond anything my body could follow
I don’t need space above or below to know
the things we should have learned long ago

Walking through the halls were money is made
smiling at my fellow inmates who feel the same
whatever it is that we live for is beyond the walls
built by those with hands that never feel shame

So far away
So far away
I can still feel it
No matter how far away

Sleeping in a bed that once new love every night
but now can only pretend it never happened
I thought about setting it on fire in the rain
so it would look like a heart that was blackened

Thinking about the words that know where to go
inside your nights or the dreams you never did say
the impatience of being close to what you once loved
is like the sun setting on songs that echo off the bay

So far away
So far away
I can still feel it
Just like it was today

Sometimes our colors cross paths, reminding
Something greater than ourselves, lives
A color we never knew, but
What we found was a dream the wind blew apart

We were born
And when we changed colors everyone saw us
But we fell (or did we?)
It was too much to bear

We asked ourselves

Were we the leaves or the tree?
What colors did we ask to be
Green mornings, growing
Golden autumn seasons, temporary
Brown everlasting, strong, forever

Which was it my love?

As I lay on the ground, wondering
The answer was all around me, each of us
Our own color of fate and love, for what
We never knew

Were you looking for me?

A still rocking cradle
It kept me close to my family’s heart
As you filled me up like a newborn baby
I could feel my purpose for a moment
But then you stood up to see
And that’s when I knew the life to be
Was only passing through me

Broken heart colors flatten the sky
Mountains are formed in the air
A fire lights a path through the sand
No matter how beautiful your goodbye
I can no longer live just to watch you go

Everything you want is right here, but
There’s not enough of you to take it
You left too much behind
You gave everything you had
Except a tear from another time

Pieces of you once washed up on shore
I tripped over them walking in the surf
You didn’t care about being pushed away
Or if the tide claimed you back again
Only a shell hopes for a strangers touch

It’s a movie we’ve already seen
A book both of us has read
I don’t want to think like that
If only you could see what I see
A future without the past in it

It’s not that your heart is confused
It’s just that its lost its purpose
Once you loved life recklessly
Now it’s as if you’ve forgotten how
But remembering is how you breathe

I can’t seem to decide much anymore
I keep looking for a sign
That’s not how I used to live
But gettin’ closer to God takes all my time

I think my boy is gonna’ miss me
I figured out being a man meant being there for him
He has to make his way out into the world
But gettin’ closer to God is going out on a limb

It seems somebody’s always tryin’ to save me
I didn’t know I was in such a mess
I can’t be like everyone else
Jesus said pray in a closet
That’s where I think best

I’m slowing things down, that’s how it is
I don’t need to hurry anymore
That’s not how it was long ago
Gettin’ closer to God means not livin’ like before

Did you think I would never miss you
I think I know now how much I was blessed
It’s not about who loves who the most
I’m just gonna’ say it and let God tell you rest

It seems somebody’s always tryin’ to save me
I didn’t know I was in such a mess
I can’t be like everyone else
Jesus said pray in a closet
That’s where I think best

I know you're feeling something
You see the rain in ways that I never saw fall
But I can't make it happen
Everytime I try who you are stands behind a wall

I know you hear the music
It's saying something that the words can't reveal
But though I try to understand
It's a message that I will never know to be real

I didn't take any pictures
I only wanted memories to remember
But you took away the things that only you knew

I know you have a look in your eye
It's faraway even though you lay next to me
But though I can kiss you tonight
It's a distance that makes it hard to see

I didn't take any pictures
I onlly wanted to write you sonnets
But you read them as if they were never true

I’m not looking at the camera
I’m not looking over at you
You decided you know better
You decided you know what’s true

I’m surprised how important it is to you
You hurt a friend of mine
Over something that had nothing to do with you
If you only knew how it controls your mind

Everybody wants to preach back at him
Using words you don’t believe are true
You bait the hook then blame the fish
How weak must it be to blame the fish

Does God reveal himself in a storm
In the curtain call for terror
There is no understanding
Except those who can only look for error

Where is your destination
Nobody parted the sea upon us all
So a man of god failed us again
And so too my breath failed again

I think you may have made a find
It was so easy to tell us what was true
God will remind Caiaphas why
But what will he decide about you?

The sun
it burns into my skin and my mind
I run
for it is not love but instead so unkind
Each star
the personal path to God for every soul
So far
yet a lifetime to make a lost cross whole
The moon
does not burn nor does it block our path
In June
or in December the tide is our holy bath
For though
John did baptize the lamb by a river day
Even so
the freedom to worship is the sinner way
Please do
we love it, take us wherever you are
Inside you
the void of space means nothing to a star
Who spun
the web inside by eyes on fire only to blame
The one
who knows not what they do except claim
The sun
no matter how much my mind is forgotten
A son
the one once but not to be twice begotten
While clocks
time my hearts beat until a path opens
A box
where the starlight is no longer broken

when the pain is so great
they will say anything
how can you know what is true
when the pain is so great
he will say he loves you more than life
or that he planned the operation
because torture is not about truth
but only to relieve the pain
it is not who they are
what they have done
or how they wish to live on after the pain
neither is quiet loneliness God’s blessing
your job becomes who you are
going home a curse
especially if you do not live alone
you cannot understand
why everyone seems to be happy
but do you learn how to live with two choices
to not say anything you wish to say
to feel nothing when you do
without pain or loneliness
or do you instead
say everything
about anything at all
to the one you love
without remorse
not because of pain
or loneliness
but because you are alive
unafraid to be who you are
as you are now at home
at peace
you

An island is of the earth
As is the water all around
Mountains and streams
You and I
All share the same mother

When the earth is bleeding
And so too our hearts
The blackened skies
That make us afraid
Are stains upon our soul

Separated from God
A bird covered in oil
Every breath one of survival
Crying out
What has become of us?

Take my hand
I will clean each feather
To fly again, freely
We are more than suffering
Though pain is my teacher

To stare into the sun
Without blinking
Is to see life for a moment
But only blindness will remain
Unless you can hear my voice

Do not push me away
For I want nothing from you
Is it so hard to imagine
Someone different than you
Wanting only for you to live?

You entered my life walking through my eyes
But when you left it was through my heart
I didn’t think anything was more than myself
Until you said I never made you feel more than less

You became every girl that I see kiss
A man that I knew that they loved
I never knew you when you weren’t coming for me
Or leaving just to get away

I didn’t know how
To let you be who you are
We never had a chance
Because I thought I was doing you a favor
I knew you felt that way
But only for a year maybe more
Then one day you realized
You were stronger without me

You entered my life swimming through my tears
But when you drowned I couldn’t save you
I needed you for an instant
And for a moment I was the love you always wanted

I am every man who looks at you
A girl they want to possess
You never knew a time when you weren’t my night
Or a day that I felt might be our last

I didn’t know how
To let you be who you are
We never had a chance
Because I thought you were the lucky one
I knew you felt that way
But only for a year maybe less
Then one day you realized
I was weaker without you

To write in such a way
That you hear music
Without sound
See my breath
Without frost in the air
Feel my heartbeat
From afar
Is not as difficult
As to make you believe
That words as intentions
Are the same as actions
To come
But I will continue
Until you know what I say is true
And that what I am building
Is a bridge between caution and longing
From the songs that I hear
And the breath that I see
And the heartbeat that I feel
From you

In a dream
I became a mariner when once I feared the flood
For in water I became born again
In a dream
I became silence when once I could only hear myself
For in the quiet I heard a voice
In a dream
I became a moment when I once thought only of tomorrow
For in that instant I had no worry
In a dream
I became wisdom when once I only prayed for youthful folly
For in my mind I knew of righteousness
In a dream
I became hope from the mouth a dove before I drowned
For the tree of life was now in my hands
In a dream
I am imagination when once I was only the question
For now I only see possibility
In a dream
I became creation when once I was only destruction
For now the past has forgiven me
In a dream
I became a gift when once I was only selfishness
For my desires became forgiveness
In a dream
I became humility when once I was arrogance
For my ship was so easily lost
In a dream
I became mercy when once I was punishment
For the rocks I held left my hands
In a dream
I became justice when once I was vengeance
For what is just is love
In a dream
I became life when once I  only knew of death
For grace reminded me of my choice

The birds and the breezes of a moment
Like so many people I came to know
Living long enough in my sight for love
But leaving without planting seeds that grow

Flags at half-mast from a grateful nation
I thought the same of a long lost friend
There is more than one who knew me well
But without a goodbye my past left with them

We’ve kissed so many people without thought
We remember now how it hurts so much
All that remains are the vacations you loved
You rescued them from the ruins of his touch

All of your feelings are ready to cope  
You like the view but the distance is better
We really feel these things the same way
I can prove it if only you would come closer

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

You turn me on
So what
There's no power there
Only what are we going to do about it
I'm not caring about being turned down
Though I did buy a case of dignity the other day
It comes in a can
Just like love
You can either recycle it
Or throw it away

You decided to love something
And it became who you are
You know the way home but took a different path
Going alone is for the strong
Or is it the way of the lost
Someone told me it is for those who can only be free

Like every ocean crossed
And every mountain climbed
There’s so much of life worth fighting for
Into our eyes we choose
Either the sun or the night
But what makes a shadow is what blocks the light

It was my past facing the sun
An eclipse of my own doing
I wondered if my mistakes could ever be forgiven
But statues don’t walk away
Shoelaces don’t tie themselves
And even misty morning coffee can’t bring you back to me

The whole world all around
Celebrating being free
Their savior’s coming
But he doesn’t see what I can see

I’m still here Lord
Have you made up your mind?
I can no longer bear this burden
What is it in me you hope to find?

I see it in their faces
Jesus on the corner
There are no wise men bearing gifts
Only the cold air will remember

I tried to climb a mountain
But it was crying too
No matter what nature says
It’s no better than what a man can do

It seems my memories have become nails
I look at my hands and you won’t let the heal
Tell me Lord how long will I have to live like this
They cut my hands and you cut where I kneel

I see it in their faces
Jesus on the corner
There are no wise men bearing gifts
Only the cold air will remember

The bright side of the moon
With a dilated awakening heart
Still it could not gaze upon us
And for a moment
The dark side was all we could see

I knew it was time for us
A high noon love affair
Under celestial shadows
I could only think of you
Stay the night by daylight my love

What happens now
A reflection whispers its life away
Watching the windy rip tide out to sea
Where only disapproving eyes are blinded
When will we meet again?

I could change your life
But only knowing that I approved
That was enough for once
It had to be
For the next life is all that remains

The only thing that approaches
is the direction in which you think
You’ve heard every emotion speak
trying to take things too seriously
But the choice now is only about you
and the bottle you decided to drink

I can’t listen to anyone
not when they trample my mind
There is nothing to convince you
except your birth was not like mine

Every woman I know is equal now
but their voices anguish themselves
Don’t talk to me about levels
or the way I held you back
It was nothing but the way we lived
and I’m the one holding a shovel

You have to decide what you are
taking pictures or content to stare
What else can it be when we can’t live
without a memory first before experience
Tell me how you will ever remember
if all that matters is that you were there

I’m going to laugh now
it is not my place to pretend
I ask nothing of you or my son
we are riders without a compass
But what I felt today
was a voice crying to be the one

I can look at the title of a book
It doesn’t matter where I found it
A shelf
A desk
It still means what it says
Even drinking tea in a restaurant
I already know if I want to read it
Fiction
Non fiction
None of that matters to me
I can make it real if I want
If it has a mysterious way
Channeled
Left behind
Either way it’s some sort of path
But it’s my private confidant
I listen no matter which way
Learning
Rejecting
Nothing is the answer to anything
It’s only a suggestion or a haunt
You can’t sleep if it’s unclear to you
Accepting
Ignoring
That’s the choice of a new idea
It can either inspire or taunt
But I only have to read the title
I know
I don’t know
I don’t have to know to explain it
Because the title became my jaunt
And I’ll go wherever I feel like going

I walked away from things in my hand
It’s in my head now, it’s nothing I planned
You have to live in a way to survive
I’m not staying behind, nothing needed to arrive

Every good memory I have, it’s about you now
So easy to substitute, I know what you’re about
I don’t want to steal yours from you
But what I have to give is only what is true

The paper that pressed roses is long gone
The rain that once said wait another day
Became the sunlight I live in today
It’s my world now, everywhere I belong

I once had bloodshot eyes
Now they’re in the back of my head
The legend that was, the failure that is
I'm building a new life instead

The moments in time we give away
We make more of it because we know it
They’re gone and it has to mean something
Pretending there's no crime I did commit

I’m not recreating, I’m not planting
The flowers I pick now are my own
That’s how I know what I’m thinking
For you, that's how I reveal the unknown

You know me so well
And you know the love we planted in the ground
Still you wear pretty dresses
Like colorful leaves reflecting the eyes that watch
And you do it when I’m not around

You remember me
And you laughed and said you missed that about us
Still you won’t open up
Like a day that would rather it still be the night before
The sun thinks of things you won’t discuss

Understand
I’m just a waiting man
Waiting for you to find someone else
Better than I am
I hope you can
So I won’t be a waiting man
Until you remember
I’m not the reason you ran

We knew how
How to be in love as if it we’d done it before
Still you question me
Like asking a blue sky to come down for a moment
To see if it would rather be paint on your door

Understand
I’m just a waiting man
Waiting for you to find someone else
Better than I am
I hope you can
So I won’t be a waiting man
Until you remember
I’m the shadow on your hand

The conversation in my head is no place to start
The car is moving too fast and the doors are closed
If you want to jump on the hood then there it is
If I stopped I’d be water that suddenly froze

The life is that and it’s not something to explain
I never walked up to someone and said hello
A sidewalk is not the place where worlds meet
It’s place where you could stop but instead we go

We’re too deep that’s why we can’t see each other
We can’t blame it on the night when it’s our choice
It’s not that you can’t understand it’s just too loud
The quiet of the sea is enough to drown my voice

I can’t climb a mountain when I’m already at the top
Did you want me to prove it or just wait for you?
Everything I discovered on my own was already there
Maybe it’s time for me to ask if you found it too

Everything seems warmer than it used to be
But the world is still cold
Life goes on no matter how hard it can be
I’m feeling the pain of gettin’ old

I wish I could take one last look
But you didn’t tell me about your plans
It was enough to write a book
And I’m left with the pages in my hands

Too many times
Too many days
Too many gone by
Life goes on
I have so many tears
Too many asking why
But it’s too cold for me to cry

You might be thinking it’s easy for me
That I’m able to live without you
There’s more to a heart than a beat
Now I know what you said was true

I know what to think
But I don’t know what to write
I don’t know if I want to read about it
I just know I keep thinking it
You left me like that baby
I’m not gonna’ ask a book to tell me why

Too many times
Too many days
Too many gone by
Life goes on
I have so many tears
Too many asking why
But it’s too cold for me to cry

She fell in love with the wrong guy
He said she was all he had
Two rights made a wrong this time
Now the right guy doesn’t seem so bad

They just wanted to have fun
The world was something to ignore
She thought he was so different
Now he’s got more problems than before

It’s up to her
It’s up to her
She asked for help
Then she said she loved him
That’s a personal problem
She picked a boy
Now she needs a man

He said a lot of things that sounded smart
He made her laugh and was a dreamer
She finally noticed it was just talking in his sleep
Now she knows why some promises can’t remember

Sometimes it takes a woman to grow a boy up
She thought he was exactly what she dreamed
He built her a safe place against the world
Now the wall isn't exactly what it seemed

It’s up to her
It’s up to her
She’s too young
He’s too lost
That’s a personal problem
She picked a boy
He’s not yet a man

You’re living day to day
I live thinking I have plenty of time
You're not waiting for dream
Sleeping is like committing a crime

I wait for my dreams to take me away
There’s nothing to read on the walls anymore
All the pictures have been taken down
I have to forget or try to imagine it's like before

You're so strong
You’re already forgiven
He let you live another day
I wasted the one before
He taught you to walk like you’re in heaven
He told me I still need to pray

You don’t ask for much anymore
He taught you how to count blessings
And the day that the morning sun brings
Is the blessing I always seem to be missing

I think about the nights
You think about each day
We seem to live on opposite sides of the world
The light you reflect makes God smile
The darkness I absorb is why I’ve lost my way

You're so strong
You’re already forgiven
He let you live another day
I wasted the one before
He taught you to walk like you’re in heaven
He told me I still need to pray

I once thought your love was the *** of gold at the end of the rainbow; it was nice to think about but I wondered who could ever find such a thing; but when it rained and I saw the colors I knew I didn't have to wonder anymore because what I did see was more than I could ever dream; it seems we always want more because mystery is allure and restlessness is what we have already seen

There's no escape
Except inside your dreams
You imagine me there
Invite me over sometime

See you smile
How you see me
Yes that's what I need
A belief to try

Let me try
Let me try
I do want to know
How it is you love me

Go ahead ask
I tell you I was thinking
About waterfalls
And loving you there

You are beautiful
Yes let me try
To make you feel that way
The way you you feel to me

Let me try
Let me try
Running away in dreams
That you made for me

We went to the waterfall to hear a new song
Instead we saw blooming wildflowers standing by
We thought to look into the distance
But ridgelines led us instead to where bees fly

The feeding waters ran through my fingers
While mountain vistas held fast to its piney snow dust
We were not born before the thaw became creeks
But your falling hair spun a web to catch the things we must

Without misty morning questions
Or glowing horizon suggestions
We were lost in our own way
But our tears were never alone
Together, we would find our new home

The dark green watched quietly like a happy mother
While shadows and misty light playfully hid from one another
As our hands reached across the splintered wood
The wild children stopped to watch how we loved each other

Long stemmed perennials blushed in the light
Nothing could make us turn our backs on what we’d found
You grew quiet as your smile instead finally knew
It was time for us to plant seeds into loves fertile ground

Without misty morning questions
Or glowing horizon suggestions
We were lost in our own way
But our tears were never alone
Together, we would find our new home

I wonder about it
How much am I worth
Am I worth so much to be a coward?
Is it more valuable to be a coward
Or a dead man

I need to be baptized
But it has to be by John the Baptist
Not just anybody
Unless it's really only about me
And God's plan

If I saw enough killing
And horror
Maybe I'd become what I saw
Maybe I'd even laugh about dying
And not cry about why it began

It's not about being human
Not anymore
If I can't **** the enemy
How could I live with myself
The way my flag says I can?

if the feeling is all of myself
and to be young is to be alone
then i will be alone
there is nothing about me that is growing old
though time would disagree
i will not accept anything less
there is no generation to which i belong
except the one that spans my past and my future
when my body existed
because that is the only life my blood can warm
but the bridge i have built
is the one that requires no beginning
or end
i have time for nothing else
except to cross without remorse
or regret
about what i discover about myself
and choose to tell you my love

I can be inspired all alone
I wonder how much greater with you
To think in a dream
Or to feel in your arms
I know what is true
And what is the waiting
I can't build a castle so high
That you would not be able to enter
Not to be the queen
But to tear the walls down
To show me that a dream is real
And the wild animals that roam
Is the life we will conquer together

I want to love you like my children
Love never ending
Relationship instead of accomplishment
Life and its problems
Shared and solved
Never saying goodbye
Knowing a phone call is where love is sent

I told you, you would be the last
And to make it true I must continue my fast
The pain of my words is a long road
No matter if I die before I reach the end
Because if I do
Then what I said to you would not be another lie
Instead it will be the only memory from your past
And you will live on knowing what I said was true

Walk to me now
Let me carry you
On the light of my life
It's far along the way
If you wish to stay

I want to tell you now
Read a page
It's open to you now
The book is outside
You don't have to hide

A shadow is too sad
You see that now
The hint, so much more
Love, don't keep it inside
Love, don't keep it inside

I picked a flower
But not just a flower
A rose
But not to give it to you
But because it was you
I want you now
Make my skin bleed with your nails
Shed your petals
Leave the ground beneath me awash in memories
That fade
Then shock me with your beauty
For it will bloom
No matter the rain
The pain
The sun
That burns into the soil
Into your heart
Where you really live

I walked upon the sand
But not just the sand
The desert
But not to die
But because I want to prove it to you
I want you now
Make my mind bleed by your absence
Let it see visions
Of palm trees and water
Where the crawlers gather
But they are not imagined
They are beneath my feet
Laughing as I begin to crawl with them
They know it is not how I live
I am weak
But I proved it to you
It’s what you wanted
Burning on the inside
Willing to tell you how I feel
Rejected
By a desert rose
Still the distant flute rings clear
I was not put here because of you
Only to suffer by your hand
Even dunes can make shadows
That draw trails down the hillside
To be forgotten until the next desert storm
Or a hurricane
Because sand is sand
It is all the same
The horizon is not you
But the sounds of the tempest from within is you
Because I choked on the sand that I thought was your heart
And it was
Once

Sometimes your politics are such a bore
Why don’t you look me in the eye instead
Hold it there until you don’t know what to say
That kind of intimacy scares you doesn’t it
That’s why you closed them when you kissed me

It’s the courage to think about a love affair
in the middle of being without your car
and not enough money to get it fixed again
It’s so slow you can actually get used to it
waiting around a pawn shop is a way of life

It doesn’t take a cowboy to build something
Somebody had to pour the slab on wall street
walking the dog is like ignoring capital letters
I can’t say much else to tell you about right now
Sweet sweet dreams are what I’d rather think about

What’s the plan when I get back from my monkey swing
I’m tired of observing the problems of figuring you out
Is it going to happen or are you going to make me suffer first
Don’t look for the chorus because there isn’t one
The whole thing is a bridge that you’d rather cry than cross

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

She watched clouds just to know how to feel
But now she wants to talk to them about it
She looks at stars to feel closer to life around her
But she knows she’s further away than they are

She heard someone talking about eagles flying
She wished she could find that place inside
She always saw nature as a place to escape
But even falling leaves can’t hide a scar

She wants more
More than walking
More than watching
She wants to know
Why do clouds act that way

She watched clouds just to know how to feel
But now she wants to ask them what it’s about
She looks at stars to see if the answers are there
But she knows her past is as close as they are far

She wants more
More than gazing
More than wondering
She wants to know
Why the stars are so far away

They say a poet should not cultivate sentiment
But I will not be wrong to cry with someone
Nor to smile for the fact that we met again
For though I could describe flowers
I’d rather hear your deep sighs
And even if I must wait
I will not be still waters dying under the sun
For if your heart is ever cast before another
I will be there if he walks over it
Telling you never to vow away love
You were made to try again
For your failures are what new rivers seek
Born from tears raining all around you
To fill your heart again before you put it away
Forever
Because what I want is to tell you that I love you
And I don’t care who knows
Or thinks
About how I say it
Or show it

What would I say standing in front of a policeman?
What would I say standing in front of a black man?
What would I say standing in front of a victim?
What would I say standing in front of my children?
What would I say standing in front of the Constitution?
What would I say standing in front of the Sanhedrin?
What would I say standing in front of a Roman?
What would I say standing in front of heaven?

The first time I saw a tree,
I was amazed at how big it was, until
I saw how the leaves drew shadow pictures;
then I realized there was more to it

The first time I saw the night,
I wondered where the sun was hiding, until
I saw the stars and how my father loved them;
then I realized there was more to it

The first time I saw the ocean,
I wondered if the sky began at the end, until
I saw ships come back from the horizon;
then I realized there was more to it

The first time I saw a person sick,
I wondered if they would ever get well, until
I saw them smile though their ribs hurt;
then I realized there was more to it

The first time I heard strange sounds,
I ran because the way people looked at us, until
I learned my family spoke another language;
then I realized there was more to it

The first time I saw someone different,
I didn't understand why he was dreaming, until
I saw the hate in another man's eyes;
then I realized there was more to it

The first time I saw a bomb,
I was glad we had won the war, until
I saw the barren land and broken refugees;
then I realized there was more to it

The first time I saw a picture of a cross,
I was shocked a man was nailed to it, until
it was revealed why he did not save himself;
then I realized there was more to it

Only you can be a fantasy to me
You have no idea what you’ve done
I’m afraid to show you the colors
But inside my heart you paint

I am the only eye upon you
No, it’s true I know where to look
But it’s only when they are closed
And your breath is upon my life

It seems we live a life of regret
It’s what might have been
You're with someone else
Now I'm thinking about sin
But how can I ever forget?

Maybe I just want to make it up
Maybe I just want to live what I see
Yes I really want you to know
That my memory of you is real

It seems we live a life of regret
It’s what might have been
You're with someone else
Now I'm thinking about sin
But how can I ever forget?

Once I walked the rim
The silence broken by a bell
I could hear it clearly though it was beyond my reach
A sailboat with three masts
Idly part of my horizon

The sails I cannot trim
But the story I can tell
The feeling of a quiet moment with its intent to teach
You know because it lasts
Without any reason

I walk where I’ve been
By listening to a shell
Laying alone washed ashore on a shadowed beach
A life with two pasts
But which to believe in

You believe in him
And now I believe in hell
I can only remember you telling me not to preach
We became two paths
Yours sin, mine religion

I met her somewhere in the cold
We were there for the same reason
Why else would we be there
She approached me expectantly
Did she just want a way home
Or a road to my heart
She was frozen
But I could see all her colors inside
She would melt soon enough
Would there be anything left
Or just a puddle for me to wade in?

She said I made her think deeply
She didn’t like it very much
Still, I would convince her
Then I’d laugh it off
It made her upset
Why did I toy with her like that
She said you’re not serious
Even though you act like it too many times

I told her to stay humble
Let me be your ego
It’s not that difficult for me
I  have enjoyed my own immeasurably
But I can thaw out your doubts
And nobody will know my strength has become yours

But she didn’t like that
She didn’t want that
She refused to consider that
Because that was relying upon a man
And she swore it would never happen again

But as the cold made her teeth chatter
My arms flowed all around her
The thin blood thickened with desire
It was a matter of survival
Use me if you want to live
We can settle up tomorrow
If it was only a moment then I have plenty
I don’t need another one
I don’t have to be the only one
People don’t live like that anyway
Freezing
Thawing
Freezing
Vowing never again
I don’t like that
I won’t consider that
I will refuse that

Still I want to help you
Don’t ask me why
It will only seem to be about me
For what pleases the eye is never selfless
Only possessive
But yes you are beautiful
Why would I want it any other way?

It’s alright my darling
Tears do not make spots
No one will know your feelings

As they dry upon my garment
Only they will know when you fell out of love with me

Living after the final wave
You think it’s a ******* to catch your breath
Then you realize the ocean has its own life
It told me to drown somewhere else

I pulled each thread apart
Looking for signs of our last moment together
Now they lay in a pile on the floor wondering about me
Who would look for the wind where it began after it has already left?

I'm starting to dig reality
The fantasy world is too much
You're too young anyway
Everything you want I try to avoid

I don't worry about being a man
It doesn't pay the rent
If you're hungry enough
What you are is how you're employed

What are you looking at anyway
Jesus said knock it off
How bored you must be
You people judge, your soul destroyed

I'm gonna' remember you
Nothing can ruin a good dream
You love me as I am
I'm not jealous, I'm not paranoid