We get along with people we do not care for because we need the money but hurt and hold grudges against those that we love...

They do not pay us for our conscience or our ability to love; only if we provide value.....

A man is never worthy of another man's daughter because he knows we will never love her like he does....

The poor will always strike their stones together instead of making masa when those who rule them approach so that they will know that making bread is not giving up their souls...

A man who looks forward everyday to talking to a woman that he will never touch loves her more than the man who does....

No matter what is said, you can find a reason to disagree; but when men agree it is because they cannot find peace any other way...

You will know an honest man not only when he admits you are right in front of people who have the power to judge him but also when his eyes say so...

Why is a man who is able to arbitrage a momentary advantage in markets admired while a man who can repair your car is forgotten?

It is always assumed that a man who rejects luxury when it is offered for a moment is bitter... it is always assumed that a man who takes luxury when it is offered wishes he was someone else....

You will never understand how a poet can describe in the world without leaving his room....

You loved it
You always do
But you had to hide first
That's how rainbows are made
Sometimes it's more than you can take
More than your life can make
Of being in love
Of being in love with  me

I loved it
I always do
But I had to hide first
That's how rainbows are made
Sometimes it's more than I can take
More than my life can make
Of  being in love
Of being in love with you

You need to forget everything you feel
That’s why you must turn around
You are facing the wrong way
And on the wrong floor
Reading the wrong book

There are no memories that matter
That’s why you must climb the stairs
Leave your emotions behind
Walk now without before
And the years they took

You were born the way you are now
But you needed to see the horizon
It is the edge of the womb
And the reason you want more
Is because your soul finally shook

What is behind your eyes wants out
And what you have is time and reason
You must no longer be afraid
For as you wash ashore
You will know which way to look

You said I should count my blessings
That my life was good enough
I have my health
But I want more
There is nothing to live for
If you only live to breathe

It’s not right that others must cry
That life is so hard
For them
And their children
Who could put the misery inside them
If not the one who could conceive

I watched her wish upon a prayer
I became ashamed
I was so angry
Yet she calmed me
I was finally able to see
She knew which words to believe

Your face became a field of pain
Plowed by tears that watered themselves
Somebody tried to make it a parking lot
But you're not so sad to give yourself away
You let that tear start all the blame
It traced the times he loved someone else
You tried not to remember what pride never forgot
But this time the roses let the thorns have their say

You pray every day thanking him while you cry
Angels live because hope draws clouds in the sky
We believe they are only there to make it rain
You watch for signs that your life is not in vain

You’re not afraid to admit it if only they believed
You know you can love as much as what you received
Every leaf you turn over once had roots so deep
Someone is wondering too about memories you keep

I put you through all that
I couldn’t believe you were serious
I kept thinking about who I am
Instead I never saw who you were

I put you through all that
You believed in me for a moment
Now I know what happened
Only being friends is more than I can bear

You love anything that moves with the moon
Low tide means love will join you soon
But washed over footprints in the sand
Are the memories when I held your hand

I put you through all that
I couldn’t believe you were serious
I kept thinking about who I am
Instead I lost all that you were

I put you through all that
You believed in me for a moment
Now I know what happened
Being apart is not a life we can share

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

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

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

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

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

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

Don't be so ******* yourself
Don't be so ******* someone else
Give that anger a break
Don't be so hard
Don't be so hard

Don't be so down on yourself
Don't be so down on everyone else
Give that sadness a break
Don't be so down
Don't be so down

It's not your fault
You want to be better
You'll get it together
Tomorrow is not another day
It's the start of a new way

Don't be so brittle
Don't be easy to break
But don't be so hard
Don't be so hard
Don't be so hard to take
Don't be so easy to break

There is nothing that I know
I'm not a scientist
Or a holy man
The voice I hear inside my head
Is the only one I own
I cannot see words
Yet something is revealed
In the reflection of leaves
That fall only to be concealed
All I can say is that I understand
And if you would take my hand
I will tell you how I feel
For in the moments when we are afraid
We can only hold one another
And hope that what we hear in our hearts
Is the light from which we are made

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It seems I’ve heard every word
At least every one spoken before I was alive
It’s the fashion that makes the difference
The style of a hat
With a satin band
It can make you remember a word for decades

But who can write with immediacy
You need help
You need it now
Would it be too late
Or too detached

You took the time to write it down
Think about it
It’s an intervention
But it’s not the same as grabbing them by the shoulders

Fear is the prophecy of your own weakness
You wonder if it could be true
Something will happen
Something bad
But is it a warning
Or an inevitability

The clarity of being a true victim cannot be imitated
And the moment before it happens is even worse
Because anything is possible
Any degree of crushing defeat
Even death
But what if it was right
Should you walk on by?

Let someone else say it

Let them say being oppressed is wrong
Let them say being treated unfairly is wrong
Let them say being displaced is wrong
Let them say being made to feel less than human is wrong

Let them say  it

Because it takes anger not to care about yourself
And you’re not angry
Not like that

Selfishness is the mirror of comfort
Having the time to take your picture all day
To think about your weekend
Where you should go
Anything like that
And that is the way I think

It disgusts me

But I made my choice to be careful
I’ve moved beyond feeling blessed
They reached me
It doesn’t seem to mean anything anymore
At least not for anyone except me

And maybe my children

Would it better for them
If I was arrested
If I was tortured
If I  was assassinated

What would I tell God if I died with a smile on my face?

He said life is not a conscience that is satisfied

The sun faded soon after you arrived
It made your crystal ship sad
But the sometimes not so gentle rain
Is the reason only you can trim your sail

You forgot you always need more
Your arrival anywhere is only a moment
You thought voices meant sure madness
But still you prefer to look beyond the pale

By your own means
You're not so average
You're not so mean
So what could it be
What is it that you mean?

Sometimes the plugs are over-loaded
And the lights leave without a goodbye
But you know that a true friend is loyal
And would rather a feather than a nail

You wish you had a group of rockers behind you
But the way we live sometimes is without power
Trying to get a reaction is not physical enough
A heart without its own beat is a body inside a jail

By your own means
You're not so average
You're not so mean
So what could it be
What is it that you mean?

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

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

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

she makes everyone smile
but she is so sad
in our shoes she walks a mile
if only in hers we had

she always cares too much
still she is down
it is her heart we cannot touch
in tears that drown

she is the light of loves promise
but darkness is her own
it is her heart that is always honest
but still her mind is stone

she can bear more than we know
but so much is silence
when the rain begins all that can grow
is her pains defiance

Is it only art
or is it you
Are you loved
or just a muse
Is it fantasy
or is it true
Are you laughter
or the blues
Is blood real
or just a hue
Can a painting love
or is it just a ruse

when the fire has a life of its own
it will burn on sand
on water
on ice
inside of me
when love has made up its mind
it will create endlessly
act recklessly
live obsessively
like me
when you see it you will know it
don't ask why
it is too late for that
the decision has already been made
by me

Go ahead and have that long cry
It will feel good emptying your heart
You may not believe how that could be
But crying like that says how you once loved me

It’s gotta’ be the slowest heartbreak ever
It wasn’t just the waters risin’
It’s how long they took to recede
It was an old and a new horizon

If I had the nerve
I’d sing a song without any fear
I just want to make my voice crack
It’s always the loser the audience wants to hear

I didn’t have to walk to the ocean with you
It was something we always lived with
It was my fault mostly
Watching you cry reminds me it’s not a myth

You’re still caring enough to leave that way
Being sad instead of mad is the way to go
It makes me think of forgiving somebody
You inspired my heart enough to make it so

If I had the nerve
I’d stand outside and serenade your door
That used to be the way to open your heart
Now it’s somebody you don’t want to see no more

I am older now
And I have reached the mountaintop
But I am not ill
Nor is my time short
No more so than any other sane man
If that is how I may be able to live

Rational
Hopeful
Sober

I carry nothing on my back
No deeds to draw upon to quench my thirst
Only a mind full of conscious humility
And regret

My silent face is a sign of contemplation
For vanity and pride die where the air cannot be set on fire
My heart beats slowly like a peaceful creek
Fed by unknown headwaters
A confluence of  spirit and silent motive

I see how I have measured myself wrongly
For what glory upon which man may dine
Is of benefit to my dead body?
I desire only the destruction to a legacy of pleasure
For now I see the journey has just begun

Each plateau of discovery
Met by one of even greater challenge
Where men of ******* echo their stories
I made haste from the dangers of the unknown
Where men of privilege boast of their medals
I lingered with what I have always known
But what concern was it to the clouds that gather above me
For their charge is to rain and thunder upon every man equally
But what is equal to one who must shame those with an umbrella?

I will not have the use of the tools upon which I relied
For they are as beneficial as a feather for a rebuke
Or a cane for forgiveness
My legs have reached the end of their useful life
And I have no wings
There is no emotion that will carry me beyond my excuses
Grief, joy, bewilderment
None can avail themselves of purpose to me

We are all walking on a grade of sliding pebbles
Some of us realize it more than others
We all live with uncertainties that can happen at any time
But what is uncertainty when the top of the mountain is all there is
Is it the uncertainty of our marriage to disappointment
Or how to live born into ******* whether enslaved or ignorant
What we must find within ourselves is the discovery
For the mountain is only another obstacle before the doors of freedom

To be free
It is a choice
Right or wrong
To believe or not
To know where another man may fail
You may succeed
And to know the full measure of another man lies within your patience
And your desire to give him all the time he needs

Suddenly it mattered
Though it happened slowly
Like a leaf falling without a breeze
But it finally hit the ground

That is how realization works
You wonder how it started
And what took so long
But one day everything changes

It’s almost like taking up smoking
Adults don’t do that
But some do
It’s because they’re tired
It's time to try something new

But you have no power
Just commitments
And they are in your blood
So now the test begins

Now you’re in a movie
Playing a part
It’s not for love
Though in a way it is

But to be without guard
To think as only in a garden
Is to be without shoes
As you walk down the aisle

It’s almost like praying for forgiveness
But what can you expect
To suppress your nature
When it finally blooms
Is to know how hard it is to be true

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I have the information
I just need the space
The wave is about to crash
The cloud is about to burst
The child is about to cry
In the instant before the sound
Stepping outside the window
Risk no longer considered
Staring as if no one is there
Even if it is the love of your life
She knows
I cannot reach her like that
She knows that about me too
We're both a little older
It means we are preparing
I read the words
But it was not the language I desired
For the tongue was familiar to me
The mystery was too easily explained
As was the explanation from the fire
Who wouldn't believe nature turning on itself
But I've not seen that
And I've never seen a wave not crash
But I've seen a cloud change its mind
If only I could make up mine

It’s not about me
You found a different shade of sky
You don’t miss the soft rain of my tears
You can’t fly on the blue side of a cloud

It’s hard to believe
Your heart has become a wandering eye
Do you believe in fate or in your fears
I can’t tell because you won’t cry out loud

I just want to know what is true
It’s the life I have to live
I tried to forgive myself
But I can’t let it go
Who I am is what I did to you

You gave somebody a chance
It was serious enough to tell me
You said there’s nobody like me
But I can’t live up to myself anymore
Being that crazy is not who I am

It’s not about you
I know what will happen when I die
You taught me well after all these years
Life goes on in a field newly plowed

I just want to know what is true
It’s the life I have to live
I tried to forgive myself
But I can’t let it go
Who I am is what I did to you

Sometimes you just have to live with it
You know what you did
That pile of broken hearts can’t be lit
They'll always know how to find the things you hid

You said I needed to learn how to forgive someday
That I had no right to judge
I know that’s right and right well I judged anyway
It's always easier for me to hold a grudge

We’re all the same
We know life is rough
We don’t say the things we should
But it’s not who won the fight
It’s who decides they’ve had enough

The way you lived was like plowing down a house
You never seemed to know who lived inside
It was just a another person to take off your blouse
They never had a chance because every night you cried

You acted like you never planted any memories
You never watered any knowing you were soon gone
You took the earrings but left me all the stories
What else can I do now but try to write a song

Talkin’ about you like this is just about the bad
But I know I’m telling a lie
You were the prettiest girl I ever had
Now I answer to myself because I asked myself why

We’re all the same
We know life is rough
We don’t say the things we should
But it’s not who won the fight
It’s who decides their heart is tough

you said
if they didn’t like the color of your skin
the color that white people
burn for on a beach
the color braided
by the moon and the night
the color where
gardens make their home
the color eyes see
when shut for a dream
you said that
and yet they do not know what they do
even as they try
to wear the color the same as you

Her face is like a museum
An old church decorated like a saloon
The world had happened to her
She rushed back and forth
A bottle and a preacher shared the same room

She had a way to fool a man
And it was easy for her to say it was over
She was trying to survive
They never knew that
It may be a man’s world but not under her covers

She had to learn how to love
The trap didn’t work anymore
Whatever song they once heard
Doesn’t sound like it did before

Her sexuality was her genius
The preacher knew and tried not to swoon
He was just a man
A robe is a man’s veil
She laughed then remembered the blood moon

She washed off her make-up
She cut her hair and lit a cigarette
She thought about being a mother
A bar is no place to teach a baby the alphabet

She had to learn how to love
The men don’t look at her like before
But they couldn’t hear the song she heard
She wasn’t that young girl anymore

It seems I have to win her over at least twice a week
She said it was because she was only a part of my life
She said her life was about counting disappointments
For some reason she wants it all when it comes to me

These days there’s too much for us to think about
It would be so much easier, staring at an open range
Just being happy together, a slow wind dream
Why are we so far apart when our hearts are not

She thinks that sometimes I’m just on the make
A sometimes lover who knows how to talk forever
But I never said that, I only think inside my dreams
It’s no secret but she said drinking only makes waves

I have a plant I think about before I open the door
It’s the only one I own, red and green in the winter
I divert rivers and move the sun for it to live on
I would for you but you won’t wait by the window

She can sing a song, drive a truck, paint still life
Spin on a dance floor, but she drifts in her mind
She’s all these things, but really it’s only me
My dreams know the only truth is inside you

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

He was everything you want
Naked sincerity
Raw honesty
The vulnerability of a baby bird in its nest
And it unnerved you
There must be something wrong
That's what you thought
But you never loved an artist before
And it made you realize
You aren't ready for what you want

It is your own blood that seeks itself and that of those
to whom you've shown your heart; and there is no greater
bond than what grows from the same vine and that what
is cultivated by sharing the burden of removing the stones
that create walls between men

Everything I want from you
is on the inside
I want to touch your heart
touch your mind
And at night I want to find
the feeling I get
when your body becomes mine

Everything you see in me
is on the outside
I stare at you with my eyes
stare with my mind
You knew before the sun went down
the feeling you had
was to decide what to believe

Even though I was close to you
only echoes replied
I tried light a candle, then you whispered
Silencing its glow
You wanted me to know
The darkness
is where life begins for you

I thought of you
As a forest
Or as the sea
You became waves crashing
And leaves falling down on me
I grew silent
Not knowing how I could make it be
But when I stepped back
I realized
I was still so far way from me
The things I wanted
Were black blue and grey
And as I awaited for it to appear
I knew one day it would be you I would see
But until the tide returns
And the forest is no longer a barren tree
What had become winter in my heart
Will on that day remind us of what we could be

What happened to the water where we used to play?
It always came from storms that made us hide away
We were afraid but nature told us it would be alright
I always knew you because we shared the same dark night

I noticed you next to me
We couldn’t really say
Though we felt the same things
But castles were being built
That’s what grown-ups like to do

I’d like to dig my way to find the ocean under the sand
I know it’s there because my dreams guide my hand
Rocks jet out bringing me closer to desperate men
There’s no living except to sail where courage soothed them

I noticed I wasn’t the only one
Some dance the night away
You only needed an ocean
Castles fall away when we let them
Or were they ever really there?

The soft life hides from the failures of fear
I’m going to turn myself away from things I hear
I wasn’t born for what makes a King survive
Feelings aren’t for him to judge if they keep us alive

I noticed you walked away
Did I disappoint you
Or did you find yourself?
Castles seem small to ships at sea
I wondered if you were building a new one

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sometimes I think I’ve gone too deep into the story that I tell
Is it a way of leaving the past behind or just another place I fell
I wonder which chapter somebody new will come to know
Beautiful woman, the last goodbye can never be like the first hello

Maybe the well from which I draw will finally dry up
My heart will be forced to look for another way to fill my cup
I cannot search for need when I once thought I was so strong
Beautiful woman, it always ends, tells me what I’m doing wrong

I know I must change
And I see the love in your eye
But it’s always a distant shore
Which way will you go my love
Towards the one where we can live again
Or where our dreams only go to die?

I never thought I was clever enough to make blue change its color
But what I think about may be enough to make you forget another
I know the life I have made seems too far away for our worlds to meet
But it’s close enough for the ocean to cool the hot sand under your feet  

You know you must change
And you see the love in my eye
But it’s always a distant shore
Which way should I go my love
Towards the one where we know the answer
Or where our dreams can only go to ask why?

It’s a winter’s day that reminds me how strong a tree can be
The roots we cannot see only hide what is inside a person like me
And when the day comes for me to try to become new once again
Beautiful woman, will you know it’s time to make a new friend?

We know it’s time to change
And we see the love in our eyes
But it’s always a distant shore
Which way should we go my love
Towards the one where we will always smile
Or where our dreams can only go to cry?

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

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

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

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

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

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

If I live to prove that I am not who they want me to be, then I am not living as I could be; I do not want to live as a revolutionary in a constant state of defiance unless it is for a greater good, neither do I wish to exploit their weakness for my own gain; I do not want to live as a reactionary but instead as a vision of what I could be; for though they too are a part of this world and it is this world in which my body exists it is my mind instead that lives apart, uncolored by bitterness or the need to prove anything to anyone; I know my worth and I choose to live as a free spirit that only considers the possibilities of itself and to fly like a bird upon the wind instead of blowing with it like the dust from which we came.

if I don’t understand your intention
or approach from the wrong side,
it’s only because I’m trying to decide;
is it that I believe in your soul or only
your flesh and blood;

hard dreams die too easily if what we
desire is something we do not understand;
perception of what is true may never reveal
itself because fear of rejection is more
powerful than the courage to tell you how
I feel without expectation

i could never understand why you are
the way you are, I can only try to understand
if it is the same way that I am, without
questioning it; I’m not looking for the
answers from you, I only want to see if a
way of life exists near you that is natural
to my own

i watched you paint a canvas even though
I never actually saw you do it; but I could
understand what you felt by the way you
stood next to it, wondering if that part of
your life would endure if not ever happen
again

the exhaustion of revealing the limits of
your creative expression is the same as
the fatigue I feel wondering about pleasing
you;

the thing you never would know is that I
was laughing all week one day last year;
and it was because the world around me
was not trying to pin me down or tell me
what to do

it only was a joke that wasn’t a joke because
though humorous, it was real and taught me
that the best way to trim your sails my way
is to forget all about your soul and just tickle
your feet

How many people actually live their own lives,
waiting to buy or receive a ring;
dreaming of making enough money
to take pictures of somewhere else
I really wonder
if you’re living your life or mine?

I wanted to wave a microphone all around,
but I don’t know how to sing
Never mind all that anyway
There’s enough in my heart
to really wonder
am I deep enough to make you listen?

This town once meant something,
but hope never takes wing
I found it walking alone,
hoping for a cigarette
He made me wonder,
why don’t we go to church on a corner?

I think I’ve told you everything
Are my scars so bad?
You had a better day than I
So what I say to that
Why would you wonder
if yesterday or today mean anything tomorrow?

What are we asking of ourselves now
Only equality if death must decide for us
We don't know what discomfort will produce
Street fighting or words without seeing eyes
Demands for peace only start another war
At the moment we become politicized
Our minds close and truth is abandoned
What we believe is what comforts us most
Even if hatred is our elixir and love our lie
But as our children discover the morning light
They will know that even darkness must sleep
And the changing of the guard will become love

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

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

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

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

I think it's really over
You keep saying maybe
I keep wishful dreaming
Is a memory best left unsaid?

I can't believe you don't remember
Is it that the times are past
Or is it too much to risk again
Why worry about me instead of him?

Something new is your home
We once made rain together
You decided they were tears
It's true if that's what you want

I compare everyone to you
You're not perfect except you are
I don't care about mistakes
Only the night knows what matters

I carry it with me wherever I go
The times we spent together
The heart I came to know

In my life I gave you my best times
We didn’t talk about the weather
It was an exploration of our minds

So many years have passed
We lost a mother and a father
But the memories are what last

I don’t think life passed me by
You’re not just an old letter
People can see you in my eye

You took your leave by your hand
I don’t know if living long is better
I don't know what God has planned

I wonder if I would want to know
Are we just a left behind feather?
There is no pretension after we go

Every year I think I’m dying
It’s when nature becomes browner
But then I survive my minds crying

I don’t live for love on the horizon
I just pray for the pollen of an old flower
The night kings finally became human

What I thought was blood on my mind
Was the memory of hidden girl’s life
Humanity burning inside distant diaries
Until their horror became our strife

What I thought was water to cleanse
Was from a spear ****** into his side
While he cried again for our peril
From madness we could not hide

What I thought was a horn blast of angels
Was the sound of a thousand rising suns
While the last witness was asked to forget
The death of a thousand mother’s sons

What I thought was a prayer for peace
Was the sound of hell being born again
And when the fire liberates itself from grace
We are reminded that flesh is made from sin

Do not compare me to your past

The mountain he climbs may be
where I once fell;
and now I may walk in a valley
the river he navigates may be
where I once drowned;
and I may have swum ashore
the forest he explores may be
where I once was lost;
and now I may live in a tree

Though I am a victim of my past,
I will stand again; but,
I have buried my mistakes,
the grave is unmarked,
without any flowers,
but prayed over in silence;
it is gone
forever

And though I am not afraid
it is upon a new path that I will walk;
and would you,
if I asked,
trust whatever it is that I seek,
or would you,
only wish to relive the memories he left behind?

Every story has a broken heart
It's not what you said that happened
Because you'll only remember a few words
Probably the last two
Goodbye Forever Don't Go
The rest stays waiting for your next failure

Every story has an ending
The lucky ones don't know theirs yet
They keep failure next to a bible
Or maybe just a knowledge of life
They're strong enough to know a good thing
And they knew it when they met

Every story has already been told
But that's not really true
Nobody saw it like you because it's real to you
It's important enough to tell somebody
If you can get them to listen
If you can then it all really happened to you

Ever story is about loving somebody
Sometimes it takes a woman to make a man
She has to decide if he's worth the time
Loyalty won't let her ask that question
But your mistakes will one day
Then you'll have your own story to tell

Ever story tells itself to a friend
But a stranger is a chance for a new life
It's better though to talk after thirty years
To be able to look back and think about before
The things we said really did matter
It's true because we love each other as friends

I still love you, like the things I’ve seen
inside a painted memory,
for the brush was my own
I walked next to the shore, as I laid by your side;
it was the same sensation,
the roaring colors of sound
on an empty beach; because what we gathered
came to rest against our ears
with the smiles of our world
lodged into my mind, though you were gone,
but not what I recalled;
you had to be yourself,
and that was the promise I made to you