The rock that disturbed still waters
Neither cared nor remembered
For the hand from which it must part
Felt nothing except silent tears, dropping
Neither the water which bears no scar
Or loss of pride; only rippled solace
For its collection of lost love
Gasping for life on the floor
Where dreams angrily die

Why won't she
Why can't I
She won't just
It's only
It's never
She'll wait
If I could
Is it what I
If she would
I only need
But she might if
It has to be
What she will
Or else she
While I cry
Because I never
What she was

I can’t do it
Not like you want me to
I’m not a God
I’m mortal just like you
I loved you once
I needed you like air
But then you changed
You became a lion in its lair
You controlled my thoughts
You controlled my fate
My heart turned on you
My love turned to hate
Then one day I left
I may have saved your life
Evil had its suggestions
About a gun and a knife
Maybe you knew this
As you heard it in my voice
My mind turned to madness
I had no other choice
But now calm breezes blow
Just like when we met
You said God brought us together
You said let us not forget
But it was time
That softened my emotions
I traveled alone
But I am unable to walk on oceans
I thought of holiness
And the words of Jesus
I wondered about humans
And if he did deceive us
What are we capable of
After a journey into darkness?
How can I love someone
Who is no longer my princess?
Am I to forgive
And forget
When tomorrow awaits
With further regret?
How can I forgive
What I cannot trust?
How can I love
What a commandment says I must?
I read the words
Of the stern rubric
But I am a failure
I cannot play the music
In the unholiness of my offer
I can only give you this
I will never hurt you
But I cannot offer a kiss
You must let me go
And realize what I say
You may believe in God
But my sin does not pray
The decision has been made
You are forgiven
But I will walk into the fire
Because today only Jesus has risen



Copyright 2012. All Rights Reserved. Mark Lecuona

A key or maybe just a spin
It’s a place where no man has been
You forgot why you put it on
Is it because you said never again?

It didn’t go your way
I don’t care is all you could say
You forgot how you cried
Maybe you’ll remember that someday

A dream, it reminded me of you
It wasn’t real but that’s what dreams will do
If only you could meet me I don’t care where
Just bring your locked heart to me
I’ll make you wonder why you put it there

A game, you made up along the way
But everybody left nobody would stay
They asked you about that room
You said it’s not a place where people can play

He didn’t mind being outside
He didn’t know what you couldn’t confide
Why did you think that was ok
When the only love you knew is still locked inside?

A dream, it reminded me of you
It wasn’t real but that’s what dreams will do
If only you could meet me I don’t care where
Just bring your locked heart to me
I’ll make you wonder why you put it there

I wish I was strong enough to make you happy
I know all about you
How you’ve been hurt
The things you worry about
But I saw how I made you smile
And for a moment we were in that place
Our lives were together
And you became someone new

I wish I was weak enough to need you
I’ve learned to be alone
With my thoughts
And my dreams
But I saw how we could be
And I miss being that way
With a lover
Who knows how to be true

I wish we both knew how to love
Like birds flying together
Instead of alone in a cage
We could be free
But our fears remain
And our gift remains unopened
So we look at the paper and ribbons
And wonder who to give it to

You are so beautiful
And you know it
You feel their eyes
But try not to show it
An untouchable bird
Never lighting for long
Do you want love?
Can you hear it in my song?
You have the power
That no man can understand
You can have whom you want
But that's not how you play your hand
I'm not the one
Your mother wants
I'm the one
Your body wants
I'm kissing you now
And feel you press against me
I wonder about men and women
And why we think so differently
I don't know
What it is that you want
You kept flying away
Taking the gifts you loved to flaunt
Suddenly you landed on my life
And let me pick fruit all day
But you remained distant
The same as when you looked away
You made me love you
Like a man who stares
Then you left for another
The one who bought all your cares
The bird needs her nest
Letting passion fall
She made a man cry
And became the girl who resisted my call
She pretended not to remember
How I made her scream
Because it was never about emotion
But what a man's seed can bring

It is my past that now speaks
It is good enough that I love you
I know how from afar
I am strong enough not to have you
I understand what you want
And take no offense to your absence
Though I dream of our nights together
It is our lives that matter most
And not our struggles together
It is a destiny that only gathers time
With no purpose other than our longing
And that is how it must live on
Until what must pass gives its consent

A baby was born
Not knowing his people
Or that his path had been chosen
When he realized the truth
Of his color and his world
He saw the struggle to keep his pride unbroken

He will never be free
Until a bullet learns how to love

He read the words
And saw the pictures
Of long ago dreamers and haters
Wondering if it was real
And what he should do
He had no idea he would die like his savior

He will never be free
Until a bullet learns how to confess

As the anthem was sung
His hand covered his heart
But his people continued to cry
His children tried to laugh
But someone told them no
He did not know how to tell them why

He will never be free
Until a bullet learns how to be equal

A boy was put in his place
He learned about rejection
All he wanted was to make a friend
A bullet punctured his dream
But his children still knew
That grace saves what men would condemn

He will never be free
Until a bullet learns how to be human

If I looked at you
Would you smile or be disappointed?
It's not me that you should judge
Because if you think I'm like every other man
Then you're wrong my love

It's just that what I feel
Is what I see in you
And the fear that makes you reject me
Is not because you think I'm ordinary
It's because you think you are

Don't be sorry to accept my love
I'm no longer here for the night
It's only about the morning
Because a sunrise is what I want
And not shadows afraid of your life

If you think you cannot hold me
Then let your eyes fall to the floor
But what I want is what you want
And though we knew each other once
It's not the past that will save us

How many times can you say no?
What is tomorrow without hope?
You won't tell me why
But your eyes can never lie
And that is why I want you so badly

You have to believe in yourself
And you have to believe in me
If I seem so desperate to you
Then is it really me or you?
Because all I said was hello

They built beautiful buildings
and buried their dead in an abbey
that even bombs graced as they
exploded where the grass now grows

But the land is as old as where you stand
And what pain they felt is now a mystery
Do you hear the voices of the graves,
Or the glory of a shadow that stains their history?

Our own people
They live as do underground worms
Only a mile away
Past lights that confuses stops and turns

The poor, forgotten, live alone
They are not exotic enough for us to care
We know them all to well
There is no ancient writing to draw us near

Instead they live on cracked pavement
On ground that will be holy a century from now
Because then the history of our descendants will matter
But today we smile while they wipe their sweaty brow

It is not their beauty that matters
But instead the contemplation of a thousand dreams that never came true
And while you stand next to a mountain or a cathedral
They ask in a language you do not understand
What does it have to do with you?

I miss him mommy
When will daddy come home
But he can’t hear them
It is his life that has been sown

Hi darling
I’m thinking of you
I love you so much
I hope you know it’s true

It was obvious
Somebody will die again
The news reports statistics
But a number is my friend

In a short amount of time
My whole life changed
I would never go back
My emotions are rearranged

Happy birthday son
I said it to a bird
In vain, it swept away
Wings were all I heard

Chu Lai, a refuge
A lie, only for the enemy
Mines, natural as the wind
John cleared them for me

I will never see them again
How could I leave?
I loved my home
But not as a place to grieve

Mired in stalemate
Death, shrugging its shoulders
They didn’t seem to care
Except to **** my brothers

The choppers, red cross buses
Politicians have their own ride
Silence is consent
But I know who lied

Our leader, iron willed ambition
Would no longer lead
His ranch calls to him
While bullets make us bleed

He left us behind
But a marine would never
How long would I be here
For a soldier, its always forever

Order at home, shoot protestors
Peace abroad, would I live to tell
The same words over and over
A white house and a jungle hell

From the very start
It seemed nobody understood
We didn’t speak the language
And we never would

Even death could smell itself
Though the trail never died
Rain, once the giver of life
Only increases the dread inside

We were so thirsty
We tried to drink morning dew
To see green grass, a flash
Made me think of you

I saw him remove his stripes
They shot our officers first
He tried to give new orders
My skin knew it would be worse

I thought about a hill I once climbed
It looked like the outline I now see
The answer was not letting anyone down
And the next man up was finally me

We were going to **** everyone
Their orders were the same
Were they scared or nervous?
It seemed they were glad we came

We raced up, the lottery all around
I forgot about being a hero or a coward
Duty made us think of our children
But the only way home was forward

Mommy, why are you crying?
What did that man say?
I will tell you later my son
First we must kneel down and pray  

The flag waves silently now
I don’t think about love or hatred
Instead it reminds me once again
How the life of a soldier is sacred

But who owns the hill we once won?
Forty years gone and still their children cry
The faces on the magazine cover
Are the ones who can no longer ask why

You asked me how I could say that
But I ask you why I had to live with it?
Someone ***** my mind of all its innocence
Now the truth is considered a lie

You are shocked by my angry words
But what about an angry life?
Someone made me pay for their violence
Now the truth wants to die

You ran away from my honesty
But what about a broken heart?
Someone ripped it out with their silence
Now the truth is asking why

I want to see you
Were you there when I was born?
Will you be there when I die?
I want to ask you
What we believe is old and worn
What is true and what is a lie?
I want to hear you
Speak in the tongue of Gabriel’s horn
But will it be from below or on high?
I want to know you
For your image has become torn
The divide between a laugh and a cry
I want to understand you
The lash and a crown of thorns
Then a stone turned aside
Did it save me or you?

Boulevard royalty mingling with animals in open cages
Instances become signposts for alleged tolerance
But it’s time to go back to the gates of where we’re from
To tell of speculative social forays to an adoring audience

Seamless air pockets provoking thought, constructing
miniature crosses piercing walls where painful paintings were hung
But you decided being a crow was better than being a rooster
There is no difference but black is the color of the song being sung

Passionately significant but intellectually deficient
Sensitive jealousies masquerading polemic tendencies
Dreads worn for life not for the fears of who would notice
An intrusive memory loss was all that could save their enemies

As ludicrous as foot stools for wheels or sleep when morning breaks
Social dynamics treated reservedly by contemporaneous mocking birds
Philistine rounder’s no more or less competent than square faced priests
Believe me, the time we forget is only because we cannot say the words

The story ended before the introduction did because they never met
The pre-text may be questioned but the post mortem changes nothing
The only evil that is selected are outrages that inoculate us from shock
Warm friendliness does not sink the rocky rapids that are no longer asking

Confounding lines of judgment and reckless carriages await their turn
Canon or pulp; equally intriguing depending on which way towards the sun
Systematic folding chairs gaze at danger but in the manner a priest would
He swallows before telling the congregation he is not a man or the one

The reconstruction of peace begins with a soft breeze and earth tones
Necessary or essential, it is all the same for the time it takes to be sane
Within the sacrament principle we beg pain to restrict our movements
Linguistically inexperienced emotionally spent will we ever be the same

Dreams of flying with leaves under wires calmly watching man fall short
Incantation pastoral discovery of what aspect we could never know
Until you feel nothing between lovers except what is written on the heart
The one who walked away will never know the one who told them so

She didn’t want him to know
She fell in love once before
She thought he was the one
Now it’s over
But she's not ready to close the door

She lost her heart
She wants to write about it
But her new man can’t understand
He thinks she’s still in love
It's something she can't admit

She’s trying to be hard
But that’s not what life's about
She can’t deny her past
Or how it made her grow
She’s just being honest
But it’s making him doubt

She decided not to think about it
She had to pretend
But a dream can't be controlled
And the past can never be forgotten
She wonders if her heart will ever mend

She’s trying to lower her guard
Sometimes life won’t let the tears out
She hopes her feelings don’t last
She's trying not to let it show
But she needs to be honest
Even if he decides to walk out

It’s not looking for me
It hides on the wrong side of a cloud
Where the sun is still bright
And my tears cannot blur its light

I asked the shadow why
But it would rather be silent than loud
I’m not sure how to make it right
The moon lights the wrong side of night

Waiting for something
Waiting for someone
They cannot hear you
If they are not near you
Tell them
Tell them
Or someone else will

I can’t feel it inside
Not when everybody acts so proud
The sky is for birds in flight
But blue reflections know nothing of sight

Waiting for something
Waiting for someone
They can’t hear you
They’re not near you
You didn’t tell them
You didn’t tell them
But someone else did

I don't mind waiting for love
It's worth the time spent alone
But am I instead resistant?
Is there a reason to be free
Or a reason for commitment?
Yet I would give an hour
In return for an instant
If I thought that a moment
Was what love was about
And that time passing
Is how magic is made
No matter how long or distant

I was dreaming about tomorrow
Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?
Yesterday is for love that didn’t last
Sleeping is for love walking sidewalks
And days to come waiting for me

A memory is not always mine to keep
What I remember is life but it’s not over
A day is something only a kiss can keep alive
But it’s not the one I’m thinking of anymore
What I see in you is why I’m picking clover

Standing in the rain I could no longer feel
I could only watch while I slept
This time it’s not tears that I see, because
Tomorrow will never know why I once wept

It’s not just my life that I think of
It’s what ours together will mean
Even when I’m gone will you see me
In pictures that will tell everyone
The love of your life was once my dream

Standing standing inside dreams so real
I wondered about the secrets they kept
This time I will know the answer, because
Tomorrow’s dreams of you will never forget

I know how I feel
And there are so many words to say
You said I say them all too easily
So I'll say what is hard
I love you

It's not a song
Not something without commitment
I have my way to make them feel
But also a way to walk away
Without saying I do

Words can hit the mark
So can two bodies laying naked
Until we have a problem
How can we really know
If our love is true

I can't bluff you anymore
It's easy to live alone without fear
But I will never be a man
Until I see the tears
That I planted inside of you

I wonder if this is how it will end
“Yeah, I remember him”
What more can it be anyway
Just to fit into someone’s life
Even if you didn’t talk for years

Everybody is already there
We’re just playing out the hand now
Somebody new doesn’t stand a chance
They can’t compete with the past
I’m already a made man

If I can stand you for a week
Then that’s a close to love as I get
You can’t suffocate me
That’s why I got rid of the pillows
We’ll lay flat long enough to breathe

What I say is what I think
But the way I turn at any time
Depends on the way time looks at me
I will always consider your feelings
But I’m going to push my personality far

I’m looking for another door
Different than the one I came through
An entrance awaits on the other side
But is it leaving or just passing by
It depends how big the thought is

You finally did what I no longer care about
That’s what twenty years on does to you
I could borrow more money than I’ve made
Somebody trusts me that much
Or is it a trap like when you said I love you?

Up early without sleep
the worries of yesterday no longer venturing near
traveling the waterways instead
while the children slept
her husband was drawn by the war
every mundane moment
became precious
would it be the last (?)
if only a glass of milk could remain so comforting
she drank it slowly
hoping it would last
for once the glass touched down
the time for comfort would be past

Hands on the counter
she stared into the yard full of browning grass
winter approached slowly
but nature knew how to play its part
humanity fought her instincts
survival never meant more
no matter a migrant
or a hostage of a casualty of war
the tile floor was cold
she wondered of the man who troweled the grout
would he have known of the world’s misery (?)
but he was already forgotten
not even a footnote of history

Her child rushed along
questions bounding alongside
is the war over (?)
while muffled fireworks in the distance gave the answer
she never knew she had a gift
only to love brightly
but when fear became her night light
she realized her strength was real
there were no formalities to life
only the calm reassurance of purpose
and it was her hearts content
for breakfast was no longer her crowning glory
instead it was to calm life’s discontent

Each cigarette lit by weariness
nothing of another day to consider
only to sit down to talk of pleasure
within the cup of afternoon tea brewed by time
was a moment
a moment unlike any other
she wanted to write in her journal
if she could only find it
every thumbed corner of each page
no longer new but living instead
she thought while her children cried for brave men
she told them it would be over soon
but her prayer was for courage to never lie again

OH GOD NO!
NO NO NO!

I want to love her
But she does not walk the streets
She does not walk with my enemy
I would share her with desperate men
If it meant we could be civilized

I thought about lies
And killing another man
I thought about the holy ghost
Does it live in this land?

She wants to be angry about how we treat her
But it is so
It is so because we are not like her
We are mean
Because that is how we were made
We know what our gifts are

NO GOD NO!

Why is my gift violence?
Why is my gift fear?
That is why I’m still alive
That is why men fear me

ME!

Why God?
I fear you
But men fear me

He believes
He is chosen
Allah praise be unto him
And my rifle sights him in

Let me lay next to her
An exotic dark eyed beauty
From another land
From the land I walk
Her face is covered
And it is who she is that makes us crazy
Crazier than gold
Crazier than oil
Crazier than rare earth
She is the only one that can soften a killers heart
A stranger
A strange woman
Because she is strong enough to love an assassin
Strong enough to love a man about to die
Because she is a woman
And she knows why we are angry
She wants to lay next to anger
Only anger can reach her
Even though she is soft enough to care
Soft enough to care about war
And the men who must die
They die for the flag
She dies for their heart

NO GOD NO!

She prayed all night
Help me Lord
Help me love these men
Help me love their sword

The bullet passes through her
From me to him
And he accepts death
Because she gave him life
She loved the bullet
Loved it because it was life
The way life is
Death
Death on the way
Reaching around love
Flying through love
From hate to love to hate
And she watched it as it approached
And she stopped to allow it to pass
Pass through her heart
To soften my hatred
She never blinked
As we shared her before death
She shared the killer
She shared the victim
She stared at us both
She asked if we wanted the bullet
Did we want the bullet to be us

NO GOD NO!

How can I love her?
She is stronger than me
Yet I am the killer
When will I cry?
Her tears became mine
As she took her clothes off
Naked as the world stands
Truth
She said **** me instead of him
**** me she said
Because I’m dead already
This is not my world
It is a world of anger
A world of desperate men
Who cannot love each other
Or me
So **** me
**** me now

NO GOD NO!
NO!
NO!
NO!

From The Streets

We once feared the survival of civilization
Now it is the survival of culture
The assurance of mutual destruction
Madness
A godless government
Wary of one in him do they trust
The posture of destruction
To agree on a way not to strike first
And to believe in the rational man
The desire to live
The belief in the future of their people

On earth

Order them in
That is the order
That is what must be done
But can it be done
Who can do it
Someone must advise
Someone must decide
The gulf separating advice and decision
Is the gulf separating man from heaven
God or no God
It is mankind who must order them in
And it is mankind that must die

Man killed God
God is eternal
Man invented God
God is incorporeal

The voice of our adversary is subdued
Almost sad
It is so that he wants to live too
He is not a mad man
Only living as all men live
Within the desire to care for their  world
A home
A neighborhood
A town
A city
A state
A nation
It is all the same if all is at risk

But it is no longer at risk

The fatalism of heaven controls our minds
But it is not more powerful than human weakness
And the need to be loved by God is our  weakness
We must prove ourselves worthy
And it is our precise belief that is most holy
Not because God told us
But because we believe it
And if we are wrong
Then we are nothing
Not us
Or our people

It is now man versus man
Our God versus their God
Our culture versus their culture
Our law versus their past
It is our history that we sustain
We walk its streets
And remember the words of our parents
The must mean something
How can they not
We are their blood
The blood of our nature
The blood of our God
OUR GOD
The one to which we pray
The one who gives us strength
The one who tells us we are worthy
Yes
We will be saved
For we are saving him
Saving him from lies
Saving ourselves from our lies
For it was written by us
And we must believe those who died for them

And those who died at the hand of them
For everyone who died

Just to cross a bridge
Or to believe as they want

It is personal now
We have allowed life to become greater than we are
Now we are taking it back
Vengeance is ours
To each of us is the power to accuse
The power to ****
The power to teach our children

What will we say first?

What is it that we’re doing here
We wear faces of the past on a cotton canvas
We stand behind words of idealism
Words to be ridiculed because they are too holy for mankind

Have we
Have we
Forgotten how to be
A man
A man
Moved a stone so we could see
An angel
An angel
Said the choice was ours to be free
To be free

I heard your voice tonight
It was your family that could not cry but instead serve
The blessing of life could not understand why they walked away
What had been hunted was not love but instead victory

Have we
Have we
Forgotten how to be
A man
A man
Moved a stone so we could see
An angel
An angel
Said the choice was ours to be free
To be free

Tell us what happened here
Who was standing in the midst of walls that would never stand again
It never is better, only worse
For the innocent have already been chosen to die

Have we
Have we
Forgotten how to be
A man
A man
Moved a stone so we could see
An angel
An angel
Said the choice was ours to be free
To be free

You do not have to speak in a language that I understand
I can already see the vision in your eyes
There is no need to show me your weakness
Or how I can take advantage
Friendship does not trade on trust

But your burdens are welcome
As is your pain
For these things require no commitment from you
The already exist
And the vision we share is the same
As is the memory of the past
All we lack is the courage to be human

We walk on warped plywood
Painted with what to do with our time
It's the next layer I'm talking about
It's not what I need from you that matters
It's that we are ready for the same color
Even if we never find it
Because
It's the vision and not so much the focus
That would be too much work
The burdens we carry do not need new friends
Only the idea that someone knows what to do with them

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

Like an abandoned creek bed
Hosting a river for a day
Or a desert sky
Screening a rain storm matinee
A parent will wait
No matter time passing
With a heart that remembers how
When our children need us to be strong

To be able to prove it to you
Aging is my story
It’s all there
Look it up
Listen to it
You want to know me
I’m right here
And my skin is as clear as my mind

The worst part of it though
Is a young girl will never ask again
“How old are you?”
I know what I said
“How old do you want me to be?”
A rock star moment
Instead my children laugh
Their rolling eyes make me slip

I can cry over Ronson or Farner
I’m not their lover
But I love them
Without fear of who I am
Sometimes I grow far or fast
Even though I'm right next door
But my space mask is on loan
Earning interest in a bank

There is no excess to report
Neither promiscuity or wild intake
I ingest the passing air
And the hopes of my friends
We haven’t given up
I told them not to
**** the feeling of irrelevance
A singers song knows who we are

We begin
once what we would die for is what courage did discover
We search
for truth not within need but instead in why others suffer
We fail
where our morals cannot withstand the oppression of desire
We believe
as children do but not if ignorance and fear must conspire
We listen
only to what we think until we realize pride provides no cure
We feel
until the pain is so great that we turn to our vices to endure
We bury
ourselves side by side with the love that forgave each other
We arise
when shadows of a cross are created by the light of the savior

Hung up on how to make it work
So easy to say, do it for the children
Erase every border no matter why they are there
Draw new lines with a fountain pen
Then walk away
Who's problem is it now?

We make art with knives
Deep colors
Bleeding from our fingers
Like weapons of mass emotion
Launched in the dead of the night

Marching citizen soldiers
Let them know how we feel
But back to our lives
They hope we forget
Our problems are all too real
Who has time to sweat
Or freeze on the streets
After all, it's only tomorrow’s children

Must our virtues be buried as well
He wanted to sleep further up the trail
It would be safer, where values can be praised without pain
But where violent paths cross, a woman would give herself up
Even to a man she could never love, so she can live
Is it the same for a nation
Do we owe it to someone to live by absolutes
Even though what is written changes
And what is not written is immutable
If we save a man, are we responsible for him?
If we **** a man, will we forget him?
A people of differences must believe in something to survive
If we are hunted like animals, must we become animals?
Must we become thieves and murderers?
And what becomes of our memory
What kind of people were we
What would they say of us after we are gone
That we lived burying our morals
Or that we died giving them to a man that lives
As we walk upon the ground that cares not for us
And as we see the seasons change without need of us
It is up to us to cultivate the praises of love and honor
Will the water be as clear as tears that remember sadness
Will the water be as ***** as anger that avenges without remorse
As stones gather for the feast of judgment before sin
Then we will know what they will say about us
It will be written that we softened the stones, building a new path
The same as the path carved into our own hearts
By the words we have read by those who passed before us
Knowing that we will not burn books in favor of existence
Instead we will add a new chapter that demands to be heard
And our virtues will live instead of dying along with our past

Is it just listening to an old song with a friend
Is it writing a new one about a love that will never end
It’s hard to know what you’re thinking
You want me to play the music first
When it’s over the message will be in the next verse

Being with you is the choice between walking
Or a car not understanding what it is your saying
A sidewalk is easy on the eyes
Once we open the door it’s never the same
Where we go next is never the way we came

You think it’s going to be different
But that’s no reason to try again
We are what we are
But what you want to forget
Is not the feeling when we first met

Give me the time of day when I ask
Tell me the weather is important to talk about
I wonder if normal is better
We broke all the glasses long ago
I know you’re thirsty but your heart won’t say so

You think it’s going to be the same
But that’s no reason not to try again
We are what we are
But what you can’t forget
Is the feeling when you finally left

“Perform all thy actions with mind concentrated on the Divine”

We are free where flowers grow
But if you walk into the garden
Do not send me into the desert

“Blessed are the peacemakers”

You may accept who I am
And you may think freely
You may give me your hand
And you may think freely
You may speak of your wounds
And you may think freely
You may be who you are
And you may think freely

"Renounce attachment"

I am not a preacher of miracles
I only know them when I see them
But knowing of them is not understanding
It is only a miracle if I do not understand
Otherwise it is as common as my failures

“Look upon success and failure with an equal eye”

I am not a wise man
I only gather the words of those who are
For they have opened their minds to others
And the castle has already been built
I must choose to walk within its walls

"Spirituality implies equanimity"

Do you want someone to save the day
Or is the name you know all you need
Is it in his name that you walk
Is it in his name that you pray
But in my own name I see only despair

"I and I is the oneness of two persons"

The deeper you fall into your face
The further away from your soul
It is that you have invested in flesh
And while your mind withers alone
In desperation you watch as you age

“The cause of all suffering is desire”

The only thing I can control is trust
The trust you have in me is my word
The trust I have in God is faith
The trust he has in me is not for me to say

“Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone”

I do not know what it is that he trusts
I am his creation with nothing to offer
There is no need to trust in me
For I have not been asked to make a promise
Only to believe

“We only dream this *******. Wake up and let it go.”

We ask of you now
What skill do you possess?
For in the new world
Only giving is progress

We ask only for life
And not self-interest
What will be left behind
Will no longer exist

I am of passage
By air, land or sea
I follow Cassiopeia and Orion
For light from dark is how I see

A mariner by trade
Yes you may come aboard
And by your guidance
We will find our reward

I am of construct
By hammer, saw and nail
Will you know of comfort
Without my talents to avail?

A carpenter by trade
Yes you may come aboard
And by your shelter
We will find our reward

I am of nourishment
I will reach into the sea
By hook, line and sinker
This you will be taught by me

A fisherman by trade
Yes you may come aboard
And by your daily bread
We will find our reward

I am of creation
I bring brush, voice and fifths
By color, words and melody
You will know of your gifts

An artist by trade
Yes you may come aboard
And by your imagination
We will find our reward

I am of healing
And a facilitator of birth
I will reach into my bag
And life I will bring forth

A doctor by trade
Yes you may come aboard
And by your oath
We will find our reward

I am of spirituality
And you will know of no darkness
For the spirit that flows inside
Will remind you of God’s promise

A shaman by trade
Yes you may come aboard
And through your prayers
We will find our reward

But by who's hand will we be guided?
Though it was I who rang the bell of freedom
I shall remain behind while you decide
For no King of the flesh lives in Eden

And with no lawyers to confuse
Or politicians that lie
The dreamer will wave farewell
But his vision will never die

We know who waits for us there
All those we knew, you took for yourself
They might not have had time for faith
Too young, too much for old time religion
You made us in seven, we raise in the eighth

They had to go their own way
Leaving this place, did they ask a favor?
Did they tell you about me?
Maybe that’s not how it is by your side
We knew them Lord, we hope they’re free

Take care of them Lord
We can’t imagine it
They didn’t ask for streets of gold
But we’d be willing to pave it

You took them from captivity
Living in the wild, our mothers suffer so
The path we take, only our hearts know
They didn’t have enough time Lord
Salvation collection, whose debt did they owe?

Take care of them Lord
They couldn’t imagine it
They didn’t ask for streets of gold
But we already paved it

They had sunshine in their eyes
Burning brightly like hot stones
But steam rose as they entered the waters
Cooling the marrow in their angry bones

They gathered their thoughts
Leaving room for their tired bodies
Their poles could not reach the bottom
From ships sailing upon the hate of the centuries

There was only one direction to go
Away from the entrance to the final door
Free skies and seas were impatiently waiting
For those longing for peace and not war

They gathered their children together
But the tempted one’s chose to remain
They cried as they waved to fading lighthouses
Praying the doors of decision would see them again

They decided to test their faith apart from a culture
That only knew how to bury their dead
Forgiveness of their destiny was an imaginary dream
Until they remembered wooden ships were crosses instead

Desire never left them, it only changed course
Words in strange languages slipped from their hands
Their existence remained as it was written
They were lost because of what they could not understand

The light became consumed by their judgments
What they thought was good were walls of resistance
Their detachment from creation was complete
Until they realized that freedom was only stark distance

Horizons of apprehension marked time until they returned
The lamb waded ashore with the children who were left behind
The islands they sought were instead full of longing and sadness
For love was something to share and not something to find

I want to get away from it all
I can’t go back and make it up to you
And tomorrow won’t wake up early
The sun said setting is all that’s true

I don’t need a big house
The refuge is only in my mind
I left town to see another one
Maybe a stranger is what I need to find

The nights aren’t that long anymore
I'm used to sleeping on both pillows
Maybe we talked too much
Now love is on the other side of the windows

How could I have known it wasn’t the right
Our whispers were so loud in our hearts
Something gave it all away
The secret is not how the fire starts

I’m standing right in front of you
No matter your anger or opinion
Mine is as strong as yours
You can tell me how you feel
But if it doesn’t make any sense
I won’t agree no matter the cost

You can be a mother or a lover
I can be a father and just another
No matter I’m not going away
You think you love them more
That’s because you don’t understand
But someone new, I know she will

Hey lady, can I still call you that?
I once poured my heart out to you
But now it’s time for hate to die
Everything is in God’s hands
I’m ready for his judgment
But today I can live again

There is nothing I have not felt
The last strand of guilt is a silent killer
I do not owe more than I have paid
The only person that knew what I felt
Was the shadow I created on my own
Until sunset, then in darkness I forget

We can’t imagine that you’re gone
Even though it’s true
There is so much of us you left behind
The part that loves you
We didn’t want to see your tombstone
Because then we would know
We want to believe you’re part of this world
It needs your seeds to grow
You showed us a way to live freely
With love and strength
You were pollen and bees in the wind
A garden of depth and length
Your light was warm and inspiring
A symphony day or night
Flowers and tides drawn to celestial bodies
Music swaying in our sight
We walk the streets you once shadowed
With lightness and humility
You never once assumed your worth
Now we cry for your dignity
We hope you can our veiled minds
We live in mourning
But yes we will laugh once again
That was your calling
Not to make light of the horror of life
For still you wept alone
But instead to light the human spirit
For a world we can call home

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

We all have our reasons
But I didn’t choose to love you
You knew how to reach me
When you did I knew I could be true

We each go our own way
It’s not the way I wanted it to end
Now I’m believing in miracles
And dreams about a long lost friend

I need something to believe
But not flying above clouds
Or something I can’t see
I know why I pray at night
It’s for a miracle baby
It’s about you coming back to me

You thought I didn’t really love you
But I could never explain
How life can keep people apart

We all think about tomorrow
I wonder who will be there
I know who I want it to be
But sometimes miracles don’t care

I need something to believe
But not flying above clouds
Or something I can’t see
I know why I pray at night
It’s for a miracle baby
It’s about you coming back to me

So what are we doing, falling in love?
I feel the chains of my life fading away
I never knew another heart’s calling
Could ever draw me near this way

I only told you one time how I felt
There’s no expectation, no game to play
I wanted you to know, there was love
Walking around your life, ready to say

I’m not worried about telling you these things
It’s not easy hearing such a surprise today
You never thought it, life had already chosen
I didn’t expect you to follow as I walked away

Your dream paradise can wake up now
Between the time you laugh and pray
The spirit that we hold with both hands
Is more than just a glimpse of love today

Young man
Where is your voice?
The world awaits
You have no choice
Don't look back in awe
It's time to lead
I want to know
How strong is your creed?

Why do you seem so tired?
You lost your breath
Why do you crawl?
Take your first step
You've just been born
Open your eyes
Help us my child
Show us the lies

The world is decaying
And you along with it
I'm tired of praying
Are you complicit?

Are you awake
Or do you even know you sleep?
You won't risk your day
You let laziness creep
Deaf, dumb and blind
Is fear your ale?
Come forth
Let your anguish wail

Your legacy is so full
Of youthful protest and rage
When they die off
Who will turn the page?
Faint to your mind
Because you won't look
It's not about Old Glory
Please read a history book

The world is decaying
And you along with it
I'm tired of praying
Must I be explicit?

I know what you're thinking
Why try? What for?
So worldly you'd rather be
A ****** being like children before
You think you've come of age
Because nothing's pure
True insight eludes
Yet you seem so sure

Look at me
Old, tired and cynical
Searching for something
So true, so lyrical
I continue to lift my pen
Making my anger rhyme
While you embrace leisure
Letting it rot your mind

The world is decaying
And you along with it
I'm tired of praying
When will you get with it?

Tomorrow has become something else
Last week, last month, last year
But anger is the chord and action the melody
And this you refuse to hear
You borrow my nostalgia
And believe it's happening to you
Become the new voice
Lead  us on through

Where are you my child?
The world needs you now!
I'm dying with my memory
It is your turn to face the enemy

You walk on the stones
When you can feed your son
You're never refused
When the water you drink
Is from the cup you choose

You lay under their feet
When water dries in the sun
You're always refused
When a poor man lives hard
And his son can never choose

What can I say?
What can I say?
They suffer while I play
They suffer while I play
There/s nothing for me to say
There's nothing for me to say
My life has always been that way
My life has always been that way

You walk on the stones
When you know who loves you
It's you they choose
You lay under their feet
When you know they forgot you
It's you they refuse

What can they say?
What can they say?
They suffer while I play
They suffer while I play
There's nothing for them to say
There's nothing for them to say
Their life has always been that way
Their life has always been that way

What can anybody say?
What can anybody say?
What can anybody say?

What is most important to think about?
A singer sang, “War is not the answer”
A God said, “Blessed are the peacemakers”
Still we weep for words that cannot save a soldier

We are beautiful but fear we never walk without
A man said, “Our daughters gave us flowers!”
A God said, “No man will know the hour”
Still we weep while our wrongs remain in power

What consequence for me
What consequence for you
Yes freedom lives in the hearts of men
But is it for me
Is it for you
Or those deciding the time to strike again

We are a memory of sin walking without doubt
A child cried, “When will I see my father?”
A God said, “Render that which is Caesars”
Still we weep upon a flag burying our sons forever

What consequence for me
What consequence for you
Yes freedom lives in the hearts of slaves
And it is for them
As it is for all men
And those knowing the time to strike again

I could follow the rising moon
But there's nothing special about that
I'm not the only one
Sand upon which we walk
Stones which we throw
Stars which we watch
There's enough for everybody
One for each of us
I think I'll just give you mine
Take it
It's yours
What's the point of sharing something so common
Unless it's love

the earth moves
where once the stillness of nature and God walked
the edges
of a trembling tree fell from his grasp
while the perfect antlers that he once stalked turned to him,
asking if he felt it too;
but what could be this force
that also brought the tide closer to where we once laid,
with the sun upon our skin
while we cried silently on the inside
as our hearts became like hands on a clock
measuring how long we could possibly love one another;
and it rained and rained, cold snow
and the heat, yes the heat
so much that the fires that once burned fearlessly
turned away;
yet all of these things were only the spoiled dreams
of a quiet day walking with you in the park;
for what could be worse than our angry friends
turning on one another,
unable to ignore the messages
cascading down upon us,
like endless icicles
seeking to dip into the blood of our fears,
making it flow,
empting the hearts that once believed in one another
until we gasp for their solution,
to cure the disease they created within us

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I saw your beautiful welcoming eyes
I walked through the circles
Dodging the blinking curtains of love
Unafraid of what I might find
Because I knew you
Or so I thought
But the rush of blood was too much
The images of life too intense
Your heart beat too loud
The other side of your soft smile too hard
I started choking
Covering my ears
Closing my eyes
Crying
I couldn't stand it
I wanted out
But I couldn't find my way
What I was afraid of
Was how to live like this
And then I realized
I never really knew you
Because you had always been so strong
And only then did I know
How weak I really was