I feel for those on the side of the road
Holding the sign of despair in hand
Is this what it's come to where all they can do
Is find a corner with what little they have left

You know the ones, the ones who never look up
Ashamed of where life has placed them
In the grand scheme of things the water is deep
You can see that without even saying

Where was the helping hand from the beginning
The lifeboat in their sea of doubt
Did we not see them gasping while desperately treading
Where all we have now is a measly hand out

When it comes to what matters aren't we all in this together
In this game of win or lose no one draws
Keeping the cardboard handy always at ready
Because holding the sign could be me after all

Why is it that the older you get
The less you seem to care
About all that the world collects
That only helps ensnare

Where don't you know a few short years ago
You filled your pockets with greed
With needless stuff you want and some you don't
Packing them tight selfishly

But age sometimes does us a favor
Of what seemed important then
No longer satisfies in its entice
And you find if you don't have it you'll still live

No longer concerned about the next corner turn
It's more about the here and now
And the happiness you get from that simple fact
Is now what it's all about

There's no need to plan the future
With living life one day at a time
And the older it is that you get
The less you're impressed with the find

It becomes more about friends and family around
And less about the junk in life
That we lined our pockets with just to have
Thinking that's what we needed to survive

There's freedom don't you know in the letting go
Of all the worldly junk you don't need
You've collected here that's muddled the years
That once filled your pockets with greed

I do not like the sound
of what I just found out
After all the aftershock
might just take me down
It's hard to whisper CANCER
when CANCER screams out loud
A sucker punch in the gut
to knock the breath right out

Leaving in the questioning
of how much time is left
Also in the wondering
of how you measure it
What is the first to give out
the body or courage
And is there a way that I can change
from out of this death mask

Pull the covers tighter
the days are growing cold
Feel free my love to tidy up
sweeping hair from off the floor
This isn't at all how
life was to unfold
Never thought being this young
would make me feel so old

I wish you could take this from me
and toss it in the trash
Digging deep at this disease
until there's nothing left
I don't know who to quote
but I'm sure someone has said
It's hard to whisper CANCER
with CANCER screaming in your head
MH

I've lost too many friends to cancer and have one right now fighting that battle

I used to gaze up in the sky
At puppy dogs and butterflies
That's what I saw as clouds passed by
And life it did the same

In skies of blue the poppie fields
Would share the dreams young minds would yield
Tender thoughts one day until
This adult got in the way

And now those skies hold thunder clouds
I wish somehow I'd not find that out
Collective sighs can't hide the sound
That disappoint makes

I've tried and tried and tried again
But who am I trying to kid
When you've cracked the lid of innocence
You've lost too much along the way

And life never is the same...

Never been so scared in my life
At what I'm about to try
But it's been going on far too long
And I feel now is the time

Hours and hours spent on end
In a constant mindless loop
Staring at this thing in front of me
A brainless zombie with no clue

I must muster up the courage
At what I need to do
Can't say that I'm not worried
To tell you the honest truth

Okay breath deep, one, two, three
It all will be okay
It's my only hope, set down the phone
And simply walk away...

I promise you
I used to be cute
Till the day ugly caught me

Where a wrinkle in time
Took a liking to my
Body, from head to feet

Like a top 40 hit
#1 with bullet
Ugly went straight to the top

From the light wisps of gray
What's left anyways
Where I accept what little I've got as my lot

And let's not forget the middle
There to catch all the spittle
Protruding past the point of caring

Only to be ****** in
The company of women
No need for the ladies to be scaring

And these spots that I've got
Like connect the dots
Brought on by too many years in the sun

Now the Doctor's tell me
To glob on the sunscreen
As this leather skin makes it's last run

I promise you
I used to be cute
Till the day...

Meeting Mark the day before
The day before the deed
Rumbling, stumbling, mumbling down
New York city streets

Incoherent at his worst
Troubled mind at best
Freak spew in the front pew
Who ever would have guessed

That the cold winter days of December
After a week would end in a permanent freeze
Where the world would all see first hand
The chilliest degree of insanity

As shots echoed out between buildings
Building on the end of a dream
It's not only John he was killing
But all of humanity so it seems

The day slipped away from the living
Along with giving peace a chance
Hello, goodbye John Lennon
The day that he and Mark met