With flat head shovel, steel tooth rake
Out to do whatever it takes
Nothing you see is that easy
When you're in the mood for life gardening

Aching muscles are for keeps
Patience hides in piles of leaves
Winter, Summer, Spring, or Fall
There's always something going on

With this plot in which I live
Myself, and I, my wife and kids
Pulling teeth like pulling weeds
All in a day of life gardening

Growing up at a steady pace
Equal parts of pleasure, pain
Trying my best to not cave in
With heavy heart and calloused hands

Plowing steady as she goes
Keeping straight my set of rows
Thankful for all my blessings
This daily dose of life gardening

I've had more than enough
If you count everything
I'd gladly give it all up
And end up with nothing

How many years now
Have I up and lost count
The True meaning of life
And what it's all about

Take all that I have
And learn to accept
If it's not from the Lord
It's all meaningless

I've lived off the crumbs
That wither and rust
Ashes to ashes
Dust back to dust

Like a lost child
That plays in the mud
When it's all said and done
A mess is all we end up

Take all that I have
And learn to accept
If it's not from the Lord
It's all meaningless

this poem will be here for just a moment
soon to be dust in the wind
in the shortest of time it will eventually find
it's way to the bottom of the bin

it might bring a touch of joy or sadness
but that depends on you
and at the time you read it
the frame of mind your mood

it won't take you to the mountain top
soaring to the very heights
or move you to the depths of despair
where it keeps you up at night

it won't bring peace to the nations
or have us holding hands
it won't repair any of the damage
that's been done over the course of time by man

it won't open any minds
or close doors on the best forgotten
in the least amount of time
it'll come and go from every noggin

chances are it won't be remembered
five minutes after it's gone
and without a tune to carry it
it may not even last that long

If we that day by circumstance
Had not crossed each other's paths
I wonder where we'd be
Being each other's greatest need

If every light, that I was at
Had stayed a longer run of red
Would it have been too late
For love to come, face to face

Would everything that we now hold
Be an elusive *** of gold
On the verge but never there
Only one side to this pair

Would we be living separate lives
With the nagging question why
Things don't seem quite right
Off a bit on both sides

And if by chance years from now
We passed on the street and both smiled
Would that nagging question skip a beat
Finding itself stuck on repeat

That there seemed to be something there
To which neither of us could swear
Passed it off as Deja vu
Deep down though we somehow knew

Something passed in-between
Tugging at each other's greatest need
About that day that felt perfectly right
As we moved along with our separate lives

Can we try for this moment
To let our thoughts run wild
Peel back the many layers
Take that which we have found

Free ourselves from the circumstance
Of life making demands
Get back that which we've not seen since
We let go the guiding hand

Don't focus on the failures
Which offers little hope
Set aside the part of life
That leaves no room for growth

What's past is past, we can't go back
Plow full steam ahead
And all act to accept that fact
With the little time that we have left

Make the best of our situation
With every judgement being sound
Peel back the many layers
Take that which we have found

And put it all to good use
Helping our fellow humans out
Standing true to what we need to,
help us survive the here and now

Do we treat life like a Magic 8 Ball
Questioning randomly
Answers that we hope will appear
Most definitely

If it's not the one, we base it all on
Do we shake up our surroundings
With 8 Ball in hand, we tend to go it alone
But hey, who's really counting

We'd all like life to say yes
Turning it over out of the blue
As our run of luck makes its best guess
Looking in the wrong place to give us a clue

It might seem a bit frivolous
The way we handle life
Hoping to see most likely
And not try another time

When we pull out our Magic 8 Ball
Tossing questions randomly
Shake it all up then hope for the best
Most definitely...

who’s to blame
for the shape i’m in
all the deeds
placed me where i am
if given the chance
to do it all again
i'm pretty sure
this is where i’d land

i’ve trudged hard
this beaten path
how many miles
can this poor soul last
before it gives
up and collapse
doing this
not doing that

i might have had
a bit of help
but above it all
i did it all myself
right or wrong
i still fell
who can you trust
if not yourself

happy, sad
smile or pout
giving in
and giving out
is what life
is all about
leaving behind
little doubt

i’ve done this, all to myself…