Who’s out there these days
Not taking something
For mood enhancement
No worries, it’s prescription

Who is counting the ways
People don’t listen
All second guessing
On what they are missing

Who’s too confused to say
What they are thinking
Not good at crowd reading
Believe what they’re seeing

Who always craves
At needing a reason
Prideful chest beating
A man for all seasons

Who’s giving away
Their soul in searching
A lifetime of flirting
To come up with nothing

Seventeen without a clue
With no idea of what to do
You just do what they say to
But what are they really telling you

You have a full life that's ahead
And don't need this to hold you back
It's easy to remove this mess
Never mentioning once, the regret

As you're wheeled into the room
Behind the masks a smile or two
The speakers play an unfamiliar tune
With no one here to comfort you

Who's in control of this life
As you perceive what's wrong and right
You've heard how justice can be blind
Could this be one of those times

You had the truth in front of you
To help you choose what you should do
When in the end you had no clue
And now somehow it bothers you

When poetry grabs ahold of you
It latches on real tight
Takes you to a place of rhythm
On up into rhyme

Maneuvering its many moves
Through the maze inside your mind
Ninety nine percent loose as a goose
With one percent, hold on tight  

Soon enough is when you find out
Imaginations running wild
Like a feral stallion in open field
Or an up too late unruly child

Flashes its ideas up in lights
Like a Broadway night out on the town
Just as easily lifts you up
As quickly as it throws you down

The moment that it grabs you
And holds on for dear life
Poetry is all you think about
Most all of the time

Being a blessing or a curse
Is all in how you read the signs
Along with how far you've crossed
Over poetry's high-wire

Every ocean wave's hello, goodbye
With the coming and going of daily tides
As old men watch the swirling sands
Of time being pulled from out their hands

Every tree that drops their autumn leaves
At the first sign of a combative breeze
Never holds to strong root
Or produce much needed fruit

Every solitary rock that juts mid-stream
Is rounded along the edges deep
By the constant flow that never slows
Helping to soften the soul

Every open sky with a hue of blue
Still displays a cloud or two
Gently there to help remind
Not all is perfect in this life

How many dream to be free
Shackled by the waves and barren trees
Placed before for all to see
Above the clouds and below the streams

Every morning at the crack of dawn
I roll over twice and slam the alarm
I've heard it said, if you snooze you lose
Well, what else can a poor boy do

Rub tight the sleep from out of my eyes
Then don my socks one at a time
Pull out the luggage from under the bed
Then proceed to pack my emotional bags

How or where could I ever go
Without all this baggage I drag in tow
First one out is self-doubt
Far too many times to count

I timidly place it along the side
Easy Peasy for me when I need to find
Criticism goes in next
I like to share when I'm out of my head

It goes well with all my self-doubt
Save some for me, I could use it right now
I try and bury fear deep, yet still within reach
You never know when you'll be afraid to succeed

I could fill my bag to the hilt with guilt
But I've other issues to sadly pack still
I double stack shame with piles of regret
It's not like they both have never met

I also carry along a ragged backpack
For all the past relationships I've ever had
The reasoning is plain to see
It's like a monkey on my back that keeps clawing at me

With my bags now packed I head for the door
To see if I can collect anything more
Though there's not a lot of room that is left
I can cram tight in my emotional bags

No matter where you find you are
Or how far you've gone
God still thinks of you
As His special one

There's not a thing that you
Could ever think to do
That would ever make Him take
His love away from you

With the time that's left
You can refuse His wonderful gift
Yet he'll still give you the chance
Up to your last dying breath

You can flip out, fuss, and fight
Try you best to deny
All that your heart tells you
Although you know it's right

He'll continue to pursue
The sceptic deep inside of you
But when the decision needs be made
He'll leave that up to you

I pray before it is too late
That you learn the truth
Deep inside your heart and mind
How much God loves you