when did we become yesterday's people
stuck in the moment of living the past
not learning from mistakes once made
with results being the same as the same ones they had

bring up the past being yesterday's people
quick to forget the cards that are dealt
all we can see is through knotted peep holes
which takes us too long to figure it out

the future resides with yesterday's people
with a monkey see monkey do attitude
coming out in the wash what was poured from the detail
yesterday's people it's all we know how to do

I took a trip today down memory lane
Stopping off at a few friends graves
Not that they could but thought I would have my say
Knowing little difference it would make

I talked about all that we had done
Bringing in both the sorrow and the fun
A conversation of one on one
With every stone I sat upon

I brought up death, I brought up life
And how one must be lost for the other to find
To me that seems like such a crime
As the tears fell from my eyes

I wiped each stone gingerly as I walked away
Not sure they'd recognize me today old and gray
But I do feel better after having my say
From my stroll down memory lane

There's a chef in my mind
That does all the cooking
Mixing words into rhyme
Brings home the bacon

Changes up recipes
Stirring freely
In and out of the pan
With poetic ease

If it's not to his taste
He spices it up
Broiled, fried, or baked
Poems served up for lunch

It's like he's on a mission
Always in my kitchen
Trying new recipes out
On whoever will listen

The chef in my mind
That does all the cooking
Mixing words into rhyme
Brings home the bacon

What good am I
To a world that's in need
Of Jesus Christ
If in me, he they don't see
If I'm not willing to make
The sacrifice
Lay down my life
What good am I

What good am I
To a world that is lost
If I am not willing
To pay the cost
To swim in the truth
That they need to find
In the river of live
What good am I

What good am I
To a world on its death bed
Do I bring it the comfort
On which to lay its head
Do I show them that Jesus
Is the way, truth, and life
If I don't show them with mine
Then what good am I

I'm on a secret mission
If you promise not to tell
And if you all will carefully listen
To you now the beans I'll spill

I will share with you the highlights
Of my life as a spy
From the car chases to the bar fights
Adding my on touch of Savoir faire

You only THINK you know me
But you have no idea
My cover is in poetry
It keeps the spy in me well hid

And as long as I'm spilling secrets
Here's another one for the books
I don't even write my on poetry
It's the department in the basement that makes me look good

Now that all that's off my chest
I feel relief in all my spy claims
Anyways the spy business is nonsense
With all this work and no worldly change

I have so many poems in front of me
That may never see the light
Would I have wrote had I known
They'd be laid by the wayside

All with the best intentions
To bring them to fruition
But alas today's the day
Of more subtraction than addition

Sitting patiently in the docket
Awaiting on their turn
A turn that never seems to come
Another lesson to be learned

But still a hope in hand is held out
For the day my thoughts run dry
And I'll go back to where I left them
On the wayside of poetic life

There's certain goings on
Up on Seven Acre Farm
No one seems to really know
Nor care to talk about

Guess this town round here figures
Out of sight and out of mind
But curiosity's got the best of me
And I'm jumping on that line

Been that way since my younger days
My Mama always states that as a fact
Trying to remember what they say
Bout curiosity and the cat

Round bout midnight I make my move
My only light the moon and stars
I take to the woods cause I know them and they know me good
And they always hide well where you are

When I come up on Seven Acre Farm
I can make out one dim bulb
In an upper bedroom window
Casting shadows on the wall

I could tell that something wasn't right
But not sure of what it was
That's when I decided to climb the trellis
To get a closer look

When I heard what I thought were voices
I tried myself to make no sound
I peaked up over the window sill
As the answers to my questions came about

I never did have time enough
To sound the towns alarm
If you go to look for me I'm now buried deep
Somewhere up on Seven Acre Farm

When did we become this toss out generation
Where the relationships we have
We toss onto the pile before us
Growing ever higher with no regret

If what we have between us
Is treated like trash along the way
That we litter our lives with
What about us does that say

With the time we spend texting friends
Instead of time spent face to face
We trash that bit of intimacy
That won't soon be replaced

We need this more than not
That feeling of the human touch
Something of which there is not enough
Giving hope and giving love

And we wonder why another failed relationship
Is added to the pile
You hope you'll eventually feel better about yourself
Though it may take a little while

I think the worst about us though
Is how we treat ourselves
If we don't stand up for ourselves in love
How can we expect it from anyone else

We try not and let it bother us
Hoping for happiness in the end
In this now toss out generation
Always searching for a trash bin

My daddy taught me

When I was very young

When I was very young

How to hold a gun

How to hold a gun

And never let it go

Must have been something

My daddy thought that I should know

Never did get drafted

But still I went to war

Still I went to war

Every day for sure

Every day for sure

Is like a battlefield

Never let them take you down

Never should you yield

I only bring this up

Cause I feel it's getting late

Feel it's getting late

For America's sake

For America's sake

We might need to up and run

Unless it is my son

You hold onto your gun

i'm as lucid as a lunatic

playfully insane

over the moon like a loony tune

tiddly winking the day away

over the edge as if unhinged

flapping in the wind

being led by voices in my head

as they speak up once again

my elevator quickly passes

every other floor

but in my mind i still can find

the light of one more poem

i might look naive
                  but i have seen life
          from the position i'm in
                  from the dawn of the day
         *to the edge of the night
sitting on the head of a pin

             i may look to be
                       new to the scene
                  but believe me i've always been here
         you talk of the past
                   like it's history
                           blink and disappear

        i have seen life
                  in the face of a child
                         life in the crook of the old
                 at the edge of the hurt
        at the end of the smile
                   life for all that it's worth

                      i have seen life
            on it's darker side
   seen it on the left and the right
               seen it places never thought that i would
          from the middle
                    from the front
                            *from behind

Tried of it All
          Tired of it Now
A need to Survive
          Won't help us Out

Peace on Earth
          Some sort of Joke
What they feed Us
          Making us Choke

This is the Bed
          In which we Lay
Headboard a Tombstone
          Societies Grave

WHY DO THE MEN WE HIRED TO SERVE
SHAKE OUR HANDS AND GIVE US THEIR WORD
ONLY THEN TO GIVE IT ALL
TO THE ONES WHO GREASE THEIR PALMS*

WHY HAVE WE NOT OUR LESSON LEARNED
YEARS OF GOVERNMENTS UNCONCERN
LONG AGO THEY TURNED THEIR BACK
LEAVING US NO MORE THAN WHAT WE LACK

Time we stood Up
          In the thick of it All
Do it Ourselves
          Make our own Calls

That's the way that It
          Was meant to Be
Government under Control
          *With the people set Free

We take pills for this
Pills for that
To help us smile
Make us laugh

Pills we feel
We need desperately
To wake us up
To help us sleep

These we keep
Within easy reach
Pinks and Blues
Reds, Yellows, Greens

Some need pills
If you ask me
To help in the realm
Of personality

There're pills to battle
Hunger pangs
Raise and lower
Our heart rates

Pills we think
We think we need
To keep away
The latest disease  

Pills to counter
Sides effects
Until we have
No effects left

When did we
All come to be
A bunch of zombified
Pill popping freaks

Would you like to see a trick
I hear that you like magic
As the world takes hold our hearts
Watch it disappear with them

Would you like to take a guess
At how it saws our love in half
Can you see the slight of heart
And figure out where it's at

What we had before all that
Was only smoke and mirrors
Where we found nothing left
Once the room had cleared

Just like the rabbit in the hat
Love up and hopped away
What is left with that said
I guess the tricks on you and me

As we were digging for diamonds
Diving for pearls
Rummaging for rubies
Through bottom left hand drawers

Out mining for silver
Panning for gold
The world around us was collapsing
And no one was told

We had our sights on the riches
Standing in the buffet line
Fulfilling all of our wishes
On Carte Blanche we would dine

We'll show up late to the wedding
But early to the grave side
In the direction we're heading
Are we too late for this life

We keep drilling delusion
Cultivating the lies
With the harvesting of conclusions
More wrongs than ever were right

We find ourselves building the tower
Of Babel once again
Being paid by the hour
With overtime thrown in

When did it all
Come to all of this
Was it after the fall
Or was it before the kiss

Why does death bring out the best in us
Where we don't speak of ill will
Is the suffering enough from the loss
That we don't dare add to the bill

When it's hard to find words so kind
We might say God rest their soul
Try and smile knowing all the while
The truth is left untold

Makes you wonder why when we're still alive
We let each other be
Reasoning that it's their life to live
And has nothing to do with me

Too late to make a difference
Now that they're not coming back
Knowing the truth it's still what we do
When don't speak ill of the dead

what is it that beats hard in your chest
why all the pebbles in your veins
is it any wonder that when you cry
you splash puddles of acid rain

what keeps you out, out on the fringe
why the desire for the alone
why the sudden finish before the end
because of your heart of stone

there is a chill that comes with your wind
ice hangs from off your eaves
closing the door to all life has to give
why can't the world just leave you be

the casket that holds the thoughts in your head
buried deep in the unknown
it's starting to rot, all that is left
because of your heart of stone

the line that was drawn long ago was broke
letting go the hold on you
all the faith that it takes, all of the hope
slaps down hard your attitude

shoving it tight into a box
that you've labeled with a darkened NO
all that you have, the entire lot
**because of your heart of stone

With clean underwear
And a clean pair of shorts
My friends are all wondering
What's the big fuss
I even took out a razor
And let it have it's way
I figured sooner or later
So why not today

As I went about the groom
I put deodorant on
By the name of Right Guard
So I left the left arm alone
You might be wondering
Why I think this way
Been doing it most of my life
So why not today

I even splashed on cologne
So I'd have it going on
Splashed it both sides
As the name didn't denote
This all gives me the feeling
Of being Hollywood made
Which has never happened before
So why not today

Being ready, I stepped out
On the sunny side of the street
I've always heard
That's where the bright people meet
As I gave it my best
Hand shakes and waves
Maybe start a new craze
"Why not today"

People often ask me
What it is I've got
That makes me so happy
When clearly others aren't

Then they tend to wonder
If I'm putting on a front
But when you want for nothing
There's nothing that you want

Where everything I own and need
Could fit in a paper bag
Again there's nothing that I want
That I do not have

Which keeps it rather simple
Where no battles need be fought
When all I want or even own
Is nothing but Diddly Squat

There's a certain amount of freedom
That can't be denied
When everything you own in life
You carry by your side

And if by chance you lose it
It's not a case of do or die
Because the little stuff's not worth sweating
In the larger scope of life

With nothing here to cling to
But me, myself, and I
And a few essentials
I keep by my side

All I bring to the party
Is me, I'm the entire lot
Easy said and easy done
With nothing but Diddly Squat

Still waging in the wonder
Of how I ended here
From my tender beginnings
To a path that's never clear

With a dog named Bruno
And a cat called Mars
Chasing after each others tails
In and out between foreign cars

A shadow at my feet
That follows me around
Sneaking up on me
Silence its favorite sound

And show tunes from the 50's
Playing over in my head
From My Fair Lady, The King And I
To the Music Man

With a sticker on my window
That shows baby on board
And me being single
I have to wonder what it's for

I always arrive for Fridays
On late Saturday night
All by myself
On a two seater bike

I've got a spitting image
Of who I used to be
Now that I look at myself
I hardly recognize me

I go around in circles
From the left to right
Always walking backwards
Trying to slow down time

In this desert life of mine
I'm my own mirage
Where what I hope to find
I also try to dodge

Most of my days are spent
Trying to make sense
And if you care to count the change
Could you tell me what the cents is

Who brings young girls to life
Who speaks in Savoir faire
Who looks a pure delight
In Calvin's underwear

Who has a body of
The latest in Greek Gods
Who gets the job well done
With a wink and a nod

Who is G.Q. classified
With the bluest of blue eyes
Who has no blemishes
In the perfect camera light

Who is this mortal man
The crowds all bow down to
Who has the golden tan
That you can't get in Duluth

Who brings his entourage
When he goes out for a walk
Who has the whitest smile
With no need to talk

Who has the pouty frown
With the perfect lip
Who wears the bathing suit
But never takes a dip

Who is every young girls dream
Who'd they like to wake up to
Who's clothes have the perfect seam
Who's picture makes them drool

Who has the style we want
The gold tips in his hair
The only question is
Why do we really care

I've made a mess of this life
Didn't even have to think twice
When I did what I did since I was a kid
And I'll do what I do till they shut the lid

I've made a mess of the things
That a mess of a life always brings
From the beginning of it I've shot from the hip
As I'll continue to do till my heart up and quits

I've made a mess of it all
And I'm sure I'll do quite a bit more
When I tend to feed on it all selfishly
You're welcome at my table but please keep your seat

I've made a mess of this life
Do you even need to question why
When my main goal in life is all about me
It's hard to deny and easy to see

I've made a mess of this life

there's nothing to prove
there's nothing to do
no batting of eyes
or smile ever cute
nothing that old
you can add to the new
that could ever make me
fall less for you

there are no cliche's
no way to behave
no dwelling of past
no dreaming of days
no coming of early
or leaving of late
that could ever make me
want to give you away

i will never lie
always stand in the truth
in all that i say
in all that i do
i'm cutting all ties
letting it loose
everything in my life
that keeps me from you

because i once made a promise
and i'll make it again
to love you forever
and never say when
in love more today
than i was back then
come whatever may
till the very end

I'm never going to cry again
Even if it comes in season
Or blows in on the Eastern wind
My crying days are through

I've had more than my share of it
I could name off all the reasons
Then you would know why I need to quit
All because of you

Never again will I laugh out loud
Joy itself has lost all meaning
No longer to even think about
The less I have to do

Never going to show an ounce of pain
Am I the only who doesn't believe me
Wait, here come the tears again
Running down the face of this love struck fool

I swore I was never going to cry again
All my senses seem to be leaving
Just when I thought I had reached the end
Again I think of you

Which side do you butter your bread on
Which side do you jelly your toast
Is it on opposite sides, the left or the right
Or is over and under the way you flow

Do you let the jelly smother the butter
Let the butter get under the breads skin
What we have here is classic paper, rock, scissors  
Which makes me wonder who's going to win

When it comes to these breakfast battles
It really doesn't matter to me
I look at my plate, cause I'm running late
So I pop in my mouth and chew up all three

I see you out there walking
And talking to yourself
What do you do and who do you talk to
When there's clearly no one around

Do you have a load of friends
Imaginary along the way for company sake
To keep the conversation flowing
Something crazy you'd like to say

In the dead of winter
Wearing shoes with no socks
In the coldest of weather
Like that Talking Heads song

I even see you on the corner
In your pacing back and forth
Giving someone a piece of what you have left
For all that you are worth

I sit in my car and contemplate
Where you and I, we both are at
I can count true friends on my one hand
As you count the many inside your head

And who is the happiest of the two
Me or you with the stress of life
If you stop to think about
Who is really out of their mind...

I'm turning in my tennis shoes
For a pair of Army boots
With a gun I'll have engraved
And a flag that I can wave

I'll wear a uniform of green
In place of my tattered jeans
I'll stand up straight like G.I. Joe
And never call the Captain Bro

I'll shave my head down to the nubs
Learn to love the Army grub
I will miss my girl back home
And only cry when I'm alone

I will smile and go to war
My only words will be Yes Sir
I will smoke and I will cuss
As I pound the foreign dust

I'll have my gun and shoot it straight
I'll only fire on those I hate
I will live and I will breath
Everyday the infantry

For much too long I have buried my head
Buried my head without a word being said
For much too long I have buried my head in the sand

For much too long I have shrugged it all off
Shrugged it all off without counting the cost
For much too long I have shrugged off the needs of the lost

For much too long I have kept my mouth shut
Kept my mouth shut when I should have opened it up
For much too long I have kept my mouth shut on God's love

For much too long will be eternity
Eternity without being set free
For much too long will be eternity for all humanity

For much too long can I have that on my head
That on my head that the truth wasn't said
For much too long can I have that on my head
with both the living and dead

For much too long...

Is this the part where I admit I have a problem?
Well at least a slight one, when it comes to poetry
Since it's all I ever think about
It's all I feel I need

There is never a situation
Where I'm not thinking of what next to write
You never know when the moment will hit you
Those perfect words needed to inspire

And the degree of concentration
When all of this occurs  
As I pour my entire heart, mind, and soul
Into every written word

Just ask friends and family who left me
That I didn't even notice they were gone
Until days later when I looked up
From the writing of another poem

I could be inside my house
With the four walls burning down
Concentrating on my creating
The next poem to astound

As I'm pounding out the verses
With firemen pounding on the door
I'll answer it eventually
Let me just jot down one line more

They could set off the big one
Wipe out half of the country
I'd be so intent on writing
I would barely feel the breeze

Yes, the world could collapse around me
And I would see nothing wrong
With my face pressed to the page
Writing down another poem

Even if I keeled over suddenly
From a major heart attack
I'm sure on my way to the funeral
I'd try and find a word to rhyme with that

So tell me do you think I have a problem?
When it comes to poetry?
When I even write a poem about it?
So others can enjoy the read

Don't care much about the beginning
Just want a happy end
If I knew that you were leaving
I would have taken time to beg
Now I'm left with nothing
Out of nothing less
Than what it is I started with
Before it is you left

Out of all that I remember
Nothing is the same
The night is cold and bitter
When daylight takes the blame
Inside the steady glow of fire
Throws shadows on my face
Taking hold of memories
That once held warm this place

Don't care much about the beginning
Just want a happy end...

Outer Space
On a cosmic pickle
At the speed of Dill
Makes my tonsils tickle

Whistling
Star struck tunes
Powered by
Sonic pickle juice

What's a spaced-out cowboy
Supposed to do
In a bucking galaxy
Pickle groove

Riding high
On a cosmic pickle
At the speed of Dill
Makes me giggle

Have you got time for another story
Of life lessons and of love lost
Of fighting a war where no one keeps score
Being afraid of counting the cost

With men sitting around in a board room
Pin striped suits mixed with power ties
With no conscience in the stroke of a pen
Changing many young lives

At 18 years old what's your hurry
In killing for what you're told to believe
When a bunch of old men take you by the hand
Helping to plant hates deceitful seed

You've watched your buddies die in the jungle
Seen body parts fly off in the sand
Where tempers once flared now you don't even care
You'll just keep shooting till nobody's left

Back home is where you keep the memories
Of your girl but who's keeping her
As you battle for freedom cause you still believed them
When they told you, you could save the world

This has gone on for years now too long
When will we stand up and let go of the hand
Of the men at the top who want more than they've got
And will strive to get it till there's not a one of us left

She loves to say goodbye
She tells me all the time
No need to remind
She loves to say goodbye

I have never met her friends
Though I've asked time and time again
I may not be around when
She finally does give in

Not sure about her Mom and Dad
Hasn't introduced me yet
If I had to place a bet
Don't know if I should cry or laugh

We met on the side of the road
With her thumb in overload
I said where, she said just go
Maybe then I should have known

That she loves to say goodbye
Cause she tells me all the time
Guess there's no need to remind
That she loves to say goodbye

Ring the bell for new beginnings
Ring it for the promise kept
Ring the bell for happy endings
Almost there but not quite yet

Ring the bell through cries of laughter
Ring the bell through tears of joy
Ring it loudly with the answer
Ring it high above the noise

Ring the bell in times of trouble
Ring it for both hope and fear
Ring it for the proud and humble
For those both far and near

Ring the bell in times of darkness
Ring it loudly in the light
Ring the bell for those who need rest
Ring it for the lost to find

Ring it through the streets and alleys
Ring the bell around the bend
From the mountains to the valleys
All the way up to the end

In mind of the situation
Of the darkness held within
Let me help you with your breathing
Inhaling grains of sand

Standing over the trapdoor
Hidden hands grasping  the cord
Giving it another tightened yank
With the loosening of the floor

There's an echo in the chamber
Hello...is anyone home
Did you read all the disclaimers
That have left you here alone

A cold wind blows the book open to a blank page
Where there are no words to explain
The emptiness of the blank days
As shoes with no socks splash puddles of rain

Grabbing the ledge with all of your might
Feeling gravity's pull
On the edge of nowhere in sight
Giving into the scream as it lets itself loose

Bury me out on the open range
After you fill my pockets up
with all your worthless change
A marker with the day and year
but please leave off the name
When you bury me out on the open range

Shallow enough to hear the coyote howl
Deep enough where I'll stay warm
when the sun goes down
Far enough away
where I never will be found
But close enough
so my ghost can go to town

Bury me out on the open range
Then go about your business
when the memory of me fades
And if you ever think of me again
please give that piece away
When you bury me out on the open range