I'll step across that blinding light.
I'll build upon the life that's mine.
I'll yell my dreams aloud at night.
I won't let the colours go out of sight.
I'll try my best to get shut eye.
I'll try to stand up for my rights.
I won't give up the fight so kind.
But forgive me if I falter along the line;
Maybe get drunk or a little high.
Maybe fall in love and cover my cries.
Maybe I'll even laugh some lies.
I'll put on a well-masked smile.
I'll pretend that I'm completely fine.
I'll show the world my pearly whites.
But promise me you'll be by my side
When I finally lose my mind.

My wife, a psychiatrist, sleeps
through my reading and writing in bed,
the half-whispered lines,
manuscripts piled between us,

but in the deep part of night
when her beeper sounds
she bolts awake to return the page
of a patient afraid he'll **** himself.

She sits in her robe in the kitchen,
listening to the anguished voice
on the phone. She becomes
the vessel that contains his fear,

someone he can trust to tell
things I would tell to a poem.

I can't describe -
How the yearning hides.

How it waits
Until the dead of night,
To wear upon the mind.

My joys are but
The hung-wax tears,
Of a candle
Once burnt down.

I want to sleep forever and reside in my dreams
           To frolic through a collage of different spectacles and scenes
                An escape from the insufferable, cruel world at large
I want to sleep forever

I want to sleep forever so I can live in my dreams
           The ruler of the lands, the queen of all kings
               With nothing to fear but the darkside of the conscience
I want to sleep forever

I want to sleep forever and fight my inner demons
        Provide peace of mind for all bothered and exhausted
              Float on utter bliss; those monsters, I'll never miss
I want to sleep forever

I want to sleep forever and never show sadness again
        Bright, long-lasting smiles on weekly sullen days
             Created and maintained in a variety of ways
I want to sleep forever

I want to sleep forever to erase everything
       I want to sleep forever and feel warmth again
           To bathe myself in content that won't ever end
Let me sleep forever

I was born on a belt
In the factory of man,
Rolled into a home,
Labeled and stamped.

My life was made honest
By ink on a page,
And my future controlled
By a system of wage.

My whole life thus far,
Two decades of lame,
Incompetent bureaucratic,
Institutional reign

Has seen us shuffled down
The educational lane,
Made unified products;
For unified gain.

Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.

Decide today that there is something great.

Should I ask you about your love and life;

Would you rather I talk about your hate?

On the morrow the day will end in strife.

There will be a time when you will shine.

By chance the end will not come in the dark.

There is one that I know wants to be mine.

When you got to this place there was a spark

I wished for this moment of the long day

Where I could sit and ponder at your words.

Now that this is the time we shall delay

All of those times that get cut into thirds.

But you now are so gone, you are not here

The person I once knew will disappear.