To us a coroner is already a dead man
For he has seen the face of death and wept.

To us a priest is parent
While he does his best to comfort
He must honorably fail.

To us a teacher is a student
Learning from the young
All things
He was taught to forget.

To us a light is a light
If it can be seen
And that's a very good thing
To us.

To us life's a walk in the park
Through sometimes this stormy weather
But before sleeping on the dark grass
(Lepers that we are)
We send a prayer up to the sky
In wishful thinking
Maybe we'll wake up

Confess the words that are
trapped behind a stubborn mind
and every clause you conceal
because with every tear of light
and sailor in the night
ten million heavy hearts are breaking.

AND DON'T FORGET YOU AREN'T ALONE

think of all the computers
you sat and ate dinner not long ago
thinking you'd be asleep soon
but aha, you've got insomnia *******.

cheer up
for Christ sakes man
it's only a film
and you're at the center
maybe you'll look up some day
at distant stars and think
WOW we're just like that !

Roughed up a bit

Carrying memories to the new year

Holding these inside

Waiting for nothing

But passing through

Every hour

Smooth sometimes

Anguished others

Hoping to keep myself around

Waving at the world as it passes through a stream

Though it ages me

May the time come when my bottle breaks

And I release my soul unto a golden shore

When dark is the cloud my head still in the Savannah sleeps

My heart like a native drum beats to the rhythm of the hours

The great hours flow like one dark river

My eyes in the heavens tell me secrets of the past

My ancient past and ancient feelings

A sick pale like moonlight on the cold leaves

My mind escapes like a wild animal into the grass

My mind with it's own heart racing

It's own drum beating quick to the quick animal breaths

In panic through the tombstone streets lit with souls

Strange dark of ancient days

The pounding drum in my every step

Lighter than the midnight air

And I took to the sky and flew away

Dancing madly through my dreams

Wicked dreams that go unpunished

Vile dreams slipped away into the bottomless chasm of night

My heart sank like a stone into that dark

And I was found panting

Out of breath

Marooned on dawn's naked shores

Spare not my feelings

Sick of friends and rage at the wall

Cool words in silence bleed

And I'm stuck staring at the wall

Fire dance in the milk of life

Drunk and made by the sunlight

Spare not my feelings and ill regret

Wine in our hearts opened the windows of love

I could be made of gold,                                                                                                                                         and dance my life away.
I could glow with praise,                                                                                                                                         I could be lifted by the crowd.
I could charge by the hour,                                                                                                                                     I could make living cheap.
I could dine with kings,                                                                                                                                           or deny them the pleasure.
I could be outspoken,                                                                                                                                             even whispering my voice would be heard.
I could raise the sun,                                                                                                                                               I could command the stars.
Yet it would not make me happy,                                                                                                                          it would not make me sing.
Beyond you there is nothing,                                                                                                                               and no love of anything.

Hopeless sight of the emerald piers
My hazard mind and scattered tears
******* desires forget my strength
Fearing death and life at length
I know little but what I know
Will carry on and forever grow
I've sold my soul and mortal being
To say "yes" without agreeing
I see boats on the horizon sink
And people cower in fear to think
I've seen books burn in great bonfires
And evil men the devil admires
But I'd like to build a Jerusalem with pillars of gold
A place to sin and never grow old
I want more by the day
The impossible, trite, and things I cannot say
Yet I lack for nothing now
Having killed the sacred cow
And finally to stand on the world's end
Crimes behind I cannot amend
And still with tears in my eye
Breathe not a word and quickly die
Hopeless the sight of the emerald piers
My hazard mind and scattered tears