The path is a dusty one, Tin woman. Be careful what you seek
Take heed of the love you show and the words of love you speak
Feelings are a clouded mirror viewed from a distant smoky peak
They’re not for the faint, nor for the cautious, nor for the weak
What a wicked mystique

Hearts can slowly rust from the rivers of tears that flow in time
Smiles become fissured hills too hard to hold, to steep to climb
Time’s a thunderous rolling drum, not a gentle bell that chimes
Crushing with fearful trembling hands a love free and sublime
What a wicked crime

How many times have I murdered his love in infancy?
So afraid of getting hurt, so scared of what could be
My eyes closed so tight in fear that my heart couldn’t see
The genuine love from the man standing in front of me
What a wicked irony

My strongholds were in place with my defenses strong and tall
He stormed into my heart like a wolf and devoured them all
He destroyed my every hidden place and tore down every wall
But the fearful feeling that I’m not enough, caused me to stall
What a wicked fall

I thought I had shed yesterday like a sloughed skin
But I’m wrapped in the carcass of what should’ve been
A flower picked before its life could even begin
So scared of love’s thorns that I had to pull the pin
Such a wicked end

Now I pay my dues for love left strangled in the grave
The remnant of my failure to be free and to be brave
I sit among the ashes of the life and love I could not save
My once beating heart is now the darkness that enslaves
What a wicked cave

I dig deep into the shallow tomb uncovering my faults
Buried in the casket of my dreams with the peace I sought
Laid to rest with the battles I lost before I even fought
Perhaps my falling star was never meant to be caught
What a wicked thought

Drowned love swims in my veins, with the one I hold so dear
Eyes, they lose their luster and ears, they lose the will to hear
Souls they quake. Hearts they break. Lovely visions disappear
The internal compass ceases to guide. The rudders fail to steer
What a wicked fear

I sit beneath the darkness among a thousand shining eyes
They illuminate my thoughts like pensive twinkling spies
A million tiny searchlights contour each corner of my sky
Revealing my tender crux of weakness as the pain draws nigh
What a wicked outcry

Sometimes healing seems impossible and hope falls out of sight
Sometimes my heart is buried within the darkness of this life
The sun slams shut the windows of my bright and starry night
But sometimes…sometimes there’s a tiny beacon of shining light
What a wicked delight

Even from the cradle of our new budding interchange
I felt what I had never felt with each new exchange
No longer in a numb stupor, anesthetized and disengaged
My apathy fell away, no longer distant and estranged
What a wicked change.

He’s still the same sweet soul as the boy of my adolescence
A smile that lights my world and eyes of bright incandescence
Now every vision is blinded by his lingering presence
Even the air that surrounds me is touched by his essence
Such a wicked omnipresence

He wiped away my tears and brought my heart relief
My hesitancy was shattered in the face of his belief
He robbed me of my sorrow. He stole away my grief
Such a strong valiant soul, such a kind and gentle thief
What a wicked reprieve

He never jabbed the soft and delicate center of my wrongs
Instead he held me close and anointed my ears with songs
He cradled me in his gentle embrace, right where I belonged
He veiled the clouds with his shining stars all the nightlong
What a wicked love song

What a plan of attack he chose to forever capture my favor
With his unexpected prose and his courage that never waivers
With a style all his own, a personality with unique flavor
With his caresses and his kisses that I came to slowly savor
What a wicked quaver

As his voice cracked nervously when he first said he loved me
The way his embrace covered me in a blanket of sweet serenity
The nights have become a dungeon of these trapped memories
My heart is confined within its walls, never again to be set free
What a wicked destiny

Flaws- they claw at the door of daylight, refusing to be ignored
They beat, bash, kick and scream, breaking down every door
I am greater than my defeats. I am stronger. I am more
Than stones flying among shattered glass crashing to the floor
What a wicked war

So many battles to fight, so many pains pulling me under
So many cancerous cells ripping my body and hope asunder
I won’t back down in fear from this life or its roaring thunder
My soul will not be left for dead, for pillage or for plunder
What a wicked wonder

I’m so much deeper than a radiant shallow visual perception
What lay beneath is so much more profound than perfection
You’ll see bruises, ripples of a life lived, upon closer inspection
The sea of love shines brilliant upon its surface and reflection
What a wicked infection

The currents drag me down again every time I reach for air
The rising tide seems too high, the heaviness too much to bear
I struggle and fight to swim but I have no strength to spare
No sign of a lighthouse ahead, deep into the darkness I stare
What a wicked snare

But I am more than a revenant arising from a mortal fall
Each day I climb the canyons that make me feel so small
Every day I trample over spaces where once I crawled
Each moment I overcome obstacles and break down walls
What a wicked brawl

I will surge forth into the mysteries of this night without fear
I will fight without wavering until my final breath draws near
Until I take back what is mine, and every cancer cell disappears
This world that tried to destroy me will know that I’m still here
What a wicked leap year.