Train horns pierce the muggy night.
Persistent in their cacophony.
They shake the walls and sound the time.
Like midnight roosters.

I shift beneath my stuffy sheets.
Roused from fitful sleep.
My eyes move to the bedroom window.
Drawn to the alure of night.

The moonlight has me in a trance.
Stray beams beckon me.
Dancing light to call me closer.
Through intermittent haze.

Now I feel the fog behind my eyes.
The night's hold has loosened.
I drift away until I'm awoken by birds,
Or the siren songs of boxcars.

Its amazing how we pass time
Cocooned
In our own beings so that
Nothing
Matters more than the next
Minute
And the freckles on our hands
Possess
More pull than magnetic
Ends
Of planets spinning with hushed
Breaths
Which may soon gasp the cursed
Smog
Of our corrupted souls

It came to pass that in a fiery blaze
You were born
Little being with the WORLD against you
Tiny spark
With only the tools of your own making
Rock and stick
Teeth for talking and hands for creating
So unlike
Yet so similar to those before you
I felt it
The shudders and shaking at your coming
The whole WORLD
Pausing for a second to stop and stare
Baby hands
Reaching towards the heavens to catch the sun
A face with
Intelligent eyes, that burned like your path
What are you
And what has your coming brought to the WORLD?

Emotions are a blessing to me
To you they are the worst of curses
I cry and they gather to let go
You cling to them to feel their embrace

The cold of winter would bite at you
I wear a jacket safe from the snow
The lancing spears of despair gather
I watch the icicles in your eyes

Once I would have given my jacket
But many times you have refused it
Till both of us stood still and frozen
You hurt me to see the snowflakes melt

Do you still remember the summer
I followed you to white sand beaches
You dipped your toes in cold water
I smiled for you were bravery

Back then I was merely the duckling
You forged paths through flower gardens
My small missteps painted me a ****
Yet you dont seem to remember then

Emotions were a blessing to you
I laughed to see you in the snow
You wore a coat of gathered crystals
And I followed you for your embrace

Ive been packing up my memories in an enormous box
One of those old wooden trunks with heavy metal locks

Ive been thinking on the past and disregarding the pain
Ive looked at all the photographs; the image is the same

Ive shoved it in a corner, in my attic and my mind
A dark and dank forgotten place where it is hard to find

Yet sometimes I will think on it and dig out my old key
To look on my mistakes and know now that I am free

Hey dork with the beautiful eyes,
How long will it take to realize,
You'll be fine, don't be surprised,
Problems disappear like water dries,

No more worries, no more fears,
Boy don't let me see you tears,
Your heart holds the future and steers,
Away from the discord that it hears.

You've got this, yes I'm sure,
Your beautiful soul will be your cure,
I see brilliance in your future,
I believe in you.

An uncomfortable crawling sensation,
Strange breaks in the conversation.

A question sits in your eyes,
One that your laugh can't disguise.

Half truths we hardly mention,
Only spoken for the attention.

This gut feeling may be wrong,
So I'll try to play along.

Your idolizing devotions,
Spawn my guilty emotions.

So maybe I will be fine,
Lying to this heart of mine.

Yesterday I asked myself,
Do I care about the pain?
The utterances from you mouth,
The tears that fell like rain.

Yesterday your face was red,
From things I couldn't feel,
Your sadness was your world,
For me it was hardly real.

Yesterday I sat and watched,
As you tried to set it straight,
And while I had been there,
It was a forgotten date.

Yesterday brought pain it's true,
My mind filled with regret,
It echoed with the thought of you,
Until tomorrow I forget.

There was a blue butterfly,
At my sill I saw it land,
And felt an emotion then,
That I try to understand.

The next day I returned,
And my blue friend did appear,
Not with awe inspiring flight,
But with crippling despair.

A ripped wing made flight hard,
Still it tried to fly in vain,
I watched with sorrow here,
On this side of the window pane.

I thought of all the butterflies,
And wondered why they fly,
The ground is so much safer,
Yet I always see them try.

Some torn from the air by wind,
Others stunted during growth,
But like them we all must live,
Flying high as if by oath.

I feel like I should be excited,
Or at the very least a bit sad,
My heart should be ignited,
My thoughts driving me mad.

Instead there's silence in my mind,
It's another ordinary day,
Though now I have new friends to find,
As we drive our car away.

They told me here my life would start,
Where experiences make us old,
Passions and people will shape my heart,
My story is waiting to be told.

Yet my story came long before,
It did not begin in hallowed halls,
And for some reason I thought it'd be more,
Instead of rising my heart falls.

As you're asleep I lie awake
Hope this something none can take
Hardening to prevent a break
Because distance ****** at the heart

Inside my heart there lives a snake
Maliciously it slithers around
It's poisoned fangs poised to bite
In fright I don't utter a sound

In my garden I left a rake
Lying littered on the ground
Around it the leaves dance chaos
Workers never to be found

All this destruction life likes to make
It's swirling confusion does astound
Until my heart and home it wrecks
And burns both of them to the ground

I think sunset is the most dangerous time
When we all stand staring at colors in the sky
Forgetting
The sunrise to new reds, pinks, and oranges

The blue sky is forgotten
And the way the rays beat upon our skin
Harming
Our lips leaving cracks and parched tongue

Do we remember the swaying grass?
The boulders that lay along the path
Blocking
Us from the cool relief of the ocean

Our muscles burned with new adventure
The wind kissed us and we kissed back
Wishing
For a little more time and a little less

No one thinks of the birds' conversation
Their brief melodies spawned passion
Developing
Attachment or shedding what little we had

I still remember the blues of the sky
But now our shadows stretch longer
Losing
The feeling of noon's light and heat

I still feel the sandman's kiss in my eyes
The subtle and hopeful beginning
Rising
Eagerly so that I may see the sunset

I see more progress in learning to
                      Love
               Than living to
                      Hate

Forty-nine flags furled,
Tears reflecting every hue,
On faces confusion swirled,
How could this loss be true?

Forty-nine families cry,
Looking for a reason in the pain,
Don't look where the bodies lie,
For how could they be slain?

Forty-nine sparks doused in water red,
With metal flying through the air,
Their last thoughts of dread,
But could the metal care?

Forty-nine lost to delusion,
Forty-nine lost to hate,
It still seems like an illusion,
Can we control our fate?

Forty-nine reasons not to become,
Like a homophobic man,
Who couldn't see the sum,
Of all the hearts that love and can,

Be better than that man.

The sun was singing in the sky,
Gazing upon the land,
It watched with joy the birds fly,
And beat upon the sand.

The people walked without a care,
Wiping sweat from their brows,
They let the wind blow through their hair,
And weaved through willow boughs.

But fast approach the clouds of gray,
Destroying all the fun,
For in the rain the people stray,
And so does the singing sun.