You saw me as a fool, a child
And treated me as such.
I claimed mine was an icy heart
Yet melted with one touch.
So much alike, you knew me
And I hated that you could see
The man behind the stony mask
The truth, as it may be.

I loved you steeped in silence
from the corner of my eye.
You knew I was a hopeless mess
My composure was a lie,
Yet you approached with velvet hand,
I must have looked like an antique-
But you lifted layers of death and dust
from the truth, or so to speak.

You wouldn't let me hide my eyes,
The light you made me see.
And broken lies and alibis
Against your ears failed me.
The ****** know no frustration
Like an actor with no role;
You stripped my ruse away to see
The truth, or so I'm told.

I'm full of love and resentment
The world is just a pill
Stuck in my throat, belaying notes
That when sung come out shrill
But you're on top, where you belong,
Such anathema received
You refuse me my bitter outlook
at the truth, as it's believed.

I'll never be your hero,
It isn't in my soul.
I cannot be a guiding light
I lack the self-control
But I cannot spend another day
Believing we're both dead
I drag my lifeless body towards
The truth, or so it's said.

Through the bottom of this bottle
I can see you oh, too clearly
The lights come up, and curtains draw
On something cherished dearly
And as the world files out-
all around us wave goodbyes-
And the two of us are left alone
with the truth, and other lies

I loved you from a distance
from the corner of your eye
You never cared I was a mess
You knew that I would lie,
Still somewhere in the stormy night
we held each other warm and tight-
and learned more than we thought we could
about the truth, and wrong and right

Now, I miss the part of me
that could barely speak
And the part of you that handled me
Like a fool, a child so weak.
A contorted little memory
of what we shared is all
That I still hold of your life and times,
It's the truth, as I recall.

Love is a choice, not a feeling,
At least that Love which will endure.
Feelings are transient, really,
and feelings,  like sand, are unsure.
Love which endures will be patient,
Love works to improve every day.
Love is a choice, please remember this,
should the stars in her eyes fade away.

Somewhere, a brother's
not a brother for real,
who'd rather his little brother's
innocence steal.

I saw you standing, dressed to ****.
Perhaps waiting for someone to tell you of her thrill--
the thrill that you give, when you start to sing.
I should’ve told you then that I’d been listening.
I’d just started to listen, just begun to catch the fire;
it wasn’t until later that I burned with desire.
Then I fell for you, I fell for you deep.
You’ve been playing with my mind; you’ve been visiting my sleep.
I wish I’d told you then, that I’d give you anything;
though nothing I could give you, would equal what you bring--
what you bring to me nightly, what you touch in my core.
When you’re next in town, go out the back door.
I’ll show you the stars,  I’ll show you the lights;
I’ll give you what you crave at the  end of the nights.
I’ll tell you of my dream, I’ll tell you of my vision,
then I’ll worship at the altar of my one true religion.

A House divided cannot stand,
though we try to preserve it no one can.
Uncivil discourse leads to civil unrest.
Both sides dig their heels in
But no one is impressed.
I recall this all happened once before
when rancor escalated into civil war.
Six hundred thousand died by the end
and the weapons they used were inferior then.
What will the butcher’s bill cost us this time?
The hate of disunion-
It Approaches

It’s time.