brick*  
                                                      
­                                       *by

                                                           ­         brick
we build a nation on gold.
we lay foundation.
using cement made of souls.
we throw pocket change at you,
you hope it might pay the rent.

brick  
                                                   ­   
                                       by

                                                           ­         brick

we hope you notice our tricks.
so we can enslave or recruit you,
but you'll never be "in".

brick  
                                                   ­   
                                       by

                                                           ­         brick

We exist in plain sight.
We guise ourselves in importance
"integrity", and might.

brick  
                                                   ­   
                                       by

                                                           ­         brick

We built a white house,
if it doesn't follow our direction
We'll easily tear it down.

brick  
                                              ­        
                                       by

                                                           ­         brick

We monitor your "homes"
Though meager and uninteresting
We'll catch you should you roam.

brick  
                                                   ­   
                                       by

                                                           ­         brick

We are controlling the world.
You think you get it, you don't.
And you never will, girl.

brick  
                                                   ­   
                                       by

                                                           ­         brick

We use everything to fight against you.
Inflation, taxation, gas prices
Even how much you'll pay during cold season
for a tissue.

brick  
                                            ­          
                                       by

                                                           ­         brick

We hope you keep accepting.
If you don't look too closely
You'll never notice what we're neglecting.

brick  
                                        ­              
                                       by

                                                           ­         brick

We hid our ghosts in history.
If you pay attention to the patterns,
you might just learn from me.

Indecisive and sounding as interesting as a brick
wall, I sauntered along the brick path colliding
with my brick silent mood, causing me to falter

kicking the covers, dislodging the brick,
hour on hour in the brick dark night, eyes
feeling brick heavy, tossed, turned,

the bathroom, bricked in on four sides,
plodded in the dead of night to the beat of
heavy laden feet, tic toc as the brick swings

soil, solid bricked ground, shuttered down
solitude, walking away....a heart,. brick heavy,
awash, water swirling, brick pockets....sinking

I built these walls up,
Brick by brick,
When I was just a child.
They kept me safe,
They kept me sane,
They kept me from you.

I built these walls up,
Brick by brick,
Cementing them with the hate,
The pain,
The disgust
That you inflicted upon me.

I built these walls up,
Brick by brick,
Hoping they could shield my heart,
Hoping they could protect me from the world,
Hoping they could stop you.

I built these walls up,
Brick by brick,
A layer for each hour of loathing,
Each hour of self-hatred,
Each hour of torture,
That I barely endured.

I built these walls up,
Brick by brick,
To save me from the world.
To save the world from me.

But then you came,
On that motorcycle.
Speeding down my road
With coldness in your heart.

But then you came,
And tore these walls apart.
And I couldn't bear it;
You ripped them asunder with your bare fingers
Without even laying a hand on me.

But then you came,
And I saw your face,
And these walls
I had built up,
Brick by brick,
All those years ago,
Those walls came shattering down.

build it, brick by brick and if a brick
was built with wrong instructions,
throw the brick away and create a
new one. Put it next to the first one.

Stop, destroy the wall you've made.
Just talk to her, stupid.

As I put on the sandals made of red
I embark on a journey where the past I’ve shed
I follow the yellow brick road

It twists and turns, windless and winds
Around the bend and toward the skies
Over the seas and into a new land
With my family hand in hand
I follow the yellow brick road

And on this road I find a ball
That entertains me through it all
I share and play with those around
Through the air or on the ground
Kicking, hitting, bouncing, throwing it up and down
I follow the yellow brick road

As I walk I meet a fork
And don’t know which way to go
But which ever way I go
I know I’ll find
The place I want to end in space and time
So I take a left and keep my course
As I follow the yellow brick road

I encounter on my voyage there
People that can help me bear
The burden that I care
Of all the deaths I’ve seen
On the path that I have been
I follow the yellow brick road

I reach a high and reach and low
Nevertheless I know where I shall go
I hit some bumps and fall right down
But always get up and never frown
I follow the yellow brick road

As I see the road comes to an end
I look at myself as an old man
Searching this whole time
To find my place, to find my life
To do what’s right, to claim what’s mine
I’ve been on the road this whole time
On the road of my life

And on this road I have found
The person I am on this humble ground
And as I dig my grave so deep
I know I cannot go to sleep
All the unfinished things I still have to do
The questions, answers, and all things new

So I put on the sandals made of red
As a new road appears where the past I’ve shed
The sins I’ve gathered
I follow the yellow brick road

Brick by brick,
The walls have becometh mine lonliest of friends!!!
A slave just like me!
A slave indeed, bound to Plato structure!
Though painted white,
I see them in many colors!!!!

Not biased at all,
Brick by brick these walls even the ugliest,
Have turned into the greatest of all friends!!!!!

They speak indeed,
Just silently.....

i dreamt
i moved into a apartment
with an old brick wall
and its decaying face
the old light hanging from a thread
swings on the open breeze
from the window
time seems to slow down to a crawl
so i can see each and every flaw
so i can feel each and every thing she wanted me to feel
so i can know each and everything she saw
and so i see the the moment captured in ink
on her sketch pad
a drawing of the wind in the trees
a image of the smell of the fresh cut grass
the thoughts of the passer-by
who looked with such stark wonder
at this open display of what we have all taken
for granted we could never achieve

the old brick wall
leaned into the wind
and held
for one more day
kept safe the world she held so dear
safe for one more stormy night
the old brick wall
with its spray painted messages
like how joe loves daisy
and how we should make love not war
the old brick wall
holds back the world
from coming into her quiet soul
into the paper flowers and lace curtains of her life

the old brick wall
was once the west most piece of
the boxers rebellion
he was sad all his life
torn from his violent profession
and forced to retire
and his fists lay idle
with objections written on them like scars
but after years he came to terms
with the reasons great and small
with the rationalizations made up and real
and found peace
he found his fists could be hands
and hands can pet a cat
hands can paint a masterpiece
write a love poem
hands can touch another person without hurting them
and he suddenly he didn't want to hurt anyone ever again
because he loved having hands
and all the beautiful things they could do
he would never have fists again
and that change in him  
was so profound that it became magical and
part of the old brick wall

so it will endure past its years
to protect her little scavenged world
her delicate life
her frail thoughts
because beauty isn't always
what the world thinks it is
a boxer can tell you that

We all need our walls
They keep out that which is unwanted

So, you ***** a simple structure of wood

But wood can be burned
And is therefore, insufficient

So, you build it up with brick
Encasing either side

But brick can be crushed to powder
And wood can be burned
And is therefore, insufficient

So, you build it up with granite stone
Encasing either side

But granite stone can be mined away
And brick can be crushed to powder
And wood can be burned
And is therefore, insufficient

So, you build it up with wrought iron
Encasing either side

But wrought iron breaks if struck in the right place
And granite stone can be mined away
And brick can be crushed to powder
And wood can be burned
And is therefore, insufficient

So, you build it up with four-inch steel
Encasing either side

But four-inch steel can be cut away
And wrought iron breaks if struck in the right place
And granite stone can be mined away
And brick can be crushed to powder
And wood can be burned
And is therefore, insufficient.

But then you ponder
The wood
The brick
The granite
The iron
The steel

And you realize
In trying to protect your soft core
In trying to spare others from the radiation that is your uniqueness
In building your fortress
You have isolated yourself

And though you feel your wall
Will always be insufficient

In truth

Nobody
Will ever be determined enough
Or brave enough
To cut away the four-inch steel
To strike and break the iron
To mine away the granite stone
To crush the brick to powder
To burn the wood
And crush the brick to powder
And mine away the granite stone
And strike and break the iron
And cut away the four-inch steel

In keeping others out
You have locked yourself in
Your own private, frozen hell
Of toxic radiation

The ice consumes you
And only you can thaw it
The wall looms tall and dark
And only you can demolish it
You cannot stop being who you are
And only you can convince yourself that you are not toxic

But you were never truly trying to keep others out, were you?
You were trying to keep out yourself

You are your own worst enemy