After Midnight
The narcissists fall
After Midnight
A new lyric calls

After Midnight
The bugles will blow
After Midnight
There’s more left to know

After Midnight
The lizards collect
After Midnight
All tales to reflect

After Midnight
The ticking won’t stop
After Midnight
The bottom has topped

After Midnight
A cancerous tome
After Midnight
Malignancy known

After Midnight
Betray and deceive
After Midnight
Alone in the siege

After Midnight
All footsteps fall deaf
After Midnight
Last palate uncleft

After Midnight
New story to front
After Midnight
A star for the dunce

After Midnight
The comets rebel
After Midnight
The coroners yell

After Midnight
A suit made of steel
After Midnight
Its melting reveals

After Midnight
The plain and the slack
After Midnight
There’s no turning back

After Midnight
A sacred oath sworn
After Midnight
All memory forlorn

After Midnight
The wheels bend and turn
After Midnight
Lost vision relearns

After Midnight
False birth is stillborn
After Midnight
Old vestments are torn

After Midnight
The here and the now
After Midnight
That one sacred cow

After Midnight
Past-Future unseen
After Midnight
—new eyes that believe

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

After Midnight
The narcissists fall
After Midnight
A new lyric calls

After Midnight
Last bugle to blow
After Midnight
There’s more left to know

After Midnight
The lizards collect
After Midnight
Old tales to reflect

After Midnight
The ticking will stop
After Midnight
The bottom will top

After Midnight
A cancerous tome
After Midnight
Malignancy known

After Midnight
Betray and deceive
After Midnight
Alone in the siege

After Midnight
All footsteps fall deaf
After Midnight
Lost palates are cleft

After Midnight
New story to front
After Midnight
Two stars for the dunce

After Midnight
The comets rebel
After Midnight
The coroners yell

After Midnight
A suit made of steel
After Midnight
Its melting reveals

After Midnight
That voice in the back
After Midnight
There’s no turning back

After Midnight
A sacred oath sworn
After Midnight
All memory forlorn

After Midnight
The wheels bend and churn
After Midnight
Lost vision returns

After Midnight
False birth is stillborn
After Midnight
Old vestments are torn

After Midnight
The here and the now
After Midnight
That one sacred cow

After Midnight
Past-Future unseen
After Midnight
  —creation redeemed

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)

Midnight!
Midnight!
Midnight!

The burning sensation of those word were hard to digest
Sorrow, Tear, How ugly can I be
Black is Beauty I say…to whom they say

Midnight! Midnight!.. you are as dark as Midnight
I'm haunted by those words, As they stuck to me like fresh sap from a tree..
I’m drowning, I’m drowning, I can’t get free, those words will forever trail me..

They trailed me; they jarred me, Blackie Tutu! Blackie Tutu!
How can kids be so cruel using skin color as a tool
I held my own and stayed cool for I knew has long I was in this school my fate was doom.

Pickey-Pickey head! was the melody of the song
I listened allowing the word to sink into my soul
The beat made me sick and I knew this one would also stick
I Looked up to the sky wondering why
No! No! No! Woman don’t cry
Be an African and hold your pride…

Hands by my side, I held my head up high
I found the fight within me, Stone faced Killer bee
I faced the music and it set me free
On the attack I had them flee…using word to conquer thee
I carried on knowing freedom wasn’t free and then
Like bolt of lightning it occurred me  
To defeat them I had to BELIEVE in ME

Things are always okay
Until midnight rolls around

At midnight my demons emerge
At midnight my thoughts race
At midnight I remember

I remember I'm useless
I remember I'm unloved
I remember I'm unwanted

Things always okay
Until midnight rolls around

At midnight I can't sleep
At midnight I can't breathe
At midnight I can't feel

My eyes are filled with tear
My skin is covered in cuts
My bathtub is stained in blood

Things are never okay
Until midnight rolls around

Midnight Rain

Her love is motherly, her daughter is grown
She knows she must release the rein
She’ll worry about her constantly
Thus begins the midnight rain

She’s ninety years old, her time has come
The tears falling no one wishes to contain
A loving family says goodbye
Thus begins the midnight rain

A young couple once in love
Separating hearts filled with pain
He was unfaithful with lust
Thus begins the midnight rain

She loves him completely
He’s an addict and he loves *******
An overdose takes his life
Thus begins the midnight rain

Promises of love were made in the dark
But like the Devil he was being feign
His deception hardened her heart
Thus begins the midnight rain

The abused child sits alone in his room
As thoughts of suicide enter his brain
He’ll never feel his father’s love
Thus begins the midnight rain

The world is filled with  Loneliness, hear
The whistle of the midnight train
For some their darkness never ends
Thus begins the midnight rain

Lucky ones survive the storm though
Tracks of tears stain their window pane
Everyone experiences the tears of darkness
Thus no one escapes the midnight rain

Written By:Charles Kean
Copyright © 01/26/2022
All rights reserved

Obedient and so well trained,

And I’m a stray,

It’s a shame,

Maybe I like it that way…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



All you have gained,

All that’s gone away,

It’ll cost you your name,

Yet you haven’t had to pay…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



I’m paid up with my pain,

Come whatever may,

I’m through with the game,

That meets ends everyday…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



I’ve spent time insane

Paid the bill on the due date,

Put the receipt in a frame,

And hung it as a light to show the way…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



Too much on my brain,

I should leave it where it lay,

With whip and chair I tame,

With lip and air I pray…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



So many things have changed,

Since back in the day,

So much is the same,

And all that I have to say…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



There is a time,

On both sides of Midnight,

When it’s not late

And it’s not early

There is a time,

On both sides of Midnight,

When it’s not evening

And it’s not morning

There is a choice,

On both sides of Midnight

One is happiness

The other sorrow

There is a grey area

On both sides of Midnight

Where it’s not quite today

And not yet tomorrow



Circling the drain,

I’m earning my pay,

I sense that I’m lame

Paralyzed by the weight…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



I’m feeling the strain,

Of this day to day,

Of this same old same

All work and no play…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



I guess I’m dry in the rain,

Just getting-by, Okay,

At least I remember all the names,

Of those I don’t betray…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



So now you can claim,

It will be used to sway,

If you’ve got your fame,

They’ll believe every word you say…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



You take the champagne,

Right off of the tray,

You’re not to blame,

You wouldn’t feel guilty anyway…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



It’s not like you’re vain,

Or that you’ve got to have your way,

Or that you came,

From some privileged cliché…



                    I’m happy for you anyway



There is a time,

On both sides of Midnight,

When it’s not late

And it’s not early

There is a time,

On both sides of Midnight,

When it’s not evening

And it’s not morning

There is a choice,

On both sides of Midnight

One is happiness

The other sorrow

There is a grey area

On both sides of Midnight

Where it’s not quite today

And not yet tomorrow

In the midnight room

In the midnight room you can take off your socks and shoes
In the midnight room you can drift to a land that you only snooze
In the midnight room you can be who you want to be on a ship you may cruise
In the midnight room all is what you want it to be behind the curtains behind what you will lose
In the midnight room you feel indestructible and you have an angel for a muse
In the midnight room forget you may be nobody but sunlight will surely come like the newest news
In the midnight room you can listen to the music that drowns out the sound I love the best inevitability proves

Just the extension of a dream
Perching right outside my window
Darkness swallows everything
Like the seaside, sweet crescendo.

Lady Midnight, so mysterious,
Never knew beauty was this,
Lay my head upon your pillow
And let me drift away in dreams.
Morpheus gave you sweetest agonies
And a debt so high to pay,
You must lay yourself to sleep
And make way for a new day.

Lady Midnight
Though your beauty will always remain the same
Your mantle of stars is cursed,
Sooner or later you fade.

Disappear into daylight
And flower at night again,
Roll like tides o'er the horizon,
Make your name known everywhere.

Lady Midnight
Keep my secret until my name fades away,
Erased by water and fire
And my dark soul burns in hell.

Lady Midnight,
I pray you find me
And absolve me with your grace
Lady Midnight,
A talented rhymer
Of a troubled girl you made
Lady Midnight,
Pages and pages
My work expands nowadays
And notebooks with onyx ink
That is bound to fade away.

Absolve me, my Lady Midnight,
Don't let Satan know my name.
This writer soul's only ambition
Was only to make a name.

Among others of her craft
She now succumbs with the flames,
She disappears with your darkness,
Lady Midnight,
Sinner's friend.

The midnight hours
Know all about
my muffled screams,
My bloodshot eyes and
swollen lips,
The sleep that chooses
To evade me.

The midnight hours
Know more about me
than you ever will.

The midnight hours
Know about
the heartaches and cravings
While I lay awake
My ears intent upon hearing
The silent song
the sky sings To the earth

Oh, yes, the midnight hours
know more about me
than you ever will

The midnight hours
Watch silently
As I take off my facade
And try to untangle
my woes Vainly,
The clock ticking
In the background


The midnight hours
know more about me
than you ever will

The midnight hours
Feel the invisible pile
Of failed attempts
weigh me down on my chest,
wondering how many more
Before I suffocate
To an early, unremarkable death

Oh yes, the midnight hours
know more about me
than you ever will.


The midnight hours,
Bid farewell,
Leaving so softly,
Their eyes foreseeing
The dark future of mine-
Darker than
any shade they bring

**The midnight hours
know more about me
Than you ever will

Hello, Midnight
with your ragged stars
hidden behind clouds

Hello, Midnight
a *****'s salute
to restless thoughts

Hello, Midnight
a girl flashing her skirt
in the red light district

Hello, Midnight
calling with ******* & ket
at people's doors

Hello, Midnight
guarding the silence
in the dim suburbs

Hello, Midnight
whispering poems
to writers & poets