Pretended to be a monster
pretended to be a monk
I pretended to be a saint
I pretended to be drunk

now I live by the mountain
dropping peace bombs
for my own protection
for some misdirection

pretended to be a lover
pretended to be the savior
pretended to be a soldier
I pretended for my neighbor

now I live by the sea
collecting scrapes and stones
to build a new home
for my crippled core

now I'm stuck in a rut
wih no place to go
so I live by myself
and I pretend no more

Between embrace and abandon,
between misery and mild whines,
in stories and scripts,
in scuffles and in triumphs,

between patience and tantrums,
between distress and sangfroid,
with brothers and with foes,
at childbirth and one's decline,

I live and perish in my thoughts,
neither defunct nor abiding,
between isolation and eminence,
I'll live forever or die trying.

Fluid thoughts sail and soar,
eyes of peril comatose,
daylight trips his plots.