In an alternate reality
In another time, another place
In another circumstance
You'd still be part of my life

You'd share my happiness
Partake of my sadness
Be with me in times of boredom
Hold my hand during my bouts of madness

When I felt worthless
Remember what you told me,
That I was the best in everything that mattered
You made me feel golden

Now there's only emptiness
Only cold and numbness within...
It's not as bad as it seems
It only hurts when I breathe

I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough
I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough
I hope you know what you mean to me
I hope you feel that I think of you
Do you miss me, like I miss you?

She is master of the game,
aggressive, fearless, confident
It was simple black and white
She always triumphed, never slowed down
She is master of the game.

"This streak can't last forever,"
" If something can go wrong, it will go wrong," they would say
But she was smart, skilled, and driven,
A dangerous combination
Failure never even crossed her mind, let alone her consideration

Challenges excited her, she lived for the thrill, the adrenaline rush
This was the one thing she was good at
The rest of her life may go to hell
She may be able to give up everything else
But this was her passion, her vocation, her calling

She thought she was invincible

... She wasn't.

She was humbled by a little soul, born too young, too soon
She wanted to be his champion
To fight for his life
She did everything by the book and more
Countless procedures, sleepless nights, fitful dreams tormented her
All so she could give him one more day, one more breath

He fought valiantly as well
He exceeded all expectations
He proved the tests wrong
He made her hope that another success was coming
That the dawn was fast approaching

No one saw it coming
He succumbed after 6 weeks
Six grueling weeks of punishment
Maybe he was just tired of fighting
Maybe it was something she overlooked
Maybe there was something more she could have done

Maybe, maybe, maybe...
The venom of that single word coursed through her veins
"You did everything you could," they said
Then why, why must he pay with his life?
Why was it that, if she did everything right, this was the result?

Why was she the one alive?
When every breath she took reminded her of the one he lost
When losing at the game meant a life lost, a future destroyed?
When defeat meant grief, suffering, and pain?

Maybe she wasn't master of the game after all...

They write of singing birds and swaying trees
Of loving and being loved
While I lie here rotting,
I write of broken hearts.
I know of how bees sting
How the ocean is capable
Of drowning and devouring and such
It was so beautiful in the beginning
So clear, so peaceful, how it brings serenity to one's soul
Never thought I would drown beneath the waves.
Never thought of it at all.
I write of a wound that won't heal
Even time has abandoned and left me hanging
I write of a song of how all these years
I have been struck with the same lightning.

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that it ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming through a crack in the wall,
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming from the sorrow on the street
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal *******'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of G-d in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
Sail on, sail on
o mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
past the Reefs of Greed
through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on
It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we'll be making love again.
We'll be going down so deep
that the river's going to weep,
and the mountain's going to shout Amen!
It's coming to the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
Sail on, sail on
o mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
past the Reefs of Greed
through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on
I'm sentimental if you know what I mean:
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

you are
outstanding and
unique, a work of

art. You are as
radiant as the sun, your beauty is
enchanting, and you are

lovelier than any
orchid or lily or tulip or rose or
violet, and
even though you might not see yourself as such, you are a
d**iamond, you are beautiful, and you are loved.