I am only a figment of my imagination.
Caught in a deep sleep, continuous dreaming.
How can I trust “anyone else” ?
When I am clearly lying to myself.

Would you enter a world even if no one would follow
What part of yourself would you give up to remain behind
You might jump up on a stage or instead use a camera on a gorge
But tranquil waters wait for those who do not care what they find

Would you chase a car on foot knowing it might suddenly stop
Is it a metaphor for restlessness or do you want to see your past
I thought an artist was only a reflection of life until I met you
You took your clothes off and said morals weren’t meant to last

Would you leave a world if everyone else left before you did
Why would you go knowing they it would be the same game
You told me perception was easier because it let you sleep
To most people the truth was just a way to shift the blame

Would you rather everyone pray or lay their hands on you
The commune was a choice between the faith and fear
The hallway between them was the only place for true reason
I only saw fear, not faith and the desire to draw someone near

I bake my words, served to you with love
Until they've simmered through and through
And although they may seem meaningless
I still recommend you slowly chew

There is a flavor to my words
The ingredients, I myself grew
Each morsel hand picked to be used
For the stew made for just us two

A dash of this and a dash of that
All while conscious not to include trans fat
A healthy meal of friendly chat
That's where I see us, that's where we're at

The stove acts as the interpreter
That transcends consumption into fact
And it's the essence of a home cooked meal
Which allows for opposites to attract

I put my soul in to my soul food
I stir up the fun in my fondue
Just as I do with my advice to you
To be washed down with a frothy brew

I speak with good intentions
I'll use my past experience as proof
You'll see....
I'll have you dancing beside your tastebuds
Before this evening's through
With song in heart and stomach full

There's no happiness in anything, until happiness in self
An honest and beautiful soul is greater than any amount of wealth
Look within you and you'll find the key to your contentment
Don't let your path to money be futile and relentless

i am not here
this is not happening
i am a tangle
of stardust
drifting out of
my consciousness

i cannot feel this
you cannot hurt me
i am much
more
than my body

Your skin glows in darkened windows
Turns paste dimly similar darkness
An open mouth filled with seeds
Spilling roots into my feet
Which twist and bend and scream
As I break and fall and dive
From the window above that of my own soul
And roll and cry where flowers might have bloomed
Inside you neck where my hand resides
As the motions turn change turn upside
Down beneath your skin I feel new blood flow
Causes a dimmer of eyeballs invisible
To none but you
The quiet air is worse than loud chaos
The energy that infects so many
Another victim smiles for love
And another lover smiles for
What's there not to smile for
If every face you see transforms and bends
Into a likeness you can hold
And in your elbows you get a spike
Of tingle the arms that protect
Or once was thought to do before
The air grew cold and summer fell down
Where I fell like a rock on glass
The door shatters on my feet like before
Cut open the blood of friends
Ghosts left behind
Who still hold you without wanting to
Though they would have
And empty pools with fleshed out ghosts
You can't hold or hear or even see
But your bones grow cold and rip your skin
As you grow and change and grieve
And hold yourself and all that's real
For the time being
And **** the straw and close eyes
And disregard yourself
If you never have a plan
You walk into the woods and find
The trees are all different
With different branches to poke your eyes
And make you blind
And your surroundings blur
Cannot walk anymore
So carry me home and lay me down
And rest inside my stomach and
Make me breathe
I'll make you breathe
And cause the pump to pump
Pull the lever push the switch
To turn on the glowing light
Inside your skin
Turned away and looking at a glow
That I cannot see
Please feel me like I feel you
Even though I said I haven't
I haven't seen this light before

Vasodilation,
Making my skin crawl.

Wander through the window pane,
and paint the way you want.

Wondering why walls wax and wane,
Breathing deep to call my name.

Vasodilation, to the numbing of my brain.

Dreamily the stardust gathers
Deep inside black
Soulful vibrations exploding like candy
The clouds shades colors of light
Erasing the burnt toast

Upside-down I am
I have lost part of me
Inside the ocean

Down the hole
Into unknowingness
A place shied away from
A pool closed for winter
Guarded by walls of swords
Cut my sides open
Fall into a blueness

The future in a fog coat
Can't remember even being here
I've lost the time of day
And the sun and moon
Mysteriously disappear
And appear again

A want of the flutter of wings
A loss of gravity
Landing on the floor
To see the white shine
And glowing stardust
To dive into a place
Of youthful adventure
Of roaring fires
Of heightened senses
Of quiet glances

The words twisting my spine
The thoughts racing mind
Can't describe
Lost in a place
A dance in slow motion
A blender blending
Our souls into smoothies

And I know I'm alone here
Swallowed in my own fear
The glass breaks and falls
Only those claws
Scratch a bone within
Begging to let you in.

Some say that God created the Universe,
But others say it was all an Accident.
Yet either way
Accident or God
Must have Existed
In some Realm or Place.

Think about it.
No accident without cars, ships, trains or planes.
No God without Somewhere to reign.

Oh yes, of course, it’s all beyond our mortal comprehension.
Outside of space and time.
But here’s the rub,
The Bard would say:
The miracle is that we Think,
That we Know we exist
Somehow.

Sentient Consciousness:
The most wonderful thing,
All lodged in the Brain.

Matter is easy
Compared with the maze
Of DNA.
Billions of years
Of Evolution
Punctuated
By mass destructions
That darkened the Earth
For many long years.

So now we can watch a golden sunrise
Or russet sunset.
We can marvel at the Milky Way above us:
Countless snowflakes swirling
Over the endless plain.

Paul Butters