If each of us could share a little piece of your pain
The way we share your love
We would
If we could endure for you
To give you gentle rest
We would
Yet no darkness can overwhelm your light
No amount of pain or tears can change you
You have taken what this dying world deals out
And you keep your integrity
I have seen forever
And touched the newest day of hope
And I want with all my heart
To share it with you
I wish you sunlight on your golden hair
And new warm winds on your gentle face
I wish you laughter in your baited breath
And sweet hope in your heart
For this cage won't hold you for long
And you will not always hurt
Yet you will always be loved
And you will always be
Good

I beg the stars
To keep you behind bars.
I never thought you'd take it that far;
Now it's plain to see:
Jail is the only guarantee
That your children will be free
From your vapid disease

Who needs emotions when there are people to please?
Who needs doctors when you’re the source of the disease?
Who needs human functions to live when you’re deceased?
Who needs love when it’s certain you deserve to bleed?
Who needs?

The stable genius spouts his wisdom from the podium.
All doctors, scientists, generals - Compared with him, are dumb.
He has the best words and ideas no others could conceive.
He'll cure you of the COVID-19 if you'd just believe.

So eat some Tide Pods™, drink some Lysol™, boof some Listerine™.
Spend twelve hours on a tanning bed and you will come out clean.
No more virus, no more suffering, no more pain or strife.
You will be cured of COVID, by being cured of life!

And as your soul departs your corpse, if might occur to you.
The orange man's thoughts and ramblings might not all be true.
But if you live, my Trumpist friend, I'm sure you'll be content
to cast your vote to re-elect that fool for President!

Let me take you back
Over ***-holed tracks
To present day nostalgia;
When six feet away meant a grave,
And not a rule of order.

Let me take you back
Through ***** air,
When smog and soot were normal;
We didn't attend strange masquerades,
Breathing wasn't formal.

Let me take you back
Down the spiral stairs,
When holding rails
Was common.

Would you,
Go back,
To that Brave Old World,
Where we have the poor,
Wars are raging,
The environment's in peril,
With despots engaging.
Hoarders cheat,
Ice-caps retreat,
Animals compete
With billions at the table.
Oceans over-heating,
Egos are defeating
The food chains of our world.
Forests burn bright,
Crops rot from blight,
None treat us right.
And a hundred thousand unsolved queries,
Compounded by some glorious leader.

Let's not go back,
Take small steps onward
Into our Brave Newer World,
That compels us forward.

Sad days lie in wait
It's on those days that I create
A symphony of "what ifs" inside my mind
Like time can be turned back as easy
As it is on the watch on my wrist

Calculations of consequences come easy
When those consequences have been had
Past decisions determined to be detrimental
But they do not define who I am

Depression hits like bird **** on my shoulder
Random and a nuisance
Much like the burden of my drinking
Thinking things would change with the change
I spent on the Dark Eyes staring back at me

Connection to my feelings turned to self-reflection
Work that seemed pointless now brings satisfaction
Active participation helps me avoid temptation
Watching the seconds tick away deep in contemplation

I know death.
Incensed with all of it.
The weighty strain of darkness,
Eyes closed, stopped ears, stuffed nose.
I was petrified while the world stumbled,
My wordless mouth gapes like a maw
Needing stitches.
I lounge in a toga,
Motionless as alabaster.
I was born to die,
But not like this.