Oh God, how long until my woes
Transfigure into peace?
Until the violent storms inside my skull
Will finally cease?
Until the gaping emptiness
I feel beneath my ribs
Is filled with warmth and joyousness?
That's all I plead You give!

Around me I see people full
With water, meat and wine.
I see them eat together --
Oh, how carefree they all dine!
When hunger hasn't gripped my gut,
I've gorged on rotten meat.
And when my throat has not been dry,
Vinegar's been my treat.

Please give me, Lord, a future hope
That isn't a mirage.
I look for peace, but pain attacks
In relentless barrage.
My spirit grumbles -- do take ear
And help my soul to thrive.
Mend this broke heart and give me strength
To want to be alive.

When the mountain
   I dare not climb
The ropes and tackles  
  Are in abundance.

In great shape
  My body and mind.
Not a weak link
  In the expedition.

But when the mountain
  I dare to climb
The ropes and tackles
  Are often tangled.

Out of shape
  My body and mind.
Weakness as a
  Spell does bind.

Hopes and dreams
  Of tireless youth can
Often fade fast in
  The spiritually aged.

Strength, the glittering
  Cloak of youth can
Fade in weakening
  Jaded resolve.

But in me common
  Traits dissolve--
The bucking steed
  Will never be tamed.

Pigeon-holed the
  Misfortune of other
Souls has not been
  Allowed by my resolve.

But this determination
  Is not without cost.
The foothills of youth
  Are far removed

By erosion caused by
  Unstable belief systems
Washed away into
  The Sea of Ambiguity.

A distant mountain
  I often see
(Distance, the deceiver
  Of proportion)

Challenged at the foot
  Of the formidable sight
Halfway climbing
  Only to slip and fall.

Does this mountain
  Need to be climbed?
Do youthful dreams
  Need to be fulfilled?

When these dreams
  Are all you ever had
You wake up falling
  Or climbing higher.

Driven by dreams
  And gifts and talents
That rage like a river
  In the driest desert

Calling home
  What must come home
Holding on to what
  Must be fulfilled.

Obstacles that have
  Become landmarks
Seem to fade
   Into obscurity

Like threats that
  Always remain empty;
Laughing at what
  Used to bring tears.

I remain standing
  Through all these trials;
Not unscathed
  And a bit weather beaten

Halfway up another
  Formidable mountain
Making up for lost time
  From a major fall.

We all stumble through life
Lost on winding trails
Disconnected from the destination
Which pulls the soul
Down a path barren of beauty
Where downed trees create barriers
Roadblocks which lead to detours
Into the rugged wilderness
A trial that tests the mind with adversity
Begging the body to halt its course
To cool the crucible that has bled
Molten rivers carving ruts
Into an endless circle
Leaving us lost and out of breath
Desperate to pause and recover
The stamina wasted in a maze
Of our own creation
...
Until finally, a beam of light
Breaks through the dense canopy
Proffering warmth, peace, and solitude
Beckoning a return to the tracks
Worn by the forgotten footsteps
Of a different time
Too distant to elicit recollection
Yet somehow familiar and welcoming
For those seeking the forbidden happiness
That we have trapped within a sadness
Foreign to the natural nature
We had suppressed in order to feel free
...
Long have I sought the trail I thought lost
Turns out, all I needed to do was turn around
And remember I am not alone
Just simply facing the wrong direction

Later then than now,
yesterday as we imagined,

so many things they think again,
and again
and again,

we passed this way my friends,
we made right now
into a happy place,
-just now, to remind you

we leave you photos of us
all at once,
taken from our robot eyes,

national pride financed projects.

Visible through this window,
go look, see the whole world,
in the cloud of all we ever knew

there is even one with the moon's

night side showing. We are small,

but I am in the red MAGA hat, waving.

I don't see you but you were there,

or possibly, would be if we took this shot
today, hook and loop, look at us, that's Earth.

That's where every prophecy was told from.

pick ‘em apart -
there’s lot to learn.
speak not -
‘fore it’s your turn:
your words soak dry, maybe -
try a different language;
be sure to see it through, for there’s
comfort beyond the anguish.

more choices, less free;
locked in - can’t find the key;
saw through misery, yet
tough as a tree;
a knight of the absurd,
you bend the knee.  

this isn’t the first time
you’ve hit the brick wall.
dash your *** with a pinch of salt -
stir it good, nice and easy;
get a good whiff of that
rare destiny.
  
for every tear,
there’s a heart that swells -
twice the thought of an oyster shell;
you’re a huntsman through the fall,
not for the wolves to prey;
they wait for you -
to make the wrong turn;

find another way.

In the depths of the soul, a spark ignites bright,
Two flames unite, dancing in the night.
Soulmates found, a connection so rare,
Like flames entwined, a love beyond compare.

No water can quench this fiery embrace,
Bound together in a timeless space.
Through trials and triumphs, hand in hand,
Together forever, a love that will stand.

In the glow of their love, the world fades away,
Two souls as one, in perfect display.
In the dance of the flames, a love so true,
Finding your soulmate, a dream come to fruition.