You know you can tell me,
all the troubles you encounter,
when the voices getting louder.

You know you can tell me,
when the wind is ripping on your sails,
and you just need to exhale.

You know you can tell me,
all you ever need,
so you can proceed.

i haven't known you that long
so i wasn't thinking of what could go wrong.
i liked all of you verily
thought we'd be more than friends happily.

but you were a scoundrel,
one i did not know too well.
you were a fabulist,
deceit is what you always insist.

i guess i was just too naive
in you i continued to believe.
now the red flags are waving at me,
telling me to go and fly free.

Uneasy and numb are the hand and the lighter. They dance together before the fire, not thinking of destruction, only enjoying corruption. once a wildfire spilt into the wilderness, and the spark still lingers day after day — a stale burning of understanding. My need to be needed, and his wildfire life burnt the bushes down; we watched the ashes subside. This is what our togetherness looked like — uncovering all of the figures hidden in the shadows. They would chase him day by day round and round his tortured mind. He in the shadows and I in the light. Running and jumping, shouting, “this way!”  He failed to hear. Darkness is all too loud in his forest. He turns his face knowingly, careful not to look at the flames. I chose patience in that race. He needed a steady hand, a voice who knew how to call upon the light. But how long was it until the pressure suffocated my sunbeam strides? The fire may be over but now as ashes drift closer and closer still to my face… covering my body in the ash-filled darkness and distancing me from his shadow.

I'll bear the greatest temptations,
Lest it make me waste away,
Those moments of passion rightfully yours.
The thought that you exist,
Banishes the feeling that I'm alone.
Such is my love for you, oh woman,
Whom I do not know,
That I shall seek no pleasure in the present,
But wait with faith for God to show,
That a man of virtue exists for you
And you exist for him to know.

Do you know someone who heals,
in whose presence you feel whole
you do not have to bow or kneel
nor beg nor fool nor cajole?

Do you know another whose care
and ability to reach inside
erases doubt and lays you bare
your doubt and pride are laid aside?

Distrust in me is the boulder rock
that averts, delays and hesitates,
stems the tide and sadly blocks
the flowing stream of healing grace.

do you believe in god?

funny how it sounds like asking
if you believe in magic

when you were a kid it was a given
now we are not so sure

do you believe in heaven?
or is this place the reality?

do you believe in life after death?

are those taken from us just waiting for us to come back to them?

do you believe in god?
is she who we thought she was?

do you believe in god?
or the power of humanity?
why have those become mutually exclusive?

do you believe in responsibility?
or has faith taken that from you?

do you believe in prayer?
worship at the altar?
robes and crowns? kneeling and bowing down?

or do you believe it is within you?
silent, personal, private

do we need a building
ornate and magnificent?
to prove our innocence?

or do we need only ourselves
our hearts alone with god

i don't need a book
telling me what to be
i don't need a circle of men
to tell me when to breathe

i don't need stained glass windows
to make me see the light

no scrolls or ancient articles
to tell me what is right

my spirit is the one
that leads me to prayer at night

my god doesn't hate
doesn't reward evil with spite
my god doesn't create love
just to punish those who practice it

my god doesn't abide by labels
or care who you go to bed with at night

my god doesn't need you
to play the saint
only when the spotlight's on you
my god
sees through the facade

my god
is my god