You say I smile to often
You say I don't know pain
Well, friend, if you knew my night time dreams
You wouldn't say it again

They say that us smilers are silly
That life is simply the loss and gain
But they don't know our secret
They think it's all trained

Here is the smilers secret
We walk through the dark tunnels of life just like you
But when you turn from the light at the end of the tunnel
We walk until the light is our point of view

And we never get tired of the light on our face
We never return to the dark
For who would want to walk in that tunnel
When you've seen the light of His heart?

I think that's part of your problem
You're afraid of what you don't know
I think that you've only known darkness
And that's all you think you can sow

Yes darkness still follows me sometimes
It's just a part of this life
But you chose to let light or dark lead you
Through the tunnels of strife

But please, don't follow the tunnel's dark paths
And next time the light shines in your eyes
Remember it's not pointing out your pain
It's helping you see past the lies

So walk through the light at your tunnel
And if you are able to
Remember to take some of that light
And take it to others, like I've done for you

“where do we go from here?”
a line that haunts a million songs
like a small, aching insect
creeping in through the cracks in the lyrics
and spreading its wings to infect the expanse
of music that reaches my ears

do you ever feel like there’s a theme to your life?
some familiar collection of words, some thought
that pervades the space around you
and finds body in the world that follows
your every move
some chord, bright or dire or dim
that resounds in the echoes
in the tunnels you pass through
and sings silently after each word you speak
ringing softly beneath your footsteps
colouring the air you exhale

“where do we go from here?”
the first time i heard those six words
i have no idea where i was
or when
but i remember the thought that came to mind as
desolation
and it made my heart hurt
and i was happy
because i now i could prove its existence

“where do we go from here?”
one day i heard those six syllables
as i often did, above me
tinny and abrupt from the speakers
hidden in public places, among the plastic clouds
and spiderwebs
and i, at the precipice
of some great beginning
felt that thought beneath my step
and my soul sang, it breathed in deep
and i was happy
because now i could prove its existence

“where do we go from here?”
one day i found those words
etched into the notes of some electronic
heartbeat or sellout tune
and i, in the middle of a slow tumble
towards the realization of a loss
of a feeling i had worked so hard to find
felt the emptiness between my fingers
and the ground pressing into the soles of my feet
and the ache once again in my mind
and my heart and my soul
and i knew now the existence
of the feeling inspired
by the downturn of that phrase, six words
that speak to us all

“where do we go from here?”
i thought of this line on my own time
and never knew how to use it
until today, aware of a familiar scent
in the air, i sat down
and faced the six words haunting my ears
and embraced their meaning
closed my eyes and breathed in their truth
felt the confusion and desolation and joy
that seeped into my bones the harder i tried
to join myself with the forever aching phrase
that i now know was written
to describe the way i move through this life
and today, as i walked
with false purpose along the real lines of the road
i felt words pressing sharp into my cheeks
and i turned to you but could not let them free
six words, a simple door
into the patterned floor and closed curtains
of my untidy mind
and so i let the sentence be
swallowed it whole, let it sit in my lungs
a while longer
and i still have yet to ask you

“where do we go from here?”
has there ever been an answer to that question?