Engine oil buried deep as hate beneath my nails.
Won't scrub away
it remains like the mistakes I made.
Not always visible,
but I know it's there all the same.

Old tatt lines blasted as heart ache,
it's hard to follow the ink.
What it represented
now an obscure link
like faded love.
Though in a certain light
it don't look that bad,
or so I tell myself,
but mostly I try not to think.

My beautiful sad song
melody knows my soul by now
must of sang it a thousand times
over a thousand miles
and endless trials.
The heaviness of verse sinks me deep
chorus holds me down,
but its air
I can't help but sing,
it knows when to play for me
somehow.

Battle hardened hearts
***** battlements
to protect from future
emotional elements
and
bitter scares.
Because every love is a possible enemy
and every love is a possible knife twist.
Is it better to stay alone and numb
than allow room for more hurt to exist?
If a love should come
bringing liberty
to smash those cold walls
there will still be
noticiple relics in crumpled debris
cautions of what could be.
Don't fear them or let them mislead.
heed their history,
but set your heart free.

The clouds have gone
leaving stars, space
and a bitter chill.
I stand still
listening to the wind
picking its way through
trees' naked limbs.
My cat sleeps near me,
purring its engine,
close now to its end.
I could have been a better owner
to my feline friend.
I hope he pulls through,
but he's old and no longer can fight
with the other tom cats
who enter my garden at night.