When hope appears in jeopardy
Through tortured retrograde.
Turn weakness into weaponry,
Let misfortune whet your blade.
In teary moments haunted
That darkness ratifies,
Forge fear into your gauntlets
Turn doubt to battle cries.  
When faithfulness does crumble
And nerve begins to yield.
Mould aches and scars and stumbles,
To serve you as your shield.
Through all that does assail you
But one truth you must fulfill -
When heart or breath does fail you,
Be sure your spirit never will.

May you meet demands
With daring candour,
May your dreams be grand
But the mornings grander.
May the angels hear you
Each time you pray,
And Saints be near you
Come what may.
May happy trails
Leave paths of laughter,
In fairy tales
And ever afters.
May fortune bless you
Each single day,
And strength possess you
Come what may.
May you meet your maker
With head held high,
Through Heaven's acres
Let spirit fly.
May harps strum freely,
Our song they'll play,
In hopes you'll see me,
Come what may.

Bleeding heart, blinding sun,
Fleeting art, mind undone.
Internal prattle, cumbersome,
Eternal battles to overcome.
Shaky hands presumed a tale,
Of forsaken plans foredoomed to fail.
Reverberating, uncertain shouts,
Illuminating those hurtful doubts.  
A soul misplaced, fragile, fraught,
A goal once chased with agile thought.
Pursued the picture to yield the prize,
Who knew the scripture was filled with lies?
Kept the scars to quell his worth,
Leapt to stars and fell to earth.
Conflated pride and forespoken schemes
Became fate denied with broken dreams.

Hey Mama, it’s me, how are you?
I hope you’re doing well.
I speak now from afar to
Share tales about your girl.
I’m sure you’d never argue
I lack for tales to tell,
Now I summon my inner bard to
Sing my heartfelt, late farewell.
I’m sure that you remember
My every dream, unbridled.
That ambitious spirit’s ember
That burns strongest in a child.
Mama, I am proud to say,
That passion ceased to waver,
And till my very dying day,
I'll be that spirited dream chaser.
And your brother is beside me,
An uncle tried and true.
And never stands by idly
Through each dream that I pursue.
Dear Mama, I’ve tasted failure,
But please, don’t be concerned.
For your guidance has been my saviour,
The framework for a lesson learned.
And Mama, oh the successes
I wish you’d been round to see,
Each joyful tear I’ve shed expresses
How much I hope you’re proud of me.
And Daddy’s been a soldier,
An eternal debt, to him, I owe.
For his unrelenting shoulder
Where I rest my head in woe.
Oh Mama, how I wish you
Could see your baby girl,
And know how much I’ve missed you
With my heartfelt, late farewell.

Oh writer, weary hearted,
Of rapture, best beware,
Lest pens of dreary artists
Ink chapters of despair!
Oh poet, behind pleasantries,
Still wrought with inner pain,
Your idle mind's obscenities
Build thoughts of Sinner’s reign.

My knuckles, bruised and ******,
And heavy weighs the soul,
No use for one to love me
No levy pays my toll.
My resolve is rendered empty,  
What am I meant to do?
When cold surrender tempts me,
I'm sure it tempts them, too.

Oh melodist, melancholy,
Oh wordsmith of all woe,
You live with felon’s folly
And absurdities in tow.
Oh dreamer, disillusioned,
Of jilted, jaded view,
What scheme is your solution
For the guilt enslaving you?

My conscience is unburdened,
My spirit bears no shame,
I'm conscious and determined
To set my pad aflame.
I'll stare through mystic reaper,
While the godless persevere,
For lairs of mythic creatures
Are my solace from the fear.

We’re scared of oaths, sworn lest to keep,
We tire of the tears.
We dared to dream, invested deep,
Despite our darkest fears.
Each day we lost a piece of us,
Disheartened by each stumble,
Our withered dreams, deceased to dust,
Inside our essence crumbles.
We inhale the soothing medicine
Then exhale our pain in clouds.
We are the downtrodden denizens
This world has disavowed.
Yet still we march in unison,
We’re gallant in our rhythm,
Against all odds, we’re jubilant,
And defiant against the system.
With single-minded sense of purpose
We dreamers will persist,
For the unloved masses, the ones deemed worthless,
The souls this world dismissed.