It could be what we all need
Is just alittle space to breathe
Have some time to think it through
Maybe listen to a new point of view

Their are so many different ways
That we can make things change
We can stop hating each other
Love the differences in one another

All throughout the world
Can't you see the day?
When we all want the same thing
And rid this planet of hate

All we need is love

Ignorance is a handicap
But the cure is in our hands
Together we can make things new
It all begins right now with you

All throughout the world
We react the same way
When you love it's like a flood
Let it wash away the hate

All we need is love

Day by day the storms are lifted
It's time to open up the door
Allow change to be unrestricted
It starts with us if we want more

All throughout the world
Change begins here with you
With everything that you do
Dig our way out of the mud

All we need is love

All throughout the world
Accept the winds of change
It's time to stop the blame
Only love can heal the pain

All we need is love


© 2020  Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

Passing out coats and blankets
At Tent City on the river bank
No more room at the mission
Out of sight is out of mind
Is what town said about it's decision

The homeless didn't like being there
A cold wind blows hard off the river
A city that really doesn't care
As long as they continue to be hidden
They had no warm clothes to wear

I met a man that everyone called Poe
His real name or not I may never know
He had a million stories to tell
Everyone gathered around in the snow
A steel barrel was burning very well

"We are just like lightning bugs
We're Living in a big clear jar
There are holes poked in the lid
Without those we can't get any air"
He said while waving with his hands

He talked while trying on his new coat
"I had one just this a long time ago
When I shook hands with Kennedy
And that pretty wife of his, Jackie O
It was April 1960 I do recall" said Poe

"Boys, keep one eye on the ground
You never know what you'll find"
He stopped talking and turned around
Poe looked hard and squinted his eyes
The church van stopped without a sound

I was ready to hear more fables
But went to help unload several boxes
Serving food we set up folding tables
Hot coffee freshly brewed in paper cups
I started passing out brand new Bibles

I handed one to Poe "thank you"
He said in a voice that was shaken
"I had a Bible just like this one, it's true
Way back when I was in Vietnam"
A single tear fell from his eyes of blue

He opened the book skimming through
"It's sad when the country I fought for
Leaves us here and forgets about you"
Poe said as I handed him a cup of coffee
He took a sip from the steaming brew

We went back a couple of days later
We brought more food and coffee
I looked but Poe was not in Tentland
They said that they found his body
In his tent with his Bible in his hand

I found his obituary in the paper
Edgar Allen Poe it read in print
Congressional Medal of Honor winner
Two Purple Hearts for service in Vietnam
Awarded to him by President Johnson

In the newspaper's obituary photo
It showed a young Mr. Edgar Allen Poe
He wore the exact coat we gave him
And standing with Kennedy and Jackie O
I'll always remember the man named Poe

--On a single night in January 2018, just over 37,800 Veterans were experiencing homelessness.

--On the same night, just over 23,300 of the Veterans counted were unsheltered or living on the streets.

--A total of 552,830 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2018. This number represents 17 out of every 10,000 people in the United States

© 2020  Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

So many people worry only about themselves
Their worries and problems over-ride anyone else
It don't matter if you're married or alone
You're caught up in your own little world, don't you know?

It doesn't matter who you hurt along the way
As long as your happy, or it's hell to pay
You start to believe all your treacherous lies
Beautiful on the outside but ugly deep inside

There is A Stone Where Your Heart Should Be
You give a dollar to a homeless man on the street
But you only do that when everyone else can see
To prove a point and make yourself feel clean

You want the recognition that comes to you
You always say, ' I help out, you know I do.'
You only lend a hand when someone is watching
It's only your ego that you want flaunting

But the fact remains you only worry about yourself
Who can I manipulate? Make them think I seem to care?
The only thing you really have is a heart of coal
You even lie to yourself and believe what you told

There is A Stone Where Your Heart Should be
People that really care don't ask for awards
They do it because in the their hearts, they believe
It's the right thing to do and it's not about money

So when you look in the mirror before bed tonight
Ask yourself if your doing what is right?
Think about it and try to just believe
Is there A Stone Where your Heart Should Be?

© 2019 Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

You look so beautiful tonight
Sitting there in my mind
I faithfully see those eyes of blue
My heart and soul misses you

Remember when me met years ago
We didn't need anywhere to go
Each other is all we needed
Now I feel somewhat cheated

I know The Beads of Night
Flicker in the evening sky
I can't seem to forget those days
I can remember everything

I miss the times driving you to work
And sneeking in your back door
Those **** searchlights, anything it took
I wanted to see you more and more

I know you are my soulmate
And fate has put us together again
I'll do anything it takes
To make our happiness begin

Follow The Beads of Night
I'm here waiting for you
Our future is very bright
I know you know that too


© 2020  Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

The world is so brutal today
People don't respect anything
The politicians lie to our face
Nothing seems to ever change

My expectations aren't that high
Don't be rude or tell me lies
Be kind to each other in life
Obey the same laws we comply

Gunfire rings out in our schools
Lives these days have no value
Another mass shooting on the news
Thoughts and prayers will not do

Politicians line there pockets today
They no longer work for the people
Making millions to look the other way
They hide behind the church steeple

Let's take what's real here tonight
Just fire up the amplifiers
And bring up all the lights
Right now, everything's alright

Corporations pollute our air
Dump waste into our waterways
More money so they don't care
We the people are who pays

Don't drink and don't smoke
That's what they always say
Tax us so much we are broke
Pollution will **** us anyway

Billions spent on foriegn wars
While Veterans sleep in the streets
Ask for help they shut the door
Welcome home now struggle to eat

Our bridges keep falling down
It's a battle to stay on our feet
Tent cities for homeless in town
D.C thinks we want everything free

So, I'll take what's real here tonight
Just crank up the amplifiers
And bring up all the lights
Right now, everything's alright

Let's just bring up the lights
And take what's real tonight
Just turn up the amplifiers
Tomorrow we'll restart the fight


© 2020  Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

Can you remember?
The dreams we shared when we were young
I can remember
The times we spent as we were one
So much fun

You made the sun
Come out and shine on rainy days
Ain't it strange
How the years quickly past away
Not without pain

Can you remember?
War called me away from home
That cold December
Married outside in the snow
****, It was cold

I am reminded
Home from war and on our own
Those were the tough days
Cash came in way to slow
We were alone

Now in our eightys
We've shared our live's as one
Now we can sit back
And watch the rising sun
I'm still in love

Can you remember?
The dreams we shared when we were one
We raised our sons
Sixty years have come and gone

I can remember
The dreams we had when we were young
I wouldn't change one moment
And baby, your still the only one

You pollute our planet
Money rules your life
You are nothing but a bandit
Taking away our rights

You spilled toxins in our water
And didn't even care
Not worried about a slaughter
You continue to foul our air

You are killing us slowly
You contaminate our wells
We unknowingly drink your poison
As you cash in your company's shares

Almost Four-Hundred Thousand gallons of dumped oil
A poisoning in North Dakota
Keystone Pipeline's second spill Contaminating the soil
Over a million gallons leaked total

6,600 fracking waste spills in four States
Poisoning the watershed in all those places
So your pockets can be lined with green
While Republicans keep up deregulation

Flint, Michigan still don't have clean water
D.C  to allow fracking and drilling in national forests
Our climate continues to get hotter
Coal companies blowing up mountains don't matter

You are killing us slowly
You lace our children with cancer
We continue to drink your poison
You never give us straight answers

Water is a necessity of life
But corporations like money more
They don't care if we live or die
Bribes give our leaders a big score

You are killing us slowly
Death will come early for us all
You can't drink money
It will be America's downfall

© 2019 Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

Familiar places make me think of you
The times we shared are memories now
Fond remembrance in a love so true
In my heart I believe you can recall it too

I never mention it or say it out loud
Thoughts of you only for me to know
All those times I'll never forget about
In another time when we loved each other so

The days keep passing and so do the years
As with everything else, time dries up the tears
I look for you in every crowd I'm near
But your beautiful face never appears

I find myself hoping that you are doing good
Don't worry, I could never have any ill will for you
If we never meet again in this lifetime
These memories will stay until the day I die

© 2020  Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

Time is just a struggle to pass away
Minutes turn into hours then into days
Life seems to get in the way of living
Getting ahead just seems to be forbidden
Sometimes you feel you can rule the world
In a flash you can fall into ruins

Get it together, life just falls apart
Get it together, so just play the part

People lie and cheat through life
But I'm not one to cheat and fight
All I ask is to be true and real
I guess no one knows how I feel
I'm so loney and blue
I have no one who is true

Get it together, life just seems to start
Get it together, then life just falls apart

Time is a struggle to pass away
Minutes turn to hours then into days
I have no one to run to
All I've ever had was you
Now my life has gone away
This world i wish not to stay

Get it together, life just seems to start
Get it together, why? It just falls apart

© 2019 Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

My great grandaddy was a farmer
He was set in his ways
My great grandma said he was a charmer
Always jealous of Edie May

He went on a date with Edie
Way back in 1908
He swore it was only one date
But grandma brings it up each day

I remember asking grandaddy
'What's the box of corn cobs for'
That were sitting in the outhouse
Stacked neatly on the floor

Never ask what the corn cobs are for

I stayed with them for a summer
Back when I was nine or ten
A feather bed was where I slumbered
Photos of ancestors scared me to death

They never smiled or seemed happy
In the framed pictures around the bed
I thought they were watching me
As I laid down to rest my head

Dancing corn cobs haunted my dreams

Grandaddy smoked a homemade pipe
With tobacco he grew from scratch
Told stories of how his great grandaddy
Crossed the ocean on a wooden craft

We rode his tractor across the hills
Rounding up cattle and mended fences
Grandma was in the barn getting milk
Oh how I loved her buttermilk biscuits

I couldn't eat corn on the cob she fixed us

They never owned a television set
No air conditioning could be found
So I caught craw dad's in the creek
My splashing was the only sound

I went back and can't hold it anymore
It's been a few days and I have to go
I stood up and walked out the door
I'd better hurry and not move so slow

Don't ask me what the corn cobs were for

It was a cold New Year's morning
That was the last time I ever seen you
The embrace I held you in was glowing
And the kisses we shared were true

I could feel your heartbeat as we embraced
Little flakes of snow fell softly to the ground
I could see the chill bumps on your face
And I didn't want you to go to town

But you had to go that early morning
And I knew you couldn't stay
But I tried hard to keep you from going
I wish I would've tried harder that day

If I would've known that was the last time
That I would ever be able to kiss you
Or had the chance to call you all mine
I would've dragged you back inside

If I knew it would be the last time
That I would see your beautiful face
And those mesmerizing blue eyes
I wish I would've said "I love you"
Instead of only  "Bye.'

© 2020 Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

I saved a person today
She walked down the corridor
I was jumping in my cage
Maybe I could get her to adore

I tried to hide my mess
That was left in the back and such
But I had no choice
I don't get out of here much

I saved a person today
As she looked at my face
I didn't know what to do
So I sit down in place

The humans love the puppies in here
They don't hang around long
My humans died in a car crash
And I was left all alone

I can do tricks and go outside
I can sit on your lap when you cry
I can bark at the door
I will always be by your side

I know I'm just an old dog
But I'll love you forever and always
I'll even watch TV with you
I'll can fetch and play all day

I saved a person today
And she carried me to the car
I can walk on a leach
I can make a new start

I saved a person, you see
And that human saved me


© 2020  Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

They stood across the battlefield
Facing against each other these days
When the guns silenced they'd meet
One wore blue and one wore gray

The two men shared coffee and smokes
Talked about family and life as soldiers
Laughing at some crude little jokes
And what they'd do when the war was over

Every conversation ended the same way
They'd look at each other and say
'I'll see you in hell Johnny Reb'
'I'll see you in hell Billy Yank'

They both knew that someday soon
Their paths may cross through the haze
And see each other across the way
Through that ****** and deadly space

So far luck has been their lady
Seemed like the war will last an eternity
Both longed for home and their family
Born brothers but now they're enemies

They both remembered it the same way
They'd look at each other and say
'I'll see you in hell Johnny Reb'
'I'll see you in hell Billy Yank'

Every battle could be a very tough time
Back home for their dear mother
She always just asked herself why?
What if her only children killed each other?

She was all alone in bluegrass Kentucky
Shielded herself from the news of war
Always praying for them to be lucky
Her poor heart just couldn't take it anymore

Her final words were written in ink
As she mumbled the words to say
'I'll see you in heaven Johnny Reb'
'I'll see you in heaven Billy Yank'

Cannons boomed from a nearby hill
Bullets whistled like hornets overhead
The ground was red from blood that spilled
One can't walk without stepping on the dead

The smoke cleared as the sun fell away
Two wounded men lay beside each other
One wore blue and one wore gray
Morality wounded they held one another

The brothers struggled for a final breath
They looked at each other to say
'I'll see you at home Johnny Reb'
'I'll see you at home Billy Yank'


© 2020  Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

I swung and missed
At fortune's sweet pitch
Now I'm just writing away
Working hard for little pay
But it gives me time to play

I'm too young to retire
And just too old to hire
But no need to fret about things
I'm feeling good and inspired
With hope that things will change

Tomorrow isn't promised
But it's a brand new day
I'm blessed to wake up safe
So there is no need to complain
Live and love for the rest of today

Things can always be worse
And I know I'm not cursed
Some people are sick and in pain
For them I'll always bow and pray
That their circumstances change

I've been blessed with this gift
To write and play riffs
In hopes it'll help you get away
Reading my words, hearing my songs
Maybe it'll help you forget the pain

Live and love for the rest of today
We're blessed to wake up safe
So there is no need to complain
Tommorow isn't promised
But it is a brand new day

The snow could be falling
Or the sun may be shining
It's so beautiful to be awake
Cloudy skies might be crying
So let's just go play in the rain

It will wash away your stress
Who cares if you get wet
Don't worry about fortunes won
The water will drown your regret
So now go out and do your best

Live and love for the rest of today
And tomorrow just do the same
We're blessed to wake up safe
Don't forget to go outside and play
Live and love every single day

Live and love like it's your last day


© 2019 Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

So you think your life is in ashes
And there is no way out
You thought about splashing
From the bridge of doubt

It's easy to hide from your fears
It takes real courage to stand up
And to fight for what is clear
You just have to make your own luck

We are alive and we are here
Our decisions is what we hold dear
Sometimes they are bad and severe
But we move on and learn to steer

It's easy to fall back into the wrong
The hard part is staying away from it all
Your conscience knew it all along
But your mind didn't make the right call

We can build ourselves back to elevation
For we can be our own inspiration
Who we need can't be any clearer
They're looking back at you in the mirror

Maybe you don't believe in destiny
Could be you don't believe in yourself
In one shining moment you will find clarity
Then you'll encounter your prosperity

So your life is not in ashes
It can be rebuilt only for you
You may have to take some chances
But a fire can be built that burns true

In your heart you know it's there
And it's true that life's not fair
But don't let ashes extinguish your flame
Be a Phoenix and rise from what remains


© 2019 Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

The pale moonlight lights up your face
You are so beautiful as you look to the sky
I long for your sweet, loving embrace
You are next to me as the love we have shines

The nice, cool breeze flows through your hair
As you reach over to give me our first kiss
My arms wrap tightly around you in the crisp air
We are alone in the moment while our bodies twitch

There is no other place I would rather be
As our lips connect with the poise of lovers
So soft and caring with your arms around me
As the soft, full moon cast a shadow as it hovers

This seems to be an everlasting embrace
Our bright eyes seeing into each others heart
The pale moonlight lights up our faces
Our lips and bodies together, never to be apart

© 2019 Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)

The times have seemed to change
We want all material things
Whatever happened to Love?

Work so much the days to fly by
Making Less money to buy, buy, buy
Whatever happened to a living wage?

The times have seemed to change
Keep stepping on those in your way
Whatever happened to conscience?

The rich keep getting richer
The poor keep getting poorer
Whatever happened to Washington?

The times continue to disintegrate
Rich politicians keep breeding hate
Whatever happened to peace?

Keeping children locked up in cages
Out on the streets the animosity rages
What happened to love thy neighbor?

The one percent makes the laws
Why can congress break them all?
Whatever happened to consequences?

The times have really changed
Lawmakers don't care about anything
Whatever happened to love?

© 2020  Michael Messinger(All rights reserved)