Close your eyes and I'll sing to you
though I haven't many words.
Fingers moving to this tune
making melody a verse.
Creating contorted content
like dancers with shapes and lines.
Carefully crafting concepts
into story and art that rhyme.

Moments make memories
that turn into dreams.
Wishing washes a way when
showers of stars stream.
My mind is like a madhouse,
running away from me.
But time stands still with wonder
when I'm fast asleep.

-by, Patrick Hamilton
09Feb2019

Addicted to it man, just can't let it go
Stunned thunder clap, another good show
The south-side monster on 16th street
Listen to The Words, or just let him be

Words that spilled out
for Jesus & his drink
A Lotus to bloom out of the rough
Double down for one more hit of that stuff

[CH]
Gimme a thunderous clap, a slow rolling roar
And I'll always come back for just one more

Austin from Tallahassee
To Jackson Square in New Orleans
The Appalachian trails, to Venice Beach
In Florida it'll leave ya sleeping on the street

You can find it anywhere
There's smoke and drink
There's a gambling man (&a gambling chance)
Under every marquee

[CH]
Gimme a thunderous clap, that slow rolling roar
I'll always come back for just one more

[CH]
.....One more score.

Addicted to it, can't let it be
Every sucker on a stage, (including me)
It's not fame, money or glory we seek
But if you get a taste, it's so hard to leave

Oh, that thunderous clap, that slow steady roar
Always coming back for just one more.

Another year goes by, thinking about old wrongs
Winter is here, hoping I'll hold on
I strum a clear tune to write a cold (cold) song,
But I still see your face no matter how far I've gone.

As a means of escape, I followed the signs
Left a corpse out of state at the wake to go write my rhymes
Up through the center & down the west coast, then back east
From Florida to Philly, whichever way the wind blow'd
I saw the southern border of old Mexico
Skirted Canada too, still wearing the same pair of clothes
I've gotten sick and I been hard up
But I still sang my songs to fill my gut

Miles come and go, stretching on so long
I put my pen to page, and try and move on
Another season full of days, just looking to belong
I still see your face no matter how far I've gone

(I been) Running in circles, trying to fill the time
Of the spaces left from reading in between the lines
I haven't made it far yet, but I still outshine
All the dusty bones broken down that I left behind

....

Another year goes by, thinking about old wrongs.
Winter is here again hoping I'll hold on .
I strum a clear tune to write a cold cold song .
...But, I still see your face, no matter how far I've gone.

I fell for you like I was walking through
the living room in the dark.

Like when I used to do *******
Baby, you go straight to my heart.

Like a calendar
I see you almost every day.

And like this cigarette
you know, you take my breath away.

I still message you at noon, just to say
"Hey (smiley face)"

Romantic nights are when I brush my teeth before bed,
and you wash your face

We "Netflix & Chill" and worry 'bout the bills
that still need to be paid

I go out on weekends to play
you work all week long, and wish I could stay

When I get home I know
you'll still love me anyway

It's funny how the rain can wash away the day and
somehow still leave me lonely inside, feeling so far away.

If you were to take away from me all of the memories,
floating like the twigs and leaves piled at the end of the street,
would I seem to be as fresh as the air smells clean
from these monsters in my head that don't give me rest or sleep?

Well the rain doesn't fall quite so sleepily on me, and I ache
for the sun to shine again, and maybe bring me some peace.

See, I've been troubled for some time now with a home so far away
My little heart & soul were taken, and even with years I just can't shake the lonely hopeless feeling that don't ever wash away.
And if the clouds don't part, than forever in the dark   I'll stay  


Well, the rain has stopped now and the wind is dying down,
and I'm still here in this quiet little town
wondering how much farther to go to prove to myself
it don't matter none too much where ya started out,
it's how we all end up that's got us upside-down

Well, the rain doesn't fall quite so sleepily on me,
and I ache for the sun to shine again
and maybe    bring me      some  peace .

Jon or Jonny's what they called him back home
but we were all just "Private" to the Engineer Corp
Down for whatever, through thin & thick
in the worst parts of it all, he had my 6

His smile always lightened up the mood
when I needed a friend to listen, he was there too
Pieces of metel from an IED attack
still left a bit of shrapnel there in his back

"Where there's smoke.." Ya know that saying?
Needless to say, that's how he got a new name
1st man up, last one to leave
always the cool one when ya needed him to be

My "Battle Buddy"

E company came back 14 men short
with 30 purple hearts on class A uniforms
I got depressed & tried to deal with it
Smoke never seemed to find that switch

He didn't show up to formation one morn.
When I saw him in his car it shocked me to the core
seein' him there in PT shorts
with one less bullet in a 44

He was my Battle Buddy

....
Jon, or Jonny, is what they called him back home
We were all just Private to the Engineer Corp
Down for whatever, through thin & thick
in the worst parts of it all, he had my 6 .