Love is the most beautiful cause, with heartache being the ugliest effect.
Love speaks from the heart, with heartache tearing everything apart.
Love is patient, kind and understanding. It's always forgiving, and non-judgemental. Love has no end, it's simply, infinite.
Heartache is destroyer or worlds, eating, consuming everything in its path. It's the most dangerous obstacle, as it trips people up, making them tumble to the ground, creating injuries beyond repair.
We aren't the same after heartache, yet with love, we are our best selves.
Love is expensive, with us paying the cost, but heartache charges dues, to everyone but you.

D. Scaggs

"Three"

By: Cedric McClester

When it’s more than about
A club full of ****
And we run out of toe tags
Or body bags
To identify the dead
And we’ve half mast the flags
Will we face the ***** Low Down
I’m thinking Bozz Scaggs

What you gonna say then
About your right to bare arms
Have you joined the militia
Or succumb to the charms
Or an errant gun lobby
Who don’t give a care
About how many die
As if they’re unaware

Our right to live
Should trump any amendment
Because it’s real basic
And also ascendant
It makes me wonder
Why some are dependant
Upon assault weapons
Like a kind of appendage

When it’s more than about
People some might hate
Or minimalize
Like they’re second rate
I wonder what then
Will be the debate
Around sensible gun laws
See I cannot wait

Cedric McClester, Copyright (c) 2016.  All rights reserved.

I've been through more struggles this year than I ever could imagine
Betrayed, homeless, heartbroke, decieved and abandoned
I found some hope to turn around from this negative vibe
I've finally preservered, to restart and make a better life
I went through hell and back and came out ever stronger
The past and pain I've been dealt will hold me down no longer
I rose up tall and can now shout out from the mountains peak
I can accomplish anything and everything and be who I've wanted to be!
There's nothing and no one holding me down, I'll keep rising up and tall!
Because I came from rock bottom and suicidal, just to beat it all!
Theres still goals I've got, and desires i plan to obtain,
But to turn around and see my path, I'm proud of what I've gained!
My path has still more length, and I look forward to every stride
Ill have more rocks, and stumbling, even stop and cry
But the one thing I'll hold dear from the cards that I've been dealt,
Is never again, will I, allow to lose myself!

D. Scaggs

"Twenty-one"

I found the one I love and at first I was in bliss
I was lost in overwhelming joy and pure happiness
But now im used for free labor, and its **** uncool
Go back to ******* me raw, and not just use me like a tool
I know my need is carnal, but I have only a few days to go
I want to enjoy your body too, and not only this fathership show
I'm glad I have it all, but with your want for me getting less
How is my emotional state not supposed to be a mess
I love being here with both of you, but I cant be the only one to give
Because only being here to work, this isnt how to live
6 years you waited for me, and ****** me crazy and gave me head
Now you dont touch me at all, as if all I am is dead
I know ****'s going nuts but I'm not here for much more time
What else can I do, to show you a sign
I'm willing to help and add a little ease to your days vivance
So please reciprocate this back, not just make me suffer in silence

D. Scaggs

"Seventeen"

Where did all the goodwill towards men go?
Flushed down the drain, please say it isn't so.
Darkness encumbers everyone and everything.
The show is now over, let the fat lady sing.
The past can't be changed, the present's where we start.
Sad but true, no one cares, so now we all fall apart.
Yes, there's still a few left, their flame's as bright as the sun.
But hope's near to zero, let's clock out, this world's done.
I hate to retreat, and run away from the fight.
But my self-preservation's my guide, finding shelter from spite.
People just want, to be sielfish and nothing more.
Rotting outside in, straight down to their core.
Morals have been replaced, by narcissistic tendencies.
Where there is no such sure, no treatment, no remedies.
The way good people shined, was as bright as Harvest Moon.
Now they play life like a game, only assuring their doom.
I'm completely mind blown, by how the world's gotten so sick.
Taking advantage of everyone they can, what a cruel and ***** trick.
You would think through these tragedies, how we stood together again.
It would unite us once more, seeing one another as friends.
But as soon as the dust settled, and chaos stopped its course.
We reverted back to enemies, hurting each other other, no remorse.
Being fake, hiding behind masks, is our only defense tool.
But that leads to nothing good, only more damage by fools.
So deep into hiding we go, being forced by their hand.
In hopes to not get sick by them, never seeing promised land.
We're becoming overrun, by this infectious disease.
Lord, please come again, and save us all please.
Our lives hang in the balance, with it all on the line.
Seriously Lord, come save your sheep, now is the time.
The more our hope crumbles, disappearing from plain sight.
Harder to see day by day, because they blow out our light.
"Be the change you want to see in the world", they say.
As if they had good intentions.
Taking your kindness for weakness and poisoning your soul.
With that one good incision.

D. Scaggs

"Five"

I was misunderstood when told about the "Golden Rule". Humanity follows its own selfish set of immoral guidelines.
We stab each other in the front, without remorse for the pain caused.
Survivors are supposed to have hope for a better tomorrow, but borrowed time means only having time to **** in the cess pool themselves.
Human decency, genuine care, selflessness, compassion, honesty, all lost causes.
If only people didn't prefer to be right over being happy. It's like causing pain has become second nature.
The real sad truth is, everyone will hurt you and almost nobody will love you.
They will spray paint their words with fools' gold, and relish in the ruse, ready to play victim when the music plays.
If I could have one wish, it wouldn't be for world peace, it would be for better people.
No human can be a pillar forever.
A selfless outreach can save a life, and that is more valuable than personal pride.
As "woke" as this civilization is, we are asleep at the wheel. Running one another over, time and time again. Pedestrians even expect it at this point.
Watch the real ones fight through their crucibles, only to end up with boot prints on their foreheads.
It's a shame how supporting one another is harder to find than diamonds in a corn field. This poison needs to be irradicated. Unfortunately, the virus has grown too strong, and hope for healing from one another is like a candle in a wind storm, always wavering, and will inevitably blow out, but....it is what it is.

D. Scaggs

"One"

I found someone, different she proved to be.
Really showed me there was still kindness in humanity.
Spent half a year, making amazing memories.
From a simple birthday song, to cooking tortillas with cheese.
She went from "you're amazing" to lying to my face.
This blade you put in my back, is it in the right place?
She pushed me away from fear of being hurt herself.
But a short pain to me is all the cards I got dealt.
See, she's actually the one experiencing real loneliness.
Having short lived fun, and thats only at best.
She'll wake up one day and see the gem she threw aside.
But im walking away from toxins, with every single stride.
Im heading uphill and forming a life that I can proudly call my own.
Sad to see that ***** turn away, when I tried to throw her a bone.

D. Scaggs

"Nineteen"

Since when?!, did this poison, infect fellow brethren, to become so **** weakened, and give in, to an entire new mission, with all bad intention, and spin, with this pure evel grin, to betray his own kin, and then?!, continue again, on this path filled with sin, refusing to mend, because to them?!, I'm the one that can't blend!, it's so **** uneven! So my friend, stretched so thin, here I am and always have been, even let him be forgiven, just hoping and praying, his soul fights being sickened, start seeking redemption, coreect his decisions, write a revision, get a full-body cleansing, and get stricken, rinsed free from this disease and, finally come to an end. Fin

D. Scaggs

"Lost At Sea"

I'm hidden behind this wall, hoping it won't crumble and fall.
I've built it both wide and tall, but is it strong enough at all?
I want to feel safe and help guard against the dark.
Let my close ones have refuge, from that sickened bark.
But ****!, someone left the back door open, barely ajar.
My fortress now falling inside out, what was this all even for?
Betrayed, abandonded at my worst, it's all I ever see.
I just want to be the best version of myself I can actually be.
But I'm getting sick of being stabbed in the front repeatedly.
From the other blind wandering, and I can't even get angry.
Because as blind as I still am, I understand where they are at.
I'm steering my own ship, with it's own blurry map.
My telescope's been lost to sea, I can't see the next trap.
The Loch Ness Monster, The Kraken, or any other crap.
My ship's heading to destruction, and I can't see ten feet ahead.
It grows harder to breathe, can't remember what 'ole Davey said.
I'm loosing ground, as I try to rest for even a minute in bed.
Destined for his locker, cursed with sickness, never dead.
I'm stuck disfigured from this entrapment, I'm now just a beast.
Judged from only the outside, it's all that's seen in the least.
They throw away the book I am because my cover has a crease.
Is this the way life as I know it, will always be for me?

D. Scaggs

"Two"

Starting off I had nothing, not a thing to my name.
Not a hint of recognition, no glory, no fame.
Perservered for a year, finally got me a home.
Only to watch one run off, leaving my entire mind blown.
Me and a stranger fought through, blind as a bat.
And found brotherhood like magic, like pulling rabbits from a hat.
We grew only stronger, as time passed us by.
Fueled one another, we did, each day and each night.
We took pride being there always, no matter who fell.
Through deployment, girls, and more, we conquered all hell.
Twelve years now passed by, and we're back to the start.
Becoming strangers once more, and falling apart.
I would give my left nut, my lung or my kidney.
Just to hear my old friend say, he loved me and missed me.
This bond of love, trust and respect, has become but dust and black smoke.
As if our broship never happened, our fortress just a big joke.
I tried to be civil, even way past the end.
But twelve years don't mean s*    , to my one-time best friend.
He has no remorse, no sorrow, no guilt.
No honor for time spent, or broship we built.
I would be sad I lost a friend, but he's lost one, that's true.
B**   , karma's gonna come back one day, but only haunt you!

D. Scaggs

This one goes out, to the few good ones left.
Who refuse to stop fighting, even when blind, numb and deaf.
Your heart's become the strongest, through fights tough as nails.
Learning from the wins, and even more from the fails.
Being one of your kind, is a worth more than priceless.
Though the weight, knowledge and experience we bear, is what we suffice with.
We're saviors and unsung heroes, never rewarded with medals.
In the field of humanity, we're thanked in portions the size of rose petals.
We're the grease in your gears, the **** in your pistons.
No matter the resident's severity, we're here to assist them.
Most won't appreciate, until our shoes been tried on.
Still we're caring for them, even when gone.
Someday there may just come a time, you'll need our care too.
So appreciate the ones always pressin on, filling those big shoes.

D. Scaggs

We are all on a timer, and eventually our numbers will roll over to zero. The moments treasured from experience gained, are life's true valuables. Take time to stop looking in one direction. To be blinded to what's happening around us is a cold and bitter curse.
The way we plow people down, without even looking in the rear-view mirror, corrodes the foundation that holds up my hope for humanity.
Poison words, destructive actions, bitter personalities, that's the real illness. Too bad there's not a vaccine for infected people. It it what it is though, and it is near impossible to even take that one step forward.
It's like we are on one of those electric sidewalks, but it's running at 3 times the speed, as we run out of breath, just to stay in the same spot, dying faster because of it.
So humanity finds it easier, to take the easy way, and not only riding the sidewalk backwards, but running that way, pushing everyone down, just to get that extra step towards darkness quicker.
As painful as it is watching from the stands, as the bridges burn and the cities collapse, there is nothing I can do to fix anything.
So I watch the world consume itself, as i sit here, sipping my soda and eating my popcorn. What a terrible movie, two thumbs down.

D. Scaggs

"Four"

With the ones and their ways to restrain.
Manipulation, assault, with a topping of blame.
Was a labyrinth of its own, important, I needed to conquer.
(For) Now I've won, risen above it, now to bow and accept this great honor.
Faced with deception, narcissism, betrayal and spite.
Mixed with put-downs, deflection, even got into a fight.
This torment I've been through wouldnt be so hard to manage.
If I wasnt stabbed the worst by the ones who applied the bandage.
Watching myself fall only to see fake help hiding greed.
No care for how they wound, or making me bleed.
Everyone I care about and got close to bond with.
Ended up as wasted time and energy, and get chased by a fifth.
The worst pain comes not from the ones that hurt the most.
But from the ones I let in, all to watch them turn to ghosts.
Staying strong alone is so brutal, I hate this loneliness.
But this pain compared to being alone, I don't know deals pain less.
I'll love someone unconditionally, if only given the chance.
All I crave is a real life's companion, not a zombie in a tech trance.
The only real solution that's safe, is to only trust yourself.
Avoid these fake schemes, don't trust them with your wealth.
So make the best of the worst, don't fly too close and melt.
Using the tools you have at hand, and win with the cards that you're dealt.

D. Scaggs