Redemption

I know that you were bad for me And you never really cared Whether shallow or convenient Your promises were empty air And yet… And yet… I know that you were using me I know I should move on You consumed the very best of me And I was just a pawn And...

Another day dies in the world I've made It's a tragic and unsung passing The zero sum of the time I've left Claims another victim Looking at all of the things I broke Thinking that things could be different If I'd only tried Hand trembling Sweat breaking on t...

As I lay dying I saw the eyes The eyes of God. Thy kingdom come A force so strong pulled me along As I lay dying As I lay dying I laughed as I Had never laughed before At circumstance and the evened score As I lay dying As I lay dying I touched the a...

In quiet hours, still awake I listen to each breath you take And I wonder what you dream about How far we’ve come, since we were young Our preconceptions now undone So I wonder what you dream about I’m mine, I might be soaring Pushing things to greater...

The stresses of all these years Their toll is manifest Never felt But now revealed As I'm put to the test This manufactured world of pain Brings shock to the system That rearranges DNA Into a code of death Evidence now introduced The provenance is cl...

I used to see in color But now it's only black and white Black and white I used to hear your voice But now I can't make out the sound Not a sound And in the solitude I've crafted for myself I cry a single tear for beauty left unfelt I used to smell your pre...

Bind to me - keep me in the shadows of your life Terrified - frightened I might step into the light Drinking deep from wells of bitterness within your soul Holding fast to self-deluding visions of control You're convinced that when you're done and the day...

Can you see past this place Where our failings took us unaware? I have dreams of a future brighter than the past Faith sustain me Take away my fear Hope reclaim me Wipe these sins away Love renew me Give me strength to cross the gap between Denial an...

I can't believe my ears I can't believe my eyes The silent beast within Is this my time to die? Was it something that I did? Or that I left undone? Did the hand of fate Just strike me down There's nowhere I can run As I'm told what I must do And what...

You have your reasons for waiting for the worst Our learned behavior is so difficult to break I have my reasons for clinging to my hope Chances I have to take The only conclusion is love over fear Without it we’ll never live I have my reasons for pushi...

Emerging into the light A thousand empty pages Left to me to write And I won't subjugate my dreams to mortality I won't live every day I have as if it is my last But I'll live each to the full The poison stops, its work is done I'm half surprised that I...

Peter and Mary, drive cross-country Entering Desperation, Nevada Red lights flash and their destines changed As the patrol car pulls behind them Collie Etrangian, arm of the law Stops them and searches the back of their car There in the trunk, some drug...

Years of writing books Long behind him now A nihilistic confidence and a smile upon his face Johnny Marinville and his Harley through the desert One last ride to make him feel young again He came back from Vietnam Only one to escape the bomb That tore...

Hiding in the theater, listening to Tom Telling whitewashed lies about the China Pit Whatever has happened, started when they opened it And brought out the carvings from the deepest part David leaves the others and falls asleep while praying A vision of...

Johnny knows why he was spared in Vietnam God has a reason for his sacrifice Johnny knows David thinks it all will fall on him But the message is clear and he knows he has a purpose The writer descends into the heart of the mine Down to the bottom of the...

Lately when I sleep perchance to dream I'm driven to the brink of madness By the things I've seen With perfect clarity I see From all the chapters of my life Faces staring at me Mocking me with laughter full of spite Falling deeper into this sea of doub...

There’s a storm on the horizon There’s a shadow on your door There’s a sense of dread that’s rising And it’s coming back for more It doesn’t matter what you say Too late to change the damage you have done There’s a feeling you can’t run from There’s a...

There'll come a time when love outlasts my insecurities And I'll be unafraid that you're not here with me I hold on And I face another day I hold on urgently to you I let go And my fears begin to fade and now with pride we watch you make your way Clou...

Thrust your hand into my chest And pull out a fistful of sand Cast it down upon the ground And watch as it blows away The world keeps spinning ever-on And dark hair turns to gray The ticking clock cannot be stopped And so goes another day Falling down Spirit...

We can find that we have wandered so far from the path We can find that we've lost sight of all of the things we really had Now I've reached this destination, but I wonder where I've come Where's the goal that I once dreamed of at a time when I was young?...

Love can be beautiful and true, and it’s said it is enduring After what you have put me through, I’m not sure that I agree Put faith in enemies more than in friends – they’re much less likely to betray But faith is quick to fade, and when it ends there’s al...

Nothing lasts forever Changelessness is death Still a part of us will fight it To our dying breath Nothing can be permanent The machines of this place will fail The illusion of stability Across our eyes a fragile veil I am I, the voices cry Wreaking...

I thought this strand was ours That one day we would meet along its shore That future is foreclosed Denied me like a thousand more It’s over, the dream is gone Out of reach for me after all Preserved in perfect pain They must have changed the way the...

Seems only just yesterday I held you, and sang a song about your eyes So perfect, and innocent, now failing My God I'd rather die Than live with you in pain Resilient, transcendent, and fearless I hope you realize just how strong you are But I'm weak I just d...

Reflection A mirror held upon a life As the minutes turn to hours Hours blurring into days Attention To all the things left undone To the words we were too afraid to say As each passing second slips away Let it rain Wash away the poison The stains of...

Leviathan rises From the ocean of our fear Falling to our knees we cower Bequeathing to this edifice A monopoly of force This parasitic beast is drunk with power We've let our fears destroy Our dignity and freedom And turned our backs on all The principles we...

The setting sun rings in shadows The face of a little man Consumed by insecurity The world is such a threat He tries to quell the voices But isn’t sure he can So he’ll do his best to control Or pick up his toys and go home The world must be so frighte...

Who are you? Who am I? Particles of dust floating under threatening skies Struggling Foolishly Doomed to watch inert, knowing that our dreams will die We sell our hopes for stones to build Temples of regret We grow up We forget What we lost Or even...

Every summer leads to fall And we give our hearts Hoping there's no chain of consequence And there's nothing I can do To change my past mistakes That built up these barriers between us I know the truth is something we can't run from But I know you do your bes...

Only love can make it rain The way the beach is kissed by the sea Only love can make it rain Like the sweat of lovers laying in the fields Love, reign o’er me Love, reign o’er me Rain on me Rain on me Only love can bring the rain That makes you year...

Look at me - deep into weathered eyes that have Seen too much of the world and far too many Failings in myself Look at me - deep into bones of glass Shards of mirrors reflecting all the dark events of my life If something doesn't kill us, it just might...

I still remember the sound of your voice calling out my name And I still remember my face examining itself, knowing things would never be the same I still remember your smiling face across a crowded room And I still remember, through the weathering of time,...

All is quiet on New Year's Day A world in white gets underway I want to be with you, be with you night and day Nothing changes on New Year's Day On New Year's Day I will be with you again I will be with you again Under a blood red sky A crowd has gathered in...

Pile the bodies higher Climb to the top so the world can see The depth of your sympathy Worn as it is upon your sleeve Where's the true compassion In this vapid, sickly cult Of worshipping celebrity? Struck with my mortality Dazed by the reality Force...

When we enter its domain Will the answers follow Or will the wind and rain Predict tomorrow Or will they combine And dictate our fears Feeding our minds The violence here We can end the apathy Nocturnal When we enter the darkness Will our heart...

I swear this room is empty But I can hear the voice And eyes are crawling on me just like flies Calling into question Every thought and choice Telling me that all I know is lies Dejected and disgusted, I'm inclined to give it up What's the use? Why go...

Look at you You haven't seen anything Your eyes so white and pure Without a trace of red No signs of self-abuse there And no tears have yet been shed Just pure Pure white eyes Look at you You don't know anything Not what the towers looked like On September ten...

Fear surrounds me I struggle not to yield Panic taking hold Rising in my chest Desperate, casting around Searching for a foothold as I'm Falling away, further each day Slipping into the black In the path of the whirlwind No way back No way home again...

I've been peeling away the layers Digging to the center Trying to find some common thread to follow Turning to face the mirrors In deepening reflection But all the answers seem to be so hollow Face buried Hands clawing at the sand I've built myself this fortr...

This could be anything This could be everything Don't let a fantasy Keep you from being free We all dream of how things could be (dream of how things could be) But the wise make peace with reality Girl, we're just wasting time Come and see what we find...

The road I've walked for my whole life Has brought me to this crossroads And I'm standing here beside you I know you've never been someone To take things on a leap of faith Please trust me once and never cry again Hold my had We can take this slowly And see wh...

I am scarred from the actions of others I am scarred from the actions of self I am scarred by the times That I held back the storm With no one to turn to Nobody else I have risen beyond what I used to be I have fought hard to gain what I lacked But I stil hear...

Turned and tossed in this widening flight And I can’t find my bearings The voice that called me once is lost And the silence left is tearing at me Everything’s starting to fall apart The center cannot hold The blood-dimmed tide is loosed upon us And in...

So now I'm standing in the ashes Remembering your face If I'm honest and don't think too much about it There are things that seem a challenge to replace I know I let myself be played Trying to fix a broken toy More than healing, time brings clarity I...

[Part I: Arrivals] October's a rare month for boys When life is simple, pure and sweet And the foolish youth can overlook The wolf outside the door Come hear a tale of Halloween And one October not long past Jim Nightshade and Will Halloway Would nev...

ush the needle in my arm and give me poison I can take whatever comes, I will not bow This is just another battle in the war And I will scratch and claw with everything I have And I won't pay the ferryman -- I won't be taken to the other side And you have...

Another suburban family morning. Grandmother screaming at the wall. We have to shout above the din of our Rice Crispies We can't hear anything at all. Mother chants her litany of boredom and frustration, But we know all her suicides are fake. Daddy only star...

A random happenstance so much against the odds But we both know that’s always how it is Afraid to open wounds, tentative yet hopeful We somehow still decide to join the dance again Broken individuals yearning to be whole One day I’ll be standing in that...

Shaken Blind to your deceit But I finally learned That there won’t be a happy ending Meeting your stare There’s no answer there Yet it’s clear on your face That there isn’t a happy ending Sometimes it pays Not to give up But it heightens the pain W...

Don’t tell me what you do – tell me what you ache for Do you dare to dream of meeting what your heart is longing for? And I don’t care how old you are – I want to know if you will risk Looking like a fool for love, for your dreams, for life itself Have you...

Wipe out all the wonder from creation Replace it all with fractals And synthesize the beauty and design Pulling wings off spiritual flies So smug and oh so certain That yours is the enlightened state of mind Your soul will contemplate its emptiness Mire...

When you hear a voice in marked opposition You and others like you demonize the speaker in derision You surround yourself with thinkers of your kind Never challenging your view or opening your mind You’re polarized and blinded There was a time when we m...

[I. Rage:] Struck down by the persons that I trusted Robbed of dignity and left for dead I can feel unmeasurable anger building in me Emptiness and rage begin to burn inside my head Once I was a person withoug malice Once my heart bled red instead of bl...

Last time to see this view Last memory of you Last time my tongue will have the taste The final words I write The final kiss good night Given short shrift in my haste Time moves slowly Till we have none left We all reach a point in life When it take...

Hand on heart, head in hands The light is fading now, it cannot pierce the darkness Nothing left to build upon Except the mounting fear that none of this was worth it Hand on pen, pen to page Focus though I may, my words have failed Emptiness consuming...

Something's going on here - the object is uncertain But I can see the makings of a sinister design The bristles of the tightening noose are scratching at my throat And in Shadows, whispered voices plot to take from me what's mine The tension's ever-mounti...

Push came to shove The allegiant trust we built took center stage Needed a lifeline But you watched me as my body slipped beneath the waves There’s a special place in hell for the disloyal Who cut and run when needed most So much invested I thought yo...

You and I alone Standing on shaky ground Wondering what became of yesterday Everything seemed simple then We fit together hand in glove But now everything has changed Somewhere in our past we Strayed and lost our way Now I search for us But we're not here Look...

You haven't drawn a breath But I know you Still unformed, and yet The flame burns true And I can't stop what's already begun Where can I go when nowhere else exists to run You haven't scarred me yet But I feel you Not yet manifest But the pain burns true An...

I don't know how to finish what's begun Or how long I might wonder if it's done Windows open when the doors are all closed But if you step through them, you might forget the way back home I was drawn, I was taken over Rubicons All the while never realize...

Fifteen hours I've been staring at these walls Waiting for the call that never comes I thought I had figured it out Giving you the benefit of doubt Every day you build the wall And I'm trying to break through Brick by brick I'll tear it down Until I reach the...

What will you say about me? Will you say I was a good man? That you felt my love and that you loved me too What will you say about me? Will you say that it was perfect Or it wasn't worth the pain I put you through? Seems so strange We just let this slip away...

There's a kid who sees the world A selfish kid: a good kid: a good kid By his own means he knew the price of life By his own means he knew the price for you He must reveal it now, but to who? A cluttered world. A damaged world A lost world he lives in...