The Man Unseen

I wish that you could understand,
I wish that you could be the man
I know is living somewhere inside--
can't understand why you make him hide.
Keep him tamed with lock and key
fettered behind reality.
Shed a single tear for him
each night behind my eyes;
I see the man that you could be
and my soul, silent, cries.
You're braver than you comprehend,
you're stronger than you know...
I see your great potential
and I can't let you go.
Maybe when you're older, wise
you'll see yourself but through my eyes;
see the man kept in your head
and live your life as him instead.
And even if it's not with me
please be the man you're meant to be,
for the world would be at such a loss
to never know the you of my thoughts.
Know all I say and all I do
is simply 'cause I care for you
and I will wait for eternity and time
in hopes, that man in you would be mine.
I wish that you could only see
I wish only that you could be
the man inside your own sweet dreams;
the man of your reality...
I know somewhere in your reflection
you see the man you wish you were.
You see as clearly as I see him in you
just as strong, just as sure.
So I pray you find him, I know you will
I haven't a doubt in my mind.
And you shouldn't have to search the world
to find that man inside.

Tangled Webs and Tangos (written a little while ago, but I like it)

You are hurting her
And you’re killing me;
What a sorry two step--
Your dance of deceit.
And you lie to her
When you lie with me;
What a very sordid,
Tangled web you have weaved.
I won’t be your other
I will only be your one,
So I will only love you
When her love is done.

You tell me to be patient
And you tell me to be strong
But I won’t wait forever,
Turn around and I’ll be gone.
You say you want to see it play out
But how else can it end
When you play her,
Like you have played her?

Mon cher, I’d swim the ocean--
I swear I’d walk for days
If you were on the other side,
If it’s you this time who’ll wait.
But I will bow out gracefully
And I’ll accept defeat
If you tell me that you love her
More than you love me.

Darling love don’t lie to me,
I’ve been lied to in the past
And if all you have are gilded lies
Then take all your love back.
I don’t want to wait for you
If you’ll never be with me;
I don’t want to see it through
If you’ll end up cheating me too
Like you always do.

They look at me with hateful eyes
But you’re the one who’s telling lies.
The words they use like acid scar;
A hundred knives into my heart.
They tell me I should think of her
But no one ever thinks of me.
The only wrong I ever did
Was fall for you and not break free.

You will lose her;
You will lose me.
Not a threat,
Just the simple reality.
It’s hurting you
And it’s killing me
To watch us die
For this toxic dream.

You are hurting her
And you’re killing me;
I cannot keep in time with you
For I have two left feet.
My love, I cannot lie with you
It’s you who lies to me;
Caught up like a butterfly
Inside the web you weaved.
I won’t be your other
I will only be your one,
So I can never love you,
I will never love you
I am done.

The Internal Battle

To say the words, it isn’t hard
but lost somewhere between head and heart
they stick like tar tight to my throat
as Reason forms her mighty mote
to keep me from my own downfall
She never lets me love at all.
For if I say them and they’re said
the dream is, in an instant, dead.
Yes, those are words one can’t unsay—
words to take your breath away,
words which launch ships to the sea,
words never meant for you and me.
Yet, long to say them, know I do
I’ve never meant them before you.
Though somehow simpler they were to state
before they carried such a weight.
If I could screw my courage to some mighty sticking place
I would sing them to the world, and harder, to your face.
Should I risk that which we are
to put my fate on shooting stars;
for if you didn’t feel the same
all my love would be in vain.
So for now I’ll keep still the words
which nigh could change my fragile world.

Citizen

Please do not think for yourself--
regurgitate the truth.
Two decades to indoctrinate
and caref'ly cite their proof.
The truth is what they make it
for they define the lies.
Smile as your trigger's pulled
so they won't see you cry.
Learn to stay your questions
and never break the chain.
If everybody does it
then no one feels the shame.
You matter only when you make
a somebody of you.
Learn their falsehoods early
and give to them your youth.
Only think when spoken to;
only speak when told.
Cross your heart and bow your head;
the dealers never fold.
Only look when asked to see;
only know when taught,
but please don't be original
or all this is for naught.
They claim the name of freedom
and righteous moral ground,
measuring their sins
with gold and flesh by pounds.
They tip the scales of justice
to walk in shades of gray:
rape and steal and murder--
but don't forget to pray.
Pray to their God and to their truth
and one day, son, you'll be of use.

The Mindset of Man

There is no peace, there is no love; the only thing that's real
is that which we can quantify and not that which we feel.
Build monuments unto our own to leave our mark on earth
but some day all that which we build will crumble back to dirt.
We'll take until there's nothing left; 'til nothing more remains,
yet, still, we'd take it and for what? It isn't to sustain.
We are no more than sparrows winging wayward to the sun;
no more than tiny atoms come together, firm as one.

There is no peace, no single shred of placid, calm content
unless we feel we've mattered to some bleak, minute extent.
Long after life has left our eyes and blood has left our veins
the worms will eat what's left of us 'til nothing more remains.
Food for worms which feed the birds who scatter out the seeds
that grow the trees who make the air your children need to breathe.
No better, we, than field mice making lives to be destroyed;
no better than the specks of dust which fill this hellish void.

What makes man so entitled: the king of all which is.
Why can't we just be happy? Why can't we just exist?
Exist until we die and when we die then we are dead
and all we've done and all we are dies in our weary heads.

Hell and Heisenberg

Nothing is for certain, no, nothing is for sure
and the heaven I once dreamt of, I don't want it anymore
Impossible to know
what happens in the dark.
Impossible to show:
is Love the head or heart?
Like ships that sail on clouds and sea
can we view what isn't there?
If you do not know, you cannot see
but stand with vacant stares.
Burnt and bloody, bruised and beat;
you can't melt ice without the heat.
Ashes to ashes neat in the tray;
hard to live above the fray.
It could be here, it could be there:
you cannot know without the sight--
you really could be anywhere
when shrouded by the night.
Peaked behind the curtain, not heaven, it was Oz
And now I know for certain: Hell's where we belong.