writing on the wall

i knew for some time the writing was on the wall
i just wasn't ready, willing or able to read it....

yet !

Ancient tears

The glacier where my heart once beat
now melts into an endless flowing river.
These grateful eyes release ancient tears
to seek home again with holy mother sea.

joker's wild

some time ago
i made my way
down to the crossroads
to try my lucky hand
at the devil's gaming table

at first i held my own
with what was being dealt
i was so damn cock-sure
i'd covered all the angles

i knew full well
the nature of the game
i knew full well
the nature of the dealer

it's what i didn't know
that proved to seal my fate
i found out far too late
the game that i was playing
was the specialty of the house

a little number called....

joker's wild !

Timeless gift

My heart was touched this day
in such a deep and tender way,
by someone I can never know;
a simple soul long passed away.

houses of cards

i recently visited a kingdom
built entirely of houses of cards

with the persnickity queen of clubs
perched high on her rickety throne

the poor old sodden king of spades
lay drunk and passed out neath the table

while the slick sly knave of diamonds
was all jacked up to make his play

the joker wasn't laughing much
the queen didn't think he was funny

the churchmouse was there
all a-twitch and a-twitter
nose deep in some scripture or other

no sign of the ace of hearts and her crew
the place seemed decidedly short-suited

....more to come....

thrown away words

i love you truly and always have
it seems your heart just cannot hear this

if you throw away these words
i pray you remember the space between them
as this is where my infinite love abides

Are you the one ?

Are you the one ?

I see you hustling rustling 'round,
whispering here and there;
something slick and sneaky in the air.

Are you the one ?

The one who comes for me.
The one who will not rest
until your mission is complete

Are you the one ?

I can see it in the shadows
where your eyes are supposed to be;
the coldest darkest light I've ever seen

Are you the one ?

The only thing i know is this;
what you've got for me ain't coming
when I can see or hear you there.

Are you the one ?

As if I really need to ask.
I'm sure it's written in that book
you want to rant and rave about.

Are you the one ?

don't know sheet

i don't know sheet
i know this
it helps me
when i think i know sheet
i get into sheet
sometimes deep sheet

when you think you know sheet
i know you dont know sheet
you still want to impress me
with the sheet you think you know

i know this
i see this
i hear this
i smell this

whatever sheet you're slinging
it's been slung this way before

i know you don't know sheet
i know i don't know sheet
that sheet you think you know
i thought i knew that sheet before

now i know
i never did know sheet
i just thought i knew that sheet

but....

i didn't know sheet after all

some sheet you sling
is piled so high and deep
i must remember to bring hip-waders
one ought to be prepared

just cause i don't know sheet
i still know this

sheet happens !

sometimes sheet comes sideways
and all done up with a bow

so save your sheet
for those who need it
their gardens may lie fallow

even though i don't know sheet
i still do know one thing
i don't need that sheet you're flinging
as it smells way too much
like what's been flung this way before

the high road

if you aim for the low road
it's likely all you'll ever get to
if you shoot for the high road
you might just make it there

no one of us is ever perfect
you can't be blamed for trying
so if you shoot for the high road
you might just make it there

the buck stops here

to the thief in the night
it's a way to keep going
to the one who has lost
what's gone is gone forever

you stole my very life away
to satisfy some meager lust

i hardly had a chance
you didn't have a clue
it was never about me
only ever about you

you couldn't help the blindness
though you had the eyes to see
you just never chose to look beyond
your petty version of you and me

my woeful cries were piercing
but you could not hear
as your dreams of who you were
made it impossible to listen

i died a brutal death
long before this life began
who knows where or when
those wheels were set in motion ?

your blindness likely was a blessing

if you could have seen the harm you brought
to those who could not run or hide
and to further generations
who will never know why it is they suffer
what would your choice have been ?

they will bear the weight of all you've done
and be scarred by what they cannot remember

my god instructed long ago
not in words
but through much deeper
far more painful inspiration

the buck stops here !

any future generations
must not bear the wounds
that have crippled this survivor

the buck stops here !

the weight of all you've done
and of those who came before you
has been so heavy and so daunting
it almost killed me more than once

it's been worth every drop of blood and tears
shed along the steep and jagged pathway
as when i lay my head to sleep at night
i rest assured of one true thing

the buck stops here !

though i leave no child to wear this name
my legacy is this
no-one shall bear the pain and burden
of what i've had to suffer

by the grace of god alone
i am alive today to say

the buck stops here !

ancient and deadly

what lingers within me is ancient and deadly
prepared for the worst of all possible things
no matter how deeply i rest while asleep
it's forever awake, coiled and ready to strike
it seems to be from before there was time
spawned by the union of darkness and fire
what lingers within me is ancient and deadly
without which i'd not have survived until now

breaking the cycle

i've mostly forgotten the crimes and the sins
god knows i can never forgive

that violent cycle needed to be broken
it seemed to be me that was destined for this

he who's decided to further the farce
and play bully-boy til this day

he is the one that stirs a deep wrath
as i still bear the scars of one just like him

i'm told to forgive him, it's the best thing for all
if this could be done it would be finished by now

but the ghost of that ultimate bully lives on
in the guise of the next one who crosses my path

forgive him, just what does this mean ?
sit back and allow the abuse to continue ?

forgiveness must come from a far greater power
as it's truly beyond me to accomplish this task

it's clear now why we threaten each other
the buck stopped with me....and not yet for him

there's only one way foregiveness can happen
not by my will....but through god's grace alone

Old tinker's wagon

It's said God works through people.
So does the other guy,
the dark one;
the master of malice and spite.

What makes him so dangerous is this;
he believes in his own scheme of lies.

How is there anything wrong
when he's done so well by his ways ?

He travels by night in his old tinker's wagon
with miracle cures for what ails you.

He'll promise you anything,
especially the moon.
His magical tinctures from near and afar
will treat your most serious ailments.

So he says !

If truth were to be known,
which is not likely to happen;
what's in those exotic decanters
is what he's here to concoct;
the life's blood of innocent souls.

He'll con and woo you with fantastical tales
of the wonders of his mystical potions.

But;

When you wake to the light of the morn,
and you realize just what has been taken,
He'll be packed up and gone like the night
with his prize in that old tinker's wagon.

Executioner

I would know those eyes anywhere
how could one ever forget ?

I watch as you smugly recite
from that so-called holy book.

Your eyes are lacking something,
some faint glint of hope or life.

I remember well those cold snake eyes.
That hood you wore hid nothing

I will know you til the end of time;
as it was you who barked the signal.

It was you who fit the hangman's noose;
and it was you that hauled the lever.

You may think that I am safely gone,
but this timeless soul still lingers.

I would know those eyes anywhere.
It is certain I shall never forget.

stone by stone

i'm locked inside a prison cell
in some long forgotten dungeon
walls and bars comprised of
your collective indifference

for all your heady talk of love
there can never be a reprieve
someone has to pay the price
for all the freedoms you enjoy

you will not ever speak of it
and likely never think of it
but that cozy family hearth upon
which you've built your home
is stone by stone constructed
with sweat, blood and tears
of sacrificial beasts like me

the foundations of your empire
rest upon the ash and bones of
those who were the least of us
the nameless faceless captives
of your endless greedy dreams