I will never

Know just what

Keeps my future

From blushing brilliant

Can’t pinpoint

Any one bad decision

Or jagged road

And I may never know

Such a hard day

Tears and pain

Feel like failure

From near or far now

So dreary

And it’s almost midnight

May never sleep

And still may never know

Near ground zero

Near a fall

Around the bend

There was a north star

So sad that

I don’t live near timberland

No spark no fire

And so I’ll never know

I ate my heart out

On nickels and dimes

Now rain don’t rust me much

I itched the scales off

Of red swollen eyes

And found the shallow plunge

Lord, if I ever yearn again

I don’t give a noble care

I think it’s dead and gone again

I don’t give a noble care

You know it’s broken

The engine won’t whine

Oats have all lost their crunch

And the bowl will sit

In the sick-sauced sink

Can’t feel enough to touch

Lord, if I ever yearn again

I don’t give a noble care

I think it’s dead and gone again

I don’t give a noble care

There’s no paint that black

So they’ll never see

The pages of the stains

From cross-eyed twits

From goat-faced dreamers

From the had and the held

Lord, if I ever year again

I don’t give a noble care

I think it’s dead and done again

I don’t give a noble care

This one is about you

I want to keep you in the boat

I’m tired of pushing and pushing

I’m tired of being harsh

Remember when we went canoeing

And we flipped it

Cause I was reaching

For a runaway oar

That was fun

And we laughed

But the past bit

Has not been fun

And I’m ready

As I know you are

For hope

Hope

And more hope

The chisel is the marriage

Who knew?

Tapestry of stuff

Beautiful

Appreciated

But not needed

I don’t need it

And my vote

Won’t be used

To protect my stuff

‘Cause

People over stuff

Hearts over trash

What is or will be

Thrown out and away

Too many lovely souls

Have trauma and pain

And I value

People with triggers

More than “stuff” with triggers

I won’t demand my own rights

When the rights of others

Are compromised or ignored

People over stuff

Hearts over trash

Ultimately trash

To most

This seems critical

Like it was all blown away

And I can’t get

Voices near or far

To concur on inklings

Of hope or sunrise

And I’m bewildered

In it all and knee deep

And baffled and befuddled

And I can’t trust myself

To pray or even moan

So just put me

Just put me where I

Can see again and again

That You are the God

Of dismal odds

I will cooperate

Cause You are the God

Of dismal odds

I’m thankful for a moment

In this season

And that’s a nice change

Oh there’s still a need in me

To figure some things out

But a word from my God

Is a healing thing

And it’s helped me to learn

That I must necessarily be

The receptacle of human emotions

The dumpster for the waste of the soul

It is my job, my lot, my calling

And feeling sorry for myself

Is not helpful or needed

I just need to be open

To the knowledge

That I am the leader

And that people will blame me

Say things to me

Make me the solution

Make me the problem

Accuse me of doing too much

Accuse me of doing too little

And will make me a bigger player

In their problems and struggles

Than I actually am or will ever be

And knowing this

Is helping me

All I have to be

Is available and open

She is a cross between a mite and a fairy.

She bites and flits and flits and bites

She has nailed the door shut

And is no longer open to any instruction

Which means that I and you and you and I

Are no longer her teachers

Which is fine

‘Cause kamikaze war wounds

Take forever to heal

Kamikaze war wounds

Are never missed

You lit me

On fire

Then walked away

Said

Thanks for the light

I didn’t know

What I was

Participating in

This is how

You groomed

The whole pack

Of dogs

The Danes

Love their Tivoli

As I love

The pier

As I love

The boardwalk

As I love

Ocean air

Oh enchanted world

We all

Have something

Coping here

Coping there

Coping in Copenhagen

You left without turning back

You left without a word

And I knew what that made you

What consequentially had to be the case

Which is something

Which is quite something

That has nothing to do with me

For you showed yourself that day

To be drunk on every kind of let down

Wet and wasted with upset

That runs the world over

You’re the baby on the bench

So alone and so abandoned

That you’ll never think of a reason

Why you should ever say goodbye

You’re the baby on the bench

Lucky enough to be raised by the village

But bruised enough to think you’re only ever in the way