A killer returns to his father only to shed tears
A soldier returns to his father only to tell of his fears
A lawyer returns to his father only to share his lies
Because amends must be made before my father dies
A lover returns to his father to share what he scorns
A doctor returns to his father to cry that he mourns
A teen returns to his father to confess he isn’t ready to be a man
But when we think it safe to return, it starts back up again

Like a son without a father

Like a father without a son

Like a tombstone without a grave

Like a grave with out a tombstone

I will march forward and be brave

I will stand alone

I will be that landscape blotter

Until the end has come



And we will continue on our lives

And we will continue on our lives

Insisting left is right and right is wrong

Insisting left is right and right is wrong

A man will die living for which he strives

A man will die living for which he strives

And he will be remembered for long

And he will be remembered for long

Like a father without a son

Like a son without a father

Like a grave with out a tombstone

Like a tombstone without a grave

I will stand alone

I will march forward and be brave

Until the end has come

I will be that landscape blotter

Cry

That is all you know

Knees to the floor

And away you go

Wide eyed

Reach out to touch

Giggle a little bit

You’re impressed by so much

Scared

Who are these others?

Why are we all here

Instead of home with our mothers

Accepting

Fragile, but developing a core

Understanding, not understood

Get ready, there’s so much more

Status

They’re everything I want to be

They’re so pretty

Why doesn’t everyone like me

Maturity

I love you

Where do I want to go from here?

What the future holds, you haven’t a clue.

Independence

You’re in control of your life

Time to make your own decisions

Take the good with the strife

Establish

A job, a home

Maybe someone else is there

Or maybe you are still alone

Climb

To the top

Become successful, become a success

And once you do, never stop

Give

Time to your husband or wife

Life to your child, pets, and each other

Love to live your life.

Slow

You’ve had your chance

The chance to build the shiny hard word floor

Where you can slow dance

Breath deep

Take in all in and look back

Smile at what you’ve done, at what you’ve been

Forget what you lack

Exhale

Let your lips come together, and eyes close

What images dance on the back of your eyelids?

Feel no pain, as life says “good bye”, and goes.

I’m like a car

Once you get me to start

I’ll take you near or far

Just keep refueling my heart.

Cars are like birds.

Achieving speeds so fast

Able to make the sharpest turns

but if not alert, it crashes into glass.

A bird is like a child

They’ll go anywhere without a reason why

Startled by anything they heard

Eager to start the sun’s renaissance

A child acts like a bird

Chirping, looking for a response

Be it in a cage, or running wild

They have the potential to fly.

Birds act like cars

They can go for mile upon mile

In formation above a highway with others

In beautiful design and style; all the while.

A car acts like me.

Sits there silently, waiting for someone

Waiting for someone with the key

The key to life, love, and fun.

I’m not looking for definition.

I’m just longing for recognition

That you define our position

In our relationship expedition.

But in addition,

Don’t be victim of attrition.

Use your heart and tool of erudition.

And do this in your own volition.

I can’t really speak for tradition

And I do not call myself a statistician,

But, given our story without omission

It would take no mathematician

To see our repeated emotional transmission

I care for you under any condition

And I try to write in such exhibition

But words can’t spell out my emotional emission

Because there’s no such thing as emotional definition

So, identify your inhibitions

And label any opposition

If they outweigh benefits of a relationship transition

Let’s begin remission

And agree on recission

So take my admonition

And if I satisfy that condition

Let us have the definition

And love another with ambition

Because I have no premonition

And I think we’d be a fine composition

And I’ll maintain a perfect disposition

Despite coalition or abolition.

I’m a mile away from your bedroom door

I wanted to get close, but I can’t go anymore

There’s caution tape around the 1 mile radius

of the crash site that claimed the life of one of us

How vividly I can remember the events of that day

And I thought that we both escaped unscathed

But the next morning the newspapers read

“Fatal accident leaves 1 man dead.”

Maybe if I duck under the tape

And slowly get closer to where I met fate

I’d still find my heart slowly beating and clinging to life

And I could call the paramedics, and give it CPR

Or drive it to the hospital myself if it wasn’t too far

Where they would get the crash cart, screaming “we’ve still got a chance”

One more chance to revive the romance

Between a guy who loved a girl more than he should have

Between a girl and a guy who did less than he could have

To save himself from dying in a unforeseen accident

But he didn’t, and the doctors will say they can’t

Because taking the heart away from where it was

Closer to your heart, and your rushing blood

Was what was keeping it alive, and I never knew

Your heart was keeping mine alive too.

So I’ll stay here, pumping gas in my car

My body facing your direction from afar

And I’m trying to look through all of these houses and trees

Virtually flying, imagining everything in transparency

Until I reach your bedroom, where I’ll stop and knock

And maybe you’ll answer and maybe you’ll not

Maybe your music is too loud, and you’d never hear

The sound of my heart beating, no matter how near.

I snap back to my car as the handle finishes pumping

Deep breath in, and I get a small hint of something

Besides the gasoline, there’s something else in the air

Something that reminds me of the smell of your hair

Back in my car, back on the highway I drive

Never knowing if I’m dead, or just barely alive

And as I pass the road to your place

I’m the only one turning my face

Away from the site of that terrible crash

Where wreckage is being hauled away as trash

The wreckage of what I was trying to build

But I never got to finish before I was killed.

And maybe next time I come down this way

A new structure will stand in its place

Built by a man, whose blue prints you approved

Or maybe, once all the wreckage is removed

A memorial will be built in remembrance of me

And when it’s done, the newspapers will read

“Woman builds memorial for lover lost in fatal accident.”

Hello clouds, thanks for the weather

Hey raven, thanks for the feather

How do you do, tall, tall trees?

By the way, thanks for blocking the cold breeze

I want to thank you rain, for the seas.

And I thank you flowers, for making me sneeze

And dear mountains, how high you stand.

Thanks breaking up the boring flat land

And to the sun, thanks for rising

And to the thunder, thanks for surprising

And darkness, even though I sleep in you

You deserve thanks for setting the mood

My dear water, thanks for flowing

And all the grass in the fields, thanks for growing

And I thank all the animals that prowl

For every pounce, every attack, and every growl

And now that I have thanked all of you

For all you did, and all you do

I would hope you return the thanks to The Creator

Because He deserves thanks from someone greater.

The bracelet labeled “Corporate Whore”,

I’ve worn since I got my foot in the door,

They bent me over the desk, and I begged to work more,

So that I can pay for things I can’t afford.

The watch that ticks the time,

Reminds me of times I watched slip by,

Every opportunity missed, and chance denied,

And the limited future, until the day I die.

The girlfriend’s hair thing I wear,

A display of affection for the one I care,

A trinket of hope in times of despair,

The band-aid covering my heart’s bleeding tear.

Slave to these charms,

Owned by their meaning,

No one will be keying,

These shackled arms.

A Mother’s Loss

As my son bends his knees
Under his blanket, enjoying his dreams
I place my head on the doorway
Wanting to tell him that I don’t have the words to say.

Every morning he grabs his bag, and darts for that yellow bus
As I wave farewell, and thank God for how He’s blessed us
With a house, with love, with each other, and so much more.
And a smile smacks me in the face as I step back from the front door.

My day goes on, with images of him at school on my mind
I see him opening the door for ladies, being generous and kind
My son makes me proud, prouder than anything I have done on my own
and before I know it, it’s time to meet him back at our home.

He does his work, has a snack, and tells me about his day
Then it’s right out the door to go out to play
Every day, we do the same routine
And every night, my son comes back to me.

Night brings sheets of black cloth over your eyes
And the silence is broken with bullets and cries
Bullets of blame, hatred, and shame
Cries of mercy, confusion, and pain.

His bed stayed empty that night.
As empty as the gun, that took his life.
As empty as my mouth without the words to say
I love you, I miss you, and I think about you every day.

I’m hugging a pillow
But I wish I had my arms around you
The road winds around a mountain
And I enjoy the never-ending view
The farthest peak seems so far
But you’re beyond them still
And if I could drive that distance, I would
But a car will never get me there

I’m listening to the mix tape I made
Between the road, tires, and my mind, a serenade
The symphony of rubber meets asphalt
The harmony of driving without halt
They all intertwine to form a musical epic
And I’m living in that moment
Because it’s the only one there will ever be.
And it’s along the way to destiny.

The wheel and my stomach turn
Along these back roads and high hopes
The tachometer becomes my time piece
And it ticks away as I dream
With both hands on the wheel, I’m not moving
But everything around me is whirling by
And I see the exit out of the corner of my eye

Big green signs dot my highway
And display names of places that I’ve never been
To meet names and faces that I’ve never seen
And I’d do that, on my stop for dinner
But I’d only stay for a little while
Wanting to get back on the road; on my way
Seatbelt fastened and ready to drive
Moving like the dead, but feeling so alive.