H

Doorways and arches
Medieval marches
To war! To war!
And we flee.
Crosses and torches
Or backyards and porches
The middle is soft
Who is he?
Thundering voices
Calamitous choices
A mind trapped in riddles
Can't see
Beyond petty sorrow
Finds trouble to borrow
Creating his nightmare
Is he.
His wreath without laurel
Believes no tomorrow
Can come in which
He'll be free.
The coward inside
Is caged by his pride
That he can defy
Destiny.
But still his desire
An undying fire
Can a man change
What he be?

G

Feels like the more that I change
The harder it rains
'Til my sight is blurred out
And I'm tripping about
Ending up stuck
Right back in the muck
That I thought I'd left behind.
So willfully blind.
And I just washed my feet
In the eternal sleet
That covers all we incomplete
In this land of defeat.
Seems the more that I grow
The further to go
Before I'm out of the snow
My shoes without sole
And I wonder if so too am I.

F

A step
Not a staircase
A step
Not a path
I'm not looking for pavement
Or even streetlights
I don't mind tripping at night
But I'm hungry and cold
And my soul's growing old
In these endless woods
How I long to be good
But I can't find the next step to take
All of my days
Endless the maze
That I trek
My feet are wet
From the blood of the blisters I've  burst
Think that I'm cursed
To wander forever apart
In the endlessly lingering dark.
I'm blinking and breathing
Thinking and teething
New thoughts into the world
But though trying my best
These scratches attest
That I can't find the next stepping stone
Think God has left me alone
And I can't even blame him for that.
Because after wandering for years
Counting miles crossed with tears
I saw footprints ahead
A new path to tread
But hope turned to dread
And I'm lost instead
For sadly, the footprints were mine.

E

I thought I'd understand things by now
Not everything
Not most things
Not even many things.
But a thing
(maybe two)
Anything!
Yet nothing.
You'll understand when you're older
Or so our parents said
But that truth ain't reared its head
And I think our parents lied.
Certainty the purview of children
And I'm too old for that
Ain't never once looked back
Since I kissed confusion's crooked teeth.
Haphazard bite marks on my neck
Ye gods, I'm such a wreck
Never find a crooked face entangled in your sheets
Or you'll find there's no more sleep
Just all these questions why.
Oh yes, our parents lied
For I'm old now and don't know a thing.

D

How can mere words convey majesty
Songs sung in heavenly tongues
Written in the dialect of gods?
How can they capture the image
The gravity
Of a sunrise overcoming the odds
And finding here not just starlight
But hope?
How can mere words ever cope
With the enormous task set before them
To shape futures and store them
Safe and dry, away from the rot
Away from the things we wish time forgot?
Hope, as a thing, has a presence
That despair, in its consumption, can't tout.
How can a phrase ever portray
What even fickle hearts can't betray
The one thing no life is without?
If what's on the inside comes out
And faith finally overcomes doubt
Why can I only speak sin?
Why does shame seem to have greater substance
And anger more colorful skin?
Why is it so hard to be who we are
And bring forth the good that's within?
Why can't I write what I know to be right
And wring out my soul through a pen?

C

There is just one question across the age
Who brings peace and who brings rage?
If the world is made of black and white
Will we lighten dark or darken light?
There is just one truth we can't deny
We are what's done to those who cry.
If the world is reaching out in need
Are we healing hands, or greed?
There is just one choice 'cross all of time
Will we be the cure or be the crime?

B

Run
Do not wait
Nor beg, nor scrape.
Escape
And run.
Do not fear the darkest night
Do not frolic in the light,
There is no gentle in it's fright.
Should you see a candle
Run.
Should you see a headlight come
Drop your feeble toils
And run.
Drop  your weapons, drop your gun
There is no fighting, only
Run.
Like moths to flame our spirits come.
Drop your knife, or drop your life
Forget your strife
And run.
Approaching light is chasing death
Moths alight sigh vacant breaths
Don't chase the light
Just run.
For rot drips down it's creaking walls
Mildew oozes from moldy calls
A cavity, it's vast abyss
Don't chase the light
There's more than this
When streetlights come do not sleep
Don't look back and do not weep.
Just run.
For 'lo the devil come
Mirror's workings demand a light
Do not, do not fear the night
Else daylight comes and all's revealed
Time we've borrowed, time we've killed
All things finally die
We ourselves the lie
And from our souls
We run.