We are gathered here today to say,
“You finally got it right ...”
The year is AD minus ten and counting
The elements are phasing
The atmosphere cracks with a restless energy
The air is nearly blazing
In all this self-consuming chaos, take a moment in delight
If only we respond to reach that vibe
From this vacuum of despondence, there’s a particle of light
Some synergy we can’t describe
The universe is on our side
I have known of sacred water
To flow from a long-dry stone
And I have known of boundaries of flesh
To fade into illusions unknown
There’s a fleeting afterimage of events before my time
On which we do honestly concur
No creation or destruction, just an aura in my mind
For energy can only transfer
And I believe that miracles occur
It’s one true story recognized
That the soul begins to remember
A flicker of the truth exposed
Like some fiercely glowing ember
The wonder of the cosmos resurrected from a spark
An interstellar bond, a seed to sow
Most glorious connection forms a nova in the dark
With faith and science juxtaposed below
And love is the purest form we know
It’s the flow ...
It’s the flow ...
Tell me a story
And I’ll sing you a lullabye
And we’ll get through this madness, you and I
When life is epic trial
Dreams are a quest for paradise
For if it didn’t hurt, then none of us would try
Drink of the dew
Dreams will ensue
Nightmares in shining armor can’t touch you
Bring me some willow
For the fire in my head
For the cards still mock the solace that I crave
But even still I play with fire
For the only truth I know
Are the shadow pictures dancing in this cave
This world of thieves
As each believes
Fealty, thy name is fool; none deceives
Give me that old-time indecision
With a bright and shining scheme
And you’ve got a basic outline of my plight
Oh, sweet soul who makes the myth
Makes the legend, makes the dream
Please draw the beast within me out tonight
The divine pursuit of bliss
In the company of fools
Would be nothing less than some idyllic scene
Where youth is wasted on the young
And wisdom wasted on the old
And you and I are nestled somewhere in between
Harp strikes a chord
Fool is adored
Still mighty is the pen that draws the sword
Forward chains and cycles
Forward spinning wheels and gears
Face the one direction
How we meet the coming years
Forward to the scene
In which the hero gets the girl
Forward thinking, forward moving
Forward fast unfurl
Momentum, progression
Past point of possession
No question ...
Would I stop at nothing now
To forward my career?
From this day forward, I do swear
To forward steady steer
Forward past that chunk of time
I rather would forget
Forward to that perfect day
That hasn’t happened yet
Momentum, progression
Past point of possession
No question ...
And I’ll play forward for the team
So onward forward march
Advance to better days ahead
The grand triumphal arch
It’s such a touching story
So please forward to my friends
And if I may be so forward,
You can have me in the end
Momentum, progression
Past point of possession
No question ...
My friend, I can’t explain this
My world has changed forever
And I’m scared I’ll drag you down if I should fall
It’s hard to see the glass as half-full
Instead of half-empty
When we know we both deserve to have it all
I won’t subject you to this drama
As my life gets an overhaul
So goodbye, my old friend
I hope that if I see you again
We can just go on pretending that life is fair
I hope you love what you do
I hope that someone’s tending to you
The way I was supposed to when I was there
Goodbye, my old friend
My friend, it’s still hard to accept
That now the air between us
Is frozen; what a tangled web we weave
When once we were as sisters
Reduced to less than strangers
With a stalemate game face on, and I believe
That when the four winds reveal our true colors
We may not like what we perceive
So goodbye, my old friend
I hope that if I see you again
We can give each other space with cordial form
I could have been your ally still
I tried to help your joy be fulfilled
But now there’s a chill that never can be warmed
Goodbye, my old friend
My friend, according to the book
This parting is temporary
Your essential being isn’t really gone
Were you scared on your last journey?
Did you suffer long in darkness?
Will you greet me when it’s my turn to pass on?
It’s impossible not to be saddened
As you greet the eternal dawn
So goodbye, my old friend
I hope that if I see you again
You will recognize me past my physical array
They say we walk into the light
And all souls as one there unite
So I know it’s just goodnight when I say,
“Goodbye, my old friend ...”
Goodbye, my old friend
My love, the candle burns low
The dying blue light dances
Cruel are circumstances
As fleeting is the night
I take courage, for I know
That fate that did divide us
Will one day reunite us
And restore our passion bright
My thoughts are ever with you
Somehow if you can read them
I beg that you would heed them
And, for now, bid you goodnight
Now is the hay toil month
Jack on the Middle Horse has passed
And the waggoners journey onward,
But whom to turn to when wheel and axle do not last?
Back to the sweltering heat of the forge,
And make them anew
But forget not I am a water-bearer
And a wellspring of refreshment, too
Melancholy I remain
As the world goes turning on
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br /> The wheel that never falters
Brings us to another ending and a cycle gone
Where the waters are still plentiful,
But the fish refuse to bite
And the thunder moon that swells above the shore
Looks down upon us in impassive spite
The cart rolls on with its load of hay
As I make a wish and turn away
God save me from my thoughts that rove
To the velvet caress in the calloused glove
Momentarily blinded,
Step from sunlight into the dark
Weaving of the wyrd
Gaze like a bright icicle,
I want to be the one to lick it to a spark
Calling what I feared
The scent of purpose, smoke, and brawn
And resentment of rule
Giant, king, or thrall
But the iron dreamer sets the wheel in motion,
Stands alone, and is nobody’s fool
Work sustaining all
A shared enlightenment
Feeds a deeper taboo
All men free to think
The presence of the glowing iron
Quenches and perpetuates the bearer’s due
Poet bears the drink
The respite that I still thirst for
Is the world that never was
Roots that deeply run
I would blindly cast my irons into the fire,
For only handsome is as handsome does
Both may be as one
The cart rolls on with its load of hay
As I make a wish and turn away
God save me should I ever find
How darkness rises from a brilliant mind
Once upon a time
I gave up my simple gifts
For a higher coup
I had seen it all—
Pirates, gypsies, elvenkind—
Down in Grand Mamou
Sinking farther south
Lessons learned without remorse
Shamelessly uncouth
Now in this old pond
Enemies and friends alike
Kiss the whip of truth
Smiling to my face,
He’d have given half his soul
Just to see me fall
Struggle in my heart—
Muscle the size of my fist—
Beats the spiteful gall
Living here is strange
Sinners eat this town alive
Will saints ever win?
All I ask is this:
Silver platter for his head
I will dance again
You once spoke of bliss and paradise as we stood transfixed and stunned
You found false angels repugnant, and ignorance you shunned
But now we stand defenseless from your one-sided monologue
You’ve turned our wine to water; the marketplace your synagogue
How can we approach you when you’re holier than thou?
All of us are golden calves and you the sacred cow
You’ve built your tower higher than the one to whom we bow
Our piety no greater than the mercy you allow
Where is the original sinner that we all once knew and loved?
Your soul is saved, but your mind is gone, your sights too far above
The god I worship ate with thieves, but you’ve no time of day
To light the path before us, as our futures you betray
How can we approach you when you’re holier than thou?
All of us are golden calves and you the sacred cow
You’ve built your tower higher than the one to whom we bow
Our piety no greater than the mercy you allow
You claim we persecute you with our wicked, earthly ways
Our troubled tongues unfit to sing our great redeemer’s praise
Guilt by association leaves your reputation smudged
Does it not also apply to you: judge not, or lest be judged?
How can we approach you when you’re holier than thou?
All of us are golden calves and you the sacred cow
You’ve built your tower higher than the one to whom we bow
Our piety no greater than the mercy you allow
As we walk upon the coals of judgement
Flames licking at our shoes
If we ever flee this institution
Please take me with you
... laughing all the way, ha ha ha, laughing all the way ...
Your words pour out like bitter wine
That leaves the sweetest aftertaste
I am drunk on your irreverence
Until sobered by your grace
It’s revolving static trauma
Snowball earth, ironic drama
Fill my head with a complexity I cannot analyze
Fill my heart with a longing I cannot verbalize
Fill my ears with a dissonance I cannot justify
For I crave your shadow, which no one dares decry
We’re heading in a hand basket
Woven by our fellow bedlamite
For a divine comedy of errors
Is just truth under a harsh light
... laughing all the way, ha ha ha, laughing all the way ...
Never mind the degree of pleasantries
We must employ to coexist
It’s your barely concealed bitterness
I find futile to resist
I would take on this dark mission
If assigned to the position
Fill my head with a complexity I cannot analyze
Fill my heart with a longing I cannot verbalize
Fill my ears with a dissonance I cannot justify
For I crave your shadow, which no one dares decry
I danced in the sunlight—you hid in my shadow
I basked in its glory—you shrouded your face
You showed me the path to my deepest ambition
I ran like the wind—you dropped out of the race
I sang in the moonlight—you slept in the darkness
I reached for your hand—so quickly you fled
Like a fool’s game of freeze tag, I never could catch you
I sought out a bond—I found self-rule instead
I fell like a stone—you bent over to catch me
I wandered in darkness—you showed me the light
So grateful am I, but you think nothing of it
You were content to just watch me in flight
Wake up, sir, your color is fading
I can take you to an artist with a magic spell
He’ll fashion some eyes in the back of my head
Maybe some across your lids as well
Then we could share a secret gaze
Relief from the symptoms of chronic malaise
Etch some light into my heavy haunted heart
And explore the surreal and sublime
I can see a speck of blue at your neck
But that will wash off easily in time
If I bare my unblemished side to you
Would you hammer out a regimental tattoo?
There is no heart beneath my sleeve
A risk to reveal what lies within
No return when said and drawn
The ink I chose to stain my skin
A primal beat, primeval tradition
But the heart within is on a heat-seeking mission
I am an illustrated woman of illustrious repute
A windswept, dappled derelict that decadence forgot
Magdalene Madonna marked
by needle and ink
And mark my words, I cannot change my spots
Barbarian crewman seeks a pallid whale
A vagrant in search of a pardoner’s tale
Come with me, sir, before others can brand you
The sting of penance antiseptic, as I have learned
To be undone is to never go back
Rite of passage is a scar you have earned
Mongrels and Misfits Page 4