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Lost in a Maze of Discontent

Volume One: The Preposterous Poetry of the Paranoid

By Charles Richard Walker (C. Rich)

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Listen to Free Audio Version Here

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Lost in a Maze of Discontent, Volume One: The Preposterous Poetry of the Paranoid is my book of poetry. These 105 poems were written from deep inside the maze: a man in a bottle, a devil called cocaine, the child who never stops crying inside the man, a love found in a crowd, faith and doubt, and a Bivouac Poet camping out in the dark shadows, certain he will never be read. Some are dark, some are defiant, and every one of them is a little paranoid.

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Enter the Maze

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Poetry

A cold gentle breeze hits his face
A strong wind gathers its strength
Shining upon thee with grace
His destiny heaven sent
Lost in a maze of discontent
Limbo state, unending wait
So many hurdles to prevent
Breaking through the circle of fate
A stone’s throw from reality’s doorstep
A hop, skip and a jump from failure
Only his soul is kept in check
Poetry to his soul is like water to a sailor
He won’t part before he’s heard
Something inside won’t let him die
He needs the world to hear his word
Someone out there to hear his cry
He is the dreamer of all dreamers
Flying up into the sky
Swirling, swirling
Lustful and alive

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What is Mine

I will burn through what is yours
As I fire through what is mine
Everything will be at my fingertips
Only what you knew would be left behind
I will caress your insecure ego
Eventually making you mine
And without reproach
You’re molded and refined
You stand there unaware
Of the influence that has crept into your mind
Just a moment I was there
Only a second out of time
You are what I have created
An image of something in my mind
And with all that has been stated
You’ll still never get this rhyme

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The Inner Fight

There’s a child that cries all alone
That turns into a man made of stone
The child you sit and wonder why
The child in him will never die
Can you see him in the biggest of view
The child, the man, who wanted to
I see him in his biggest debut
The man, the child, who never knew
In the dark you see the light
The child, the man, the inner fight
Which comes out strong and seen
But the man and all his hopes and dreams

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The Key

Today, a day like any other day
My awareness full circle
Scratching away at my very soul
The evils of which I now know
The terrible sights that I’ve seen
In the darkest corners of the world
In the deepest pits of despair
The four corners of nowhere
All the good is canceled
My heart is nestled
Hanging on a fine thread, the key
Today, a day like any other day
My God, what is it that I’ve seen
Sins against mankind
Sorrow you will find
Everything means nothing to thee

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Stealth

Together we walk the plank
Steadfast at a glance
In union we all sank
Through our heart, the painful lance
We steal what we can steal
Getting what we want handedly
We feel what we feel
Among the strangers that are family
You see we are the survivors
Hence we will overcome
We will never give up
Certainly not until we’ve won
What reveals itself
Right in front of your eyes
Is that our teamwork was stealth
Hidden behind a disguise

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In a Crowd

Forget all that is past
Time can’t be changed
I’ve worn many masks
Mistakes at all range
The train moves too fast
No time for regrets
Caring at last
As my soul finally sets
From bad to better
For all to see
It was my goal to get her
She’s all I want to be
So here and now
The secret is foretold
I found her in a crowd
More precious than gold

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A Certain Name

I’ve met a sneaky, yet brilliant devil
As pure as the undriven snow
Not an ordinary devil by any means
But without a doubt, your greatest foe
I’ve met a devil with unthinkable powers
That would bring a strong man to his knees
And with the speed of Earthly lightning
You’ll give up everything you believe
I’ve met a devil of this magnitude
We sat in the same room
We had conversations in the dark
About everything under the moon
This devil in which I speak of
Goes by a certain name
So now let me introduce you
To the devil called cocaine

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Somehow

My wings were clipped in the shadow of malice
They grew once again
I returned to my palace
Good morning destiny
For I have waited for thee
To wake up from your eternal sleep
Hello my fate
Not a moment too late
For the answers of my future you keep
The free fall of the peaks and valleys
Takes on a life of its own
My burning desire to do what is right
Is forever etched in stone
Through the fog and the jungle of life
I somehow found my way
Through it all, it is never enough
To waste, even a single day
So when I look back, of all things past
All that is left to proclaim, is that
My wings were clipped in the shadow of malice
Still, somehow I made headway

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The Bivouac Poet

I am the Bivouac Poet
Camping out in the dark shadows
I am fadingly poetry
I live for only one purpose
I die just the same
I am decliningly poetry
I exist for one reason
Pure and unadulterated
I am corrosively poetry
I see only the verse
My thought waves are poetic
I am evaporatingly poetry
My heart pumps with words
It runs through my veins
Yet I am recedingly poetry
I was born for this world
Only to proclaim
I am witheringly poetry
I am audaciously grandiloquent
Punctiliously not resilient
I am disintegratingly poetry
Simply said
For thousands of years I’ll never be read
I am vanishingly poetry

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Superficial

A notable influence of hypocrisy
Devoured and dismembered dialogue
An abundance of self-involved virtues
A depiction of walking through life in a fog
Characteristic expedition of sincerity
Pilfering progression of application
Essential notable defiance of diversity
A combative critical observation
Patronized by miscalculated enthusiasm
Devoured migration of realism
Immediate collapsing of sincerity
Imposing perfect regularity
A vast sufficient melancholy
Inevitable storm of episodes
An immense transposed hoax
Resembles a vast code
Trying to figure this out is a pitiful situation
Scorned for morbid tranquility
A towering superficial relation
A poem that just sounds silly

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Was a Dream

Further and Further, Captured and freed
Frighten by the truth, Scared and deceived
Falling and falling, The air so thin
Swallowed by the moment, An orgy of sin
Forever and never, Tomorrow is bought
The rich man haveth, the poor man fraught
Blind and insightful, Visions abject
Behind it all, all we forget
Swirling and twirling, Kicking and screaming
Perpetual misery, Reality leaving
Wake up, wake up
It all was a dream
Welcome to your subconscious
Now what does it mean

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My Studies

I have slept among the dissidents
Deep in a malevolent subculture
I have look in the eyes of pure evil
Obfuscated and sober
I have broken bread with the malcontents
Recording their ways proficiently
Out the window my innocence went
Studying all around me surreptitiously
I sat there absorbing their sullen minds
A student of their inimical environment
Pondering what could become of me
If this indecorous world became violent
Insidiously walking among them
Society’s castaways
The worst criminals the world has to offer
The monsters we sent away
How I got there is a long story
To be told at a later time
For now I ponder my studies
Appropriately paying for my crime

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Bent

I apperceive the ominous truth
For you are a simple man
Full of strengths untold
Surreptitiously you make your stand
You insouciantly berate the world
While capriciously take no credit
Arduous is the path you make
Impudent, spurious and pathetic
The preponderance of frivolous directions
In which you ostensibly ponder
Lies beneath the indolent mask of perfection
Your pernicious pride left to wander
Depraved is your insidious values
Your corruption left unfettered
An aberration unequaled
Your intentions change like the weather
For this is just a few words
To describe an onerous malcontent
The mysterious, pompous, absurd
The mirror, the image that became bent

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Capitalist

We are the fox in the bear trap
Our sanity is the fur they will trade
We are the fish caught in the net
Now the lion is out of the cage
The purity of this truth, burns right through
It is our place in the food chain
That determines who’s who
For every waking moment, survive and be fit
Or we’ll tear out your heart
For it is our nature, I admit
It is what I proclaim, this is clear to see
Another day’s toil in the books
Survival and pain, the fee
Apathetic and nefarious
Call it what you like
For this is the capitalist’s reality
One unkind and unforgiving sight
By what authority, do I make such a claim
By the thunder of your economic violence
By the suffering found in your reign

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Simply Suffocate

How dare life’s events keep me from my prowess
Far away from my pen and scroll
Interruptions in my work, why do I allow it
As the hurdles in my life unfold
Like a bird with its wings clipped
That cannot fly
Like a fish who can’t swim
I shall wither and die
If too many grains fall through the hourglass
Without me expressing my mind
The thoughts in my head will overflow
While a masterpiece could be left behind
So life be kind to me, give me time
To let the butterflies flow
For without this one thing in my life
I am a body without a soul
In order for me to live and breathe
I must extrapolate the poetic verse
Or my soul will simply suffocate
From the ordinary man’s curse

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My Goal

The smoke blinds
The flames rise
Yet I’m no closer to my goal
The pain gets worse
My sanity bursts
Yet I’m left to roam
I reach for something
I come up with nothing
Still drifting far away
I seem to be lost
Numb from Hell’s frost
No one hears me pray
I can’t remember
A lost letter
Somewhere written in stone
Looking for direction
Who’s that in my reflection
Still reaching for my goal
I’m running out of time
The clock slowly winds
Still looking for the path
I’ll soon be forgotten
My pillow is sodden
Father time yields his wrath

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All That Remains

Is there anything at all more beautiful than a woman
The shape of her curves, the smell of her hair
Is there anything at all more enchanting than a lady
The sweetness of a look, the enslavement of her stare
Is there anything more exciting than the touch of a woman
The feel of her skin, the softness of her eyes
Is there anything more seductive than her legs
The way she walks, the calling of her thighs
Is there anything more natural in the world
As she exits the shower, shinny and wet
Is there any emotion more powerful than this
Strong enough to blind you, make you forget
Have you ever felt the raising heat
To feel your soul on fire
At that moment, get to your feet
Run as fast as you can from that desire
Somewhere beyond the moment of this trance
Lies a destiny of confusion and pain
For when this moment passes you by
The destruction of your life, is all that remains

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My Garden

The Garden of my life
Had so many weeds
Now that I’ve pulled them
There is so much to see
The Garden of my past
Was very much unattended
The overgrowth grew fast
A gardener I pretended
The garden of my future
Will be full of beautiful flowers
The sight will be quite a picture
Standing strong through life’s showers
I can see it growing now
Flowers of all colors
Not a weed in sight
A paradise glowing in the light
For now my garden is just a dream
A vision of tomorrow
Just around the corner
Without an ounce of sorrow
So let me now invite you
To the garden of my dreams
Let me now show you
What my garden really means

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The Mask

Falling star of chance
Blazing through the sky
The lioness makes her stance
I see the resolve in her eye
Her heart a victim of the wind
Carrying her dreams on the wings of despair
The world stops and turns, records its unforgiving stare
Retreating to her shell
She slowly fades to black
A self-imposed Hell
Slipping through the crack
Maybe she’ll remember
The times in her past
Looking, running, hiding
Dying behind the mask

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A Man in a Bottle

Driven from a force within
Stumbling through life with just one kin
He’s a man in a bottle
Lost all that was ever real
Kindred souls that never heals
He’s a man in a bottle
Vague resemblance of who he’ll be
Loss of dignity is his fee
He’s a man in a bottle
Drunk from the minute he wakes each day
Can’t straighten out or find his way
He’s a man in a bottle
Just one more sip is his phase
Walking through life in a hazed filled daze
He’s a man in a bottle
In his life he drank too often
Now he lays in his coffin
He was a man in a bottle
He was a man in a bottle

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The Seed

Awakened to the surge of reality
A yearning for information
Hear the echoes in the galley
Your mind has been on vacation
Undeniable burning source
A rage and fire to learn
Caught in a storm, stay the course
Stick to the goal, strong and firm
A undying passion to know it all
Learning the simplest of things
Knowledge of all things the call
My education, my wings
So many books, so many papers
Unending things to read
So many stories, so many capers
In my mind, I plant the seed

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Puppet Man

Hey politician
Can see your crimes
Conman with no stand
A ocean full of lies
Congressman with no direction
Senator from Hell
Trying each day to buy affection
There is nothing you won’t sell
Preying on the masses
Looking for your vote
It’s you who needs glasses
To find your very soul
What comes around goes around
Or so they say
Don’t believe in anything
Lost, can’t see the way
Puppet man of circumstance
Goes where the wind blows
Never making a real stance
Friend to your foe
I like to put you all in a room
And give you a little taste
Spreading nothing but pain and gloom
Your very existence a waste

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They Say

When a man has lost it all
Staring into the abyss
When there is nothing staring back at him
When there is nothing left to miss
This is where he finds his character
This is where he finds himself
Defining his very soul
Takes his manhood off the shelf
Either rise to the occasion
Or stand and burn out
Time to solve the equation
Find out what he’s all about
You see a man needs to be tested
To find out who he is
Can’t learn anything rested
Problems need to be his
Only character will keep him out of the abyss
Only the abyss will bring out his character
Fate will lay upon him its deadly kiss
And wholeheartedly shape who he is
So the abyss is but a friend
That takes a man by the hand
Through the struggles of his life
From the abyss comes his stand

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Is It Real?

I’ve been asleep
Can’t seem to keep
The thoughts from my past
I tried to wake
It’s much too late
The present goes by so fast
It seems so wise
Simply hypnotize
The people in its path
Can see through me
Can you feel the sea
The currents of my wrath
It’s all too grand
A lost land
A play without an act
Or is it real
Reality filled
Written in stone, a fact

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Both Sides

The fear of taking a chance
Might put you over the ledge
If you stop for a moment and glance
You’ll never overcome the wedge
The fear of doing nothing at all
Will eat you up inside
Always worrying if you’ll fall
Always missing the ride
The fear of things you want to do
Might stop you in your tracks
Never reaching for the jewel
Always worrying about the facts
The fear of things you should have done
Crying over spilled milk
All the things you could have won
Wrapped in a blanket of silk
So it’s fear that has a doubled-edged sword
That cuts from both sides
Do you or do you not cut the cord
Do you run and hide

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The Day of Gay

Living among the prominent inhabitants
Remembering distinctly hereafter
A bewildering extensive irritation
Acknowledging the calculated factor
Distracted by the distinguishable elements
The elaborate climatic provisions
Redeployed sense of impulsiveness
Immersed in a storm of depictions
An evasion of acclaimed marvels
Embedded contribution of taste
The reflection of extended existence
Your exquisite acquaintance a waste
Evidently lost for a moment
Discouraged by your meaningless rage
Living by your prevalent standards
My deplored independence will come of age

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Hand to Hand

Gave it all, did nothing
Wasted moments in time
Tried hard, gave up
Wasted efforts, your crime
Standing puddle of tears
Feeling sorry for yourself
Scared of life and your fears
Never asking for help
Where is your God, you forget
You said we are here for a reason
Insincerity you let
While your life has no meaning
All these things are wrong
Lost in a forest of sin
Feeling sorry for yourself the song
Nothingness became your kin
Who am I to say
But just another man
The lies are not my way
Only passed down hand to hand

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Inescapable

Like finding a needle in a hay stack
Just picking the perfect fruit from the tree
The everlasting dream
That means so much to thee
The road seems to have no end
So many beautiful flowers
Maybe it’s around the bend
Strong through life showers
Finally a glimmer of hope
Found under your nose
Feels like the end of the rope
While your faith gradually grows
Happiness is here
So it seems
Then the monster appears
While you hear the screams
This demon deep inside
To kill all that is pure
As kindness seems to hide
While darkness buries the cure
You cry out to what you know is right
As you wipe away the tears
You make your way through the night
Each step facing your fears
You crawl your way out of the dark
On your knees towards the light
The pain you feel, stark
As you lose yourself in the fight
Welcome to your personal Hell
An eternity of reasons
Your soul you sell
Evil your inescapable season

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Rebirth

There are so many ways to leave this world
On any given day
Can get caught in death’s swirls
Simply swept away
Can’t waste time with such thoughts
Got better things to do
Death and distant can’t be fought
Take a sip from the witches brew
Ebola Zaire runs through the veins
Crash and bleed out
Marburg will leave its stain
Filo virus all about
Walk across the street and die
Seems senseless with no meaning
Sit and ponder why
Mother Nature is screaming
Even though there are so many ways
To leave this spectacular Earth
There is just as many ways to live
Starting by making today your rebirth

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First Light

Welcome to the end of the world
Tonight is the last night
At the birth of tomorrow’s dawn
Death will come with mornings light
Welcome to the end of the world
We are standing on the edge of destiny’s cliff
Staring into the abyss of the death of our dreams
Our future cold and stiff
In the darkness of the last night of the world
Our cries fall on deaf ears
It is time to pay the piper
Face up to our collective fears
As we approach the rage of tomorrow’s wrath
Hope tries to make a last stand
As the world tries to make a new path
All that is left is the broken promises of man
Welcome my friend to the end of the world
Tonight is the night of nights
A second chance we blew
Destruction comes at first light

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Seductive Wink

The sun has risen to yet another day
The world pays no attention
Oscillating between war and peace
The sun has risen to yet another day
Juxtaposing right and wrong
As if they were twins from the same beast
The auspicious dreams of the dead
Find its way through infinitesimal pride
The innocent that was lead through the mist
From the blood they cannot hide
The innocuous leader leads
Down the path of self-destruction
Has he peculates the pockets of the weak
We become the vexation and the destruction
The sun has risen to yet another day
Our desirous minds still blind
As the sun sets later today
We start over and make the same climb
Unable to break from this cycle
Mankind teeters on the brink
The fallacious disguise of the bridle
Wed to the ever seductive wink

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Back to Eden

It is a long walk back to Eden
Yet each step we slip farther and farther
As we slaughter our saints at the hands of heathens
It is our destiny we forever murder
It is a long walk back to Eden
As I gaze upon the hazy horizon
The footprints of man seem to fade
The fog of lost souls keeps rising
It is a long walk back to Eden
Hollow descendants of original sin make their path
Through the mucky waters of wretched evil
Unaware of the coming day and its wrath
It is a long walk back to Eden
Yet I cling on to my very last ounce of hope
Waiting for the world to change its ways
Hanging on to the end of the rope
It is a long walk back to Eden
To the perennial garden of paradise
With nothing left to believe in
An eternity of Hell will be the price
It is a long walk back to Eden
My soul cries out in pain
It is a long walk back to Eden
Lost chance becomes the stain

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My Country

I closed my eyes for just a moment in time
I drifted off inside my own sabbatical
As my eyes slowly opened to the bind
Everything seemed so different and radical
My country changed in an instant
All the patriots were slaughtered
The Dream was now a nightmare
The men who died for it martyred
As if all of a sudden a fog appears
Blanketing all that I knew
As if all my hopes became fears
What appeared, I had no clue
Oh why did I close my eyes
Allow the vision to be broke
Oh why did I not stand before the lies
Put up resistance to this yoke
Freedom can vanish in an instant
This I always knew
Freedom requires persistence
For my country to be true
The tipping point was breached
I never saw the cliff
Give us one more chance, I beseech
Before the corpse is cold and stiff

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The Antenna

He feels every spark and
He hears every cry
The beast is the whirlwind
The whirlwind is inside
He is never really asleep
Caught deep in others dreams
His heart cries for it to stop
His stamina begs on its knees
The word is alive in him
There is nowhere to hide
Why is he like this
Can he give back the prize
Death touches him
The sound and the pain
Others people’s misery
Other people’s rain
He drinks to numb it
So he doesn’t have to see
The world and the evil
love and the key
Out from the darkness
Hiding behind the light
The meaning of it all
He begs for the sight
Try to just imagine
The broken record inside
Spinning constantly in his head
The ebb and flow, the ride
For he is forever one thing
That no one seems to understand
For he is the world’s sponge
The antenna is the man

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Bridge the Distance

The ground shakes, your heart breaks
Your faith fake, Leaking is your cup
Your purpose innate, Your intentions fake
You seem so late, Your time is up
Your thoughts are misleading, Time is fleeing
Your ego is feeding, your left to roam
You’re so out of touch, the pain too much
You feel the crutch, your destiny groans
Your very existence, all your persistence
Can you bridge the distance, set the truth free
Hear my words, acknowledge the absurd
The thunder that is heard, now do you believe

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My Kin

The dawning of another day
Brings with it a black cloud
Death once again makes its way
Through my life it stumbles about
So many visible wakes
Seems lost at a count
Once again I must face
Plant another six feet down
The leaves keep falling
Off my family tree
Seems endless throughout my life
Pondering when it will be me
Now my sadness seems numb
Almost easier each time
Started when I was young
The familiarity becomes the crime
Death has become my kin
A member of my group
Death will always win
Never out of the loop

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House of the Forgotten

In dark corners of enlighten places
Lies a world seldom spoke about
A harsh reality that never changes
Where violence and despair are sought out
This is our house of forgotten men
A place we try to right the wrong
This is where you land up when
Societies judgment cages the strong
When the door closes behind the men
They enter a world of iron
Survival becomes their only friend
Inside their spirits slowly dying
In such a place with broken men
There are daily battles each day
A war on souls that never end
Rough edges that never go away
Captured men in an evil place
Some never make it out
The wrong is seldom righted
Rehabilitation is not allowed
If a man leaves the house of the forgotten
Reenters the world without grace
It is his innocence that is now rotten
It is his future that is laid to waste

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Blackness

Wrapped in a tight fit of blackness
Sorry for things done past
Standing in a circle of nothingness
Waiting for this feeling to pass
Time stands still at the moment
A week feels like a year
Paying for your crime slowly
Forgotten is you, the fear
Surrounded by unspeakable blackness
Cut in half is your very soul
Standing alone in this hell of yours
Fell deep into a endless black hole
What is black is but time
Time that stands still
Through the darkness you will find
In the blackness you find your will
Somehow you must find a reason
For what has become of you
As you sit back and miss the seasons
From the blackness unveils your view

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Earth

The frost on my nose, The rain on my face
The bluest of skies
The air that we breath, The land that we seed
The destruction on the rise
The screams of the trees, Nature at its knees
The cry of Earth and her noise
Forget what we need, Man becomes the weed
Dynamic viscosity the poise

The relationship to our birthright, The manner in which we live
Has brought with it a great cost
Is there any time, As the clock slowly winds
Before it is all simply lost

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An Ocean of Thought

I have crafted the design of my ship
My ship of despair
Ready to sail off in an ocean of apathy
Can’t find anyone left in the world that cares
I have built the hull of this vessel
Raised the sails of unending unhappiness
I wait upon the winds that will carry me
Away from all this hate and sadness
There is no crew, I am all alone
Wrapped in a blanket of pain
Everyone’s heart has turned to stone
Drops of selfishness is all that remains
So now I am but the lonely castaway
Lost in an ocean of thought
The memory starts to fade today
Of the world left behind at the port
I have come into this world by myself
I’ll leave it just the same
People don’t realize that love is the true wealth
What we do to one another leaves a stain

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An Aberration

My heart rests in the shadow of past hate
The sun doesn’t reach my skin
The change about as of late
Washes away the past’s hateful sin
There was a time when we once killed one another
Just because of the color of a face
The grip of racism among us brothers
Sets with the sun in a different place
In the moonlight of past we see now
People from a different era
Yet beyond anything that I know how
These souls haven’t looked in the mirror
For if they did, what they would see
Is a reflection of a different kind
The wrinkles that exist upon their faces
The racism they won’t leave behind
The dawning of the new and beautiful day
Brings with it a new generation
The youth among us that are going their own way
Making racism an aberration

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Welcome My Friend

Welcome my friend to the day of reckoning
Just yesterday moments away
Welcome my friend to your last minutes
Of a life that has drifted astray
Settling in like a cold winter storm
Like a hard rain on your back
This day has been forwarded
Make your first steps in the black
Like the sun rising on a warm summer day
The reality settled within
A life in which you became prey
The overwhelming range of your sin
Welcome my friend to the last day of life
In which you cease to exist
From this day forward as sharp as a knife
A whole new you will persist

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Not Too Late

For all the sins upon the world I did
For all the people I hurt
Going back to when I was a kid
Hell, probably from my birth
For all the people I betrayed
For all the pain I caused
My heart went astray
I certainly earned no applause
For what I have done
To myself and others
The people I disappointed
For the love I smothered
Now I can see the stain
As I die inside
My life will never be the same
Through the pain I see why
Forgive me for I was a horde
Please pardon my mistake
My broken reflection upon the sword
The arrival of forgiveness not too late

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Bottle of Rain

Through the free fall of my life
And all that didn’t go right
Behold my bottle of rain
Seduced by the timeless temptation
Caught somewhere in my salvation
And a touch of life’s pain
Through the loneliness of the crowd
And all that made me feel proud
For all that is left to see
The dream that seemed so close
That meant more than most
And all that is truly me
Can you see through the mist of my words
The mystery and cryptic absurd
Twas in my bottle of rain
Captured is my thoughts
Left for you to sort
As you open my heart of pain
The aroma seems so strong
And everything I did wrong
Behold my bottle of rain
Can you feel it alive in me
Captured by the currents of the sea
The scars of life’s stain

✦

Reclaim Love

There is a child behind those eyes
Stifled by the men and their disguise
Have you ever seen something so sad
Hidden is the lies behind the truth
The stupidity and the astute
The sagacity that is fad
Missing in the heart of the soul
Is the visionaries that are bold
Those of us that foresee
Our direction is gone a muck
Instead of love we worship the buck
And honesty is no longer free
Now our future dreams are a blur
Our emotions left in a stir
While empathy turns to stone
The world searching for the answer
Greed the rapacious cancer
Through life’s fog we roam
Can you see the world through my eyes
The pain, the love, the prize
And all that is me
Will you turn away at the sight
Close your eyes to the world’s plight
Reclaim love as the key

✦

Freedom’s Required Rent

Goodbye to my friend freedom
For we will no longer be
Memories in a bottle
Is all that is left to see
Goodnight my beautiful freedom
The sun has set on our past
A dream forever lost
It went by so fast
Remember me in a kind light
While I’ll keep you in my heart
A new future in sight
For both of us a new start
If you ever find a new host
Or find a receiving heart
Remember those who once possessed you
Those you brought out from the dark
Forgive us for not understanding
What your friendship really meant
We were just too damn busy
To pay your required rent

✦

From Which He Feeds

A man stands alone in the reflection of his eyes
Puzzled by the reality that stands in front of him
Unable to concoct any surmountable lies
The unveiling of what is his life’s sin
There he stands wrapped in the naked truth
Of the man that stands before him
An introspective declaration that is new
The effects of all his evil whims
As he reads the book of what is his life
He is unable to skip even a single page
As his eyes stare back at him sharp as a knife
The war for his soul is waged
As the thunder of his judgment settles in
After he reveals all his deeds
It is his agony that becomes his only kin
It is atonement from which he feeds

✦

The Egg Donor

How can I sleep with this ferocious malice
Simmering inside of me
Tantalizing my corrosion, my corpse
My eyes burning with glee
How can I sleep with the thought of your blood
Spilling between my coarse fingers
The joy in which I feel holding you above
The state of your resistance lingers
How can I sleep knowing your death is near
Smelling your life’s conclusion
Feeling sad your death will only come once
Vengeance my enemy, the solution
I can only sleep when the angels weep
Hurling above the clouds
I can finally sleep when I hear the beat
Of your heart stopping, my laughter so loud

✦

DLW

Alone at last with your thoughts
Still searching for your kindred
From this world apart
From the loneliness you feel winded
Your heart is filled with such love
Having no one to give it to
The search has become fruitless
Abnormality without a clue
All your past lovers
Were missing something whole
The beauties passed before your eye
Empty and stone cold
This search for your soul mate
The never ending dream
All that is left in the darkness
Is life filled with screams
So much for a fairytale ending
Now go reach for the knife
No one wants to be with you
So, just end it tonight
Watch your blood drain
While it puddles on the floor
Suicide will be your stain
While the world will ignore
You pathetic human being
Feeling sorry for yourself
Cry baby you seem
Your life bottled on the shelf
So let me help you along
Here, have some of these pills
Stop wasting my time
Does my apathy bring you chills

✦

Natas Dream

Once upon a time
A time long ago
A story of horrible crimes
Of losing one’s soul
Natas was her name
Here the story goes
A little girl who wanted fame
Grew up to be her own foe
Paris was the place
Midnight was the hour
She looked upon her face
She felt her own power
The eighteenth year of her life
She wanted to be famous
Didn’t want to be anyone’s wife
She feared dying nameless
Natas was taught all her life
To play the violin and harp
Cried throughout the night
Her pain razor sharp
Molded by her parents
A teacher and a banker
Sheltered from the evil
Is probably what sank her
Didn’t know much of the world
Felt lifeless in her soul
Pondering her opportunities
Escape became her goal
Leaving Paris behind
Was her only chance
Out in the world she’d find
Somewhere to make her stance
She heard of a new world
America was its name
Somehow she’d get there
Find everlasting fame
So in the middle of the night
On a ship so large
Natas hid in a hole
A stowaway in a barge
Had just enough food
To make this long journey
Excited and scared her mood
She never felt so alive
A month had pass on by
Natas became sick
She laid there wondering why
Then she felt in her back a kick
A man screamed very loud
What the hell are you doing there
Come and join the crowd
Before you fall into despair
The man’s name was Thomas
He took her to his cabin
He made Natas promise
That she’d stay here till she’s better
With a little bit of food
And many nights of rest
Natas became much better
The ship still sailing west
One more week to reach the shore
And Natas would begin her dream
A week, she’d be Thomas’s whore
Not too long it seemed
On the ship, Natas lost her innocence
Serving this mean sailor
She put up no resistance
Or her dream would be a failure
Reaching this new land
Was the only thing she could think of
Getting away from this man
Who called her his “Little Love”
Finally the journey was over
The ship reached its port
She could feel the excitement in her
The new life she would court
Boston was the city
On which she stood on dry land
You see, Natas was very pretty
She’d use that to get a man
Her first night in Boston
She needed a place to sleep
Natas wandered around the streets
Looking to get off her feet
She stumbled upon a saloon
Somewhere in the heart of the city
Looking to get a room
She knew she had to be witty
The place was full of drunks
Men of all kinds
Mostly Irish, as far as she could tell
She would read their dirty minds
As Natas walked through the room
She sat at the bar
The men around her would assume
She must have been a famous star
Natas was dressed in fashion
The dresses of the day
All the way from Paris
”What a beauty,” they would say
Natas ordered a drink
And before she could pay for it
An older man gave her a wink
And offered to buy that drink
Without hesitation
Natas batted her eyes
This would be the man tonight
To fill her full of lies
The man was Joseph O’Lee
The owner of the saloon
Natas had held the key
As she spread her legs for the barroom
Later on in the night
As the full moon crossed the sky
Natas was on her knees
Doing it to this guy
Giving the man oral pleasure
Making the owner cum
His member she could measure
With her talented long tongue
When Joseph blew his load
As she swallowed it with regret
Joseph offered Natas a job
Her destiny was now set
There she could live in the saloon
And work as a dancer every day
The dress she was given was maroon
Could she become famous this way
She didn’t know the answer
But she had to start somewhere
Working in this establishment
Was something she could bear
Natas met other women
With lots of things to say
Don’t pick up the blonde guy
The girls and I think he’s gay
She learned very fast
How to work the crowd
Paris was her past
Independence made her proud
She never minded the men
From this she took joy
She loved the control when
She played with their manly toy
Many months pass on by
Natas saved all of her money
Five dollars from each guy
When she’d be their honey
Natas kept the money in a jar
Soon it piled up
More money than she’d ever seen
The money would set her free
Free from the guilt that started
Building in her mind
Of all the married men she had
She’d leave it all behind
You see, Natas never forgot her dream
This was how she would get it
Not so bad it seemed
The guilt would only get her if she let it
A year had passed on by
Steps closer to the dream
Natas looked at the stars in the sky
In her eyes, a sparkle and gleam
Now she had the money
She felt it was time to go
It all seemed so funny
That she would get it by being a ho
One more night she’d work
She’d do all the men she can
In this one night
Her destiny at hand
She laid in a dark room
The men would come in and out
A dozen in one night, she figured
I love you, I love you, she would shout
Then the door opened
And in came the last man
He closed the door behind him
In the dark she would feel his hands
Clawing up and down her
His hands met her breast
She felt this was something different
He was better than the rest
Then he was inside her
She never felt so good
This man was a great lover
She’d marry him if she could
Many hours passed on by
Bringing her to many heights
She wanted to look in his eyes
So she would always remember this night
When it was all over
Now she wanted to see
If this man is as handsome
As she fantasized him to be
Natas reached over for the table
Where a lamp always stood
The best lover, his label
She’d stay with him all night if she could
Then she turned on the light
And turned towards the man
This lover that came in the night
With his slow and gentle hand
Then her eyes focused on him
And she let out a big scream
”Oh my God, it’s you, Daddy!”
And there died Natas’s dream……
You see, Natas’s faith was sealed
The minute she was born
Her name spelled backwards
was the evil man with horns

✦

This Crime

The cruelest of all animals
That walks this Earth
This shoe only fits mankind
A world full of killers
Love broken pillars
Death of a dream we’ll find
The blame lays upon us
The terrible deeds we fulfill
This excuse we call mankind
Our blood runs cold
Our destiny foretold
Destruction we leave behind
When did it all start
Lost in the dark
Everything is nothing to thee
Lost is direction
What we call protection
Is all an illusion to me
Just close your eyes
We’re falling from the skies
Rather be lead by the blind
I’m ashamed to say it
I’m afraid we’ll pay for it
This crime we call mankind

✦

The Beatles

November nineteenth, my God what a day
In the year nineteen hundred and ninety-five
It was you John who made your way
As if you were once again alive
I remember the day all so very clear
When the shots rang out
It was a day when a dark cloud appeared
When the world heard the shout
John Lennon was dead, killed in the streets
Right in front of his home
Lennon was dead and the world weeps
Felt the emptiness in the bone
Now my old friend, after a very long time
You have risen from the dead
New Beatles music, a gift to mankind
John Lennon joins from the dead
Twenty five years plus has passed by
As if it were a dream
John, Paul, George and Ringo
Thank you for this wonderful thing

✦

Tangible Voice

In this realm of twisted life
Lays a madness so pure
This I know
Deep within the confines of the heart
Are thoughts of utter sweetness
Radiating an inexpiable glow
A joyful yearning for something new
Often leads you down a path
Chasing the tail end of a dream
Trying hard to blaze a new path
Proud and stubborn
The rise of the cream
In the realm of this distorted reality
We are summoned to a choice
A measurement of our vitality
A slight but tangible voice

✦

The War

Wasting away in the absence of humanity
He holds on to the end of the rope
Blanketed in the vast apathy
Cut in half is his very soul
Can’t break away from his terminal abyss
Caged in with the discontent
His very sanity is put at risk
Struggling through his life’s most precarious event
He is a prisoner of what he’s become
Steps through his early penance
Erosion of his inner self has already begun
Humility has become his life’s lesson
He is paying the price for who he is
Unable to detach the reality of his surreal existence
Trapped and cornered, escape his only wish
A daily reminder of his crime becomes persistent
A redeployed sense of malice
Festers within his hearts garden
Survival becomes his alternative prowess
Every day slowly his dreams harden
This is the daily life of a man in prison
Locked away and thrown in a cage
Living out the judgment of society’s vision
The war for survival of his soul is the stage

✦

Precious Lies

Have you ever really felt a loss so bad
That you thought you were going to die
Have you ever really lost something you had
Kissed your life greatest love goodbye
Have you ever really closed your eyes
Wondering if you could ever open them again
Have you ever cried til there were no more tears
Took one last look at your friend
Standing right next to your fears
There you are asking yourself why
Scream and no one hears
Lost in your world of precious lies
Have you ever hurt someone so bad
That all they could do is love you from afar
To afraid to ever get near again
An unanswered wish upon a star
Have you ever watched a love fade
To a memory of yesterday
Sat for years and waited
For one chance to make things okay
Have you ever killed such a love
Having to forever live with yourself
Ashamed of your very existence
Ready to put life on a dusty shelf
Well if the answers to these questions are yes
Then welcome to the human race
The image in the mirror at best
Can never fade or be laid to waste

✦

Answers to be Sought

The thieves in the night
Have stolen away the years
Feeble is the endless fight
Sodden the plentiful tears
Wrapped in a blanket of despair
Is the lifeblood of the brilliance of it all
In this world of desperation
Lies the rise and fall
Wasted away is time
Which has fallen off a cliff
Shattered is the illusions
Innocence becomes the rift
Sightless in the darkness
Roaming endlessly about
Finding away to mount a fight
Casting away all the doubt
This is the inherent struggle
Which is bestowed on mankind
The answers to be sought out later
Left is the ladder we perennially climb

✦

The Entire Nest

Lost in a blizzard of justified sorrow
Caught in a whirlwind of pressure
The sand falls through the hourglass tomorrow
Your emotions in a fit of tether
Your actions have brought on you a price
Of the pain you must now bare
The things you did that were not right
Your conscience stands at attention aware
You do not carry this burden alone
The ripples of your sin carry far
You crawl out from under that stone
Looking into that mirror to see who you are
This is the price that stands out
More painful and odious than the rest
The people you love are dragged in the bout
While the pain carries through the entire nest
Turning into a pillar of salt has its complications
Trying to find somewhere to hide
Forgetting this is a self-imposed interpretation
The stipulation reaches far and wide

✦

Hands of The Clock

The lightning bolt has shown its face
Discontent has now crept in
For the first time in your years
You feel the doubt within
As the years pass on by
Standing in the shadow of your youth
Just maybe this time as arrived
The reflection in the mirror not so couth
The heights in which you wanted to reach
Thought you’d accomplish under the sun
Was just a child’s fool mind and dream
A legacy of simply being young
As the hands of the clock makes its rounds
Your confidence has lost its stock
Your dreams are echoes in a cloud
Religion no longer your rock
Sit back while you are to be swallowed
In a sea of ordinary existence
What will become of you at the end of the day
When you lay down the gauntlet of your resistance

✦

The Lark

You come into a place of utter darkness
To bring us the echoes in the night
Your selflessness is a nonexistent star
No soul in sight
On our desperate days of despair
Sometimes we forget the reasons
Why you are not here among us
Watching the change of the seasons
I sometimes ponder if you have any idea
How evil and empty you are
For those of us paying for your mistakes
Those of us from afar
Maybe one day you will understand
The pain you have caused others
To those who offered a helping hand
To those you call brother
You are an ominous cloud in the night
Creeping around in the dark
You have become the past in our sight
Flying to nowhere, you are The Lark

✦

Watch it Burn

Ring, Ring, Ring
The bells of your life’s story
Pounding in your head
Sing, Sing, Sing
Your end has appeared
Now your dreams are dead
Death is the fire
The spark is lit
Watch it burn
Hello, Hello, Hello
Your cries fall on deaf ears
Exit your own reality
Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye
To all that was real
Your borrowed soul the fatality
Death is the fire
The spark is lit
Watch it burn
Why, Why, Why
Did it all have to end
What have you learned
What, What, What
Could possibly be next
After we make this turn
Death is the fire
The spark is lit
Watch it burn

✦

Distrust

I look at you while your heart fades to black
The loneliness which bestows you
Believing your whole world is intact
From the world you seem so removed
Alone at last with your righteousness
Playing the puppet master
Full bloom in your piousness
Hurling towards your vanity faster
Surrounding yourself with a lack of substance
Somewhere lost within your banality of evil
So deep in self imposed misery
Frolicking in the days lie and upheaval
Fate knows what got you there
A sad story no doubt
Distrust and an everlasting cold stare
Through this world you stumble about

✦

Now Onward

Good morning destiny
For I have waited for thee
To wake up from your eternal sleep
Hello my fate
Not a moment too late
For the answers of my future you keep
Now that we’ve met
It is time that I get
On with what is at hand
It’s direction I seek
Shall I conquer the weak
Rule forever over this nefarious land
Or will I reside
And stand right by
Simply do nothing at all
Does my life have meaning
Is my heart in season
Will I hear when I finally get the call
Goodbye destiny
Now I can see
What is in store for tomorrow
My future has been awaken
My past is forsaken
Now onward around the bend with no sorrow

✦

I Did Once Fly

I once had a wonderful dream
That I could fly
Auspiciously aesthetic
A fallacious lie
I once had a desirous thought
That my life had meaning
Then the abject reality
Made me stop believing
Once I had not a worry
Capriciously fumbling about
Then the obtrusive consternation
When I serendipitously found out
Befuddled by this knowledge
Vertigo set in
Beguiled by the evil
Which lived virulently within
Inexplicable and inextricable
Ineffable as it may seem
I did once fly
Even if it was a dream

✦

Her Name Unveiled

I see the pain which is her life
Death circles around her every moment
I feel the torture that clings to her in the night
I see the beauty that comes from it
She is a child among kings of the past
Servants of death join her
She is the truth that lies behind the mask
The future points to her
The arctic cold in her veins
Burns with a heart from another plane
Her cold, scared and bruised heart
Has been there feeding from the start
She is here to summon the dark souls
Gather them for the feast of the flesh
She is here with more than a singular goal
Our evil feeds from her malevolent breast
She is something that lives in us all
Alive and dead waiting within
Always there waiting for us to call
Her name unveiled “Sin”

✦

So I looked into your eye

So I looked into your eye
You evil bitch
So it is I you want to burn
My body you pitch
Well it is not I who dies easy
It will take more than the likes of you
You have crossed the line
Pick your target the golden rule
So now it is just you and I
Separate is the world
Disenchanted is your understatement
The wrong guy to tangle with
Welcome to my world, my adversary
Feel the wrath which is me
You will regret the day you marry
Your life interwove with thee
So I looked into your eye
It was defeat that I’d seen
I’ll burn your thoughts alive
You cannot debate this fee

✦

The Search

Alone at last with my thoughts
Still searching for my Kindred
From this world apart
From the loneliness I feel winded

My heart is filled with such yearning
With no one to give it to
The search has become fruitless
Even senseless at a glance

All my past loves
Was missing something whole
The beauties passed before my eye
But empty and stone-cold

This search for my soul mate
The never-ending dream
All that is left is my faith
That someone is out there for me

✦

Alive

I woke up this morning
And the world has dead
I opened my eyes
Everything was red
Everything I ever knew
Anything that ever was
All had been forsaken
Just because

I woke up this morning
And the world had died
Everything was gone
Judgment day had arrived

I walked out into the streets
To see what was left
I searched for someone
I fell to my knees and wept

The world was gone
Killed while I was asleep
I never heard a sound
Not even a peep

I asked myself why
I guess it didn’t matter
I was still alive
Silence was the chatter

✦

Who Are You?

You don’t get to choose your family
Spilt milk in your lap
You can’t change where you came from
Only wear another hat

Trying to rise from your roots
A temporary escape from your environment
Distracted from reality
Your thoughts in confinement

Scratching away all that is you
Trying to recreate
Searching for a path that is new
No more time to hesitate

Coming full circle
You look back to your past
Just look where you came from
Now turn away fast

✦

Trapped and Cornered

Wasting away in the absence of humanity
Holding on to the end of the rope
Blanketed in a vast vanity
Dead is the perennial hope
Can’t break away from the terminal abyss
Caged inside discontent
His very sanity is put at risk
Struggling through his life’s most precarious event

He is a prisoner of what he has become
Steps through his early penance
Erosion of his inner-self has begun
Humility has become his life’s lesson

He is paying the price for who he is
Unable to detach from his surreal existence
Trapped and cornered, escape his only wish
A daily reminder becomes persistent

A redeployed sense of malice
Festers within his heart’s garden
Survival becomes his only prowess
From the guilt there is no pardon

✦

Living Gay

I stand in the shadow of your discontent
Lurking in the back room of your standards
Becoming what you want of me, I prevent
My heart cries for candor

Just who it is you want me to be
Lost in a fog of confusion
Breaking away from those who deceive
My mind caught in disillusion

Life comes in many different flavors
Your righteous self I deplore
People consist of many kinds of behaviors
I have to me myself to the core

So can you hear what I’m trying to say
Or is your mind a closed door
Does everything have to be you way
Your way of life to me is a bore

✦

Screaming Pleasures

Waiting in the tunnel of love
Floating on a river of sin
Waiting, no sign from above
Your deception so clever

Falling off the branch of faith
Speeding to the bottom
Breaking through the Iron Gate
Lost in blindness forever

Tight fit down the road
Pleasure all around
Slipping down the wrong hole
Screaming pleasures of sound

This is where I want to be
Forget that other place
Seems like home to me
Loving my decadent first taste

✦

Touch of Mankind

For this is what I lay upon thee
Droplets of thought dripping from my mind
For it is my tears that fill the sea
When I take an honest look at mankind

It is through the window of the soul
All written in the eyes of man
A loveless empty hole
A heartless waste of the land

Kindness of humanity escapes from the present
Sorrow and tragedy, scars on the soul
A selfish, shameful, moral less many
Redemption lost down a bottomless hole

For we are the people lost at heart
Never again will we find
Such a great paradise to live within
Ruined by the destructive touch of mankind

✦

Things

Like a solider of organized religion
Alone in a field of righteousness
A beacon that lost its vision
A light that lost its brightness

Your dreams fly though a narrow tunnel
Your way or no way at all
You think that you hold all the answers
In your eyes you stand so tall

Your zealous ways of doing things
Does nothing but divide
No tolerance for the simplest of means
No room to ask way

Your self-image reflects of rigidness
Stone cold in your views
Anyone who is different than you
At the table you make no room

Sad is the life that has become you
Missing out on so many things
You wear the shoes of the fool
Your judgment has clipped your wings

✦

Nowhere

In a dark dusty town
Where the tumbleweed blows
Where the sun comes down
Here where our communion grows

A ghost town to most
No more seems to fear
Nowhere is the host
Honesty left in the rear

A town of broken truths
A city of lies
A valley of ideas
A fatal demise

A neighborhood of crimes
Street of illusion
The road of life winds
Never reaching the conclusion

✦

Beautiful Death

Running through my blood is the discontent
Just the sight of her makes my eyes burn
Exposure to her I try to prevent
Where there is a space with nothing to learn

Standing at attention is the hairs on my neck
Endless dreams of her violent death
My mood for the day is indelibly wrecked
Taking my hatred to my last breath

Her destiny will forever be set
As she gets one last rise out of me
I’ll sacrifice upon her and beset
Her future cast right out to sea

You are nothing but something worthless
Just road kill on the highway of life
Every dog has their day and purpose
Yours found at the edge of a knife

So today I wish upon a star
For a fantasy that is close to my soul
A beautiful death that is yours
For me, more precious than any gold

✦

Escape

The sound of silence
Brings solitude at hand
Lack of senseless violence
Living off the land

Peace in the rural areas
The grass looks greener
Escaping from the city
Where life is much meaner

Lost in a melting pot of crowds
Just another number
The sounds of the city loud
Violent criminals, the hunter

Leaving once again for the country
A fast escape from the stress
Don’t care there is less money
Just find myself going west

The choice is an allusion
In fact there is no choice at all
City, country, the fusion
Still our baggage stands tall

✦

Ode to Kurt

Blazing through the sky
A fast shooting star
Came out of nowhere
Went so dam far

Lead a revolution
A new generation
Had our solution
Loved your creations

So talented and sad
Always living with pain
Your music was no fad
Thought you had nothing else to gain

In your stomach a painful disease
Making hard to live
Entertained us with such ease
You had so much to give

Kurt we will miss you
Your music will never die
Cobain I needed you
The mainstream was all just lies

✦

All the Dreaming in the World

Standing on the shore’s edge
Waiting to sail off in an ocean of dreams
Floating by, the unmistakable reality
That nothing is what it seems

Trust not your very eyes
For the wolf has veiled you
Hidden behind the insidious lies
Left in the dark with no clue

Every story has two sides
Told through tunnel vision
It’s the truth that always hides
Escaping clear view with precision

Buried under a mountain of details
Is the real truth of it all
Between the lies in the fairytales
The answer stands tall

We are just a few grains of sand
On the shore of nothingness
Our existence is without substance
We exist for absolutely no noble bliss

Live with that knowledge
Die with it too
For all the dreaming in the world
Won’t change who’s you

So you just keep praying
Clinging on to some Godly reason
As I watch you turn to dust
Because your life had no meaning

✦

Clear and Present Absence

A thunderstorm of disillusion
Living in a bubble
A dilemma in conclusion
Love buried in the rubble

A clear and present absence
Tug of war of reality
Righteousness in action
Two hearts become a fatality

Love soars to great heights
Then crashes to the ground
Early promises lost in sight
Commitment nowhere to be found

A one-sided love affair
Caught in a moment of time
Stop in your tracks, look and stare
Through the destruction you’ll find

✦

Around the Bend

Awake is he who closes his eyes
Brave is he who confronts the lies
The signs my friend are very clear
The existence of God is all about fear

Don’t close your heart to the plain truth
They started this whole story to control you
As terrible has that might seem
The freedom of the truth will set you free

Going back to the story of the flood we record
The wrath of your loving God and his sword
Anything that works to keep you in place
Helps to control the masses in any case

They wrapped it all up and called it The Word
Consuming the blind, gullible and absurd

Another moon passes as time goes by
The sun rises again across the sky
Make no mistake this will all end
Unfortunately salvation will not be around the bend

✦

Among the Wolves

My innocent eyes are no more
Now what will become of me
Now that I see through the lie
What is left for me

As the light of the truth bares down on my body
Tears away at my very soul
While the righteous people surround me
While the truth goes untold

Now is the time to choose direction
Make my moral stand
Time to walk out among the wolves unprotected
Simply do what I can

I ask myself if I’m the one
And if so why
Why should I carry the burden
Of the truth of what came from the sky

There are so few to reveal all of this
Who know the story of God is a lie
So many people live under the yoke
Worshiping the wrong thing in the sky

✦

Rising from the dark visions of deep

Rising from the dark visions of deep
Clearing through the clouds of doubt
Steps away from the eternal sleep
Like a new born coming out

Looking outward through all that remains
Waiting endlessly for the cue
Cutting through truth unfeeling to pain
A fresh start, a renew

The wind carries the answers of the call
Of the rains of questions, the writings on the wall
One thing for sure it is not found in sight
The answers are in the stars of the night

✦

Of Course

Poetry can be simple
For the common man to hear
Little words make their ripple
Lost is the extravagant it appears

Simple words with a simple theme
Will catch one’s eye
Put together and it may seem
More grand than the night sky

The flow of confused ideas
Will make sense to none
Focus in our hopes and fears
Make your writing fun

Personally it is the rhyme
That keeps me coming back
Make it simple each time
And there is nothing you’ll lack

What is the reason to write poetry
Of course, for all people to hear
If you make things to complicated
You’ll lose the masses I fear

✦

It is the Path

The righteous man walks his path
Trying to keep to the straight and narrow
Only to be confronted by inner demons
Forever trying to avoid evil’s arrow

Along the path of the righteous man
There are daily battles each day
People that try to divert him from his path
All of a sudden his faith goes astray

As he gets lost in the sins of the flesh
Temporary lost in a world of greed
It is his morals that never left
Through the path he will once again see

Even though he loses his self once in a while
And confusion finds its way
Across his lips appears a smile
It is the path he will not stray

✦

Utopia

Can you hear the birds singing
Sitting on the window of song
What will they bring us
Lessons of right and wrong

The sun rise in the East
Sets our souls in the West
Come and join the capitalist’s feast
Collecting feathers for the nest

The Blue sky fills with clouds
Of the promise of a better way
Lost somehow in the crowds
Carving out a living each day

Peace will set upon us
And life will never be the same
Leaving the material world behind
Searching for a better way

✦

Line in the Sand

The violins are endlessly playing
While you drown in your self-pity
Your peers are heard saying
You lost your will to be gritty

Feeling sorry for your actions
Things you should have done
Lazy is your reaction
The allure is done

You seem beaten down
The fire of the fight extinguished
Self-doubt spreads all around
Your own fears relinquished

Cutting through the world of nothingness
The bright light suddenly appears
Through the clouds it breaks your resistance
The awareness calms your fears

Once again there is a spark
Of a workable future at hand
Giving you a new start
Drawing a line in the sand

✦

Face Up

Fell in a hole of redemption
Want to make it right
Fell for the temptation
What is wrong what’s right

Living by a set of rules
Guidelines to survive
Trying not to play the fool
Trying not to ruin the ride

No time to answer for the wrongs
Or face up to the deeds
Your judgment evolves
Plants in your mind new seeds

Face up to the fact
That you can learn a different way
You’re not bound to your past
More time remains

✦

Something New

I have swam against the current of love
Only to be swept away
Fighting for every inch of
The sorrow and the pain

I have wiped my brow of droplets of hope
I close my eyes to such a sight
I turn my head and remember those
Who abandon me in the dark of the night

As I wander through this nebulous meadow
Losing my heart with each step
I hear a sound that calls out to me
The sound of a child and the dreams it kept

As I gaze across the open field
I can see the figure of a man
As I close the distance that seems surreal
I see him holding out his hand

I fall on my knees in front of him
I ask for the meaning of this life
He lays his gentle hands upon me
As his words cut through me like a knife

He said son I am a reflection of you
I am the mirror of a man
Of all the pain and suffering of life
Creating something new, offering a hand

✦

The Moment

Left with the lie of the story of life
A revealing of truth and faith
Lies burning with unstoppable rage
Populated with images of Pearly Gates

Grazed by the divine touch
Reaching out for God’s hand
The contradictions too much
They made God into a man

Singing angels surround us
Peaceful images to help the lie
A giant vale to hide
The truth we belie

Just try to question any of it
And see their response
Watch as they cast you out
The moment your questions launch

✦

Colleen Joan

Oh my daughter, oh my daughter
Always on the run
My girl, my girl
Don’t miss your childhood fun

So fast you want to grow
So much you want to know
Oh child, oh child
Stay young for a while

My daughter, the things that I have seen
Unspeakable things to thee
Young girl, young girl
Adulthood will come, you’ll see

If I could just shelter you
From the evils of life
So you don’t make the mistakes
The bad turns, the plight

If I could cradle your heart
So thy is never hurt
This world can tear you apart
I’ve protected you since birth

As you come of age
You think you know it all
Your dreams let out of the cage
Your spirits will never fall

I remember the day you were born
I held you in my arms
Blind to the world around you
Your innocence, your charms

The dreams I had for my baby
All the things I never had
I’d work hard to give it to you
Your first words, “Dad”

Now my girl you’re much older
Still a baby in my eyes
The future grows closer
Remember, fairytales all lies

Molded you through the years
Tried to prepare you for life
The pressure of your peers
Right from wrong, the fight

All the things I installed
Shaped you for a decent chance
Of the world and the trials
For the day you make your own stand

One thing I never realized
Was there was so much I could do
My heart was compromised
The things you must go through

As you stand among your friends
Watch out my little thing
The rules they will bend
All in the name of fun will sting

I’ve taught you all I know
Hopefully you’re ready
The rain, the sunshine, the snow
Life’s ups and downs, the heavy

I don’t claim to know everything
But this I can tell you
Your morality is king
My guidelines your wings

Stay within the boundaries
Of what is right and wrong
Stick to the right path
Life’s travels are long

The world is not just black and white
But many shades of gray
Love has a strong bite
It’s OK to pray

As you stand at the edge of your adulthood
Ready to spread your wings
Just before you leave the nest
Daughter, just one more thing

You’ll always have a home here
Once you decide to leave
My doors will always be open
Above the door latch, the key

I stand in the ashes of memories
Of all of the times we spent
Father and daughter forever
You’re a miracle heaven sent

Well my girl it is time for goodbyes
I’ve done all I can do
It’s time for you to fly
Remember, daddy raise no fool

✦

Bottomless Hole

Dreams don’t said straight
Can’t use their mind at all
Never finding their link
Always wet from the fall

Happy with nothing to show
A pillar of righteousness
Waiting to hit a low
A brief moment of kindness

Can you sell your soul away
If so, I’ve met the man
It’s not much to pay
Only everything, the am

I’ve met a man of corruption
He’s willing to buy your soul
Can feel his evil eruption
His hate a bottomless hole

✦

Leaking faucet of pride

Leaking faucet of pride
Dripping down the drain
Fast through life’s ride
Getting the best of the game

Melting cubes of thought
Once frozen in a tray
Your amateur mind is caught
Your peers won’t stay

Your secret in the air
Nothing left to hide
It’s time to take your chair
Put aside your pride
Fear they will all know
The fraud in your heart
Always so much to hide
Just a neophyte from the start

✦

Have you

Have you ever wondered what people think
Do you even care
Have you dreamed of being someone else
Had your pride stripped bare

Have you ever wondered if you were offending someone
And hoped that you were
Have you ever been jealous of someone who had nothing
While you walked by with your mink fur

Have you ever stared at a homeless person
Waiting for him to ask you over to dinner
While he sat in his cardboard box
Another one of life’s winners

Have you ever thought about giving away your fortune
To someone who has no money at all
Than stop payment on the check
Just to watch him fall

If your answer is yes to some of this
It might be time to take a look at yourself
What you do to other people is what brings
All of life’s riches and wealth

✦

Branded in Destiny

Standing still in a moment in me
The world stops for a second
Everything goes quiet, everyone is blind
Just in a flash you see it

Without hesitation you stop and look
The answer to life’s puzzle
Stands before you naked, your book
The truth stripped bare

It’s your destiny, face to face
For that moment you know who you are
Remember this glimpse
Of who you are, what you’re going to be

When the clock strikes the hour
When the flash is gone
You might think it was a dream
Aberration it is not
Just a small look at your life
Branded in destiny

You’ll forget it, I promise you
But you’ll make it anyway, you’ll see
For it is all prearranged
Just another drop in the sea

✦

What Remains

A thought for you to ponder
Long after my demise

What if I knew
What if I really knew
That I had a foothold in perfection
Wrapped in common

That my very quest to conquer
This spiral of ordinariness
Was indeed fallacious

A war fought on spurious grounds
That I indeed understood

What if I knew that through the darkness
Through the malice of my writing
By the hand that stroked my pen
My musings, my findings

Would you call me self-absorbed
Crazy, unwrapped, lost
Or would you call me by my rightful name
Would you call me sane
Better yet hence, what remains
Of the Bivouac Poet

✦

Even Though

There is so many ways to leave this world
On any given day
Can get caught in death’s swirl
Simply swept away

Can’t waste time with such thoughts
Got better things to do
Death and destiny can’t be fought
Take a sip from the withes brew

Ebola Zaire runs through the vein
Crash and bleed out
Marburg will leave its stain
Filovirus all about

Walk across the street and die
Seems senseless with no meaning
Sit and ponder why
Mother Nature screaming

Even though there’s so many ways
To leave this Earth
There is just as many ways to live
Starting from your birth

✦

From it All

As I look out upon the horizon
Of America’s modern day political scene
I’m sickened by my disdain for it all
It’s engulfed by a depraved cancer

The whole system is fraught with lies
Ran by a handful of the most iniquitous evil
I’ve ever laid my eyes upon

What makes me even more sullen
Is the apathy of the sheeple
The incongruous masses
The pacified vote of the people

The sad thing is the masses have no voice
It sits back like an obedient step child
Feeding on the spurious hyperbole
Which is espoused on a daily basis

The verdant people have stole their souls
For infinitesimal handouts from evil itself
How can one elucidate such malevolence
Or obtrude a change in direction

As the populist cozens the shirt off their very backs
And peculates their desirous dreams
One wonders how long this has been going on
Has government been like this for thousands of years

Would I militate my milieu born in another time
Would I walk among the Romans with such consternation
Probably so, who knows
This abject axiom could be timeless

I’m not some fastidious malcontent
Who walks around with a handful of omniscience
Or a diaphanous wallflower afraid of the truth
I’m just a man tired of the Machiavellian balefulness

Drained by the salacious vicissitude
Amazed by the malleable masses at their ball
Lugubrious from government’s ostentation
Feeling incredulous from it all

✦

Somewhere Else

Can’t fight for something that doesn’t exist
A love that lives in the past
Breaking away from you I resist
I want our love to last

I look in your eyes
The flame has died
Your friends are more important

I read your mind
There’s someone else
Someone you are courting

I won’t argue
I’m not wrong
Your heart is somewhere else

My feelings are hurt
My soul is in pain
That’s not love I felt

What happened in the past is all my fault
I take responsibility
What’s going on now is all you
Teaching me lessons of humility

But like the student who said to the teacher
What is it you want me to learn
Is it that true love will never die
Or is it not my turn

✦

What Happens

What happens to a leaf that comes
From a tree that has been uprooted
Which has been caught by a capricious wind
Sent somewhere not suited

What happens to the ground that
Suffers from drought when a rain cloud passes
Blowing out to sea
Droplets of life half full the glasses

What happens to the hungry that lives
In the streets watching the food trucks
Incessantly passing by
In their pockets not a buck

What happens to a love that grows strong
Then withers and dies
A love that goes completely wrong
Leaving no reasons why

What happens to the dreams we hold so dear
From the outset of life
Those nebulous thoughts that fade
In time we lose sight

As I stand on the threshold of this
Trying to ponder the reasons why
I shake my coat of what it is
Wiping the tears from my eye

✦

Meant to Be

My desire for you is like a raging river
Untamed and uncontrolled
My love for you is an endless sea
Getting back to you has become a long road

I try to sleep each and every night
Alone in my blanket of despair
Dreaming of your beautiful and lovely eyes
Wishing one day you would care

The road back to you has brought much pain
I had no idea it would be this hard
Sometimes I feel I should just give up
Wondering why I even started

Just picturing us holding each other in the night
While I look into your unforgettable eyes
There you lay thanking me for not giving up
Laying there and asking me why

I lay there and tell you the undeniable truth
That you are the only women for me
And there is nothing I wouldn’t go though
To prove we were meant to be

✦

Fall

Swimming in a pool of despair
Taking it to the edge
Looking for someone who cares
Trying not to fall off the ledge

Walking through the forest of disease
Waiting for your number
Blowing through life with such ease
The mainstream sits and wonders

Stuck in a phase of limbo
Floating stream of wants
Thought this way was simple
It is the echoes that haunts

Wise man with a simple min d
Trying to find his way
Lost in this world, one of a kind
So much you want to say

Buried in a pile of responsibility
Can’t seem to crawl your way out
Learning the lessons of humility
Pondering what it is all about

✦

Guess Who

Born of a seed of unearthly wickedness
A day in which all Hades rejoiced
Festering your untold sickness
Through this world your evil has a voice

Your fractured soul is violently born
A union of something old and Earthly things
It is your existence that is now scorned
It is your thundering irony that forever rings

You are reborn time and time again
Only to sharpen your venomous skills
It is only good you want to bring to an end
It is the grace in which you kill

For now I am just a dreamer
Standing in the shadow of what you’ve become
Sent out in the world to give warning
Truth fires from fates’ gun

So the world of your foretold arrival
Falls upon such busy ears
The world is drenched in denial
Baring witness to my officious fears

So it is that in which you count on
The blind eye of the diligent masses
It is our garden you prey on
It is time that perennially passes

✦

The Key

Traveling down the road
Trying to make the right turn
Come across an obstacle of stone
Leaving my dreams to burn

Waking up to see the sun
Love is burning out of control
My morality is on the run
My dreams left out on the cold

The blue rules this sky
The clouds cross the horizon
The sun melts in my eyes
I feel my blood rising

Can’t seem to hold on
Everything I know is wrong
Slipping through the cracks of life
Can’t seem to muster the fight

Burning out of control
Lost and can’t see
Paying the last toll
Trying to obtain the key

✦

Step Up

This burning for confusion
Nothing seems right
Our togetherness an allusion
Got anarchy in sight

Looks are Deceiving
Uncertain cover
Your thoughts are leaving
Complications your lover

Your mind in a maze
Can’t find your way through
Clarity in a daze
Not knowing who is who

Caught between the layers
Security is late
Time to meet the players
Step up to the plate

✦

Something Devastating and Vile

Something devastating and vile
Happened to me today
When my back was turned
My thoughts were stolen away

The thoughts in which I speak of
Was a handful of poems
Words that were part of me and love
My body, my flesh, my bones

My poems are my kindred
Each one a child of its own
Rhymes that I gave birth to
Everyone a precious stone

Something horrible ad grotesque
Happened to me today
My soul was forever raped
My poems never found their way

C. Rich