THE MADNESS MUST END

Casting aspersions into the well,
In the belief better days are forthcoming.
Wealth does not make the world,
Love and good deeds do.
Yet the powers-that-be
Build armies of domination,
Crushing the hopeful,
And bringing fear and darkness
Into the Light,
Leaving the world a dozen shades of grey.
Shouldn't the greatest aspiration of Humanity
Be leaving the world a better place
Than when you first arrived
Instead of souring this world,
And reducing hope to ash
For each generation that follows?
The winds of divisiveness leave me tired,
And I cannot bare to peer outside my window.
Watching the temples crumble,
My neighbors fade to ghosts,
And all the bridges to peace
Burn away into cinders,
Until even the memories are gone.
The time has come to bring the world together,
Not by pain, greed or fear,
But by love and hope.
One world, one people, one future.
I'm in. Are you?

TO THE WOMEN IN MY LIFE

Yesterday, as I drove home for the holidays,
My wife as my co-pilot,
In my head I gave thanks
To the women in my life, past and present
For leading me sometimes argumentatively
Toward the light tomorrow promises
Each and every day.

For my grandmothers
Who have both gone on to the other side,
I thank them for filling my world with kindness
And quiet strength,
Of which I have drawn upon all my life.
I miss those days spent with you
And the feeling that nothing in this world could touch me.

For my past loves,
All of which have gone awry,
I can only look back on our disastrous times,
And thank you, for showing me the path
I must not retake,
And teaching me how not to love.

For my sister,
Whom I fought with so many times as a child,
Who became my savior
At my darkest time.
I thank you for the power of perseverance,
And the ability to recognize
When it's time to stay,
And when it is time to leave.

For my mother,
Who brought me into this world,
And gave me the voice
With which to impart my truest feelings.
I thank you for demonstrating
The veracity with which to face life,
And the resilience
I sometimes forget either of us have.

And to my wife,
Who accompanies me through life
Each and every day for ten years now.
I thank you most of all,
For loving me as I am,
Accepting the darkened parts of me,
And allowing me the honor
Of being your knight in less-than-shining armor.

I am thankful to you one and all,
For I would be a mere wrack of who I once was
Who I am,
And who I will be.

TAINTED GRACE

Wallowing in fear amongst the shadow folk,
The rain falls hard outside these tattered walls.
Traces of painful memories,
Whispers of the darkest hymns
And the residue of my tainted grace
Gathering in pools on the creaking floorboards.
The air is devoid of anything
Except a dread left behind
By the ghosts of regret.
There is an emptiness
Only permeated by the occassional intrusion
Of the world outside my tomb.

(IN EXILE)

(Life has kept me pretty busy. Haven't been able to sit down and process even the slightest thought. Hope to have some new material up soon.)

TIMIDITY

Wrapped in night,
Smoky apparitions.
Lost in translation,
Inaudible words.
Paralytic in the open -
Coiling up,
Falling away.
Shrinking,
Shriveling,
And then
I disappear.

THE MEANING OF FUTILITY

Things rushing around in my head,
Things of which cannot be explained.
The elusive pursuit
Of truth and purity
Has become nothing more
Than an alley cat
Chasing its tail
In some darkened corner of Hell.

THE FIRST STEPS AFTER THE FALL

Trying to see through the smoke
Rising up from the smoldering
Bridges and fallen temples.
Blackwind rising up
While hope seems all but buried
Amongst the ruined world.
Eyes that stare out
Across the wreckage,
Wanting to be shut forever
And pray for amnesia,
Knowing that the misery
Has only just begun.