poetomachia

I’ve had money
and I lost it
seen an ocean
nearly crossed it
I have been to another world
and I have returned
and for every high joy
a hard lesson learned
but when love comes tumbling down
I will wear a Crown

I’ve had power
I’ve used and abused it
tasted glory
I have wooed and refused it
tried to live in a sacred way –
I did and I did not
and for everything I lost
there’s been something else I got
and when love comes tumbling down
I will wear a Crown

I’ve been up and I’ve been down
sometimes almost level with the ground
once in every hundred years I can
still remember who I am

Been in danger
tried to face it
saw a mirage
and for seven years I chased it
I’m not through with my changes
I’ve got a long way still to run
I’m gonna play this show
even if nobody comes
and when love comes tumbling down
when love comes tumbling down
when love comes tumbling down
I will wear a Crown

crushed, beheaded
directionless, incinerated
headless horseman
mindless body

only heart
he didn’t survive
assuredly lackless
beyond revive

if only more sound
more glorysome
despite defeat
rather overcome

I worked myself
TO THE BONE
They sunk their teeth
TO THE BONE
My fortune teller threw the
DICE AND BONE
She said there’s nothing left
BETWEEN MY SKIN AND BONE
I turned away from this madness
AND GOT RATTLED TO THE BONE
Bone
Bone
My life is on loan
Bone

I’m shot in black and white
Voice clear and thoughts muddled
I’m shot through with black and white
All gray inside

When will you clear this slate
Cut my chains and enable my escape
I am not resigned to my fate
And I will not wait
beneath this weight

A pine box with my name on it
May wait for me at the end of my days
But I stumbled upon a peace of rest
Where no one waits on delays

The presence of you
Is more for each moment
More knowledge, more power
And more of what I need
I can wait beneath this awning
For what you bring
And discover disclosure
Is the way in which I am freed

I will take your cue
I will take your lead
Treasure the pain
And imitate your deed

So many words strung together
Flapping in the breeze
Damp laundry shattering in the heat
Whistled on the sneeze

Flashing beneath the night skies
Gusting draws a mighty flap
The flickering moon lights the thief
Newly clothed against mishap

These words make their way in the world
Above the steady sounding
Sure to show a wise way below
The skin, a heart is pounding

Draw awake the sun-darkened soul
From it’s favorite pitted perch
Maybe with an eye toward the bright sky
With branches stretching birch.

how bout getting off these antibiotics
how bout stopping eating when I’m full up
how bout them transparent dangling carrots
how bout that ever elusive kudo

thank you india
thank you terror
thank you disillusionment
thank you frailty
thank you consequence
thank you thank you silence

how bout me not blaming you for everything
how bout me enjoying the moment for once
how bout how good it feels to finally forgive you
how bout grieving it all one at a time

thank you india
thank you terror
thank you disillusionment
thank you frailty
thank you consequence
thank you thank you silence

the moment I let go of it was the moment
I got more than I could handle
the moment I jumped off of it
was the moment I touched down

how bout no longer being masochistic
how bout remembering your divinity
how bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out
how bout not equating death with stopping

thank you india
thank you providence
thank you disillusionment
thank you nothingness
thank you clarity
thank you thank you silence

When you have nothing to prove
Just a place to get to
You don’t fit in the gears
You are running off the trail
Looking strange in the fog

One two three
They count you down
You bob in their distance
You are quite near to yourself
Knowing they can’t comprehend

I am hardened
I am the unreal
I am the isolated
Evokes thoughts of drool

Arteries too stiff to pump blood
Life steals away the quiet moments
No longer daring to feel a thing
Pierced and shaken by no comments

I am sun baked
I am not shallow
Over hot coals, raked
My deep is hollow

Hard beneath the shadows, even wakeful
Almost strange, broken by rest and disuse
Shyly observant of unwanted change
Newborn complexity, no longer bound by abuse