no need for words
nor belated tears
the stage is empty
the cast has gone home
no need for rehearsal
pain
extinction…
are some shadows souls
moving in the light of day
saying please listen
but the world is becoming
darkness so no place for souls
texas…
left out in the cold
your senator basks in sun
while he plays you pay
i’m betting he would have been
first to flee the alamo
pronouncement of death…
gather up the clouds
so we may darken the sky
another soul’s died
no one ever known to you
just another nameless face
but i implore you
to offer a simple prayer
that those loved can heal
handle with care…
everything can be broken
or
at least
seem to be broken
it really doesn’t matter
how perfectly it was crafted
careless handling
can result in
lasting damage
that’s how
hearts
are broken
the road…
god forsaken trail
through the year’s barren terrain
after a night’s rest
we’ll awaken and stare out
finding that same road waiting
mistaken idenity…
every since
high school
you’ve
counted
too much
on
angels
when things
were
bad
you’d quietly pray
that
your angel
would
take the pain
away
it never did
but
you continued
to pray
and when
as
one might expect
the
pain
gave way
to
joy
you credited
your
angel
ignoring
what you
and
your friends
had done
to clear away
the
darkness
perhaps
the light of joy
blinds us
to
the real angels
in our lives
the ones
without wings
that by no standard
could be confused
with some
angelic form
but
that are
none the less
performing miracles
that change
the path
of
our future
viewing the dead…
december 2000
it was
a rather
strange part
of a bike tour
a mandatory viewing
of
uncle ho
where
we
in
a single file
walked solemnly
around
his glass enclosed
preserved
body
soldiers
assured
that there would be
no
photos
or
talking
it seemed
obvious
that
his true memorial
was not
within
those walls
but
outside
in the laugher
of
the school children
who
never had experienced
war
they
had moved on
from
the past
that day
made me
realize
that
we all
frequently
view the dead
whether
or
not
we want
to
admit to it
it might be
an old friend
or
a loved one
or
perhaps
just a moment
in
time
you know
that special memory
that
we
must view
over
and
over
again
a viewing
that keeps us bound
to
yesterday
and
unable to move on
to
the rest
of
life’s tour
unobtainable…
bird outside window
stares at the warm fire inside
joins winter’s harvest
the road to pain…
with
stones of doubt
stuffed
into a backpack
the journey
begins
emotions
on
uneven footing
at first
there’s
a willingness
to
step over
shattered expectations
then
comes
compromising
on
the path
to
be taken
traveling
in
darkness
instead
of
the light
small clearings
from
chaos
give a false sense
of
hope
but
soon
brambles
of
hate and injustice
narrow
the aimless course
days
become nights
nights
become sadness
sadness
becomes
an eternity
