Red dust 7/26/2011
Look around
And look behind
See the dust
And smell the ashes
All that remains
And all we’ll ever have.
Something is different
And something has changed
But not what they say
And not what you hear.
An uneasy feeling
Makes our hearts beat faster
And our minds race
So we try to find distractions
So we don’t have to think.
We consume
And we escape
But the low level pain
Never subsides.
Something is wrong
Beneath our feet
And something is off
In the way people act.
The world has turned
Upside down and backwards
Spinning in another direction
Painful and unnatural.
We have seen the symptoms
But no one understands the disease
Because the truth has no currency
And evil rules the day.
Have you seen the carnage?
Of the bombings and the death
Bloody bodies strewn in pieces
Innocent in the age of terror.
The kings have no clothes
And a straw man is to blame
Because you can’t believe
Everything you hear
And something is terribly wrong.
There is blood in the streets
And our forefathers are disgraced
Because we have wasted
Al l they worked for
And then spit in their face.
The good are held back
But only by themselves
Not knowing or understanding
Exactly who they are.
We all have gifts
But our doubt destroys them all
If only we believed
Then just think
About all the wonders we could do.
You have yours
And I have mine
Discovered too late
For me to save
What I had
And what I lost.
It will get worse
Because it’s not over yet
But there is strength
Enough to make it
If you know where to look
And know who to ask.
I am so far fallen
And I have swallowed
A bitter loss
But I am undefeated
And stronger than ever.
And I shall rise
On the wings of the phoenix
Burning brightly in the night
Rising higher and higher
And still gaining speed.
I know where to go
And I know what to do
Because that is what I have found
And that is what I will do.
Evil men are full of plans
And there never miss a chance
But even their gifts are stolen
And even their kindness is a lie.
They will fear the dark
And they will suffer the terrors
Because I am just a step behind
And getting closer every day.
Here is to the end
With blood in your mouth
And death in your eyes
Alive or dead
Surviving in the end.
Smashing through the surface
And crushing all the ruins
Reborn and recreated
To something better
Just like we always were
But never knew.
All directions home from 2003
The rhythmic vibrations of the tires
Endless white lines across the miles
Counting cars blue, red and gray
Anything to keep awake along the way.
Thinking of other days and other roads
Bright mornings with biscuits and coffee
Roadside truck stops, post cards and taffy
Bone tired truckers resting from their loads.
Driving into the sun past earth, rock and clay
Shadowing jagged lines of high tension wires
Nights in strange towns and boring hypnotic days
Mesmerized by the familiar hum of spinning tires.
Watching clouds drifting across the heavens
White smoky mountains high above me
Ever changing sky and earth across I’ve driven
On my way to a past left behind me.
Drawn home half dreaming and unthinking
Past muddy fields and naked gray trees
Old farmhouses with tattered roofs, and paint peeling
Thinking I could still turn around if I pleased.
I could go anywhere if I wanted
Back east all the way to the coast
Back to the new life I’ve created
Bolting the door of this closet ghost.
But this time the fear has left me
The road home calls from far away
I will hold my parents who raised me
Memories from before I went away.
I will tell them I am sorry
For being gone so long
Explore the attic and relive the story
Look up a friend and admit I was wrong.
For now I must keep driving
Back across remembered miles
Dreaming of tears and kisses on arriving
Comforted by the steady rhythm of the tires.
I will play cards with my mother
Toast red wine with my father
Perhaps rekindle a love long lost
No more running away from the cost.
The sky stretches forever a musky blue and gray
Knowing I will not turn around this day
Telephone polls flashing by, connecting the near and far
Driving ever faster, back to what we are.
Sunrises and sunsets, yet I still haven’t slept
Time to return many promises kept
No time to stop on my way across the miles
Driving on the heart beat of these worn out tires.
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