Mars

Tracks ran up your arm

But the train was broken down

Tried to push your ribs back in

They'd come out when you fell down

Kissed your eyelids closed

In the open alley air

Heard the screaming sirens' sound

Your silence held my stare

They weren't coming for you

Not like you're going anywhere

Shadows drifted by your face

With a street lit blood-red glare

Static

Villains are the lonely ones

The tragic hero just one misstep away

We all have reasons for living

On either side of the line

But not all of us, no matter the side

Can find much reason for living sometimes

Oftentimes

Remind yourself why the smile surprised you

In the first place
Remind yourself why you reacted that way

Statues point fingers

You lifted your hand against the sky

And for a moment, I was your substitute for happiness

As you dwindled in the shade

And replaced even I

The rocking horse that kindling made

Fire's nice, but you can't eat it

Only cook by it

Grand Theft Grandfather Clock

Take the time (by force, if you must)

Steal the now (before they catch you)

Burgle it away (and get yourself outta town)

Then hide it deep-down-deep

and Secret

This moment is yours

Pick-pocket the pocket watch of the world

But only for a second

(make it yours, make it good)

Be selfish with the temporary, seriously

That is...

this instant

This breath

But only this

One inhale

One exhale

Kidnap this Tick

this Tock

but only

This

Right now

It's all you have

and all you'll ever get

Anything more does not belong to you, so

Please, for all our sakes:

give.

it.

back.

Heal the Burn

You know that place

Where your heart was gone a while ago

But your mind kept you held tight

And those few bits of heart that were left

Were all you needed to justify staying?

What goes up, well, you know

And eventually it's true

But also, what is pulled can push

Though everything that's lost isn't always found

In fact, more often

What we end up finding

Shows us what we've really been looking for

After all,

The system exists because it works for some

And works just enough for most

But it can't work for all

And it doesn't

Really, though

I'll miss you

So much more

Than I'll miss this

The Actress and My Box

I sit inside my box
Sitting silent i stay
Silently sitting inside my busy box of gray

My softly solemn solace
Disturbed by a play
As I sit silent from my box to see the masquerade

The actress acts the parts
In three acts those parts she plays
Each part she plays an act displayed I see from box of gray

The audience is I
And before my eyes displayed
This perfect play, this masquerade, as I solemnly stay

Yes I sit inside my box
And am carefully away
Removed from play and fair display and yet I see her face

The actress and her colors
To paint the pliant play
And then display, by masquerade, a contrast to my gray

Why inside this box
Reasons I cannot say
The logic nixed, I am transfixed, and long no more to stay

you said, "find your dreams."

you said, "follow your heart."

you said, "use your head

and forget that other stuff i said."

but it's about time

that your plans all fall apart

and i know before i'm dead

i should try somethin' else instead

so don't think i'm not scared

but i've gotta believe there's something better out there

Errant Ambition

If I could burn the world

And write it all anew

It would be so much worse

'Cause it wouldn't have you

'Cause I can't write you right

Like I can't right these wrongs

No song I sing tonight

Can make you sing along

But the voices in my head

Challenged me to duel

A battle with my wits

And maybe the golden rule

'Cause I can't do for you

What I want for me

If what I say is true

It's still not what I mean

I can look from the ocean

And see your work in the sand

I can follow your footsteps

And still not know where you stand

‘Cause I can’t undertake

To dig this shallow grave

To walk along the wake

But never catch the wave

And you’re so far away

I would reach out if I could

If I could burn the world

I would, I would