There are monsters in the mist.
Ancient creatures that will never
cease their unending wrath on humanity.

For thousands of years we have feared them.
For thousands of years we have fought back.

Now, there may be no stopping them.

An incredibly old force has been awakened.
And for all our modern technology....

...we are practically defenseless.

So it shall pass that we follow the path of our ancestors
and vanish violently into the night...

I've trudged the ice,
I've paid my dues.
Please rid me of
these winter blues.

No more sleet,
No more snow,
Life below zero
has got to go.

I'm done with frailty,
and done with death.
I'm sick of the chill,
riding on my breath.

This awful winter,
hurts so many things.
Now I'm ready to hear,
the Robins sing.

I don't feel anymore.
No one's out there keeping score.
Things aren't as they were before.
I've been violated, ******.

There's no emotion at my core.
My heart is sealed, I locked the door.
I've no desire to search for more.
Everything around me, I abhor.

An endless ocean, can't see the shore.
The soldiers fight an endless war.
What's left of me is on the floor.
I don't feel anymore.

Let go, Let go,
I've got you.
Let go, Let go,
It's okay.
Let go, Let go,
You are loved child
And I'll never be going away

Let go, Let go,
Do not fear now.
Let go, Let go,
And find peace.
Let go, Let go,
Trust your heart now.
My commitment to you
Will not cease.

Let go, Let go,
Wipe your tears off.
Let go, Let go,
It's all right.
Let go, Let go,
I am here now,
And you don have to
Stay in this fight.

Let go, Let go,
I will catch you.
Let go, Let go,
You're protected.
Let go, Let go,
and I'll give you
The nurture and love
that's expected.

Let go, Let go,
I'm here waiting.
Let go, Let go,
Don't hold on.
Let go, Let go
It is finished.
And I'll carry you home
To the dawn.

It was vicious.
It was brutal.
It was merciless.

We saw the blood.
We heard the screams.
We looked into your eyes.

Everyone knows you did it.

Yet somehow I am the one
who is made to take the bullet.

However wrong his words may be,
the Judge has spoken.

All I have left is the growing darkness.

I am the star now,
this is my show.
I've got cameras on me
wherever I go.

I'm a big deal,
Its all over the news.
Didn't you know
I just hit ten million views?

I've got a fast car,
and mountain of bling.
Go check Instagram
Where they call me "The King".

I've got the big sponsors,
Movie deals? Signed three.
Everyone in the world
just wants to be me.

I've got a massive new wardrobe
and the latest smartphone,
But underneath it all
I'm just cold and alone...

He was a nasty looking *******,
with a ragged face and a scowl.
Full of muscles, full of rage,
and a scar upon his jowl.

His head was covered in tattoos,
and he wore a tattered shirt.
His arms lashed out like pythons,
and his fists were caked with dirt.

His eyes were dark and angry,
His heart was black and cold.
His soul was filled with a fury,
such a madness to behold.

Like a hunter, he latched on to his prey,
with a giant bat in tow.
And when he found the moment right,
he struck a killing blow.

He looked upon his fallen foe,
and laughed a giant belly laugh.
Then he grabbed the lifeless form,
and broke it clean in half.

He was a nasty looking *******,
with a ragged face and scowl.
And unfortunately for you and me,
he's still out there on the prowl.

I'm a little short, I must report,
but spare me your puns
and witty retorts.

I may not be a giant, but I'm self reliant.
and in the face of all those barbs?
Defiant.

There's less of me, for the eye to see,
though inside I'm as big
as big can be.

So the silly folks may crack their jokes
but I've got it where
it matters most.

The measuring tape, I can't escape.
Everything else, as it goes,
is mine to shape.

There's a reason,
but I don't know why.
There's plenty of tears,
I wish I could cry.

There's no lack of heartbreak,
or emotional crashing.
So why do I seem
So devoid of compassion?

Maybe this emptiness,
is the last thing I've got.
Maybe she took
so much more than I thought...

Sheets of cold rain pour down from the clouds,
covering the sullen, black dressed mourning crowds.
Row after row of fresh looking white crosses,
Has there been anything gained from these terrible losses?

It's just one more ceremony, another farewell,
to more brave young men who couldn't make it through hell.
You listen to the speeches and the notes of the dirge,
And through every moment, there's not but a surge...

...of emotion, of morals, of human expression.
Just an unstoppable combat obsession.
"It's just part of the game" that's what you say,
"we must keep fighting on until we win the day!"

We thought you would free us, we bought into the speech,
You made us believe a better life was in reach.
So we went to the polls and chose you as the one,
setting up a disaster that can't be undone.

There can be no excuses now, don't even bother,
You sealed our fate like lambs to the slaughter.
You think you're a leader, you think you're a man?
We should have stopped this before it even began.

The war drums were beating, you just had to listen,
you were committed to the cause, a slave to the mission.
"Get me the guns, get me the ammo,
get me the tanks, the helmets, the camo!"

There's no peace in your mind, just perpetual war,
got to end all the conflict, got to settle the score.
There's no second guessing, no restraint and no waiting,
there's no need for diplomacy or endless debating.

There's only the guns going off in the shadows,
only the soldiers running fresh to the battle.
And as you gaze upon the river of blood on the floor,
all you think to yourself is "I got to have more."

How many night raids and bombs will it take,
until you think "maybe I made a mistake..."?
How many body bags,  how many graves,
before you conisder the way you behave?
  
There may be an escape here,a pathway to peace.
Would we ever see it if the cannons don't cease?
But you'd never want a truce, couldn't handle the silence,
you need the action, the marching, the violence.

No longer human, you're a terrible beast,
there's famine all around you, but you've got the feast.
You need the caviar, the champagne, the steak,
who cares about the poor souls you have to break?

The wounds pile up, the true reality stuns,
but you're numb to it all: "Just bring me more guns!"
Is there any sanity left do you figure,
when you've got your hand permanently stuck on the trigger?

The mightiest soldier, the general, the king,
but inside your heart lay this terrible thing.
The conscience is absent, there's a dry empty soul,
and a man who is primal and out of control.

There's no sense of calm or peace in your heart,
you're just patiently waiting for the next engagement to start,
Great in the theater, but no good as an actor,
There's no sense of justice, no morality factor.

A wave of change is approaching, my friend, you've been marked,
but still you just sit there in the shadowy dark,
You choose to ignore it, absorbed by your pride,
But they won't go away now, there's thousands outside.

They're sick of living in danger, of living in peril.
they're sick of the mortars, the guns and the barrels.
They've set up a cleansing to get rid of the cancer,
and I don't think they're going to take no for an answer.

You may sit there and think me a fool.
because I point out all the flaws in your rules,
but I guarantee the moment they burst through the doors,
the last shot, the very last death..will be yours.

Our hearts are broken tonight,
the family is missing something.
No laughing, no happiness, no joy.
Just tears and an empty room.

Buried by guilt we ask the questions,
that will never have an answer.
Still we feel the need to ponder
"Why us? Why now? Why this?"

The thunder rumbles outside,
the rain splashes against the window,
Mother nature it seems,
is in a somber mood too.

It's an astounding thing,
how quickly graves can be filled.

It doesn't seem right,
it doesn't seem fair
but He must have had a reason
to call them home.

We cling to the memories of what was,
but warm and inviting as they are,
they can only fill the void so much.
The cold loneliness remains.

We search each other, for hope, for meaning
but will we find it?
No explanation is good enough,
No excuses will suffice.

You just can never replace a life,
that is gone, never to return.
You can't replace a heart,
that was unique as has ever been.

Maybe someday there will be new life,
new joys to be discovered.
But tonight, there's just endless quiet,
and soft tears in the shadows.

There stands a man so cunning and quick,
you just know he's got a tight hold of his ship.
He knows every bolt and he knows every plank,
He knows every pulley and lever and crank.

He's been on the seas for three decades and more,
but he always gets his old boat back to the shore.
With a talented crew who stand by one another.
As one they are comrades, as one they are brothers.

They'll take whatever the great waves will give them,
they'll fight impossible battles and somehow still win them.
When the war is over they'll celebrate with an ale,
and add to their storehouse of glory and tales.

As the ship grows in legend, notch by simple notch,
You'll no doubt find the Captain as he keeps careful watch.
This is his ship, so you best play by his rules,
For he is a skipper that has no time for fools.

They'd give it up for him, their strength and their life,
They'd walk with him through every pain, every strife.
It's a unique kind of loyalty this Captain commands.
What a hero! What a leader! My god, what a man!

There’s a lack of information
On the current situation
That I hope does not cause me to go astray.

There's no evident solution,
In this air of revolution,
Just another dreary, cloudy, gloomy day.

You might be surprised to learn,
That the things of which I yearn,
Are beyond the measure of a simple man.

For I seek not destruction
But a path to reconstruction,
Unearthing all the wisdom that I can.

So if you see me in your nation,
As I wander God’s creation,
Be sure to give a smile and a wave.

There’s a purpose to my mission,
And any man in this position,
Would understand the very things I crave.

I may be travelling quite far from here,
But I promise you my love, my dear,
I will return one day before too long.

So send a little love my way,
For I miss you greatly every day,
Even when I'm lost amid the throng.

I just want to hug you
And never let go.
To tell you everything
That I think you should know.

I just want to hold you,
each and every day.
As my fears and my stress,
slowly melt away.

I want to keep you safe,
And secure and protected.
I want you to know
That you’re loved and respected.

I love the warmth of your smile,
the open joy of your laugh.
You’ve stolen my heart,
and I don’t want it back.

One day you’ll be grown,
and I’ll be past my prime.
but I’ll still be watching,
through the shadows of time.

I know that change
Is life’s only constant.
And you won’t stay this small,
No matter how much I want it.

On the journey life takes us,
We’ll change and we’ll grow,
But I’ll still want to hug you
And never let go.

I tried to protect you,
but you ran in anyway.

I tried to warn you,
but you refused to listen.

I tried to stop you,
but you drowned me out.

I tried to help you,
but you closed your arms.

I tried to love you,
but you pushed me away.

I tried to save you,
but you let it all crumble.

I tried.

Here I am alone in my room.
Nestled with the dark and the gloom.
A thick blanket of night,
With a layer of fright,
And a prayer that the end's coming soon.

Here I am alone in this place,
Mind adrift in the vastness of space.
A ghost without form,
Tossed about in the storm,
As a lone teardrop streams down my face.

Here I am alone in this spot,
Panicked and shaking, nerves fraught.
Courage? I've none.
This old spirit is done.
For this is the pain that I've wrought.

Welcome to a place called addiction.
It's not as fun as it looks.
Beneath the smiles there is only eternal sadness.
Beneath the fullness there is only empty space.
We have plenty of distractions.
and plenty of destructions.

We're pretty easy to find.
Just start following the broken road
and stop once you get past markers
for failed relationships and lost jobs.
Keep your eyes out for the depression signs.
And the constant noise of suicide alley.

There are only two roads out of town.
One takes you back the way you came.
The other to certain death.
No need to make a choice right now.

You can stay with us as long as you want...

You stole my heart.
You stole my soul.
I'm off the rails.
There's no control.

You stole my strength,
You stole my pride.
I'm alone and lost
and cold inside.

You stole my smiles,
You stole my joy.
There was so little
you did not destroy.

You stole my vigor,
You stole my grace.
Now I'm wounded
in a desperate place.

You stole my light,
left me trapped in black.
You stole everything...

...and I want it back.

I always wince a little bit
when I feel the needle tear my skin.
Staring out into the night,
Soon, the train will whisk me away
to my happy place.

The doctor was good to me this time.

He gave me a special dosage.
I fill the syringe to its peak.
A terrible smile crosses my lips
as I let the anticipation ruin me.

I inject the liquid wonderment
deep inside my veins.
My prison bars slowly melt away,
as the drugs invade my heart.

I am lifted up to the sky.
Who needs Aladdins flying carpet?
The stars are mine.
At least, until I come crashing back down to earth.

Then I will find myself in barrenness,
lost to the world around me.
Desperately searching for a new doctor
to make it all disappear.

I'm still here.

I can't hold you.
I can't hug you.
I can't visit you.

But I'm still here.

I still love you.
I still believe in you.
I still fight for you.

I'm still here.

I can't join you.
I can't hold you.
I can't feel you.

But I'm still here.

And I'm not leaving.

I got all the joysticks,
I get lost in my levels.
I am the master of fantasy,
of angels and devils.

I own every button,
I own every technique,
I own every combo, side quest,
and streak.

I could go sixty hours,
and still want some more.
My soul won't be fed
until I hit that high score.

When they question my madness,
I've only one to thing say:
"I am a gamer...
...and I came to play."

What are we tonight my dear?
Except for echoes of our dreams
floating in a magical sea.
Surely as the sun sets each day,
I'll be there on the shore
Waiting for your ship to come in
and then we'll dance together.

There are so many things I had to say.
That I never told you.
But maybe I didn't need to.
Maybe, in some distant, soulful way
you already knew.
And you already loved me for it.

Who am I?

Where is the edge of the Universe?

Why must life be this way?

How was my soul brought into existence?

And most important of all:

What's for dinner?

The baby's crying,
The baby's crying,
What can be the trouble now?

I hear the whining,
I hear the whining,
It's enough to raise my brow.

Is she hungry?
Is she hungry?
We have so little food.

Is she hurting?
Is she hurting?
She's the smallest of the brood.

Is she dreaming,
Is she dreaming,
of some chaotic ride?

Is she wishing,
Is she wishing,
for daddy at her side?

Take my hand,
Take my hand,
You are safe my darling child.

She'll be ok,
She'll be ok.
I can tell by how she smiled.

It's hard for me to explain exactly
why she tempts me so.

Is it those deep red lips?
The alluring brown eyes?
Her long, dark and silky smooth hair?
That seductive smile that melts away
all my better judgment?

There's just something she does to me.

And I know I should stay away.

But I keep going back to the bottle.

I've left everything of myself
on this battlefield.
I have sweat through the danger,
bled through the misery,
and cried for endless nights.

On and on I have struggled,
desperately clinging,
to a distant thing called hope.
So many conflicts,
and not one victory to show for it.

There is no justice in this.
Perhaps I should just lay down my sword
and surrender.

I'm only going to lose in the end anyway.

5...
4...
3...
2...
1...


Darkness.
All I have left is darkness.

I'm eating leftovers,
but I'm not starving.

This shirt has a few holes,
but my back is covered.

My car broke down,
but my legs work fine.

The AC is broken,
but the roof keeps me dry.

I'm taking cold showers,
but the water is clean.

I am hurting inside,
but I find reasons to smile.

I don't have much,
but I have far from nothing.

The day my world broke in two,
There was a fateful shift.
I thought I stood on solid ground,
only to be thrown off that cliff.

"No, no! This just isn't right!"
I cried out and screamed in vain,
but there was no time for a last repeal,
and no healing for the pain.

So there I am, cast off, adrift,
In an endless, raging sea.
I don't know how to face these things,
that just weren't meant to be.

I thought that I
distinctly heard
the angry voice
of another person
in the shadows.

But in fact it was
my own fears
and failures
being thrown
back upon me.

How do you set the scene
in quarantine.
When you're not sure what
the future means?

In search of ends,
but you miss your friends.
And survival?
On what does it depend?

I'll keep my distance
at the mans insistence.
Because I got to protect
my own persistence.

As I hope for the day,
when the darkness frays.
and we see this madness
swept away.

Who says a poem has to rhyme?
Why can't the words alone be fine?
If I don't follow a meter line,
Is that in and of itself a crime?

Who says a poem has to rhyme?
Why can't it be unique, sublime?
What if I do not focus on the time,
but just take the vision and make it mine?

Who says a poem has to rhyme?
Why can't discordant verses shine?
And if the sentences don't align,
Can't they still be beautiful by design?

It seems more and more
come those days
where I wish
that I could strap myself to a rocket,
blast off to the stars...

...and never have to see earth again.

I want to be a bona fide superstar.
With a house in Malibu,
and a garage full of fancy cars.

I'll be the hottest new thing on TV,
with two broken marriages
and three kids I hardly ever see.

In Hollywood, I'll be a cinematic force.
Earning tens of millions just to
give them back in the next divorce.

It'll be big news when I get arrested,
and the Judge lets me go
because of how much I'm invested.

If you've got the green, you've got the power
to do whatever you want to
any time, day, or hour.

Even if I get washed up and near broke,
MTV will give me
my own reality show.

That's how it works in this novel construction,
the audience feeds on conflict
and destruction.

My fans will never really know the pain.
Until they find me dead,
with a needle in my vein.

Together, but at a distance.
We enjoy the beauty of spring.

The sun is shining, the water is clear,
it's a postcard perfect day.

But as much as I want to hug you,
I cannot.

Such is the brave new world we live in.

And never before today
have I realized how much it means to me
to feel someone elses skin touch mine.

For now though I must be content
to merely imagine your caress.

Ragged clothes upon my back,
A knife that tore my flesh.
Tossed against the wicked walls,
Bound and beat and threshed.

My body ached with constant pain.
My soul was incomplete.
But with everything that I could muster,
I rose up to my feet.

The journey wasn't easy.
A dangerous, drifting track.
Fighting against the rising tide,
I somehow made it back.

I don't take anything for granted.
I fight hard for all I've earned.
I know what it is to walk through fire
and come out a little burned.

Hello poetry,
Goodbye, stress.
Mental recovery,
Escape from the mess.

Hello poetry,
Goodbye, aggression.
Spiritual healing,
a calm decompression.

Hello poetry,
Goodbye, rage.
Fighting my demons,
Page by blissful page.

Hello poetry,
Goodbye, worry.
Weaving stanzas together,
In rhythmical fury.

Hello poetry,
Goodbye, confusion.
Where wordsmithing magic,
exists in profusion.

I’m hurt and I'm crying, I want to go home.

There's no use in trying, I want to go home.

I'm injured and scarred, I want to go home.

Burned out and charred, I want to go home.

I'm listless and sick, I want to go home.

Collapsing and quick, I want to go home.

I'm damaged and breaking, I want to go home.

I'm unloved and I'm aching, I want to go home.

I'm twisted and torn, I want to go home.

I'm distant and worn, I want to go home.

I'm shocked and I'm stunned, I want to go home.

I'm defeated and done.

I want to go home.

She left me and I don't know what I did.
She drove away in the night and took off with the kids.
She ran away and I just don't understand.
She used to say that I was her perfect man.

She left me and even stole a lot of my stuff.
She never told me she thought things were so rough.
She just up and went like a shot down the street.
She seemed eager to leave this despair at my feet.

She left me and took every penny I had.
She tore me right down like a woman gone mad.
She hopped off the train and burned down the whole track.
She left me and I don't think she'll be back.

How do you write in the chaos?
How do you find the words?
When all of the streets are empty?
And the parks are left to the birds?

How do you write in the madness?
How do you find your voice?
When every part of our planet
is faced with a difficult choice?

How do you write in the darkness?
How do you find the light?
When you see weary warriors around you
and you're not sure if they're winning the fight?

How do you write in this frenzy?
How do you find the right verse?
While you sit all alone in your bedroom
and wait for the storm to disperse?

If you're going down that road,
you'd better know the code.
They say cyberspace is wild,
if you don't get decompiled.

Colon slash slash,
the future's coming at you fast.
Click click click,
Let the website do its tricks.

Do you ever wonder why you're chosen,
as the screen just sits their frozen?
Or do you ever stop and think,
before you follow that next link?

Simple language, ones and zeroes.
Utter madness, villains, heroes.
It's my fixation, it's my drug,
At least until somebody pulls the plug.

There was a place,
A calm disgrace.
Soft betrayal of time
and space.

There was a spot,
I mattered not
in your ever
twisting plot.

There was a time,
before the crime,
When your spirit
walked the thinnest line.

There was a year,
a solemn tear.
Held hostage in
the grip of fear.

I just saw you.
I just hugged you.
I just smiled at you.

I just thought
of all the fun things we'd
for the holidays.

I just thought
about that cruise we'll be taking
next summer.

I thought about all
the memories we would make
in the years ahead.

Now you're gone.

And I can't think of anything
but the hurt...

We thought we had her under control.
We were overconfident,
blissfully ignorant,
and astoundingly arrogant.

Now she is fighting back
and showing us
that regardless of what we believed
she never lost her power.

She was simply waiting
for the right time to unleash it.

I've finally reached a stage,
Where I am furious with rage.
A silver pen rests in my hand,
but there's nothing on the page.

The room is cool and dank,
and there's a devil on my flank.
Words rage war within me,
but the paper is staying blank.

I'm a soldier, see my fight
in the madness of this night.
I should be be scrawling paragraphs,
instead the pad is plain and white.

My shell is burnt and cracked,
from the eternal sting of the attack,
on my desk there's only barrenness,
where there should be a sea of black.

I thought this thing was finished.
I thought it was over.
But yet, here I am.
Dangling on the edge of a cliff.
Staring at the torturous ground below.
Wondering if rescue is coming,
Or if I am doomed to plummet
angrily to the murky depths.

Take me down to Broadway,
Let me hear the music play.
With a stiff drink in my hand,
There is where I want to stay.

I always love these Nashville nights,
no disagreements, no petty fights.
Just you and me and the music scene,
as we dance amidst the lights.

The manager yells out: "Last call!"
But I don't want leave the music hall.
Maybe just one final tune
before we heed the call.

At three a.m., we're still nice and warm.
The end of the night is taking form.
On to the street in the pouring rain,
we wander through the storm.

I always love these Nashville nights.
So many sounds, so many sights.
Now the shadows guide us home,
and we dream of new delights.

On a greyish day
as I stare up at the clouds
I wonder who else is staring up
and if they are thinking
the same things I am.

A love from long, long ago.
A yummy recipe I want to try soon.
The fun of swimming in a cool lake
on a hot day.
A nagging pain in my knee.
The laundry I still haven't done
Family and friends
who are no longer with us.

Or maybe
All they see is clouds.

In my garden sits a flower.
Just a solitary rose.
Why it grows there with no other.
Perhaps God only knows.

The winds have yet to take it down,
It survived the summer storms.
No animal has ripped it up,
It’s stands tall in perfect form.

The soil’s not so great there.
It’s somewhat hidden from the light.
Yet it stays there, calm and beautiful,
Through the day and night.

Not a single mark or blemish,
Not a petal out of place.
Rising up so strong and stoic,
Thing of beauty and of grace.

I’ve lost much in this garden,
And perhaps that’s how it goes,
But sure as the sun will rise again,
I still have my perfect rose.

This tiny, vibrant flower,
Best thing my garden ever grew.
I wonder: Was it put here
So I’d always think of you?

I begged and begged, but you would not do it.
I screamed with a voice so loud,
it pierced the deep of the night,
but you did not relent.

I hung over that precipice, legs dangling above the abyss.
Wishing and praying,
That you would just let me fall,
That you would go ahead and end it.

Still, your grip tightened.

I looked in your eyes, you looked in mine.
All I wanted was freedom.
All I wanted was my destiny.
All I wanted...was for you to release the chains.

You never did. And now we'll both pay a price
neither of us should ever have had to.