I believe I drink more tea than alcoholics drink alcohol
And it makes me drunk
In its own way
And I fear it would ruin my teeth
The way alcoholics fear it would ruin their liver
But we drink it anyway
Until the damage is too clear to ignore
I look at the mirror and see how terrible my teeth have become
As an alcoholic holds his stomach in pain
And we both go for another glass

Dear Cody,
You have been and always will be my brother, filled and overflowing with love I could never comprehend.

Dear Tim,
You are my protector, my safeguard and stronghold, seeking justice when you know injustice is present.

Dear Paul,
Joy radiates from your smile, and you chose to smile despite everything you've been through.

Dear Micheal,
I'll always cherish the years we had together, though I wish you were sitting next to me on the piano bench instead of a prison cell.

Dear Ty,
Originality and authenticity are difficult to find these days. May you never lose that spirit.

Dear A.J.,
I've never met a man who stood so strongly by his convictions. I hope we can make music together again someday.

Dear Ben,
Thank you for the years of consistent handshakes and hugs. I could never articulate with words how much they've meant to me.

Dear Brigham,
The love you want so badly to give away could overflow the oceans. Never stop being reckless.

Dear Cole,
After three years of painful silence, reconnection with you is the sweetest redemption I've tasted yet.

For all:
Now go, conquer the world, follow your convictions, keep your candles burning, fuel your own flame, and spread the love you posses like wildfire.

I want to remember
what it feels like
to see my bones
reaching the sky
while i'm stuck in
this rotten pit bottom.

Sorting feelings too big to understand,
Heavy like blankets yet light,
One by one, set free finally,
I'm set free...finally.

and a swatch of scotch later
I get feeling bad about what I said to her
have a moment of torment wondering
if i really meant it, yet deep down
I know what I said was reasonable and
still this long pang inside goes down my middle
and back up
or was it the scotch?

Outside it's raining fire
Inside we're burning snow
The world seemed like a safe place once
Now I don't really know.

My people fall around me
Their blood the color of the sky
Crimson clouds dot the horizon
I have no more tears to cry.

The wind picks up it's forces
I look on to see them go
Skeletal carriages drawn by dead horses
And they wonder why they descend so slow.

I open my eyes and see it
In the field of red and green
She stands there cracked wide open
Our beautiful, dying queen.

I thought that I could fix this
Whatever this may be
But sweat and tears make oceans
And now we're drifting off to sea.

the washing glimmer of sunlit sky
marble blue and streaked so cry
the ignited magenta and yellow and white
we call to the wind so the scent can wither

the breath and mind toiling together
as ones feet carry on into the yonder
the shadow dances upon the sweet pavement
and sweat toils of poignantly off of chilly skin  

the wind carries the leaves from trees
starkly contrast a darkening hue
the pace steady weaving through pockets of hills
and rounding corners, spinning likes mills

passing by the stare of wary signs
sometimes to pave our things away
the vigor running under the sky
we all have lives we care for into the night