There must be something in the water
That's driving folk insane
With the punching and the kicking
And calling people names

We used to love each other
We used to get along
One way or another
Something went terribly wrong

There must be something in the water
That makes us act this way
Certainly no sane person
Would think this is okay

It's strange to think a civil society
Like ours can't get along
There must be something in the water
That's brought us to this point

Cling to this truth
Whatever you do
Do it all for the glory of God

With nothing to fear
As his path is clear
When giving him your all

In his righteousness
Is how you should live
Heeding the Father's call

In all you go through
In all that you do
Do it all for the glory of God

Good fortune and I
have always been
one on one
the best of friends

Skipping through
life hand in hand
giving praise
for all we have

Even in
the times we don't
my good fortune
still comes along

Always here
reminding me
everyday
is a blessing

No matter what
we go through
under the sun
there's nothing new

Likely I've
been here before
as my good fortune
holds the door

One on one
I've always been
the best of friends
with good fortune

Please feel free
To take anything you see
And divide it up amongst yourselves

As I can only keep
What little memory
I have in my head and nothing else

The photos on the wall
You can have them all
They are only strangers now to me

And the love letters in the drawer
I want need them anymore
As I no longer know who wrote them to me

Keep the car out in the drive
The one with the keys that I can't find
But promise you'll take me for Sunday drives

With the windows completely down
So I can see the sights and sounds
It's better than staring at the walls to pass the time

Take all of the heirlooms
And do with them what you choose
Hopefully a reminder of me

As my mind fades into black
Forgetting who and where I'm at
Feel free to take anything you see

The only news these days I need
Is sung by birds in high top trees
In the middle of the forest deep
That's the only news for me

Tells me all I need to know
Natures plans in rays of hope
All the news that's fit to run
Singing of seasons to come

The outside world can have its faults
No need for me to know them all
Only the good news that nature brings
That's the only news I need

In all my years of happening
I never would have imagined
That I'd make the front page of the Daily News

If you look close I'm right there
Under the headline of "He Didn't Care"
The boy was desperate with nothing to lose

You see I held up a bank
With no job in which to thank
What can you say about the unemployment blues

I'm pretty sure that I'll be missed
By the last girl that I kissed
Once this gets into the hands of Mary Lou

She'll have to cancel all the plans
That these two young lovers had
Where we were to marry in mid June

She'll probably take it pretty hard
When she finds it was over
The pawn shop ring I hated to lose

I figured I needed it out right
Far more that I did this life
When you're in need of a wife what can you do

The stories sure to mention the teller
Being a rather nervous fella
Who had a gun but had no clue

Wasn't there to hurt anyone
When he reached for said gun
And in the heat of the moment shot me clear through

That's now where we're now at
With me cold at the morgue long gone dead
You can read all about it in the Daily News

Woke from a nap
To feel that
A bumblebee
Was in my head

Flipping to
Flying fro
Humming honey tunes
As he goes

I have heard
It echoing
With all the room
Inside my head

Moving this
Tossing that
Rearanging
All the mess

With the hearing of
Funny sounds
From building up
To tearing down

Didn't take him long
To figure out
The exits through
My ears and mouth

Where he went
And told his friends
Brought them back
Took them in

Set up shop
Collected rent
A bumblebee
Condominium

And to think all this
Started with
What I thought
Was a simple nap

I have met my quota today
On how much crazy I can take
It didn't take too long
Before I was worn down
I have met my quota today

Held out as long as I could
Before my senses tried to book
Running fast so they could keep
What little bit of sanity
Held out as long as I could

I deserve some kind of prize
That I didn't blacken someone's eyes
As I wanted to swing
All kinds of lethal things
I deserve some kind of prize

There should be some sort of law
Some people should not be let outdoors
Either that or a safe place
The rest of us could stay
There should be some sort of law

As I have met my quota today
On how much crazy I can take
Lucky for the world
I'm now locked away safe at home
As I have met my quota today

How much further
You're really not sure
That you can go on
Alone in the world

Sealing your fate
In this day to day
Business as usual
Keeping your heart locked away

Before you go through
Doing all that you do
Here's a bit of truth
Someone loves you

There's no reason at all
To give up on hope
The one that loves you
Might not yet know

And like you they
Feel the same way
Waiting for you
To make their day

To tell the truth
What you're going through
You'll both get the news
That someone loves you

i wonder if there'll come a time
when i forget how to rhyme
when the pen in my hand
no longer writes

when the ideas that i have
are no longer fresh
when the thoughts that are tossed
i no longer catch

when all that remains
is the blank of the page
and the drive i once had
is long in the grave

with the flow running low
as far as poetry goes
leaving the rhymes behind
like a *** on skid row

when all that is left
is the hunger once had
replaced by a hole
that no longer beats in the chest

what would i do
if all this comes true
and have you also thought
that it could happen to you...

Today is the day
I toss it all out
Take hold this day
And turn it about
Find what this life
Is truly like
Today is the day
Strong will and might

Today is the day
I realize
That I am special
In my own eyes
Look hard enough
And I will find
Today is the day
I turn on that light

Today is the day
I make a change
Being the day
Of no better day
Today I will take
All in my way
That's holding me back
And give it away

Today is the day
All the bad days
That I've had in the past
Will go down in flames
And everything else
That's kept me at bay
Like you've heard me say
Today is the day

To me and many she's sugary sweet
Perfers to come calorie free
Dresses up to do in pink or blue
Looks pretty sweet in yellow too

Likes her nights out on the town
Most everywhere she can be found
Goes by different names which is part of her charm
Don't you know this girl's got it all going on

She melts at the sight of coffee or tea
Hot or cold makes no difference you see
In her circle she moves smooth calorie free
Out and about on the town, sugary sweet

and...
when the time arrives to the day of gray
hard of hearing, brittle *****
sitting in silence, what can you say
captive to your lost thoughts alone

and...
when the clock slows down in time
friends swept under the rug
dimming of memory, melting candle light
waiting to succumb

and...
this will happen on the cuff
those lucky to survive
placed out of the way if you live long enough
for the remainder of this so called life

The older it is I find I get
The more I see those in me
As time moves along like a 3 minute song
I am my own family

In my daily chores I see my fathers hands
The same he did with those before him
In building a life for the ones to come
Very much like his own father did

I also feel the beating of my mothers heart
Like her mother did before her
As they felt the ache of the day to day
When the sighs and the cries of their children were heard

Looking through the eyes of those before me
Finding sadness and joy in all I see
Choosing to laugh helps combat the sad
It's all in the nature of this family

I am both my mother and my father
Who themselves are those of generations past
Most being good, wouldn't change if I could
And to my children this die has been cast

Where one day they'll see the very same thing
Their lives holding a part of their mother and me
Where they too shall pass to the generation next
A part of us all throughout the family

She reminds me
more than not
of sea glass

Where by the shore
next to the waves
she loves to dance

Colorful
salty sweet
with hidden secrets kept

Clear at times
hard to find
smooth along the edge

Play for me a melody
Something in a far off tune
One that brings the sounds together
The way it's meant to do

A symphony to fill the need
Of those who have lost sight
As woodwinds fill the air we breath
Setting music into flight

Play for me a rhapsody
One that takes me to cloud nine
Swoon me into ecstasy
As euphoria waits in line

With a hand held over my warming heart
As it flutters to the beat
Play for me a melody
That is ever so soft and sweet

Is this what the Government
When I see how my money's spent
Taxing me of my last breath
Controlling voices in my head

Should have been a magician
Being so good at slight of hand
The only thing up his sleeve
Is the last dime of my money

Is this what the Government
Telling me how I should live
When I should smile when I should speak
To whom I should be listening

With Big Brother here to hold my hand
To tell me he will represent
Pretty please give me the keys
I'll be in charge, you won't need these

I'll keep you safe I'll keep you warm
Keep you away from all harm
Under my thumb you'll be kept
Isn't this what the Government

God drew up the plans
and Jesus colored them in

Growing up I never thought I'd say
I'd be the one friend that always moved away
When Dad would come and say pack up Son
Not sure if we were on the move or on the run

From one town to another to another state
Never stayed long enough to ever be late
Should have just kept my bags packed
By the time I said hello we'd already left

Up one coast and down to another
East to West one side to the other
There wasn't one sight we didn't see
But I did it without any friends tragically

When your house is not a home you just move along
Like a traveling minstrel without a song
Where to next you haven't a clue
With the memories of those you never knew

When I was finally old enough to be left behind
Amidst the hugs and kisses as we said our goodbyes
Mom and Dad still had a couple good moves left
When there's a gypsy in your soul it's hard to pass

Once I staked my claim I never moved again
Not that I sometimes didn't feel the pain
To tell the friends that I had finally made
I'm the one to move away...

Don't be mistook
Every face is a book
That tells of a story
The closer you look

Around the eyes
You can read every line
The laughter and heartbreak
Wrote out over time

A crease in the edge
At the turn of the lips
Dog-eared smile or frown
To later be read

It's all there of course
In chapter and verse
As the title suggests
From our best to our worst

All in the look
Not always understood
Telling a story
As every face is a book

Daddy somebody shot that man
I heard this eleven year old say
I didn't really understand at the time
I just knew a man was dead

But with the years that followed
I came to learn how much he meant
To this world in its great need
And how well that time was spent

He preached of equality he preached of peace
As he spoke of man as one
He marched his way down city streets
Facing adversity with the face of love

He was done with all the hatred
That fills so many lives
To him color was a vision
Of equality in his eyes

A life so young a life cut short
By the wickedness in us all
Will you stand with me and follow him
Will you heed his righteous call

To call every man your brother
The way Martin Luther King Jr. did
To keep the vision of this visionary alive
A reality in which all mankind should live

Do you find it harder to forgive or forget
And what about those lasting regrets
Do you keep them by your side
so they never die
Remembering every last thing that was said

And still you try your best to forgive
Knowing your quota has not yet been met
In looking for the signs
sometimes you feel you're running blind
Knowing all of this you won't forget

Nothing more that Ben and Jerry enjoy
Than Florida on Spring Break
Hanging out there at this moment
On this bright and sunny day

Swimming in the ocean
Just off the Southern shore
Waiting for a nice plump student
To dip his toes in and more

Nodding in agreement
They both would like that very much
After all what would two Great Whites
Rather crunch for lunch

Conversation rolls around to Daytona
Reminiscing of the time
Ben chowed down on four collage kids
While Jerry gorged on Nine

Yes, Spring is in the water
Where both the sharks relate
Nothing better in Florida when
You can sink your teeth into Spring Break

Hold me tight
Don't let me go
Say you love me
Though I already know
It's good to hear every now and then

Say that you'll be
By my side
All throughout
This crazy ride
From here on out all the way to the end

From point A
To point B
If necessary
All the way to Z
Closer to me than my next of kin

And when the time comes
That we are done
We'll move this gig
To the great beyond
Where we'll start it all over again

With you and I
Holding tight
Forevermore
Through the afterlife
Hand in hand the way it's meant and been

There must be some mistake
This can't be happening
Was I born too early or too late
Into this century

I blame the generation before
For not getting it right
Who did they put in charge
Whoever it was, they wasted their dime

Leaving us here to clean up this mess
I know we can do better than this
What they were thinking is anyone's guess
Being *****-nilly at best

With pollution clogging the air
Wars starting up everywhere
All I see is power and greed
With the attitude of what's in it for me

Now that it's our chance in life
Things are going to change you will find
We won't be making the same mistakes
We won't be following that party line

Things will be better at last
Once we clean up their mess
No more famous words have ever been said
By every generation of the past

Stepping up to the bar
With Leisure Suits on
And high heeled kicker sneakers

As the spinning glass ball
Revolves round our souls
Freely making Bee Gee believers

Watching guys and gals dance
In their bell bottom flared pants
Silver and gold in fabric

With the tapping of toes
To the highs and the lows
More out of force than habit

We all had the fever
Saturday night believers
Revolting with Travolta

On the lit up dance floors
All stars of course
Cause this ain't your mamas salsa

All kings and queens
Of the late 70's
Dancing feet being our treasure

Day after day
It's how we'd escape
Into Donna's Summer time pleasure

Back then I suppose
We had no way to know
How deep would be the dive

When the world as a whole
All thumbed their nose
As new Wave ate disco alive

Where we step up to the bar
With black tie and shades dark...

have all the poems been written
have all the words been said
have all the rhymes been used over time
until there's nothing left

have all the ideas faded
nearly impossible now to find
with no way for them to say it
leaving all the poets in a poetic bind

have all the chances been given
to display the perfect line
years of insisting now one of the missing
hidden in broad daylight

have all the poems been written
in one form or another
now a no show giving little hope
there's more to be discovered

I spend my life
On my righteous perch
Mocking you
Like a mocking bird

Do as I say
Not as I do
What's good for me
Is not for you

What I find out
I sing out loud
Telling those
Up and down

What they should say
What they should do
How to behave
What circles to move

I consider myself
A righteous bird
From head to feet
In deed and word

What's good for the gander
Is not for the goose
When all that really matters
Is my version of truth

If you had the chance to do it all again
Which part of it would you pick
Would you take the easy way
with what you know today
If to do it again you had the chance

If you could pick which part to live
Which part to toss which part you kept
If you had the choice
by the raising of voice
Which part of it would you pick to live

Would you take out the hardest route
Which more than helps with character built
Knowing when you go against the grain
you're never the same
Would you take the hardest route if this you found out

How would you act if you had the chance
Would you pass it all off with a laugh
Or would you buckle down
this time around
If you had the chance how would you act

I gazed up into the night
And saw a passing star
With my thumb I hitched a ride
To galaxies beyond

Beyond imagination
Of all my earthly dreams
Not weighed down by consciousness
Or held back by gravity

The night that I hitched a ride
Upon a passing star
In this my grand adventure
To galaxies beyond

When I find I'm dry and dusty
When I am all worn out
When life has got the best of me
In this my desert of doubt

When I'm in need of an oasis
To drink from the living stream
That is when I turn to Jesus
Who is always there for me

When I find the battles raging
Again pounding at my door
With no hope of escaping
Another coming storm

That is why this house of mine
Is on rock and not on sand
With Jesus as the builder
I know all things I can withstand

If you find me in the valley
At the bottom of a ravine
With no way to climb out
Except in Jesus name

I will proclaim that name loudly
Be it there or mountain tops
The one name that always guides me
Out of every hardened spot

When I'm stuck inside a jungle
Surrounded by the wild
When I'm neck deep in trouble
And seeing no way out

I call on the creator
The one that knows all things
To help me here as well as later
All in Jesus name

Whether taking or giving
We all have our limit
Some go for hours
Some only minutes

Where one or the other
Will blow their cover
As it always happens
Sooner or later

They'll know you mean it
When you reach your limit
Whether it's you
Or them who did it

When it all matters
Can you admit it
In the heat of the moment
Right smack dab in it

This saying keep it
Before you reach your limit
Try best to take it
Before you ever give it

Good Lord what have we done
Can we not see what we've become
Choosing sides in our back bites
In that where is the love

Do you remember where you were
The day the world learned to hurt
As sisters and brothers turned on each other
Could you be part of the cure

Are we all now in the dark
About our wicked hardened hearts
Much more gullible than ever pliable
Is that who we all now are

When did we decide to choose sides
In this game of do or die
When did hate become our playmate
And then proceed to destroy our lives

Is it too late to turn back
Could there even be a chance
Or is it too late to find a loving word in kind
With what little time we have left

As we're standing on the edge
Thinking we're hedging all our bets
We'll slip and slide right off the side
Being this close to the edge

There are the have's
And the have not's
Can someone explain
Why the have's always want
More than they have
And all that they don't
Never happy with
The lump of their sum  

Then the have not's
See all that they don't
All that they could
If they could have bought
Less out of will
More out of want
Without being still
And giving much thought

Why can't the have's
Find it better to give
And the have not's
Be happy with
All that they have
Whatever that is
All satisfied
With what they do and don't have

Straight out of prison
Wondering what I've been missing
Right out of the gates I stuck out my thumb

A van load of hippies
All from Mississippi
Stoped and asked, hey dude...what's going on

I'm here for adventure
Well hop in then Mister
Adventure is what we're all about

Now where we're all going
There's no way of knowing
A van of hippies and parolee freshly let out

We ended up in Disney
Me and all of the hippies
Where we had caboodles of fun

We met Mickey and he saw it
When I lifted his wallet
Now we're in the Magic Kingdom all on the run

We split in different directions
To throw off detection
It's A Small World is where I made my mistake

With that song stuck in my head
It's a fate worse than death
Prison now sounds like a wonderful place

We rendezvoused in
The Pirate's Of The Caribbean
Where soon after, in came the law

We all jumped from our boats
Splashing around in the moat
And had ourselves a good old fashioned pirate brawl

We soon made our escape
Out of exit door 88
Finding ourselves in Frontier Land at night

Where in the middle of the street
Were Mickey, Donald, and Goofy
All with guns strapped to their sides

We ran into a shop
And bought guns on the spot
All with Mickey's money...he's a mouse of a man

Mickey squeeks we're going to ruff you up
As Goofy holds up the cuffs
And Donald says something we can't understand

We had a shoot out
With cap guns no doubt
After all Disney runs a safe place

Ran out of caps in our guns
Which stopped our lives on the run
The wrath of Mickey we all now would face

After justice's hammer
I'm now back in the slammer
This time I made my own prison bed

Now I cry every day
What more can I say
With It's A Small World still stuck in my head

I need somebody
To teach me a love song
Somebody
Willing to sing along
Somebody
That's good with harmony
To sing in octaves
Above and below me
I need somebody
To stand in my chorus line
Somebody
To sing with me for life
Somebody
To put their name on it
Somebody willing
To sing it with me to the end

I find the kind of poetry I like
Is poetry that makes you think
Churns your stomach round
Wobbly in the knees
One that can't help but make you sigh
Brings a tear to a wanting eye
In case you're curious
I find all this a must

The poetry I adore
Has you always wanting more
Keeps your head in wonder
Of what is next in store
Takes you to the edge
Shows you the view of there and back
Are you as surprised as I
At the kind of poetry that I like

The kind of poetry that grabs ahold
Makes it where you can't help but smile
Says all it has to say and more
With a sound that speaks out loud
Poetry that adds a tick to time
Clears the glitch inside your mind
Hope this brings it all to light
The kind of poetry that I like

This heart inside of me
Has been living out on the streets
No need to ask how long
It just needs a home

Try as hard as it might
It's so tired of the daily grind
Wandering to and fro
In desperate search of a home

It's been out on the road for years
Making its intentions clear
How much further must this heart roam
Out there looking for a home

Not looking for sympathy
But looking to fills its needs
That's really all this heart wants
In its search for a home

No matter how far it seems
It's ready to take the leap
Knowing it can't do this alone
Ready for a home

My muse
is tired of being abused
as I use my pen like a whip
making it do what I want it to

My muse
had no clue
or one eye inkling way of thinking
what it was getting itself into

My muse
doesn't know what to do
since it's chained inside my brain
master of it's every move

My muse
needs a redo
from being kept where it's at
to a new rendezvous

My muse
I have surely duped
into thinking that I need it
only for it's creative juice

My muse
would like to fly the coop
make it clear outta here
find a gig entirely new

She brings different things to the table
But never on an empty plate
Of her earthly views in what we should do
For the planet before it's too late

She is one in tune with nature
Under the thumb of modern man
Never to cave nor give away
Or in to corporate demands

She feels for the downtrodden in plight
A people with no voice of their own
Desperate for a better life
Hoping for a better home

She hears Mother Earth in her grumbles
Feels her pain as she moans
Along with the sky she often cries
Can they not see what's going on
...or what is to come

She finds she can not stand by
And simply watch as her world falters
She knows the truth, she's seen the lies
And stepped up when her mother called her

She's seen things she'd rather not see
But on them she won't turn her back
It's what feeds that insatiable need
To right all before there's nothing left
That keeps her moving ahead

Have I told you when I look at your life
All the wrong it is I see
How you need to get it together

Wait a minute...could that be me

You should be giving hope to the hopeless
Ready to lend a helping hand
Not be so inner focused

Wait a minute...is that who I am

Showing others what is of most value
In loving kindness and in truth
Giving them something to live for

Wait a minute...is that what I do

Making the most of every opportunity
Tossing worldly cares into the sea
Throwing caution into the wind

Wait a minute...

In this poem there is a message
That's not to hard to see
I'm pretty sure it was written
Especially for me

When I think of love
I think of us
Where both our sums
Add up to one
Come what may
We're not alone
Through better days
Or bitter storm

My hand in yours
Your hand in mine
Both secure
In what we find
From this day forward
Till the end of time
Sharing in
Each other's fight

When I think of us
I think of love
Where you have been
More than enough
Who could have asked
For a better outcome
Where you and I
Add up to one

To make sure that I don't
Wrap myself tight
When I spin to the left
I spin back to the right

However many times
I turn around
I make sure as I do
That I do not lose count

I can't have myself
Twisted in knots
It's hard enough these days
To keep straight what I've got

So as I spin to the right
I spin back to the left
Confident as long as I
Keep count in my head

I'd be like a spring
Wound ever tight
If I didn't spin to the left
The same amount to the right

There's a hole in my head
Where the crazy gets in
Till I open my mouth
And it comes spilling out

It's almost the same
As the falling rain
Gets ****** back up
So it can do it again

I count myself lucky
There's only one hole
No telling how far
This crazy would go

Not that the hole in my head
Isn't well fed
A continuous flow
Of both here and to go

This is the song
Of the Mockingbird
With repeat rhymes
And borrowed words
Of all he's seen
And all he's heard
On his daily flight

From yonder wood
To mountain stream
Through rolling meadows
Shades of green
All that he has
In-between
That his ears can find

To use it time
And time again
As ruffled feathers
Gather wind
Spreading wing
At the slightest hint
Mixing it all in rhyme

I'm going home
Back to where I started
Back to where I come from
Where my mind
Lands on simpler times
In word and deed and love
Before it got complicated
With the seeds I've thrown
With all the pain
That I have known
I feel the need
To now go home

I try not to give it much thought
But chances are soon enough one of us will be gone
And probably not the same time
Funny how people are selfish when it comes to dying

Where mostly we go it alone
Most often without even knowing
Spending each day on the edge of the cliff
Waiting till we step off of it

Is it that we're afraid of goodbyes
Not wanting to spend too much time
Leaving the awkwardness of it
On the backs of the living who are better equipped

And when we arrive on that fateful day
I hope I'm the first to go out with a bang
I couldn't imagine being left behind
It wouldn't be life without you by my side

So do me this one small favor
Please stick around till I'm no longer here
I try not to give it much thought
But chances are soon enough one of us will be gone

Reading between the lines of this poem

You'll see that I'm a blank page

Heading  left to the right as you're going

You'll see I have nothing to say

With these words just being a filler

That I've learned to use over time

The real meaning to this poem that you hold here

Is between the lines...