I stood on the city street
And asked the passers by
All the folks I chanced to meet
What they thought of life

I got a different answer
From everyone I spoke
But isn't that a well known fact
That I should have known

Some said life's a circus
With all these clowns around
3 rings to be exact
If you care to count

Others said life's a minefield
So be careful where you step
One wrong move and you'll go boom
Leaving nothing left

Life is also a roller coaster
With a slow climb to the top
But once it is you get there
Hold tight for the drop

Then there was life's a puzzle
Built piece by piece until your done
But be careful in the end
You don't find a missing one

But also life's a symphony
So let's strike up the band
And just hope you play first row
And all the notes you understand

Not forgetting life is a game of cards
Where you play the hand your dealt
Hoping while your in mid-bluff
That your not found out

Yes everyone I asked that day
Had a different view on life
While some of them could be wrong
I'm sure most of them were right

Life is a bully
With a tinder side
Slaps you round hard
Then makes it alright
Gives you a kiss
Before it pulls out the rug
Throws rocks at you
In case the rug's not enough
Life is a bully
That's is a fact
Tinder or not
Just watch your back

We all come to the table equal
Then proceed to lay out our cards
I'll see your pain and sorrow
And raise you my regrets and scars

Tossing chips out on the table
Most bring more than they can afford
Hiding our hands till forced to show them
Afraid to let on who we really are

To say that life is a gamble
Is an understatement at best
A loaded gun with pearl handle
A chamber filled with blanks

Those that bluff the best, get ahead
That sounds much better than a lie
After all aren't we all a mess
Hoping against hope that no one finds

The few cards we hold up our sleeves
When in desperate need of an easy way out
Before we get into this too deep
And can't find a way to bet our way out

Life is like a boat
In the middle of the sea
Riding high the waves
Trying to catch a breeze
Doing all you know
Just to stay afloat
Keep the pail ready to bail
Life is like a boat

Life is like a car
Trying to get you there
Before you find you're nowhere
And that you do not care
Ready set get on your mark
Hoping that it starts
To get you beyond where you are
Life is like a car

Life is like a plane
Turbulence and all
Voice out your complaints
Just make sure that you hold on
Not for the heart that's faint
Across the not so friendly skies
As you quickly make your way
Life is like a plane

One thing you can count for sure
Death is the only cure
To this thing that we call life
The rest is just a metaphor

I asked this child what life is like
Spending the day on their trike
As they peddled hard they peddled fast
Life is like a trike I guess

I asked a boy in his teens
What is life like and what does it mean
He hopped onto his motorbike
And then flew off into the night

I asked someone of middle age
What is it about life that's all the rage
They rolled up the window and drove away
With nothing much about it to say

I asked an old man if he cared to share
What life was like in his wheelchair
He sat for a time with a vacant stare
Then wheeled himself out, going nowhere

Life is an adventure
Brand new every day
If you take with you that attitude
As you are on your way
You never know the comes and goes
As you step foot outside
Life is an adventure
Relish the surprise

Life is and adventure
You take at every turn
Where you find around the corner there hides
Lessons to be learned
In every situation
In every give and take
Life is an adventure
You make along the way

Life is an adventure
Pull the curtain to the side
Let the darkness escape or get out of the way
Either or, let in the light
From all that you see to the farthest of reach
You need to make up your mind
Life is an adventure
Let you adventure shine

One sunny day at the central zoo
Biff the gorilla grabbed the zoo keepers key
Before the employees had even a clue
Went and set all the animals free

Started out on Monkey Island
With the Orangutans and Chimpanzees
With the Giraffe's next in line
Cause they needed someone to see over the tops of the trees

When they were  through letting their friends loose
And all the keepers locked up in their place
They hit the streets and before anyone knew
The entire human race was in a cage

Now the animals are doing their very best
As  members of society at large
Still life is a mess if you haven't already guessed
Shouldn't have left the baboons in charge

With the pressures in life starting to show
Half the animal kingdom now in therapy
No one told them so they didn't know
That life in a cage was actually free

While the people enjoy themselves at the zoo
Three solid meals and all the naps they can take
Sunning themselves by the wading pool
Never wanting to go back to the so called good old days

Guess no matter which side you are on
The other side always looks better to you
Just remember if the time ever does come
Where ever you find that you're at...life is a zoo

life is hard
on your own
that's why i don't
go it alone
that doesn't mean
that I am weak
God just knows
what's good for me
he's had a hand
in who I am
from the start
to the end
he loves my soul
holds my heart
because he knows
life is hard

How many say
Life is killing me
I do believe
The very same thing

It's like a give away
Of our history
No need to see
A past that's buried

What did you have in mind
As your moving through time
It is your dime
Spend it however you like

But in the meantime
Your still going to find
Life is very much like
A slow suicide

Even holidays
Will not delay
That one more day
From your everlasting fate

You pay the freight
On mistakes that you make
Though there may be a delay
It's never that late

What else did you have in mind
As your moving through time
Spending your dime
However you like

You can try and hide
But your still bound to find
Life is very much like
A slow suicide

Ever since my early days of youth
I've been questioning
All the hidden secrets of life
And exactly what it means

So imagine my excitement
When I climbed the mountain top
And asked the man of wisdom
Just what it is he thought

Where he said...

Life is like a toaster
With people dropping in and popping out
Some may stay in the heat of life for too long
And find themselves burned out

Life is like a toaster
If you're kept down long enough
The heat that's applied to your outsides
Only strengthens your inner crust

Life is like a toaster
Some people are shiny on the outside
But lift them up and what you see
Are the crumbs they leave behind

After all these years of searching
I climbed high enough to learn the truth
With the meaning of life now by my side
I knew just what I had to do

I went straight back home to my people
The ones that I could help the most
I started at the local breakfast diner
Where I ordered up some toast

If I could just Mustard up
the energy
Then I might Ketchup
with what's expected of me

I'm Hot and Dog tired
with what life throws my way
There's a Chip on my shoulder
still to this day

In this group of Ants
running this way and that
Finding only the Crumbs
are all that is left

Drink it all in
always wanting for more
Life is no picnic
or so I am told

Right about mid morning
I somewhat get the hang of it
After my fifth cup of coffee
And a pack of Raisinets

It seems a constant struggle
To keep it in the loop
If you don't hit the daily double
Then your no longer in the groove

The only thing to count on
Out of everything I see
Life is not as easy
As we're lead to believe

If I have a chance to jump
It's mostly in a lake
Not all the time mind you
But more often than I care to say

I've even lost a couple inches
In all my running round
Have I failed to mention
I keep beating myself down

The only thing for certain
In everything I see
Life is not as easy
As they'd have us believe

I've learned the art of waiting
In the waiting line
If patience is a virtue
I've wasted to much time

The way of finer living
Is spinning down the drain
The only thing life's giving
Is more of the same

*It keeps on confounding me
All of this I see
Life is not as easy
As it all first seemed

we're all beginners here
we're all amateurs
learning daily the lessons of life
making our way through this world

seeing is believing
if you believe all that you see
take it all with a grain of salt
light on the seasoning

with this life of choices
you take or you give
amid all of the noises
we have lessons in life to live

I had it all in my hand
Still I did not understand
How cruel this life could be
When it took it all away from me

Now I am nothing but a shell
Of what I once knew so well
Among the lessons that I learned
How quickly life can turn

So don't count upon tomorrow
Live life for today
Make the most of every moment
Love life along the way

For what may come tomorrow
No one here can say
Make the most of what your given
Then give it all away

Have you got time for another story
Of life lessons and of love lost
Of fighting a war where no one keeps score
Being afraid of counting the cost

With men sitting around in a board room
Pin striped suits mixed with power ties
With no conscience in the stroke of a pen
Changing many young lives

At 18 years old what's your hurry
In killing for what you're told to believe
When a bunch of old men take you by the hand
Helping to plant hates deceitful seed

You've watched your buddies die in the jungle
Seen body parts fly off in the sand
Where tempers once flared now you don't even care
You'll just keep shooting till nobody's left

Back home is where you keep the memories
Of your girl but who's keeping her
As you battle for freedom cause you still believed them
When they told you, you could save the world

This has gone on for years now too long
When will we stand up and let go of the hand
Of the men at the top who want more than they've got
And will strive to get it till there's not a one of us left

When asked what I do for a living
I say that I am a poet
When asked how I make a living
I say that I don't, don't you know it

It has nothing to do with the pay
But more about all the pleasure
In a nut shell all I can say
Is that right there is beyond any measure

when i look at you
i see life perfect
perfectly fine
everything in line

but what boils
just beneath the surface
when you can no longer hide
and all this comes to light

aparently
you knew how to work it
winking of the eye
telling of the lies

now look at this
pulling back the curtain
took a major dive
went right off the side

goodbye kiss
to your life's lost purpose
try with all your might
still ran out of time

They tell me who
I'm supposed to be
Who I am
Other than me

Give me pills
To cure my ills
To calm me down
To stand me still

A special line
To make me mind
That I wait in
With those alike

They say I'm free
To be me
Inside this box
Of conformity

As they fill there funds
With another bill
And keep me numb
With another pill

They tell me who
I'm supposed to be
Who I am
Besides me

I took a chance
And took a swing
At this thing called life
And its meaning
I've struck out
Many times before
But always I
Come back for more
As the hour
Is growing late
I refuse
To give up the game
If knocked down
I'm up again
And won't succumb
Until the end
And then when
The end does come
I won't even
Know I'm gone
Through the swing
In the chance
Life's meaning
Inside the dance

We've all been given a life sentence
With no telling how long that will be
Before you know you could get early parole
While others take years before they're set free

Some spend hard time while some breeze through life
Which has a lot to do with attitude
If you find that you are behind those hard time bars
A well laid plan of escape is all up to you

So as we all serve out this life sentence
Shouldn't we make the best of it
I know it can be hard but what's worth it that's not
And if we have to be here we might as well live

Moving through this life
Is how these days I exercise
With the shrugging of the shoulders
Rolling of the eyes

Shaking back and forth my head
In complete surprise
As long as I am in this life
I'll find ways to exercise

In the jumping to conclusions
Flipping out over what I see
I may not be losing that much weight
But certainly my sanity

Waving of the arms daily
Wildly side to side
Who out there can blame me
With the way I exercise

Folks on the right and on the left
Keep my head in spin
Moving ****** muscles
In this idiotic grin

Cause if I did not grin and bare it
I'd blow up twice this size
Life today I swear it
Is my only form of exercise

It's hard being sober
It's hard staying clean
Hard making a living
If you know what I mean

Hard loving your neighbor
Harder loving yourself
Could you do me a favor
And go bother somebody else

It's hard to smile in certain crowds
And not tell the truth sometimes out loud
It can be hard to make a move
When you're not sure of what to do

It can be hard to do what's right
In everybody's sight
Hard to extend the hand of kindness
To those you do not like

It's hard to know when to let go
Be it people or worrying
Hard at times to give up hope
And other times a simple thing

It's hard being a witness
In a world that's part of you
Hard like nobody's business
If you want to know the truth

This life we live
Is a medium
Some paint with brush
Some ink with pen

Some crayon bright
Outside of the lines
This work of art
That we call life

With bright shades of pink
Atop seas of blue
Where what lies beneath
Is the hidden truth

To all we know
That sets us free
I'll draw for you
You paint for me

We'll take the days
That are painted with gray
And draw on love
In colorful display

This medium
In which we live
That some paint with brush
While some ink with pen

Life is stabbing me in the back
With one hand while the other one slaps
I'm not sure what to think of that
Should I cry or should I laugh

Life keeps tossing me off of the bridge
I'm getting pretty used to it
That's just the way I and life live
Been that way since we were kids

That's when it's not throwing me in front of a train
Asking those around to give it a hand
Doesn't much matter whether woman or man
Life is never too proud to beg

Of course in the city it's under the bus
Guess life thinks that a train isn't enough
While my road burns are getting calloused and tough
I always seem to keep getting up

Life even spreads nasty rumors of me
Some of what life says I find hard to believe
What really hurts is that life lives with me
So I'm always in it's company
Which makes me wonder why life's out to get me

With every pitch that's tossed
You have a choice
You could be less
Or you could be more

It's all in the catch
That's thrown your way
In how you handle it
In how it makes your day

You can take the control
Or let it control you
Go down with the ship
Or get up and do

Learn from mistakes
When playing the game
Not give up on it
Get up again and again

With every pitch
You have a choice
You could be less
Or you could be more

It's funny how in life we have
All these expectations
Like we deserve the very best
Of the soup it's making

Reaching for the biggest spoon
Slurping a self righteous tune
It's how we eat, it's what we do
With mouths too full to think of you

It's funny how in life we see
Other people eating
It's only you, it's never me
With the bowl I'm keeping

Reaching for the biggest spoon
Continually it's nothing new
It's how we eat, it's what we do
In the slurping of life's soup

How many flights must I climb
To get to what I'm trying to find
Holding onto the rail of my strength and will
So many times have I fell

Along the way of stumbling
I reach the ledge of where I've been
Bringing me back to memory
Of the times this was much easier for me

Padding up the steps of my own truth
With the feeling that somehow I'll pull this through
I keep trying to do it on my own
One step up and two steps down

It might be because I'm afraid of heights
And what's on top that I might find
How many floors does this life hold
Can't afford to be letting go

This hand rail that holds my strength and will
Most of the time I feel I'm standing still
With feet of concrete to weak to move
Never really knowing what next to do

As I keep up with this age old climb
Out of breath as I lag behind
Where no elevators are allowed
One step up and two steps down

Read every line etched on my face
That tells of the time along with the place

Where a story this old
Will not go untold

Look in my eyes that have been clearer most days
And the secrets they hold that they won't give away

The ones collected in my youth
If you must know the truth

And the hands that I have with the ache and the hurt
Arthritic most times in their twists and their turns

But still able to wave to the dead
Friends that have left

With the buckling of knees and the thinning of hair
As my hearing in and out leaves for somewhere other than here

And these brittle bones that are cold
With the shivers of old

The mirror on the wall no longer reflects my memory
Holds nothing I want nor do I care to see

Just look at this body to read
Life's story

I dip my toes in to check the temperature
Of life's running  stream
Sometimes it's hot, sometimes it's cold
Sometimes in between

I struggle at times to keep my balance
Where I don't fall in and get swept away
That seems to be a challenge
I'm faced with day to day

While I see some out there cliff diving
And others riding massive waves
Most of the time I watch from the shore
Where I can play it safe

That's not to say that I myself don't take
Time out for a swim
Though careful where I go cause you never know
So I mostly stick to the shallow end

Some had dreams, some had high hopes
Cause life's a song when you're young you know
As you and your friend's all hum along
But where does the melody go

Three-minute songs never last long
As life turns the dial on its car radio
Playing a song you never dreamed you'd ever know
Or at least that's what you had hoped

Is there really a need to come out and ask
What once was Top 40 is now the Blues and Slow Jazz
With your dreams and your hopes now in the past
As three-minute songs never last all being over much too fast

Why do some go through such misery and pain
Being hit by tragedy again and again
Is it something that they do?
Is it something that they've done?
What is it that shoots holes through life
With both barrels of the gun

Is it the deal of the cards?

Or the twist of fate?

Perhaps the lie of the deck

That lays a life to waste

But who's to say what it all means
For none are promised tomorrow
Just be prepared for the coming storm
In the raining down of sorrow

For life is never easy

And never is life fair

Aren't we all just teetering here

On a thin rope above thin air

There never seems to be words of comfort
Words of wisdom we could give
All we need to be in the time of need
Is the shoulder of a friend
For those that go through misery and pain
As more is yet to come
Hitting them hard again and again
Over little they have done

She blew in
A Gayle force wind
Far more of a lover
Than ever a friend

Young storms never quiet
With thoughts that we might
Ride it all out together
In 75'

But as weather would have it
Winds blow this way and that
So that what really mattered
Changed up in its pattern

With the pouring of time
Flooding forgotten streets
Like cars, years passed us by
Splashing tears at our feet

I like to sip
Life through a straw
The tighter the grip
The more in control
The more in control
The smoother the flow
All when you sip
Life through a straw

What ever flavor
That floats your boat
Sip with a crowd
Or go it alone
Bound to find out
Things you don't know
Whenever you sip
Life through a straw

Never enough
Whatever size cup
With an acquired taste
You'll grow to love
Add to your dreams
With cherry on top
All this when you sip
Life through a straw

The 50's they found Elvis
And boy oh boy could he swing
The best part about him though
Is the boy could also sing
Of course there were many
Who tried his bell to ring
But it was only Elvis
That Rock & Roll crowned King

The 60's were invaded
By a drove of English blokes
From the Beatles to the Kinks to in between
The Rolling of the Stones
But we opened up some Doors
With a few bands of our own
As we headed further down
The road of Rock & Roll

We then watched the disco ball
Spinning round and round
As so went the 70's
With their ups and downs
Suddenly grinding to a halt
Barely with a sound
As fast as it came in
The 70's done left town

Then came in the 80's
Without much fanfare
Out went the disco
In came the hair
Not much more to talk about
That's about it I swear
When it came to the 80's
Not too many really cared

The 90's didn't just drop in
It was more a lunge
They called it rightly Nirvana
The day of the grunge
If you were not up with the times
Then you were counted out to lunch
But with the Jam Aunt Pearl made
I could never get enough

Now we're in the new Millennium
With the singers and their songs
Where went the Rock
Did it Roll off on its own
Never did it say goodbye
Before it was all gone
But I bet the bottom line
It won't be gone for long
Long live Rock&Roll

Like a dog that returns to his *****
I continue in my sin
How badly I must want it
Time and time and time again

I hate I'm that way more often than not
Shackled like a runaway slave
I want what I don't, and I'll take the whole lot
Straight down with me into the grave

With little hope I too often go it alone
Desiring that which I lack
Chilled to the bone by a heart that's grown cold
The devil must get a good laugh over that

As I once again eat from the dumpster of sin
Not realizing what it does to my pallet
When every excuse I dare care to use
Is at its worst a word salad

I try and clean myself up then jump back in the mud
At the height of this worthless endeavor
Continuing on, getting it totally wrong
In a world, missing rungs on its ladder

I won't find the cure if not deep in the word
There simply is no doubt about it
This acceptance of sin in its own sour time will do me in
Like a dog that returns to his *****

We need another Martin Luther King
Today now more than ever
Someone to take the faithful leap
That will bring us all together

Who sees the plight of man for what it is
All one race, no color
Where together in harmony we all shall stand
Sister to sister, brother to brother

A leader with a vision
With open arms and callused hands
That will peacefully fight for all that's right
Over every square inch of this land

To lift us out of this world in doubt
Not silent on what really matters
Raising our voices in joyful sound
A world where we love each other

One who hears the righteous call
And says here I am send me
For freedoms sake above it all
Like Martin Luther King

We need another Martin Luther King
Today now more than ever
Someone to take the faithful leap
That will bring us all together

Who sees the plight of man for what it is
All one race, no color
Where together in harmony we all shall stand
Sister to sister, brother to brother

A leader with a vision
With open arms and callused hands
That will peacefully fight for all that's right
Over every square inch of this land

To lift us out of this world in doubt
Not silent on what really matters
Raising our voices in joyful sound
A world where we love each other

One who hears the righteous call
And says here I am send me
For freedoms sake above it all
Like Martin Luther King

I'm like you
You're like me
Although at times
We disagree
We both know
We both see
How high, how wide
How shallow, deep

You're like me
I'm like you
In all the things
We go through
We know it all
We see it too
How rough, how smooth
How old, how new

Cause we're like them
And they're like us
With the right change
All on the bus
In what we do
And say because
After all
We're just like us

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

Mike and Liz are taking a road trip
They're riding in a stretch limo's zip
Across America's vast landscape strip
Taking turns at driving the shinny black ship

Liz though prefers to ride in the back
Where she can keep the sun roof all the way cracked
With a big toothy grin and a sweet girly laugh
This to her is where life is at

On Route 66 with Mike at the controls
The radio blaring Joe Cocker Rock & Roll
Tapping the steering wheel in a sweet beat
As he gazed through the Oklahoma heat

Passing a cop doing a hundred and ten
In the blink of an eye, fast as the wind
By the time the cop figured what just went down
Mike and Liz were five miles out of town

They picked up a hippie hitch hiking in Kentucky
Told them today they were both lucky
After winning a big heist down at the track
They could buy plenty of gas and diner snacks

While at the first diner when they turned their backs
He slipped a little something into the drinks that they had
Left over from Woodstock, you know those were the days
From that point on the trip was one long psychedelic haze

Somehow they ended up in a place called Strawberry Field
Where they danced around the Californian mountain wield
Their journey becoming stranger mile after mile
Getting to their destination with the widest of smiles

Taking the limo to the edge of the tide
With the Pacific Ocean as deep as it is wide
The trip at it's end putting the limo in drive
Both stood on the shore as they waved it bye, bye

The way that I write poetry
I don't give it too much time
To sit and stew over what it should do
I just toss it out onto the line

As there's another one soon to come
And it'll just be in the way
Where my mind seems to rhyme all of the time
With all that it has to say

I write it down, brush it off
Polish is a thing of the past
If I let it sit around, here and there there about
It loses the thoughts it needed to grasp

I try not to go intellectual
As intellectually doesn't work for me
If your looking for prime examples
Just read my poetry

I write it out fast and furious
Whatever's on my mind at the time
And if you're the least bit courious
You can read what I think in rhyme

As I toss it out onto the line...

Can you for once
Focus on my wants
Not my needs
Or my faults

Put the time
Towards listening
Sit back, relax
Not say a thing

All I really
Need is a friend
Above all else
Just listening

As I hang my feelings
Out to dry
To gently nod
Along in silence

Someone to focus
On my wants
Not all my needs
Or my many faults