The mockingbird does sit,
mocks me along the path,
hence its name,
the funny winged-******,
it is what it is,
and me a crouching tiger
& sometimes I indulge
the drunken monkey.

cover me up*
cause i've had enough
of this so called life

to add to the gloom
before you leave the room
please shut out the lights

to keep up the pace
of standing in place
can be a daily affair

it's like i'm not here
it's like your not there
it's like i don't even care

to add to it all
before the fall
life seemed to be working out fine

took what love i had
spent it like cash
down to the very last dime

so cover me up
cause i've had enough
of this so called life

to add to the gloom
before you leave the room
*please shut out the lights

Don't dare hang up the phone
Please don't touch that dial
I've got this idea a-brewing
If you'll kindly hear me out

I often have these hunger pains
Throughout my busy day
And seldom find the time to stop
For a meal along the way

So I got my brain juices flowing
And came to this conclusion
Baloney flavored chewing gum
Could be this man's solution

But how to get the flavor
Onto the stick of gum
When it's baloney that I savor
It must be in the rub

So I go buy top shelf baloney
Take the gum from my pocket...
...remove the lint
Rub-a-Dub this grub like in a tub
Then call it baloney peppermint

I'm now on my way to success
Never stopping off for meals
Ain't got time for none of that
In my world of Wheel and Deal

I've now quite the variety of meat
In the daily meals I chew
If you care to call 1-800-Baloney Peppermint
Then you can chew it too

I used to tell myself that I would always love you,
that for the rest of my life part of my soul would always care
but I'm here now and seeing clearer and realizing that if nothing else
you ruined me, ripped me limb from limb and left me bleeding in the streets
and that even in my broken state, even being as empty as I am right now
I have enough self love to accept that whatever we had wasn't love
and that the truth probably is that I was delusional and lost,
I let you hypnotize me, and even when I realized it
I let you walk free,
I let you hurt me.

How do you get chosen
is it a process of faith
or elimination

how fast can I rip off my labels?
They feel like my scarlet letter
warding off what I want
because they think I'm not what I am.

because it's not easy
it's not easy to be told "not today"
it's not easy to be denied
it's not easy to turn away

and I've told myself that I am the lucky one
I'll be accepted one day
and someday
but days are numbered for a reason
and sometimes a name
is branded too deep
into the flesh
that no amount of friction can ever rub it off
and I
will never be accepted
and I
will be waiting in line
to be told
"not today"

At 3a.m.,
some poets are waiting
to catch the peeling paint
on the ceiling
as if they are shooting stars.

At 3a.m.,
some poets yearn a talk
on the kitchen counter
with a butcher knife right beside
so they can slice their heart,
to heart.

And I, at 3a.m.,
whisper my dreams to the pipe
and ask for the rooster
not to wake me from my trance tonight

It does not matter to me
if the sun ever collides with the moon at 3a.m..
And I think that, perhaps,
I was never a poet.