30 past midnight
Still awake for you
Lights burning bright
Just making sure

Those talks about the future
Sounds worse than the music
Don't know whats's true
It makes me sick

Words never change
People does
If there's a chance
Don't talk too fast

I'll hang in here
But not for long
Bring me those strings
Strum it, turns into a song

Play the piano
Just not too loud
Go back to who I was before
So I'll know what it's all about

As you're lying next to me so still
I contemplate our life
So many years ago
you said you'd be my wife

As we rise in preparation for
another fruitful day
you smile and take my hand
beside me all the way

And as we run into life's obstacles
we've proven we're unstoppable

We both know we're at the threshold of
the winter of our lives
and yet we share the fear
since we're together dear

Still the time will come some future day
when one of us must go
I pray that it be me
but there's no way to know

And so we live to love another day
so happy that our lives turned out this way




© 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.

You say you love me but you’re not
You say you’re going to fight and give it all you got
You say you find it hard to breathe
You say you’re mad at me but I’m the one who seethes
You say you love me but you’re not (in love with me)

                    ~ Tears falling, relationship flailing, love failing… ~


You say you need a place to stay
You say you’re asking me to find another way
You say you thought about the debt
You say you’re leaving but it hasn’t happened yet
You say you need a place to stay

                    ~ The time, the hurt, the pain, the drain… ~


You say you overcame the jones
You say you’ve analyzed it to the bare bones
You say you finally found the cure
You say you’re righteous, clean, happy and secure
You say you overcame the jones

                    ~ Familiar lies, thin disguise, love’s demise … ~


You say you love me but you’re not
You say you’re going to fight and give it all you got
You say you find it hard to breathe
You say you’re mad at me but I’m the one who seethes
You say you love me but you’re not (in love with me)

                    ~ Tears fall, relationship flails, love fails…
                       Familiar lies, thin disguise, love’s demise …
                       This time, this hurt, this pain, this drain…
                       Time runs out… no more to gain. ~



© 2020 by Mark Toney. All rights reserved.

Skeggy Lee, Skeggy Lee,
Oh what, oh, you do to me
My Skeggy
My Skeggy Lee hee-hee.
Well, I love that place
And that’s why I love you.

Skeggy Sea, Skeggy Sea
Sandy, sandy, sandy, sandy Skeggy (by the) Sea
Oh Skeggy, my Skeggy free
Oh well I love that place
So I need you Skeggy Lee.

I love you, Skeggy Lee
With a love so rare and true
Oh, Skeggy, Skeggy Lee
Well, I love you so
And I really do mean you.

Yes I love you so
And I want you Skeggy Lee.

Paul Butters

© PB 7\6\2020 (2).

(With due Credit to Buddy Holly’s “Peggy Sue”).

My life was perfect from the very start
So perfect—life imitating art
Breezed through college effortlessly
Dream job gift-wrapped just for me

Perfect add-on to my fairy tale life
Matrimony with the perfect wife
Children followed, our perfect family
None of this would have longevity

(Chorus)
Pleading with you to forgive me
But there’s no forgiveness for the perfect
A less than perfect man may fall 7 times
But no forgiveness for the perfect
On my knees begging for mercy
But there is no mercy for the perfect
They say a righteous man may fall 7 times
But no forgiveness for the perfect

Success was nearly at my finger tips
Just couldn’t stop my lying lips
Sought better living through chemistry
Rushed headlong into calamity

Took the deep dive into ***** & pills
Steeped in debauchery to get more thrills
Disregarded all the blessings in my life
Pushed away my kids and wife

(Chorus)
Pleading with you to forgive me
But there’s no forgiveness for the perfect
A less than perfect man may fall 7 times
But no forgiveness for the perfect
On my knees begging for mercy
But there is no mercy for the perfect
They say a righteous man may fall 7 times
But no forgiveness for the perfect

I could promise you, my dear, I’d change
For you my life I’d rearrange
But I won’t waste your precious time,
Your life no longer will I begrime—

I’ll stop asking for forgiveness
For there’s no forgiveness for the perfect
I’ll just live my life the way I choose
And hope that it is worth it
I’ll stop begging you for mercy
For there is no mercy for the perfect
I’ll just live my life, await my fate
There’s no forgiveness for the perfect

Kiss the children every night for me...
No forgiveness for the perfect


© 2020 Mark Toney.  All rights reserved.

don’t you know how much I
love you I love you I
only want what I
think is best
for you I
really do know best I
will take care of everything honey I
promise you I
just want you to be happy I
just want you to behave

Instant friends,
We hit it off so well
Mutual encouragement
Lives starting to gel
In an instant gone
As quickly as it started
Reasons why unknown
Left in waters unchartered

(Chorus)
Can you drop me a hint?
Can you offer a smidgen?
Was it something I said?
Could it be my religion?
Something I should’ve done,
Or anything I can do
To know the reasons
For losing you?

Good if we could talk
Suss out issues ensconced
I’ve tried to reach out
But received no response
Finally thought it best
To leave well enough alone
So hard to accept
A friendship turned to stone

(Chorus)
Can you drop me a hint?
Can you offer a smidgen?
Was it something I said?
Could it be my religion?
Something I should’ve done,
Or anything I can do
To know the reasons
For losing you?


© 2020 Mark Toney.  All rights reserved.

You just started to build an immortal throne,
Legacy,
Heirdom,
What’s been and what to come.  

Even if none remembers.

Your fame might be forgotten,
But the earth remembers the foot sole that touched it,
The print has been made,
With your soul as its name.

Even if none remembers, your time wasn’t wasted it was just spent
Even if none remembers, your time wasn’t wasted it was just spent
Even if none remembers, your time wasn’t wasted it was just spent.

On whatever made you survive till the end.

Tailored bricks by tailored bricks,
A start,
A home,
First love and hatred to come.

Even if you forget that custom made second.  

Your domain might be conquered,
A dragon takes a seat on your treasure heap,
Lungs filled with tar and sot,
Your dust is still a part of the earth as you rot.

Even if none remembers, your time wasn’t wasted it was just spent
Even if none remembers, your time wasn’t wasted it was just spent
Even if none remembers, your time wasn’t wasted it was just spent.

On whatever made you survive till the end.

The end,
Bitter but also sweet.

The end,
Your enemy and friend.

The end,
Not a punctuation but a semicolon.

The end,
Not a closed window but a new door.

Even if none remembers, your time wasn’t wasted it was just spent
Even if none remembers, your time wasn’t wasted it was just spent
Even if none remembers, your time wasn’t wasted it was just spent.

On whatever made you survive till the end.

You say your life is over but it’s only just begun
Didn’t think you’d make it past the age of twenty-one
No guarantee tomorrow day will bring another sun
You can’t see what’s in front of you, you can’t see what’s behind
Clear your eyes, I’m standing right before you
Let the moment fill you for a little while

At the sin bin
***** windows
Hold the freaks in
Vacant eyes
Conversation
Strange expression
Dark and dimly
Lit the aura
In its sad eyes
Sick and tired
Always sleeping
Ever dire

Hiding away
As the rains run high
Lock me away
No more to run from my mind

In the courtyard
Cobblestones (and)
Brick and mortar
Water falling
To the stone floor
From the brick walls
Trees that darken
Leaves have fallen
To the cold stone
Wilting flowers
Frowning further
With the hour

I’m locked away
As the clouds blow by
Hiding away
No more to run from my mind