Every thing made,
Not from human-kind
As if humans knew
Kindness, From this earth
Has a song each its own.

The melodies of every stone
Of every branch, from every
Droplet of a wave,
The Wave itself
Lends a message that is held
Together by the sun.

The lyrics cast light
On every shadow
Drawing maps of age
And wisdom along a line of Ink
So fine that it remains hidden
Behind what it means to be alive.

Every thing is a seed
With its own song
Rooting up for no reason
Heavy, even as the weight
Of a raindrop tries to be measured
In its sheer amount, the music will
Outlast this and every season
Beyond this
the orchestra of time.

sing me a lullaby, Mr. Piano Man
you've been so quiet tonight
the bar's all empty, except for me
are you sure you're feeling alright?

now's no time for tonic and gin
i know you're afraid to feel again
oh, remember the roar of the piano!
but now you hardly brush the keys...
it's a love story for the bleeding
and there's a place in your mind
where you'd rather be

oh serenade your empty heart
focus on the beat
i know it's hard sometimes
but you will find your melody

and i know you hear me plea,
"Mr. Piano Man, play the one
that your heart plays
when you're anywhere but at your best."

so sing me a lullaby, Mr. Piano Man
you've been so quiet tonight
and i'm all out of memories
are you sure you're feeling alright?

When all our friends faded away,
We stuck together.
I didn’t think it was okay,
The way they treated you.
Yet, here we are,
Feeling like deja vu,
Wondering why,
I stayed.

I try to be kind,
I try to be nice,
But judging by how you act,
I must be blind.
You make jokes,
And I laugh,
But we both know,
The facts.

I know my place,
So I’ll let you have your way.

I’ll be your punching bag,
What did I do to make you so mad?
I thought friends were supposed to have,
Each other's backs.
Is it bad,
That I like being your punching bag?

When you're desperate,
You take what you can get.
So when I have your attention,
I don’t complain.
Though you may berate me,
I’ll hold my head up high.
Because I’d rather have you,
Then be on my lonesome.

I understand my post,
We both know how this goes.

I’ll be your punching bag,
What did I do to make you so mad?
I thought friends were supposed to have,
Each other's backs.
Is it bad,
That I like being your punching bag?

Is this how friendship works?
You throw your friends to the dirt?

Hare?

Is it stuck up?

Tired of reality?
You just hope
You wake up in a dream.
Do you know you risk a nightmare?
The mind hatches awful plans,
Sets up terribly dreadful schemes.
What's it all mean?
I don't know?
Maybe?
Do you know?

And this is how it ends!
And this is how it begins!

It's all alphabetical,
All numerical.
Can you hear the song,
Read in-between the lyrics?
The structure of its wording?
Have you tried at singing?

Is it all spiraling?

Chelone?

When the evening moon
Glows the way she does
Theres nothing
to explain
Or do
Just let go and soothe the pain
Shes all that Your love
Is hymning for

When the evening moon
Is in sweet repose
And Blushes luminous
with every Iris and every rose
Theres nothing
To explain or do
Just be Just be Just be
Sweet and Carefree
as you can be
Like the Sunflowers
Caressed by Love
Of the Champagne rain

Shes all that Your love
Shes all that Your love
Is hymning for

Her exotic beauty
Is lighting our loves candles
With the Heavenly stars up above
Shes all that Your love
Is hymning for
Like the Moonlit waves
to the golden shore

Reynaldo Casison

Black alley cat,
Strutting down the walkway under the red light
Where are you headed tonight?

Pur in a stranger’s lap
For the taste of milk and honey
You’re the buyer's choice for affection
And you’re getting off on the attention.

Dig your claws into the satin,
Go on and meow out to the moon
When you’ve gotten your fix
You can go on to the next,
Feline sway in your swagger
You’re playing loose with your life.

One down and eight to go,
As you slide down the pole
Back onto the catwalk
You are brazen and bold.

Bewitch them with your hazel eyes
And bat at their souls,
You’re just a black alley cat
Strutting down the walkway under the red light
Don’t know where you’re headed.

But it’s been such a long, long night
Return to where your bed is,
All the catnip and the money won’t save you
Can’t replace the shame that outweighs you
Fur down to the floor as you’re singing a sad tune,
Was it worth it?

Black alley cat,
Strutting down the walkway under the red light
Where are you headed tonight?

Black alley cat,
Don’t break curfew,
Can’t keep you from your delights
But if the dogs can’t stay astray
I fear one may chew you up and leave you
Under the red light, in this alleyway
Crying out to the moon.

Verse1
I did a juice cleanse the week you went cold
Felt holy, felt haunted, felt thirty-three years old
Kept waiting for hunger but all I felt was rage
Posted poems about birds while I rotted offstage

Lit sage in the kitchen, wore pearls in the bath
Pretended that healing could change what we had
Went dancing on rooftops, then puked in the sink,
then stared in the mirror and tried not to think.

Pre-chorus1
They’ll say I was crazy, dramatic, obsessed
But they didn’t see what you did in that text

Chorus1:
I would’ve stayed through the plot twists and power cuts
Learned your silence, memorized your worst months
Now I sleep like a crime scene, replaying the call
Where you almost said “love you,” then said nothing at all

You said, “Don’t write about me”—I already did
In lipstick and blood and the back of my ribs
You were never safe, but you felt like home
And I’d still pick the lock if I thought you were alone

Verse2
He said, “Don’t cry,” as he pulled off my shirt
And I laughed like that wasn’t the worst part
He said, “You like it when I ruin things”
I said, “Only because you started with me.”

I knew it was bad when I liked how you lie
How your mouth made disasters sound holy and high
You said I romanticize pain till it purrs
I said, “You keep calling it love like it’s yours”

Prechorus2
You said I’m intense—like it wasn’t projection
Like I didn’t watch you detonate every connection

Bridge
You said you were broken, so I stayed and I sewed
You said you were scared, so I softened my glow
We were talking about movies, then death, then dreams
Then you said, “I think love just isn’t for me”

You told me I’m bright, then dimmed all the lights
Called me your mirror, then shattered the rights
Said I was heaven, then sent me to hell
And I still wrote it sweet just so you’d wish me well

Carved out your echo in bathroom tile
Kept praying you’d miss me, then smiled for a while
Still set all the clocks to your birthday at three,
Then swallowed a wish I forgot was for me.

CHORUS (FINAL)
I would’ve stayed through the fallout and frostbite
Sat through your silence like that made it right
Now I sleep like a witness, replaying the call
Where you almost said “love you,” then said nothing at all

You said, “Don’t write about me”—but look what you did
You live in the margins, the bloodstream, the script
You were never safe, but you felt like home
And I’d still pick the lock
Even knowing you're gone

Outro
I did a juice cleanse
And you never came back.
I never got better,
but I glow like I have.