I don’t know the time it stopped
Or where the fallen limbs laid down
But when I saw your mother there
I knew that smile was a frown.
It’s not that she’s just crazy cocked
Wanky in the best of light
Her bitter makes her beauty fade
And stirs the peaceful up to fight.
When she left we all laid down
And some of us were still alive
But when I think she might return
I hear rejoicing from her hive.
I’m going skiing today
again
I haven’t had the heart much since you
died.
But today I’m going out
again
I wish you were here.
That second cup begins the day
The first one takes that long to hit
And always is preceded by
food.
New days always have a way
Of making right what you made wrong
And wiping clean the long dead slate
again.
The prayer without hope
that left my chapped lips
and fell to the earth
so seemingly unheard
is the lesson given
to me,
to learn.
The tears I cried
over all the dead
and those in prison
and the missing
and the abused
and the neglected
and the terrified-
the weak who cannot stand
on their own-
they fell to the earth
as well
but I did not know
that seeds had been sown.
In all the dying done among the living
there was a secret
unknown to me-
it was hope.
I was so afraid and so dismayed
that blows could not be felt
I beat myself but felt no pain
all was numb and felt so gone.
But secrets have a way
of getting out of doors
where even I can see
and hear
and touch
and feel.
Never was the light so bright
as in the darkness felt
laying down the burden low
what yoke could ease this pain?
Heavy in the heart I roamed
all around the world
and into darkest corners crawled
seeking shelter
or hope.
And every time I neared the end
of myself
I caught a glimpse
of God.
All of the cups
of stale
coffee
and selfish introspection
and study
left me adrift
without my anchor
My soul was lost at sea
in the open waters
with no sail
and no chart
the tiller smashed and lost
long ago in some great storm.
I looked to the east and the north
and the south
and the west-
but all was the same
in every direction
endless ocean full of tears
moody and stormy as any beautiful woman.
Now calm,
and soon
the rage.
I was lost
I am lost
but will
I
be
lost?
It is a great thing
to see the Lord in pain.
Let all the earth be silent
and my heart as well.
In the morning when I rise
I pray my spirit to the skies
And lift the veil of heavy lies
That tear the soul’s heart as it dies
No one knows the way down there
Into darkest chambers still
Must and dust and quiet rage
Mark the monsters waiting there.
Someone knows the way down there
Someone as the night goes long
Someone waits to hold your hand
Into inky night with you.
Hell is a place inside
with glass walls
and views of life
outside.
There is a view
in a certain place
That puts my soul
at ease.
It isn’t striking
And isn’t sharp
But there is plenty of green
And the soul needs green
And the soul needs shelter–
A harbour,
A fortress,
a place to hide away
Let my soul hide itself
Let it learn to trust
Flee no more
The hills you see are where you look is where
your help
comes
from.
The thing is…
No one’s really learning much
Except to conform
In their individuality.
The days are expensive
And the nights often cost the soul
But old ones stamp approval
And so the world burns down
Slowly like the last joint
At that party you probably should never have gone to–
But you did.
The world is a party
And it may be time to leave.
The old soul that was a child
grows into a man
And falls and rises every day
The best and worst he can.
A Soul's Walk 