blow it all up
rather than be in chains
resolve for me
the ache in my brains

windy rain washes the dirt
its our prayers to the sky
giving water to the earth
with the thunderings of a gods cry

who stole the world
and switched liberty for security
who tricked us all
here have life, but no property

cry out in the streets still you are heard
for the voice of blood rising from the earth
du pain ou la mort, we wish to be fed
du pain ou la mort, give us bread or death

So I was just writing about
being caught up in love and the game
getting hooked and strung out
getting sober and finding out
that neither of us is to blame
that loving and in love are not the same.

So I was just writing about
how we rode heroine to get by
numbing our pain away like a flood
chasing the dragon in our blood
some of us did it to get high
some of us did it to die

So I was just writing about
this time I mixed lemon with tequila
and performed kind acts of service
with a girl who had a tattoo of a chrysalis
on my way to a church during easter
yeah, sometimes i’m a bad believer

So I was just writing about
lessons I learnt from Ms. Hill’s miseducation
it shed light to some responsibilities i had shirked
and I admire the intricate beauty of her work
speaking with a voice verging on pure perfection
unsullied wisdom directed to all generations

Everything means nothing
he said after their first fight
Let the day shine on your loving
But get it out of my sight

I might be coming down with something
She tells me over the telephone
I have some medicine i could bring
if you’d rather not be left alone

She swayed in her step, so elegantly
bare footed, unabashed and smiling radiantly
she spoke some words to me in solitude
it was of some undying gratitude

I’ll be a mirror for you
just reflect on me the things that you do
somedays it’ll be about rain or life on the road
other times, you can just use me to lighten your load

you’re a creation full of compassion and grace
being around you always gets me high
I know every time we meet and I see your face
i fall deeper in love with the gleam in your eye

Even the tiniest sentiments would mean the whole world,
she said in their last fight
just wrap me in your arms i don’t wish to be impearled
we loved good, but we’ve got to learn to love right

What does it mean to care for the world and be overjoyed
And where will you be when the final bell is rung
who is the one and how do we even begin to fill the void
And when shall the saints depart in song

The why of it all escapes me
Because you see everyday I struggle with the question of what it means to be
The immense suffering, present in it all
Conscious that the spirit of subtle resentfulness was what brought about the fall

I watched your eyes light up
And the corners of your mouth lift into a smile
The elegance in your speech and the way you walk
I’m completely enthralled by your style

Will you save me from the fiery pit
For the one good thing that I ever did
or will I go mad in this place I sit
pull me out if god bids

I have to leave home,
to find a dragon to slay
Will you give me a kiss 
(like when we were alone)
If I am able to save the day

today i read about a wretched victim
of what some called divine judgement
they say he was a dirty heathen,
and that the bereaved deserve no consolement

the man on the moon
came today to see you
he returned after playing me a sweet tune
And left behind pictures of the wondrous view

we’re speeding on the road
on our way to Ed’s
the old man reeked of moonshine, and safely in the land of nod
nodding and mumbling, red means dead, red means dead

i was speaking to this babe from the choir
it was midnight and we were at the bar
i misquoted a line from the gospel and she called me a liar
but she helped me fill the vacancy in my car

I can’t blame you for leaving, if you felt in pain
i saw you in a dream and it got me thinking
that could it all have been in vain
i tear while you dance, and i walk away

i am beginning to suspect, the heat of love
involves sustained friction of hearts
but thats more pain than fitting into you like a glove
like monkeys holding a wrench, screwing the wrong parts

bubbles pop, volcanos blow
geysers shoot up, streams and rivers flow
i wouldn’t choose one over the other
because i think they all serve a higher order

so i was thinking, to join you dancing
In the peaks and valleys, to the darkness of mines
it’s too late, you told me crying
I understand what you mean, the blame is all mine

I promised you, i’d be there
and in my struggles, i was fatally unclear
while you wandered about keeping time
becoming another’s business, no longer mine

I’m tired of excavating the past
Dwelling on things that didn’t last
I believe I got what I deserved
For bad habits, I have to unlearn

I’m turning on inner lights
Trying to find my soul
Across days and nights
Working to become whole

I wrote to stay alive
As I drifted through the seas
You helped me survive
By giving me more love than it seems

You wore a beautiful dress today
And I only just thought to say
Someday, I want to hear the voice of your heart
And ask you for permission to be a part

I sometimes doubt if I could change
Or that i’m still caught up in old ways
I cast away distress as I turn the page
I put one foot in front of the other, and take it day by day

With you i’m lost
in lands unknown
you, my oasis in hell and frost

take me in your wings
you bird of paradise
take me, take me some place nice

i sat all day at the market waiting
for someone to buy these trinkets you made
At last, they came, the carpenter and his maid

is there something promised that I’m forgetting
I have to fix this lifeboat that’s leaking
Tell me we’ll be fine

i feel my sinews strong tonight
vitalised by every second she smiles
she’s miles away, many many miles

Can we be alone once again
And learn in solitude
Will you call me an old friend
And look back in gratitude

Imagine you were a master carver
Trying to find life in dead oak
Or perhaps you were with friends in the forest
Finding god behind the toke

I don’t want to go to outer space
If it means we’ll be reckless over here
I can’t think of a better place
Than wherever you’ll be near

Will we grow in grace
And laugh at our youthful foolery
Nothing but peace on our minds
With our hearts light and merry

What does it mean to be alive
I struggle to answer unpretentiously
Some say it is to be found in strife
Others say lounging on a beach next to the sea

She used to think, that you would be my wife
I used to think how lucky I would be
You became determined to prove us both wrong
So you smashed about this house and walked away from me

I laughed and I cried
Then I thought, this time
That the meaning is found in life
As long as you voluntarily go on this journey (ride)

Between the peaks and valleys
Above skies and beneath the seas
It’s the unchanging and will be there beyond and till
You have drank from its fountain and had your fill

No one wants to change the past
So they walk on
Thinking old things will last
But like snakes skin, before you know it, it’s gone

How does one tame animal spirits
How do you call the eagle or the dove
I’ll summon through the energy of my heart beats
And pray I receive strength from above

I hope it’s not too late
to ask for some directions
to the night bus on Tulip street

I hope it’s not too late
you don’t know, i waited 3 hours
apology accepted today, but not again

it’s just the right time
to meet someone new
this girl told me she liked the shirt we made

it’s just the right time
to exorcise this heavy toll
and reveal the richness of my soul

We know it’s past the time
for goodbyes and false smiles
attention: heart break, clean up, all aisles

We know it’s past the time
so you can keep saying whats been said
i couldn’t give a crap, i’m going to bed

You are the plaintiff and jury
I’m the executioner’s punishment
in all it’s fury
be merciful in judgment

In love with how the details sound
Remember who legislated our game
Violence and peace were options on ground
But anger poisoned our brain

This is gibberish
What the crickets tell me before I slumber
So I lay on my bed and think of sheep
Hopping, so I count their number

I’ve sat in contemplation for long enough
To know that there’s no lasting reward in acting tough
I’d rather be as soft as a new born
Who was never, from his mother torn

I gave a dime to a blind woman once
She held my hands and blessed me
I wept and thought, how much I act like a dunce
Taking with levity what a gift it is to see

The first time we kissed was in an elevator
Outside the library, opposite the front door
The last time we fought was on the football field
I tackled, you punched, neither of our wounds healed

Somewhere in the good book there’s a passage
About all the riches in the world, not being worth a human soul
But I think some parishioners misplaced the message
Because they proselytize for the idols: silver and gold

I was once, for years, a slave
I was a captured though accidental stowaway
This is the story of how I was saved
And how I met the man who would be the king someday

I made a carrot cake
But I still don’t think I can bake
I don’t remember how I did it
Because I was baked from the first minute

I wrote a different story yesterday
About the happenings of a dream I had today
I haven’t replied to the publishers mail
Because I’m still working on the epic fairytale

I said a prayer for the earth
As I watched this child’s violent birth
I saw a mother’s pain give way to joy
As she shed tears for her little boy

I set forth to combat disorder
As I cast my treasures to Davy Jones’ locker
I dreamt of satellites and space cars
As I navigated the seas by way of the stars

We shed tears while the waves beat the shore
For we knew we were at the edge of something much more
We shed tears gazing into the dawn
For the one with us who could never hold his son

We were sailors in search of intangible gold
We were men following the tales and legends of old
Becoming that man who walks his final mile
Greets his death as he did his life, with a smile

A vagabond knocks softly on your door
‘hey baby come outside and have some more’
we’re bitter inside but pretend to be sweet
because a pyrrhic victory is worth more than defeat

A libertine king fills up my bags
as I kiss his rings and promise to come back
to him, the pearls and our mansions in the sky
then I found love and the resolve, to not return a lie

I bore out my soul as much as I could
and if you only knew how much it took
perhaps I was selfish, to think you would want my load
but i thought you understood what it was like to implode

do you remember screaming at me to go away?
you ignored the cracks, even the look on my face
do you remember later asking me to stay?
we played a losing game, but at least we ran the race

i’ll leave a crack in the door, but not to be a lover

I’m just thankful that you and I grew, and nurtured one another

so this is my way of asking, that we put differences aside

and not shun what good we built, in the name of pride

I’ve seen heaven’s myriad shades of blue
That it’s lords may tell me what to do
I was asked to minister in hell
For the salvation of those souls that fell

From the moment I crossed it’s border
I was catapulted into the infernal disorder
it sounded like a ghost was speaking to me
‘hello’ it said, ’can you hear me, please set me free’

take my hand
till one of us must go
to the idyllic land’s
garden plateau

draw the clouds
upon the sunset
the thunder speaks so loud
my soul is bereft and my cheeks are wet

will you love and keep me
sound in this eternal dream
i’m so afraid to no longer be.
how this earth weighs so heavy on me

I still remember the very day
And it causes me to say
I sensed on that train, when you said hi
I would never muster up a proper goodbye

We were reading the same book
Titled ‘love and journeys in the after’
I got caught up in the hook
I’ll be waiting for you in the next chapter

He looked in delight
At the sight of his newborn child
Hearing it’s mild cries
Echoing through forest and into the skies

It’s mother cooing sweet prayers in its ear
And her mother wraps the babe in cloth
If you need me, I’ll be over there
She then kisses her grandchild and strokes her hand through its hair

The child grew up to be strong and wise
So much so that elders sort her for advice
She gathered herbs and tilled the lands
I recall her father saying she was worth more than 5 able hands

Her story is one that belongs to another day
So I apologise if you are disappointed by the delay
But just yesterday she begat a child of her own
And I must go pay my visits and welcome my great-grandchild home

In time immemorial i searched for gold
and for so long it was beyond my reach
now i’m a man, who might seem way too old
but i assure you, there’s something i can teach
about the lessons i learnt in yesterdays
from the friends who righted my way

Firstly, be cheerful and be kind
your most valuable asset is your mind
envy and vainglory are the evils of the soul
avoid them if you ever wish to remain whole
also be sure to carry out your duties reliably
always be grateful and treat others respectfully

stay simple, the wisdom of old is valuable treasure
if you love your neighbours and friends, your reward will be beyond any measure
have compassion, and always forgive
your hands can only receive after they have been stretched to give
work hard, make mistakes and learn
be cautious about what you cannot discern
teach others what you know
That preserves the wisdom of old