...In My Mind Standing...

I sit before you
In my mind standing
When writing
It was like I was planning
Exactly what you are feeling
This moment
Wouldn't it be grand
If we could just hold it - forever
But even Alicia Keys' note must end eventually
The writing
It has to be - a hope
That says eventually I will be that happy
As we once were
A hope -
It's not just an American audacity
A hope -
To one day be naive enough as a kid again
And believe one can change the world
(laugh)
I remember writing this
As Dylan's words swirled through my mind
As they - always will
This may be that prescription
But it ain't no pill
Take a sip
Gain false confidence
Find what you will
To gain another thrill
Whether sober
Or high up on your hill
Everybody's got their own way to deal with life
And this is mine
Through lines
Purpose I try to find
Through lines
I try to find purpose
Was the rephrasing of the last worthless?
I can't believe that to be
Like I cannot grapple what it is to truly be free
Because I've never not been
Or at least like those
Way back when
We're all acting
It feels like life is pretend
But when we were kids
We would pretend
We were professionals
Athletes and such
That certainly wasn't pretend
And all of those experiences we had with childhood friends
We will never experience again
But you can't take them away
Knowing that life can be that good
Proves there can be a better day
But I'm not the first to say
Life is what you make it
And in order to prove to myself that this is all worth it
I have to believe there is a greater stake in it
Than my own dream
Know what I mean?
See -
Bob Dylan was on that stage
When Martin Luther King Jr. recited his -
"I have a dream" speech
Now this here
Is no speech
This here - is a reach
For my dream
Because I do have one
And if you don't
You need to get some
Treat your dream as a tune
And together we must hum
Because like Mick Jagger once-a-sung -
"Lose your dream and lose your mind"
As if we all had a young mind -
Let us run
Not from
But to
I need to convince myself
Not you
That nothing really matters
In order to convince myself
That everything does.

...Today Nowhere, Someday Somewhere...

I'm tired, I'm lacking vocabulary, I'm anguished, is that better?
I'm on a train heading somewhere, but feel like I'm heading nowhere, what should I do?
I've looked, I've asked, but nobody has given me the line or the que
My brain's racing, my brain's wired, I've presented my papers, but won't be hired
Well, at least I won't get fired
I don't believe in violence, but my imagination just rioted
Heading nowhere
On this train
Listening to The Velvet Underground's song Heroin
At least that's a train I know I will never be upon
The one I'm upon now feels like a tunnel
I will keep riding and writing and one day I will channel...

...We Had a Good Ride...

...Been straining on this train
Trying to get your attention
We haven't made eye contact
But my permanent state's called confusion
And it's convincing me there's a connection
My stop's at the next station
Doors open
The forever commotion
And in my mind nod to say
Have a nice life
Or at least start with a good day
We had a good ride
I hope the tide pulls us together again
But in reality you're just as good as an Internet friend
Please at least accept that ship
I've certainly sailed this one
And didn't move one foot
My mind's taken me places
I have no proof
'cept these lines
I have and will leave no other traces...

--- --- ---

...Caffeine...

...Pick up the carton of caffeine
Before you've finished the previous sip
With constant movements
Its got you ripped
With stuttered ambitions and words
Each cheek shakes your hips
And you're in constant shift
What was meant to give you temporary lift
Provided you with a lack of grip
You read today's headlines
For today's daily tip
But it does not fit
For that shoe wasn't stitched for your soul
And within it
It leaves an empty pit...

...Take Out a Pencil...

Nobody know
Nobody care
We all floating along
In our own rocking chair...
And, as they say
We play
And walk the cliche...
Now, we may
Often speak the same words
But have our own tone
While walking in the same direction
We each have uniqueness to which we roam...
And never before 
Did I see so clearly
The cliches of life
Staring back at me...
I feel more awake and alive past midnight
Than 'round supper time
I can't taste clearly
But that's how I see
When the sun comes up
And lights us a brand new day
And on we continue walking cliche...
And in the midst of all this there's a song
And in the midst of all that there's a war
All this while they do yoga in the park
Can someone else's words
Can someone else's death
Spark purposeful direction
Or shall we sit and wait for another hopeful election...
I don't know
I don't even know my own name
You're a lost soul
When somebody yells your name
And you yell back
Oh yeah, I once knew him
When on the next break to sin
Think back to then
And ask would he proceed
And do the opposite...
I need that cliche
Just to walk some way
I need that song
Just to carry on
I need that war
To convince myself
I have more than that guy to live for
I need my pet
Maybe more than you
Please don't get upset
For he'll never let me think otherwise...
Take out a pencil
If they still exist
And add question marks
To everything I've ever written
So nobody catches me in the act
Of not knowing...
Show me something, lord
I may start believing in god -
Just for its acoustics...
And, do you think if I told you
That your vision will come to fruition
This road along the way would be less hellish...
And, it's got me thinking
That you're the only one
That's got me considering
Erasing that punctuation...