Original Prose/Lyrics

[bystander]

Which Way Captain?

I wondered how long it would take before I could only see your mind
I didn’t long for the day but I knew we’d both leave our lust behind
What takes me an early morning always took you most of the night
I want to see things by day but you don’t like to dream by the light
We sail side by side but my hull is made of steel and yours of wood
We felt the same current but how it affected us we never understood

The blue skies were too few
And the sunrises were too red
Maybe that’s why we drifted apart
What a fisherman knew to be true
We decided to ignore instead
Because we sailed first with our heart

I wondered who would decide which way to go when the skies parted
A storm doesn’t listen but a glistening bow remembers where we started
You don’t forget who you were with when waves are bigger than the boat
That’s not the time for blame it’s just the way love sometimes has to float
We didn’t know if by sail or prop was the best way to turn this thing around
I wanted to believe in your instincts but instead I ran the boat aground

The storms were too many
And the sunsets we barely knew
Maybe that’s why we drifted apart
When the days heat was plenty
And the evening breezes few
We stopped sailing with our heart

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

Something to Forget

Let’s forget all this stuff
I know what you said
How you loved everybody
Or did they love you?
You went along with it
But they couldn’t handle it

Collecting rings is like art
But you let the dust collect
The only feeling was disdain
Empty fingers are never true
Being asked was good enough
But being free was better

Let’s forget all this stuff
Tradition is for our parents
I know you’ve loved someone
Maybe it was last night
But he doesn’t know me
He just knows I’m there

You said call me when I’m free
That sounded like a promise
A wall is for the one who built it
But a good climb once made my day
You know what’s on the other side
It’s the way we used to be

Let’s forget all this stuff
I have so much to say
But I’m not sure enough
My moods woke me up
It wasn’t love that scared me
It's that I change so much

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

An Eagle (for Glenn)

Every day I am drawn closer to leaves in flight
I do not understand how the spirit decides when to leave
I see his body
Lent to him by mortal marrow and masks
Hiding the animation that reveals itself reluctantly
Unless the gift is too great for ocean bottoms
And now it is gone
Leaving behind the recollections of a boy
The shared time with the friends he loved
And the songs that remind him of these things now

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

Actions Not Words

She begged me to stop
She was standing on a mountaintop
But I wasn’t there
The only way she could reach it was with my thoughts
No one else could ever imagine such a place for her
But the rivers that took her there
Transformed
Back into ice crevices carved into her heart
The winds that carried her
Changed direction
To await the birds that had all flown south
The sounds that soothed her
Grew silent
Like the desolation of a dream waiting for me to wake up
You angrily swept yourself away
Not caring how fast you descended
Or even that I had finally appeared at the summit
There was no lie to tell
Or truth to remember
Only the myth of a love that you knew was real
But was unable to believe in itself

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

Ambiguity (what did I really mean?)

Is it ambiguity that frustrates you;
instead it was my gift to you

But why question a bird in its cage
or a caterpillar in its cocoon?

That is not the life that matters,
only the life to become; creation
is not destiny and destiny is not
the past for as the bird is released
so too are words into your mind
to fly where they may

Do not hold them fast; let them
take you where the vastness of
your imagination and dreams
may go because you will not see
the cage; it will remain empty
without memory or purpose

The sky is who you are; there is
nothing left of the past or what
someone may have felt or thought
at the time; the words have become
your own, changing, mutable, free

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

The Naive Shore


The Naive Shore

The war is always far from the naive shore
But the horror remains for some at home
The faces of those who paid the price
Grace small mountain towns standing alone

Only quiet streets understand

Setting sail with sad winds at their face
No man can tell them of their fate
For it has already been cast before them
And now they live knowing it's too late

But honor lives forever

We can only fear each other
For what we know
Is what we are told to believe
But still I believe in you
Because you believe in me

What land can we discover now?
Who can we civilize while we kill their culture?
We can only turn on ourselves
Distant shores of honor no longer have a future

Only a past

He cannot remember a time when he could smile
He knows the things that is a death warrant to leak
It is unbearable to share time with those who do not care
The truth is a door that opens to those who dare to speak

If only they didn't bury the key

We only fear each other
For what we know
Is what we are told to believe
But still I believe in you
Because your eyes are all I can see

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

Saliva of Dreams

Inside the saliva that forms when she parts her lips
The dream was a steady drip
He knew
Art never passes beyond an approximation
Unless it reaches someone
But knowing the woman he loved dug her nails into his skin
It was no longer an opinion
Or an accusation
It was reality
And it no longer required a brush to play pretend
To paint the warm tears upon a canvas required his own
Because then he would know it was true
Deciding between truth and faith tore his heart apart
He wanted to believe
And not know
Because belief was hope
And knowing was fear
Fear that the cornerstone of his being was as human as blood
Blood that could not be washed away
Only form a river of electrical activity on a screen full of dots
It meant he was alive
But he realized he was translating himself from another life
The words were easy to write
But the meaning required a life to have been lived
That way his errors could be identified
And meaning
And unresolved memories
Like water spilling out his side
Could moisten her lips while she made love to another man
So he could dream again

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

Living in a Hole

She said being lonely is better than what time drags along
It reminded me of a conversation from long ago
It ended because nobody would admit they were wrong

All my dreams vanished because I can’t sleep long enough
A mind full of hope is like a sail full of promise
But the wind only laughs when the seas get rough

I thought about jumping
But I started climbing instead
I thought about crying
But that’s not what my heart said
My memories were once in my pocket
Until they tore a hole in the thread

You said it to me but I wasn’t time for it to sink in
I didn’t listen but I hear it now
You hear a voice but an echo tells you how long it’s been

I thought about jumping
But I started climbing instead
I thought about laughing
But not because of what you said
My memories were once in my heart
Until they tore a hole in my head

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

What We Can Learn

A glass of Cru does not make one a Frenchman
Though you feel it in flow through your veins
A pair of Lobbs does not make one an Englishman
Though you will wish to walk like that again
A silk Armani suit does not make one an Italian
Though your new style will be your gain
A parcel of land does make one a countryman
Though you will hear the call of the plain
A part in a play does not make one a thespian
Though you may know how to explain
A romantic kiss does not make one a husband
Though she will forever live in your brain
An eagle soaring does not make one a shaman
Though you see it fly through the rain
But the right woman can make you a gentleman
And a soul can guide a humble man

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

An Adult

I thought about growing up
Then I remembered
I did that a couple of weeks ago
So now what
I watched my old self
It was a wild girl
I once knew how to handle her
Now I just wanted to raise her
It all seemed so pointless
Getting wasted
Talking about seeing you on the other side
Now I think about slamming doors
I want to tell my neighbor how to change his life
To quietly close a door is power
It is control over the air around you
Because you begin to glide
But I don’t think he can do it
Don’t get me wrong
That wild girl looked so good
You never grow out of that
The problem is she wants conversation
And fun
You have to chase her all night
Who has time for that?
While I was thinking about it
I heard some chords on a piano
Everyone was impressed
But I knew it was a trick
It’s called practice
Sometimes it’s just better to leave
It’s better to be your parents
It’s better to be strong
Standing accused of being an adult
It’s amazing
To wake up so bored
Because there is no dread
No secrets
Everything is in front of you
Nothing is watching
Nothing is behind the bush
Nothing is in my hand
Except the longing to touch you
And that’s just it
I can’t grow out of that
It’s like love is always a child
I thought I’d buried it
I saw the flowers drop into the hole
But then they grew
I’d only planted them
Somebody said you were a nice girl
Yeah
You were
I know that
Wild is wild
But nice is loving a cat
And you did
I wondered if she stared out the window
But I know better
Reflection was not her style
Neither was regret
She’d as soon die on a plane crash tomorrow
As grow to be an old lady
It was all life to her
You just live in the moment
Then see what you got at the end of the day
Then forget it
But I couldn’t live like that
I had to assume I was going to survive
For a long time
I don’t want to beg
I don’t want to live in the cheapest place I can find
But I will
If I have to
Because I have before
Before I grew up
It was only a couple of weeks ago
Or years
Or decades
Or another life
It seems I lived one once
I think you were there
Unless it’s a dream
But there’s too much detail
I never sleep that long anyway
It had to be real
That’s why I grew up
Everything a young man needs
Was inside you
And I was there
Inside
And now I walk away
All grown up
Because you were so wild
And I saw myself on the other side
Emerging from the fog of your crazy world
But it was beautiful
Like a morning cloud in a valley
I was in the valley
Now I’m on a hill looking at the cloud
And I know what’s going on down there
Because you’re still there
Because I am an adult
And I hate it

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

You Became a Movie

No further words are necessary
What our eyes say will be enough
The harvested past sustains us
Insatiable to our appetites
How we react is experience
How we feel is knowledge
How we live is what we choose

I want you to know how I feel
In the silence of the same dream
Like seeing your child again
In the laughter of a grandchild
Going back in time
That is why they cry
This is what we know

It’s what I thought anyway
There was a time when I knew
You loved me like no other
I didn’t know about the gift
The gift of someone who could love
But that someone was in a movie
And I’m here reading the credits

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

What'd I Say?

I don’t even know how I got past your door
I was wondering if I could walk through it
I can’t be the messenger anymore
Just a light at the end of the room
But it’s my shadow that knows what to say

I'm not a road or even a small tower
You can look at me though if you dare
You can go around the side but not know how
Everyone who felt the same way knew why
But everyone with their own mind said nothing

A crowded room has spaces nobody can see
I noticed it one time in a painting
It was a long stretch of land
It seemed like a good place to shoot a gun
But not where spaces hide from one another

Sometimes there’s so little to say to one another
Except which way the money went today
Everybody who digs a ditch wants a window
Everybody with a window wants to open it
I thought the answer came with a bottle

You know you got lost before you started
The sax in the song was too fast for you
It was confusing anyway you heard it
It didn’t add anything to the room
So you left before you even got there

I think I’m gonna’ laugh about it now
Making sense never works for me
No matter how far, they’ve already been there
I thought about writing a song about you
But a long explanation is too shallow
And a short one is always too deep

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

Make Sure Baby

So you have a new boyfriend
How about that
He likes everything you like
At least he’s smart enough to try
Maybe in ten years you’ll know if he was serious

So you have a new lover
How’s it feel this time
I won’t tell him the things you did
Maybe he thinks like I do
He’s the only man to make you love like you do

Make sure baby
Make sure it’s love
You look too good for honesty
A man will promise anything
To make love to you

So you think you’re in love
How would you know
Loneliness is nothing to compare love to
But if you’re trying to forget me
Look into his eyes, I will be waiting for you there

You can’t make your bed with our sheets
I took them home with me
I didn’t wash them because it’s your memory
I’ll bring them back someday
But first you have to love him instead of me

Make sure baby
Make sure it’s love
You look too good for honesty
A man will promise anything
To make love to you

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

Is There A Time?


Is there a time to be grateful for life, when
so many long to be free of this cage; could
it be only when selfishness knows no boundary,
or when each season arrives, cleansing the
past of its hold on our dreams

Is it when I wish to be what I cannot see;
nothing more than honest cry; as a baby
would only know, without remorse or
foresight

Is it when I can only be what is real that
I wish to be, the unseen senses in silent
purpose and longing without pretense

Is it when I wish to be only in turbulent
flow; in horror and shame, because of
what I know to be true of this life

Is it when I wish to be in a constant state
of inspiration; walking with nature;
without conversation excepting my eyes

Is it when I wish to be sad without laughter
or lightness, raw nerved; expressed in
pained fullness

Is it when I wish to be of you, to mingle your
pain with my own; to see your heart and
it’s ugly stain of life; cracked and imperfect

Is it when I wish to be, alone in my walk; to
know what I am; dove or rock; kindness or
unfeeling;

Is it when I wish to be what cannot be touched
by another's hand; a living soul, a pure spirit
and nothing more, living in my own land
without fences or title

Is it when I wish to be involved, not entertained;
original in thought, unexplained; piercing your
skin not for a night but even after I am gone

Is it when I wish to be myself but open, full
of energy, honest in pure emotion; an actor yet
real; a poet yet grounded; an artist who believes
in despair as much as in hope

Is there a time to be grateful for life, when I
can thank God no matter how I long for love;
no matter that the life of my father is over; no
matter that the world does not care for my
questions or my pain; tell me is there a time?

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

Regret


You can read what a man says;
you don’t have to believe
but what if he says something
you already knew to be true?

Do you wish to discover the meaning of life
or is it just that you need a friend
who already thinks like you?

I called for all the words to gather
but only twenty six letters arrived,
each an island
surrounded by promise
separate but equal
for what was one without another

Except for I

Then I realized it’s the same as a piano,
everything is there that I need;
it’s all up to me

Every person who suffers
and every person who laughs
can never be fully described
until someone decides to make people see

Boys were once ready to be men
but the girls wouldn’t let them

So they crossed the river to the other side

But instead of love
they only found broken glass walls
and grown women smiling, until
they laid on no bed for a bride

Then they find someone;
and love them always,
until they don’t

The tides of emotion rise above us
and we think,
this is it

That’s when you know it’s in God’s hands;
for we weren’t meant to swim
in waters he refuses to part

We live knowing how we feel,
anger, sorrow, joy
and sometimes,
we even know why

Is it our destiny to watch women pass
while we wait to catch their eye;
and what could we say without a word
that they would always remember?

It was how we communicated as children

That we recall
love from afar
the imagination
able to pair
with another
but fired by
uncertainty
not so different
than now

I may never again speak of regret
for what good to a condemned man
or a man who walks freely
as he did as a child

What good would it do?

What good would it do?

Can you tell me?

Take my letters
use them as you will
the answers are all there

I cannot look at them any longer

Copyright Bystander aka It's a Secret But It's Claimed By The Real Me Elsewhere

 

[bystander]

Mine Not Mine

I watched the serenity, alone
Reflections of a mountain sky
I thought of skipping rocks
But it wasn’t my right
It would be unpleasing to the eye
So my stones did not fly
For upon still calm waters, to atone
Is to accept peace in its natural state
And not as something that I own

I watched the war, alone
Failure of the human spirit
I thought about the legacy of man
But what of my right
Is it something that I inherit
Or earn by merit
For upon rippled waters, to atone
Is to know a past life is not the fate
That must cast its dominion upon my own

Copyright Bystander blah blah blah...

 

[bystander]

Hunger

I remember when I was hungry
I still am
But not like before
I remember when I would climb out a window for you
I wonder if I would do that again
But I know you now
The mystery is gone
It's like money
It once mattered
It still does
But not like that
Not like it once did
Now I just need enough to live
Before it was a way to define myself
And I hate that I ever thought like that
I
HATE
THAT
But I don't hate that I thought that way about you
I
LOVE
THAT
And you made me feel that way
It can be that way again
All we need is time
Time for the mystery to build again
Time for you to grow
Time for me to grow
To be so different than before
I am
I wonder if you are
And that's what I need
The mystery of you

Copyright... yes yes yes

 

[bystander]

Diaspora

Where have all the flowers gone?
A nation weeps for you
All we have are words
Promises that were never true

A spoken myth passed on
Change... a far away place
Eyes that seek the soul
See only a blank face

The petals wander alone
Searching for a stem
Unable to join together
Unable to find begin again

The plow destroyed the garden
War, the hand on the till
We, with our faded memories
Take refuge in our daily pill

The vultures glide above us
Silently seeking their prey
We, unknowing, flounder
Grasping at honor as we play

Our hearts confront the horror
Inviting the bullet home
Take us from this place
We cannot grow in stone

Copyright in all the right places

 

[bystander]

Here For You

Without knowing how it happened
A man’s heart can fail him
His father gone, his spirit dampened
His children near, for a while, but then
Gone as meant to be
Would it be worse if they stay
But while longing is an empty knee
The time must come for them to fly away

But which pieces did they take
And which pieces do remain?
There is no accounting of what did break
Only a heart that must learn to live again
To trust once again in the sky
An old friend watching as you return
Is to know life becomes a cry
As wings become flight and ashes an urn

To wait for the next great love
Is the way of heartache
The time we give to what we are thinking of
Is only what we decide to forsake
But did my every loss soften my mind
For I know of your sadness too
And in it I have finally come to find
That the time is now for me to comfort you

Copyright... but of course

 

[bystander]

The Path

There’s a man standing at the end
He said, “I’ll welcome you but only when
you walk the length and breadth
gasping for air and cursing the depth
of the suffering you can’t overcome”

It’s a path not a nail
It’s calling you my son

There’s a woman standing at the head
She said, “Be born into this misery instead
of thinking it’s something more or less,
it doesn’t mean what we all bless
or any of the things we have become”

It’s a path not a sword
It’s calling you my son

There’s a mist floating you cannot find
It revealed something to your mind
“It is not where there is water or dust
or within the heart of shiny things that rust,
but you are deaf because you only play a drum”

It’s a path not a stone
It’s calling you my son

There’s a light alternating between dim and bright
It waits while you gather for a life without sight
But what guides you will not speak as you wish
It only feeds those starving for bread and fish
While you walk with those who will not come

It's a path not a judgment
It's calling you my son


Copyright today before breakfast

 

[bystander]

Passing The World By (now what?)

I don’t know what to take seriously
It seems it is only how I feel anymore
Anymore
How I feel anymore

I’ve passed the world by
Watching for the smiling grievers
Just like me
Trapped by choices made long ago

The way a sad man can laugh
Is just another miracle of life

Hopping, stone to stone
The distance widening each time
The place to stand ever smaller
As long as my feet are dry
I will be held together by these small joys

I think I have been blinded somehow
It seems I’ve lost my way
My way
I’ve lost my way

I don’t have to make myself write something
That is where I live now
Not in a closet
Not in the jungle
I don’t have to prove that to you

I wonder about someone who takes life literally
With a sword in their hand, dividing life before them
I’ve felt the blade, thrust deeply
And they told me it was God saving me
Still, I continue on

I am subdued not by sadness but by outrage
I am subdued not by outrage but by sadness
Hopping, stone to stone
Carefully placed before me
An old man cannot survive without his dignity

I think I’ve not prepared myself for this
The greatest challenge of a life
My life
The greatest challenge of my life


Copyright just the other day

 

[bystander]

Waiting

It’s not looking for me
It hides on the wrong side of a cloud
Where the sun is still bright
And my tears cannot blur its light

I asked the shadow why
But it would rather be silent than loud
I’m not sure how to make it right
The moon lights the wrong side of night

Waiting for something
Waiting for someone
They cannot hear you
If they are not near you
Tell them
Tell them
Or someone else will

I can’t feel it inside
Not when everybody acts so proud
The sky is for birds in flight
But blue reflections know nothing of sight

Waiting for something
Waiting for someone
They can’t hear you
They’re not near you
You didn’t tell them
You didn’t tell them
But someone else did

Copyright - Me

 

[bystander]

She Left But Not Her Heart

Just calm down
He said it to nobody in particular
But she knew who he was talking to
Believe in me
That’s what she wanted to say
But she didn’t know if it was true

You marry somebody
It doesn’t have to be the wrong time
It doesn’t have to be the wrong one
You tried that life
But one day there’s something more
The stars stopped leading you home

How do you live
You left behind the blood you planted
Your heart travels well but not today
You feel the tremors
That is who you are and it is dying
Even the sun decided to walk away

The harvest is done
The people who were born with hope
Live inside a prayer watching waiting
What can we do
The land of our birth is on fire again
But my soul lives in the land of believing

They don’t think of me
I left and they said my tears are my affair
If only a baby could decide for its mother
I want to tell you
I can never go back so why do I cry for them
Comfort for my children is not their savior


Copyright while I wrote it

 

[bystander]

Take My Blood

I was wondering how old my blood was
I haven’t bled in a long time
At least not on the outside
Maybe I should set some of it free
Free to find a different body to love

But I’m the nearest patient to the cure
It’s hard to give up your life for another
That’s exactly what we ask them to do
And they cry and can never explain
There is no perception to convince
No reality to ignore
They know

I could never be a tool for God
My dreams are not to bend your will
I will not control you
It is your choice

I could never be an example for God
My dreams are not to bend my will
I cannot stop sinning
That is my choice

I don’t know if I’m supposed to be a hammer
Or a wrench
Should I put something inside of you
Or remove the pain you came home with

I could age ten years in two months
I could reject the new world
Let all my gray hair grow
Let the sun wrinkle my face
And become angry at feet on my lawn

But I want to be wiser than that
Without trying to be

The memory of a child may not be the truth
The lack of understanding creates dreams
Dreams that become reality
Reality that becomes who you are
Even if you mother says it never happened

I thought about carrying a book with me
It would full of subversive quotes
World weary conclusions
Nothing about money
But instead I carry it in my head
I know all these things
It’s hard to live past it like watching mile markers
We record them in our head
But after a while all we see are green rectangles

I wanted to walk up to a woman
A stranger
Tell her she’s the one
Kiss her
And watch the look on her face

It could never happen
The days of bravery are over
Now we must fear one another
Fear feelings
Fear the past
Fear the culture
Fear their space

So I wait
Wait to give you my blood
But I’m not a hammer
Or a wrench
It is to be given freely
To take nothing away
So we can share the things together
But not to be afraid
To believe in something
Naïve
Idealistic
Free

Copyright while thinking about walking the wire

 

[bystander]

Painted Sunrise

Your picture tells me more than I could ever say
But not enough to tell me what I should think
It is because your smile has become so effortless
The corners of your mouth learned without me

There is a love affair between us in my mind
That is why you have settled for being alone
My dreamscape desires made the choice for you
Living in silent madness is better than what is real

I thought to tell you but I'm so far away
Like distant paintings with faded signatures
The captured love of another man’s memory
Has become my own way of missing you

There is nothing anyone can say that I would hear
Only you understand what I have dreamed
Let me whisper words upon your lonely canvas
Painting a new sunrise upon your sleepless soul

Copyright before the sun came down

 

[bystander]

Seasick

Just a lot of talk
That’s all I can say
Fill the world up
Fill the air with my ways
Even if they didn’t ask for that from me

Do I have an alternative
Suburban myths say no
Great change means great suffering
A madman’s dream
He only needs a friend to know if it’s possible
Let’s meet at dawn for another try

A lock on the past
And her heart
But not upon mine
She allows me to be free
If then the chance remains
For my return to her side
But what I remember
Is a movie with no end
And a tragedy is how I must live
With love I cannot ignore
And a soul I cannot abandon

I wondered if I could do it
Nothing but water
Sickness from within
Unprepared for the unknown
Day after day
A test of my will
Trying to see something
Something I’ve never seen
Or anyone else

Still I have nightmares
Even as I stand in watch
Each swell sheaths my thoughts
Is it for what I have done
Or what I have seen?
Written in scrolls
Attached to trees of life
Sashed by what divides mind and flesh
Every entry penned is a ritual
Or was it just a moment recorded on my mind?

You thought you left yours behind
But I can see it on the horizon
You didn’t know where to go
So I went there for you
The tears behind my eyes wait
When I reach what you can no longer feel
I will give it a gentle whisper to come home

Copyright somewhere on the ocean

 

[bystander]

Opposites

Opposite ends of the sunshine
Though warmth reaches us all
It cannot tell us how we should feel
Sometimes we don’t understand
Why would the sun fail to see
What is false and what is real?

Opposite ends of the ocean
Crushed by water or is it distance
Is the deep the same as the surface?
Still we stand on distant shores
As swells dance with the moon
Another light uncaring about justice

Opposite ends of the earth
Taking turns with light and dark
Leaving messages on the moon
I see you but you do not know me
Will we decide to meet halfway
Will it be midnight or high noon?

Opposite ends of the rainbow
Is it gold we hoard or colors?
Will love decide which is right
Through a prism we see images
The times of our life and pain
Can love share as we share light?

Copyright in sadness

 

[bystander]

I thought up this one after singing our anthem at the game last night...

Anthem

Did you honor his death by saying what was given
to his mother is no longer your burden?
The reason he died was not your purpose; it was
not for you and of that you are certain
But was he not someone who set you free by dying
for the idea that you now assert?
He never knew your anger, only that he received
a bullet and his ideals are covered by dirt
You are free to sit while a nation tries to believe in
something, knowing that he did die
Is it because only a certain race can rule the world
or is the harbor torch the reason why?
Reading the entire alphabet forwards and backwards
does not reveal the truth of every tome
Crying every time my grown son leaves does not
mean that I do not have a life of my own
To believe what we know to be true about the past
need not seed tomorrow's foment
And to encourage revolt by those who foster hatred
is only the path of future torment
It is not the destruction of the union that will unite us;
only the bonds of love for what is written
The words of freedom contain no ambiguity but the fire
of hate makes only ash if we don’t listen
It is not the strong to whom we always owe our thanks;
it is the least of us for whom we wish to weep
You say you will no longer salute our symbol of hope,
but do you pray for his soul to keep?
To those who would read the words and wave the flag is
not a gun pointed at the poor among us
Instead it would be they who would remind that a song
is the moment equality becomes our purpose



Copyright by bystander aka other names including my real one

 

[bystander]

Oh London
We weep for you again
Hatred upon your streets
The cancer over which we weep

Oh London
Is it so the next life to be lost
Is less than the virtue inviolate
We preserve no matter the cost

Oh London
Is it so the fears we harbor
Are less than the courage
Of the martyrdom of the free

Oh London
Is it so we walk the streets
With carefree gait and whistle
While evil threatens our peace

Oh London
Is it so we must forever believe
In faith and innocence first
No matter the life we grieve

Oh London
Never surrender
The final refuge of civilization
Rests upon your bloody crown


Copyright by bystander aka other names including my real one