Mother, sister, daughter, friend
You are the surest thing in my life
I will love you till the end
My heart beats stronger just knowing that I make you proud
And as I write this song about your love, I promise to sing it loud

"Son you must practice patience
A cluttered room leads to a cluttered mind
Just brush yourself off and keep your chin up
I promise this will all end up fine"

"Mothers plant within our hearts the seeds that swiftly grow
Into the sweetest memories that we will ever know"

Her words are powerful enough
To make dust seem like fine gold
His voice has strength enough
To crush mountains into stone

They put the future on hold until further notice
When it came calling, as an answer
They told it they'd found something far more suited for their care
In Idaho, they started a family
In California, they found the lumber
And in Connecticut, they built the frame
On the ocean is how he fed his family
With her hands she tilled the soil
And with his he repaired the roof, the walls, the floorboards

"We made love
We made life
We built this home"

"We built such a beautiful home, my love"

We made love
We made life
We built this home
And in it we poured all that was in our hearts
We made love
We made life
We built this home
But in the winter, with the cold, the pipes all burst from the frost
We made love
We made life
We built this home
And as we look towards the future
We'll answer its call in stride

The Inkeeper and the Carpenter

Someday I would like to meet myself for the first time
With eyes of brilliant silver
And an unquenchable thirst to know
I'm not as young as I used to be
My knees have gotten weak, and my memory's grown thin
Uncertainty holds back a once steady hand
And time plagues every option
Only stories and fingerprints connect me to the child of my youth

Time is never as honest as she'd have you believe

Remembering when we remembered when we were so full of youth
How we longed for the truth
We made a promise we swore that we'd keep
Climbing through the trees
This summer will never die
This summer we can never die

Rebel Horse

You've kept me lying awake at night
Calling out to a god that I don't necessarily believe in
Or really even subscribe to
And after all you've changed in me
I could never really change you

A husband I am not
A father I am not
A lover I am not
A wretch I am

The Golden Monument

We used to worship the sun
Our pockets filled with sugar and sand
Blistered and splintered hands
We were innocent once
We tried our hands at purity
Never thinking we would fall short
We lived between the moments
And there beneath the trees
We spoke to constellations
In the hopes that we were worth saving
Our prayers never made it past our ceilings

So maybe we gave up trying
You saved your breath for holding
I'm saving mine for nothing
Though all the noise has ended now
We can still feel its lasting sound
Like when a mouth begins to whisper
Its breath a soft reminder
Some hands were open for you
But their intent was different
Their fingers charred and pointing
And branding words beneath your skin
While others withdrew
Their palms unsure for holding
They too, felt tied up at the wrists
- Things done for fear and friendship
- It was never your fault then
- Your tiny hands were never meant
- To have to handle so much weight
But things are different now
And some things you just can't forget
I'm holding on to hoping
You'll find a hand to guide you yet
- This thread ties us together
- No matter how far apart we get
I hope you find your peace
I hope you'll find strength to forgive
Yourself as well as others
And I hope those same things for myself

I need to be reminded
That bad deeds do not bad people make
To do our best with what we're given
- We have no fate but to live and make mistakes
My hands have grown so tired
"Put down whatever it is
That you've been carrying around"
The soft words spoken by a friend
Please guard your heart, your lips, your fingers
And lets speak gently with our breath
And work to use our hands more wisely
In whatever days we might have left

I need to remember that not winning isn't always losing
And I need to remember that some things aren't better left unsaid
And I need to remember to cherish everything I'm given
And I need to forget to focus on the storms that might be up ahead

Take heart

1-4-3

This is where the rubber meets the road
White knuckles, same shade of grey
The dull hum of leaving
And I've ever needed so much saving
Arms outstretched, I can barely feel you on my fingertips
And I hope that this is far enough
Every single person in my life has let me down
But I guess they were only returning the favor

Barriers of steel, others less concrete
There's glass between us, static in my ears

All things blurred
Retracing every step on these well worn paths
The worst kind of pacing
So much time spent staring at the reflections of things
How many hours lost?
Two rights don't make it right
Every person has the capacity to say beautiful things
To make beautiful things
Yet there's nothing in my mouth but the stale taste of my own tongue
Syllables rotting in my gums
And I break everything I touch
The leaves are changing, but this decay's not that beautiful
I've come to hate the smell of all things familiar
The landmarks of half-forgotten failures
Many miles traveled with no distance gained
A lifetime of moving on
But I'm just not that strong
And I need more peace than I let on
The low fuel light's been glowing like an ember
Maybe It'll burst into flames
Maybe someday!

And maybe I'll go up with it
Sacrifice to survive
But oh! What it would be like to thrive!
Wipe the dust from my eyes
These bags can't be unpacked
Hawk and dove
Always flinching
"Slow and steady wins the race"
Well, this is death by inches
So many dead deer, and I'm left here
Circling, like some kind of terrible vulture
These houses still remain
Now mostly empty
Now mostly stripped of their memories
These streets a harsh reminder
The phenomenon of craving
Can't stand all this waiting

Sit and take it
Grin and bear it
I can't believe I saved my life for this
Not locked in, yet here I stay
"Maybe I'll break this circuit one day"
There's no redemption quite like an empty car and an open road
And I can feel myself wanting to leave again
My life for yellow lines

Never Knows Best

The further into life you get
The further you are from reaching your goals
There's a staying of your hand and a stillness at your fingers
Life isn't going quite as you had always hoped

Believe me when I tell you that everything
Doesn't always work out like you planned
Along the way some strands are split
Until the rope you once held to is snapped

Make sure to keep your eyes on the horizon
Or else you'll be lost in the storm of your days
And anxiety grabs you
And it pulls you under
Gasping for air you will wish and wish you had learned how to swim
There won't always be someone there to throw you a ring

This is just a reminder
Be careful of the let downs
You waste your days waiting
For opportunities to come and find you

When you should
Scream out, not because you're afraid of loss
But because you're afraid you haven't lived
Scream out, scream out, scream out!

A Reminder For The Let Downs

As I walk down these dark and empty streets
My feet only passing by my feet
There's something lurking in the shadows that surround me
Like my future it confuses, confounds me
As the gravity of our bed pulls me home
I'm glad I won't have to go it alone
As long as I have you by my side
I know I'll make it out

My empress, my queen
The color of these leaves shines a less vibrant hue
My father, my king
These buildings degrade at an alarming rate
Without your care
Barring your hammer
The stencils on these walls sing of loneliness
While the floors still creak the same

I'm sorry I haven't called as much as I could
I am the tree with no roots, I am
Sorry I haven't written as much as I should
I am the tree with no roots
In her voice, I find comfort
With you I find
Home is where your heart is

Homespun

I find it so strange to think that once we were in love
Hiding naked beneath the sheets
You were so beautiful
Oh, how I was so afraid
Laughing at our innocence
And longing as it passed us by
Now just the thought of her brings bile to my throat
Her words could rot teeth
You told me hundreds and thousands of times
Just how much you would always need me
And how you'd never ever leave me
And I believed you
But in the end it was you who proved me wrong
Now as I gladly move along
I pick myself up and find a way to come out stronger

My life has been full of short stories
And I'm longing for an epic
I found one in the reeds
Right there hidden were the seeds
Now as we march out of these marshes
We find ourselves both hand in hand
We're taking steps towards our future
While always learning from the past
We'll find our way and make mistakes
We'll find a way to make this last
I'm sick of taking short walks down long roads
And never getting anywhere at all
I want to walk till my boots run bare
Take the high road towards our golden years

Prose and Cons

I saw you standing in my door
As you woke me from my rest
Your shadow stretched across the floor
Until your head lay on my chest
A silhouette of who you were
You nervously confessed
Not quite understanding what I heard
I tried desperately my best

Eclipse

You spoke softly, but with purpose
I saw the tired in your face
As you recounted me your nightmares
And your need to leave this place
And your struggles with the Sandman
And your desperate search for grace
Oh, how you longed for peaceful sleep
I lied there, listening, half awake

I cried two tears that night
So big they filled up all the seas
Now come and join me on this bed
And we'll sail anywhere you please
Please stay awake, at least a while longer

It's getting dark now, but I'm not tired
And though the wind is getting stronger
I'll stay right here by your side
We'll ride the waves from port to port
We'll push more pins into your map
Until we find a gentler harbor
Far from where worms and beetles nap

And we will use our words as anchors
Build a house upon the land
Hide from all the ghosts that haunt us
Erase our footprints from the sand
We'll place this ship inside a bottle
Place the bottle on a shelf
We'll stay awake a million mornings
Count each golden sunrise towards our wealth
And you will show your teeth for once
As we toast your noble health
Although I've never seen a smile more uncertain of itself

With the warm breath from your nostril
We'll write the prayers on the glass
That we'll recite with loving kindness
To every person as they pass

But I know that you hate dreaming
So for now, let's just sit here
Stay awake at least till morning
And lay to rest your every fear
I want to find the warmth in your body
Want to see the child in your eyes
No alabaster effigy
Nothing left in you to despise
Because I really am afraid
You'll be a man I never get to meet
Don't be overcome by night just yet, my friend
And don't succumb to sleep
Please stay awake with me
Please stay awake

Daydreamer

Some people would compare us to a kiss from a rose on the grave.

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