They Will

When it comes time for guidance

Will all the stars shine bright?

And if they flicker undecidedly

Will we stay the night?

 

We will.

 

When it comes time for mercy

Will Mother earth forgive?

And if she forgets how to be

Will we still choose to live?

 

We will.

 

When the time has come for glory

Will the faithful hear our cry?

And even if they cannot hear us

Without us, will they rise?

 

They will.

 

They will.

Let us Dance

We have stumbled long enough

tripped by imaginary chains in our minds.

We’ve marched proudly in the rut

burying our fears in our confusion and lies.

Our bones have ached for long enough

longing to break free from this shrunken hide.

But my friends the time has come

to break these shackles and dance for our lives.

to let the holy spirit move you

to believe in something timeless.

to trade in your fear for virtue

know the darkness is behind us.

to know that you are powerful

to let your faith in life reside

in the beauty that surrounds you.

Look around with open eyes.

you are the most amazing creature

now awaken to your dreams.

Leave behind the bitter chorus

fight the emptiness with glee.

Change the world before us

and let others see your lead.

Let them see you dance so joyous

remind them what it means to be.

teach yourself to dance again

teach yourself to be free.

Believe that you were meant for more.

Always dance and love and dream.

Journey

What a bitter spoon of honey

what a sweet bit of pain

like the ones that came before us

all the ones without a name

like a fire in a forest

then a hollow in a grave

once a throat infected chorus

singing misery and shame

once a sea of empty vessels

sailing blindly in the night

once an army of destruction

now a panoply of lights

what a bitter spoon of honey

what a sweet bit of pain

they say that life is but a journey

and i’d have to say the same.

 

 

Spirit

there’s a ghost outside my window

she’s calling out to me

i hear her crying

her spirit is dying

she doesn’t know what to believe.

there’s a ghost outside my window

i can hear her mocking me

she cackles so loudly

she rages so proudly

she rattles the faith within me.

there’s a ghost outside my window

she’s staring back at me

I can see in her eyes

all the tears she has cried

why won’t she say something?

I said goodbye to the ghost in my mirror.

Together we found her the light.

Now that she knows the way

She’s no longer afraid.

She’s no longer a slave to the night.

 

Easter

I walked in a line with a gun by my side.

I looked wherever they told me.

I repeated their words.

I inflicted their hurts.

Til the day something broke from within me.

 

I lied at the bottom of a stale broken heart.

My stare became vacant and fried.

Silent was I

So confused though I tried

Til the day that I heard the voice calling.

 

I burned at the stake then I danced in the fire.

I saw what I wanted to see.

I battled the rage

So consumed with the pain

Til the day that I stopped thinking of me.

 

We walk in the light without fear of the night.

We create the world we want to see.

We tell our stories

To speak of the glory

We know that the second is coming.

devil in the Mirror

I know the devil is real,

seen him smirk behind cold, vacant eyes.

Pleaded for mercy,

confused never knowing,

my loved one was trapped deep inside.

I know the devil is real,

seen her face in the harsh, fluorescent light.

Tasted her hate,

while I danced with her rage,

proud of the pain left behind.

So I know the devil is real.

Cause the devil exists in us all.

But now that I’ve seen her,

I know how to beat her.

No longer a lost devil’s pawn.

Bring Your Broken Children

Bring your broken Children, the ones you don’t understand.

You take away their pens because they write with the other hand.

Bring your broken Children, the ones you try to change.

You reject their love because they love ones of the same.

Bring your broken Children, the ones you call disabled.

You tell them they’re wrong because you can’t see how able.

Bring your broken Children, the ones you say are strange.

You don’t speak their language so you tell them to behave.

Bring your broken Children, the ones with secret friends.

You tell them their reality is only in their head.

Bring your broken Children, the ones that have opinions.

You call them defiant because you don’t know how to listen.

Bring your broken Children, the ones you call disturbed.

You’ll never understand why they feel so estranged on this strange Earth.

Bring your broken Children, the ones that you call Sad.

You’re too obtuse to realize the wonders that you have!

Bring us your gifted Children. We will never try to fix them.

Instead we’ll help them see how being different is a blessing.

The Beauty in Rock-Bottom

When you hit rock-bottom, as we all will at various stages in our life cycle, you’ll be tempted to look down at your feet, to look around you at the emptiness. You’ll be tempted to obsess over who you were, what you had, everything you lost on the way down. But I encourage you not to get stuck in that mindset.

Consider this, rock-bottom can either be your grave, or it can be your ultimate liberation. Instead of looking back, looking down, looking around you and seeing nothing. Look forward. Look up. Look around you and see everything! There are countless ways and directions to move from where you’re standing. You can try anything without the fear of loss. Nothing to lose means nothing to hold you back from your dreams. It’s your chance to live wildly again. To dream again. It’s your chance to discover who you really are.

Don’t let anybody tell you what to do. Even me. Let your heart be your guide. You don’t have to climb their ladders, and crawl back into their boxes. Their elevated holes where dreams go to die. They’ll be calling out to you from their cages of contrived success. They won’t have the unique insight that you do. They’ll say whatever, do whatever they can to get you back in line. The back of the line, the bottom of the ladder, the endless cycle of rut.

Defy them. Defy gravity. Soar in every direction with glee. Without all that extra baggage, the expectations, the obligations, the militaristic definition of success, the two-dimensional concept of life, without all that useless, deadweight, and deadly baggage, you are light enough to sail in the breeze. Open your heart and dare to dream.

Remember, you hit rock-bottom for a reason. Something bigger than you threw you from your tangled, weighted ladder. From your box. Threw you from your ambitions, and catapulted you into a foreign land that feels like defeat. And it will always feel like defeat if you simply start back over, searching for the ladder you’ve already climbed and fallen from.

But if you dare to believe, to see, to let your dreams be the wind in your sails, then you won’t ever hit rock-bottom again. Because rock-bottom won’t exist for you anymore. Rock-bottom will just be another stop along the way of your living adventure. Another chance to do whatever you dream. The beginning of another beautiful day filled with endless possibilities.

Rock-bottom isn’t the end of one life. It’s the beginning of a better life. Make it count.