Demon Fear

 

Demon fear clings to my shoulder

Riding on my back as I run from it

Determined jagged claws break flesh

Desperately trying to hold me back

 

Rabid unearthly animal instinct

Grips me as I try to flee

Holding me back, I cannot run

Driving me on

 

How can I cheat fear?

Stand up or cower in the dirt

Let it destroy me

Or face my inner nemesis

 

I must plunge this dagger

Born of summoned courage

Deep into the heart of inner madness

Its blood flows away like its hold on me

 

Animal instinct, demon fear

Hot breath and adrenalin

To protect and to survive

Is my only remaining drive

 

Pulse is pounding, clammy sweat

Blood is coursing, senses reeling

Lie and cheat and steel

Murder to survive

 

 

Breaking the Chains

 

Its 4AM and the air is thick

With rare Florida fog

The wind through the trees

On this cool, crisp night

Uneasy as the thoughts

That I carry within

 

The life that I’ve lived

And the deeds I have done

Make unsettling dreams

In starlight reflections

And face of the moon

Looks on disapprovingly

 

Regret casts a shadow

On love I once showed

Guilt’s ball and chain

Draws a path in the sand

That is jagged and tangled

Showing choices I’ve made

 

How long can a man walk

Along desolate shore lines

How long can he carry

His past on stooped shoulders

When the chill of the night

Haunts the cold grip of the past

 

Chorus

Breaking the chains of life I’ve lived

Carrying memories, not their load

Casting aside this heavy burden

I want to live and love and sing

Shatter glass walls I’ve built around me

Smashing whatever holds me back

 

Screaming down a life long runway

Trying to pull my feet from quicksand

Spread my wings with strong desire

Hold on, hold on, hold on, let go

Breaking the chains tonight

Breaking the chains to fly

 

 

Bits and Pieces

 

My life is all in bit and pieces

Information making judgment calls

Tabulating my life’s worth

Marketing my privacy

 

Try to get insurance when you really need it

Try to get a get a job when you can’t pay the bills

Try to find an answer without an ID number

Try your individuality; you are a statistic in its stead

 

A dollar in your pocket now

Means more then my sanity

I have a special offer, sir

We bought your name from a department store

 

My life has all been digitized

Organized and cataloged

Sold away in bits and pieces

Selfish means – impersonal and greedy ends

 

The economy makes me a victim

My Government won’t rescue me

I will be inundated by your pleas

The Bill of Rights doesn’t offer sanctity – to me

 

Why does my bank know more about me then I do

Why does my boss know about my credit plan

Why is my health clear to every one but me

Why is there no longer any privacy

 

Not Words but Strings This Story Tell     Blessed silvery notes arise Pulled from somewhere deep inside Translated from the hearts desire Through fingers raw and string of fire   A wooden body resonates Abstract feelings turned to sound Imperfection is the yearning still And time is where the story’s set   No finer note has yet been played When history placed my hand on wood This guitar knows it all too well Not words but strings this story tell   Through long gone times of happiness I played as though it’d never end Shout out loud it would for me All frivolous and notes carefree   Later it would learn from me A deeper tone of sad and melancholy All blue and weighty; hanging moans Sometimes no more then whispered tones   Alas it’s true, I must admit In my darkest hour, when the whiskey bit I lay poisoned, gazing, barely flick’ring My friend, my vessel, my life emptying

Unexpectedly the gift arrived – a breath Inexplicably was I revived – a miracle The bottle smashed against the presence present A window opened o’r the doorway: an ascent   It seems as if this journey began When alcohol gave up its battle plan Soon the dust and darkness parted And an age old friendship was restarted   Now we play together, my friend and I And sing of life we’ve left to try Of the past there is still much to say We still learn its lessons day by day   Our hearts are set, our purpose strong Together we will sing our song And cast our light upon the darkness That still ebbs and flows around   Blessed silvery notes arise Older, yes but still alive Translated from the hearts desire Through fingers hardened by the fire   A wooden body resonates Abstract feelings turned to sound Imperfection still motivates a yearning Grateful stance for hope’s returning   No finer note has yet been played When history placed my hand on wood This guitar knows it all too well Not words but strings this story tell

 

 

 

Inappropriate

 

The humor, the darkness

The stab in the back

 

The laughter so reckless

So daunting, so dark

 

It sets thought in motion

And cannot fall back

 

Punishing vastly

Yet so underserved

Done have you nothing

At onset or end

 

To bring on this anger

And torment my friend

Fear, facts and fiction

Produced ‘round another

 

Unjustly set free

On your inocent shoulder

 

Inappropriate actions

Persecution unfound’

 

Rise from within me

Chastisement unbound

Done have you nothing

At onset or end

 

Yet you’ve had to swallow

This pill in the end

Departing from pathways

So deeply ingrained

 

Is not in my nature

I’ve often complained

 

But it leaves no excuse

To hide from the truth

 

I’ve behaved rather badly

And I’m sorry my friend

 

Please forgive me

 

 

Ok, here is a really silly one in Dr. Seuss style.

 

Taunting the Reaper

 

I’ve come to the point

And glanced at the end

I’ve witness the vision

And I’ve felt the pain

 

Now there’s no point in fighting

Or in sitting around

All of my motivation

Has run into the ground

 

Chorus

And I live for one thing

And one thing alone

I am taunting the reaper

And I’ll make him groan

 

I’ll tie his laces together

Or poke him with a stick

Then I’ll put stuff in his milk

That will make him real sick

 

And I’ll trip him with wire

Let the air out if his tires

I’ll fill his shampoo right up with glue

Put lots of goo in his shoes

 

Chorus

And I live for one thing

And one thing alone

I am taunting the reaper

And I’ll make him moan

 

He’ll turn swiftly around

Thinking he heard a sound

But he’ll just see my shadow

My footsteps in the dust

 

But he’ll know I was there

Even though he can’t catch me

He will pull out his hair

And complain it ain’t fair

 

Chorus

I am taunting the reaper

And I’ll make him groan

I am taunting the reaper

And I will make him moan

 

Well I’ve peaked through the crack

And I’ve look down that long hall

And I have seen that strange light

Illuminating the walls

 

And I’ve decided to stay

‘Cause I’ve just got to see

How long will he let me

Get away with it all – let me go

 

Chorus

I am taunting the reaper

And he’s getting real grim

I am taunting the reaper

And I’m dancing with glee

To Rock On or to Rust   Chords scream and whine Distorted, compressed Amplified turbine Forceful and stressed   A flurry of notes follows quickly behind What say you dear friend? What seems on your mind? So urgent the message you need to send?   You follow melodically A sound so electric It’s speaks so methodically Of thoughts too eclectic   What need have you got To spill flash, glitz and fury The sound you produce Must say something, oh surly   Yet that’s not the case Claims the voice from within There is simply nothing here to misplace Just the unholy noise that’s taken its place    A celebration of power A party of lust To shake and devour To rock on or to rust

Aching Tooth Blues  (Ode to Maureen – get well soon!!!)

 

My baby’s got a toothache

I said my baby’s got a toothache

And it really sounds like a pain

Surely God, she has some pain

 

She says that her molar’s infected

And it leaves her feeling dejected

Oh yes she cries “my tooth is infected”

“And it really does bring me down” – You know what I’m talking about

 

Chorus

She’s got that wisdom tooth feeling

I say my baby she needs some healing – bring it home baby

She’s got the bad molar blues

She’s got some real bad so sad molar blues

She’s got the aching tooth blues – yes she does

She’s got them real deep down turning’ a frown tooth aching blues – that’s right

 

She said to the Doctor “please help me”

“Cause I can’t take this pounding in my brain”

She screamed “Doctor, OOOOooooooouuu”

“I just can’t take no more of this wrenched pain – help me”

 

The Doctor says she’s got an abscess

And it’s leaving my baby in distress

Now she gotta search for the right healer

‘Cause she sure don’t want no drug dealer – no siree

 

Chorus

She’s got that wisdom tooth feeling

I say my baby she needs some healing – bring it home baby

She’s got the bad molar blues

She’s got some real bad so sad molar blues

She’s got the aching tooth blues – yes she does

She’s got them real deep down turning’ a frown tooth aching blues – that’s right

 

So she found her self a dentist

From way the hell down in Memphis

Well, he said he could fix it– oh yes

He was sure he could heal her pain – and that’s just what he did

 

Now my baby’s much better

Just like the day that I met her

And she can smile big and wide

‘Cause there ain’t no more pain inside – her smile

 

Chorus

She’s got that wisdom tooth feeling

My baby’s done had some healing –that’s right

She’s got no more bad molar blues

She’s ain’t got no more bad so sad molar blues

She don’t have them aching tooth blues – no how

She done with them real deep down turning’ a frown tooth aching blues – yeah

 

 

Fear in the Darkness

 

Walking past my shadow in the complete dark

Hearing distant voices in the empty park

Glimpse gloomy figures that just don’t seem real

Listen to the echo of a scream I did not make

 

Are they watching me – my fears

Can they listen in- when I’m afraid

Do they know my each and every though

Their lack of substance seems so real – to me

 

Are those footsteps that I hear behind me

Are those your footprints in the misty snow

Did I see you’re your eyes glow red beside

The fearsome path I chose to hide behind

 

My breath comes faster now, in the cold night air

And my mind is playing tricks on me

Did I hear a whisper call my name just then

What the hell am I doing here

Past everything that makes good sense

No rational can overcome

There seems to be no turning back

The demons that my mind conjures

 

I know my mind’s what makes them real

I know they have no flesh and blood

But I just cannot make them stop

These fears that are consuming me tonight

 

 

Beauty Drifts in Shallow Water

 

Part 1

Beauty drifts in shallow water

But the depth of life is found

Only in the deep

 

The surface might be pleasing

But it hides the rocky turbulence

Beneath

 

A tranquil shoreline

Can never fully describe the turmoil

Underneath

 

The rocky bottom of the riverbed

Forms the shifting features

That shape an urgent course.

 

If I am seduced by the shallow edge

I may be swallowed by the middles

Deep.

  

And if I never learn its flow

The true nature of its inner beast

Will never be revealed.

 

 

Part 2 

If you like the look you see

Do you ever wonder what’s within?

Does the picture that you see

Portray reality?

 

And if you love the imagery

Will it last forever?

And when the vision fades

Will your heart stray?

 

True beauty can only be seen

When the rocky inner truth is told

And when our hearts are clearly shown

We can drift along each others

wild river ride.