I finished off the census.

Questions like what’s your name.

With a claim of anonymity.

I had to hang my head in shame.

I guess I’m at that age now.

Where I believe no claim at all.

And I’ve resigned myself to destiny.

To watch society at the fall.

It would be like such an honor.

If it weren’t so dumb and lame.

It’s like Nero and the Christians.

Without the hero or the fame.

I was caught up in a storybook.

Or it might have been a song.

Or it might have been her beauty.

Made me think I don’t belong.

I was looking for something somewhere.

And I didn’t know how or when.

I lied and said I didn’t care.

And still, the chances came again.

Then I finally got it figured.

Got caught up in time and speed.

Just take it in, enjoy it all.

And discard what I don’t need.

I’ve been checking out the classics…

And the Russians and the woke.

And those crazy fucking Liberals…

Spitting words, so not to choke.

And all the world, they say a comedy…

Or a tragic staged surprise?

All the tears are not from laughter.

But their words are mostly lies.

I was tired when I woke up.

I guess now that’s just the norm.

I was up to something different.

When I found shelter from the storm.

Time is fleeting, not illusions.

On my face, you see the strain.

Where once were lines of laughter.

Are now harder to explain.

I am nothing if not present.

And it’s always been that score.

Even when I couldn’t see.

When my back was at the door.

I hear distant sounding music.

Played by someone who was on tour.

Someone who can be that wise.

To know how and why and more.

In those times, I need to listen.

To those who came before.

Sometimes, I just need to be.

In the draft of troubadour.

It’s high stress all this loving.

Heart beating hard now triple timed.

I’ve been parked now on the off-ramp.

In those shadows less than kind.

She’s been worried about high flying.

I don’t fret about those fears.

Riding rough and sick of trying.

Now stop crying, faking tears.

I’ve been writing a new chorus.

I’ve been looking for fresh chords.

Rich man drives fast now in a taxi.

Passing poor men in their Fords.

We all are walking in cold shadows.

Under blue skies filled with rain.

I am quiet, no more promise.

I will let you live your pain.

There’s a lesson if you listen.

To a voice that lives inside.

Telling me that it’s not over.

Doesn’t care how hard you cried.

I was walking in the shadows.

Cause I kinda like the cool.

Mama never liked the heat that much.

And would walk right past the pool.

I’m not inclined to leave that fast.

Sometimes, I like to stick around.

Spent some time there in the deep end.

Where some sinners felt they drowned.

There are sharks, and there are minnows.

There are vices, keep us froze.

I saw you dancing with your demons.

Smiling, spinning on your toes.

In the darkness, there was laughter.

In the night, I heard you cough.

I changed gears, started walking.

Was my time for stepping off.

I’ve been working on this nightmare.

The kind that smiled in your dreams.

So many ways to tell a story.

And not much is what it seems.

I tried the changes slowly.

The way the old go out in rain.

All in vain with not much Holy.

In the end, seemed quite insane.

We will batten down the hatches.

And will keep the powder dry.

I’ll keep praying here for something there.

As we sail for bluer sky.

N

There’s this feeling that’s just so nearly…

Like the battered and the bruised.

I wonder if I heard clearly.

Deep down, I’m just confused.

There’s a man who’s screaming something.

In the face of that sad clown.

There’s a juggler in the spotlight.

That didn’t use the right pronoun.

The siamese twins grow tired.

Two heads can not agree.

Cooperation is required.

No discernments they can see.

The wives they seem so angry.

The husbands have that look.

Doesn’t much matter which way I go.

Either way, I’m on the hook.

And the men

The movie has no soundtrack.

That was playing in my head.

The theme was for the living.

The plot was for the dead.

It’s a story of hereafter.

Like the myths a child’s told.

Equal portions tears and laughter.

You get the girl but not the gold.