Hurt Me if You Can

Some hurts don't go away.

They start bad, and they stay bad.

You don't learn to live with the pain. Ever.

You live with it because you have to...period.

Staying alive is the only thing that triumphs over some hurts.

So you live. Not through it but with it.

Every minute of every hour of every day.

The hurt is always there.

It becomes your comfort.

You hurt and you know you are alive.

You know you have beat the hurt.

You know you can live in spite of it.

You know you are better because of it.

You know hurt and you know you are stronger. Invincible.

So go ahead. Take your best shot.
Hurt me if you can.

I once had a best friend

I once had a best friend,

who is now a stranger...

...maybe she always was.

Sad, so very sad.

But I suppose it's another of life's hard truths.

Nothing lasts forever.

People come and go...

...and some cause more hurt than they will ever know.

Alone

You have the life.
The life you always dreamed of, hoped for…
Loving family, beautiful home.
And, while the future is promised to no one,
what’s in your present seems to promise a bright future.

Then your “soul mate” decides it’s not enough.
They can do better on their own.
They turn their back on three decades.
Suddenly, you’re on the outside looking in…and you are alone.
And the life you dreamed of is, once again, just a dream.

But you are patient, and so you wait.
Wait for the day everyone will see the light,
everyone will see what has been lost,
everyone will want it all back, will want to rebuild.

But, as the months turn to years.
As the last piece of of your life’s foundation crumbles.
As your heart breaks yet again.
You are forced to face the cold facts.
That life is now gone. That future is now gone.
It will never be again, and everyone else has moved on.
You have been left behind. You are alone.

So you must decide…consciously. You must also move on.
There is nothing left to wait for.
There is no one left to wait with.
You are alone, in every way. And you must move on.
Find the strength to live again.
Find the strength to dream again.
Find the strength to move on…alone.

The future? It just doesn’t matter when you’re alone.

My Own Choices

Worked my fingers to the bone.

Burned my candles at both ends.

Still I end up all alone.

Short on family, shorter on friends.

Don't complain. Hide the tears.

My own choices brought me here.

I know I was wrong all those years.

But that gives no comfort, dries no tears.

Now hounds are nipping at my heels,

as I struggle with the monthly rent.

I beg. I borrow. I no longer feel.

Pride beaten down with borrowed cents.

Tangled Webs

Oh what a tangled web we weave

when we first choose to believe.

The sky turns black the sun is free.

The earth is void of jealousy.

The web is real but only seen

in nights of moonlit fantasy.

You don't get caught if you don't believe

in chains, in wars, hypocrisy.

Oh what a tangled web we weave

when we believe we are free.

Regret

Walking through my daily life.

Life's memories are growing old.

Still talking faith like every dope.

Regret the soul that I have sold.

The Artist

 Regardless of the medium you create in,
I think half the battle to being an artist,
is accepting or admitting to yourself
that you are one.

Smile Through Darkness

Morning comes.
Night lingers still.
Force my rise.
Darkness fills.

Each day. Each month. Each year.
Steals more.
My heart. My hope. My soul.
Nothing more. 

Once whole.
Once strong.
Once loved.
Then wronged.

My love. My trust. My truth.
Betrayed.
Confusion. Anger. Bitterness.
Prayed.

Days push on.
Night’s darkness strong.
Smile and lie. Nothing’s wrong.
Not alive. Yet life’s not gone.

Smile on. 
Live the lie.
Judge me not.
When I cry. 

What a Heart Knows

And so the story goes.
And so the days move on.
Another notch this heart knows.
Older, wiser, same old song.

Life throws its sticks.
Life throws its stones.
This heart’s been kicked,
but this soul knows home.

The smile will not fade.
The eyes will still shine bright.
For love is not a grade,
to be measured as wrong or right.

The living risk the loving,
and the living I have done.
Moving on is one’s own choosing.
Wallow in pity, or walk in the sun.

And so this story goes.
Far from being done.
When love is what a heart knows.
It’s the only song that can be sung.