Make them mine on this wonderful day
   And if tomorrow dark clouds does bring
   I will always try to remember
   That once upon a time I did sing
   For God alone has given me this day
   And always and forever more
   Bright in my memory it will stay
   The Stranger In The Mirror
   I wait in darkness sublime
   For the end draws near
   In this place and this time
   I am alone, so alone it's true
   There is no one here
   I am alone, so alone and blue
   The darkness breathes and grows
   I batter it's walls
   And almost come to blows
   I hate the dark but it's my lot
   It eats and consumes me
   As I sit here in this spot
   In this dark I've lost my way
   I can't find the way out
   Though I try night and day
   There's a mirror there and in it I see
   The eyes of a stranger
   Staring soullessly back at me
   That stranger I hate more then the dark
   He sucks away my soul and life
   Then he snuffs out the spark
   Who is this soul crushing one?
   How'd he get in my mirror
   And from where does he come?
   Familiar are the lines of his face
   But his eyes are so empty
   Of his soul there's no trace
   All there is is pain so vast
   Not a hint of a future
   Nor a trace of a past
   Tortured is he that much is clear
   He has paid a price
   That must have been dear
   Why in the mirror is it he that I see
   When all that I search for
   Is a glimpse of what's me?
   The Tide
   The flames stretch out so high
   Way up into the darkened sky
   To step into them, oh so sweet
   Exquisite pain from head to feet
   All this would end, never more
   Losing all despite the score
   The black will reign ever supreme
   Cease to exist or so it will seem
   Pain and darkness call my name
   Nothing will ever be the same
   Why Oh Lord can't I die?
   Ascend to You in the sky?
   I just can't take it no more
   My soul a tide eroded shore
   The Wings Of Time
   Across the wings of time
   I can only speak in rhyme
   Of the torturous depths of hell
   The ringing of death's own bell
   The loss of every tiny hope
   End of the ability to cope
   Loneliness that bleeds the soul
   Despair extracts a heavy toll
   No other soul can understand
   Lest they've lived it first hand
   It's clear no recourse is there
   To cease to be is all that's fair
   The Unquiet Mind
   It never sleeps
   It never stops
   All over the map
   In great big hops
   Round it goes
   And round again
   Never pausing
   I just can't say when
   Turning that way
   Turning this
   Even though
   The wheels go hiss
   Restless thoughts
   Running around
   No peace is there
   It cannot be found
   No sleep for it
   No rest at all
   It'll never stop
   Yeah though it fall
   It never slows
   Though it falls behind
   That's why it's called
   The unquiet mind
   The Vortex
   The current pulling, round and round
   The air vibrates with intensity of sound
   Trapped by it's evil chilly mighty grip
   Far too late to hope to give it the slip
   Spinning ever quicker the spiral tightens
   Gasping for air the fear inside heightens
   Dragged inward, downward by omnipotent force
   Fate set in stone, no escaping this course
   Surrender now, the path for which was longed
   Taps has played, siren's sung, bell has gonged
   The time is now, for each beginning an end
   No pain, no tears, nowhere more love to send
   There at the core a ravenous icy dark mass
   Devours all life, letting nothing get past
   Writhing, seething evil, blacker than black
   Malignant, chaotic, with no need to attack
   An overpowering vacuum that lets nothing escape
   Even rainbows of light does it shred and rape
   Ripping, shredding, destroying all that's held dear
   Nothing left at all, no love, life, pain and no fear
   The Walls Keep On Growing
   The walls keep on growing
   But cracks are now showing
   To each one I apply plaster
   Going faster and even faster
   They spread ever quicker
   Keep growing ever thicker
   Soon the walls will shatter
   It will no longer matter
   Leaving me no place to hide
   At last I will have died
   The Wheel
   The wheel turns and you never know
   Where it will stop or when it will slow
   Come one, come all, everyone must play
   There can be no bystanders, now or any day
   It knows your desires, It decides your fate
   You cannot escape, it's already too late
   So step on up and lay down your best bet
   Come lay it on down there, see what you get
   Hold nothing back, It will not avail you
   It's all at risk, even life's on there too
   For you what does this devilish wheel hold?
   Is it health and prosperity, riches and gold?
   Is it joy and happiness, love stronger then steel?
   Is contentment for you to be found on this wheel?
   Or is there heartbreak and pain in the next turn?
   Will the outcome of this spin make your heart burn?
   Will madness and insanity be there where it stops?
   Will crippling disfigurement show up at the top?
   You've risked it all whether you like it or not
   So watch the wheel closely to determine your lot
   Spin after spin it laughs at us mortals
   And waiting for all is death's portal
   The World Tipped And I Fell Off
   Flipping and spinning and whirling
   Into the cold, empty vastness of space
   Where, desperate, I hooked a moon beam
   Threw a leg over and climbed aboard
   Grasping tightly I mastered it
   Turned it to my own designs
   Together we headed outward
   Onward to the stars
   Perchance to pause at Pluto
   Dad always said we were from Pluto
   Maybe family awaited a reunion
   Even though it's no longer a planet
   But the maelstrom stuck out a tentacle
   And snatched me right off my moon beam
   Dragging me into the storm
   I was buffeted and beaten
   Tossed about like flotsam in the rapids
   Gale force winds tore at me
   Mad currents took me as slave
   To do with what they will
   Jaggedly sharp streaks of lightning
   Cracked and shattered it all
   Vicious flames of hell scorched my soul
   While storm lashed downpours soaked my flesh
   East, West, North, South
   Up, down, left, right
   Lost all meaning, time 
					     					 			 lost all meaning
   Reality lost all meaning
   As all descended into utter chaos
   And seconds, minutes, years, eons later
   I was regurgitated into a strange, new universe
   One I no longer recognize
   No wonder I feel out of place
   I am an alien here... this is NOT my world
   Nor is it my universe
   Then He Sat Back And Laughed
   He was all powerful, all seeing
   All knowing, the great and powerful Oz
   He created a land of milk and honey
   And gave light unto that land
   And He filled it with the birds of the air,
   The fish of the seas and all manner of beasts
   He filled the fields with flowers and grasses,
   and caused vast forests to grow
   He made great and beautiful mountains to spring up
   And vast chasms of awe and majesty to form
   There were deserts and grasslands,
   Rivers and seas, vast reaches covered in ice
   And everywhere life teemed.
   He saw it but was not pleased.
   Something was missing,
   This would not serve His purposes
   So he filled all the lands with people
   Made in His own image
   He gave them dominion over all
   And the power to love and care for all that He'd created
   And it was good.
   But still He was not pleased.
   All was good, too good for His purposes.
   So He created the night, the black
   And He gave to mankind hatred and warfare
   And all manner of black and vile things
   He released despair and loneliness
   He set forth as much evil as He'd released good
   Evil to torture those souls that He'd created
   Then He sat back and laughed.
   There To Peruse The Lands Of Oz Once Again
   Drifting lazily under a bright summer's sky
   Tiny wavelets lapping the side of the boat
   Lines cast out from the rods dangling over the stern
   Oars tucked snugly inside the boat, safe from the water
   On the horizon trees cast shadows upon the water below
   Quiet and stillness, solitude and serenity, peace
   Calm suffuses my body, reaching down to my very bones
   Muscles relaxed I drift in a daze,
   Nodding off at times to amazing dreams,
   Dreams of the world of Oz where all is right with the world
   Stressors forgotten all that remains is peace
   Peace and the softy muted sounds of the water,
   The quiet chirps of birds as they pass over head
   The splash of a duck as it lands upon the stillness of the water
   Disturbing it for a brief time only, the disturbance rapidly passes
   And once again all is stillness and calm, serene solitude
   A bobber dips, the line it's attached to quivers
   But it's ignored in order to maintain the peaceful perfection of it all
   Such total relaxation as can only be found here, in solitude
   Away from the worries of the world, away from pressing needs,
   Needless deadlines, stressed out bosses, excited kids,
   Needful spouses.
   Tip my hat down low over my eyes and drift some more
   Drift into dreamland there to peruse the lands of Oz once again
   There Will Be Not A Trace
   Close the doors, secure the locks
   Latch the windows, lower the shades
   Off with the lights, no more shocks
   Shutter my life, do it in spades
   Let no one see what's real and inside
   Lock them away, keep them at arm's reach
   The mask is my shield, behind it I hide
   Let no one know, there's a story for each
   Very soon to a head will all things come
   Plans come to a head, it all falls into place
   Tiny careful baby steps taken one by one
   And then left of me there will be not a trace
   This Moment In Time
   This moment in time
   Is all that we're given
   Treat it dearly
   Before it is riven
   Don't look back
   Last moment is passed
   Like a stone in the sea
   It has been cast
   There may not be
   A next moment for you
   So worry you not
   Over that one too
   Make this one count
   Live it to your best
   Ability to do so
   Don't take it in jest
   Lord grant you the wisdom
   To live fully today
   So that I missed it
   You won't have to say
   This Time I Made It
   The breeze came a blowing
   And the darkness went a flowing
   It's the same old thing
   same cycle, same ring
   In comes the evil, the bad
   It breaks my heart, makes me sad
   causes pain I wish I never had
   Makes me feel weak and always so bad
   Makes me hate me and more then that
   Makes me want to hit my head with a bat
   Then the darkness fills me
   And nothing thrills me
   But next comes the breeze,
   It comes and puts me at ease
   A breath of fresh air
   And no pain no where
   It blows through my soul
   The darkness pays the toll
   It leaves me to be
   At peace you see
   No hurt, no pain
   It's all been slain
   By that breath of fresh air
   That comes from some where
   Now normal I feel
   I am braced like steel
   For the return of the black
   For it always comes back
   Next time I may not survive
   But this time I made it.
   Thoughts
   The world skipped and I was not.
   You'll shed no tears for me
   For I won't even be a memory
   Eternal night
   Sink, sink until I drown
   A blink and I never was
   The world will little remember
   I'll just fade away
   Into the night
   And the dark will swallow me
   'Twill be as though I never existed
   Never dreamed, never born
   Naught but vapor, a lost memory
   Passing away
   Not lost, not forgotten
   Never existed
   Gone, never was, never will be
   This is reality
   I am but a nightmare
   The answer to my prayers
   Is nothing
   They don't exist
   I don't exist
   The stuff of nightmares
   And dreams, hopes, wishes
   What are wishes but hopes for the impossible?
   Where am I? What am I? WHY am I?
   No purpose, no reason
   I am not. The world has skipped.
   Through A Glass Darkly
   The glass is dark and grungy
   It filters out all of the light
   It turns all beyond to shades of gray
   Darkens all that was ever bright
   Through the glass seen only dimly
   Scenes of a life pass oh so slowly
   The life they show is so treasured
   Even though it be ever so lowly
   The scenes passing by in gray and black
   Reflect a life that lived has been
   One where joy and light once was found
   One that happiness once was in
   But as they roll by they grow darker
   The joy and happiness begins to fade
 &nbs 
					     					 			p; The light it is in full retreat
   There's only tears in which to wade
   The black it grows and starts to devour
   All the life that shows in these scenes
   The sanity fades and madness creeps in
   Like a babe as off the tit it weans
   The darkness begins to take over
   Soon all is black and hard to distinguish
   Starving it devours all of the light
   All the fires of life it will extinguish
   Soon this life will reach an end
   Who will mourn it and wish it back
   Surely it's owner will never so wish
   For the fires of life he will lack
   And so we soon come to the end
   All is black, nothing can be seen
   The black of the grave has engulfed it all
   There's nothing left on which to lean
   Through A Raindrop Filtered
   Through a raindrop filtered
   Softened and muted the world
   From the world sunlight pilfered
   Gray shades over soul are furled
   Drowned inside that sodden tear
   Lost amid dead ghosts of past
   Out there is naught but a smear
   While inside a hole so vast
   Through a raindrop distorted
   All things bathed in unreality
   Life has long since been aborted
   Just a twisted, broken fatality
   Today Will Remain Ever The Same
   It's another day, another dollar
   Always the same or so does it seem
   It's never changing, always the same
   Just one more day in an endless stream
   Is it Tuesday today or is it Wednesday?
   Sorry to say but I just don't know
   Everything's the same each step of the way
   Never changing wherever I go