Pretty Flowers

(as performed and recorded by Poinsettia)

I am a flower
exterior of beauty but roots of deceit
I will devour
the good set around me, replaced with the ugly
My roots are reaching further down
Spoiling the land where no ones around
The beauty of my petals
Very soon will fade
and fade and fade
to reveal my shade
of darkness

If perfection were to be achieved
Amidst this world of disease
The fingers of fraility would point my way
but unkown words my tongue would say

I am a flower
exterior of beauty with roots of deceit
I will devour
the good set around me, replaced with the ugly
My roots are reaching further down
Spoiling the land where no ones around
The beauty of my petals
Very soon will fade
And fade and fade
To reveal my shade
Of darkness

But breaking through the clouds, a burning light appears
Scorching past my thorns, to my roots of deepest fears
My petals all fall down, to the ground
Through the earth where they will never be found
Something new and glorious indeed
A brand new birth without a seed
I've never known this
I've never seen this
I've never felt this feeling of clean
New water flows
Like blood it glows
To renew my roots and make me free

In my garden...

I

If life is a garden
Then friendships are trees
Oak and Spruce, Maple and Pine
Friends of many shapes and different kinds

The rings of our tree grow many
And through many winters it has survived
Water is carried to leaves by complex lines
Telephone bills and post office lines
There is nothing I would trade it for
Oak, Spruce, Maple or Pine
The rings of our tree grow many
And an aged tree does not easily die.

II

If life is a garden
Then love is a rose
Beautiful and Breath-taking
Yet piercing is the thorn

Loves I have had
But a thorn you have been
The rose has bloomed
The rose has blossomed
But never has it been plucked
No, never plucked for my beloved’s vase
For fear of the piercing
For fear of the painful distaste
The petals fall and the rose fades
For by the prick of the thorn
Oh, by the prick I’ve been detained

III

I love the trees
And a rose is most beautiful
But as far as I can know
The two, together, do not grow
Oh, how I wish to plant them together
To enjoy the tree’s shade
And to bask in the beauty of the rose
But, oh, together they will not grow!
Some days I wish to cut the tree and plant the rose
But if it never blooms
If it never blossoms
It will take years for the tree to again grow strong

IV

Today I will plant the rose.
Although I know others will grow, you will always be the thorn.
I will plant the rose!
But when I come for the plucking
Will I be pricked by your thorn?
Pricked by your thorn to bleed to my death?
Or will I carry this rose to your vase?
Carry this rose to your vase and take away your breath?

Autumn

6 hour drive to the cities
choke it down like poison
put her on the plane
watch it take flight
up up up
as my joy falls
down down down
like these autumn leaves

I hate letting go even though
I know YOU can care so much more than me
But I still can’t help to think that
they lied when they said
home is where the heart is

6 hour drive back home
As she flies back to Chicago
my heart in her hands

I Am

i am,
a plastic bag in the wind,
an empty can made of tin,
a discarded sock, worn through and through,
a mighty ship, lacking crew,
i am empty.

i am,
the unfinished puzzle, waiting completion,
forcing pieces that will never be solution.
i am,
the rhyme, lacking the riddle,
quotes in time, but teaches so little.
i am,
the meal, so carefully prepared,
cold and dry, no one cared.
i am,
the groom, awaiting his bride,
but none would dare come for the ride.
i am incomplete.

i am,
the boy, lost in the store,
the apple, missing its core,
the bluebird, alone in the sky,
the beggar, on his way to die,
i am alone.

I AM,
The breeze and I AM the drink.
I AM,
The lesson that is taught in sync.
I AM,
The Father and I AM the friend.
I AM satisfaction to the end.
I AM the fulfillment.
I AM the Completion.
I AM the Companion.
and I AM.

Not All Birds are Meant to Fly and Someday... Everybody is Gonna Die

May I holdfast
Cast my anchors for the deep and weather the storm
I’m broken and I’m bleeding, but I know what I fight for

Watch the pilots as they soar by
Should’ve been you, but no matter how hard you try
You’re grounded
The wind is right, and you’ve got the wings
But you can’t take off, can make this tune sing
Is this the end, is this your death?
Or is there hope for a bird beyond the wind’s breath

So give me Goliath, give me the fight
I’m broken and I’m bleeding, but soon through the night
Dawn will break
Like Lazarus I will rise up
Through His power, this bird will take up
I know who I am, I know how I stand
By blood I will make my mark as a man
And whether in life or in death,
In weakness or in strength
I will stand

This candle won’t blow out
It flickers, barely in sight
But a mere spark is all it takes
A mere spark will light the night
So try and stop it, its already begun
The night is young and the forest aglow
Blow out this candle? No, watch it explode

This candle won’t burn out.

Not All Birds are Meant to Fly and Someday...

Of Age

twenty-one years of learning.
twenty-one years of enhancement.
self-sufficiency,
it’s a means to an end.
so watch me chase the wind,
find meaning in the meaningless.
it’s my life,
it’s mine to take or waste
my dreams, my visions,
my goals and aspirations.
work harder,
then comes reality from apparition.
but what of the bottom,
the floor which I call home.
am I a failure
for not reaching the sky alone?

twenty-one years of me
twenty-one years of self-sufficiency
they taught me to do it myself
but here on the ground,
alone in the dirt,
i’ve learned the most important lesson
they do not teach,
i’ve learned from hurt.

i need YOU.