At the back of my mind, the beast is howling
Baying for that which it thinks I owe
Through the dark spaces, a monster is prowling
Screaming for things I choose to forgo
Millions of years of unchecked evolution
Led to many desires I'd like to discard
Cold, heartless logic, my chosen solution
I had no idea that the path was so hard.
The problems of men aren't problems of thought
They're born of feelings and emotions
But it's hard to surpass, when we are all taught
To give room to our weakest of notions.
(Of course I'm no better, won't claim that I am
But I will point out that I will try
To challenge the mighty and free those they'
It was threatening to rain when she left town. I didn't clock it or anything, or even make an estimate, but I'd guess the downpour started when she hit city limits, going about seventy, heading south and, I guessed, out of my life. I couldn't have been happier about the rain, and I couldn't be more conflicted about her leaving. Y'see, I had a thing for her. I wasn't necessarily carrying a torch, of course. I learned not to pull that stunt fairly early in life. Knowing the two of us, it's more apt to say I was carrying a lit cigarette; you know it's not going to last forever, and the slightest mishap could put it out, ruin it, and leave it wor
He was an old man by twenty,
His manner was rough
In his voice I could hear
Fifty years worth of dust
But his eyes were still sharp
And his wit was still keen,
I asked him "Who are you?"
He said "What do you mean?"
I said, "You're a young man,
Not yet twenty-five,
But the set of your shoulders
Shows a half-dozen lives."
He sighed, and he smiled,
And he lit up a smoke,
Then laughed through the haze,
At some private joke.
"I've only lived one life,
But observed hundreds more,
Watched paths unfold at birth,
Seen Death closing doors.
In twenty-two years,
I think that I've learned
A hundred new lessons
From each bridge I saw
