she wanted out

She said she wanted out
It's not you
She just can't function like this
can't breathe
can't see
can't feel anything
She needs to be alone
it's been so long since she's been alone
She needs to feel
the mechanisms of her own mind
churning unmolested
What a blow--
we were over
I was done
all the miles
all the time spent
suddenly it didn't matter
I was just a fool
living on the floor
in the other room
The green chair
and a rusty Jeep
were the only things I owned
What do you do
when you've abandoned your home
only to be kicked out of another?
I don't know what you would do
but let's just say
I found a new drug
There's a place for everything
and everything in its place
Do you know now
why my eyes can never rest?

a waste

Those stars you thought
you could have
not long ago
are the same ones you see now
so far away
Your dreams
were made of the shiniest
and thinnest substances available
your head got wrapped around
too many problems
your navy sailed away
in the darkest night
You never saw it happen
but the end result is the same
Where are you now?
what is your velocity?
How can you keep
pounding out the same old tricks
year after year?
This feeling you have
isn't going away
It has a name
but you won't say it
Call it a spell of bad luck
because bad luck
doesn't last forever
Throwing your time and talents away
can only be called one thing.

bad man

I'm a bad, bad man
looking for relief
looking for a fix
I'm wired wrong
and there's no fixing that
I'm in a bad, bad way
and no one can reach me
no one can reason with me
or my enemies
Do what you will
with your own hands
Can't you see
my hands are tied?
I've become jaded
and bloodthirsty--
thrilled by such petty wonders
What keeps you sane?
what keeps you here?
It is a mountain of will,
an iron fist of desire
but you can see it now
you can finally see it--
your strength wearing thin,
your fortitude wearing out
You can no longer look
beyond today
The cinema in your mind
plays only blood, lust
and bitter revenge
I'm a bad, bad man
on a moonshine binge.

I want you

I want you
to extrapolate for me
meaning from these words
Can you make them yours,
tear them to bits
like a lion would?
In the night
there are no explanations
just your heart
your own beat
and you ought to know
what it's made of
I am soaked
in her wake,
in her ever-spreading surge
she could run circles around me
until the day I die
What a scandal--
but they will never know
who receives this tribute
Melancholic son,
wandering one
who is the face you seek
the one you labor for
You know the answer
It is subversive,
codified in your rigid heart
what a scandal
what a let-down
there is no story
no great betrayal
Your love is stalwart,
incorruptible.

angel devil

Can you feel that
old time religion
hanging in the air?
Can you feel that presence
standing close,
holding you up?
Can you feel that
old gospel beat
pounding in your veins
pounding in your throat?
You can't see
I'm just a man
just a messenger
You don't know
how I got these songs
twisted into me
Oh how I feel you
need me
to lay my hands on you
I can smell your
desperation
I am your man
your savior
your everything
Young one
come to me
receive redemption for your sins
face the suffering symbol
face my body lifted up
for you
I haven't come to speak volumes
my love is a love
you can feel
Hang on
in this backseat confessional
Too many things have
gotten between us
Now it's time
to sing and shout
and get that devil out
I want to drill you
I want to fill you
with my living water
take you down
to the river
make you forever
one with me.