A Guide To Home

Well, I am drunk on the Texas whine or the Lone Star's charm.

Where the day old Catalina gets me through...the ride downtown.


And the dark man asks me where I stay and I don't feel no harm.

And I take his soul right up to God and forget my own.


And when my tongue is silent I weep like a child

And if my words are clumsy, just hold me for a while

And if my heart is hollow, it'd be hard for me to hide

How I wish that I could swallow my goddam pride


The amber burns my lips and tongue and then I speak my mind

It's lovely how the rain washes my bones of their guilty stains


But the age-old problem still remains - if I fight alone

It's funny how giving it all away brings it all back home


And if my hands are freezin', they'll warm in time

When my mind is wanderin', have faith, my child

And if I'm hard to follow, I'm layin' it on the line

How I wish that I could swallow my goddam pride

I just wish that I could swallow my goddam pride

Dear Me, Dear You, Dear Everyone

In a church, whiskey-drenched

All the good ones sittin' on the fence

My mistakes make a house of cards

Knock them down in the greener yard

The grass is smoked

The young ones choked

A new life born in a hospital bed

In another room an old one's dead

Bite the bullet, give and take

Don't hold your breath, everyone hates

Hates the bullet, hates the death

Hates the life, hates the breath

The good ones are taken, so settle for less

Cause you deserve less than the very best

You stink of hypocrisy, you really do

Do you really think people want to be just like you?

Grab the gun and hide the evidence

Deep in the dirt under the white picket fence

Your breath is wasted on my burning ears

Since yours conveniently have been unable to hear

Haven't I stated it quite loud and clear?

But you're working too hard to lose everything dear

The fear handicaps your once fluid tongue

So I'll win the battle and call it done

Seeing as I know what I want and it isn't you

Real love is only cherished by a chosen few

And it's cliché, I know, but fucking true

You can't have your cake and eat it too

I go back and forth, but I'm holding fast

Smoking in the dark next to a can of gas

Volitle with passion boiling over the brim

Spilling over onto her and him and them

They breed confusion, leave them wondering why

The jock and the cheerleader ain't got no alibi

Let's get this going on an engine's wing

In a dark cafe where the sad girl sings

In a crowded room of money and years

Where grown men go to cry their youth's tears

Pull your hair across those strings

Make them feel real, human things

Flee the confinement of uneven lines

Polish the tank until it shines

"This is war", he said it's just begun

When you choose your weapon, the cowards run

Crying in the corner or sipping their rum

Or spreading the news through their twiddling thumbs

Make the triangle an arrow that pierces their hearts

It'll cause more change than their poison darts

Long lost and absent and beautiful souls,

You are all a part of what makes the whole

Old lovers, old friends and enemies forgot,

You are the ticking in this broken clock

Who's lost the time and can't see the sun

Make peace with God, cut bait and run

Fidelity is etched in the ages of stone

That's where I will make my humble home

In honest beds and hearts of gold

Where justice smiles when the truth is told

My heart, my eyes are wide open with trust

Faith, hope and love really are good enough

Dear me, dear you, dear everyone,

A wise man said, "The battle has just begun."






Original Post: January 28, 2008

Catatonic Smoker

When your soul is on strike and your hand's a gone limp

When your voice seems to stutter and guilt is your pimp

And the fast train is moving and you're lagging behind

With feet made for falling and legs that won't mind

The backwards thoughts of your brain and the ghosts in your head

The catatonic smoker that won't get out of bed

You stare into space as the world falls away

With eyes that see everything, but clear light of day

You breathe and you blow with a huff and a sigh

You toss to and fro, wishing to die

The easy way out is obvious to see

The hard way is difficult, but better to be

You might think it dangerous - a foolhardy quest

But being true to yourself is always what's best

And you'll never know what's on the other side of the fence

If you lie there in state and give up and quit

Of course it's your choice even if it's the wrong one

Who am I to say anything? My dishes aren't done

The funeral was nice, but there's blood in my ears

I can't stop the ringing of your doubts and your fears

But you can't let them own you, that isn't their place

You deserve so much more from this blasphemous race

You have to be strong and stand up again and

Fight all your battles, even if you don't win 

What makes a man isn't what happens to him

But what he says to their faces when they're laughing at him

Even if your message doesn't get through

Doesn't mean your opinion is any less true

Now don't you ever lie to me, you beautiful man

Even if no one's behind you, I believe that you can

Say what you want to say, scream it at them and

Bleed out your heart through the ink from your pen

Bleed out your heart

December 28, 2006