Goliath Falling

I live with Goliath
He permeates the air
He stumbles down the hallway
And he sits in his chair
His sword hangs in a frame
High above his bed
His arrows sit in the closet
Laced with the feathers of Wrens
We gather 'round them at night
Drawn by the scent of his cologne
It wafts through the air
With the strength of dinosaur bones
He used to run down demons
With the bass in his voice
They would scatter like moonbeams
When the sun breaks on the rivers of Hanoi
But now he only mumbles
His words never make sense
The demons that once raced from him
Mock his feebleness instead
He wrestles imagined bears
And hides from imagined snakes
His mind is ruled by dementia
His body has turned to clay
He offers me a quivering hand
When his balance takes its leave
Goliath falling to the Earth
Goliath on his knees

Vices > Darkness

Darkness, stay away
Go back from where you came
If the needle gave the relief
I'd siphon you from my veins
I would drown you in opium
Black tar thick as blood
Running down my forearm

Darkness, watch your tone
Don't amplify your deafening sound
If powder could silence you
I 'd snort it by the pound
I'd bathe myself in caine
Snow white as angel wings
Dripping down my throat

Darkness, hold your hand
Don't place it near my temple
If alcohol could paralyze you
I would drink until my liver trembled
I would scorch my insides
With the fire in my glass
Thick upon my breath

And Then There's You

What good is a friends hand
If it recoils from need
What comfort is a touch
If it doesn't clot the bleed
What remains of laughter
When the sobbing takes its place
How empty are memories
When there are none left to make

What good is a confidant
If an ear is not lent
What comfort is a shoulder
If its strength has been spent
What remains of a bond
When it holds on by a thread
How empty is an ally
When its loyalty has fled

I Will Rise A Legend

I am made of ashes
From a promise laid to waste
They gave me the keys to security
Then with locks of destitute they were replaced
Searching for quarters in an empty jar
To buy a little relief
A beggar in my own home
What are these spoils that I have reaped
But I will rise a legend
Made of silver with golden trim
They will talk of our acquaintance
Their memories will echo like a Galilean hymn
That they discarded my presence
They will conveniently forget
For when I rise a legend
It is their abandonment I will eclipse

I am made of ashes
From the wool of the black sheep
From a people so bound to ignorance
And the dullness where they find conceit
Memories of saliva in a young girls hair
And a confidence never regained
Words they used so recklessly
Left the piercing echo of shame
But I will rise a legend
And they will never escape my tone
The monsters who once raped me
Will leave penance at my throne
All my people will gather 'round
And sing lullabies to a withered child
For when I rise a legend
I will hold her hand as we return from exile

I am made of ashes
From a brother laid to rest
I have crumbled underneath his weight
In these desolate months that have passed
My mind spins with his absence
And the serenity he could not obtain
The joy he could not bottle
The reflection that bitterly waned
But I will rise a legend
To feel his approval in my heart
To make him boast to the angels
That his sister emerged from the dark
He will smile over my shoulder
As I weave these words of pain
For when I rise a legend
He will taste pride as sweet as sugar cane

Owls

Bruised clouds haunt us now
They thunder through our veins
The snares splice us open
Our blood has turned to rain
We try to stay together
These gypsies we've become
But trekking through the ruthlessness
We disappear one by one
Voices slowly trail off
Into the rabbit hole
Every bridge we come across
Is being dismantled by trolls
The trees only offer fruit
Laced with cyanide
And the ache of your memory
Is all that reminds us we're alive
The owls offer no wisdom
They hiss and gnash their teeth
They carve epitaphs into our flesh
At night, when we're asleep
Horseflies swarm around them
Lured by the stench in their jaw
Damn these sadistic beacons
That deny home and forbid Oz
They pepper the sky above us
Like the geese in the Fall
Yellowed eyes with molting wings
Circle like starving vultures now

53132

They finally ran me out of town
All these piranhas in the streets
Since the first day on the school bus
They've been nipping at my feet
Drawing blood with their words
Leaving scars with their stares
I can't be somebody else
And I can't fit in here

The children spit upon me
And the parents turned their heads
What could the loss of her mean
She doesn't match our steps
They made me dance with demons
That's why I sing this way
You might want me gone
But Franklin, I don't want to stay

Keep your houses on the hill
Keep your winning football team
With every day that passes
I lose respect for this scene
All you pretty people
And all your stagnant ways
Like the darkness to the sunset
You chase all the color away

I'll pack my bags quietly
And drive towards the East
Bruised from all your visions
Of what I'm supposed to be
What is it you fear so much
What don't you understand
You'd rather clip a rare bird's wings
Than to see it fly from your hands