Oh what I wouldn’t give to know
Just what truly lies behind those eyes
And exactly what you see
As you look out upon this world
How I’d die just to discover
All that ever shaped you
And molded you into the form
That captivates me so
I could spend a lifetime
Digging ever deeper
Into the soul that lies within you
And never tire of the journey
For the knowing would carry me
In untold directions
With you to stand beside me
I could be complete
The past has a habit of haunting me
Clinging to the corners of my brain
Reaching out to remind me
Of failures and frustrations
In my weakest moments
Like shadows of the days gone by
Regrets and mistakes given life
In dreams and darker memories
Stretching out through time and space
Tugging at me tightly
Trying to drag me back
So I may not move forward
Held down by how I fell apart
The chances that I blew and wasted
Scattered ashes of what came before
I can’t seem to look away from
The machine just keeps on moving
It’ll take you right along
As long as there’s something left
For it to feast and feed upon
Once you’ve outlived usefulness
Away they toss the empty shell
Scores of broken bodies trail
Along the edges of the road
And as the beast keeps slowing down
Running out of blood and bone
Those who still must stoke the coals
Struggling to find the fuel
The poor discarded, left behind
With all that they have left to cling to
Offer up their carcasses
Upon which the the system feeds
Bound to fail eventually
Once there’s nothing left to burn
The answer is I tried and failed
With everything in my power
Dedicated all I had
And just couldn’t get there
Gave up my all and sundry
For a chance to rise above
And came crashing back to earth
Must be where I belong
You’d think I’d know by now
The most important lesson
Even when you do your best
Sometimes your best is just not good enough
I thought I used to know you
But I barely knew myself
And knowing is a challenge
That can last a lifetime
How could I have known
What no one could see?
Trying to tell a story
From the middle of its pages
The answers still aren’t clear
But I can’t wait for clarity
You fade in and out
Your tale not mine to tell
I may have known you then
But this is another time and place
All I know now is me
And that which still surrounds me
This is going to hurt
But I’ll do it anyway
Looking for that thrill
Joys of the discovery
Another hit of that
Venomous emotion
Enough to get me through
Another lifeless day
Carry me above
Where the color’s fading
Saturate the world
With that poison pill
I know I’m gonna fall
And nothing lasts forever
But show me what I seek
So I may keep on moving
Your flames burn so brightly
I find myself melting at your feet
The pool I’ve left behind
threatens to extinguish
everything that lifts you up
onto this pedestal I’ve place you
All that I thought I could do
to ease and carry your burdens
instead brought you down closer
to the ground I’d hoped to help you clear
Destined for some greatness
that’s more than I could dream of
A farther flung trajectory
than the path I travel
Attempts to help you out
beyond our shared suffering
only held you further
under the darkness that surround
So go and leave me now
let me find my own way free
before the light you shine so free
is smothered by the clouds
that we both find ourselves under
They will pass, I know
but only with us separate
too far away to amplify
the struggles we both share
I don’t feel much like sharing
While the world burns down around me
And the people with the torches
Lead the angry mob
It’s hard to keep my head up
When the water’s getting deeper
And those with life preservers
Choose to jump in anyway
What am I supposed to do
Just keep on pushing forward?
The stubborn ones refuse to move
There’s no way to break through
They’ve left themselves divided
Ignoring all the laughter
Clinging to the empty words
As the puppet masters win