






|

Section I
Section II
Section III
Section IV
Section V
Section VI
These are all poems I wrote in Japan. "At a Place" was the first one, which I wrote in my first host family's home, which was not a fun experience. Most of the rest were written during free time at school, whether it was in the library or during class. I wrote many of them with tunes in mind, and hoped one day to turn them into songs. So far I have turned "At a Place Between Here and There," "The Ocean Song,""Music," "Sakura and Scotch," "Colors," "Rusty Fields," "Light and Motion," "I'm the One You Can't Hear," and "The Sway of the Pines" into songs, some of which are availible for download. I have not yet recorded ones that are not availible for download, but if enough people like whats there, I'll get off my ass and record some more.
At a Place Between Here and There
Sun Burned Lawns
A Tune Better Hummed (or if you see Kay)
Late Nights and Money
The Ocean Song
Inner Peace, Outer Rage
Song of a Flower
Music
A “Conflict” For The Ages
Sakura and Scotch
Several Haiku by Which to Ponder the Wonders of Water Reflecting the Sun’s Rays (in chronological order)
I’m the One You Can’t Hear
Colors
Rusty Fields
Frightened Only by the Uncertain Inevitability
Floating Cars in a Dark Ally Waited Nervously
Lilacs
Light and Motion
The Sway of the Pines
At a Place Between Here and There-
When the storm breaks through
The roof will come crashing down
The rain will flow in; I’ll try to swim up
But I can’t figure where to begin
I just want to sleep now
And tomorrow may be better
Because here I know love, here I know time
Here I can spin 10 pennies from a dime
The man holding his watch is smiling
The people watching him are crying
And the one standing on the bridge that spans between the two
Is dying
You’re train carried me across the waters
Only to find there was nothing but the same on the other side
So I swam back across and still to this day
I sit and draw pictures down by that bay
I hope on my grave they won’t just write “young”
To everything a shade of blue
As I write as I sleep
I will not come back to you
Top
Sun Burned Lawns-
In a dark lit alley in the city
The hypnotic glow of neon lights
A girl skips to be pretty
In the dark of city nights
Walk through the tavern door
And take a hard look at the scene
But it’s just as it was before
Nobody wants to be seen
Stagger back to your castle
Standing tall in the clouds
If it’s not too much of a hassle
Please try not to be loud
Off a dirt road too close to the city
The wondrous glow of the moon
In a back yard a girl begs for pity
But her father had come home too soon
Walk through the tavern door
And take a hard look at the scene
But it’s just as it was before
Nobody wants to be seen
Stagger back to your castle
Where a forest once grew
If it’s not too much of a hassle
Your lawn reminds me of you
Top
A Tune Better Hummed (or if you see Kay)
Listen my child and you shall hear
In my mind I quench that with fear
Are you going? Are you coming?
Rest assured I’m only humming
Founders of things to be torn down
Open your heart and let in the sound
Opaque as you only thought you were
Listing all the problems you have with her
Jackass jabbed me in my back
Elephants float by in packs
Really wish it weren’t a knife
Kings can have whatever life
Have you looked inside the package?
Are you just gonna leave the wreckage?
Tip your bartender; he’s stuck with you
Eclipse this ellipsis it’s just not true
Lizards of men manifest in line
Intent on the invasion of mind
Are you going? Are you coming?
Rest assured I’m only humming
Top
Late Nights and Money-
Up a carpeted staircase from a building
Straight out of 2086
Lies a sanctuary to those who wait
For a hole in their soul to fix
You sing and you dance
With people you do not know
You laugh and you drink
And you don’t need to think
Just watching the garden grow
Small smoky rooms filled with laughter and song
Flashing bright lights
Knowing at home they’re waiting by the phone
I want to party all night
I wonder if this little smoky room
Could maybe dry up his tears
It sure would help in this
Land of the rising fears
The air is cold, but the people are getting warm
You sing and you dance
With people you do not know
You laugh and you drink
And you don’t need to think
Just watching the garden grow
A little girl I once knew from my childhood
I though I saw
In restless dreams a thousand seems
There is no law
Top
The Ocean Song-
Streams on a mountain
Green life flourishes up high
Cool breeze, summer air
The dying ask for water
Because they know it brings life
Tranquil streams over waterfalls
Become raging rivers of strife
That flow and build
And may fall again
Until they reach
Where they began
Vast boundless oceans
Sanctuary to lonely
Lost in the unknown
The dying ask for water
Because it cleans away strife
Been in the ocean for awhile
Time to move on with life
And the sun, the pretty sun
Pries from the safe ocean
Reminds you what it’s like
Fills you with emotion
Streams on a mountain
Green life flourishes up high
Cool breeze, summer air
Top
Inner Peace, Outer Rage-
Robots weep on a charred hill
Remembering what could have been
One of them takes a book like a pill
Numbing the cold within
Thinking the pain had been cleansed away
He forced the others to try
All of them slept, day by day
And when they woke up they’d died
Over the lake I cast my stare
They watch from behind but I don’t care
Once I asked the sky—did we think we could lie?
Brothers against brothers—taking away all I had prized
Many years later a soul awoke
The echoes rumbled over the crowd
The heart of the world had been shaken
For his voice had been loud
A band of ignorance began to follow him
But to his brothers he said no
Up to the lies you must stand
But stand up you must alone
They dispersed and went about their lives
Remembering what had been said
My hope is sincerely that you won’t
See any with lies covering their heads
Over the lake I cast my stare
They watch from behind but I don’t care
Once I asked the sky—did we think we could lie?
Brothers against brothers—taking away all I had prized
Top
Song of a Flower-
I see a flower reaching up
Through a crack in the street
Just content to be, oh little life
You look happy to greet
Blue pedals whisper to me
My song please forget never
Blossom through snow may thou
Bloom and grow forever
The wind blew hard
And the rain fell violently
But the flower stood strong
And took what had come, ever so silently
But the winter had been too harsh
And by spring’s first day
Where a flower once stood
There was only a child at play
I woke up one day
And scolded the child
Remembering only my flower
That was a mistake
For the child knew as I
And together we wept for an hour
And still to this day
I sit down by the bay
Singing the song of a flower
Top
Music-
Listen children and you will sing
The song of a thousand silent wings
Flying to a place we can only hear
Open your eyes teen and you will listen
To a world of lies that will have you wishing
For a castle in the sky that makes us whole
Built on the emotions of a thousand souls
Open up your hearts people and you will hear
A thousand joys
A thousand tears
An emotion called hate
No, an emotion called fear
But love is near
Love is here
Top
A “Conflict” For The Ages-
Sage brush, dirt and rocks
A carved out river gorge
Sit and enjoy the fresh air
Watching the ants forage
Your mind asks what you’re doing
Your heart says just walking around
Enjoying the day, far away
Listening to no sound
Then a violent tremor begins
The ground shakes and splits
Soldiers pour from underneath
In bunkers the enemy sits
That’s when the fighting begins
It looks the government had you all along
Explosions and screams erupt on the scene
Suddenly you’re facing a gun
He pulls the trigger without any
Second thoughts
Suddenly your back, as it was before
The battle in your mind was fought
You’re anger comes out loud
Because even here you see
From the foraging ant’s mistakes
You still are not free
Top
Sakura and Scotch-
A leafless branch floats gently
On a surface as serene as her beauty
Long since left has her leafs
And joined the ground behind my feet
A guitar strikes a chord
Man I wish I was bored
Then there’d always be time
To keep you inside of my mind
I’ve got a secret that’s true
And I’ll tell it only to you
If everything happens for a reason
Changed why hasn’t the season?
The snowflake lands on my nose
Right in front of my eyes
Still I stare at the water
The water shows me the skies
I got high but that’s ok
It wisps the bad spirits away
Nothing wrong with once in a while
It keeps me free from denial
A leafless branch floats gently
On a surface as serene as her beauty
Long since left has her leafs
And joined the ground behind my feet
City streets and shady trees
Light of a sunset shines on me
Tall buildings, lights on chilly nights
I understand now, I’ve seen enough sights
The words keep flowing from my pen
I don’t really know who, or what, I am
A leafless branch floats gently
On a surface as serene as her beauty
Long since left has her leafs
And joined the ground behind my feet
Top
Several Haiku by Which to Ponder the Wonders of Water Reflecting the Sun’s Rays (in chronological order)-
The east winds blowing
Snowy pines on a mountain
A cold cave inside
Sunset o’er mountains
Doors that open but won’t close
Green by which I lay
Crisp of leafs in fall
The peace of beauty in spring
Rains are here today
Pink blossoms for thought
The asphalt steams after rain
Windy, grassy hills
Shady, grassy hills
A fox yawns as he stretches
Greets morn with a smile
Top
I’m the One You Can’t Hear-
Listen to the flight of a dove
Signing a song about love
I feel like I’ve been here before
Please open the back door
Let a light breeze through here
Let it light up my fears
If a spider is scaling the wall
I’ll take care to make sure he won’t fall
I’m the one you can’t hear
Filling the sounds without tear
Drowned out by those who know fear
But still I’d like to stay near
He planted a seed that never grew
He fed it with hollow cries from you
Dancing around a pond of fears
He died ‘cause he drowned in tears
Playing my guitar without strings
Playing a silence that stings
I’m the one you can’t hear
Just a void in your ear
Blown-out speakers that wait
For those who stayed out too late
Top
Colors-
The flashing colors in front of me
Define who I am and who I should be
I fly up this spectrum of light
Only to find that white was too bright
So I fall and on my way
I thought I heard you say
Run on
Colors got me everything
Colors ride an endless ring
In the land of colors, no one in king
Colors taught me how to sing
All these things outside my head
Pounding on, making me dread
I close my eyes, only to find
The colors are enough to make me go blind
If I’ve died once then I’ve died twice
I cannot see though these lies
If I were a color I’d be
The color of the soul of a tree
Colors got me everything
Colors wear a diamond ring
In the land of colors, reflection is king
Colors taught me how to sing
Top
Rusty Fields-
Hardwood floors and concrete walls
Circling around my feet
Green trees, fog and mountain halls
So this is where we meet
All this projected in my brain
From a basement radio signal
I can’t feel your blindness or pain
I’m numb enough to crumble
Light shines on moss
Just like it shines on me
Endless caverns deep underground
All of this to be
Oh, rusty wheels
Oh, golden fields
Wooden boxes on west-bound trains
Leaving tracks of steel
Listen hard on country lanes
This is how I feel
Asphalt lots at an industrial site
Factories of steel
The streets are warm this time of night
This is how I feel
Oh, rusty fields
Oh, golden wheels
Top
Frightened Only by the Uncertain Inevitability-
Restless streetlights shine through rain
This car’s headlights search in vain
It lightnings once, but it thunders twice
One for the fire and one for the ice
Standing in line to run away
Run and run ‘till yesterday
Pick up a ticket and drop off a frown
For this I’ve been looking all over town
Restless streetlights search in vain
This car’s headlights shine through rain
It thunders once, but lightnings twice
One for the fire and one for the ice
I’ll take this ticket and show you what to do
I’m gonna take this ticket and tear it in two
Not gonna let this shit get to me
Gonna give it all up and run on free
Top
Floating Cars in a Dark Ally Waited Nervously-
A city of the future, or was it today
High in the clouds
Floats above the desert
I work until nine
It’s always dark down here
Listen to the chatter above
And see sadness below
Locked up in fear
Emotionless for years
Fog in a chain link fence cold air tires to spare
Darker than a trash bag harder than a sandbag holding back a flood of despair
Close your eyes, your body’s covered in pins and needles don’t make a move
Open up your eyes your body’s covered in lies
A city of the future, or was it today
High in the clouds
Floats above the desert
I work until nine
It’s always dark down here
Listen to the chatter above
And see sadness below
Locked up in fear
Emotionless for years
The moon is rising and I’m capsizing not realizing why
I have listened and my heart’s wishing no matter I still can’t cry
Anywhere I go I can’t get the plant to grow
This is where my ends meet underneath a night street
Gone in a heart beat
A city of the future
Or was it today
High in the clouds
Floats above the desert
I work until nine
Its always dark down here
Listen to the chatter above
And see sadness below
Locked up in fear
Emotionless for years
Top
Lilacs-
Every spring the lilacs will bloom
Light purple and green reminds I’ll be home soon
The rains will fall, the quails will call
It feels all in all, it’s been a lifetime since fall
No matter how cold you get
No matter how alone I sit
No matter how deep we’ll swim
There’ll always be time to begin
Toss a penny in a pond of thoughts
Need a few? I’ve got lots
In one sense I want to move away
But I got no place better to stay
Still on black ice I slip
And stand up with bleeding lip
This heat is too much to bear
Damnit, it’s only fair
She’ll harden you’re heart with that stare
And that’s when it all starts to tear
Every spring the lilacs will bloom
Light purple and green reminds I’ll be home soon
No matter how cold you get
No matter how alone I sit
No matter how deep we’ll swim
There’ll always be time to begin
Every spring the lilacs will bloom
Top
Light and Motion-
Running down a dark narrow tunnel
Deep beneath the ground
The space around me is going faster
But the world slows down
Two tones playing in my head
They keep me on the run
Grey and blue are flowing through me
Like the restless heart of the sun
Backwards, awkward, brokenly
Black light starts to say
Upside, downside, sideways on walls
A distorted cosmic ray
The forest starts to close the day
A word out to those who prey
All of her children are still at play
And a sunset lights the way
Two tones playing in my head
They keep me on the run
Grey and blue are flowing through me
Like the restless heart of the sun
Top
The Sway of the Pines-
The cool autumn breeze caught me falling
The rays through the trees caught me crying
I lie down to rest
But that’s not for the best
Think I’ll walk on and on
All the memories of things to come
Flying, come back to me
Not many places for a dreamer these days
But I think I’ve found a place I can stay
The sway of the pines on a cool autumn day
Quells my restless soul
The pictures I’d drawn—down by the bay
The colors bleed on and on
Top
|
|