Draw, step, stride,
with confidence and pride.
Oh hero, divinity,
best of humanity.
Your pain at length
forged into strength;
you’ve conquered your rage
to take center stage.
And even when you lose your clashes,
you rise from the ashes,
returning to the field,
and refusing to yield.
And in the wake of your blade,
your sorrows are unmade.
My body’s my own,
it belongs to no other.
I’ll decide how I’m known:
sister or brother.
When you get to know me better,
you’ll find it’s not that hard.
I’m more than a letter
on a laminated card.
I’m more than my hair,
my figure, or clothes.
And it may not sound fair,
but I chose what I chose.
So when we meet, please be kind;
respect what’s in my heart and my mind.
Love is complex –
it’s rarely simple;
it’s more than a reflex
to a flattering dimple.
It’s not a science,
no matter what they say.
When they’d predict compliance,
their subjects gainsay.
It is a feeling,
but that word falls short
of how love leaves you reeling
from its fierce retorts.
Perhaps love is a force:
unstoppable, immovable, and without remorse.
Searching the sky,
looking for clues,
and wondering why
no one answers you.
You scream and you shout,
but the clouds just don’t care;
they flutter about,
and give bored gray stares.
So you turn away,
and retreat inside,
perhaps to pray,
or perhaps to hide.
But your problems don’t wait at the door –
they follow you in to trouble you more.
I can feel the spirit;
listen – can you hear it
singing in the breeze,
and whistling through the trees?
The breath of life,
untouched by strife:
a sunlight without shade,
a great sorrow unmade.
Resonating within my heart,
bringing into tune each part
of the greater symphony
lying dormant within me.
Bringing forth at last the song
that’s dwelled within me all along.
I hate the color of your skin,
and the contours of your face.
My God calls them a sin,
and my pride, a disgrace.
You murdered my brother;
you’ll reap the whirlwinds.
I’ll take away your father,
your family, and friends.
I’ll find those you hold dear,
and set them all ablaze,
and the last thing they will hear
is me laughing through the haze.
And finally, for my own mirth,
I’ll even salt the very earth.
I feel as though
I don’t belong
for long ago
I lost the song.
I used to hear
it blow through my soul;
I held it dear
and now there’s this hole.
The silence bears down
with the weight of an age
and I’m starting to drown
in the pain and the rage.
And now I’ve paid a heavy cost
in scars searching for salvation lost.
Check out my first YouTube video – Paladin.
Please let me know what you think.
In the heart of the night
when things seem most stark,
don’t give up the fight,
and face down the dark.
I know you feel weak,
like you’ve already lost,
but standing there meek
carries too great a cost.
Courage doesn’t stand
in the absence of fear;
it’s what you hold in your hand
when your terrors are near.
So stand at the ready, prepared for war
and give all your nightmares a proper what for.
If I had just one wish
to cast into the fountain
at the heart of the mountain,
I would ask for a kiss.
If I had just one chance
to have you in my life,
mayhaps as my wife,
I’d wish for romance.
But as I stand at the edge,
I’m troubled by a fear.
If it’s not your honest pledge,
will I really be your dear?
Sighingly, I choose to return
and spend that coin on love I’ve earned.
A (wise) man of two faces 