Second World

I wouldn't have to whine
if the sun would only shine.
But I guess that it does
pretty much all of the time.
That lucky old sun
just keeps rolling around,
so I guess it's the clouds
that are getting us down.
We think, "If I were homeless,
I could spend more time outside."
Okay, maybe we don't think that,
but we think along those lines.
If only, if only,
we didn't have to strive
as if it's such a chore
just being here, alive.
We're sick of first world stressors
but we don't want third world strife.
Is there a second world that's just right?
Or do we need a second life?

More Less

I need to write more poems again.
I miss the way my brain worked then.
I also need to play more songs,
design more websites, right more wrongs,
find more clients, make more cash,
do more with my craft-stuff stash,
speak more Spanish, read more books,
spend time proving I can cook,
make more friends, call friends more,
do more with my Etsy store,
give my toddler more of me,
be the best that I can be,
yes, the very, very best–
okay, so what should I do less?

Give and Take For Heaven's Sake

How blessed I am to give,
how wonderful you can take.
I'm just glad someone can use
these things for heaven's sake.

It Would Have Been Easy

If I could have only seen
exactly what this year would bring
this would have been easy.
I could have locked myself behind a door
and written every poem beforehand.
It would have been easy.

But this hasn't been easy.
Have you seen how fast time passes?
And so now we have these glasses
but we still don't see twenty-twenty.
No, this hasn't been easy,
A year ago today
I sat just twenty paces away.
So I might not have gone far, but I have plenty.

If I could have known
what I would feel inside each poem
it would have been easy.
It would have felt more like a ride
and less like a black diamond
and it would have been easy.

If I had written every poem this past year
to publish them in the coming one,
I could have spaced them all out perfectly
but they never would have gotten done.
It would be just another idea I had
that never went either well or bad,
but only stale like a passing fad.
But it would have been easy.

And what if I had said "Enough!
Does anyone even read this stuff?"
It would have been easy.
But I had things to write about
just to breathe and get them out
because it wasn't easy.

No, this hasn't been easy.
Have you seen how fast time passes?
And so now we have these glasses
but we still don't see twenty-twenty.
No, this hasn't been easy,
A year ago today
I sat just twenty paces away.
So I might not have gone far, but I've done plenty.

Under Pressure

Let the pressure build,
let the pressure build,
let the pressure build!
I do my best work
under pressure.

Plan out what you would say if you only had the chance,
then waste your only chance.
And tell your self that no one ever listens,
no one ever listens to your silent rants.

Let the pressure build,
let the pressure build,
let the pressure build!
I do my best work
under pressure.

Make a list and check it zero times
until the day that everything is due.
And stay busy enough all that time before
to convince yourself that they did this to you.

Let the pressure build,
let the pressure build,
let the pressure build!
I do my best work
under pressure.

Scatter all your clothes across the floor
and stack all of your dishes in the sink
and christen it a cosmic cleaning party
when you finally clean it up so you can think.

Let the pressure build,
let the pressure build,
let the pressure build!
I do my best work
under pressure.

Find thirty books that you would like to read
and check them out yourself all at one time
and read them while you listen to an audiobook
like it's a race to fill up your whole mind.

Let the pressure build,
let the pressure build,
let the pressure build!
I do my best work
under pressure.

And someday take a break and just sit down

and think about how life has been so crazy.

And realize this has only been a warm-up

and now it's time to really be amazing.

Let the pressure build,
let the pressure build,
let the pressure build!
I do my best work
under pressure.

Heaven Forbid

Heaven forbid we share and feed.
People will think we're a charity.
Heaven forbid that word get out.
People will think that's what we're about.

Heaven forbid we give food away.
People might come, and then they might stay.
And helping them out would be really tough.
Even if they did tithe, it wouldn't be much.

Heaven forbid we go too far
If we open our hearts, while the door's ajar
a hundred people could walk in,
each with their issues, their needs and their sin.

Heaven forbid we give too much.
People would take advantage of us.
They'd always keep asking for more, more, more.
We might not have that much love in store.


When God lived as a human being,
word got out that he made the lame walk,
he fed the hungry, gave sight to the blind,
and people came to hear him talk.
But he didn't want people to say who he was
until he was just about ready to die.
You and I, at this church, are we ready to die?
If not, maybe we should go take down our sign.

Apricot

I saw the apricot fall.
It hit the dirt with a thud.
Now it sits on the ground
with dirt all around,
but it tastes so much better than mud.

Get to Work

Let's get to work, 

remembering

we get  to work.

Forgiving

Well there's no such thing as free,
free lunch, free love, free living.
There's a cost for everything…
and a God who is forgiving.

Trucks

There are trucks on this road,
lots and lots of trucks,
truck after truck on this road
and they all are filled with stuff
like food, machines, and soda pop
and mail and bales and things to shop.
And here we are between it all,
it's like we're at a mall or store.
Except when it's here on the road,
we'd never ask for more.

What is free today?

Today for free, there is a bed,
two chairs (one plaid, and one that's red),
a box full of computer parts,
someone who wants junk for art,
a TV shelf with dark green doors,
and tomorrow, there'll be more.

How Would I Write

If I set you to random
and told you to play
you'd sing to me
for twenty-two days.
So many songs
that I just might
need to hear.
But how would I write?