faith and determination

I was standing at the corner of
faith and determination
when I saw the ruckus
at the scene of the crime
I've never been too good at
small chat and conversation
but if you're buying the whiskey
then I guess I've got time

if I wait here long enough

if I wait here long enough
the stoplight is bound to turn green
I will focus my sight 
on Saturday night
with my foot on the gasoline
I will dream of women and whiskey
and everything else in between
if I wait here long enough
the stoplight is bound to turn green

if I hope hard enough
something will someday come through
I've tried holding my breath 
but I failed the test
and I can't figure out what to do
my problem with looking for answers
is insisting on something that's true
if I hope hard enough
something will someday come through

         

imagination

sometimes I look
at a blank empty canvas
and imagine a painting
even though I don't paint
it's got colors of shadows
and echoes of dreams
I think it's beautiful
even if it ain't

          my imagination
          knows what it should see
          I don't need an investigation
          to explain myself to me

sometimes I hear
a voice in the silence
and somehow I know
the melody by heart
if you leave me alone
I can cut out the static
the sound that's left
is my signal to start

          my imagination
          knows what it should see
          I don't need an investigation
          to explain myself to me          

someday I will be happy again (rewrite 3)

someday I will be happy again

I don't know just how or where or when

all I know is I'm working for

the day when pain can be ignored

and I won't have to try to pretend

someday I will be happy again

someday I'll walk outside my door

not knowing where I'm heading for

put the key in the ignition

never asking for permission

and the rear view mirror shows a friend

someday I will be happy again

someday I won't feel broken inside

from all the voices telling me lies

one day I'll be breathing free

exactly like I'm supposed to be

and I know my grieving heart will mend

someday I will be happy again

someday I will be happy again

I don't know just how or where or when

I won't feel that it's a sin

occupying my own skin

like the strongest oak, I'll learn to bend

someday I will be happy again

someday I will be happy again

present

there is no time
like the present
which is fine
except it's so damn unmovable

world ends

when the world ends
it will come in the form of an email
informing us
that all we have done
all the love that we had
all the hope in our hearts
they were not enough

no mercy

I could have been a good person
but life treated me bad
troubles and tribulations were
the only family I had
they raised me as an orphan
whose reason was to serve
I learned with every beating
it was all that I deserved

          there is no mercy
          for a man like me
          I've prayed to Jesus
          to set me free
          I've stood in the fire
          but I can't forget what I've seen
          there is no mercy
          there is no mercy
          for a man like me