One King

One King
Stands atop a hill
Overlooking his kingdom
With a broken crown

Once a ruler
Of many subjects
Now he stands alone
But,

He would rather
Be the ruler
Of an empty kingdom
Than a subject
In a full one

Here he makes the laws
With no court or judge
No jury to hang
A private pile of riches
For the taking

He has his throne
He has his crown
No man can bring him down
They tried and failed
Still here he stands
He will rise again

A new crown shines
Life regrows
Atop a hill stands
One king

A Cinderella Story

A Cinderella Story

Prince Charming throws another dart at the board
Cinderella’s face smiles back
You wouldn’t recognize him
The silver armor is gone,
No steed awaits him
Just a black t-shirt and jeans
With a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips

He’d been to the tower,
Fought the dragon and rescued the princess;
And then she ran off with someone else
What a bitch.
A poison apple would have made a better end
He gave her everything,
She laughed in his face

He should have left her there,
Last time he made that mistake
Fool me once…
Princesses be damned
Welcome to the Prince’s Anonymous club

A last dart, the paper shreds
So Prince Charming leaves the bar
One step closer to the villain, than any hero
Thank you Cinderella
As if Prince Charmings weren’t already in short supply
There are enough villains here, without you adding to them
You’re no princess, just a witch in disguise
An enchantress with a dagger, poisoned with evil

He takes a drag on the sidewalk outside
And says one last thing before he walks away:
“Just Remember,
Be careful what you wish for,
Because you just might get it.
Don’t come crying to me,
When there’s no one there to rescue you.
You put yourself in your tower,
Pity won’t get you out.”

He straddles his bike, black smoke kicks up
The deep rumble of his menacing engine starts
He puts on his helmet, lifts his shield;
As he rides off he raises his finger in salute:
Here’s to your Happily Ever After.

Friendship

I would give you the world,
If I thought it would make you happy.
I would give you a song,
To make your soul sing.
I would hand you your dreams,
If I thought you would take them.
And lay down the stars of the sky at your feet,
To light your way.
But we were not meant to be a duet;
Rather two separate songs sung in harmony.
And so I will give you what you need to succeed,
Hope and courage, a hand.
I will sing you a song,
For you to hear with enjoyment.
We will celebrate the dreams you achieve,
and I will help you achieve them.
Your way will be lit,
By the streetlight that is our friendship.
And one day, when we're old,
We will look back and say:
What a wonderful thing it is,
To have a friend.

Rebel Child

Rebel Child

Rebel child, drown your pain
Down it trying to stay sane
Drink until there’s nothing left
Float on top, victorious
Above it all you reach out
Actions louder than words you shout

Rebel child, smoke in haze
Drift among the endless days
Forget the worries that plague your mind
Doing something to pass the time
No one watches, no one cares
On your own in the world out there

Rebel child, drive with speed
Insatiable, can’t fill the need
Sharp curves come, dead end ahead
But who would care if you were dead?

Rebel child, scream out loud
But no one hears one in the crowd
Seek and ye shall find it goes
In the darkness no one knows
A black filled with nothing here
The future is what most you fear

Rebel child, look for love
Maybe there’s someone up above
You cannot see, you build the wall
Let no one in, you cannot fall
Do not build up just to destroy
You life is not another's toy

Rebel child, actions we see
The person you were meant to be
If only you had turned away
Instead of whom you are today
A fortress built of stone and brick
Surrounded you are sick of it

Rebel child, bleed it out
You see the blood instead of shout
To feel the pain and feel alive
The only way you can survive
In your room you keep it in,
The chaos you feel from within
There’s no one there to speak it to
No one, it seems, cares about you

Rebel child, reach out a hand
Someone grab it, if you can
It is not easy nor is it fair
To fight alone in the world out there
But if they take a second to aid
A life, one person might have saved

Rebel child, so you go
Fallen down so very low
The news is out, look on page two
Another child dead, it’s you
Delinquent, bad, the label says
Another life we let fall dead
Society's new found trend
A rebel child till the end

The Waltz

The Waltz

One
Move together forward
Two bodies, one movement
Two minds, one intention
One dance, one joy

Two
Sideways, plateau
Two feet, two ways
Two souls, two desires
Two people, two goals

Three
Step back, retract
Three steps, going back
Three words
Three times, each failed

Four
Back again, the beginning
Four ways, one place
Four pains, two souls and two hearts
Bow and leave

Spin out, guide
A new partner, a new way

One
One desire, one hope
One dream, two ways
One outcome, one direction
One partner, two people

Two
Standing together, side by side
But separate
Two dancers, one dance
Two places, one room

Three
Back, return, cut in
Three wishes
Old partner, new chances
Same steps, same floor

Four
On and on, always the same
The music repeats
We leave it all to chance
Four steps, one choice

Bow
Leave or stay
The dance goes on

One Day

Oh that what I would give for a day
To see the bright colors of dawn pierce through the darkness
To feel the sun’s rosy fingers caress my skin with warmth
Hear hope spreading like whispers on morning breezes
And see dreams reflected on the newly fallen dew of life
Silence fills the cold air as the world awakens
Full of potential and promise
The sun’s rays peak and rise to show the world the truth

Warmth seeps through, that I could lay here for eternity
Basking in its glory and joy
Seeing all that surrounds in its splendor
Beauty that cannot be expressed
I need nothing more
One day I have to live
Frolicking through meadows and green pastures
Fertile land brings life forth with wildflowers
Birds sing their sweet songs
No cloud dares mar the sky in its wide expanse
My soul is home, happy, that all dreams are so easily fulfilled

What I would give to stay here
But already twilight creeps forth, bringing darkness
Reminding with fading light that all things must end
As dawn rose, so it fades, slowly
Reminding of promise and dreams, hope
To have seen the truth and its beauty
The sinking of the sun is magnificent, striking in its own way
There is beauty in sadness, warmth to the cold
For once you see the world, light is ever present
Even when the darkness rises I close my eyes and see
I can still feel the warmth, see the light
After dawn the world is never the same
Oh that what I would give for a day

city on fire

Leslie stood there, match in hand. She was cold and the newspaper promised to burn hot if she set it alight. The match stuck, hissing as it lit. She carefully arranged the papers and set them on fire. Flames jumped up, eager, greedy to consume and destroy. It warmed her hands. A spark flew but she ignored it, it was just some ash. Warmth began to creep though her body, but from behind. Leslie turned and saw flames eating the wooden crates that were piled against a wall. Oops. She couldn’t be caught here, the abandoned warehouse had no trespassing signs up and she had nothing to put the fire out. She grabbed the few things she had and left.
“Fire!” Leslie heard the shout and turned. The building had caught and flames were bursting out the windows, trying to lick the sky. Billows of black smoke consumed the blue leaving everything murky and clouded. Whatever, it was just some stupid warehouse; there was nothing and no one in it. The firefighters would put it out and that’d be the end of it. She stood there and watched the building burn. The heat was intense, caressing her skin, making her adrenaline run. She had done this, created this destruction. In some ways it was fascinating, exciting, and in others terrifying. Even in the face of this ruin there was some fascination. There was something about watching things being destroyed that stroked the curiosity and soul in her. Still there was no one to put it out, no sirens or flurry of activity. Leslie started to walk off, she didn’t want to be near here when someone did show up. As she turned an explosion of noise sounded from behind her. The first floor of the building had propane tanks that ignited. She had seen them and forgotten they were there. The force of the explosion had made the flames jump from the warehouse to the building next to it. The flames were already forcing their way into the crevasses, attacking any part that would willingly feed them.
As Leslie watched the flames began to move from one building to another, insatiable, impatient, uncontrollable. Slowly they engulfed everything right in front of her eyes. Now everyone was trying to put the flames out with buckets of water, hoses, whatever they could get. The city was burning. Her excitement turned to terror. Leslie ran to the nearest building and began throwing water onto it from an abandon bucket. People were running, escaping as fast as possible. A few stopped and told her to give up and go, get out. The destruction was too massive, leave it be. But she couldn’t and wouldn’t do that. This was her place, her city, her home and she would not stand by and leave it to die. Too late she realized she had to do something to save it and the flames would no longer obey her commands. She fought for what she loved, all to no avail.
Finally the heat was too much, the flames were everywhere, surrounding. Everyone had long fled if they could. Leslie had heard screams throughout the night of people who were trapped. Each one would haunt her memories. She dropped the bucket and ran. Most of the people had gone south to the river, but Leslie headed north to the hill that acted as an overlook. She stood there, alone and watched as everything she loved was taken away. Look at what such a little spark had created. So much devastation that had reaped great consequences for such a selfish action. Obliterated, annihilated, chaotic, and alone. Watching from the top of the hill Leslie saw the sky turn red as blood. Flames lit up the night sky, so bright, a beacon of destruction rather than hope; but there, calling all the same. The flames seemed to whisper her name, Leslie look at what you’ve done, they seemed to say, was this what you wanted? Tears flowed freely down her face as the full force of the cost hit her. The screams still sounded in her mind of the people that had been destroyed, everything that had been lost.
Half way through the night defining noises began coming from the city. The buildings were collapsing. The flames had incinerated everything inside each building, leaving nothing but a shell. Windows had been shattered out, columns of support were gone, and now there were nothing to hold the facades up. Each collapsed inward, on itself, letting the final devastation claim it. The rest of the night every building collapsed and was reduced to ashes. The dawn came, orange and red, with smoke fading into the horizon. The blaze had stopped sometime in the early hours of the morning, everything was smoldering, with softly glowing embers. Leslie walked down from the hill, into the ashes of the city, black soot covering her. The air was thick and heavy, almost suffocating. Debris were piled around, small objects twisted beyond recognition, mutated by the flames. One or two objects were still identifiable, and they caused more pain as they reminded of what used to be there. Walking through the streets Leslie heard shadows of laughter from children playing in the streets, and vendors shouting their wares. She had razed the city and there was no one else to blame.
Leslie walked to the very middle of town, where the courthouse used to be. There was no longer any building, no prison to hold her or judge to condemn her, no court to decide her fate. Her judgment and punishment would be to remember, to face what she had created and no jury could inflict greater penalty than that. She vowed, then and there, that she would not leave this place until she rebuilt it. Looking over the miles of barren and charred ground the prospect was not appealing. The amount of work and effort was daunting at best and almost hopeless in truth. It had taken mere hours to destroy but to build would take years. There would be those who would come back and help her, slowly, those that returned when it was done, and some who would never come back at all. Leslie kicked the ground, sending ash into the already ash filled air. As she was about to walk off she saw something out of the corner of her eye. A small flower somehow stood tall, green and vibrant. It was a sign of life and hope in the dark and devastation. Strength poured in her as she knew there was still something there, a reason to continue. She looked up and saw someone walking toward her and started toward them. A first step, a new beginning, a second chance.