Chelsea Road

all these shining faces
turn me inside out..
there are rules unsaid
that seem carved into stone
that sink into our bones
and render us immune
to the choices that we make...

we all have our heroes
as living proof
that there exists a place
ethereal but alive
where your wildest dreams reside
waiting to come true...

as I fight through the collisions in my mind
I come upon a which-way sign
in a struggle for control
my heavy head in overload
I put the pedal to the floor
and head down Chelsea Road...

Chelsea Road...

in a picturesque escape
I find my chance to take...

down Chelsea Road...

don’t lock yourself away
there is freedom sitting idle
in every breath you take
and potential
to ache for something real
burning in your veins...

Chelsea Road...

Long Goodbye

it’s the same idea pulsing through my veins
with no mind left to change
I stand before you
for what could be the last time
with the hope that we might finally fall in stride...

it’s been three years running
and we’ve kept just out of reach
of all that we could be..
well, if love is real I want to feel it for the last time
and I know you’re scared, but darling it’s all right...

so Mary please don’t run and hide
the city lights are well within our sights
and there’s still time...

in the dying light of the sinking sun
the stage is set to make this world our own..
if you’re waiting on a fairy tale romance
we just might last, but this is your last chance...

because I’m leaving now
with you or without
beyond the shade of doubt...
in the thrill of this moment
won’t you let your heart run free?
with the yearning soul
of rock and roll
we’ll step into our dreams...

open up your eyes
there are points within our lives
to lay it all on the line...

look into my eyes
taste the truth behind your tears
face the wrath inside your fears
and step up to the line...

there’s still time...

I want to swallow the reasons
that keep me set in stone
and sheltered from the storm..
I want to delve into the scattered depths of sound
and set to flames the reins that hold me down...

and if I should hesitate
won’t you see me through..
it’s such a Long Goodbye from me to you...

...farewell

waking up beside myself I try not to go back
but you've consumed all the senses that I have..
all good things must fade
yet your memory remains
and beauty still can't say enough for you...

hope has been forgone
and honey, there's just one thing left to say...

knowing we're not right can't change the way I feel inside
you'll always be angelic through my eyes..
cut your life in two
and to yourselves be true
this decision was made because of you...

hope has been forgone
and honey, there's just one thing left to say...

pictures of the past
shuffle endlessly inside my head
drops of sunlight slip into your eyes
and the iris is no longer in disguise
the little things that keep you close
are the memories that plague me most...

for you I could try to change
but I fear that this may be the only way
for within the fondest depths of my brain
a pair of blue iris is forever ingrained...

all the love undying that I gave for you to hold
has laid to rest within my hardened soul
it's the passion that I need to breathe
that puts you out of reach..
silence seems my only remedy
what a tragedy it is
for love to stand still
I'm waiting still for time to take my side...

all my hope has been forgone
and honey, there's just one thing left to say...

The Perfect Song

Amy, hold that look
of reverence in your eyes
I've forgotten how I tear you up inside..
through all we know
it's a game we can't control
I only come together when you fall apart..
it's become a burden not to hold you
to hold you in my arms
your falling prey to loneliness has allayed
all my dismay..
here I am
with nothing greater to attain
every wave that fills the ocean's finally found
its place to break...

and I feel like The Perfect Song
falling to my knees
in solemn ecstasy..
forsaking reason
I find myself undone
swallowed by the daunting pleas
that shape your fallacy..
the reflection in your eyes
was all I ever wanted to see
myself to be
if only time could wait for me...

if I could place this scene in a big glass case
untouched by the reaching ruins of change..
if only time could wait for me...

what's happened to reality...

where have you gone
Perfect Song?
all the subtleties of disarray
have come together once again
to scream out the silence
of an ordinary day...

And This Is Love

here I stand
lost and found again
waiting for the words to fall
black and white
as your picture set against the wall..
and when the colors come to fade
I make out your face
through the haze..
a melodic beauty
to set my thoughts in place...

it's all so surreal
in the eye of the storm
in a battle against unseen hands
that pull you close and push you back again..
and within the blinding blaze
of your emerald gaze
I begin to realize
with every turning page
you're all I need to fill the empty space...

Light spills in my eyes
   from its place beyond the sky
Outside all the lines
   you slowly slide your hand in mine
Visions of our untouched lives
   in a paradise so sublime flash inside my mind
Eternally in time
   locked within the perfect rhyme...

And This Is Love.

the timing that eluded you and me
falls wingless at our feet..
without you I am less
than I think I need to be..
and in my final line I see
in you I am complete...

And This Is Love.

No More Turning Away

he holds onto life with no place to go
reaching out each day for something to hold
his empty hands fall from the weight of the world
he dreams to one day walk the road back home...

but his life is no longer his own
and his right to breathe keeps him alone
as he opens his eyes on one more day...

he's learned to find a way to hide his shame
calling on his fellow man to open up his hands
the looks of contempt he sees bring him to his knees
he sinks into a debt he won't forget...

but still he tries to smile at what's real
and denies how meaningless he feels
as he opens his eyes on another day...

before you walk past another helpless soul
acknowledge your place among the fortunate ones
if only for a moment sacrifice your pride
for the sanctity of mankind...

is there hope for a change to start..
or a home for compassion in our hearts?
I pray for No More Turning Away...

Lifeline

drifting with the tide
letting go of the ties that bind
the memories of his faded past
and his present state of mind..
the waves rise up to wash away
the hollowed echoes of his youth..
will he relinquish the love he saves?
the waters reflect a need for change..
as the shore sinks beneath the horizon
he turns toward the rising sun...

and he breaks with the day
holding to his Lifeline
to navigate the way..
and the need to leave it all behind
is the consequence of knowing
there must be something more
in the sands of another distant shore...

the tortuous journey of a man forlorn
anchored by his idleness..
resolute to the task at hand
onward forth..
to his own end...

as he nears the point of no return
he struggles for a reason
to linger in his world
but he veers to face his fears
and holds fast to his Lifeline
in his glory and his pain
to lead him onward through the day...

Ever and After

in the dying hours of our younger days
our lives intertwined in a vital rage
as our innocence carved out our fate..
with reeling desire we set out to live the dreams we raised...

we’d walk through the dark down streets so warm
and offer up our naked thoughts
for the other to cradle and shape to form
within the budding rapture of the lives we wrought...

in the darkness of each other’s hearts
we found a place for creating more
than just one of us could ever hope for
to take us from the bounds
of that lonely town...

the waning world was ours to change
a slow-motion wave crashing to its wake
and in the sullen essence of the songs we sang
we understood that everyone could use just a little rain...

no matter how badly I hurt inside
I took solace in knowing you’d be there by my side
with pain that was twice my size
Ever and After you’d be
the only one who really knew me...

standing in my place
I saw you start to change..
and in the shadow of your hero
your face lit up the stage..
and so I braced myself for what I knew
to be true...

in the twilight I walk these streets alone
my eyes to the sky as I carry on
but as lonesome as I go
I never thought you’d leave me on my own...

Beginning of the Rest

between the ends of any lifespan
therein lies a series of steps to withstand..
as I wait for a safe place to land
it's like the cards of fate
are bearing your weight
and you've one last chance to cash in on this hand...

with eyes that sparkle as pearls in the sea
you're the reason I consciously dream...
and it may be I'm in love with tragedy
but this distance could be all we need...

am I helpless once again..
can a story begin to no end..
on the edge of reality
could this be
the Beginning of the Rest…?

as the pink sky recedes back into the east
has true love planted its seed?
surely, I will let myself bleed
if the answers take their time to concede...

now I'll leave the rest unsaid
in hopes of a time to share
around the bend...