Melodies and Maladies

I've walked upon my own Damascus road, Where a man, chiefest of sinners all was I. Upon my way to kill, and maim, and judge, myself as much as any I decried. I've been the worst of sinners, still I am. A man without a path or light to guide. I'd brought my blade down 'pon so many men myself as much as any I decried. I've faced the trumpet call of my own anger I've murdered, killed, raped and stole, and lied. I'd given up on oh so many people, myself as much as any I decried. I was visited by the mirror of transgressions, On my Damascus Road, I was, alone, made blind. Shown that I was chiefest of all sinners, myself as much as any I decried. God, in my belief help my disbelief For the chiefest of all sinners, still am I. Free soul from the burden flesh still carries myself as much as any I decried.

At the curving of the riverbend she lay, In a field of roses gilded by the sun. Her only movement, the soft lifting of her breast Under silken fabric royal as the plum. Hair darker than the soil 'pon which blooms swayed, Eyes closed but beaming bluer than the stream by which she lay, Skin paler than the clouds that passed above. Oh, a bloom was she herself whom I did love. She turned to me and slowly lids did part, Like the tide pulling away from those blue shores. A smile crept chasm wide 'tween porcelain cheeks. A beauty the world had never seen before. The distance 'tween us only stretched on further, With every step I took forth towards my rose. For I was not deserving of her touch, And though she reached for me, I could not come close. The field of gilded roses only widened Their blooms a yellow chest holding my heart, And as the tide of roses did consume her I drowned within the space kept us apart.

Time is the bars of entrapment, Claustrophobia between now and then. There is no need for escaping the moment, Lest stuck 'tween what will be and what's been. There's no breath to be taken that's not happened, For what's not happened yet doesn't exist. More focused on then than the present, On what has been or hasn't been missed. "Then" is the past and the future "I'll do it then" or "I should have done then". But the truth is you're stuck b'yond the moment. Worried less about "now" and more "when". If time is a prison, we're in it The past and the future a lens. But I'd rather be stuck in a moment Than speaking in another tense.

Bury her above me, three feet deep. So my faith can take us both into the sky. When I go I don't want to go without her So when I'm called let me be the reason that she flies Bury her above me in her coffin That way when I'm pulled up she's pulled up too 'Cause heaven is a lesser place without her And my soul without her'd know naught what to do Bury her three feet deep no further So when I'm called by Jesus, he will see Then say "I called you, only and no one other" And he'd wonder why I brought my wife with me. "'Cause they buried her above me in her coffin. Just as I had asked them 'fore I went. My faith was enough to lift us both. Returning to heaven what they sent."

There were times when you were wondering how you'd make it. No, you weren't - you were sure you never would. You'd scratched and clawed straight to the edge, Of a cliffside - then you wondered if you should. There were times when death was knocking at your doorstep. No, he wasn't - you'd already let him in. I've been there, in the darkness and the despair, Every noose looked like my one and only friend. There were times when you would message me in panic, No, you didn't - not panic but sheer desperation. You'd lost everything and more as days went on, Fighting a war and losing by total devastation. Then today you said you're crying out of joy. No, you couldn't - Not after all the grief you fought. I saw you at your lowest and most broken, When the devil, cancer, loss, and more were brought. I'd heard you say "I'm finished, I can't do it." No, you couldn't be the same man from before... The one who'd given up on God and self. And now you're up and praying to the Lord? "Come out, Lazarus," said Jesus, and out walked the dead. No, he couldn't - that's a mythos or a story. But here you are "oh, Lazarus" arisen. Out from the dark to give God all the Glory