Out on the pier where I first believed
Sits a dream deferred, a soul bereaved.
The sun sinks alone and thaws in the sea.
The remains - bathed in dust - picked up by the breeze.

Reality bites hard
But you build a tougher skin
From the callouses

I must apologize -
For I am more comfortable with oceans between us
Than swimming in the waves of your attention.

I love from afar
Because it warrants much less pain
And keeps my wrists and ankles
Far from ball and chain.

Can't you see that I can't belong
To anyone but me?

Oh, stop your dribbling and your sniveling!
Ain't you ever seen a bitch before?
Yeah, this is what heartbreak feels like.
Been there, done that.

No, I don't have time to
"Talk it over"
or
"Work it out."

You keep flapping those lips,
You'll produce enough wind current for a sailboat.

The alarm's going off.
Time to grow up.

I had almost forgotten that I kept a shell -
To remind me
What sunsets felt like.

I kept it tucked away
And upon discovering it again,
I considered it.

With its ridges and its serrated edges
It cut through my consciousness
And chastised me

For taking it so far from its Belonging.

At the end of the day,
I sometimes feel as an empty shell
Hollowed, dried, and mislaid.

The Age of Not Believing

Vintage wisdom from Bedknobs and Broomsticks

When you rush around in hopeless circles
Searching ev'rywhere for something true
You're at the age of not believing
When all the "make believe" is through

When you set aside your childhood heroes
And your dreams are lost up on a shelf
You're at the age of not believing
And worst of all you doubt yourself

You're a castaway where no one hears you
On a barren isle in a lonely sea
Where did all the happy endings go?
Where can all the good times be?

You must face the age of not believing
Doubting ev'rything you ever knew
Until at last you start believing
There's something wonderful
Truly wonderful in you