The burden weighs a ton,

as gravity grants no aid,

but the show must go on;

let yourself rest, then splice the stride.

Paper over the solitude for thyself,

keeping up the appearances for the folk.

Feed them a line about the heart;

a phony-baloney talk of untold arc.

Blows freely

gale keenly

adrift upon an unseen tide

the right way around toward finale

In a better place 

we would get along

so chew the scenery lane

and walk to the end

Chained beyond sealed,

hold on like grim death.

An abundance of caution given,

indiscernible hedge against ego.

They put the world in hand, 

but absent-mindedly block the brain out.

So in the front-row you should sit,

as the road to hell is also paved with good intentions.

For every curtain twitch

I will hand you crickets 

I would rather die in the attempt

To get around to la-la land,

and have the gold collected,

the rite is to break your back,

and leave no stone unturned.

In a leap of faith from the visions

came along in your mind's eye;

nickel and dime as song and dance,

the actual slice of life is what it is. 

Hold it so tight,

don't let it slide.

Through your mere fingers

it may thus slip,

and to land on your feet

it is all you need.

For every corner you spare,

the crowded space brims

and there's no more inch to breath.

Either to shipshape the clutter

or pull up the stakes,

it's between the devil and the deep blue sea. 

They walk in flash,

as I pause in lull.

Admitting no hand lent in pinch;

my one-man band goes stag boldly.

In the thin air a nuisance banes,

clout colossally heard by the winds.

Outbreak the ache tangled at heart,

duty to heal embedded in your gut.

A while is brief, 

if you let it slip.

A while won't fleet,

if you let it grip.

Drop by drop the drizzle weeps,

as a piecemeal deed meant to expand.

Bit by bit the rainstorm waves,

as your battlefield successively flare.  

The sight stretched in boundless scene

upon this height beneath the sky.

All is tiny, paltry, and vague,

how long shall this bystander break?

Endless road full of pebbles,

yet carry on, no need to cease. 

Got this track recorded neatly,

in your vinyl spinning memory.

Turn here and there shape in no doubt;

once merely a shoot won't rest, but sprout.

The vault padlocked, 

the key tossed out.

floor and ceiling and nothing else.

To plead for a door would be far-fetched,

so I paint a window as an escapade. 

A box of presents came, 

along with my presence.

but despise the remains;

these are presents I have borne,

a weight staked into my bones.