Dark Battle Lines

The rain comes again today

Washing the world to shades of gray

Day after day, no change in sight

Forever mundane, no battles to fight

Fooled into thinking our lives are grand

Living in sync to the world's demands

Dying slowing in the guise of life

Killing ourselves with slavery's knife

If clarity come will we know what it means

Or will it be twisted by digital fiends

Missing the truth in honey sweet lies

Gasping for air as reality dies

The world around, rife with delusions

Hope decaying in lustful illusions

I must cut away my blinded eyes

To see our fast approaching demise

Though the war is won we still must fight

Or simply stop and welcome the night

The call has come, the road has split

Choose to battle or to evil submit

Father, Father

Father, Father, take my hand

Lead me out of this dying land

A beautiful gift that you gave

Now nothing more than an open grave

Father, Father, guide my path

So I escape your holy wrath

Corrupted by my favorite sin

Cleaned by strips on your skin

Father, Father, give me rest

On all sides I am pressed

I feel run ragged to the bone

When You are life, alone

Father, Father, give me sight

To see the broken in the night

Those so consumed with fear and pain

Under the enemies deadly reign

Father, Father, send me out

Showing truth to those who doubt

Not my strength or my will done

But the Power of the Firstborn Son

Your Love Will Last

(A rework of a poem I wrote before, this one is more accurate)

After the light falls from the sky

And the world's truth is revealed as a lie

While the mannequins walk away

And all our sins are plain as day

Your love will last until I die

After all regard for life is lost

And the souls of the masses are covered in frost

While my vision blurs in terror's haze

And my dreams are cast in a funeral blaze

Your love will last at any cost

When being true is a deadly crime

And the call of sweet darkness is sublime

While my safety means a slow decay

And smog chokes out the sun's last ray

Your love will last in shadow's time

Until all memory of peace has faded

And hearts of the leaders are fully jaded

While breaking ourselves to prove we're the same

And donning lies at the cost of our name

Your love will last unaided

Until nothing of happiness remains

And even the resistance is slapped in chains

While facing the fire and deaths embrace

With you next to me I can finish the race

Your love will last through all my pains

A Thousand Different Hues

Pains of a thousand different hues

Plight painting each and every pew

Coloring what we see with shades of red

Further harming the dying and dead

Betrayed by our fathers to slavery

Trading the pure for the unsavory

Cast out of the garden of fellowship

Forever altering our divine relationship

Vain pursuits toward man-made idols

Gladly accepting the Deceiver's bridle

Trying to steal the glory we lost

Buying our slavery our souls are the cost

Pains of a thousand different hues

Belongs to us in each and every pew

Coloring what we see with shades of blue

Ransoming sinner from the punishment due

Living for Christ, our souls he bought

Clothed in righteousness no plan or plot

Casting aside the shackles of despair

Praises of the Unmade I will always declare

Forever altering our divine relationship

Invited back into life-giving fellowship

Trading our rags for snow white and gold

Ransomed by blood, destroying sins hold

Panes of a thousand different hues

Light painting each and every pew

Coloring what we see with shades of green

Sharing the life and redemption foreseen

Just Fine

Rage and fury, noise and light

My jaw is set, ready to fight
The restraints of logic fail fast
It will be a release at long last

Stomach butterflies turned jet planes
Every thought a deadly bane

Preparing for battles that never arrive

A day unbound I can't contrive 

Teardrops away from losing control

Feeling so empty, no part of the whole

Longing for stars in the dead of night

Encased in stone no chance of flight

Exhausted to the point of pain

The ruin of a day around me lain

Going again to turbulent rest

To hope anew for new day's best

Advent

The days start to shorten

     and the darkness creeps in

Our hearts long for saving

     and the waiting begins

We enter this season

     with priorities all wrong

Beat down by the year

     so painful and long

So often it is said

     that hope spring eternal

But often it's forgotten

     in pursuing the external

But assured is this hope

     though we cannot yet see

It is certain and ensured

     by His death on the tree

Frequently this season

     is nothing more than a blur

But presence is a gift

     like frankincense and myrrh

Preparing our hearts

     should not be by chance

So that the manger

     receive more than a glance

Often passing delight

     is mistaken for joy

Craving the next thing

     it's all just a ploy

Though often it's missed

     joy itself is a gift

Through a future secure

     we are no longer adrift

If everyone were honest

     one would top the list

Most valuable is love

     giving a meaning to exist

It can sometimes be found

     in family and friend

But the true source

     no other can transcend

Christ is the focus

     the waiting is finished

Our souls are revived

     we can strive undiminished

Dispelled is the darkness

     and hope born anew

Our lives are ransomed

     God broke through

Picture borrowed from http://www.thevillagechurch.net/the-village-blog/the-season-of-advent/

Scarlet Moon

Blood sprayed on your porcelain face

Broken promises and ripped up lace

Watching over the world below

As friends and countrymen turn to foe

The streets run red from what divides

And disaster presses from every side

Safety fleas from hearth & home

Love forgotten from The Holy Tome

You with us in concert wait

For us to reach our final fate

Freed at last from groaning pain

Washed by blood not shed in vain

My Love Will Last

(Serious attempt at a poem based on a cheesy song)

After the light falls from the sky
And the world's truth is revealed as a lie
While the mannequins walk away
And all our sins are plain as day
My love will last until I die

After all regard for life is lost
And the souls of the masses are covered in frost
While my vision blurs in terror's haze
And my dreams are cast in a funeral blaze
My love will last at any cost

When being true is a deadly crime
And the call of sweet darkness is sublime
While my safety means a slow decay
And smog chokes out the sun's last ray
My love will last in shadow's time

Until all memory of peace has faded
And hearts of the leaders are fully jaded
While breaking ourselves to prove we're the same
And donning lies at the cost of our name
My love will last unaided

Until nothing of happiness remains
And even the resistance is slapped in chains
While facing the fire and deaths embrace
With you next to me I can finish the race
My love will last through all strains

Broken

Darkness fills this world to the seems

Nightmares are no longer the thing of dreams

The pain that it causes runs so deep

It looks like all light, away, has seeped

Each day more die for worthless pursuits

Hoping that violence will produce lasting fruits

Bullets rain down and hate takes wing

And we all start to learn why the caged bird sings

The lies we believe choke our reality

Isolating ourselves causing collective depravity

Broken people crumbling to dust

Consumed by gods of pride, envy, and lust

Hope is fleeing from terrors of the night

Looking for relief, but finding poisoned light

Vanguards killing those they protect

From labors of life and love they defect

Knees bloody and broken from hallow prayers

Seeking freedom from worldly affairs 

Beat down to the point of utter desperation 

But this total surrender might prevent damnation

A guide wading to us through the mire

Voice of rushing water, eye of fire

The darkness burns within his gaze

My tounge can't help but utter his praise

The blood he gave will give us life

Eternatly secure, but filled with strife

The flesh still writhes against my soul

But I know I am destined to be whole

Amber and Rust

Nature's beauty, a sweet refrain
Soothing deep and lasting pain
The chains of life fall away
Color blooms from hues of grey

Ancient mountains, valleys, rivers
My heart from pride it delivers
Lofty heights ringed with mist
Where man and nature coexist

Walking among sentinel pines
My body and soul realign
Underfoot leaves of amber and rust
Dispelling anxiety with the lightest gust

Divinely wrought through wind and water
Able to see the mark of the Potter
Ravines that hold the coolness of dark
Flying free with the sparrow and lark

Rippling waves dancing in firelight
The choir of the moon eliciting delight
My spirit communes here with the Creator
Putting off lesser and seeking the greater

Missing it

The days are dwindling
the desire for excess rekindling
As our hearts and wallets take a hit
Memories of pain still lingering
I think we're missing it

Forgotten are the meaning and reason
To skip the empty acts is near treason
Getting what we want is life or death
But just the rat race of another season
Seeking to be better with each and every breath

Extra hours for a few extra bucks
Finding the perfect gift with the other schmucks
Not making it to the recital, the party, the skit
Creating emotional baggage filling dump trucks
I think we're missing it

Loved ones replaced with Facebook likes
Negative comments like enemy airstrikes
Dismissed are the widows and orphans
Those in need mounted on pikes
Living our life for a high of endorphins

Hours away or all alone
No one reaches out through card or phone
Painful thoughts of family and lights all lit
Families still broken from stones thrown
I think we're missing it

Writing is Hard

I have avoided this for a while.
I didn't want to come back, I didn't want to write.
I wanted to hide.

Writing is hard.
Sometimes the words won't come.
Sometimes they don't feel right.
But that's not why.

Some can write about far off ideas and place.
I can't.
I have to write about what I feel, what I see.

That's why writing is hard.
I can't hide in my words.
I can only pour out my soul, with every word.
I have to lay bare my deepest thoughts.

It's not only hard, it's scary.
It's the most vulnerable thing I do.
I hate being vulnerable.

I have learned something trying this approach.
When you try to hold everything in you end up empty.
I am tired of empty.
I am tired of hiding.

I start this adventure anew.
I am not sure what it will hold.
I am not sure where it will go.

I would rather be judged for who I am,
then die without ever being known.
Darkness cannot survive in the light.
Hatred cannot survive in love.

Reflections

Not even sure what this is, beside my thoughts on life. As always welcome to thoughts.

Independent
Separated, but safe
A zone of comfort
But dying

The storm comes
My shield crumbles
Exposed now
Fractured

Pain again
Dangling at cliff's edge
Barely holding
Slipping

The pressure shatters
A million pieces
Never whole again
Worthless

The life, the death, the Savior

The lies shatter
A mosaic revealed
A different whole
Made worthy

Pain again
To the edge of self
Being held
Saved

The torrent unleashed
In the shadow of the cross
Walls gone
Freed

Dependent
Connected and secure
The comfort is gone
But alive

The Writing Process

Words come hard in a way
Like molasses on a cold day
The pull between truth and ease
And who am I trying to please

To lay bare my soul for all to see
To say how I feel and be free
But really I just want to hide
To seek comfort on the safe side

Reaching the limit of sharing
My deficiencies are glaring
Fighting to move out of my zone
But will the truth leave me alone

Petrified by powerful fear
Is this a hurdle I can clear...

Farmer Finn

A simple farmer plows away
Doing about the same each day
Sometimes he must go into town
Same plan, same goods, same road to walk down

A dear sweet wife he has named Jane
He loves her dearly though some call her plain
He has hope of a life to put her at ease
Able to give her whatever to please

As he walk it starts to rain
He knows the water could ruin the grain
So up the way he finds a cave
Hes never been in but he can be brave

He settles in as the rain gets worse
As he sits his ear hear an unearthly verse
Not sure what it might be, he explores
He starts to see light on the ceiling and floors

The music draws him as a sirens call
Faster he goes over obstacle and all
Then he sees whats calling out
Its what hes wanted with no doubt

The golden hilt encrusted with jewels
The power to conquer in this beautiful tool
Taking it in his hands he sees what could be
This sword could give him all that he sees

The power, the riches, the fame, the glory
The very ability to rewrite his story
Along with this he saw what he would lose
All of this or his wife, he must choose

The rain has stopped, the grain still good
He trades the wheat and sells the wood
The day is done, and no more rain
He heads home to see his Jane

Refined

Rugged and unrefined
In impurity, we are mined
Taken while we still sin
Our own salvation trying to win

This way we do not stay
When at His feet our life we lay
A hunk of ore waiting for a master
Unlimited in the hands of a caster

A flame hotter than any before
Feeling unstable from crust to core
A life saved thrown into upheaval
Laying plain our hidden evil

Through pain and loss, ourselves revealed
Deepest secrets and wounds unsealed
Molten through the heat and fire
Slag exposed, more refining required

Liquid to solid, the shine made clear
Purer now, the change sincere
Receiving closure as injuries heal
Better than before but not yet ideal

Monster Within

Tethered to a monster on the day of light
Always it will try to steal your fight
With you as a shadow until death
When you greet eternity at last breath

At first it is wild as a feral dog
Favoring attack and forgoing dialogue
Ripping and enticing, then running away
Assaults and temptations coming night or day

Further you grow and longer you walk
Truth is your guide, leaning on the Rock
Learning the roads protected from the beast
Serving the King by being the least

But the monster learns and grows as well
Refining its methods, your doubt it can smell
Forgoing the wild, brazen onslaught
Focused and precise like a sniper's gunshot

Putting on the armor that shores up holes
Learning how to operate life's controls
Sharing the light that has grown within
Gaining wisdom to choose right over sin

The enemy now skilled as any lawyer
Just needing words to be a destroyer
Showing you your failure and weakness
Requiring nothing but unending bleakness

The enemies most deadly and desperate skin
But you can now tap the power within
The cleansing and pure Spirit of God
The Flesh defeated, His salvation we'll laud

Forever We'll Be

Based on a video I watched today...

A story of rights, rituals and rules
Revealing how quick love makes a fool
Seeking an ever elusive prize
Sifting through the truth and lies

A glimpse caught, from across a room
But it will lead to eventual doom
Hope persists and moves my feet
The dance again ends in defeat

The scene plays out a thousand times
Fueled by liquid courage and lime
Reaching the point of desperation
Running around in utter frustration

The resignation starts to set in
Wondering what was your deadly sin
Denied the promise of loving embrace
Hopelessness smacking you right in the face

Doing the motions, because life must gone on
Accepting the pain at each passing dawn
Pondering the past full of strife
Have I been unlovable my entire life?

Entirely unassuming, but chance plays its part
A new companion and my life restarts
Developed without any ruses or games
A love so pure my heart is aflame

Quickly restoring a part thought dead
Unsure, caught between heart and head
Give in with the chance of passion and pain
Or harden my heart and from life abstain

This is my chance, the moment I decide
My stomach is twisting and turning inside
I take the hand and bind my soul 
And I am sure, at last, I have filled the hole

The joy inside rarely held before
I have the partner I want, I need no more
Life is not easy, but you're next to me
Together in all, forever we'll be

Rugged Places

My soul flows and my heart cries out

I know where I belong with little doubt

To smell the pine and feel the bark

Wholly changed and forever marked

The mountains know and scarcely tell

Where the wolves hunt and elk dwell

Finding that place your spirit knows

The truth, the lies, the highs, the lows

Sweeping vistas and rocky crag

The pure domain of the might stag

Unaltered by the stain of human kind

Revealing beauty to those once blind

Seeking the divine in wild places

Setbacks and troubles one faces

Bringing us to a place of peace

May the rugged places never cease 

Worshipful Fear

The mountains with it's lofty heights.
Its hidden crags and lovely sights.
Standing firm through all the years.
Holding stories of blood and tears.

But in all its snow-capped glory.
Its paths and summits are gory.
Dangerous forces ring its rocky peaks.
Heed its warning whenever it speaks.

Similar and different the vast and might ocean.
Every inch of it is in endless motion.
A source of life for all that breath.
Filled with dreams and death it seethes.

Respect is must if you wish to survive.
You offer up life when into it you dive.
Not a few lives has it's waters claimed.
Even the most skill walk away maimed.

Quick and ever changing is the perilous storm.
A display of pure power in elegant form.
Unspeakable destruction to those in its path.
Stripping the life from all in its wrath.

Needed for growth is its drenching rain.
To produce without it is nearly in vain.
A will of its own, we are at its mercy.
So above us there is no controversy.

Worshipful fear, deserves each one in turn.
This truth I am sharing do not spurn.
A balance must be struck between fear and love.
Though none are as great as God above.