Unmoved to the Tune of Being Removed

There's nothing you can say
To turn me away
My hair will become peppered gray
Or fall out
Before I ever find the door
It wasn't me you were searching for
But here I am before you
A statue
Unmoved

A body tangled in
This hollowed skeleton
As pallid as you've been
In relation
The sun will never shine
On the colder side
'Twas the heavenly divine
That divided
Me from you

You can turn the other corner
You can outline all the borders
Don't cross 'em if you dare
If you dare to, they'll be removed
You can turn another corner
You can chalk up all the borders
It's just my body
Adjust my body and the tune
You carried it to

The Alex Show - Episode 65

Young and blissfully ignorant, I gaze up into the sky.

"God is taking a picture of you. Smile!"

"Cheeeeeeese!"

Lightning strikes, illuminating the darkness, vanishing in an instant. If not for splitting the earth we would never know it occurred. Nature is as dangerous as it is beautiful. Though presently aware of its risks and repercussions, we continue to carelessly bask in its splendor.  The field we stand in, however, has been burned. We move onto the next.

The storm is subsiding - or at least moving onward - and it is impossible to keep pace. A new device is needed; assembly required. We chase it with steel rod in hand, but to no avail. We acquire other man-made objects and a few good meters of string, something to tie it all together. Take wind, reach up, and pray for rain. Nothing. We rise up from the ground. The storm will come. It always does.

The chase continues.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone. The same idea applies when you reverse it. What you don't know won't hurt you. What we don't have can't either. For centuries we were chasing storm clouds, now we're running from them. Little did we know, it was safer where the field was burned. After all, lightning does not strike the same spot twice.

Old and wistfully enlightened, I gaze up into the sky.

"God is taking a picture of you. Smile!"

"No, that's just lightning."

- afm

The Checkered Crucifix

train-spotting
under the flashing lights
tracks are rumbling
hands held tight
to the armrest
beneath the checkered crucifix
our souls sit
as we wait for it to rise
permission to persist
the tires tread
the metallic lines
creating a spark
but never starting fire
to the checkered crucifix
patiently still
we cling tighter
aware of how easy
it would be to circumvent
any minute now
is a constant reminder
of its insignificance
anticipated, repeating
for life is as fleeting
as the train now retreating

we are ready to cross
the crucifix is risen

- afm

The Lord's Dare

Lord, I've traveled lonely, shook off all of my minions,
Took my hits and then some, fought for my opinions.
Lord, I bet on some things, but I won't bet on millions.
Curse me down, destroy me. Scratch out my existence.

Lord, I'm low and wandering. Rid of my oppression.
Hell-bent from my suffering, stripped of my transgressions.
Lord, I cast out most things, but I won't give up freedom.
Surrender myself to better myself, a gamble more than a mission.

All you wanted was to tame
A stubborn man to learn from his mistakes.
All I wanted was to know
If our lives are just the same as those below.

I guess I'll wait until the end
To find out if my body will descend.
I guess I'll wait until my time is completed
To admit that I'm defeated.

- afm