01. Tides of Time
Stan Ausmus
Tell me how to begin
To pay you back for all your sins
Blindsided by the truth
You cannot hide, I cannot win
Accept your settled fate
To you, I’m an outcast… a renegade
But it's far, far down the well to fall
And you haven't seen the worst of it yet
You did it once and that's enough
I couldn't see to call your bluff
And your plans have all unraveled now
I guess that's how it goes
As the darkness creeps into the light
It gets much harder to tell wrong from right
I can't see anymore...
Another slave to circumstance
You sail the tides of time
No longer in your grasp
You're tethered to the line
You thought you'd know by now
But know it you do not
That it's a hardcore cross to bear
When pain is all you've got
And when I finally looked inside of me
I didn’t find the man I thought I’d be
Now there’s nowhere to hide
From the truth of it all
Another charge into the great unknown
And I hope I can find my way home…
I alone have borne the sacrifice
Set upon to pay the highest price
For a life of misery and pain
Lay it out for everyone to see
Couldn’t be worse than what you did to me
There’s no one at the wheel
And now we’re off the tracks
_______________________
02. Minion
Ted Leonard
A minion of the citadel
I gave it up and left my post
A stronghold neither strong nor held
And now you’re totally exposed
Feeling overcome
Feel like I could come undone
Feel it welling up
And spilling over this fragile cup
A wall I couldn’t see beyond
An end I couldn’t have foreseen
A waving of a magic wand
A dream I didn’t dare to dream
Threat of consequence gave me cinder blocks for shoes
No need for common sense, her control was set to cruise
A horse with blinders on, I kept trotting straight ahead
A dog who sits and begs for the garbage that he’s fed
Some stories need to be revised
Some players need to be recast
It’s sobering to realize
Some ever afters were never meant to last
And now that you’ve found your tower is on the ground in pieces
The fortress you prized, but never bothered to fortify its weakness
A coward you say, but I knew this would come some day
And it wouldn’t take much to come down
So I turned the page, wanting more than a servants wage
I won’t be a slave to the crown
It’s noble enough to stay in the ruins like a captain who chooses to sink
It’s noble but then you always had fixed your eyes on keeping your nobility
_______________________
03. Hell’s Not Enough
Ted Leonard
Angel eyes and Devil smile; a hand to help another to defile
Holding firmly to what can’t be held; know the truth but you’ll never tell
Some things are undefined. Some things are in your mind
Some things should be a crime but that’s just absurd
Some things devious; downright mischievous
Some things are grievious but that’s not a word
Hook, line, and weight. No need to debate
No way you’ll be turned around
Until you die, you’ll hold to the lie
That follows you into the ground
You’re strong when they’re weak; you run when they crawl
And Hell’s not enough to break your fall
You’ve lulled them to sleep with no regret at all
And Hell’s not enough to break your fall
To hide my fur, I wear the wool
Sometimes you have to be kind to be cruel
To help you understand I wax obscure
To help you see I’ll paint it all blur
Some things are clearer to me and some are dearer to me
So lend an ear or two ‘cause I have a word
I done the thinking for you; what’s more I quite adore you
So listen I implore you. I must be heard
Hook line and sinker. Thank god you’re not a thinker
Here, take this fruity drink you’re fine
And though you’ll die; take comfort in the lie
Your life’s not yours to lose. It’s mine.
_______________________
04. Bennett Built a Time Machine
John Boegehold
Bennett Lamb’s been holed up in his shack
Working ever patiently
Clocks are ticking
Bennett’s headed back to New York, 1983
To meet himself as a younger man
Show the teenage him a perfect plan
The stocks to buy girls not to date
He knows the way to reinvent his future
Un-make mistakes, un-seal his fate
He’s going back to change his choices
Guided by his inner voices
And visions that he’d seen
Bennett built a time machine
Bennett Lamb’s been five days wide awake
He scrawled out every thought he had
Complex calculations he did make
All single-spaced on legal pads
He won’t return to watch Babe Ruth
To head off Mao or John Wilkes Booth
To warn good people in the past
Of earthquakes, locust plagues or insurrection
There’s just one die he wants recast
_______________________
05. Get out While You Can
John Boegehold
Beware the ghost that floats two steps behind you
It breathes the dust you shake off of your shoes
While tracing ancient scars just to remind you
Of every battle past that left a bruise
Your angels and your saviors
Have long since disappeared
And judgment day is here
Get out while you can
Tangled in a web of words unspoken
While fending off the Huns inside your head
The burden of a static soul unwoken
Is breeding monsters underneath your bed
You’re wrenched out of indifference
You sense that something’s wrong
The Sirens start their song
When you are gone
Life goes on |