《Tales from Bittersyde》 The pain begins A Life Invested A life invested, no return A balance sheet I''d rather burn Chasing dreams and memories Has left my heart now ill at ease That certain feeling, now long dead The swirling thoughts, they fill my head Simple wants a classic need My soul is hungry, let it feed I want to feel, can someone find Within my heart, a soul that''s kind Walk with me, the road is dark Life''s not been a day in the park Somewhere out there, I am sure Is love to find, that will endure Midnight Sailing Once upon a midnight dreary Alone, adrift, on Lake Erie Sails all set and boat hove to My mind did ponder what to do No course before me, not right now No way to go, but yet somehow No chart, no compass, no way set My heart felt drawn to something, yet A voyage back to what I knew Would leave me sad and feeling blue There¡¯s somewhere out there, I just know The sun does shine and fair winds blow A life well lived and yet right now Something is missing anyhow The sun will rise, I¡¯ll sail on To seek the soul to which I¡¯m drawn Softly Raining A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Softly shrouded in mist and rain Waiting to see the Sun again The world is sleeping deeply But my mind is racing freely All that was, and is still to be Was it meant to mystify me Is there a road leading me on Waiting to see the golden dawn Darkness clings to my soul and yet I do not mind the cold and wet For in my heart a yearning burns A feeling that all my concerns Will be answered and I will see What has passed on and what will be What it all meant and why it was Something more than just a ¡°Because¡± The Darkness The man reached into the darkness one night Slowly, carefully, now something may bite He thought he had heard a sound deep within Penetrating barely the raucous din Perhaps it¡¯s the wind, perhaps it is not It might be a dream, it might be a thought He thought it might be a seeker like him He wanted to see, but it was quite dim He thought he felt something brush past his arm He wanted to grasp, hold something that¡¯s firm A ¡°Will-o-the ¨Cwisp¡±, is that what I¡¯ve found Or is it just someone playing around I seek and I hunt, I¡¯m hoping to find A heart and a soul, a kindred like mind But sometimes the darkness plays tricks on me The true state of things is not what I see The relationship has starved to death The relationship has starved to death It¡¯s finally breathed its very last breath Year after year of waiting and hoping Trying to find a new way of coping Looking for promise and wanting to see A glimmer of hope appear to me We touched up the makeup on the deceased The cold stiff body, its soul now released The body was once a warm living thing A vessel from which all hope did spring Beaten and battered by lie after lie Starved and neglected left out to die It should have grown strong And lasted so long But cruel fate and uncaring hearts Shredded and broke it to many small parts The dead will be mourned and soon forgotten The killers walk not knowing how wanton Their hearts really are or what else has died Dead is their love and dead they are inside Wasteland Wandering through an emotional wasteland Occasional oases of caring Countless mirages of love I¡¯ve read about it, heard about it Talked about it, thought about it Dreamed about it, cried about it I think I know what it¡¯s ¡®sposed to mean But when I figure it out the rules change I¡¯ve tried a few times, but it didn¡¯t work I did what was right when no one else did But it didn¡¯t get me anything but hurt Why do people lie Why do people cheat Why do people hurt Why do people crush one another I¡¯m not giving up yet I¡¯m not sure why I can¡¯t let go of the hope That love will never die Who Do I See? Who Do I See? Who do I see to get back my life? I¡¯m tired of fighting, tired of strife Most of my life is now down the drain Moments of pleasure, Years full of Pain We started so fresh, young people do Us versus World, bet on us two An adventure a day, always a lark I just couldn¡¯t see the onrushing dark Working and striving Scrimping and saving Building the dreams, all for the plan Secure in the knowledge I was your man But the times did change and so did our hearts We soon were just actors playing our parts Our hearts had grown cold but pride drove us on I soon couldn¡¯t stand what once was our song I once was your knight upon a white horse But time and heartache had soon run its course From rich man to pauper, King to a joker It really seemed I meant nothing to her We go through the motions, a well-rehearsed play But deep down inside I long for a new day No heartache or pain, no crying or shame A feeling of peace and of winning the game
This is not the end. There is never an end. Life goes on and on and continues whether we like it or not. We are but tiny little gears in a great big machine. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, and sometimes we choose to not play the game. We hope for the best but in our hearts we hear the worst breathing down our necks. Cynicism and bitterness are the condiments of our lives. But, in our hearts there is a spark of hope. We dream of warmth and light and love and happiness. We are beaten down, but rise again. Our dreams are the wind in our sails.