All I heard was the water so alluring
Should I run to the ocean
Or should I head for bed?

Yes, that’s it
Saltwater therapy
Away from everything and everyone
Is that a jelly fish?

What day is this?
Who cares

Then I heard it
It came from the top of the hill
It sounded like a strange voice from another place

Could it be?
I can’t quite see
Oh yeah, that’s it
Time to head to the fish market Jay
Keep your inhibitions at bay

Questions
It’s funny how depression promotes creativity
And we wonder why sad songs have the most feeling
Look around
It’s not hard to find something to stress about
The question is still there
Are things really unfair?
Or do we just perceive them as being unfair?
Do we really have control of our destiny?
Why do I even ask these questions?
I really don’t think that it’s important to have the answers
Society wants us to be a certain way
Why?
Simply because that’s the way it is?
Who decided that and when?
Has it always been this way?
I do know that there’s a secluded beach somewhere where there are no rules
A place where you are in control
But are you really?
Only if you want to be
Right?

Why Not to Be…….2000
Why not to be on this darkened eve
I’ve never had been able to take with ease
The inclement weather on my horizon
The night
The light
The realization that it’s all relative
So much to do
So little time
I dream of everything that has ever had meaning for me
Masked in uncertainty
I’m looking through it
I can’t see
I can only touch
Feel
Imagine
What’s the plan my good man?
I don’t know
Burdens lifted
The sun is setting
The water never ends
Live
Love
Keep it all in perspective……..

All I Need…….
There aren’t many things I’ll ever need
Simple things are all on which I feed
My Guitar
My Voice
My Imagination
Some Sun
Some Saltwater
Some Imported Beer
How can one get by on bare essentials?
My Cheerios Shirt
My Flip/Flops
Some Sand Beneath My Toes
Why don’t I long for riches or fame?
Why don’t I find a shortfall to blame?
My Phriends
My Vices
My Attitude
My Life

WHERE
This piece was written while at work sometime toward the end of 1997. As you can tell, I wasn’t very happy with myself at that moment.
How can you live
In a world of such complacence
I’d think that you
Would soon run out of patience
When it’s over, what’s the sequitur?

When you started out
What were your expectations?
What would surmount
Without the motivation?
With your device so unorthodox

The visions in your head
Were taken from the books that you have read
From reality you’ve fled
But you’re so tentative
You hope the situation gives
And your life goes by so quick

PUT MY HEART AT EASE
This one was written for someone special (she knows who she is) –Korea, 1997
She tells me that I’m talented
But to keep my goals in mind
And if I was looking through her eyes
I’d say he’s way behind
But she still loves me for who I am
And who I want to be
And the way she looks into my eyes
Seems to put my heart at ease
Well I remember staying up at night
We’d talk of things to come
You’d tell me about our great big house
But my thoughts were of the sun
And we’d dream about a life together
Where the air is clean
And to paint that picture in my mind
Always puts my mind at ease

UNTITLED --Persian Gulf, 1996
As I look out on the ocean
The moon arises so serenely
I feel so far away
From what means the most to me
The humid breeze just seems to keep
My mind from being clear
But I’m clear enough to know
You’re not here

I never was much for holding on
To what I loved the most
Too many wasted feelings
Left me with nothing to boast
But somehow I know
That I’ll never let you go

HELP --1997
It seems to me that the longer I hold out for something better, the longer the wait
What kind of hole have I dug for myself? Who the hell else cares?
All I want is an answer to the question in my mind…..Why? When? Is it any more different than when I first started? Will it ever get better?
Who the hell knows?
Some days are like sunshine and some are like clouds….hovering over me, ready to rain uncertainty.
So now I just sit and do nothing about what bothers me, knowing that I won’t help myself.
Let me sleep and dream without the fear in my mind.
The time goes by like running water, constantly flowing and approaching the sea of indecision.
Help me swim to the shores of contentment…..can you please help me?
I must know, if not now, in the near future for time is running out……..
Help

UNTITLED --Korea, 1998
Another one written at work….I just wrote whatever popped into my head. It was kind of a weird moment.
Sometimes when I look at the general outlook of things, I find myself wondering why I ever came to the conclusion of such, never taking into regard the overall performance of each and every hard working individual. Creating a hole for myself and those around me to fall into, never able to find a place to fall, therefore making it impossible to envision a free, little place to hang our heads. What is it all for? What can I do to make it better? There must be a way to go without having ever known anything but what we already know. My inner soul cries out to the far reaches of the earth, wondering what lies out in space, and what they are thinking. Given half a chance, I would go there, telling them to give us another chance and disregard the hole which we’ve dug for ourselves. When the opportunity comes to me, I will make it so. I will make it so that we will never have to create an imaginary place to hang our heads, to cleanse our souls, to make it so. Has there ever been a period of time that I go without doubting myself or anybody else for that matter? Who will I be able to turn to for an answer to all the questions that have already been asked of me? Should I conform with all my being or just the opposite? When will the complacence end? Do I have to answer to myself or the next person for the decisions I’ve made affecting the outlook of the many? Give me a reason to travel to the very place to which I’ve been accustomed to being. To the end of time. Please make it so……..