tell me when it's over

when does love end
do the credits roll
heavens open up
rain beating you down telling you so

how do you know
when to leave
is there a book to explain each situation
an appropriate test for when to bail out

feelings are too confusing
I want a method
a simple tool to measure
it with

data informs
and decisions are made

but when and where

are not yet laid

can't see me

can you see the invisible man 
wandering down back alleys
sinking into deep cracks in the wall
when others stagger by
how can you see such a creature
wandering the dank shadows of dark

All Bad

Feelings deserted
left stranded on familiar turf
sit cross legged stare into the sun

I left my heart on that road
you took off for other parts
we didn't stay together this time

when does it find us again
my eyes hurt from the sun
out of gas on the highway

I cant find my way home
this road is too familiar
my eyes have burned out

heart look for something
mind on fire now
should a soul be stranded

mixed messages
fixed plans
my hands can't feel
the blindness of it all.

put it behind you

there was this sound so loud
it made the ocean cry
you see to the other side
but you look into the mirror
you don't see yourself

put it behind you
put it behind you now

the future won't lie
you said these thing so many times
my mind won't connect the dots
it's like you've been there already
then this thing just disappears

you gotta put it behind you
put it behind you

your voice rising in song
put words down write it down
sit silent let the tone settle
this reflection reveals efforts
laid down bounced off walls
echoing sounds

you've put it behind you
don't look behind you

Stop the Feeling

all eyes and ears
my sins your tears

here it stands
many years older
rewriting this script
countless mis-hits it's later
all rendered useless together
sick alone misunderstood

stop feeling
stop the feeling
make numb
make it numb

shouts threats misdemeanors
your temper hits
screams rise higher
like crazy neighbors wall's width fights
until we fall so deep back into this
slow motion abyss
sinking slow but sink steady
we've been checking out slowly all this time
together

stop this feeling
i'm already num

dreamed that dream a thousand times
i was sold a lie
we'd live together forever
bye and bye

now my doubts are confirming
nothing subtle
scream it to me louder
stomach hurts
we meet in between space
now go away!

you say you got your reasons
and I say I got mine
but we've now run out on time
we are not
you are you and i am me
children of this phenomenon
reproduce phenomenon
over this plea

stop this
stop this feeling
it never stops hurting
feeling hurting
back to the front
you coward
you imbecile

i can't stop listening again and again...

there's this thing
that keeps me coming back
and back for more
i just can't ignore

it's reassuring and unnerving
I can't get a grip
it's solid then it slips
but keeps me coming back to it

i trust the feeling
then feel like I'm just dreaming
people don't understand
you can't sense this connection

plug in
join the song
it's simple sublime and true
miracle in song's feeling
connects you to me

there's this thing
found in the beat
treat yourself
fever sting swelling treat

drive insanity
compilation connects
something more than bane
use music
something feel touches membranes

Lost No Translation

i try to get out the words
but they're momentarily
lost in my head
and trapped on my tongue

you stopped listening already
while I try to work out the mechanics
the synapse brain to mouth connection
in that space you had moved on
i lost you
then when I fired it out
you were gone.

timing is everything
and my timing is off.

Spitting it Out

Los Angeles
your namesake city
takes my name in vain
curses me to dark

just the same as ever
your wrath
i wear it like a sweater

raw and open
it's happening over
and over
just let's close this wound

put things right
see sunshine
outside the half light

when we come together
it's never forgotten
we just need more love
making us whole

why is your soul
so full of holes
smoking over your vision
can't see the forest
we've grown

years have passed
my love
we move along sideways
hang on to familiar plans of attack

loosen your finger grip
to hold firmer
let go of footholds
that stop our upward motion

The Waste

Days go by
time on freeways
drought ridden ski slopes dust
seeps down on Pacific Ocean

this guy outside my window
won't shut up he's yelling madman
dreaming the streets in lucid colors
shut them up

I see children cowering in back seats
father's yelling destroying them
the car idles
quitely at the curb

military might make it
get it straight annihilate it
muscle car motor
roadside madness

hookers in my hood
riding bikes to trick or treat
summer never left this street
alarm siren serenade complete

Days go by
freeways
rancore maladies people injured
running to and fro

white collar crime rates
statistical representations
life is precious
death sentence treatment

City Heights Square Dance Blues

Walking down 43rd street my new neighborhood

seems like sunshine and wine

Southern California fine.

There was this man came to town

dropped a dime ten times two hundred times and made it out.

Came across street crosswalk signs and

Dad's Club thrusday night times

inturrupting scheduling on bilingual sound stations.



The liquor store exactly a block down my new steet

has that IPA that medicates my afterwork days

so my spirits spring and jump onto things.

We made it here together after long

struggles to new tierra

family intact

wits end came to time and time again.

people in the way

you see it everyday
someone in your way
there it goes again
your murderous second cousin's friend
on the highway
right in front of you
going slow when you're in a hurry
don't worry we're all late
you step on top of them it's the way to the top
nose dive belly flop it's your destiny
long lost soul searching judge and jury

you gotta get out of the city lights and dirty streets
get outside the suburbs
get into mountains streams
find out what's out there
there's something there
just for you
you gotta experience
and you won't if you don't get your ass
out there sometime soon
you go crazy without it
no good to see concrete metal boxes all day
get outside and get paid
you win with this effort.

just make it
love waits in the balance
your sanity and mine
we cannot complete it this way
turn it around cycle in the other direction
we climb it and it's suffer the truth
that's why we're here

Alone Riding Solo

You went away
taking the kids
visiting family abroad
Argentina

I barley saw you before you left
you were under too much
stress not connected to the us
we lost five days before you left
sleeping outside my bed
you wrestle yourself to edges
of your bed so i can't touch you
queen size bed but
then I'm on
the floor

We stay connected
with angry exchanges
wasting precious time goes by
now you're gone the house is
a wreck as you feared
your doubt fuels our
scorched earth policy
I'm treated to burning rhetoric
mala anda y malas palabras

You're en route to Mar del Plata
I cycle San Diego's Great Western Loop
we arrive within three minutes of each other
six thousand miles apart
lovers bliss
timing is uniting
we articulate our sensations

Remember driving to save me
last time I rode this route?
you love me
you need me
you want me
my love's got your back
and this is our insanity

The road was open
on today's route
riding to the start of the ride
the seldom smile in your eyes
my need to hide behind you
the twisted roadside signs

My lover sublime
success is not doubted
the road rises in our meeting

This great feeling of relief
you feel it too a far
getting away from me
me from you
half the Americas away

I love you woman of the angeles
you're a tool and I am too
loves worth a couple of depressive fools.