Solitary Confinement

No one ever gets accustomed to being alone.
We maladapt to it.
We find things to occupy our time,
things that distract us, but don't fulfill us.
The void grows larger, taking in all the thoughts
that skirt the edges of solitary awareness.
Breaking down those fragile barriers
that were never meant to be
a permanent or impervious barricade
against the flood of silence
that threatens to invade the psyche
and turn all thought towards obscurity.

And then one day we look in a mirror
and can no longer recognize ourselves in the light.

Our eyes, they see, they function,
but we cannot perceive ourselves
in relation to reflected time and space.
Even if our ears hear a voice,
it is only our own,
leaving nothing to orient ourselves
towards or away from.

Standing Here Still

I am standing here still
With my feet in the sand
My head in the clouds
My heart in my hands

Life has a way
Of defining a loss
Only after we've paid
Do we understand cost

My wanderings have taken me
Ever farther from home
I am where I am
And sometimes alone
What good have I done
What light have I shone
You looked for me here
And you found a stone

You looked for me here, but you found a stone

Only these things are mine
The decisions I've made
The lies that I've told
And the memories I've saved

So I am standing here still
With my feet in the sand
My heart in the clouds
My head in my hands

My heart in the cloud and my head in my hands

Young Man What Have You Gained For Your Troubles

Young man what have you gained for your troubles
Who can you trust when the world is arrayed
Like a wall before you
Who can you believe when you have been betrayed

Young man you can no longer be silent
Silence only leads to an earlier grave
Take the hands of those who'd stand beside you
Let your actions speak peacefully
So that we all may seek change