Paul Jonathan Stertz

In pain you came screaming into this world,
From the day your eyes opened the darts were hurled.
Live long enough, you may see through those eyes
That mother who bore you suffer and die.
...

A verbal offense at a critical hour
Tears down fences and hits like a hammer
Smashes like a steam roller
Don't let em tell you words don't have power
...

Filled by a tsunami, then shattered in an earthquake,
for what it's worth, this is my take.
The glass not half full or empty-this glass is gone,
Whatever was left got blown away by some terrorist's bomb.
...

Do you ever wish that you could circle back,
And get it right,
And put the train back on the track?
Undo the terminal decisions,
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So this is war, not what I expected, we try to build it back up cause someone wrecked it
Erect it, a new society, not sure what that's got to do with me
I don’t even know your names, but I see your faces, people
Living in these places, spaces cut off from reason, Season after season
...

She said it was fate, it was great, and he knew she was right
Just two people, ships passing at night-but she turned on her lights,
And he stayed with her long enough to know that he loved her
Somehow he knows he can't keep her, but he keeps her letters
...

Time goes by slowly for me in my room
Out on the window ledge, spring flowers bloom.

I cannot see them, try as I may
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Knell of destruction,
Toll of the bell,
The promise of promises
Blown to hell.
...

In ancient times, masters of their trade
Changed the world by what they made.
Hell-bent on their somber mission
Hammering, pounding into submission
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'Vanity of vanities, '
The preacher wrote.
From the Word of the Lord
The truth I quote.
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Time-not always the friend of those who wait,
Time has delivered me here to this fate.
Time is all that I have.
...

When the stars and the moon sprinkle the sky,
When I lay down my head and I close my eyes;
I slip away slowly while lying in bed
To a land full of wonderment, there in my head.
...

When people downplay what I've done in the world,
I'll let it all go; I'll sleep well at night.
I've given my life, I've laid it all down,
I'll fade in the background, 'cause it's alright.
...

The wind blows cold upon the hill
Chilling my heart-colder still.
The wind and I have a pact, you see;
I know it-and It knows me.
...

Just or unjust-they all get their share
Life has its balance, though not always fair.

Rain falls on rich men, and poor men as well,
...

Today is the day; now is the time...
Yesterday's gone-not worth a dime.
But I spent today in a haze of blue,
Because yesterday, I thought of you.
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A sunny day, bodies in motion
Millions of people-crowds like an ocean.
A morbid thought drifts through my head;
In the mind of my eye, everyone's dead.
...

Something is missing from down inside me,
Something that nobody else can see.
A secret inside that is all of my own,
Born of the time when you left me alone.
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From the day I was born I've been on the outside,
Shied from the spotlight and learned how to hide.
Found a place to be alone,
Away and forgotten-a Zone of my Own.
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God! The bridge is out up around the bend-
Can't anyone else see how this will end?
I warn; they laugh, and careen and cajole-
Until they plunge headlong into that black hole.
...