Last Stop

I pushed the front door of the office building open and walked out into the feeling of cold knives scratching my face. I adjusted my scarf for better protection against the snow and made my way to the cross walk. Waiting for the traffic to clear seemed to take forever. Though the streets were clearly paved, the novices seemed to slow down. The brake lights were always on. I took a chance and jogged across the street, making it across with no trouble. Walking to the bus stop, I took a second to run through my daily tasks for tomorrow. Back when I used to teach high school students, I tried to drill this procedure into their heads. Just organizing your thoughts can get you a long way. I didn't always take this to heart, however. My thoughts were as chaotic as you could get. Notes lined my desk and my home was filled with half finished trinkets I suppose you could call inventions. It was a hobby mostly.

The bus finally came. The way it pulled around the corner made it seem like the ambulance coming to rescue me from this abyss. The metal monster roared as it pulled to a stop before hissing and opening its doors. I stepped inside and paid the driver, who seemed a bit too interested in me.

He stared at me rather intently as I sat down; even as I sat down behind, his eyes followed me through the rear view mirror. Should I have feared for my life? Should I just get off at the next stop and catch the next one? I admit though that his eyes had a certain familiar appeal.

"You wouldn't happen to know a Mr. Jensen, would you?"

The bus driver's voice startled me. The grinding and thrashing of the windshield wipers and the tires against the ground suggested no human communication was necessary. I did however know a Mr. Jensen.

"My name happens to be Mr. Jensen."

By now, I was more than a little nervous when he knew my name. We were the only two on the bus, and I knew how most horror stories start out and then end.

"Did you ever teach at Northbrook? I used to be a student there and you looked mighty familiar."

That's what struck right with me. I knew those eyes were reliable. Jonathan Lewis. He was such a bright kid, with a bright future. Yet, here he was as a driver for the public. I thought he would go on to do great things, not spend a shift sitting and timing the green lights.

"Yes yes. Jonathan Lewis?"

"Mhm! My God, it's been a while!"

It's not everyday you get to catch up with an old friend, especially one that you try to pass all the good onto without the personal issues getting in the way. I learned that once he got out of Northbrook, he set out to do what he wanted: working on rockets for the best and brightest. He went to one of the best engineering schools in the country, graduated top of his class, went to work for one of, if not, the most prestigious companies in the country designing airplanes and the like. After working with that group for about five years, he fell off the map. He raised a family. He became interested in music and was involved in a jam band of sorts. This kid had worked with the best and brightest, but he said that all he wanted to do was talk to the people. Politics was not the road for him, so he tried out public service. He told me the glove fit perfectly, and he wasn't talking about the ones for the snow.

Howdy

I wish you were here to say hello.
We could go for a walk or a stroll.
Take a hike around the block
Try to chew our gum and at the same time talk
All while making sure we're not late.

I wish you were here to say good luck
I could run up my words and not get stuck
Travel the world and yet stay home
I could talk to you when I'm all alone
Staying up until 11:11, just to wait.

So come back, don't slack
There's so much I want to know
Like what's your favorite color
and what's your favorite show?

We could have so much fun together
Hanging out, making jokes so clever
Now I wish I could just say hello to you.

Number 9

On a scale of one to ten, I'd rate you a nine
You've got an attitude problem, but you look so fine
I'll just observe from the back, I've got the time
To take a shot at that, I'd have to get back in line

You're just another cookie cutter cheerleader girl
You're just like the rest of them.
Oh when will those boys ever learn
that you're too good for them?

Eyewitness accounts report a falling in your following
You roll your eyes as if you're bored
and there's no doubt it seems
After all the guys you know, you're a horrible liar.

What would you see now?
Would you scoff and roll your eyes?
while wearing your preppy disguise?
But ma'am you're nothing new to me
a die hard in an action series

Cloudy Memories and Down Days

Dreams.
Sometimes I believe they're my own silent killers.
They really put a damper on my mood, sometimes.

A foggy buzzkill.
A blur of made up wishes and your mind's playground.
A made up cheap thrill.
A disconnected story line and disturbed rounds.

Last night messed me up for today.
Rescue me and tell me it's all fake.

It's not real.
It's not real.
It's not real.
It can't be real.

It's an old tradition.
My imagination remnants are premonitions.
A self-fulfilled prophecy.
Another thing for me to gloom over.

Fail safe

What's your problem?
Why do you want to be the superhero?
Why do you cause panic and havoc?

Is it to fill some selfish need?
Is it to fill some fantasy?

You've ruined the fun for someone called everyone.
You've always got to be the savior falling from grace, huh?

I admit, you've got me scared
Watching what I listen to.
But is there something there?
Or is it a loser too?

Do us a favor and pack up your bags
Fill them to the brim with your lies
Throw them to the bottom of the sea
With the end attached to your pant leg.

Windows

Bulbs.
Lights.
Sirens.
Sound.
Life keeps going round and round
And round
And round
As you touch down.
Signaling to me, it's okay
It'll always be okay.
At least for today.
At least with the way
You look at me.

And still I cry.
And still I dignify
This meeting
This encounter.

Where are the fireworks?
The lights and sound?
The miraculous trumpets
Celebrating you, me?

There's no one to be ashamed
And yet you remain unnamed

--

I enlisted just to blame someone
The gunfire my anthem and the smoke my emblem

He told me, "Rewards come to those who afford the cost"
But what's the point once I figure out what I've lost?
It's no bother.
Call the roster.

--

I can't let drama get the best of me
A rose by any other name is still dead to me
I'm giving out false hope
and getting turned down my own
My patience is wearing thinner by the day

--

Bulbs.
Lights.
Sirens.
Sound.
Life keeps going round and round
And round
And round
As you touch down.
Signaling to me, it's okay...

You're not an invader to my world
As long as I'm not a specimen in yours

Second Thoughts

I've got rejection in my blood
It's nothing to be proud of
The problem with being anything
Is handling responsibility

I'm not sure if I've fallen for you
or if I've just fallen
If love is so speechless,
why has it come calling?

Flashes of brilliance are showing
Somebody tell me where I'm going
On the reset, my life is loading
I wish you were here to say hello

I'll go back to my hiding place
It's destroying all meaning of the race
The sewer of society
is best for me

But why do I stay so down?
It's not worth the blues hanging around.
We're just close acquaintances,
Being more just doesn't make sense

It doesn't make sense.

Shhh...