Family Battleground.

Why do we fall under new flags,

When human made ingenuity cracks,

As each new age burns like old rags,

Street saviours replace the one who took the scars from our back.

So today the powers of the fallen world,

Define the faithful orthodoxy.

We've fallen once again for Babylon,

And we mourn for unity long gone

When his banner flies over us,

Why do we seek another?

And glorify the fruit of the Earth,

When it poisons brother against brother,

Forgetting the family of our new birth,

When the only banner we need over us still flies,

Blood red and full of love.

Social gospel battles prosperity,

On the cultural battleground of the age,

While we give into the spirit of timidity,

Leaving the battle of the heavens to rage

So today the powers of the fallen world,

Define the faithful orthodoxy.

We've fallen once again for Babylon,

And we mourn for unity long gone

When his banner flies over us,

Why do we seek another?

And glorify the fruit of the Earth,

When it poisons brother against brother,

Forgetting the family of our new birth,

When the only banner we need over us still flies,

Blood red and full of love.

And so you tell me the Nazarene would vote for the ending of unborn life,

Or take a stand against refugees in strife,

Political rhetoric becoming our good news

We let the words of the saviour be drowned out by our incessant personal views,

And our family drifts apart,

Breaking his heart,

Oh, Lord take me to pieces and send me back to the start,

Where I realise the only banner I will ever need is love.

When his banner flies over us,

Why do we seek another?

And glorify the fruit of the Earth,

When it poisons brother against brother,

Forgetting the family of our new birth,

When the only banner we need over us still flies,

Blood red and full of love.

The End and The Beginning

And this is home, the end and the beginning,

The end of waiting, the start of living.

And love is the song our hearts are singing,

Failing but still finding the way of forgiving.

 

All the oceans that laid between us,

Disappear in one breath.

All the divides that separate us will vanish,

Until the last moment gives up to death.

And you are the river my rock lies in,

You are the flower to my sun,

The symphony to my rhapsody,

Until all this is finally done, all this is finally done.

I'll hold your hand in indian summer and nuclear winter

And maybe we'll live to see the apocalypse, or perhaps we'll rise from the grave,

To see eternity beginning together, beginning together, So darling be brave.

 

And we'll be home, alive in the end and the beginning,

The end of striving, the start of living,

And love is the song our spirits will be singing,

Here in the heart of the courts of forgiving.

All the oceans that laid between us,

Disappear in one breath,

And the greatest divide will vanish,

At the last moment of our death.

 

And you are the river my rock lies in,

You are the flower to my sun,

The symphony to my rhapsody,

Until all this is finally done, all this is finally done.

I'll hold your hand in indian summer and nuclear winter

And maybe we'll live to see the apocalypse, or perhaps we'll rise from the grave,

To see eternity beginning together, beginning together, So darling, dance with me.

And yesterday's day difficulties were worth it,

You know I wouldn't have had it any other way,

Being with you meant leaving it all behind,

But that's the way it has to be, faint heart never won fair lady.

And I hear those words in the life of the one who loved more than I

Greater love hath know man, than lay his life down,

And all for love. All for love. I will hold you, All for love.

The Innocence Exchange

From a cluttered room, into the world, I write these songs,

To cast before your feet, like tribute to a king, to right these wrongs.

Hopeless attempts to buy my way, when the fare’s been paid,

Now what can I say? When the punishment upon you was laid.

Now I’m caught in this glorious confusion,

Transformed with a holiness transfusion,

My salvation in the world’s eyes, a contradiction,

The man on the tree, deaths inescapable depiction.

In that last moment, the meaning of it all did change,

And we were made new, in this innocence exchange.

From an upperfloor room, into the world, they took these holy words,

To see the world remade, their tribute to a king, becoming shepherds.

Guileless attempts to show the way, across the bridge, home,

Now what can they say? As heaven’s fields now they roam.

Now I’m caught in this glorious confusion,

Transformed with a holiness transfusion,

My salvation in the world’s eyes, a contradiction,

The man on the tree, deaths inescapable depiction.

In that last moment, the meaning of it all did change,

And we were made new, in this innocence exchange.

Now we stand in this, our kings insurgency,

Born into a world at war, still we will make a stand,

Looking back I see my history,

Broken down, lost, you took my hand.

And I was made new, in this innocence exchange.

The Betrayal and The Promised Land.

So, please forgive my impertinent heart, but tell me why did you have the idea,

To leave me, struggling, fighting, aching, in this corrupted mess down here,

Assailed on all sides by the plans of enemy forces and the lies of my own lost nature

Frightened by my all too often willingness to give up this battle and give in.

To all these myriad vices and pathways of sin.




Because I hate failing so,

Although its your way I want to go,

Sometimes Grace seems so far away,

Like the sunlight on a rainy day.





Why do I act like I’m in love with this savage betrayal, in love with all of this,

That leaves me, struggling, fighting, aching, and my prayers are no catharsis,

From this guilt edged sword blade aimed at my heart’s seat, waiting for me to let go and slip away.

But I will stand my ground, though battered and torn, hurt and world worn, I’ll not fall.

Because in the midst of all this, you always hear my call.




Because I hate failing so,

Although its your way I want to go,

Sometimes Grace seems so far away,

Like the sunlight on a rainy day.




And I would give it all to be now safe on Jordan’s other side,

But I know on this shore with you I still must abide.

Because I’m still not ready for eternity’s embrace,

And its not yet the end of my humble race,

So keep me going till its time for my entrance to Canaan,

And I dwell in the promised land, that no corruption can reach,

That promised land that no pain can reach,

That promised land that no tears can reach.

In the Company of Saints.

In the Company of Saints, at the feet of the King,

I will sing praise.

In the Garden of your love, I will lift my voice and sing,

My arms I raise.

Unto the Father’s Son, crucified to set this wayward heart free.






And I will adore, for there is no beauty outside of you,

And I will glorify, for all the glory in the world was made by you,

And I will surrender my whole life to you, as the humblest offering,

And before all the angels, in the Company of Saints, I will sing.

Of the Glory of the King.








Be glorified in my life, my Lord and King.

As I sing your praise,

Be magnified in this place, as I lift my voice and sing,

And my arms I will raise,

Unto the Father’s Son, crucified to make a way through for me.








And I will adore, for there is no beauty outside of you,

And I will glorify, for all the glory in the world was made by you,

And I will surrender my whole life to you, as the humblest offering,

And before all the angels, in the Company of Saints, I will sing.

Of the Glory of the King.





All creation will sing, to you the Risen King,

All our hearts will sing, to you the Risen King,

And in our lives your name will be lifted high,

From the mountains to the valleys in one cry

We will lift your name high.

Lamentations on a Riot

And tonight on the streets, its war,
Is this how it felt when Rome fell.
Pictures before my eyes of fires that scar,
Tearing through, like some ugly reflection of hell.
I can’t watch but can’t take my eyes away.


A protest breeding only pain,
That great city, envy of the world.
Torn asunder by delirious pursuit of gain,
Nobility, honour and respect, onto the bonfire hurled,
Please, oh God, Let peace rise again with the new day.



Feels like I sit at the end of the days,
And my heart lies broken now.
Before this onslaught of lost and destructive ways,
And these eyes fill with tears as before you I bow.
Please, oh Lord, let your light spirit shine a brand new way.



And in the dark of the night the light shines brightest,
And where sin does abound, so does grace abound more.
And on the battleground, your hand still moves,
And in the morning, you will heal every sore.



I feel like Jeremiah, my words becoming lamentations of this present age,
But still your mercies are new each day and your love does cool even murderous rage.

Just Lately...

Lately, I’ve been dreaming once again,

Of the end of this season and the start of the next,

Because you know, its not true what say, that time takes away the pain,

Still this hearts caught in these desires, myriad and complex,






And my hearts caught in a sunlight past where this dream was still pure,

And everything I did seemed to succeed and my faith in you was so sure.




Lately, I’ve been thinking about the promise,

My mind clouded do I truly remember it right,

Or have I added words you never gave to me, dreaming more of the kiss,

Than all the wonderful things that come after the fight.




That my heart wishes was won, this waiting that I wish I was through,

I’m holding on to the last memories of a broken heart, dreaming of who.




You had in store, forgetting it was you I was living this life for,

Closed is the door, waiting takes so much out of me now,

Open is my heart, come clean it up and make me so sure,

That its not for me to know the timings when it’ll come true, or how.

Just trusting you’ll come through for me, in a way uniquely thee,

And one day I’ll be amazed at how you weave together this story.





Lately I’ve been thinking about the future,

When I’ll dwell in the dream and this simple desire,

Will have been fulfilled beyond the wildest longings of long before,

Where I’ll sit down and write down new dreams before an open fire.






Oh and my heart wishes this game was won, this waiting that I wish I was through,

I’m holding on to the last memories of a broken heart, dreaming of who.





You had in store, forgetting it was you I was living this life for,

Closed is the door, waiting takes so much out of me now,

Open is my heart, come clean it up and make me so sure,

That its not for me to know the timings when it’ll come true, or how.

Just trusting you’ll come through for me, in a way uniquely thee,

And one day I’ll be amazed at how you weave together this story.

When we awake

One day, you and I will awake far from here,
In that far off exquisite land that has always been home,
Where tears finally dry and beauty signals an end to fear,
All these temporary fragile failings will fall away like autumn leaves,




One day, we will sit by the river and sing our songs,
One day, we will see the battle won and the death of wrongs,
One day, we will dance before the one and only king,
One day, my dear, we will hear the victory praises ring,
On that day, to the firstborn who hung upon the tree,
On that day, my dearest love, we will be free.



One day, you and I will awake to the light of the king,
In the kingdom not of this earth, by that eternal spring,
Flowing from the throne of grace and mercy poured out,
The crystal sea with all the crowns cast about.




One day, we will sit by the river and sing our songs,
One day, we will see the battle won and the death of wrongs,
One day, we will dance before the one and only king,
One day, my dear, we will hear the victory praises ring,
On that day, to the firstborn who hung upon the tree,
On that day, my dearest love, we will be free.



And all your wounds will be healed and the struggle finished,
Finally safe in that paradise opened when it was accomplished.


















　

Waiting for Isaac.

So many years, walking this pathway with you,

Overwhelmed, I’ve seen your healing and transformation,

New birth, the beautiful moments in everything you do,

Trodden the pathways of this exquisite restoration,



And I have heard your word whispered to me,

As if on a summer’s breeze,

Fallen in love over and over again with thee,

And your salvation that restores and frees.



Prophecy and Worship,

Prayer and Fellowship,

Glimpsed forever in the light of morning.

And in faith of the new day dawning,

Just beyond the horizon.



Amazed you can love me still,

Running away to have my fill,

Of this world’s fading glories,

Falling into stormy seas,

Turning my back, while trying to hold on,

To salvation and the image of your son.



Have I been too much the older brother rather than the prodigal returning,

Looked for salvation in man made towers of sand, rather than being content to sing,

Your praises beneath an open heaven. Am I still birthing Ishmael in all my plans,

When Isaac waits for me to let go of my counterfeit rescue and take your hands

The Return of Innocence.

Innocence seems so long ago now, sepia photos hanging on my wall,
Childhood memories cast out on memory's ocean, tossed by the winds,
Of circumstance and trial, And the battle consumes it all,
The day I first met you seems so long ago now.

But I'm not finished yet, my heart still remembers,
Though my mind may have forgotten, how you rebuilt this fragile form,
Gently woke me to the brightest day I have ever known,
Showed me the stars in their velvet dark home far above this passing storm

Still this world tries to hold me down, but the spirit's longing to fly,
And I cant focus on these ruins any more, new blooms are growing,
Out of these broken stones and failed dreams, reaching for the sky,
For I'm tired of seeing only my failings while missing your everyday grace,
Running swiftly after counterfeit visions while missing your gentle face.
I get so easily caught up in the lies of the present age,

For the truths not in the war but in the victory already won,
My hope not in flesh but my crucified lover who said at last it is done.
My hope not in might but my crucified Lord who said at last it is done.

Untitled

So speak to me of salvation and fan the flames,
Come find me in my hiding place above the valley floor,
Battered and beaten, burnt out by disappointment,
These tears falling, scorching each sore.
So, my love speak to me of faith once more.

So speak to me of the new man, the conqueror,
Heal this blindness to see through my lovers eternal eyes,
Rather than through this broken stained glass dream darkly,
My heart reaching, praying to be wise,
So my love speak to me of vision once more.

So speak to me of the kingdom come, eternity,
Cleanse these lips of mine, corrupted by deceit and profanity,
I remember innocence, it seems such a long time ago,
My spirit longing, crying for sanctuary,
So my love speak to me of grace once more.

I'm tired of running from you,
Into the shadows of my own mind,
Tired of my own reflection in the mirror,
Looking for that peace I can only ever find,
In the strength of your arms.
So my love hold me close once more.
And tell me of how one day I'll reach the other shore.

Rising

Lose myself in dreams again, oh you can't tie me down,
Tired of the disbelief I see lurking deep inside of me,
Ready for tomorrow to come once more, oh, I'm not afraid,
Of the sun that’s rising, in the morning light, another world I see.

You can't tie me to what happened yesterday,
Because these shackles fall by the wayside,
And you can't hold me to the mistakes of the past,
Don't you see you can’t stop what's inside.

Now you can't catch me anymore, I'm free,
Visions of failures, won't keep me locked in this lonely place,
You can't tell me that I won the battle only to lose the war,
Because after all these years finally I know you've lost this race.

I'm going to see it all come true and they'll come a day,
When all these weaknesses will become my strengths,
And no darkness will find where I lay,
Under a freshly made and newborn heavenly sky.

And this fire inside of me can't be put out,
Turning your lies into shadows cast on a wall,
Tomorrow's dawn chases all the shadows away,
Now I'm thinking of the rise rather than the fall.

Passion

These are days when the valley is all around us,
And the mountaintops are nowhere to be seen,
And we can't see where we're going,
Only know the places where we've been,
And the road stretches onward.

Our tears water the ground around our feet,
Sometimes it takes it all just to take just one step,
And does the pain cloud our sight so much,
We cry just to let go and give up,
And the road stretches onward.

But all this is but an echo of one far greater than I
And do I forget whose footsteps I walk in,
And this cross I carry on my back,
Is nothing compared to a whole world's sin
And this life that feels poured out,
Was never a ransom for any other,
And this blood of mine was never shed,
Thorns never forced upon my head.
And without the sacrifice of the one who went before,
What is this broken walk even for,
And none of my lamentations would be heard if he'd given in,
And carried that cross no more.

The Poet and The Courtesan

The Poet and The Courtesan faced the world together,
The forces of society arrayed against them forever,
Separated by oceans and mountain heights,
Battered by ancient pains and imagined slights,
They pledged themselves each to the other,
And set off to find their own home.

The Poet and The Courtesan travelled the foreign lands,
Faced polar winds and shifting sahara sands,
The Poet romanced The Courtesan on the high seas,
She danced for him under shimmering green arcadian trees
Inspired The Poet sat and sang along,
Of Love and Hate, this was his song.

"Oh run away with me, my dear,
Show me love is stronger than fear,
Rescue me from suffocating mediocrity,
Slipping into patronising hypocrisy,
Save me from the worst part of me,
Oh darling, run away with me."

The Poet and The Courtesan glimpsed the sun born again,
Witnessed the Phoenix rise from ashes and the pain,
Got lost in the labyrinth with a lonely minotaur,
Scaled mountain peaks where the golden eagles soar,
Inspired The Poet began to sing along,
Of Love and Hate, this was the song.

"Oh run away with me, my dear,
Show me love is stronger than fear,
Rescue me from suffocating mediocrity,
Slipping into patronising hypocrisy,
Save me from the worst part of me,
Oh darling, run away with me."

The Poet and The Courtesan opened a teashop in the countryside,
Filled with worldly memories far and wide,
With refrains The Poet entertains the passing guests,
With passion The Courtesan does fashion food as he rests.

"Oh run away with me, my dear,
Show me love is stronger than fear,
Rescue me from suffocating mediocrity,
Slipping into patronising hypocrisy,
Save me from the worst part of me,
Oh darling, run away with me."

Summer Meadow

Flowers growing where I saw you say goodbye,

Standing here, emotions high,

I hear your voice on the warm breeze,

Skipping through the trees,

By the river where I first loved you.

Now that summer seems so far gone,

Young and reckless, you were the one,

Making everything seem real,

My heart starting to feel,

Walking through a Summer Meadow with you.

Now the Summer's here again,

Love banishing Winter pain,

See you again when this fight's done,

Coming home, it'll all be won,

Still here in the far country,

Going to chance my heart again,

Taking a walk in the meadow,

In the gentle Summer rain.

Requiems

This is just a fragment on of a poem:

Too many requiems, have touched my ears,

And my heart, shellshocked by the loss,

Falls to its myriad darkening fears,

Will sunlight ever crack the gloom,

Of curtains drawn in my inner room.

Tumbling through tunnels with no sign or sight of light,

As if walking under a ceiling of clouds,

How could bare existence become such a fight,

Days seem cold and neverending,

Ever enduring, continuing, blending.

Into one. And is my creativity lost to a death knell,

Is this how creation felt in the dawn when Eden fell.

Echoes, reverberations, ripples on a pond,

Trickling down through emotion's legacy,

Past still holding me in nostalgic bond,

Am I enamoured with numbness,

Do my words curse rather than bless.

Nuclear Story

Dawn catches up with me, brings me round,
Leaving darkness's cloying embrace,
Stepping out on suns rays, you make my heart feel unbound,
And together the enemy we turn to face,
And the dead are coming back to life, can you hear the sound.

Wake up now, did you think we'd backed down,
And hold on now, all our angels haven't flown,
Standing there waiting in your wedding gown,
Did you think all the treasure in the world had been blown,
Away.

Beneath the transom of a nuclear sky.
We make our final last stand,
People so interested in asking the question why,
They've not realised who's taking hold of their hand,
Getting them trapped like prehistoric amber flies.

And why did we close our eyes,
Do you still consider yourself to be worldly wise,
And are you finally looking for your soul on the floor of your heart,
After all this slumber time, are you ready to make a start.

Coast Road

Leaving for the coast, Memories of a thousand journeys,
But its this one I've been waiting for most,
Losing myself in you, the sand and all the azure seven seas.

Travelling the road to the ocean with you,
All the years before this moment just flew,
And now I'm lost following the river,
To where it becomes so much more,
As our love begins to soar.

Oh, old fashioned fairy tales still come true,
And it seems love stories aren't out of fashion,
Oh, I am so much love in you,
As real as any classical passion,
So follow me to the shore,
Fall in love with me.

The Road

Still this land gives me no peace at all,
Felt like an exile for far too long now,
Walking through leaves that always seem to fall
And never grow again I wonder how,
I will find my home.

Setting out on a road, dreaming of blue hills,
An adventure of daring and romance,
Yet I find that I go where the road wills,
Never to find where on flowered meadow your feet dance,
And your beauty captivates me.


Still this road gives me no comfort today,
Did I take a wrong turn back somewhere
Were my feet meant to walk some other way,
Am I lost, too stubborn to dare,
To admit I'm wrong.

Will I ever happen upon my true love,
Or find the safe harbour where I was born to be,
Do I track my position from stars above,
Will I crest another hill, a horizon line, will I see,
My home, hidden until now.

So many things I long for, while I walk,
Thinking on love and dreams of eternity,
Someone to travel beside and talk to,
To share my dreams and understand to see,
Her home, found with mine.

Maybe my yearnings, are just not my destiny,
Do I live blind in the reality around my feet,
Why am I still searching, will I be,
Still looking, when all have found their one true love, one so sweet,
The road, isn't so lonely.

Blessing for the journey

The world is full of sunshine and shadows,
Black and white,
Shades of grey,
Beauty and mystery,
All on display,
And within all is love.
　
Found in the light dark of dusk,
Dancing in the rays of dawn.
Skipping through sun and rain,
Dwelling in the moment we were born,
And in the hearts of the lovers.
　
As their love paints a masterpiece,
Composing the notes of a symphony, a rhapsody,
A song, engaging and beautiful,
Complexity and simplicity,
Found in romance and togetherness and living for each other.
　
The path walked together,
The journey taken in love,
Follow the road down through life,
Underneath the sun and stars above,
Watching the seasons change.
　
Their life for the other,
The song of love leads them on,
Into the beauty of forever ,
And the glory of the son.