Once there was a mad man

Once there was a mad man

Once there was a mad man
And he gave me all his dreams
All his heartaches and visions
All those no longer clean

He had born them far
There were scars upon his shoulders
From carrying them over rocks
Along the paths between the boulders

It had been a rough climb
In climate weather had set in
Hostile to anything exposed
Calling nothing living its friend

But still he had gone on
Through the bitter biting cold
That howled like a wounded thing
Gone crazy but still being bold

I had come upon him
On a particularly vicious night
He lay there upon the ground
His eyes all blazing light

He said he had had to finally rest
And had crawled out upon the ledge
Underneath the overhang
Next to the shrub and edge

There have been others before you
They took the ones about flowers
They took the songs of peace
And the quietly passing hours

He opened up his pack
All I have left are these
The ones that challenge forces
That would fight the being free

All they left me were these
The ones about blood and shoes
I’m sorry it’s so misbalanced
And I have nothing else to give to you



Neils
About 92
During the run of the
Real Ed’s Poets Society
*
transcribed this time
7:18 pm
12/05/2004