Love's That Way, by Amory McKeever

She's got that kind of power
To turn any man a coward

Afraid to live without her

It may be sugar sweet

Or even lemon sour

When your clothes are in the street

You're taking cold and lonely showers

She'll make your knees get weak

Then leave you blue for hours

She's got that kind of magic

To turn your heart elastic

Tied tight around her finger

So you go where she demands it

The scent of her will linger

That's exactly as she planned it

Then every time you breathe

It's as if you couldn't stand it

Knowing you've become a clinger

Bring the mantis home some flowers

And wait to be devoured

She's got that kind of charm

That leaves a man disarmed

Yet you welcome the defeat

In spite of all the harm

Because with her you are complete

Buy The Ticket, by Amory McKeever

Met this wrinkled man in line

Broken down by father time

Voodoo donuts, steak, and wine

Heart condition with every beat

From years and years of salty meats

Or was it endless jugs of mead

The party life, and wild crowds

The music he played way too loud

That aged and wore his body out

A special woman who drove him mad

A day without her he couldn't stand

And into the sunset, held her hand

When I looked behind those eyes

I could see these words of advice

No one gets to try life twice

The Thirst, by Amory McKeever

Please take the world from my shoulders

Help me find the river among the boulders 

If you would do it before I get any older 

Before for my son sees what a tired man would do 

To shake the cake of dust from his shoes 

Rust gathered waiting long for my canoe 

Because I'm all set on paddles you see 

Ironic thing is I'm missing the creek 

Like a dry season begs the clouds to leak 

I see people all around getting wet 

But not a drop of rain has graced me yet 

Maybe it's something I'm too hard headed to get 

So here I stand on the banks of a drought 

Pleading "Oh Atmosphere, help me out!"

Then I heard a thunder that erased all doubt

We all sneak into this world like a rat 

Then try to escape like a rhino with a bat 

Nothing in nature shall prevent us from that 

To build a power plant we kill off the plant-life 

Spend ten million dollars for a ten minute wife 

Sharpen our tongues till they cut like a knife 

We make disposable cups to last forever 

With opposing thumbs we could do much better 

We love to talk of justice but have not met her 

And I'm sure we'll cheat her if we ever do 

That's the only true thing I ever knew 

About myself, our race, or even about you 

Still I beg for a lifeboat to appear in the flood 

to save me from this dirty stick in the mud 

I'll gladly bail out the sweat and the blood 

Just keep it afloat till we reach heavens shore 

As the light from the lighthouse shines evermore 

I'd kiss that sand like I've kissed nothing before

Saving the Damsel, by Amory McKeever

She once held open the golden door

for all those who needed rest 

She stood for something so much more 

a memory buried deep in our chest 

Now sentinels watch our every move 

and their lies pit brother against brother 

For finally when the war was over 

we traded one Magneto for another 

It's been this scratched and broken record 

since as far back as I can see 

That every time we won a war 

we only lost who we fought to be 

That every time we found a cure 

we just became the next infected 

That while supermen may die for us 

it's Lex Luthors that get elected 

If the goal was really peace and love 

we most certainly have failed 

For a long train of usurpation's 

alone is steaming down the rail 

That locomotive never slacks 

with the end of liberty ahead 

We have little time to change our tracks

we must or else the damsel is dead

The Stains of a Wedding Cake, by Amory McKeever

I just wanted my shirt 

to hang next to your pants 

Though my colors are always angry

They go into rants 

About how your apples hog the fridge

and your pictures crowd the wall 

It's not like my shoes get closet space at all 

The counter is covered 

in masks that you wear 

A different color for every mood

not that I care 

You change those feelings

like coloring your hair

So often it seems I can't even tell 

if everything I do is taken very well 

Because it always gets taken

like the taxes or the dead 

Still the only ghost I see 

is the one in my head 

A ghost of my youth 

and the eulogy read 

Whisked away by a judge 

to the land of the wed 

We are gathered here today 

to witness some misery 

Two people who settled 

for the runner-up victory 

Not the gold nor the silver 

but at least we're on the stand 

Crying off into the sunset 

holding regretful hands

When I just wanted my socks 

to share a drawer with yours too 

How my whites are always angry 

remembering life without you 

That life so happy 

not smothered in blues 

My old heart feels borrowed 

and it's time to renew 

I just wanted my tie 

to hang next to your dress 

Now the man in these clothes 

is a slobbering mess 

Unable to fathom 

the way that he's blessed 

I know that it's hard 

to give up what you own 

I promise it's better 

than the pain we have known 

or the lack of compassion I've shown 

So like a classic bait and switch 

I'm a salesman with a pitch 

to sell you back your life 

Nothings cheaper than a bitch 

I'll close down this store

and clean off the shelves

This love business is a chore 

I need to retire myself 

I can't take anymore 

So take me out to the curb 

and leave me behind 

The greatest gift to be kind 

is for me to become 

out of sight and out of mind

Can, and Will Be, by Amory McKeever

Anything you say
Anything you do
Can, and will be
Used against you

My shield deflects any criticism
about how I treat my fellow citizen
Your civil rights are awfully cute
but power is best when it's absolute
Step out of the car and walk the line
forget what I said it's taser time
Ooops, that wasn't my taser I wager
I'll just claim that my life was in danger
I get a vacation if you try to resist
you reached for a gun, I'm the only witness

Anything you say
Anything you do
Can, and will be
Used against you

I have no duty to protect and serve
pop with my Glock if you touch a nerve
Peaceful assembly to protest the State
tell me how does pepper spray taste
Kickin' in doors like I was in Iraq
down on the floor with my knee in your back
I don't even know if I have the right place
still gonna to throw a flash-bang in your face
Cryin' and screaming is all part of the game
ten minutes later I've forgotten your name

Anything you say
Anything you do
Can, and will be
Used against you

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes
(I feared for my life)
These boots on your neck
come in so many sizes
(I gotta get home to my wife)
That blue line is so much thicker than thin
How can you stop the corruption and win
(I'm just following orders)
When it starts at the top and trickles down
Justice slowly dies to a siren sound

Anything you say
Anything you do
Can, and will be
Used against you

Out of Place, by Amory McKeever

Where are my starry campfire skies

Replaced by coca-cola lights 

Olympians say shut up and buy 

A plasma screen is worth the fight 

Beast versus beast in a Walmart line 

The last elusive hunt for time 

Where indeed are my carrier pigeons 

This handheld device feels so cold 

Every one of these electric widgets 

Sends my words in Sans-serif bold 

Yet the meaning is lost along the way 

The frontier has been uprooted 

Where's my covered wagon train 

When dirty jeans were suitably suited 

No Amber waves on my FaceTime 

Just purple mountain grown chi tea 

Ninety-nine years cut down in my prime 

They can't prescribe a life for me 

While I assure my friends I'm fine 

I scatter to the wind a tumbleweed

Glacier, by Amory McKeever

Oh, them frozen bodies
floating down the maw
Poor bastard climbers

all victims of the thaw
Slain by the peaks

they sought to traverse
Only to find their hearts
riding in a hearse
What mountain is this
they challenged in vain?

T'was a Matterhorn of sorts
Shall I tell you her name?

Her eyes like wishing wells
begging for the silver

Her lips little liars
that whisper in your ears
Such breathtaking beauty
that much is clear,
but if you get too close
she'll send you down the sheer
So let this be a warning
if her face draws you in
You'll find you're not alone
in a graveyard full of men

Gold Diggers, by Amory McKeever

There is a land up north 

Where love is forever 

This just in, a report 

the weather is better 

Milk and honey flow 

if you follow the letter 

But this invisible cupid 

is a black arrow cherub 

For the narrow road he knows 

his quiver is loaded 

They mob for the route 

and bottleneck at the mouth 

I can't budge in the panic 

It could be the traffic 

or it could be my doubt 

As they clamor for lanes 

I buy my way out 

They call me insane 

the only one driving south 

It's not sour grapes 

there is gold in them hills 

But I would rather be poor 

than rich and on pills 

They will all mine the quarry 

and their children will too 

Addicted to the story 

blind faith makes it true 

Until he lets fly the volley 

that blots out the sky 

Every generation of folly 

dies wondering why

Acceptance Speech, by Amory McKeever

May the sweat of my brow

drip down into ink

flow out of this pen

everything but the sink

escape from my heart

like it was years in the clink

May the past not repeat

memories made of lightning

count down to the thunder

the truth may be frightening

with no rock to hide under

There won't be an encore

life's a one hit wonder

When my father loved lying

more than my mother

though it made me who I am

it fucked up my brother

forced me to build a family

from pieces of others

new siblings selected

now thicker than blood

they deserve to be respected

and they know who they are

stepped up when I needed

bandaged my wounds

when it was sanity I bleeded

so that someday I might be

a better tree than was seeded

Grow up from that compost

that resembled my life

and bloom into something

worthy of my wife

and the love of my son

who looks up with pride

I can't be like my genes

they're stained with such failure

it took the effort of my homies

to wash out the trailer

to remind me each day

that I only look like my dad

it's all up to me

to be good or be bad

A Pie to Die For, by Amory McKeever

Oh that boysenberry tart

Stick my fork into her heart

Get that fructose on my lips

The bittersweet of innocence

Roll it over behind my tongue

Squish between my ring and thumb

All over me the spill of love

Thrash around like pigs in mud

Two, three, and four times now

Until she's sore from heel to brow

Devour lustily her mess

And finish with a cigarette

Tarsus, by Amory McKeever

I'll be the thread

If you'll be the loom

I'll bring my baggage

If you'll make the room

I'll bring my eyes

If you'll help me to see

I'll be in the middle

If you want to meet

No I'm not asking for much

Just a road to Damascus

I'll be as stubborn as ever

If you'll be patient with me

I'll insult you and blame you

If you'll forgive everything

I'll bring my ears

If you'll clean out the wax

I'll try to run away

If you'll stop me in my tracks

No I'm not asking for much

Just a road to Damascus

I'll weep for who I was

If you'll dry my tears

I'll walk through the valley

If you'll conquer my fears

I'll be the man that you want

If you'll call me to be

I'll believe in you

If you'll believe in me

No I'm not asking for much

Just a road to Damascus