Totally Radd, by Amory McKeever

When the devourer came for his next meal

a common man made him a deal

To save his lover Shalla-Bal

and his planet from it's curtain call

The man would serve the titan well

and act as his own dinner's bell

He'd soar the universe near and far

for planets to eat like caviar

The titan agreed to this arrangement

and took the man as his new agent

The man was given enormous power

the kind that makes green monsters cower

After leading his lord to many planets

filled with energy, even organics

This herald who had proved his worth

stumbled upon a tiny blue Earth

The noble citizens who resided there

reminded the man of the home he spared

So the man rebelled against his king

and stood prepared to lose everything

Fought mightily with cosmic thunder

to keep the Earth from being torn asunder

Some fantastic heroes came to his aid

and soon the ravager became dismayed

After saving the Earth from certain disaster

the man was banished here by his master

Though still one of the most powerful beings

he searches now for deeper meaning

Protecting the galaxy from deadly threats

trying to make up for all his regrets

That human condition seems so familiar

even to an alien covered in silver

The Weighting Game, by Amory McKeever

Spent four long years

living in my locker

hiding away

from a Letterman stalker

The things they said

cut me so deep

It was a miracle

that I didn't bleed

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

No club I could join

with other people like me

Forever alone

the biggest fish in the sea

A punchline walking

the focus of their jokes

No matter what I said

it's like I never spoke

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

Sadie Hawkins dance

might as well be the moon

No one asked me go

Limos don't have the room

Or that's what they say

just before the laughter

that same old torture

carried on the day after

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

Welcome to the future

It's been years since then

I guess I'm stronger now

Than I've ever been

Is it because I survived

or because I got thin

That nothing gets to me

not even love gets in

If this is my skin

why does it make me sick

How can I fit in

when it's so damn thick

Erased, by Amory McKeever

I can't see the lights
and I can't hear the speakers

but I can feel what you said

right down to my sneakers

I am overcome with dread

You say you're leaving me

That love is blind

but just not technically

That love conquers all

except the lack of chemistry

That I have a beautiful soul

but you wish I matched aesthetically

The dance floor melts away

and all the people disappear

This is not my jam

but it's the song I always feared

You say it's not me it's you

but mention how I'm just too weird

That I always had your heart

but now suddenly your mind is clear

That I would surely find someone

but it just came out insincere

That you'll always remember me

as if I'm some kind of souvenir

Of course you chose a public place

Maybe so I wouldn't make a scene

Even though my broken face

Might as well be a scream

No matter how fast my pace

as I headed for the door

What was seen can't be unseen

my spirit's left on the floor

They could have been kerosene

the way you burned me to the core

Or perhaps it was a guillotine

the way I can't feel no more

Camouflaged Chaplin, by Amory McKeever

I know you feel ashamed sometimes

Can't help feeling guilty for the dead

I know you're a prisoner of war

Though the cage may be in your head

I know you've grown tired of the march

Like there's weight you just have to shed

But I know

There's not a battle he won't understand

He shares your trauma just look at his hands

When you feel like love is no where to find

I know our brother leaves no man behind

I know you feel panic sometimes

Fighting the monsters creeping inside

I know you sleep in the bottle at night

Far away from the ghosts that you hide

I know it wasn't always your choice

It was for the men that stood by your side

But I know

There's not a battle he won't understand

He shares your trauma just look at his hands

When you feel like love is no where to find

I know our brother leaves no man behind

I know you've seen things

You will never forget

I know you've done things

You might always regret

I know you're burdened by memories

That comes with the life of a Vet

But I know

There's not a battle he won't understand

He shares your trauma just look at his hands

So when you feel like love is no where to find

I know that our brother leaves no man behind

Niddala, by Amory McKeever

We're not friends anymore

I told my enslaved magic Jinn 

Do everything I tell you,

or I swear you'll go back in

Give me everything I ask for,

and all the riches in the vault 

Make sure my lovers smell like jasmine,

and that my crown never faults

Promise my storehouse never famines,

and my powers reach beyond the walls 

Make my legend match my ego,

and pictures of me line every hall 

Never look past my evil grin,

and don't ever question your master 

Don't you see that me finding you,

was such an obvious disaster

The Disenfranchised, by Amory McKeever

There’s no comfort 

In knowing there’s no comfort 

And it’s no wonder 

We’re sowing no wonders 

Just plow it all under 

Our land is so sundered 

Grows only more hunger 

More pain and more suffer 

More fighters but less lovers 

More babies but less mothers 

In a world like no other 

Now I’m no hero 

In pointing out there’s no heroes 

The sky is no safer 

There are no talking snakes 

Lightning has no maker 

A missing rib with no taker 

Playing roulette with no stakes 

In a car with no brakes 

Headlong into the lake 

Shackled to such weight 

Angel’s always too late 

To save us from our fate 

Our heaven has no gates 

The dirt spares no name

Calvary Call, by Amory McKeever

I pray this gospel be your shield

and righteous defense forever more
That the Son of Heaven never yields,
for when the adversary's at the door,
if we want peace, prepare for war

Sell all your possessions and buy a sword
Not just a blade made of iron or steel,

but one made of powerful chords

For your body is a righteous temple

filled with the divine breath of the Lord

A vessel containing the gift of the spirit

that must be kept from being wounded

Though not by any merely physical hit,

but rather the gnashing of furious teeth

Which burn with jealousy deep in the pit

Down where the liar hates your soul,

his duties are focused on your destruction

To see you drown in a lake of coal,

he will lie, cheat, and steal if he must

in order for you to abandon your goals

Know that the strength of God never leaves us

Be confident in the blessing of the cross

That wretched wraith will never seize us

The call of the grave has been conquered

by the power and the glory in the name of Jesus

No Going Back, by Amory McKeever

No, I don't ever wish I was young again

I don't want to fight with my brother again

Or see my dad cheat on my mother again

Hold a knife to her stomach again

When she confronts him about the others again

I don't want to pack our things and move again

Just one step ahead of the police again

Because he went and ripped some people off again

Using fake names in another state again

Now he's back in those handcuffs again

Making the front page of the paper again

Getting run out of town by the neighbors again

Sleeping in my aunt and uncles attic again

Only to see my mom take him back again

We go boxing up another house again

Dying's the only reason it didn't happen again

So I won't ever use his last name again

And when this ever crosses my brain again

I'm reminded to be the father he never was and then

I take my son out for some ice cream again