Striking up the band.

[alasanon]

You love like kerosene and matches
burning paper, rushing flame
but it dies like vinyl siding caught on fire
full of smoke and the stench of shame
some nights you're brittle with the daze of wanting
some days dawn comes and finds you blind
you shake in empty sheets still waiting
for someone who won't leave you behind

(ref):
There are many ways to love a woman
and as many ways to love a man
but to my critics a quiet message,
"I've always done the best I can."

You love like candles lit at midnight
softened whispers in scented rooms
but the dreams that come don't last til morning
and the shadows fade as sunrise looms
incense lit for smoke and mirrors
drifts through the air like darkened glass
but the games we play sometimes destroy us
deception the only thing you build to last

(ref)

You love like silence, like tender snowfall
the purest stream, the sweetest rain
but those you call to can't always hear you
and their ignorance causes you unintended pain
Sometimes pity draws you closer, wondering
what might life be like without this need
a hand extended turned away unnoticed
fingers folded tightly over a wound that bleeds

(ref)

As for me, I love like turtles swimming
fin-swift to fondness, shell-slow to trust
I half-expect to wake one day to discover
that all I've built up has turned to dust
but with my belief in the basic good of people
I'll surely move past that unpleasant hour
and in the meantime I'll pass my seasons
watching all my friends begin to flower

This time I'm really going.