I know about trial and I know about error
Been privy to both in my time
Felt plentiful heartbreak and a fair dose of terror
with composite tempering prime

 

My odds have been evens my hopes have been fears
It’s felt like an almighty shakedown
At times my endurance has felt in arrears
But there’s beauty in every last breakdown

 

It’s true what they say about life as a gift
I’m willing to act as its claimant
There’s one stipulation regarding this tryst
You just have to keep up its payment

 

From pillar to post through reluctance to host
I’ve been nothing if not ever-present
Faith may have deserted when I needed them most
But the upshot to that has been pleasant

 

It has to be found in a manner profound
And my prose has unlocked an abundance
I’ve looked to the skies with my face to the ground
Made profit from that once redundant

 

The riches I speak of hold no value per se
Their currency cannot be measured
But that’s not to suggest that they don’t pay their way
Or are any one thing less than treasured

 

I donate my soul and it thrives as I strive
Fuels pistons I knew not existed
A lifetime is too long for which to deprive
Of the innermost tools you are gifted

 

The end has looked bitter as my will has been tested
My logic then called into question
Needless to say that self-doubt manifested
And I fully opposed its suggestion

 

My voice had grown weary of not being heard
The silence had long since lost credence
Loose lips may sink ships but it’s simply absurd
To disable one’s tongue through impedance

 

My error had been in the years that I’d spent
In a state of persistent denial
But eventual departure became my advent
There was purpose in every last trial

 

There will always be demons my closet is heaving
With skeletons ghouls and the like
I’m damned well assured of just what I believe in
And far better prepared when they strike

 

I guess it’s that time now to put minds at ease
As I’d hate this to feel at all flimsy
I trust I have pleased that you’re feeling appeased
For enabling me with my whimsy

 

Click here to read The Ballad of Barbara Bloch