Again

A simple twist of fate
Would set me free again
The wheels in motion
Turning silently and then
Across the way, behind the dream
From night til day
And all that's in between
With senseless truth
I fight all my wrongs
With lies of hope
And cries of pain
You say its right
Right is now insane
What you've done
Is start it all
Again

Here I stand
In this somewhere I have been
These thoughts that back away in fear
When understanding turns to tears
This world of simple reason
Spinning round my sanity
And in this place
This state of mind
Thru lucid moments of my design
Trapped and caught beyond locked doors
Like waking moments
Just out of reach once more
Again

Behind closed eyes
I lie in sleepless dreams
Within my mind
I watch a show of silent scenes
Softly focused and yet so clear
So far away but still so near
Again

Hear me cry
For this someone I was before
Reaching out with open arms
For what I wasn't sure   
Torches in my mind's darkness
Light the way so I might find
This strange and senseless season
This world of simple reason
Spinning round my sanity
How  did we lose our sanity
Again 

Thru broken glass wired window pane
Gaze silent eyes with sad refrain
Within these walls its all the same
In polished floors reflecting white
With metal keys that lock the night
On family days they hide their shame
Again

Again / Daniel Byerly © 1997

Sentinel Species

In the smallest wonder
Of this little world
In the darkest corner
Of this simple world
There was a sign
A symptom of what might be
A prince of old the story told
A kiss would set him free
A golden creature
In some foriegn land
Could be the teacher
But who would understand?

And the people cried
We must have work
We must have homes
We must be free
To cut and burn
And trap and kill
And have it all
We want our fill

And the noble beast
Lay in piles across the land
Millions and millions dead
Where the iron horse ran
Across the land
Past waves of grass
To the edge of the world
And a group on a hill
Lost in the white of snow
Would pass in the night
Would die from the cold

And while so many cry
The tears of human loss
Who cries for the beast?
Who buries the dead?
Who cries for the world?
What price is the cost?
Of  innocense lost?

This symbol of wisdom
That stood in the way
In a forest of words
That survival would claim
There is a saying
Cut off your nose to spite your face

In a dream I met a man
He rode a great beast
And an owl sat on his arm
And he carried a golden toad
He said they all meant me no harm
He asked me why I cried
I said I didn't know
He said we are all
Sentinel Species
But I didn't understand

And the people cheered
We must have work
We must have homes
We must be free
To cut and burn
And trap and kill
And have it all
We want our fill
We want our fill

Sentinel Species / Daniel Byerly © 1997

Sum Of All Knowledge

Like leaves on the wind
Floating and falling
In no apparent pattern
With no sense of direction

Like the drops of rain
Landing in the ocean
Like the cry of a tear
In human emotion
Like a breath of air
That millions have felt
Like the site of a grave
Where someone has knelt

Like the birth of a child
Born on the Eve
Like the death of a King
And the Gods we don't need
Like the voice of reason
That calls from the crowd
Like the seven of the world
That Time has torn down

What have we learned
As we stand in the light
Upright and alone
Dominion of a world?
The sum of all knowledge
The power and the glory

When did we Rise
Was it the third day?
In what to believe
Smiling as we gaze
At a reflection we made

Like the grain of sand
On this beach of time
Like the minutes of a day
Or a month of a year?
Like wasted moments
Falling through my hand
Like mice and men
And all my plans

Who do we blame
For what has been done
To what will we pray
Crying as we gaze
At the idols we made
We, who thought ourselves
The sum of all knowledge
The power and the glory

Upright and alone
We are the One
Wrapped in this foolish pride
Reflected in all we've done
The sum of all knowledge
The power and the glory

This we have learned
Upright and alone
With bitter hearts
With blinded eyes
Self-made Lords of the world

The power and the glory
Have always been yours
The power and the glory
Have always been yours

Sum Of All knowledge / Daniel Byerly © 1997