This clinging dark
not death, not bloom
stilled in air.
Soft walls resist what dares to come
The skin forgets its former hue,
Will light find purchase there?
A hush before the body breaks,
not wing, not wound, but something near...
The splitting shell reveals a vast, cold, bright despair.
Betwixt and between
Sadness and mirth
Happy but sad
For dear Mother Earth
Feeling sorry for
Adding to the mess
Not really aware
Of my part I confess
Betwixt and between
Feel guilty at times
Having so much
While others are crying
The worldwide problem
Of hunger and disease
Is difficult to remedy
Impossible to ease
Betwixt and between
I sit here and cry
'Bout the inequality
Don't understand why
Do we throw up our hands
Say nothing can be done
Go on and forget it
Just enjoying the sun
Betwixt and between
Filled with sadness and love
Gotta keep on trying
Neither here nor there I be
uncomfortably stuck in quandary's
minefield of no man's land.
There is so much pressure on you
when you lie betwixt and between.
Pressure to go forward or back,
go one way or other at the fork in the road
especially today when binary holds the sway.
Now there are only two states,
or position you can be in,
1 or 0, tick or tock, clip or clop
flip or flop, on or off, in or out
up or down, for or against,
If you're nor for us, your against us.
Your back is against the wall to comply or not.
Fence sitters are banned and must topple off the wall.
Is it any wonder we're all seen as biased?
Yea of Neigh, 1 or 0, for or against what's your call?
For betwixt and between,
there's nothing but vacuum.
When I was a girl it seemed time took much longer,
To pass by and let me be older not younger.
It seemed all the good things were far in the future,
And I feared in the waiting I'd slip into a stupor.
I was too young for most things and too old for the rest.
I was stuck in the middle, an unwanted guest,
Searching in vain for the place I belonged,
Awaiting my prince to come sing me his song;
Sweep me up in his arms and then whisk me away,
To a life filled with gladness as fairy tales say;
But life is no fairy tale, it's business at hand.
If you want to survive then get with the plan.
We have to grow up, take the bull by the horns,
For life's what you make it, you have been forewarned.
My life s much better in some ways it seems,
Though I must admit it's not like my dreams.
I've learned from experience when less than enchanted,
I'm happier when trying to bloom where I'm planted.
When I was a girl it seemed time took much longer,
To pass by and let me be older not younger.
It seemed all the good things were far in the future,
And I feared in the waiting I'd slip into a stupor.
I was too young for most things and too old for the rest.
I was stuck in the middle, an unwanted guest;
Searching in vain for the place I belonged;
Awaiting my prince to come sing me his song,
Sweep me up in his arms and then whisk me away,
To a life filled with gladness as fairytales say;
But life is no fairytale it's business at hand,
If you want to survive then get with the plan.
We have to grow up, take the bull by the horns;
For life's what you make it, you have been forewarned.
My life is much better in some ways it seems.
Though I must admit it's not like my dreams.
I've learned from experience when less than enchanted,
I'm happier when trying to bloom where I'm planted.
Betwixt and between
Sadness and mirth
Happy but sad
For dear Mother Earth
Feeling sorry for
Adding to the mess
Not really aware
Of my part I confess
Betwixt and between
Feel guilty at times
Having so much
While others are crying
The worldwide problem
Of hunger and disease
Is difficult to remedy
Near impossible to ease
Betwixt and between
I sit here and cry
'Bout the inequality
Don't understand why
Do we throw up our hands
Say nothing can be done
Go on and forget it
Just enjoying the sun
Betwixt and between
Filled with sadness and love
Gotta keep on trying
With help from up above
© Jack Ellison 2013
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