#11

your beauty is a front
for the poison is hidden
it is deadly and ready to scourge
to leak forth to destroy
to corrupt those who love you
your beauty is the trap
and those who are fooled
you bring them into the real truth
and ensnare them into death
the passion you create shall consume
destroy all things held dear to life
and your beauty is all they will remember
for it was the thing that brought them to you
before they can run away, you reveal the deception
and it is too late and they are burning in your death

© 2005 thomas bates

HER

she comes to me
in my dreams
hands touch my face
her eyes : the light
her smile embraces me
her gentle touch
her soft skin
fingers trace the contours of my face
my eyes close
i feel safe, calm, and at peace
her breath is a gentle breeze of the morn
her voice is a crystal shower dancing
as she whispers my name
but she is called away
she leaves me here alone
in my silent solitude

© 2001 thomas bates

#10

please let your hair down
pretty face
don't take away the beauty
shine through the skin border
break the conforming rules
of your genre
make a statement
a neo-creation
of beauty

© 2002 thomas bates

ALONE

sitting here late at night
writing by the moonlight
listening to damien on the stereo
missing the one dear to my soul
miles away from my home
i think of her cold and alone
many distractions here
wishing she was near
to keep my mind clear

© 2001, 2005 thomas bates

NOT MUCH TO ASK OF YOU

i can feel You soothing me when i ask
i can feel You guiding my feet and hands
i ask only for humbleness and wisdom
i don't deserve Your unchanging love
sometimes i feel so sad
sometimes i feel so mad
sometimes i am alright
sometimes i just plain lie
You can fill me with Your unchanging love
but humbleness and wisdom i just want

© 1997, 2005 thomas bates

#9

the pen that writes of my life
is dipped in my blood and strife
these are the dark days
the writer is paying his way
to follow me into the darkness
where my heart has been hardened
i want to break free and turn my life around
this darkness i am now accustomed to
cannot be here for me to see me through
i have to be the one who has to stand my ground
i have to be the one to make the difference in my life
and to stop dipping the pen in my blood and strife
to finally dip it into a new hope and peace
to finally have the suffocating depression cease

© 2005 thomas bates

#8

we used to be good friends
how did we come to an end?
where have you gone?
what have i done?
i am now dead to you
or is it you're dead, too
i have given up on you with my patience
because everything are now open-ended questions
never do i receive an answer when i ask
since when did our friendship become a task?
why do you avoid me and the others?
we used to be tight... like brothers
however you found someone to replace me
and into oblivion i have slipped for eternity
alone i am now... again... in the end
it's time to analyze if we were even friends

© 2005 thomas bates

ANGER

it never grows inside really slow
it cannot be pushed down low
its energy is unstoppable
it boils inside big trouble
and when it comes it is quick vengeance
it bleeds out of your mouth unrelentless
it pours through every cell in your body
setting you on fire to burn out the holy
the tongue is quick and sharp as a knife
everything in its path will lose its life
severing ties and breaking bonds
this force inside is a ticking timebomb
and after it's gone you are left spinning
and the world around you is ripping
the fires from the brimstone are scattered all around
and the cooling inside can drop you to the ground
and the simmering fires in your eyes are slowly fading to oblivion
and the recent distate for everything is called into retraction
as quick as it came and disrupted evolution
it enters back inside and leaves devastation
the hibernation stage now kicks back into gear
and those around you now know how to fear

© 2005 thomas bates

THE SCREAMING TREES

all over the park there was destruction
they were burned down by someone's neglect
they screamed for help and for justice
they used to be alive dancing in the wind
now they are frying in the flames
smoke filled the sky, the sun that day shall not shine
firemen did all they could, but it was too late
conservationlists and environmentalists cried and stood aghast
their dream land has burned to the ground
people miles around watched the evergrowing scar on tv
when will the madness stop?
with screams and dreams burning up to the sky
large, beautiful trees became pitiful charcoal beings
the mountains' evergreen was wiped away by a large eraser
leaving only behind an ugly mesh nightmare
bison, bears, elk, and deer ran as their flesh melted
all of yellowstone's beauty was marred
because of an unwatched campfire
the great remember was forgotten

© 1993, 2005 thomas bates

BLACK DAISIES

black daisies in you
happiness was yours until
they came and raped you

© 1995 thomas bates

PEACE THRU THE HARDSHIPS

you came into my life at a fast pace
at the time my mind was in a race
racing to keep things together and in control
the mental and physical torture has taken its toll
however, you were there throughout the whole time
smiling and making me laugh it off everytime
that smile attracts me and those eyes
they intimidate me deep, deep inside
you are leaving soon, but i have a peace
maybe again in the future we will meet
if not i am thankful for the time you where here
for your presence was soothing and numbed my fears
hopefully i shall see you again someday
and if not then golden i hope you stay

© 2005 thomas bates

THINGS THAT BELONG TO THE GROWING

a solstice is always there in my heart
the love of friends will never depart
when i am confused, weary and depressed
i know that i have someone i can talk with
when the answers don't come for some questions
i can wipe away the tears and be accepted again and again
i miss what was... but that is behind me now
i must take their wisdom and advice and grow
when i am confused, weary and depressed
i know that i have someone i can talk with

© 1995 thomas bates

LAMENT OF PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE

i look deep inside my hands
what i give, please do not neglect
there's my love and my secrects
the only things true in this land
in the world of many, jealous man-gods
people march and pledge allegiance to war
i run away and hide from their ominous cars
drown my scent to throw off their dogs
screams... fear... shots... pain... blood
i cry... my love has gone away
blood is on my hands and face
at last here i die in my neighborhood

© 1997, 2005 thomas bates

NEVER WANNA SAY GOODBYE

a wall has come to the end of my journey
my hand is holding some release papers
my clothes are packed in the case
a room is prepared for my arrival
however, i grow tense
i am leaving family and friends behind
a tear forms but doesn't fall
everything is becoming blurry
i see your faces smear and i don't wanna go
never wanna say goodbye

© 1994, 2005 thomas bates

CRUNCHED VELVET

powder blue blouse
earlier had some coffee
still buzzing from the caffeine
and she said it's crunched velvet
or was it french?

© 1998 thomas bates

WHERE MY LOVE DIES

distant... she is distant
ever there, but never present
she is fading
i don't want to lose her
does she know?
does she care?
am i alone?
or is she still there?
fear... stress... pain
my eyes ache from the strain
blood seeps through the orifice
my thoughts are orphans
alone inside my head
haunting me till the end of time

© 2001, 2005 thomas bates

DESIGNER IN CHAINS

i am a trapped artist
not appreciated for my art
do this and do that, do not retort
no one understands me
or even wants to let me help them out
they say all i am is a hack
they think they all can design
it is easy if you have a computer, they say
point here, click there
i give up, it is useless
i am a slave now, not a designer anymore
you have finally taken away my humanity
my reason for being, my identity
now i am nothing
i am now just your puppet

© 2004 thomas bates

#6

your world is not in flux
screaming up to your god
forcing out your questions
to which there was silence
concentration in the present how
your face lit by the fluorescent glow
of the street you mindlessly drive down
your thoughts and mind are no where around
to confront the structure of faith
is the focus shown upon your face
eventhough you did not get your answers
your faith was built a bit more stronger
and you calm down for the rest of the ride
the only space alocated for isolation in your life
to believe is to step beyond your comfort level
slowly and carefully balancing the good and evil
life is dangerous sometimes as you progress further
but what is more dangerous is not becoming somewhat a believer
believing that there is more to this complex life
a world out there unseen to the human eye
life is too precious to take it all for granted living in the now
when you take the time to figure out how to get to the unkown

© 2005 thomas bates

COLD NOVEMBER

i had to bury her twice
as a lover and a friend
for a year and a half i tried
to heal our relationship by myself
tried to believe nothing was wrong
tried to keep it together and sane at the same time
i loved her oh so much
eventhough i am engulfed in bitterness
deep inside i cry and there i died
the problem was us not just me or her
but she didn't care
it was always me in her eyes
she was always a saint
we were both the instigators
and there is nothing i could have done
i could not save her or me from destroying ourselves
and now she is gone and i am left with questions
and to pick up the pieces of my broken heart

© 2001. 2005 thomas bates

THOUGHTS TO THE DEAD

how do you really prepare to say goodbye?
everyday is another given day to die
and every night is another page in your book
how many pages do you have that are good?
how many pages embarass your name?
and how many pages go down in the hall of fame?
it is so hard to say goodbye
but never does anyone want to die
there is always this percular fear
pictures and objects are all that best explains
what that person was and now will never be the same
a long empty silence that was never there before
but we must remember that there is always something more
there is always that still soft voice
that speaks to you across the dark void

© 2002 thomas bates