demon always wins

February 17, 2023





Weak and wounded people
Let the spirits in
Play a demon's game
The demons always win

Entertain a demon
And grovel at its feet
Revel in destruction
And tales of deceit

Spin a tangled web
Stab a thousand backs
Demon grabs your virtue
And eats it like a snack

Dance with the devil
Sing his favorite song
Never ask yourself
Where it went wrong

Do all the things
A demon says to do
And never admit
The demon is you

by Richard W. Bray

meaning, nourishment and truth

February 4, 2023

When your life’s a walking shitshow
And you fill the world with lies
You don’t know why you’re empty
Saying your goodbyes

In a room where you say your name 
And try to tell the truth
Don’t miss out on fellowship
Searching for proof

Alone on a computer
You muffle your cries
As you try to find your truth
In other people’s lives

Searching the whole world
Looking for your purpose
Cast your bucket down
And try to be of service

by Richard W. Bray

the quiet of the sky

January 21, 2023

The quiet of the sky
The passion of the trees
The wisdom of the rocks
Educating me

Unremembered kindness
Murmurs in the breeze
The wonders of a world
That willed itself to be

Experience the grandeur
Of a world that isn’t clean
Open up your senses
Pull away from the screen

by Richard W. Bray

BPD

January 17, 2023


Everything is broken
It’s about to get worse
I know what’s wrong with everyone
I know just what to do
If I could punch you every moment
Then I could fix you

Everything is broken
So I make my own truth
It isn’t really lying cuz I’m not even there
I know what’s wrong with you
Cuz I live in your head
It isn’t really me sleeping in my bed

Everything is broken
I live outside myself
Reality is bad for my health
No one can handle my sad little poem
A little girl got broken
And she never went home

by Richard W. Bray

the best things

January 14, 2023

choices matter
syllables flatter
promises as empty 
as the wind

broadcast near and far
tell us who you are
fabricate and
fantasize and spin

goodness will not say
what it gives away
treasures more
valuable than gold

love unassailable
beauty unexplainable
the best things
cannot be told

By Richard W. Bray

No turning back

January 7, 2023

The marriage went stale
We lived our separate lives
I had a pocket full of floozies
She slept with some wives

Drinking in a crowd
And laughing way too loud
Ignoring what I lost
Forget about the cost

On a dusty old road
With nothing left to see
I burned down every bridge
From Barstow to Western Tennessee

Drinking in a crowd
And laughing way too loud
Ignoring what I lost
Forget about the cost

I'll buy another round
And cut myself some slack
I'm telling you for sure in this crazy ole world
There ain't no way to turn ever back

Drinking in a crowd
And laughing way too loud
Ignoring what I lost
Forget about the cost

By Richard W. Bray

Patrick J. Projection

December 17, 2022

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.Carl Jung

Patrick’s always talking
About everybody else
He doesn’t even know 
He’s just talking about himself

"Two-faced Tommy
Is such a stupid clown
Always talking trash
When people aren’t around"

Patrick’s always talking
About everybody else
He doesn’t even know 
He’s just talking about himself

"Albert's so angry
Screaming all day
It makes my blood boil
When he acts that way"

Patrick’s always talking
About everybody else
He doesn’t even know 
He’s just talking about himself

“Walter’s such a drunk
He’ll never get it right
Always at the bar
I see him every night”

Patrick’s always talking
About everybody else
He doesn’t even know 
He’s just talking about himself

“Heather’s so jealous
She’s bitter and cruel
If I had all her privileges 
I wouldn’t be such a fool”

Patrick’s always talking
About everybody else
He doesn’t even know 
He’s just talking about himself

by Richard W. Bray

and so my heart is paying now

December 10, 2022

Another love before my time made your heart sad and blue
And so my heart is paying now for things I didn't doHank Williams, Cold Cold Heart

Don’t blame yourself
For your broken heart
It might feel heroic
But it isn’t very smart

There’s something you know
But you’ll never understand
She made you so happy
But she didn’t give a damn

You could spend some time with a real live girl
But you’d rather keep bleeding in Imaginary World

You’re a really sweet guy
But you gotta let it go
It wasn’t your fault
When she stomped on your soul

I really wanna love you
But I can’t compete
With a sad sad song
That you wanna repeat

You could spend some time with a real live girl
But you’d rather keep bleeding in Imaginary World

By Richard W. Bray

wish away the past

November 26, 2022

Telling your life story
Leaving out the facts
Time travels sideways
Turkeys go quack

Nothing that happens
Is ever your fault
Look inside a mirror
See who you're not

Crazy as a hound dog
With a pigeon up its ass
Fantasize a future
Wish away the past

Nothing that happens
Is ever your fault
Look inside a mirror
See who you're not

Blood on all your garments
Dripping from your hand
But you never stop saying
You're an innocent man

Nothing that happens
Is ever your fault
Look inside a mirror
See who you're not

By Richard W. Bray

wonder is good enough for me

November 18, 2022

What holds all the molecules together?
Was there a beginning of time?
Does space go on forever?
What makes you so clever?
Is there any reason in my rhyme?

I wonder about everything I see
Who made all the tygers and the trees?
I wonder why I met you
And what you’re gonna do
Wonder is good enough for me

I wonder about things I’ll never know
I wonder if our love is gonna grow
What’s inside the sun?
The biggest number plus one?
Wonder is good enough for me

by Richard W. Bray