E PLURIBUS UNUM (HEAL)
(by Randy E. Halprin)
If you feel you're broken
Beyond repair
If you're tired of the shouting
And tired of feeling scared
Lift up one another
Give a piece of your heart
Stop trying to smother
Let's heal together
Let's try to start
Heal your neighbors' tears
Heal your neighbors' pain
Heal your neighbors' hoplessness
Bring sunshine
Instead of rain
We can heal together
We can heal these wounds
We can pull together
We must end this gloom
So, if you're tired of feeling broken
Tired of the despair
Tired of the screaming
Tired of the tears
Let's lift up one another
TOGETHER WE MUST HEAL
YOU CAN SEE THINGS BETTER FROM FURTHER AWAY
(by Randy E. Halprin)
Looking back
What do I see
Those same sad eyes
I saw at 17
Holding on
So desperately
While fingers pry
To set me free.
(Where do I fall?
Where do I run?
Who do I call when I can't be
Your prodigal son?)
It's hard to see
When you're right on top of it
Things get blurry
Tell you I'm staying,
but run away in a hurry
I don't want to be who you think I am
I'm better than that -
became a changed man
But stepping back
Can you see things clearer?
Will you look at yourself
In the very same mirror?
I'm holding on
So desperately
Holding on -
to hope I cling
(Where do I fall?
Where do I run?
Who do I call when I can't be
Your prodigal son?)
SLIPPING THROUGH
(by Randy E. Halprin)
I saw sunshine slipping through the cracks
I saw sunshine slipping through the seams
In a dark room I share with only ghosts -
and nightmares and memories
This ray of light came shining down on me.
NOISE
(by Randy E. Halprin)
Is there such thing as silence?
When all we hear and see is violence
The world going off like one big atom bomb
And the night shocked into screams that rip apart the stars
Aren't we tired yet?
How can it be so easy to forget
The pain of all the children?
I'm so sick of violence
For once can't we have just one day of silence?
No more wars
No hate
No executions
For them to repay
Blood for blood
Today
What about love?
It's a dream that seems so far away.
THE DANCE
(by Randy E. Halprin)
Crashing cars
And passing trains.
Shooting stars
Forgotten names.
They fanned the fires
And danced away.
Their deadly dance
Oh sufferers of pain.
With covered ears
Blind folded eyes.
Adorned in tears
That hypnotized.
They danced away
Into the night.
Muffled screams
Of the children's plight.
So dream away,
You forgotten ones.
Dream away
Maybe change will come.
HOLLY WOOD ENDING
(by Randy E. Halprin)
I want an ending like a movie.
Happy and moving.
As the credits roll by,
there'll be tears in their eyes –
not a dry face in the room.
They'll all applaud and come back to watch – again.
Because who needs reincarnation,
when you're a memory in someone's mind?
I'll be like a DVD or a song stuck on repeat.
They'll all have smiles,
in my Hollywood ending.
FAITH
(by Randy E. Halprin)
As I look at your photograph,
sitting here on my desk,
it's new year's eve and I long for your kiss.
Your big brown eyes,
your gorgeous lips,
your big wide smile –
I long for your kiss.
You've made me smile,
you've brought me hope.
When I think of you,
I know I can cope (with all of my troubles).
I always contemplate forever,
I think of us together,
because in our love I believe.
Yeah,
In our love I have faith.
MILES AND MILES
(by Randy E. Halprin)
We may be apart.
Separated by steel,
and miles.
But never at heart.
A silver cord keeps us tethered.
Keeps us together –
across miles and miles.
FROZEN TUNDRA
(by Randy E. Halprin)
It was snowing,
the wind was blowing.
I was frozen to the bone.
Walking around cold,
walking around alone –
just a walkman in my hand,
playing music only my soul could understand.
(And even though I was lost to the world,
I always hoped the sun would come out
And melt all of this snow away.)
Frozen Tundra,
I was going under.
I was drowning under ice.
My body was cold
I never felt more alone –
the walkman slipping from my grip,
music slowing my soul to a drip.
(And even though I was gone to the world,
I always hoped the sun would come out
And melt all of this ice away.)
THE DOOR
(by Randy E. Halprin)
I'm drowning in the mire
I'm choking on the mud
Been cut a thousand times
Thought I was covered by the blood
Been a sacrificial lamb of sorts -
been all of that and more
I put all of the blame on me
BUT
You still kick me out the door
Be careful what you wish for
Be careful what you say
Be careful for what you hope for
Want for
Or Pray
Heaven let me in
I thought you forgave me for my sins?
But it seems the more I pray for
Hope for
Want for
You just slam the door
Will it get better?
Will I be allowed in?
All I really want for
Need for
Hope for
Is you to open
The door.
HOLD THIS HOPE
(by Randy E. Halprin)
We can't see through to the other side,
into tunnels with our blood shot eyes.
Our broken veins stain the sands of time,
as we stand alone in the great divide.
Angels and demons wrestle for the crowns of kings -
just us alone holding our clipped wings,
so that we could know what it's like to no longer breathe.
To no longer fly.
To no longer see the sun up close.
What was once thought to be.
Eternity is nothing more than a shattered dream.
"Hold this hope," she said.
"Hold my hand."
"Hold this love," she said.
"Hold my head."
"Hold this heart," she said.
"As I take my last breath."
"Hold this hope," she said.
But this hope leaves me dead.
NOT TOO FAR AWAY
(by Randy E. Halprin)
Walk with me by my side.
Then you'll see that we're on the same wave line.
Both riding the same vibes,
in this song called life.
It's not that hard.
No, it's really not too hard to see,
it's not that hard.
No, it's not too far away to see,
that thing called hope.
UNFINISHED
(by Randy E. Halprin)
I want to be new again
I don't want to be born again
Just whole again
Just a new pretend
And if we are the stories we are told,
then really I'll never be new
I'll always be old
Unfinished
Peeling skin again
I try to touch your face again.
Unfinished
The distant voices fill the air
Like ghosts trapped in atmosphere.
GRACEFULLY
(by Randy E. Halprin)
Some days I'm out of steam
Some days I don't know what it means
I'm a swan on the surface
But underneath, kicking furiously
Just trying to find hope
Trying to dream
Some days it's easier -
easier than it seems
Some days are harder
And tears apart at the seams
But still I float, gracefully
Wherever the stream may take me.
HANGING ON A HOPE
(by Randy E. Halprin)
I'm hanging.
Just barely,
by a thread.
A fiber of hope.
But I can't continue to do this -
to wish it into existence.
I can't dangle from the edge I'm on,
because I'm one thread.
One single thread,
away from insanity.
I can't keep waiting...
For you to come around.
To see the err in your ways.
I'm barely hanging...
Losing grip.
I can't keep hanging on a hope.
I'm destined to slip.
DANCE SONG
(by Randy E. Halprin)
This is my dance song.
This is my goodbye so long.
This is the 'fuck you' I've been wanting to give you -
for so long.
As I dance my way out -
as I sing, jump, skip and shout.
Yeah, I finally figured it out.
This is my last kiss.
This is my last wish.
I'm starting over.
Starting anew.
giving my heart to someone else,
other than you.
As I dance my way out -
as I sing, jump, scream and shout...
I can finally say "fuck off."
I'm better off without you,
yeah, I finally figured out how...
I finally figured it out.
CRATERS ON THE MOON
(by Randy E. Halprin)
I stepped out into the night
Found a spot on the grass
I wanted to watch the firefly
And count the stars in the sky
I stared at the moon and swore I saw your face
I stared at the moon and felt completely out of place -
and I counted all the lines, cracks, and crevices.
I traced them all with my finger,
just like I used to with you,
wasting time,
counting craters on the moon.