1 a.m.

Star light, star bright, shine so brightly in the night

Wish I may, wish I might have this wish I wish tonight

I wish for peace, for quiet lives, for simple pleasures long forgot

Before this world can take no more, I wish to live before I rot.

I look at the sky, I see the stars,

Little pinpricks in the blanket of night

A church bell tolls in a distant town

Chimes telling me its 1 a.m.

The cool breeze blows through my hair

As I sit and gaze at the stars above

Dogs bark away on distant farms

My own dogs sit, or wander by.

I gaze forlornly at the stars

And wonder if they watch over us

Like a million angels, shining bright

Singing their songs in celestial choir

I look at them, I look at me

I look at us, this human race

I wonder what our futures hold

And why we hate ourselves so much

I love this world, its beasts and trees

And loathe the race that tortures it

Like I’m so innocent of such a charge

But then perfect? Never said I was

I wonder if my mind is sick

Would someone help me make it well?

What friends I have I cannot tell

But then to tell the truth, I never could.

If there’s a God, does He weep for me,

A lost sheep, strayed from the herd?

Does He know how to cleanse my soul

Of all the pain inside of me?

Did I bring this all upon myself?

Not all, but surely some of it

So before I go and blame the rest

I need to answer to myself

The dogs come over, sit by me

I pat their heads and stroke their backs

They lick my nose, one wanders off

The other remains, sat by my side

I wonder if she feels my pain

They say dogs sense these sorts of things

So does she sit beside me now

To comfort me, make me feel loved?

The wood, so black, I wander through

The treetops hide the starlit sky

I can barely see before my eyes

But strangely, I feel quite at peace

Maybe the night is my truest friend

Out here in the sticks, far from town

I feel no hate, no violent wrath

My spirit is calm, my mind relaxed

I think about my years gone by

About my friends, both now and past

I wonder if some part of them

Left me in such a tattered mess

What part of my life shaped who I am?

What traumas scarred my infant mind?

What makes me tick? What set the tone

For how I act? I wish I knew

But for now, I’ll just sit here alone

Out here at night, gazing at the stars

And as the night creatures stir and call

A distant bell tolls 1 a.m.