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.

HOLLYWOOD 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.