James Zealy
Only In The Eyes of the Beholder

Genetic Identity
Wild Branch's personality
Deviating from the staid family roots
Tranquility juxtaposed with insanity

Conflicted with the Hyena howls
Of Addictive personalities
And Schizophrenic tendencies
Wailing the cries of alcohol induced fantasies

Brush strokes of angry outbursts
Paint a picture that deviates
From the perfect image
The family longs to parlay

As we dangle tenuously
From this dysfunctional branch of the tree
With fragile tendrils of stability
Waiting for the wind

Blowing from Satan's castle
That dooms its victims
With a future of clouded vision
And a skewed sense of reality

The cries and wails
Of the fallen fill our ears
We weep tears of futility
And feel consumed with despair

Fear wells within
Of who will be the next to fall,
From the slowly dying tree
Disintegrating before us

Once years ago, you asked me to go fishing
So lines thrown could connect two disparate souls
I saw only that I did not like to fish

I asked you once to read what I wrote
You did
We found each other

Two fish out of water
Struggling to breathe life
On some level other than nothing

Today, while writing established the bridge
It is only what it should be
A satisfying addition to something better

Once years ago, you asked me to go fishing
So lines thrown could connect two disparate souls
I saw only that I did not like to fish

I asked you once to read what I wrote
You did
And We found each other

Like fish out of water
Struggling to breathe
We found sustinance

Today, we swim in each others universe
Chasing a common lure
Of word tapestries

We were young
Infants at loving
Innocent of Intimacy

You were the first
You are the last
It seems part of the plan

I was your first
I am your last
Its defined in the plan

We were broken
We were lonely
We found love amd laughter

Warriors at life
We fought, lost and won
Survived our family lunacy

Our outline was written
Played as our first song
Back in 1975

You were the first
You are the last
Its part of the plan

I've lived a personal inferno
Tainted by indescretion
Spawned by
lack of personal connection

I sacrificed pride to survive
Both personal, and financial
To save what was left
Times 5

Yet as I watched with dismay
interpersonal decimation
Of trust with our three
I contemplated why did we?

We soured our dreams
Destroyed our sanity
Burned a dark path to misery

Yet we are still a family
Fighting to make some sense
Of this life long crusade
To make a difference

Define a legacy
That surpasses insanity
leave some semblance of self respect
For what we tried to project

Armageddon is raging
To make right what was not
Despite senseless mistakes
Branded behind angry smirks

Our life is like a slow moving river
Veering ever so slightly together
Creating a path
That we can only see looking back

Yet Hope still lives
We can overcome
The past we have made
To taste at last, the right way

A never ending chase begins
Seeking round and round
For Dreams to come true
Wings of passion fly beyond today

Hope aspires to resolve anxiety
But cannot
A promise of love unbroken
No words define the emotions

A Bittersweet fantasy
Intrigue flies amid a haze
Clouded by a heart's desire
That Burns with an eternal flame of hope

Life driven by dreams
Enhanced by possibilities
Here or in the hereafter
Of some unfinished need

Beliefs are immortal
Something more has to be
Life rolls by patiently waiting
Time an illusion that disguises destiny

Wishes are the forbidden fruit
Small glimpses but never tasted
A flash of what could be
Yet never is

Beyond reality a new canvas is created
Painted by those who need the chance
Maybe now maybe never
As the chase continues for all time