I Can See You

I can talk to you

Though that shouldn't be possible

I can see you

Maybe because I know where to look

You flit through my mind

A thought here, an image there

And sometimes we share memories

Other times I close my eyes 

And see through yours instead 

I've always been able to see your kind 

Even though some people may think me mad

Your kind has saved me countless times

And you will forever have my gratitude

Scrooge saw three of your kind

And changed his ways

I have seen more and yet

I know not why you show yourself to me 

One day maybe I'll roam the earth at your side 

Till then I hope your wisdom stays with me

They say you don't exist

They're blind 

You are the relics of a bygone era 

And you will forever have my respect 

The Bilge Master

When the Blood Moon Rises

When the blood moon rises 

All things unholy come forth

As does she who walks in the light 

A warrior princess unlike any other 

Skilled at slaying demons 

She strikes with precision at her foes 

Ruby red are her lips and raven black her hair 

Sparks fly from her fingertips

She's a warrior of a different sort 

Defending the poor from evil

She has many scars but they haven't killed her yet

Her step is sure, her aim true 

Be it with a sword or a bow

She's someone who won't let you down in a fight 

And will help with your demons 

Just as she helped me with mine 

Long have I known the warrior princess

And I can assure you

If she is by your side 

No evil shall befall you

The Bilge Master

Please Don't Call Me Maybe?

My phone used to buzz 

With a text from you

I thought we would last

The thought lasted longer than you

My phone doesn't buzz anymore 

And I'm glad 

You were never my girlfriend

Nor were you my wife 

You said you loved me 

Darling that too was false 

Now you've gone and blocked me 

I'm glad that you did 

For it taught me stuff 

Like how taking people for granted 

Is something you shouldn't do

Today I look around me 

And see a sea of faces 

The loneliness in me tries to beat me 

And sometimes when I'm on the subway

I see your face 

You were a lesson I wish

I hadn't learnt so well

Now that you're gone 

It's easier for me to realize 

You were never there to begin with

And so this is me burying the dead 

That is our non-existent relationship

Which hasn't lasted unlike my real friendships 

So walk out the door 

And spit your pity out like betel juice 

The stain on the sidewalk will fade with time 

And if you think I'm waiting for you

At the end of the subway tunnel 

You're wrong 

Now the next one is my station 

It's time to go home 

Thanks for the memories 

But they've grown as cold 

As snow

While my guitar gently weeps 

With a lullaby I'm composing 

For the ones who do care for me 

I just wish you hadn't taken up my precious time 

But then again, I was the fool not you

The Bilge Master

The Whole of Your Story

As you wander the circus

You see a lot of tents 

Acrobats, fire eaters and contortionists

But the most tragic would be 

The fortune teller's tent 

Here by the light of a tallow candle 

That sends flickering shadows 

Dancing on the wall

You will know your future 

She'll tell you your whole story

Especially how it ends 

Then she'll break your heart boy

For nothing you do

Will ever change the end 

The Bilge Master

The Other Guy

White walls surrounding us

Your lips taste of rum

Our passion filled night

Has given way to a milky dawn

I kiss you one last time 

You do not respond 

Then I notice the scar around your throat

And the blood soaking my hands 

Unhinged 

That's what the lawyer used in his defense 

The jury didn't care 

16 years old, sentenced 

My passion bleeding out 

Of a hole in my soul

Why me? 

I ask

Why did I kill you?

You were everything to me 

Falling off the edge 

I see your face again

It's in a place 

Where no light will touch it 

And I'm headed the same way

Will history repeat?

Will we love with a passion that moves mountains

Only to crush with a cruelty that one reads of in fairy tales?

They strap me in

The needles are ready

I'm coming my love

Be ready

Put on your best dress 

Those dancing shoes I got you

Take my hand 

Let's dance the macabre

Before long we will be in each other's arms

And before long the other guy in my head 

Will have his hands around the ivory skin 

Of your throat

The Bilge Master

Land of Confusion

When I was a child

I was curious

Even though it is said that

Curiousity is what killed the cat

The thought of a murdered cat

Only made me more curious

Why a cat? Why not a dog?

Was my first question

I blew up a fuse 

Because I put a wire where no wire should have been

I asked my teacher 

What will I be?

She shrugged and failed me in Hindi

I didn't say goodbye 

To curiosity

I then went to college

And during my tenure 

Learnt about the applications of electricity

I joke that I wandered the halls with a live wire 

Sticking it to people

But the truth is I was confused 

And hurting 

And in the middle of this pain

And delirium

I went on a journey

Of self discovery

Finding out that I was a survivor 

And yet again I was curious

Just how much could I survive?

Could I survive shock therapy?

Could I survive a fall from the third floor of a building?

Could I survive being seperated from my family?

Could I survive without friends?

Walking in a forest in my dreams 

I met a sage who said 

Dude, you gotta do what you gotta do

And not live with regrets

Just breathe 

In and out

One day this Rubik's cube

Will get solved 

This morning on Facebook

I saw a picture posted by a Romanian friend 

Valentine's week spent in bed reading 

With a cup of coffee for company 

One day when all is said and done 

And the Ring's been thrown into the Cracks 

And Frodo the Nine Fingered has returned from Mordor 

Remember the words of a curious man

Who never stopped 

Being curious

Even though he was terrified sometimes 

Now, here I've given you millennials 

A Tolkien reference, a social media platform

And something that happened when I was high

There is no message here and the cake is a lie 

There's nothing to take away in this land of confusion

But belief that one day clarity will come 

And defeat the shadows under your bed 

And the ones lurking in your head 

The Bilge Master

Human Nature

I was 18 once

Angry and tired

Bored and confused

Introverted

I met someone who said

He was my friend

I was 20 once

Eating chocolate

Reading Eragon

I met someone who said 

She was my friend

Both of them went 

To different cities

Both of them came back

Both stayed in touch

But one forgot me

And what I had done

I was 23 once

Betrayed by a friend

I was sad and upset

Yet I counselled myself

For I still had my other friend

Who hadn't forgotten me

It's human nature 

To move on

Count yourself lucky

If you are remembered

I am 26 this year

My friend circle is small

And I am no longer angry

For the friends I made along the way

Have ensured that I am happy

So remember

People leave 

Empty promises are made

Value friends who are honest

And don't expect your love to be returned 

If you do this

You, like me

Will make the right friends

And the ones that leave your side

Won't matter 

The Bilge Master