Point Of Origin

“I think, therefore I am,” said the scientist Descartes

But can we know what’s really real and what is really not?

Like pilgrims on a journey we are seeking a reply

But with a fear of moving we are left here standing by

I’m at the point of origin with nothing else around

Only north and south, east and west, and up and down

I move through three dimensions as I expend my time

If I could bend it all the universe would all be mine

You told me that I shouldn’t wait, you told me I should leave

But lacking any clear direction I guess I was naive

All I wanted was to have a say in what occurs

But this event horizon warps my vision into blurs

I’ve left the point of origin, I’ve left it all behind

This increasing uncertainty is all that I can find

I’m flying at the speed of silence with no one else around

I’m falling towards the blackened hole with no way to turn around

I am out here on the edge so tell me, where are you?

How much will this existence validate the things I do?

The point of origin has no reciprocity

I’ve gone from points to lines to planes that reach infinity

The point of origin is lost, it cannot be again

We’re all just human beings and that’s all we’ve ever been

In how many lives can one soul be justified?

Were we ever here if all we’ve done is pushed aside?

Once there was a time when your choices had no end

And all the possibilities were vast

But you reached a boundary and had to turn around

To face all the decisions of your past

You see the truth that you were no better than a slave

You spent years repeating things just like a standing wave

You lived your obsessions with chaos in your wake

It seemed there was nothing you could do

Every time you took a stand and tried to throw them off

They all kept reflecting back at you

You had no resistance, you took instead of gave

So your life keeps resonating inside the standing wave

You could find a way out but there’s nothing left to save

Instead you’ll stay forever bound within the standing wave

(Instrumental)

Did you like the way things were with everything unchanged?

Did you think of anything that could be rearranged?

Even doing nothing can sometimes feel like a dare

But too much second guessing can leave you standing there

You coulda made decisions, you shoulda made a choice

You woulda had a different path if you had raised your voice

I coulda been more helpful but you shoulda told me so

I woulda been of service but how was I to know?

How much preparation did you make before the test?

How much do you care when you’re contrasted with the rest?

You can’t let it bother you to be like everyone

It’s enough for you to have lost less than you’ve won

You coulda done things differently, you shoulda spun that dial

It woulda made you pleased to see your efforts all worthwhile

I coulda been supportive and I shoulda cheered you more

Then your perseverance woulda been your open door

What else coulda happened? What else shoulda been?

You woulda broke the bondage from the lines you stayed within

It coulda been amazing, you shoulda been relieved

I wonder what woulda been if only you believed?

Corporate, legal, engineering, when these end with “ese”

They’re ways we change meanings of the language as we please

If you’re not in the in-crowd you don’t know what’s being said

All you have are words and phrases running through your head, like

Glossy, semi, satin, eggshell, flat is how I paint

Rocket launches start out “nominal” until they ain’t

O-M-G, L-O-L, and shortcuts that we text

We use them all day long to keep our thumbs from being vexed

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is what he’d always say

I don’t understand all this jargon in my way

He wants Sierra Hotel, but just ‘tween me and you

His life’s Tango Uniform, and nothing he can do

A-P-R, A-P-Y, simple and compound

They’re just ways of paying more for things to have around

Jurisdiction, litigation, prima facie

Accusations can’t be proven only on hearsay

Ten-twenty the hook and ladder, code red on the scene

The vic assumed room temperature, now just what does that mean?

Ethyl, methyl, isopropyl, many more I think

All these types of alcohol, but which one can I drink?

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, he’d shout the words out loud

When everyone talks in code he’s left out of the crowd

He wants his acceptance, but just ‘tween me and you

His life’s Tango Uniform, and nothing he can do

Claustro, acro, nomo, aero, phobias we fear

Lager, stout, or I-P-A, but I just want a beer

Asthma, cancer, Alzheimer’s, bipolar, A-M-D

All you need is take the drugs they show us on TV

Jargon, slang and idioms, those buzzwords that we’ve heard

We’re constantly creating more, it’s really quite absurd

There are points of clarity but only now and then

As fast as we can learn them, they change them all again

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, there’s no way he can cope

He can’t understand it all, he is out of hope

He’ll remain unknowing, but that is nothing new

He’s always Tango Uniform, and nothing he can do

Where is it you’re going, do you have a plan?

Don’t forget how far you’ve gone from where it all began

You can be bewildered if you don’t know what you need

Without knowing your progress, will you know when you succeed?

It’s all out there somewhere in the realm of possibility

Tell yourself you’re worth it, don’t ask why

One step at a time will get you where you want to go

You’re guaranteed to fail if you don’t try

There is always risk in anything you may pursue

Don’t be your own worst enemy, don’t sabotage the things you do

Be a better person through the trials you undergo

Don’t take it at face value when all of them tell you no

It’s all out there somewhere in the realm of possibility

But you can only bend the rules so far

Learn from your mistakes and then live to try again

Learn to trust yourself and who you are

It’s all out there somewhere in the realm of possibility

If you chicken out you’ll surely lose

Remember that old saying, nothing ventured, nothing gained

It’s time to live the choices that you choose 

I went out into the world to be what I could be

But the lessons that I learned never came for free

You reach a point in life when you have to reassess

Sometimes to do things over is the way that you confess

I surely didn’t know it when I got that second chance

How my life would change when you asked me for that dance

We know where we’re going, our feet firm on the ground

And we know our love keeps growing this second time around

It’s like an old guitar that has seen its better days

But with care and tuning it’s amazing it still plays

It’s the rusty shovel that can still help plant a tree

It’s the ancient lighthouse that’s still shining out to sea

It doesn’t matter if it’s new or if it’s second hand

Everything still useful will be always in demand

Trust yourself in knowing your day will come around

When your cup seems overflowing this second time around

When you find your purpose it fits like a second skin

The future now seems certain and I’m ready to begin

I know where I’m going, my feet firm on the ground

And you’ll reap the seeds I’m sowing this second time around

Sunlight shines down on the planet

We journey to our inner mind

The search for peace should be our habit

The things we seek become aligned

What you have that’s inside you

Is what you have to share with someone

Don’t be bound by limits you are tied to

Seek out your purpose in this life in salutation to the sun

The force of life that’s radiating

Shapes the spectrum in the falling rain

Take time for reinitiating

It’s something we all need again

To fulfill our lives completely

The work we undertake is never done

We are all intertwined together

As we connect with ourselves in salutation to the sun

When we grasp the explanation

There is nothing that cannot be done

If we pursue our restoration

We’ll be one with the universe in salutation to the sun

Who gets to decide who can come in from the cold?

Companionship is tossed aside when friendships are undersold

Can we share perspectives with those of a different type?

Have we lost what matters when we’re obsessed with all the hype?

Why do we accept the theory that everything must have a spin?

Reality is lost when it’s drowning in the din

Can we see the path that’s taken when in somebody else’s shoes?

Empathy is lost when we do nothing but accuse

We don’t see the darkness that infects the things we say

When all hope is lost we wander aimlessly astray

Why is it so hard to get along among all of us?

Understanding’s lost when we don’t even try to discuss

The things we think are strong can turn and make us weak

Reasoning is lost if we don’t think before we speak

Sometimes you have to choose between reality or ruse

The struggle is in how to make that choice

All things can be believed but whatever you’ve perceived

Cannot suppress the faith that’s in your voice

Do not run and hide from the things you must decide

Deep down you know what’s right and wrong to keep yourself still going strong

It makes me stop and think with time passed in a blink

How life leads me to tell you how I feel

So many things I’ve dreamed and suddenly it seemed

That all the things I needed became real

We’ve stayed self assured with our relationship secured

We’ve been together for so long and we’re still going strong

I cannot pretend that I’m all I want to be

All my faults and failures are there for all to see

But I won’t accept defeat or drown in my regret

There is more to challenge me so I am not done yet

I’ll do all I can so I can be a better man

I’ll fulfill my purpose in the throng of those of us still going strong