horizon west, pt. II:

more than eight years later, I am far from surprised to see the embers long residing in the back of my eyes should roar to flames; near a decade from the first I authored and ain’t nothin’ changed. the sentiment remains - I kept it, aged it well and rearranged most of the words you heard a while back; I’ve traveled strange and unfamiliar roads that cost me dear since then, exchanged unlived years of my life to catch sights perceived for seconds, never settling, fashioning each and every word heard into the sharpest of weapons to cut the true from out the false, separate the diamond from the dross, desperate to cheat a creeping death no matter the cost, often I cut across the fault lines I’m always able to find in foundations laid long past in an almost endless line of minds that mostly testified to selfishness and to failure of faith - so much so that I’ve despaired of anything to embrace beyond the blades and the bottle - but now I’m ridin’ with you and I’m reminded that for all my wisdom, I can be such a fool.

this is older than my whiskey, than the knives up my sleeve; a secret long held sacred like “I WANT TO BELIEVE” in a future I can see so clear like Gibson Praise, no matter that the months go by and these pages fade, I remember every word, I’ve not forgot a single glance, a catalogue of solar flares shot out of one fortunate chance - whether a dance you don’t remember or a kiss that doesn’t age, it’s been written for the longest time; believe me when I say that we might “wash off all the dirt’s been done and write off wasted time - for you I and at least deserve each other’s peace of mind” - yeah, that horizon’s farther down and might not still lead west, but that line’s at least eight years old and I’ve not revised it yet. and sky high or stone sober, we’ll still remedy the fall so many still expect to die of when they need not fear at all, for there is more than just the physical we’re bound to live through - and every time I see you dance, I believe that anew.

I believe in you - that’s my truth and I’ll rep that to the death, until the end of the world, until I run out of breath - which I never will do, these lungs pump strong in my chest, ready for whatever comes next, from Iron City to the bent left that don’t recognize no borders, by the beats we’re possessed - everything I ever wrote was supposed to be my best, but I knew a while back my best would be Horizon West, so I’d suggest y’all clear a path - thou shalt not test or disrespect - I put my heart in this one and consider myself blessed to see rewards for all my work but I never would have guessed that the answer would have been one that I already know, that I hit upon in writing more than eight years ago. after all those years I spent teaching myself how to fly, your company’s a kindness as we burn through this eastern sky,


so this I dedicate to you - muse, light, life, and friend; know that I will be here waiting should you come around again.




(wash off all the dirt’s been done and write off wasted time - for you I and at least deserve each other’s peace of mind.)