Heartbreak Cigarettes

A pack of cigarettes a day keeps the heartache away
What more pain can I feel when my heart’s been burned
Gray ashes fills up like stormy clouds in the ashtray
Why do fools fall in love even after we’ve been warned

Tobacco numbs emotions running through my wounded heart
Sitting on the balcony watching smoke gets in my misty eyes
They say letting go is easy, moving on is the hardest part
Fairy tales and happy endings are all just delusional lies

As nights go by, flame from this lighter is getting dimmer
No longer burns with childish hope but with sullen despair
A chain smoker has taken over the body of a man once a dreamer
The young lover’s faith when betrayed twice is beyond repair

Sleeplessly attending to the idea of smoking all my Marlboros
But carefully preventing the possibility of running out
Momentarily takes my mind off all these miserable sorrow
Heartbreak, cigarettes, in the end led up to an emotional blackout

Earl Grey Tea

Midnight, he sits alone smoking his last cigarette
Unwinding his tired soul to the music of Amos Lee
His bluesy mind toys with things he wants to forget
As he stays awake with a cup of warm Earl Grey tea

With each sip his body starts to ease a little bit more
A mental picture of heaven of earth in the morning
This tea is the cure to his occasional Sunday sore
For once time seems to stop and there will be no ending

Good times, sometimes are meant for one and not two
The lingering taste in his mouth is a sign that reminds
That while it may last, it slips away just like that too
Always to look forward what’s in front and not behind

3.30 AM as he slowly takes the last sips of his Earl Grey
His mind, body, and soul is now unconsciously at peace
Tomorrow when he wakes up everything is going to be okay
For now, just enjoy the moment as the trouble had ceased

Bangkok, Boston

Each night I dream about you
In this city built for two
My heart longs for a passion
With someone far away in Boston

Eight thousand and five hundred miles
In this land of a thousand smiles
But one smile I miss the most
Is one in my mind I never lost

Ever more I long to touch your face
Especially in this foreign place
One daydreams with untold hope
That our love will never want to stop

Endless nights of counting sheep
My love for you grows more and more deep
Time and time again I wish upon the star
That our distance will grow less and less far

24 Candles

A glass of wine and a glass of champagne
Today I toast to becoming a man
In a Parisian bistro counting change
Twenty four in a day feels somewhat strange

Playing puzzle with my mind in the train
It is dry but in my ears I hear rain
So still I stand I could have turned to stone
Friends surround me but I still feel alone

Put on Otis Redding and Etta James
A bluesy birthday is no fun and games
Yes I am lonesome like the Harvest moon
Heartbreak tells me it’s time to go home soon

Fourteen months of endlessly chasing fame
Looking back, it’s been quite far I have came
And yet I still miss those days at the ranch
Counting stars on our secret wooden bench

Loved and lived quarter of a century
It’s time to explore new territory
Twenty four candles reluctantly blown
Accepting the fact I have fully grown

A glass of milk and a glass of sweet tea
Tonight I sleep no more to bedtime story
May worries float away like a balloon
And my dream takes me to a blue lagoon

Polka Dots

Vision of the sky in tiny polka dots
Daydream has clouded my young adult thoughts
Was it just an illusion or is it snow?
In this cold world there is no way to know
For that I want to escape to a place
Where strangers each has a familiar face

In an ocean of fakes and polka dots
Day, they sail aimlessly on empty boats
To the edge of unknown infinity
Night, they shall cry tears envy and lonely
But who am I to sit right here and judge
I am but a man who has his own grudge

Oh how plain yet pretty each polka dot
Like a breath of fresh air Spring gently brought
Maybe all I need is your innocence
Or your incandescent elegance
I was once a sweet boy who wears plaid shirt
Now leather dresses a wound deeply hurt

A Blue Holiday

Holiday blues kick in like addiction
This single man rubs his right eye
Absent is the mood for celebration
So quiet you can hear him sigh
Long gone is the faith and religion
As the Sun sets in the amber sky
Giving way to a night of sad emotion
As the stars align to form Gemini

Alone in empty 3 bedroom apartment
Forgotten December swiftly goes by
A novel seems like a big commitment
As hard and much as he wants to try
Love always end up a disappointment
In the end we all are just passerby
What follows next is a silent treatment
Until summer wakes him up in July

Montmartre

Up the hill those old brick rues they lead
Bohemian artistes and tourists come to meet
At a corner café an old couple sit and read
Outside the marché two friends kiss and greet

Up the stairs climbed by pilgrims and Amelie
A church so beautiful it soothes every sensory
A view so stunning it makes all eyes teary
A cemetery so poetic it haunts living memory

Up the slope where van Gogh once called home
There is a vineyard where wine grapes are grown
Where poets, pianists, and Picasso used to roam
A scent of chestnut roast and fresh-baked croissant

Up the butte revelry and ruckus run so high
Midnight stars like diamonds up in the sky
Neon lights as colorful as Gardens of Versailles
Moulin Rouge closes the night, it’s time to say goodbye…

~~~

To my lovely neighborhood in Paris, my home away from home, Montmartre.