December 18, 1990*

I think I know what a hero is
Though life has played me the fool
A man of strength and conviction
yet himself just another man's tool
A man who's wish is so simple
I suppose it can never come true
A dream that romantics will cling to
dispite all the pain they go through

I think I know what love is
For I myself have been scorched
and though the flame it may linger
it is never again quite a torch
But still I would give to you the whole of my heart
If I thought you would ever treat it right
Yes still I would give you the hole of my heart
to fill with the bones of your night

I think I know what loneliness is
It's death's only brother in disguise
reminding us of the emptiness there
that awaits when we give up the fight
And I suppose I know what survival is
It's knowing when something is through
It's that feeling inside that though something has died
some part of it lives on in you

You were there with your heart
And I was there with a song
And a dream that I held
Where you didn't belong

You didn't know how to cry
And I couldn't say why
But I left anyway
And I'm sorry to say
It all turned out for the worse

Yes you were there everyday
And you'd do everything I'd say
But when the magic isn't there
It's just too hard to bare

So I left for another
Less courteous lover
But she let me behind
And in the ravages of time
It all turned out for the worse

So I thought I should say
That I'm sorry today
For the pain that I caused
When I "threw you away"

And I just wanted you to know
Though it was so long ago
That I was wrong
And you were right
And it all turned out for the worse

*James H. Webb

Like a lover in an empty bed
Like the shadow of a love that is dead
Like a long drink of silence
After words of such violence
Like the hollow where you once laid your head

All those long ago moments
Left stolen and homeless
Never leave me an evening of peace
Though I pray for the slightest release

Like the love that we never quite shared
'cause it felt like you weren't always there
Like the wind in the willows
Your perfume on the pillows
Or my lips on the back of your hair

And although I'm not confessing
When I count all the blessings
That time took away from me
Your face is the one that I see

Like the loss of a love come to end
Like the death of my closest of friends
Like the time that you lied
And then you denied
You had feelings you couldn't defend

All those long ago moments
Left stolen and homeless
Never leave me an evening of peace
So I pray for the slightest release

J. H. Webb

I've never seen anyone
As lonely as you
One look in the mirror
Will tell you it's true
And all I ever wanted
You just took away
You left me for someone
With nothing to say

And there'll come a time
When you'll realize
It wasn't worth it -
You paid too high a price
All the things that you once loved
Have long flown away
And their scent on the wind
Is lost to the day

When we were together
And both of us claimed
We were soul mates forever
And would always remain
But you had a change of heart
Or just a change of mind
Now nothing is left
But your promise that died

And here deep in my bones
This old quiet ache
Reminds me that loving you
Was such a mistake
But I can't just turn it off
Or just put it away
So I have to live with it
Each and every day

Cause I've never met anyone
As lovely as you
One look in my eyes
Would tell you it's true
You're all I ever wanted
But now you're gone away
And you've left me with nothing
And the nothingness stays


J.H. Webb

June 6, 2014

There's a lot of past history and tears I have cried
Some friends didn't make it and some never tried
There's a lot of remembrance and a lot of regret
There's the things that I did and the things I forget

There's a lot of old friends I know I'll never see
So I can't tell them how much they meant to me
All the moments I could have - I guess I let pass
But life kept on churning and turning so fast

Now there's a lot of past moments frozen in time
Their pictures come racing back to my mind
And the thoughts send me reeling and racing to youth
To what I thought was true and what was the truth

There's a bitter sad moment than I smile again
Like the sun in the morning after darkness and rain
There's a wishing and a hoping where ever you are
That my love can reach you though the distance be far

And join us together through space and through time
Like soul-mates or lovers - like hearts tuned in rhyme
Like people who mattered and played a big part
In the shaping and warming of each others heart

There's a lot of past history and tears I have cried
Some friends didn't make it and some never tried
There's a lot of remembrance and a lot of regret
There's the things that I did and the things to do yet

James H. Webb

(Nov 30, 2013 12:27am)

Now it's closer every time I look, though it might be just my age
Seems I read the book too fast and I’m approaching the last page
Well I don't know what's become of me or who I really am
But being further than I am right now was certainly my plan

Guess I didn't see the days approach - I only saw them leave
And now they are much fewer than all these falling leaves

I can't admit I miss you but I’ll give it one more try  
It’s just it was so long ago that I can’t remember why
That life we led and that man I was, was someone else’s dream
And all those lies and alibis now somehow seem obscene

Guess I didn't see the days approach – they went so quickly bye
And the autumn leaves fall no more but the winter snows sure fly

I still can't find that inner peace, hell, I can't even seem to grieve
for a time when I was younger and oh so much more naïve
But I’ve played so many lifelong parts that's it's easy to believe
That I am every one of them and all of them are me

Guess I didn't think my days would end - think that's how we all begin
And I never thought one day I'd lose - guess I always thought I'd win

James H. Webb

I glimpsed at the fire
Then I wanted to touch
These waves of desire
They demand far too much
My selfishness dragged me
Down to the ground
I grabbed at your heart strings
And started to pound
Prove that you love me
Prove that you still care
I wanted so much proof
I ignored the proof there

I don't know the reason; why must it begin?
Why is it so lonely when chasing the wind?

The whole of my needing
I harnessed to you
You ran away bleeding
And tore me in two
Why must I give up
All the best things I had
The rage of misfortune
so hollow and sad
pounds in my each step
And carves at my brain
The bitterness bringing
First numbness than pain

I don't know the reason; why must it begin?
Why is it so lonely when chasing the wind?

Sometimes there's an angel
Who floats over me
She smiles in your likeness
But only I can see
She wakes the wee morning
to cuddle up to me
and I hold her dearly
and as close as can be
She lays down in meadows
or oranges and green
and I open my eyes
to her beautiful dreams