I’m an unconvicted felon,
on the wrong side of the law
I’ve been breakin’ rules forever,
I just ain’t been caught is all
I’m an educated professor,
but one without degree
I’m a never-ending teacher
of the things you will not see
I’m an unrequited lover,
with a heart that’s made of gold
An unreconstructed Rebel,
with a soul that ain’t been sold
I can see the other side
of every truth that can’t be told
I can fight with all my might
against my growing far too old
I can never find a reason
why this world should ever mend
I can only hope the answer’ll be
revealed before I end
There is pain in every pleasure,
and a truth in every lie
There’s a profit in the crawling,
and a cost for trying to fly
There are spirits all around us
though the reasons are unknown
I’m a consecrated pagan,
who believes we’re not alone
There are many lonely questions,
we must answer for ourselves
There’s at least a million heavens,
but I haven’t found no hells
I’ve been taken to the jailhouse,
I’ve been charged with every crime
Indicted for just livin’,
then turned loose without a fine
I am innocent and guilty
but I’ve never done no time
I discovered there are secrets,
in the music and the rhyme
I have lost and I have prospered
from the things I did not say
I have cheated many hangmen
and another judgement day
In the black and white of living,
I’m at home within the grey
When I don’t believe in nothin’
I have found the time to pray
I persevere and endeavor,
and I hope it’s worth the cost
I am on the road to somewhere,
but I fear that I am lost
I can see the other side
of all the truths and all the lies
I can understand the reasons
for a thousand alibis
I can roam without a compass,
and I never tow the line
And I hope to find the answers
before runnin’ out of time
And the answers to the questions
will come with time and tide
And I hope that I’ll be welcome
when I reach the other side
In the darkness of my message,
I hope you’ll see the light
While the truth is all around us,
we are blinded by the night
In the meantime count your blessings,
heed the warnings of this fool
With the sirens in the distance,
I give all my love to you.
It’s an unintended consequence
to fly before you fall
Bowing to omnipotence
before you stand up tall
There’s a meaning to coincidence
apparent after all
I’m an unconvicted felon
that just ain’t been caught is all.
stephenhsmith
22oct2002
