A rational pain has found refuge in me,
Once given to whims but now I can see:
It is acceptance by which destiny thrives
And only Fate’s will which dictates our lives.
So do as you wish for finality’s sake,
As so often the end unexpectedly takes
Our entire existence and all that we’ve done
And drifts into nothing like clouds to the sun.
by Garret Woo
c. 2004
Favorable weather with flowers in May,
I came down to see you and watch the parade.
You weren’t there because you’d found another,
I walked away silently and left the bouquet.
Today my attention, tomorrow my love;
I’d give to you everything like the sky to a dove.
But you had no interest in returning the fire
So I gave up my kindle and abandoned the pyre.
I burned down the bridges and lowered the gates
And walled myself up in a palace of hate.
I forgot how to love and let go of the reins,
Submitting to solitude, consumed by the pain.
by Garret Woo
c. 2004 edited 2/13/2019
A creature has risen from the depths of my soul.
It groans of sickness; it’s darker than coal.
From whence it came blindly, at one time so peaceful,
Now it grows steadily like the creep of a shadow.
With each passing moment the more of me fades,
Consumed by the darkness like the end of a day.
No longer myself, I stand here converted
By innocent youth turned passions perverted.
by Garret Woo
c. 2004
I’m caught in the middle between angels and demons
And in their persuasions lost.
Some tell me “this” the others “that”
And I’m left counting the cost.
A blessing, some would say I have,
To dapple among both worlds.
Instead, I walk a twisted path of uncertainty and swirls.
by Garret Woo
c. 2004
Have you ever seen a person where
Their beauty, oh so fine and fair,
Commandeers your very eyes
And the freedom of will to them denies?
It pains me so to see you standing there
With beauty that I cannot bare.
And so I give one final glance
By aching heart without romance
To leave you there just as you may.
I remind myself: “Someday, someday.”
by Garret Woo
c. 2004
Liberation, free at last,
My chains have ceased to be.
Born again through eyes renewed as if I’d found the key.
Eight O’clock, the hand hits four
To cue a different time.
The past has past and present is,
While the future precedes the line.
Come what may as the seasons change
And give to me a Love.
To see, to hold, to be as one
Until we rise above.
by Garret Woo
c. 2004
Shed that veil from velvet eyes;
Observe the the eagle and how it flies.
Study the patterns that you see;
Know those secrets which reveal me.
Appointed by the will of men,
I hold the power of fist and pen.
Privileged to an open stage,
I bleed Our will onto this page.
Until stillness has quieted the mound
And the flags of our foe decorate the ground,
Will our persistent attacks cease;
Only then will I grant peace.
by Garret Woo
c. 2003 (edited 1/4/2019)
Tie me to the cross and set me on fire
For the crowd upon the pyre.
Spit in my face and laugh at my pain;
I’ve lost the will to feel the shame.
And all the people that bustle around
Lose touch with themselves; drowned by sound.
So who am I? Out of place, for sure.
Humble to a fault and tragically demure.
by Garret Woo
c. 2003
I’ve got a lot to spare
But it’s all despair.
Does she want to hear
And lend to me her ear?
Does she really care
Or looking to be fair?
Now, I’ve got all I need;
It’s as if it was meant to be.
She’s given all I’ve wished;
I know from when we kissed.
She’s shown me what can be
When one’s willing to see.
I’m far away from where
I used to find despair.
by Garret Woo
c. 2003
He’s saddened to see what has become of himself:
A brooding storm of hate and tears;
A combination of loves and fears.
Nothing is clear to him at all,
Like rocks beneath a waterfall.
No one can help him; it was meant to be.
By the will of fate – unable to see.
So let go of vain convictions and wants,
For life itself is here then gone.
by Garret Woo
c. 2004
Secret dreams, blood ravines,
All of a midnight memory.
Nothing was as it seemed,
In my drunken revelry.
I dreamed of a god
and a pauper, too.
I shaped the world
And begged for food.
Yet, in all this I could not find
Neither love, nor faith nor peace of mind.
Instead, I drifted further from
My body, oh, so fine and young;
I choked upon the watery abyss,
and lost myself in drunkenness.
by Garret Woo
c. 2004
Men of honor shed blood of iron,
They sacrifice all for their will.
Men in the sun, its only begun
To shed its light for thee.
Now is the time, oh brothers of mine,
To shed your blood with me.
Let us fight, let us die, let us conquer,
But may we lie in the glorious halls of heaven,
Forever remembered by those who knew,
And those who still savor life,
Engraved in stone, our names forever,
On the glorious Wall of Sacrifice.
by Garret Woo
c. 2004
The Secret Lantern 