"A Statement of Life in a Cocoon"
turn back the curtain. there's a reason for this disguise. and it looks as if someone has found us out. in opportunity, a thousand and one true lies. a lifetime, covered up. i've seen the words i can't bear. to watch you love and let it go. i've torn apart. i can't bear to watch you love and let this go. we're always told the grass is greener on the other side. it's all i want and all i know. with stellar glances and a feud of two to frame. a lifetime, sold around. and when the eight meets one. she's surely drifted on to meet herself back on the other ground. and when it's all gone. get her own kind of life. it is the only thing that's left.

"Finest Moment"
i thought i wrote down everything you ever said. but there was so much more to that. shades down. never walk outside alone. disconnect the phone and wait. make loud your finest moment here. it was everything that i couldn't know. tear these pages out. and bury the two in vain. hidden shadows for under the pillow. where the love stops. girl, you never tell it all. let it all fade away. when the watch breaks, everything you ever said turns into blank stares.

"New Obsessions For the Season"
there were times when we were searching for love that could answer every question that the eyes ever posed. eras fall. and a nation discovers new obsessions for the season and a new pair of shoes. with time, you're so like the original. watch the tables turn again. because a home is not in another. another story wound up. i woke up to a snowy tv screen with animated test bars and remote to kill the pain. taking time. what were you searching for? like the movies go, your paper thoughts pretend. all i ever wanted was to live like this. hand in hand across the beaches we would lie.

"Snap"
the worn out lines of other's thoughts. always present, always cold. a summer lost to stale absurdities. now find my way out of glass cage. broken over me like a first time. drive the car. what's on the edge for me? what's on the edge of autumn? would you say the things that you never meant for a lifetime of memories? would you let this all just go to hell? and write back on the other side. would you find it in your heart to make me hurt inside? our thoughts were over until now. the fire in your eyes. and the way she moved the night. our thoughts were over until now. there's a liar in your eyes. and we'll say the things we never meant. for a lifetime of memories. and we let it all just go to hell. and wrote back on the other side. and we found it in our hearts to make us hurt inside. and we'll say those things we never meant. for a lifetime.

"Holding Voices"
would it be wrong to keep a box for memories/triumph? and take it off my shelf to breathe. just for tonite. i don't want the last word here. we're holding voices in our hands. but we'll take one day at a time. watch snowflakes kiss your eyes. i'll cherish every moment here. i guess the rest is on my own. can you read me? because i tried to type in bold print. i'm seeing movies play out in your eyes. where did you leave this? i've forgotten once again. one more chance for a fleeting glimpse.

"In the End of This"
we're into breaking our idols with baseball bats. i knew the game was over and the wreckage followed in. shut down and play your part while i return. a new sense of it and the rewards of just feeling fine. where are you now? because i'm with fading boundaries now. you'll make me into nothing. so hold your fight. because i belong to no one now you'll see.

"Paper Heart"
it happens all the time. we walk around ourselves in > circles. another waste of time. you know it's been so long since i've stood on my own. set it slower, ever going to a place where i could always fall asleep into your arms. staring at the pictures. and the symbol that you gave me. all of it that wasn't there. it was anything and everything to feel okay/get away. but it gets easier. i am winning over. you know it's taken everything i had to learn. it's to know you, right from wrong. it's to know you, right? and i'll wear this on my sleeve.

"In the Quiet"
in the quiet, it rains for hours on end. when we'll slip into our fears again. and the stars above our heads break loose. i know you're out beyond the broken glass. still i wonder where you're at. in the quiet, it pays us back tonight. where echoes will bring us into light. and the stars above our heads break loose. in the quiet room where fears are drowned. we are holding on to nothing but the sound. and i am not here because of you. my only point of view.

All words by Mark P. Shue, Copyright 2002.