Today I’m just chilling
I’m just taking things easy
Doting on a life more fulfilling
Willing some of my demons leave me.

Got The War On Drugs
Playing peace in the back
One of the few wars for good
The band that is now, not the act.

And I start thinking and feeling
Like I’ve been through the wars myself
Then I start thinking and feeling
Maybe our greatest war is with our self.

And I don’t know about you
There’s parts I’m only learning about me
But sometimes the things I do
Seem in conflict with what I really wish see or be.

Sometimes we make enemies of ourselves
For reasons I don’t know
Sometimes we’re scared to ask for help
To let our needs show.

For when we expose our needs
We risk not having them met
Allow our vulnerability to breathe
And at times for any of us, that can feel like death.

But in reality it’s more often the opposite
Can be the very thing that makes us come alive
And maybe we’ve been living a kind of death
That for a time maybe even helped us survive.

It can be hard to let down your guard
When it’s been up for so long
Some risks can seem so hard
But without risk our death is long.

And I don’t know about you
There’s parts I’m only learning about me
But sometimes it feels the things that got me through
Are preventing me from being what I really want to be.

Change don’t come at once
No, change comes over time
But maybe it’s when that change is done
Our mind can change more readily define.

And I don’t know about you
There’s parts I’m only learning about me
I’m just listening to The War On Drugs
Thinking how wasteful our wars can be.

© Daniel Breslin

You to me are therapy
You to me my friends
You to me are everything
My last line of defence.

When this world creeps coldly
When it scratches at your core
And a part of you feels like folding
You keep me holding on for more.

When the hands of time come kicking
Beating at your door
Where your ego is slowly retreating
From its self defeating shape before.

When the things that got us through
No longer serve our needs
And we must give birth to something new
It’s with you the new life breathes.

When the world comes gutting
Cutting at before
And you feel like you know nothing
You remind me of something more.

It’s alright to feel lost
It’s alright to show your pain
All growth comes at a cost
But you help make that cost humane.

We all have our own injuries
We all have our own wounds
That conflict with our self imagery
Our protective structured tools.

We all develop skills
To side step some of our pain
So on other parts of us we can build
Till we are strong enough to face that pain again.

And as we turn to face our demons
As we turn to face our past
In our friendships I find new meanings
In the quiet as much as laughs.

When all platforms seem to be failing
When times are changing, a platform you provide
It’s that friendship that keeps us sailing
And in that ship I take some pride.

For what you extend to me
I extend to you
And that is therapy
That is what we do.

You to me are therapy
You to me my friends
And therapy is everything
When we are at our wits ends.

It is in our times of weakness
We display our greatest strength
When we refuse to be defeated
Our last line of defence.

© Daniel Breslin

First thing hits me is the flats
This ain’t my habitat
Balconies in the Sun
People go on holidays for that
Few people lounging on the grass
Having a can, having a laugh
Go quiet as I pass
Almost see their eyeballs ask
‘What’s he looking at?’
So I divert my eyes back
To the flats
Red brick stacks
Taking in the now
Wondering bout their past
As in the now they seem serene
These streets I walk between
To me silently scream
Beckoning me in more
Pass a man
Smiling in his door
I ask him, is he well?
His eyes smilingly tell
As he looks at the Sun scorching me
Lifts his hands
And says,
‘How could ya not be?’

© Daniel Breslin

I got some flaws in my character
Got some holes in my game
But I’m working on them boy
You look at yourself, you say the same?

I am not shying from them
That’s not something I know how
Just had my mind on other things
But I’m working on them now.

I’ve made a few mistakes
Ain’t flourished much in love
But I’d a lot on my plate
Now there’s less and I’m feeling good.

Got some flaws in my character
Got some holes in my game
But I’m working on them man
You look at yourself, can you say the same?

I am not running from them
Shit, I’m running to them now
Probably haven’t spotted some of them
But I’m sure they’ll come popping up somehow.

I’m just looking in the mirror
But I’m not being vain
I’m just looking trying to figure
How I metamorphose my pain.

A lot of stuff has gone wrong
A lot of waves I had to surf
But if you want to really push on
You can’t avoid getting hurt.

You can’t run from it
You be running all your life
You just gotta make something of it
Use your dark to create some light.

Got some flaws in my character
Got some holes in my game
But I’m working on them boy
You look at yourself, you say the same?

I’m all about that hope
But sometimes that hope be coming hard
But if you want to allow real growth
You gotta learn to cope with scars.

Got some flaws in my character
Got some holes in my game
But I’m working on them boy
You look at yourself, you say the same?

© Daniel Breslin

Go easy on yourself
When you’re making your way
For it ain’t easy out there
For so many today.

People struggling to make ends meet
People losing themselves on drugs
People sleeping on the street
People crying out for love.

Things don’t always go your way
Things can quickly fall apart
So be kind to yourself
Keep some love in your heart.

Go easy out there
When you’re making your way
Life ain’t always fair
But we can make it a little more that way.

In our day to day
How we live for ourselves
Those closest to us
And the people that we help.

We light up the world
One being at a time
It starts within ourselves
So don’t be afraid to shine.

A lot of negativity
Our way will come
Can’t always run from it
But move on when it’s done.

Go easy on yourself
When you’re making your way
For it’s rarely easy out there
For so many day to day.

The love we wish receive
Is the love we gotta give
Take some time out to breathe
Allow yourself room to live.

Go easy on yourself
Even when you’re out there acting tough
For just to get through the day
For many is hard enough.

Love yourself a little deeper
And that love will spread out
On yourself go a little easier
We’re all just figuring this stuff out.

We make mistakes right, left, and centre
We often get things wrong
But go easy on the self lecture
Learn and move on.

Go easy on yourself
When you’re making your way
For it ain’t easy out there
For so many today.

© Daniel Breslin

When you are down at your lowest
And you expose yourself to hope
There comes the hardest blows I know of
For any soul to cope.

For sometimes we’ve exposed ourselves so much
We can’t expose ourself no more
Sometimes we’ve taken so many cuts
One more cut might be too sore.

So we draw up our lines
And we steel our defenses
We strengthen our minds
And numb some of our senses.

We heal them cuts up
And we regain our strength
We buck the fuck up
And cement our intent.

For we can’t rely on others
To come running to our rescue
We’re responsible for ourselves
So emerge from hell, reclaim the best in you.

Do what you need to get by
Do what you need for you
Let others look after their needs
You look after your own too.

You’ve a duty to yourself
They’ve a duty to themselves too
But let in the ones who offer help
For we all need help to get us through.

When you are down and out
Ain’t many want to get down with you
So drown the down out
And rise again anew.

You focus on yourself
And what is right for you
And let all the pain you felt
Help you bloom anew.

It’s all on you
And what you do
You fade away?
Or bloom anew?

Bloom anew.

© Daniel Breslin

Sometimes you got to get angry
And let that anger fuel you
But be careful with that anger
You lose if you let it rule you.

Anger can help your drive
Anger can fuel your mission
Anger can help you survive
When other ingredients are missing.

For sometimes your energy for anything but
Has been taken and abused
So you got to harness that anger
Let it drive you somewhere new.

You find it
You take it
You harness it
And break it.

Remould it
Reshape it
Into whatever it takes
To help you make it.

Taste it
Embrace it
Don’t chase it
You face it.

You let that anger fuel you
For anger can help you survive
But don’t let that anger rule you
If you ever want to thrive.

You find it
You take it
You harness it
And break it.

Remould it
Reshape it
Into whatever it takes
To help you make it.

© Daniel Breslin