"Is it all in that pretty little head of yours? What goes on in that place in the dark? Well I used to know a girl and I would have sworn that her name was Veronica Well she used to have a carefree mind of her own and a delicate look in her eye These days I'm afraid she's not even sure if her name is Veronica."

"While you lie in the dark, afraid to breathe and you beg and you promise And you bargain and you plead Sometimes you confuse me with Santa Claus It's the big white beard I suppose. Im going up to the pole, where you folks die of cold I might be gone for a while if you need me."

"There's always something that's smoldering somewhere I know it don't make a difference to you But oh! It sure made a difference to me You'll see me off in the distance, I hope At the other end At the other end of the telescope."

"Lie down baby now don't say a word There there baby your vision is blurred Your head is so sore from all of that thinking I don't want to hurt you now But I think you're shrinking."

"I had a lot of problems with my name … my first name Declan is really not very well known outside of Ireland, MacManus is a name they could never spell ... if you think about the names of '76, '77 … I got off kind of lightly — with a name you could live with, you know, in time. … I kind of liked the dare of it. Of course we weren't to know that within a month of my first album actually being issued Elvis Presley would die, and it would actually be a talking point. … Let me put it this way — people don't forget you with that name. It's sort of receded as — and this may sound terribly disrespectful and heretical — but as Elvis Presley has receded as a musical force, people make much less of a case about it. Elvis is a sort of cultural figure but there is no direct line between the music of Elvis Presley and the music of today. There is none whatsoever, he's no influence whatsoever, that I can detect, on music made today. Other than people who consciously retro in styling themselves after his ideas. There is no direct impact in the way that you can hear the influence of The Beatles or Stevie Wonder or numerous other people."

"If the world did end. Would you be my apocalyptic friend?"

"Once I was a shadow of man. Most dark nights my head was in its hands."

"Yes we feel bad in winter. We act a little bit strange. The dark sky threatens me daily. Makes me alter and mood change, change, change, change."

"I begged God to cure my aching limbs. But he did nothing, he gave me no advice. Didn't this God abandon Jesus Christ? Oh if it comes to you, I'll die for your sins."

"I wish I was fiction, I wish I was fact."

"I can't express myself 'cause I'm not fully grown."

"I need to build a wall around me. But I want to smile with everybody. Would you say that is possessive of me?"

"Without me all the lines of reality will blur."

"I'm not scared of dying. I'm not scared of death. I'll keep a smile 'til my last breath. I've loved 'til I've lost. I've lived how I felt. One day I will find peace within myself."

"If I had sharp claws I'd get on all fours. And scratch your back for free."

"I want to take all the sadness. Of the world from your shoulders. I want to take all the sadness. Of the world from your shoulders. I want to take all the sadness."

"And every word that you speak makes my heart sing when it's weak for often this outlook on life can be bleak."

"Well I've travelled around the earth and still I wonder if I'm the first human being who questions his worth."

"I see my body float like leaves. Every day I want to breathe. Rap my knuckles till they bleed. A river deep."

"My heartache, is my mistake you see."

"So I said I don't mind if I lose. 'Cause if I win I'll be so confused"

"You pretend you're happy. That you've got it all. But don't be upset If you fall on your knees. And beg like a dog."

"I drink a lot of wine when I'm alone."

"All of your days will be blessed so put on a smile and get dressed into the void we will fly away from here."

"Who's to say that every performer should be a good actor? Why can't you just be yourself?"

"It's about, you know, how the world is so...fucking doomed. Sort of an apocalyptic album but I want it to be quite cartoony in a way."

"When you're on your own. You walk in the rain."

"But you and I know the seasons are slow the rivers they froze, the wind always blows down all our dreams, the engine's out of steam. **All Of Your Days Will Be Blessed"

"And if you need to kiss me. Then you'll most definitely miss me. When I'm gone."

"Bittersweetheart, bittersweetheart you've been good to me."

"God, you make me sing. Funny things about you You infect my mind. All the time, you do."

"I guess God has the last laugh. From up on high he lets us kill. And his people die for their faith. And we call it triumph of the will."

"There's something in my eye. Bloodshot in disguise. God knows I really tried. Making the big time. Aiming to climb high."

"I guess it's you I miss. 'Cause I just stare at the ceiling. My stomach knots and twists. You've created this feeling. And I may be out of style. But do you know what true love is? I'll make this all so worthwhile. So let's rise above this. Let's rise above this."

"Oh, I'm staying in today. And watch the others play. Oh, wash my sins away. Like all good children I mean what I say."

"And every one of us has to face that day; Do you cross the bridge or do you fade away? And every one of us that ever came to play Has to cross the bridge or fade away."

"You may not believe it, But I don't believe in miracles anymore. And when I think about it, I don't believe I ever did for sure. All the things I've said in songs, All the purple prose you bought from me. Reality's just black and white. The sentimental things I'd write Never meant that much to me."

"I have been a Pariah in academia but to all those who sought my destruction I always had one answer: "I'm Still Standing." The hymn from Sir Elton John is the best description of how I feel about my survival and triumph over a system that should not be called part of the Humanities since it is hardly humane in its treatment of difference. I have also found deplorable the treatment of students in academia. My former students are the people I miss the most about teaching. But, as one of my former students told me once and I have found it to be true: "You will always have students." So we bring this compendium to you: the totality of a life of poetry. May you feel an embrace from me as you read them. To everyone who reads these pages: I'm Still Standing! Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!"

"Spare your heart, save your soul. Don't drag your love across the coals. Find your feet and your fortune can be told. Release, relax, let go, And hey now let's recover your soul."

"There was a time, I was everything and nothing all in one. When you found me, I was feeling like a cloud across the sun."

"A dream will fly The moment that you open up your eyes. A dream is just a riddle, Ghosts from every corner of your life."

"If you’ve never heard his music then, well... who are we kidding? Everybody has heard him. His voice has changed over the years, but his piano playing has remained rollicking, rocking and resounding. He helped to solidify the piano’s place in rock and roll just as synthesizers were making their presence known."

"In the instant that you love someone, In the second that the hammer hits, Reality runs up your spine, And the pieces finally fit."

"And I won't break and I won't bend, But someday soon we'll sail away To innocence and the bitter end. And I won't break and I won't bend, And with the last breath we ever take We're gonna get back to the simple life again."

"For each man in his time is Cain Until he walks along the beach And sees his future in the water, A long lost heart within his reach."

"And reach out for her healing hands, Reach out for her healing hands. There's a light, where the darkness ends. Touch me now and let me see again, Rock me now in your gentle healing hands."

"`Cause I don't wanna go on with you like that, Don't wanna be a feather in your cap. I just wanna tell you honey I ain't mad, But I don't wanna go on with you like that."

"And it's no sacrifice, Just a simple word. It's two hearts living In two separate worlds. But it's no sacrifice. No sacrifice. It's no sacrifice at all."