They are pulled from me;
Stretched, knotted, and
Burned in a fireplace
Where trust and human emotions,
Are turned to blackened ash
I am left an empty roll.
The ribbons of my feelings,
Manhandled, manipulated
Mitigated, and misunderstood.
......
Yesterday a little girl got slapped to death by her daddy,
out of work, alcoholic, and estranged two towns down river.
America, it's hard to get your attention politely.
America, the beautiful night is about to blow up
and the cop who brought the man down with a shot to the chops
is shaking hands, dribbling chaw across his sweaty shirt,
and pointing cars across the courthouse grass to park.
It's the Big One one more time, July the 4th,
......
As other men, so I myself do muse
Why in this sort I wrest invention so,
And why these giddy metaphors I use,
Leaving the path the greater part do go.
I will resolve you: I am lunatic,
And ever this in madmen you shall find,
What they last thought of when the brain grew sick
In most distraction they keep that in mind.
Thus talking idly in this bedlam fit,
Reason and I, you must conceive, are twain;
......
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith 'A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!'
Not that, amassing flowers,
Youth sighed 'Which rose make ours,
Which lily leave and then as best recall?'
......
The harbingers are come. See, see their mark;
White is their colour, and behold my head.
But must they have my brain? must they dispark
Those sparkling notions, which therein were bred?
Must dulnesse turn me to a clod?
Yet have they left me, Thou art still my God.
Good men ye be, to leave me my best room,
Ev'n all my heart, and what is lodged there:
I passe not, I, what of the rest become,
......
They are pulled from me;
Stretched, knotted, and
Burned in a fireplace
Where trust and human emotions,
Are turned to blackened ash
I am left an empty roll.
The ribbons of my feelings,
Manhandled, manipulated
Mitigated, and misunderstood.
......
I built my house of wood and stone.
I built my house with sinew and bone.
I built it strong to withstand war,
but I put a welcome mat at my door.
I built it here near the sea,
so I can watch the ships sailing free.
And I built it with windows wide
to better understand the world outside.
From here you can feel the ocean breeze
and hear the songbirds singing in the trees.
......
A bird goes to a feeder
And finds it full of seeds
He seeks to grab a mouthful
Of the sustenance he needs
But to the bird's displeasure
The seeds are stale and old
Some spicy, moldy, soggy
Some too hot and some too cold
......
I was aspiring to be a professional dancer, which had long been my dream,
As rogue planets head out on their own, from the stars that reign supreme.
I was awash in unbounded enthusiasm, like yellow sunshine's fresh sheen,
Or premier, perennial days of springtime, the time all is budding and green.
But, despite my unfailing readiness, I had a likely insurmountable problem,
In the fact that my dancing was mediocre, artless to the beat of the drum.
Though this was somewhat discouraging, I continued practicing and trying,
......
Sunrise, the beginning of day, awakening of life
Bringing new light, creating a story
With that which can’t be bought
But only with cherish, tender and humble
The dispersal of seeds, a migration of life
Ever reaching, wanting growth
Like birds roaming the skies, longing, searching
The young forever seeking, hoping, wishing
......