And Well They Served

To stand on unfamiliar soil,

Stranger to the local custom,

Sent in blindness void of reason,

Purposed only to defend,

 

Cautioned not to question orders,

You are but a puzzle piece.

Higher forces guide decisions.

“You will thank us in the end.”

 

Settling into your mission,

Studying a hated foe,

Never knowing what may happen

When and if the mortars fly.

 

Stealthily behind your weapon,

Senses climbing to a peak,

Ready to defend your comrades,

Question not the reason why.

 

Grateful when the fray is over,

Though you’re weary to the bone.

A needful nation sent you there.

A thankful throng welcomes you home.

 

Falling for Autumn

Daylight recedes and night lingers longer,

A lazy sun lowers her arc in the sky,

And summer relents on her brutal endeavors,

Yields to the softness of crisp autumn dew.

 

Earth tones of red and gold burst with a frenzy

Flooding the eye with bountiful treat.

The fresh chill of morning makes night covers snuggle

And daybreak awakens a bright orange hue.

 

Pity to those denied your sweet treasure,

Who never bear witness to your vibrant show,

Charting your change with chameleon candor,

Rushing the senses with visual bliss.

 

Signals of change as a new dawn announces

The turn of the term,

The passage of time.

I pray that in Heaven there still will be seasons

So all may find favor

In sweet autumn’s kiss.

 

Dear Dad

White knights are hard to come by these days,

So often blemished or misaligned.

But shortsighted memory

Is always forgiving

And the foresight of hindsight so often is blind.

 

So I never flinched as you donned your armor

And rode out to battle with dragon or beast.

Against famine and foe you defended our castle,

Returning the bounty,

Providing the feast.

 

Relentless, tenacious, untiring in effort,

Your fortress impenetrable, or so it seems.

But I see your heart, taste your will,

Touch your feelings,

See through your eyes as you strive toward your dreams.

 

Often profane,

Ready to ire,

Firm when the situations demand,

Yet soft as a feather

And quick as a heartbeat

When favors have need of a helping hand.

 

When I needed a hero

You took the stand.

 

Remember

On foreign fields to cast their fate,

Prepared to fight,

If needs, to die,

To keep the evil from our door

And halt the plague of tyranny.

 

No need to question or conspire.

Orders firm.

Duty clear.

Against the devil hoards they stand,

Defenders of the proud and free.

 

And fear is not a luxury,

Though danger stalks with every step,

As brave hearts stand and fight and die

To keep a trust,

To save the dream.

 

So we remember what they did.

With reverence we inscribe their names

In stone and steel

And in our hearts

So they shall never be forgotten.

 

Mother

She was

     And is

My most treasured memory,

Instilling all that is decent and good.

Gentle hands

     Gentle soul.

Gliding through life on gossamer wings.

 

Wise in her measure, she

Spoke without judgment,

Softly, quietly, never in anger,

Unless in defense of those she called

Family,

In which case she fought

With the heart of a lion.

 

Always near

     In spite of the distance,

Always dear

     To those she adored,

Playfully childlike

     Without being childish,

Quick with a smile

     Or a soft-spoken word.

 

Mothers are jewels,

Honored and precious.

Keep them forever.

You only get one.

Survival

Please, Lord, leave this house untroubled,

We who serve you humbly plead.

Knowing well your faithful promise

We shall follow where you lead.

 

Heralds rise to sound the trumpet,

Blast a warning all must heed.

Close the door and

Light the candle.

Hearts in faith need never bleed.

 

Safe within this sanctuary,

You are surely all we need.

Nothing to bring shame upon us,

No concessions to concede.

 

Faith denies all pessimism.

Hope springs forward from her seed.

Onward with determination,

One day soon we shall be freed.

 

Tree Dance

I stand at my window

Watching you

Watching me.

Your graceful arms

– Reaching, searching –

Twist with the charm of

A prima ballerina

Defying the fury of

Harrowing winds.

Swooping low to the waiting ground,

Reaching up into piercing gray heavens,

Laughing, dancing to unheard music,

Defying the storm winds

That want to consume you.

Making me want to come out and play,

But fearful of danger

I cower in safety

And watch you dance…

         And watch you dance.

 

A Man of Peaceful Means

Why are those of peaceful means

So often hated and reviled?

To teach and preach for kindness sake

Is hardly breaking any rules.

 

And yet the cruel and hardened fact,

The one that cannot be denied,

When pulpits reach to speak of love

They’re levied with the brand of fools.

 

And hate becomes the child of fear,

Without a tear, his conscience bare,

And lashes out with loss of reason

As the legions seize his fuel.

 

And though the masses sue for peace,

Long for love and fellowship,

Their light cannot outrun the darkness

Cast upon the pristine pool.

 

Heroes rise and legends fall.

Still the banner carries forth.

For always men of peaceful means

Prepare for battle and renewal.

 

Christmas Time is Near

The lights are brightly glowing

Along every street we stroll,

And hearts are filled with happy thoughts

As peaceful church bells toll.

We watch the people scurry by

With smiles from ear to ear,

And love fills every corner because

Christmastime is near.

 

Happy sounds of sleigh bells ringing.

Down the Lane the voices singing

Bringing joy to people everywhere.

Praying hard for hope and healing.

Searching for that Christmas feeling,

One that lasts throughout the coming year.

 

The list keeps growing longer

Of things yet to be done.

But bustle brings a joyous beat

From dawn to setting sun.

The children’s best behavior

Is quite a nice surprise,

And Christmas morn we’ll gather all

The laughter in their eyes.

 

Happy sounds of sleigh bells ringing.

Down the Lane the voices singing

Bringing joy to people everywhere.

Praying hard for hope and healing.

Searching for that Christmas feeling,

One that lasts throughout the coming year

As love fills every corner because

Christmastime is near.

 

Conclusion

I’ve come to the conclusion that

The end is really not the end,

That life in its profusion

Simply doubles up and back again.

It causes some confusion when

One casts such theories on the wind.

But who’s to say and

Who is to deny.

 

It makes me happy to believe that

There is something more,

Makes it easier to grieve for

Those who’ve gone before,

To know that when it’s time to leave

To seek a distant shore

There’ll be no earthly need

For me to cry.

 

I’ll meet you in another place,

Greet your shining, smiling face.

Lost through doubt,

Redeemed by grace,

No thought to question why.

 

Enigma

You are the riddle,

         The hidden enigma,

                  Baffling logic at every hand.

Strafing the surface of

         Broad ambiguity,

                  Asking for tunes meant to stump the band.

 

Vaguely perplexing,

         This minion of madness

                  Hailing and howling its song to the stars.

Building your case in

         The court of emotion.

                  Praying for time to heal all of the scars.

 

You never wavered.

         You never faltered.

                  You never begged for a second chance.

Always a champion,

         Always a lover,

                  First to the footlights,

                            Ready to dance.

 

Whimsy

Taking off on flights of fancy

To an unknown destination,

Curious to know no reason,

Seeking extraordinary.

 

Break the plane of barren logic

Beyond Oz and Munchkin land to

Sleep the night in poppy fields

Guarded by a band of fairies.

 

Beat the drum and dance the dance

To tunes that no one else can hear.

Sing your own capriccio

Regardless of the consequence.

 

Be they quaint,

Be they odd,

Be they loud and fanciful

No one can predict the words that

Raise a cry for common sense.

 

And who would take a heart to task

When whimsy is the only rule?

Better just to sit and watch

The ravings of a mortal fool.

 

Vindictive

It wasn’t enough to end it, now was it?

You had to get in that last little bite,

Just one more sting, one last gouging punch,

Amend and append your vindictive charade.

 

Could have just walked away, got away clean,

Made a fresh start without causing a fuss.

But stroking your ego was far too important for

You to sit idle and watch the parade.

 

Life has a way of evening out all the

Weights and measures, to level the scales.

Patience is hard but worth the reward.

When all is over, it’s well worth the trade.

 

There is a consequence for every action…

Levies to pay for choices made.

 

Pandora

Take me back to innocent times,

Let me be that naive child

Whose only fault was a deadly case

Of willful curiosity.

 

Sweet surrender filled my days

And there was honey in the wind

To satisfy my deepest urge,

To underscore civility.

 

Long before Pandora’s tryst,

Before the beast of chaos was

Unleashed on unsuspecting souls

There was an uneven peace.

 

But when the lid was opened

And the demons were set free

There was not a single force

To govern their release.

 

And we are left to face the test,

To cage the wily fox,

To wrangle with the consequence

And close Pandora’s box.

 

Furious

My God! What on earth were you thinking?

Have you finally lost your unmoving mind?

What kind of devil possesses a soul

To make it react so unfeeling, unkind?

 

Slashing and sloshing through every emotion

You conjured a storm of tsunami proportion,

Bypassing logic and stymied to reason

You skewed the truth into miles of distortion.

 

How can you possibly live with yourself

Without making some sort of open admission?

Conscience in atrophy,

Major catastrophe,

All sense of decency into remission.

 

This is the last, the lowest transgression.

I can’t stand by watching you carry on.

You’re not the you that I knew way back when.

Sadly…

            It’s over…

                             I’m gone.

 

Margarita

Saucy, sexy, salty blend of

Emerald magic,

Make me sing.

Lend your music to my muse

Before my mind melts into mush.

 

You were always there for me

In days of triumph,

Nights of woe. When 

Melancholy swept my spirit

You were there to ease the crush.

 

Now this tired body cannot

Take the journey deep into

The endless night,

Your joyful jaunt is

Just a dream of yesterday.

 

Still you tempt me with your wiles,

Just a taste for old time sake;

Enough to jog the memory

And chase all cares away.

 

Innocent

Sitting inside this prison cell,

No walls, no bars, no locks or chains,

No prison guards to walk the halls,

No other inmates to share my grief.

 

Bound and confused by some unwritten code

That gives you the right to lay judgment on me,

To leave me in torment of unending measure

Willing to grovel for one simple glance.

 

You turn no ear, offer no reason

Though it appears I have done nothing wrong.

And while I am gathering my resolution, you

Simply fold your tent and walk away.

 

Where is the justice in your court of passion?

Show me the weight that will balance the scale.

You are the jury, judge and prosecutor with

No breath allowed from my advocate.

 

Tell me what I need to do for your favor.

Retrace the answers to questions unasked.

I am no more than an innocent fool

Guilty of loving you…

                                     Nothing more.

 

Gargantuan

Big, large, massive, huge, 

Enormous, super-size,

Far too much envisioning  

For one sweep of the eyes,

More than stretched imaginings

For one who seeks the prize,

The Holy Grail,

The grand gargantuan.

 

Held at birth, but never since;

The burden far too great.

Height and girth expanding,

White rabbit running late.

Hyper drive extended

Ever running toward her fate.

No one dares deter gargantuan.

 

Bolster her foundation so

Her shelter may endure.

Nurture her through illness.

Help her find a cure.

Many seek,

Many find her heart so kind and pure,

This noble one,

This grand gargantuan.

 

Diatribe

Where in the heck has decency gone?

Who the devil do you think you are?

See, I could have said hell

Or even the f-word to show my displeasure,

Express my case.

But I choose demeanor

Instead of demeaning the question

With rhetoric’s unsavory flavor.

 

Stand on my soap box and

Rant until dawn, til

The silent Gestapo comes,

Hauls me away,

Places my poor shackled bones

In their prison

Muting my diatribe to hungry ears.

 

But I won’t be silenced.

My song will continue to

Ring past the walls of

This Gulag existence.

And you. Sir, should tremble

At your day of reckoning,

The day that the pendulum

Finds its way home.

 

Erotica

It’s everywhere. You just can’t miss it.

Turn on the TV,

Open a book,

A magazine,

It’s even plastered on billboards

In every direction your eyes turn to look.

 

Not that I mind.

Plus years have taught me to

Pick my poison in meager amounts,

Control the urge to

Act out in passion,

To dance round the fire

So the heat really counts.

 

When I was younger

I lapsed into overdose

Kicking and screaming,

Could not get my fill.

But now I am calm.

I take it in stride as

I stroll the far side

Of erotica’s hill.

 

Eloquence

Sit me down near the foot of the stage

So that I won’t miss a single syllable

Baked and awash in such dulcimer tones

That my ears are golden to know their favor.

 

Feed me words that trill as they thrill me,

Fill me with gushes of bubbly froth.

Take me away to the hills of Nirvana

Where sweet fruit and honey will be mine to savor.

 

Lift up the room. Bring it up past the summit.

Ride on the clouds til the air becomes thin

And the crowd becomes giddy with anticipation,

Hoping beyond hope the ride will not end.

 

Teach me your secret. Take me to task.

Where can I learn what you wear as a gift?

Eloquence finds you, even defines you

Riding the crest of a vanishing wind.

 

Precipice

Standing on the edge looking down…

Down.

Down from this lonely ledge to the ground

And around…

Aware of every sight, every sound to abound,

Waiting for the anger to subside.

 

Step from out of nowhere to the fire…

Fire.

Heap the heavy logs high upon the pyre

Kindling the beast of hard desire in the mire

Where the cradles of calamity collide.

 

Don’t push… for I will surely fall…

Fall…

Fall to clinched jaws that are prone to gnash and gnaw.

Flashed by danger, haunted, shocked with awe,

Never knowing why I am to blame.

 

Mercy. Please have mercy on my soul…

Soul.

Set your price and let me pay the toll.

Do not toss my weary bones into your dark dank hole.

I am not, should not be your final aim.

 

Canyon

Who lives in this canyon

So dark and deep

Where ancient waters carved

Fortress walls?

It seems to cultivate

Gardens of strangers,

Vagabond players who camp,

Then move on.

 

I used to know every soul

In this valley

From high on her ridges to

Way round the bend.

But time takes its toll

As we roll ever forward,

Leaves only memories

To build upon.

 

There will be moments,

Whether here or hereafter

To recount the reckoning,

Review the views.

Patiently waiting alone

In this canyon,

No one to talk to…

Nothing to lose.