Let’s Get Together

Enough is enough

     -Is enough –

Is too much.

Patience and common sense

Running amuck.

Lit up in firefight,

Caught in the crush

By her saber –

     Cut to the bone.

 

Sudden explosion

     Trembles the ground

Mocking the silence –

     World upside down til

Cymbals crescendo

     And I look around

          To find myself

Lost and alone.

 

One might imagine

     A world without hate

Where patience evolves

     And all celebrate

Diversity’s beauty.

 

It’s not too late.

Let’s get together.

     Let’s get it done.

 

Champions

Champions come in all shapes and sizes,

Every color the rainbow imagines,

Reaching for stars in a far distant galaxy,

Braced and prepared for the battles ahead.

 

Rising from underdog,

Capturing moments of untold adventure

With banners unfurled.

Aware of the fanfare but unfazed by fame

From a frilled flock of followers

Riding the wave.

 

Pulling on bootstraps,

Constantly focused,

Flaunting due diligence,

Always prepared.

Riding the wind on the winged steed of glory,

Humble in victory,

Grateful to win.

 

The Winds of Change

Seasons come,

     Seasons leave,

Rides the cresting winds of change,

Carries proud her sweet bouquet,

Feasts on a chameleon moon.

 

She speaks with fervor,

     Flaunting favor,

 Dives and drives the heart to fever

Til the rushed and flushed

Believe her maddening crush of platitudes.

Banking off her promised boon,

The soft caress of her sweet tune,

The mesmerizing mantra swoons

A ripening of attitudes.

 

But time keeps marching,

     Never still.

Seasons shift and rearrange,

And Mother Earth, her architect,

Breathes life into the winds of change.

 

American Made

Hong Kong, Taiwan,

India, Japan,

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,

Paris, Pakistan.

Leaps and bounds the trend resounds,

Increases every day.

Wondering why products don’t say

Made in U S A.

 

Bedfellows in politics or

Just good business sense.

Doesn’t seem to be a way to

Build a strong defense.

Shouldn’t be this difficult to

Find a place to trade

Where the label proudly indicates

“American made.”

 

Sure, it’s cheaper,

That’s no sleeper.

Can’t compete with that.

But the secret, hidden deep,

Comes slinking like a cat.

Tucked inside the silent storm

A deeper price is paid.

Shelter dwells inside these words –

American made.

 

Don’t Be Afraid

The winds of chance fly swift beyond the clouds

To carry seeds of challenges ahead,

Til buried deep in furrows plainly plowed

They languish in uncertainty and dread.

And every whisper falling on their ear

Lends warning of the dangers yet to come.

Foreboding foils of feckless, freakish fears

Are birth to caution, leaving reason numb.

As aimless arrows all around ascend,

Like willow branches bending without harm,

Fair truth becomes a melancholy friend

To battle with the liars of alarm

Epiphany – at last fair ransom paid –

Speaks softly in my ear, “Don’t be afraid.”

 

Making the Grade

Year after year of brain-stretching agony

Bending the limits of tempered endurance,

Tables and intos and plus-minus posers

Til X becomes Y becomes, magically, Z.

 

Long-winded tales filled with dates and dead people

Wasted on battlefields far, far away.

Stories of Camelot, Sherwood and Hannibal

Camped beneath bed sheets with flashlight in tow.

 

Cries of rebellion for useless assignments

Fall on deaf ears, go completely unheard.

Oft being quoted, “Oh, you’ll thank me later.”

Though never quite clear when this “later” occurs.

 

Days wrought with dread of those sheets lined with questions,

Problems and essays and multiple choices.

Waiting for marks through unbearable agony,

Never quite sure…

Never quite sure…

 

Time marches sideways through twelve years of prison,

Forced into labor til all due is paid.

Finally, time boldly steps to the future,

Silent and thankful for making the grade.

 

Charade

Who is that hiding behind the mask

Of civility?

Claiming to understand

As the flames of misfortune

Come searching, seeking.

 

You shall not touch my shining

White armor.

My inoculation against your wrath

Yields me immune to your foul breath of fire

Though you aspire to drive me insane.

 

Speak not of frailty

Nor meekness of purpose.

Waltz proud and loud

Marching out, unafraid,

Brandishing sword and shield,

Searching for dragons,

Tearing down walls

To unmask the charade.

 

The Wedding Vow

Hopeful hearts hurry to capture the moon as

Melodies dance to a willowy tune and

Feathery clouds dare the daffodils swoon

As two become one life together.

 

Avid adventures audaciously dared with

Singular passions wistfully paired and

Coveted secrets become secrets shared

Through serene or calamitous weather.

 

Giddy with glee, just a wayfaring child

Awaiting the instant she walks down the aisle to  

Gracefully honor the moment with style.

Now is forever.

Forever is now.

 

Promises made with the warmth of the sun

Enfold and enchant, blending two hearts in one.

One chapter closed, a new one begun as

True love embraces our wedding vow.

 

Happy Birthday to Me

Oh great!

Just what I need,

Another reminder – Time swiftly passing –

Alas, once again to reflect on the ages

And celebrate “Me” with cards, cake and candles.

 

Well-wishers? Abundant.

Amazed that I’ve endured the quest,

Survived the test of father time.

Methuselah, beware.

Your record in jeopardy.

 

Don’t mind really.

Just another year older,

Thankful for the chance to see

The dew drops of a brand new day,

Sit quietly with the one I love

And reflect on my blessings,

Memories collected,

And to know with a certainty

That life will continue

Long after I shed this mortal shell.

 

Are We Cold Yet?

It’s there

     In the air,

You can sense the hawk sweeping.

Soon,

     Very soon

It will wake from its sleeping

To bite and to nip

To claw and to rip

To haunt and to halt

In its bone-chilling grip.

 

Good sense says to hide,

To keep safely inside

Secure by the fireside

To weather the tide.

But fate bids me go

On my trek through the snow,

And suffer her wrath

As her glacial winds blow.

 

And the taut winter breeze

Brings the strong to their knees

As autumn surrenders

To deep winter’s freeze.

 

All That Is Good

All that is good,

Let it come to me softly.

I will embrace it with arms open wide,

Sharing its essence a thousand fold,

Spreading its gospel to grateful minds.

 

If it means harm,

Let me face it with honor,

Searching the undertones living below

So I may mute the thundering voices

And quell the torrent that rides stormy seas.

 

We are but brief

         To move through the cosmos,

A wink and a blink in the footnotes of time.

No time to waste on the lost angst of demons.

Focused and fixed and anxious to find

All that is good.

 

…And It’s Christmas

It’s reindeer on rooftops,

It’s cocoa and cream,

It’s dewdrops and gumdrops

And sugarplum dreams,

It’s carolers caroling

Sounds of the season.

Do-gooders doing good

For no good reason.

…And it’s Christmas.

 

It’s Santa and elves

Waiting perched at the mall

With Eddie and Adeline

Watching in awe,

It’s crimson and candy canes,

Emeralds and diamond rings,

Lollypops, presents and

All kind of wondrous things.

…And it’s Christmas.

It’s angels with halos and

Good will toward men,

A grand celebration of

Family and friend,

It’s eggnog and candlelight,

Star-topped trees twinkling bright,

Praises to Heaven that echo the night.

…And it’s Christmas.

 

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.