Category: Poetry

I have suffered for you
I have sweat for you
I have shed blood for you
I have shed tears for you

As my comrades lay dying for you
My family suffered for you
They have shed tears for you
They live in constant fear and worry

For me, for you
Will you wrap me in a flag and
Call me a hero too when it’s my turn?
Will you praise patriotism at my funeral?

Will you shout this is the cost of freedom?
History assures us killing breeds killing
Hide it behind a mask of morality if you can
War parades only selfish intentions

You never cease to weave your webs of wonder
Breaking down my walls with thunder
With your soft and winsome laughter
And your eyes that long for loving

With hands so soft, yet sure and strong
You guide along children of ours
Sharing songs and stories, you’re in your glory
The years, they passed so fast, it’s a crime

To dream a dream, to know it is you
To lose oneself to a woman like you
To grow inside, beside as soul
It’s all one ever needs to know

Wishes in a dream
So real, so they seem
Turn to ashes
Upon awakening

Thoughts provided
Receive undivided attention
Reality so hard to see
In a world of illusion

A kaleidoscope of thoughts
All in the form of crystalline
Only a few are caught
Wonder if they’re mine

Written in 1970

Your mom and I were just a couple when
Christopher’s birth made us a trio
How scary and wonderful it was back then
Each day became a new adventure

In just a day our lives did change
When formula and diapers became
The first items on our grocery list
I’m so sorry it had to be you, Chris

You were our experiment
Learning each new day
How hard it was to shape a life
Without getting in the way

It was a blessed day
When our daughter Kelly came our way
To teach and guide us that along the way
That hugs and smiles light the way

Our baby Joe was born at home
His brother and sister held him ten minutes later
He’s special that way still, a miracle to me
A bonding force of which he’s unconscious

With all of you, we’ve struggled at times
As I am sure most loving parents do
I want each of you to know we’ve tried
To let you find the best in you

From your first breaths to your first steps
And every day since, our love for you keeps growing
And when we no longer grace this earth
You will walk in the shadow of our love

Battered and beaten, he retreats
Searching for a moment’s solace
But looking, one can see
The defeat etched across his face

Slowly he stumbles, each step a victory
What his battered body allows
Drinking his breakfast of whiskey
His shattered soul takes a bow

Agonizing over his coming sobriety
The cold and loneliness looms
Trying to grasp a homeless piety
He wanders among the cardboard tombs

Even he can occasionally see
A lifetime ago, before the fall
A family man, a fading memory
So very, very hard to recall

As I pass this human shell
Gratitude for my small misfortunes
Grants me the privilege to wish him well
To share a smile and a twenty-dollar fortune

Blank stares, sterile teeth
Flashing through silent lips
Is honesty just a dream now?
Is honesty just a dream?

Alone – it’s not so bad, true it’s sad
But the lies, there’s just too many now
And the cries of the helpless and gutless
Who can judge, you? – maybe you?

And you feel safe behind the walls
You’ve erected to protect you from falls
And safe in knowing that no one can see
That behind those walls it’s empty

And you hope and you pray
That you’ll be the one to be saved
But when building your walls you got carried away
And now no one can penetrate…your walls

Friends are much like trees
Plant the seed and watch it grow
It branches out and changes seasons
The leaves, they fall, to grow again

In the spring of lifetimes
The handshake replaces the hug
The kiss on the cheek replaces
A misplaced love

Some may blossom and fly away
On the wind, some return again
Some they stay and drift away
But some will stay and grow each day

Ever reaching for the sky, always upward
Intertwining, on a path forever winding
Down a road that’s being broken
By the roots of love ever-growing

Published in Endless Mysteries by the
International Library of Poetry in 2002