Mama Said

Don’t run with scissors
Mama said
You’ll fall and stab yourself to death.

Don't go shooting BB guns
Mama said
You’ll shoot your eye out.

Don’t go out in the rain
Mama said
You’ll catch your death of cold.

Don’t run in the house
Mama said
You’ll break my pretty knick-knacks.

Don’t forget to wash behind your ears
Mama said
They’ll rot and fall off your head.

Don’t go in the water after you eat
Mama said
You’ll get a cramp and drown.

Don’t go kissing all the girls
Mama said
You’ll get blisters on your lips.

I listened to everything
Mama said
With one exception.

Where can I get an extra strong lip balm?

Circling the Drain

It’s hard to be happy
When you’re half scarred to death.
Fear is paralyzing
It sure takes your breath.

You hold on to life
With a rock-solid grip
Vowing to keep
A stiff upper lip.

You sweat and you pray
And hope for the best
All the while feeling
You’re the brunt of some jest.

Hoping to appear
You’ve not lost control
Your heart is a riot
Of shake, rattle, and roll.

Happiness is valued
As an end in itself.
What a shame it can taint
Your spiritual health.

I promise myself
I’m bigger than this pain.
Yet, I fear that my life
Is circling the drain.

Prodigal

I wept for joy at finding
I had not lost my way.
Home is the important thing
At the closing of the day.

I had been all ‘round the mountain
Had exhausted every trail
And had come to despair
To believe that I had failed.

When no one lays beside you
In the pale gray of the moon
You hear the hungry wolf cry
And think you’ll die there soon.

There’s a shiver when you’re lonely
When no one holds your hand
When it’s you against the world
Against a savage land.

That’s when something breaks
Within the beating human heart
When you think again of home
And determine now to start.

God then sends direction
That takes the prodigal home!
This once miserable wanderer
Will never set his face to roam.

The Reaper

Waiting for the inevitable
I’m just resting ‘neath this pine
Waiting for the Reaper
To put his boney face in mine.

He’ll poke a ghastly finger at me
And insist I come with him
So I’ll rise to my full stature
And do his bidding, grim.

He’s taken his time arriving
And I’m glad he’s been delayed
Because I’ve been given longer
To delay my being paid.

I know I’m due the wrath
That waits beyond the Reaper’s door.
We all must pay the fiddler
For the dance that went before.

I’ve drank my fill and tasted
The best of this life’s wine
And found it to be delicious
When I tried to make it mine.

But both wanting and possessing
Are two very different things.
Now I find myself convicted
And must take what the Reaper brings.

It is a good enough day for sleeping.
The clouds just sail on by.
I will wait me ‘neath this pine tree
Until the Reaper bids me die.

Clean Outta My Mind

I ain’t got the sense
God gave a mule
And I’m riled and eager
But clean outta fuel.

If you’ll give me some gas
We’ll smoke some tires together
I’ll put the top down
No matter the weather.

There ain’t none like me
I’m one of a kind
Crazy, but book smart
Clean outta my mind.

Oh, baby, sweet baby
This is your only warning
I’ll love you and leave you
Before night turns to morning.

Take a good look at me
Take me for a spin
Kick the tires, light the fires
And climb right in.

I’ll take you to heaven
I’ll show you a good time
I’ll dance you, romance you
Then stop on a dime.

There ain’t none like me
I’m one of a kind
Crazy but book smart
Clean outta my mind.

Falling

Falling is hard
But landing is worse
One’s inconvenient
The other a curse.

I observed this
When I tried to fly
By avoiding the ground
And tried not to die.

There’s nothing to do
But watch the end arrive
And pray in hopes
You’ll stay alive.

I recommend you avoid
The ground at all costs.
The end arrives suddenly
So you’d best cut your loss.

Over

The life we chose together
Was the life we hoped to end.
Love, once frail and tender
Had broken and would not mend.

I cannot say what happens
To the heart and to the mind
But I fear they are hindered
By angels most unkind.

Or perhaps it is the lover
Who quits loves ragged quest
Or exchanges heated passion
For cold-hearted jest.

At any rate it was over
And we parted separate ways
To see the other no longer
For the length of all our days.

A Stranger

I am a stranger in your land
A wide-eyed pilgrim
On soil not my own
And possessed of a dream
Beyond the machinery
Of manufacture
Attainable only
By providence.

My footprints are lost
In the foam of silvery tides
Hidden among forest floors
And stone canyons

I am brother to the wolf
Known to elk and otter
I am kin to laughter and music
Friend to morning stars
And the sweat of the tiller’s brow.

I am a child of the dew
Son of virgin forests
The progeny of rivers
And a creature of storms
Flashing lightening
Resonate thunder.

I ask only the right
To stand among you
To breathe the air
Drink the water
And leave you better
Than I found you.

I own little
And want nothing.
I am a stranger here
Passing quickly
Leaving no trail
Taking nothing
But the knowledge
That I was among you
A simple man.
A stranger.

Give Them Back

Memories crowd
Of days past
When I was a younger man
Filled with strength
Energy
For all that was mine
To care for
To love
And protect.

Give me back
The tender years.
When my babies cooed in the cradle
And sucked on their mother’s breast
The precious years
When laughter filled our house
And they tottered
Room to room
Happy in their innocence.

Give them back.

Those were hungry years
Nights of passion
And days of dreams.

Give them back.

I held hours lightly
Never imagining
They would flee
And my children scatter
Like squirrels in the trees.

Give them back.

The only hope
For an old man
Is that he may dream tonight
Clutching memories
Like gems in his hands
And give them back.

The Room

I sit alone and stare
At my wall of flaking paint
Thinking, in it, I see your face
Images both strong and faint.

On the ceiling I count panels
One hundred and fifty two
The very number of days
I was to spend with you.

I still smell your fragrance
In this little room
Which has become my hideaway
My shelter, and my tomb.

On the floor is a ragged carpet
That once listened to your voice.
It heard you say goodbye
The night you made your choice.

Today I watch shadows
Paint patterns on the wall.
Maybe, if I wait long enough
You may give me a call.

It’s as though nothing happened
In this crumbling little space
Though in every corner
I think I see your face.

How empty is this room
Once so filled with you
But is now completely vacant
Like an evening without dew.

With my back against the wall
I must close my eyes to see
This place, once so full of happiness
Was a mansion for you and me.