American Soldier

American Soldier

He is so young

Barely a man

But he has not seen it all

Yet, he has seen too much

He has killed men

And saw his brothers killed

He watched blood sink in the sand

He knows the horrors of the world

All in a war old men created

Still, he has life in his eyes

A smile on his face

He is a miracle

God has blessed him with hope

He is the bravest of them all

He is an American soldier

Where Is She

Where Is She

When I was younger

I knew a little girl

She ran around

Didn’t mind getting dirty

And she never cried

Just because of a skinned knee

She climbed and fell from trees

And rode a skateboard like an ace

Rugby, football and baseball were her games

And she played every one of them

More than once beating the boys

Still, she was cute as could be

Whether she was in a dress

Or a pair of ripped jeans

She still laughed at everything

I admired her so much

Because of how she lived her life

But, time has passed

The balls of her sports

They changed into high heels

She now keeps her feet on the ground

And she never smiles of laughs

The girl I knew so long ago died with time

But, part of her still remains

Hidden under the thick shell of your life

Let het out in the air

Even if just for a moment

And if you can find a way

She may stay out in the open

And you can once again climb that tree

A Pebble

A Pebble

So calm

Not even a ripple

No wind blows

To break the calm

Natures perfection

Covered by a soft white mist

So, for a short time

It is unknown

The place to meditate

To contemplate the universe

And where we fit in

Then, once a pebble is tossed in

Everything changed

The ripples spread and fade

But, that pond will never be the same

And that may not be good

It neither may be bad

There is no way to know

How the world has changed

Just because of a pebble

The Old Typewriter

The Old Typewriter

A thousand stories have been written

On a typewriter no one uses anymore

Replaced with a characterless computer

It still has so many stories to tell

Storms and wars, floods and drought

Heroes who go to the dark side

Villains who save the damsel in distress

There are a million words of love

And another million of fantasy

All hidden within its keys

All it takes is someone to forget the present

Look at a friend from so many years ago

Feel the worn surfaces of the keys

Listen to the unique sound they make when they hit the paper

And let it take you into a place you never imagined

Abnormality

Abnormality

God knows I don’t want to be normal

I want to stick out in a crowd

You have everyone look at me

And have them ask, “what in the hell is that”

I never want to wear a suit and tie

I want to go out in short pants and a muscle shirt

Black in color with a big dragon head on the front

I want to go into Macca’s and order a Whopper

And drink a forty year old New Coke

While eating a whole case of Twinkies

I never want to comb my hair or trim my beard

I want to wear glasses Elton John would turn down

I want to listen to the William Tell Overture

With lyrics added from Vanilla Ice

Maybe drive the wrong way on the freeway

Or hitchhike in the middle of the road

God knows I don’t want to be normal

I just want to be me

With all my quirks and strangeness

So accept me for who I am

Because I am not going to ever change

No matter who or what

I will always be the best me I can be

Stairway To Heaven

Stairway To Heaven

I have tried to live a good life

Be a good person

And lived the way I should

But, I am still scared

To walk up the stairs

And enter the light above

What awaits me when I am judged

What will Saint Peter think of me

Will God come off his golden throne

And will He tell me to “go to Hell”

I do not want to go up that staircase

I don’t even want to stand on the first step

Maybe I’ll just stay here and they won’t notice me

Or maybe I will just never die

And I can live forever in my Hell on Earth

Without ever seeing those stairs again

And not going up to be judged

At least until they get an elevator

The Cycle Of The World

The Cycle Of The World

The world began in darkness

Sulfur and smoke filled the air

Fire covered every inch of land

Hardening and melting

Again and again as continents rose

For four billion years the world changed

The land cooled and the skies cleared

Life appeared and died over and over again

An apparent never ending circle

Still, as time went on the world changed again

Storms and flooding appeared out of nowhere

The land shook violently as the world changed

Volcanoes once again filled the air with sulfur and smoke

And the life which was created began to suffer and die

When it is all over the world will once again be virgin

Void of everything which lived upon its surface

There will be nothing but fire, sulfur and smoke

And the cycle will begin again

Thinking About Knees

Thinking About Knees

I have had two friends all of my life

They have been with me before I took my first steps

Now, sixty years on I know that my knees have had a hard life

I crawled on them over carpet, wood and grass

There were so many times I landed on them when I fell

And I knelt on them when I asked her to marry me

Rarely I massage them or give them soothing lotions

Even grown I crawled on them more than I wanted

Those nights when I hung out with Jack and Jim

They never once complained until I got older

Now, they never stop screaming so loud my legs hurt

I make noises now that I never heard before

Whenever I stand, sit, crouch, get up or even move

So now I have learned a lesson I should have learned long ago

I’ll need to be kinder to my knees from now on

No

You were so happy when you were young

Even happier when God gave you a child

You had a house and a job
And a man who loved you with his heart

Then your world changed

You lost your job and your home

You man left with everything you owned

You had no money

No food for your child

When you asked for help

You were turned away

Told no, no, no

The suffering got to be too much

You could no longer look into your child’s eyes

Seeing the pain and hunger in her body and soul

And you could not longer hear her ask you

“Mommy, where are we going to sleep tonight”

If only someone, anyone would have said yes

Your child would still be laughing and smiling

Playing with other children

You would have had a slight glimmer of hope

And you wouldn’t have done what you did

And two lives wouldn’t have been lost

All because of a single word

All because of “no”

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He Made a Home

He Made A Home

There was an architect

More than 600 million years ago

Living alone in the jungle

He taught himself secrets

Geometry, dynamics and tensions

Ideas which are still being mastered

He built his home and caught his food

Mated and had children

All in the home he built

With the knowledge he will pass down

Through billions of generations

His design was never changed

Never improved

After 600 million years

A billion generations

It is still the home of that architect

Who thought ahead of his time

And made a home

None Of The Above

None Of The Above

I am so tired of it

The media is so confusing

Fox says one thing

Then says the opposite

CNN does the same

Trump is a hero

Then he is a racist

Clinton is a saint

Then she is a liar

How are we to know

What the truth really is

To be honest

I am going to run for president

But, I will not use my name

You can vote for me to say what you feel

Vote for “none of the above”

And see what the news does with that

Good-Bye

Good-Bye

We haven’t known each other so long

But we fell in love right away

I had no idea it would be so short

When I would have to say good-bye

It may be for just weeks or months

It could be for years of forever

I promise you that I will write

Even when I am hiding from the bullets

And the enemy has us surrounded

I will tell you that I love you

There will always be another letter for you

And if I die climbing a ridge

The last thought I have will be of you

And when God asks me what I did wrong

I will say that I said good-bye to you

And that was my only mistake in life