If you want to know, just ask me
I have all the information you need
You may discover I’m not what you see
Or where the conversation may lead
For I conceal what I wish to conceal
And reveal only what I wish to reveal
Those secret things I keep purposely
For no one knows my thoughts but me
Lost but never found
Those footsteps on the ground
Never again to return
But lessons forever learned
Time in a bottle
Kept to be coddled
If only I could.
I know I would
Reclaim my childhood
****************
“My Lost Youth”
” …A boys will is the winds will
And the thoughts of youth
Are long,long thoughts”
Longfellow
What is it all about?
What is its meaning?
No one has answered
No one has thought it through
You shut your eyes to the old
Accept only what’s new
You think that you’re in control
And refuse to listen to what’s been told
You cling to things that never last
Relationships one by one
Seeking pleasure while you can
Taking no direction from what has been said
In the past
You say you’re different from ancient man
Your knowledge has set you free
You heed the call of modern man
And together you take a stand
But from Cane to Stalin you never
See how far man has fallen
You say that absolute truths are for the old
And are no longer valid for today
The voice that lives inside your head
Tells you that everything is okay
But death, dear sir, will prove you wrong
For death is the ultimate truth
For truth and life go hand and hand
So be wise, dear sir, with whom you take a stand
*********************************************
Knowing truth brings freedom
John 8:32
Where do you begin to splice the events
The occurrences that have shaped your life?
Where do you start? Where do you end?
Or would you do them over again?
Would you want to make a change?
Would you decide to rearrange?
Are there any things you would wish to restore?
And affairs you wish you didn’t ignore?
Would you edit only the bad and not the good or
Would you leave everything as it should?
Are there times you wish you could erase
To make disappear without a trace?
Delete the circumstances
The decisions you have made or left undone
Or would you be satisfied that there are none?
But life is not always as we plan it to be
Our plans may never take us to the very purpose
Of our lives
For our lives sometimes are so blinded that
We never see that the choices that shape
Our reality are the choices that had to be
Down in the valley by the willow trees
Stands a little white chapel only heaven sees
Its voice rings out on the hour
Reminding us of God’s mighty power
A little white chapel that watches over the valley
Recalls the Faith that remains alive
Never to fade
As long as the chapel survives
A little white chapel whose chimes remind
That today’s Faith is not dead
And that we need not rewind
To find the Faith that the Saints have left behind
For Faith is knocking at our door
Reminding us forever more
That this little white chapel
And the peel of its bell
Will ring out through eternity
Its voice no man can quell
Living is too hard to do
You wake up to a sober moment of reality
After a few hangovers or two
You deceive yourself into thinking
Everything is OK, but you find it difficult
To get yourself through another day
The scent of liquor swirls around your head
Intoxicating thoughts cloud your thinking
Losing control you can’t stop your drinking
At times you wish you were better off dead
Your spirit screams to be released
You coddle the bottle like an invalid baby
Going to quit? later, sometime, maybe
Your champagne is chilled
Your brain is distilled
How does it feel to crawl on the ground?
You battle the voices, but no one’s around
Without the bottle you lack self-control
The demons inside you
Have taken their toll
You finally hit bottom with nowhere to go
Along with your personal demons in tow
A drink in the night before going to bed
And to think that this is
Where it all has led
You better jump up on the wagon before
You find yourself dead
************************
“Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler,
Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.”
Proverbs (20:1)
I carry this burden every day
A burden that never seems to go away
A burden I have locked in my heart
A burden that doesn’t want to part
I pray that it be lifted from me
But no answer is given that I can see
As the days progress I find no rest
I live every day of my life asking
I knock and there’s no answer
I seek but I can’t find anything
To lift this burden from my mind
And although this burden may never be taken away
With sufficient grace I’ll make it through each day
For it may be a burden I’m told to bear
The answer given to my lasting prayer
***************************************
“Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden
and I will give you rest,
take My yoke upon you and learn from Me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls,
for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew (11-28)
Now that I’ve entered my September years
I look back on my life as memories appear
Long, long lost thoughts of my youth that
(Suddenly) reappear
Memories of my childhood dreams waiting to fulfill
Dreams that will never die bring tears to my tired misty eyes
Memories of my early loves
The friends that still remain
All these thoughts flash across
The recesses of my brain
There are things done that I cannot tell
Secrets that I’ll keep in my heart
To speak of them would be heresy
For only I can tell them apart
I remember the childhood games we played
I remember the friendships we shared
I remember the promises that we made
I remember the times that we dared
I can see the corner candy store
I can see the field of dreams
I can see the faces just as before
But nothing is today as it seems
As I travel back to the place of my youth
How strange the images I see
The ghosts of my youth come ever so near
And timeless thoughts became ever so clear
As I begin to enter my September years
*********************
“The things which I have seen
I can now see no more”
William Wordsworth
She strolls among the field of flowers
Their beauty shining through each
Explosion of color that radiate a vibrant
Display as if to say, “We are here for you.”
Each blossom turns to see her pass
Each Orange Blossom, each Red Hibiscus
Each Black Eyed Susan stares in veneration
Each Pink Carnation, each Sunflower
Each Red Clover gazes in complete adoration
Every Purple Lilac, every Magnolia
Every Blue Bonnet begins to smile
Every Butterfly Violet, every Yellow Jasmine
Every Golden Poppy beg her to stay awhile
They bow their pedals in majestic awe.
As she passes each one in a row
They watch and stare like a lover’s prayer
As she touches each flower so
And as she leaves drops of dew gently start to fall
Every pedal closes spreading its tiny pall
And through the silence, that stillness, that quiet spot
She can hear their whispers,” Forget Me Not”
*****************************************
“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you,
I could walk in my garden forever”.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
(1809-1892)
When you wish upon a star
All those stars in the heavens afar
You gaze above and find no clues
As to which star you would want to choose
So you search the sky for that special star
The one star you hope to cling on to
Too many stars in the blue, which do you pursue
Which star will make your wish come true?
You leave your window and lie in bed
Holding that wish you wished for in your head
You keep that thought. You hold that feeling.
As you ponder the stars that shine on your ceiling
Twinkle twinkle little star
I often wonder where you are
High above my ceiling bright
Will my wish come true tonight?
Starlight starbright
Will you shine for me tonight?
Will you shine an indigo hue?
Will you make my wish come true?
You get no answer. You find no peace.
You get no response. You find no release.
And although you feel that it may not seem right
Tomorrow will always bring another night
**********************************************
“Hope itself is like a star not to be seen
in the sunshine of prosperity,
and only to be discovered
in the night of adversity”
C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)