The Eighth Wonder of the World
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About this ebook
Jerry L. Rhoads, CPA , CEO All-American Care of Muscatine and Washington, 2002 Cedar Street Muscatine, Iowa 52761
Over the years I have contemplated publishing the poems but always put it off due to a lack of time to translate from paper to digital those thoughts of thirty years past. I have found not one poem dated because they reflected words spoken from my head that focuses on the ideas of times and events that never really change just mature, evolve and reoccur if you are to have memories that mean anything. Love, religion, war, peace, work and play all are never going to age just the mode of expression.
Today I still have those in 12 three ring binders on yellowing stock and use them to trigger my editing and writing skills into this book. The material is overwhelming since there are about 2,500 poems. Every conceivable word that I saw along the road on billboards, road signs, advertisements, business signs, or heard, etc. triggered a poem onto tape then onto paper. Today I am to converting these to a digital format so I can capture the thoughts and evolve these rough drafts into many more books.
I have tried to make the organization somewhat topical focusing on the better material, in my artistic opinion yours will by nature be different and that is the power of the written word. My intention in triggering topics and titles is not unconventional but does challenge the reader to believe I know that much about words and very little about conventional poetry. So if you like or dislike the ideas and use of the English language that kept me occupied over 1 million miles in my car so be it.
Jerry L. Rhoads
Jerry L. Rhoads is a liberal arts and business graduate of Simpson College in 1961. Born in Indianola, Iowa, he moved with his wife and first child to Chicago, Illinois, after graduating from college. He and his wife currently reside in Hawthorn Woods, Illinois. His writing career began in the business environment where he has published nine books and a large number of published articles on health care, his specialty. He and his wife of fifty-seven years have four grown children, twelve grandchildren, and one great-grandson. The Tenth Wonder of the World is the third in a series of poems written over the last thirty-five years. The Eighth Wonder of the World is the platform for sequels, continuing with this book.
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The Eighth Wonder of the World - Jerry L. Rhoads
Copyright © 2015 by Jerry L. Rhoads.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015902949
ISBN: Hardcover 978-1-5035-4671-4
Softcover 978-1-5035-4672-1
eBook 978-1-5035-4673-8
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.
Rev. date: 04/20/2015
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CONTENTS
PREFACE
AUTHOR’S SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD
THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD
POETRY AND PHOTOGRAPHY A NINTH WONDER
A SAND HEAP WORLD
IT’S SAND HEAP WORLD
IN TUNE
A QUIET MAN
HELPLESS – I
HELPLESS – II
HE SHOWED ME
COURAGE IS AGELESS
LIFE MADE VISIBLE
MR. CLOUD WHO ARE YOU
SYNERGY
WHO SAYS
CHILDREN – THAT WONDERFUL GIFT
THE MOTHER LAND AND THE OLD MAN OF THE SEA
YOU ARE WHAT YOU FEAR
GIVE PEACE A CHANCE
PAIN
THE DOOR TO WAR
LEFT TO HEAVEN
BEHAVIOR
INCHES
THIS IS NOT FANTASY THIS IS NOT A DREAM SIN IS NOT LEFT TO HEAVEN
VISIONS OF A BETTER WORLD
MY AMERICA
A CHILD’S WORLD
A CHILD’S WORLD
TIS MUCH EASIER TO DOUBT
YOUR SHIFTING SAND
THE HUMAN RACE
INSIGHT
ROOTS AND WINGS
MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS
MOUTAIN CLIMBERS
A MOUNTAIN OR MOUSETRAP
WONDERING MAN: I CAN
JONATHON LIVINGSTON MANGULL
HUMBLED
REMEMBER THIS
REMEMBER THIS
SHARI
TO A TIME WITHOUT END
ETERNAL LOVE
GRADUATION
THE GAMBLE
A HUMAN DICTIONARY
CHARACTER
THE MOVIE HOUSE
SLIPPING ON A SEX APPEAL
BORN TO BE
SALUTE THE RECEIPE OF GREATNESS
SUNDAY MORNING
THE DRIVE-IN MOVIE SHOW
DUCK’S UPON THE POND
A LITTLE PIECE OF ME
THE HOLE IN MAN’S EXISTENCE
THE INNER GAME OF LIFE
SIMPLE LOVE
THE KISS OF LIFE
IF YOU DARE
STRUCK BY FRIGHTENING
SPEAR THE MOON
SOMEDAY
I’M FIRED
DARE TO BE YOU
MATCH POINT
GULLS ALONG THE SHORE
LOST AND LONELY
HOW FAR
SUNSTROKE
STARTING OVER
STARTING OVER
TAKE MY HAND
IN BETWEEN
MORE THAN A FLEA
DRONES
THE BREAK-UP
A MUSHROOM HUNT
HEAVEN’S LIGHT
THE MIND IS GREAT
THE MIND IS GREAT
WARLOCK
THE MIND IS THE PERSON
WHO ARE YOU
THE ARTIST
PROUD
NO LUNCH BUCKETS ALLOWED
CHICAGO
THE OCTBER GIRLS
THE OLD CHILDREN – ANYMORE?
THE SECRETS OF MY SOUL
SPRING OF OUR LIVES
THE STAR SHINES
THE STORY’S OLD
THE TIME IS NOW
THE WAY WE ARE
THE YEAR OF THE LOCUST
THIRTEEN
TOLL FREE
VALIANT CONCEPTION
VISION OF A BETTER WORLD
VISION OF A BETTER WORLD – THE AMERICAN ENTERPRISE PARTY CREDO
WALK ON MY HEART
WHAT ARE YOU WORTH?
WHAT DOES MOTHER MEAN
WHAT DOES FATHER MEAN
MEASURE YOUR SCORE
WHEN TIMES GET TOUGH
WHERE DOES A DREAMER GO
WHO IS SHE
WILL YOU FIND ME
WINDSWEPT
WITHIN THE MIND
YOU HAVE THE WRONG NUMBER
YOU ARE MORE THAN MY VALENTINE
YOU CANNOT CHANGE FATE
YOU TAUGHT ME HOW TO CRY
YOU’RE BLESSED
A BAD DREAM
A CHILD IS BORN
A MAJOR MINORITY
A NASTY ADDICTION
THE NEW BEGINNING
A SIGN OF THE TIMES
A SONG OF PEACE
A WING AND A FEATHER
AGE STRONG (LIKE THE ROSE)
AGELESS
AMAZING
AN I FOR AN i
AN IDIOTIC AFFAIR
ANY OLE RIPPLE OF HOPE
ARE YOU A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH
AS TIME RAN COLD
BEACON AFFAIR
BROKEN HEARTS
BUBBLES
BUSINESS PERSUASION
CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
CHAMBERS (NOT CONFINEMENT)
CHASING PUZZLES
THE CLASSIC WILL
COMPUTER DEAD OR ALIVE
CRACK IN THE SKY
CRYING EYES
DEAD BRANCH
DEATH OF A MATADOR
DIRTY FEET
DOWNPOUR
DOWNSIDE UP
ELDERPRIDE
ESSENTIALLY YOURS
FAST AND FURIOUS – FOR A QUICKIE
FATE IS WORTH THE WAIT
FATE IS WORTH THE WAIT
FRIENDS AND LOVERS
DRIZZLE THROUGH THE TREES
GET OFF MY SHIRT
GLIMPSE
GOD IS OUR PARTNER
GOOD MORNING WORLD
GRADUATION TO ONESELF
HAND ME DOWN HEAVEN
HEAVEN ON EARTH
THE DAY THE PRINCESS DIED
I ALONE
IF I’M NOT ATTRACTIVE
I BELIEVE IN YOU
I LOVED YOU BEFORE I KNEW HOW
I MADE BY BED
I’M THE RAINBOW
IMAGINE TO LOVE
IMAGINATION … THE LAW OF ATTRACTION
EVOLUTION
INSANITY
IT’S NOT THE MONEY
IT CAME TO PASS
IT’S MORE THAN A TREE
I’VE SEEN THE MOUNTAIN
KING OF NO MAN’S LAND
LE’ BALLOON
LIFE IS GREAT
LISTEN TO THE PULSE BEAT
LONELY SOUL BLUES
LOVE IS FOREVER
LOVE IS ON MY MIND
LOVE IS THE WINNER
LOVES LOST AND FOUND
MAKING UP REALITY
MOONSET OVER TIME
EVERY DAY IS MOTHER’S DAY
MOTHERS OF BLACK
MOTHERHOOD
MOTHERS THE MAGICIANS
MUTUAL GRATITUDE
MY BREATH FROZE
MY FORTUNE COOKIE
NOT THE GOOD
NOVEMBER
ON ANY GIVEN DAY
ONCE UPON A SUNDAY – HELL WAS CREATED
ONE BACK TWO FORWARD
IF NOT BUT IF SO
OUR LOVE
PEACE ON EARTH
FORMULA FOR PEACE
PLUG IN MY SHADOW
PREACHER MAN
PSYCHIC OR PHYSICAL
SCATTER GUN OR RIFLE SHOT
SEVENTY-FIVE
SHELL GAME
SHE’S A WOMAN
SHINE ON ME
THE ANGEL OF DEATH
SILENCE IS OUR MUSIC
STANDING IN FUTILE ESTEEM
SUCCESS UNLIMITED
SUCCESSFUL YEARS
MIND OVER DESTINY
SUPERSTAR
TAKE MY HAND
LIFE’S ECHO
A SECOND TIME AROUND
SNOW STORM CATTLE
SECRETS OF THE MIND
SECRETS OF THE MIND
THE GAME OF PSYCHE
THE MATCH
THE STORYTELLER
THE WELL
THE AGONY OF DEFEAT
VISITORS OF ANOTHER WAY
ALIVE
A HARD WINTER’S SPRING
WRINKLES OF AGE
TRUST
NOTES TO A NEUROTIC
SPACES
HE WAS CALLED TINY
THE BRAVEST GIRL I’VE EVER SEEN
TURNING
THE COMMENCEMENT DAY
THE BIGGER I AM
THE GAMBLER
GURU
EGO TRIP
EGO TRIP
MAN BIRD
WALKING IN THE SAND
FREEDOM
SMALL TOWN BOY
ULTIMATE OBSESSION
ULTIMATE RISK
HAVE YOU OR HAVE YOU NOT
FINDING YOURSELF
ROAN
ACTOR
EGO MANIA
FREEDOM
DELIGHTED TO BE WRONG
WHAT IS HAPPY
BE MY TIMELINE
THE BOOM-A-RANG
MY CHILDREN
POLITICIANS
DON’T FORGET
ALWAYS TOGETHER
HEREAFTER
HEREAFTER
ANGEL OF MERCY
EYE SHADOWS
ANY DAY NOW
LOST TIME
MR. HELL
KNOWLEDGE
A BLACK HORIZON
MAJESTIC
THEN THE RADIO WENT DEAD
NOBODY KNOWS
MOBILE ILLINOIS
ALONE
ALONE
WINGS
STEPPING STONES
FOR LOVE
IF GOD WERE GOVERNOR
THE COLD WINDS OF LIFE
SILENCT NOISE
A QUITTER
HAVE YOU HEARD
CATCHING AIR
GOD’S TREES
AN ANGEL
RECKLESS REBEL
RIPPLES
NO SIMPLE MONDAY
STORMY
NEVER TOO OLD TO LOVE
CASTLES IN THE WIND
TOO SWEET TO BE BITTER
I WALK THE FIELDS
THE PUREST FLOWER
AS TIMES PASS
AND THE END BEGAN
AND AS THE END BEGAN
SUNSHINE IF YOU PLEASE
AS WE ARE
HIS VOWS MADE VISIBLE AND INDIVISIBLE
HER VOWS MADE VISIBLE AND INDIVISIBLE
FAMILY
I’M THE RAINBOW
ADOPT ME
THE GOLDEN HOUR
CLIMAX
LIFE
LISTEN TO MY PULSE BEAT
HOW HIGH IS HIGH
CALL COLLECT
THE TRUTH
SENTIMENTS
SENTIMENTS
THE HUMAN COVER UP
CHALLENGE OR CHISEL
SAME CONCLUSION
THE PIONEER
THE ILLOGICAL LOGIC BECOMES TRUTH
AN UNDESERVING SON
JUST ANOTHER WORD
OUR BOOK
GOSH IS THAT SAD
FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES
THE MASTER’S PIECE
THIS IS NOT GOODBYE
BREAKING UP IS SO HARD TO DO
GREAT HANDS
A VOW TO THOSE NEEDED
FEELING GREAT
A ROSE IS CARING
I WONDER … ONE OR A HUNDRED
BRAINS
PLEASE CALL ME SIMPLE
MEANINGFUL
THE STRENGHT TEST
GUTS
GUTS
LOOK AND YE SHALL FIND
RAIN
POSTMORTUM
THE WAITING GAME
SYNAGOGUE OF GOD
STORMS AND WEATHER KITES
MELTING YEARS
AUTHOR OF THE GULL’S ILLUSION
FLIGHT 271
A-BOMB DROPPED
THE DAY THE FIRST A - BOMB DROPPED
STAND UP GROWN-UP
AND THE GAME WENT ON
WAIT
BONDAGE
THE FUN IS IN THE BUILDING
IOWA
AUTHOR’S FORMULA (39)( 36) DIFFERENT TIMES
FEELING GOOD
PULL OFF
HIBERNATION OF LOVE
TWO BUILD OR PERISH
DEATH OF FEAR
DEATH OF FEAR
GET ON WITHOUT IT
I JUST PASSED MYSELF
CAN YOU LOVE ME
WHAT THIS COUNTRY MEANS TO ME
CORNSTALKS IN MY MIND
THE CUSTOM
WAR MAKER
I WANNA BE A TEST PILOT
IF YOU WILL
YOU TURN
CAUGHT WITH MY HAMMER DOWN
BETHROTHED
HAND PRINTS
A TOUCH OF HONEY
AUTUMN LEAVES
SHARON MY LOVE
INDIVIDUALS COUNT
CONTRIDICATIONS
CHILDREN
THE STREAM
PULL THE TRIGGER
THE LATE GREAT FATE
COURTSHIP
THE SAVIOR
THE SAVIOR
DAMN SNOW STORM
POSITIVE LIFE ATTITUDE
PROPOSAL - JUST DO IT
MISSING YOU
LIFE IS AN ECHO
STAR DUST
COMMON SENSE
WISH LIST
SHE IS
SAINT OR SATAN
SAINT OR SATAN
REVOLUTION
LIFELINES
IDEALIST
THE SENATE
FOR EGO
ROMANCE
ROMANCE
CIRCUMSTANCE OR ROMANCE
My Love Affair
SIGNS OF SRENGTH
TWO SHADES OF GRAY
BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE
IF ANDS AND BUTS
WEDDING DRESS
CHARADES … IT’S NOT WHAT YOU SAY
THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD
THE END IS THE BEGINNING
Image54385.JPGPREFACE
Words, expression and relationships give me the opportunity to connect with someone I will never meet. There are 1,025,109 words in the English language … I have only used 80,182 of those words, in 14,792 paragraphs in 22,987 lines. Some rhyme and or form prose designed to put forth a different way of looking at my past situation and reflect on truth or dare in living and my families life.
My love of writing comes from my mother Velma Rhoads. She only had an eighth grade education and was a product of Missouri poverty, similar to Appalachia. From that came a neurosis stemming from sexual abuse as child and fear of close relationships. I am speculating since she never opened up to anyone. Under her skin and beyond her frown was sensitivity only revealed in her poetry and drawings.
Her influence is reflected in my sister and myself. Kay is a playwright and has always had a way with the pen. Shari, my wife says Kay’s letters were so interesting that she should be a novelist and later in her life she began to express her feelings in her plays. Hers are more in dialogue than in poetic pentameter.
My first poem was in the eighth grade when Georgi Malenkov became the Russian Premier, and (in my late 20’s and early 30’s) began to write poems about my photographs. This form of artistic expression captured my family’s attention and I became the photographer/poet for all our functions.
My obsession grew to the point that any time I was in the car by myself with my tape recorder I would recite a poem from a word. During a period when I started my own business and was on the road for hours so the tapes filled up and Jane my secretary would put them to paper.
Over the years I have contemplated publishing the poems but always put it off due to a lack of time to translate from paper to digital those thoughts of thirty years past. I have found not one poem dated because they reflected words spoken from my head that focuses on the ideas of times and events that never really change … just mature, evolve and reoccur if you are to have memories that mean anything. Love, religion, war, peace, work and play all are never going to age just the mode of expression.
Today I still have those thoughts in 12 three ring binders on yellowing stock and use them to trigger my editing and writing skills into this book. The material is overwhelming since there are about 2,500 poems. Every conceivable word that I saw along the road on billboards, road signs, advertisements, business signs, or heard, etc. triggered a poem onto tape then onto paper. Today I am to converting these to a digital format so I can capture the thoughts and evolve these rough drafts into many more books.
I have tried to make the organization somewhat topical focusing on the better material, in my artistic opinion … yours will by nature be different and that is the power of the written word. My intention in triggering topics and titles is not unconventional but does challenge the reader to believe I know that much about words and very little about conventional poetry. So if you like or dislike the ideas and use of the English language that kept me occupied over 1 million miles in my car so be it.
My love for life is from my wife Shari of 55 years, our four children Christie, Kimber, Kip and Kelli, twelve grandchildren Alec, Celena, Blake, Nick, Derek, Chad, Tyler, Leah, Paris, Fallon, Nate, Troy, and now a great grandson Carter.
Shari and I have a goal to live to the ripe age of 120 and celebrate our 100th wedding anniversary by being healthy, happy and prosperous. This is reflected in my poems, business and faith.
Our world is such a wonder so I wondered why and that set in motion the thought to find the seven wonders of the world on the globe and seven more in cyber space. In so doing I ran across the eighth and ninth wonders that were right there with me. That begat the title and the first two poems as the proceeding celebration of my pens and lens.
AUTHOR’S SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD
THESE ARE THE SEVEN WONDERS
OF THE PHYSICAL WORLD VIEWED FROM OUTER SPACE
The Great Wall of China
Steps across the highlands
The Taj Mahal of India
Muasoleum of Mumtaz Mahal
Christ the Redeemer of Brazil
Forgiveness of the savior
The Coliseum of Rome
Gladiators fight for the right to live
Stonehenge of United Kingdom
Outer space travelers or inner space wonders
The Citadel of Haiti
Holy art though
The Great Pyramid of Giza
Wonders of engineering and strength
THESE ARE THE SEVEN WONDERS
OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD TO VIEW INNER SPACE
Computers
Makes the invisible visible
Cell phones
Makes the decibels hearable
Television
Makes the unseen seen
Electric Robot Autos
Burns neutrons not gas
Lasers
For seeing through time
Satellites
GPS and all its wonders
Drones
The robots of the airways
THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD
Undiscovered thoughts
Unused words that rhyme
Unspent moments in time
What a crime
The tenth planet is left spinning
In the brine
What is this thing of you speak
Is it about today
Or is it next week
Prophet tell me, its answers I seek
What is this wonder
You ponder
"Well it’s a planet alright
Carried with you day and night
Many have found it
And are using it right
To be perceptive
And somewhat bright"
Like the tenth planet
The eighth wonder
Is owned by every man and woman
They’ve had it since birth
So they could walk and wander
Left to their willingness and worth
At hand to accept and squander
A nearby diamond
At ready commands
Unspoken words and schemes
Misused ideas and plans
Broken dreams, ranting pleas
And if by chance
Lost to its mental disease
It’s a wonder, a haven
With the number eight
Beyond the other seven
Determining our fate
To use before it’s too late
Spinning our own DNA web
As the sign, of that mental state
Linking us to the spiritual ebb
Of our immortal fate
For all of mankind
To find the undiscovered planet
Called the mind
Connecting us all to the other nine
A mental Solar system divine
Truly the Eighth Wonder of our inner World
POETRY AND PHOTOGRAPHY A NINTH WONDER
Poetry is saying what we already know
In a way that it allows us to imagine
Our own thoughts being seeds to sow
As words growing on a page to sign
Photography is for those senses
That need expression
To knock down fences
Concealing creation
The synthesis of Poetry
And photography allows us
To see and feel free
Before we turn to dust
For the pens and the lens
Hold misery and mystery
In human hands
Allowing us all a reach into history
To whence forever commands
Be it philosophy
Be it psychology
Be it sociology
Be it scientology
Be it theology
Be it technology
Be it biology
Be it astronomy
Be it astrology
Or poetry and photography … it is to visualize
The Eighth Wonder of the outer world
Minds Seeking Answers
To Life’s Questions
Are the ninth wonder of our inner world
A SAND
HEAP
WORLD
IT’S SAND HEAP WORLD
It’s a sand heap world we live in
Mr. Sandman
It’s a rain soaked cloud we’re under
Master Black
It’s a flakey life with mounds of tin
Mr. Tin man
It’s a bloody cruel war we’ve seen
Master Jack
It’s a sand heap world we live in
Mr. Sandman
But from that sand heap
Came Little Bo Peep
Wooly worms that creep
Swings of rope and slides too steep
T. V. shows and things that bleep
Little lambs that run and leap
Wheat and oats for men to reap
And from that heap is love to keep
God to protect us in our sleep
Faces seeking aces for the cheap
And tears when we’re prone to weep
All that from a dirty sand heap
It’s a rain soaked cloud we’re under
Master Black
Yet from that rain cloud
Came beautiful orchids oh how proud
Black dirt and fields just plowed
Cats and dogs and things so loud
Kittens mittens those meowed
Thickets, crickets leaves that shroud
Sudden cyclones heads are bowed
Fits and spits babes cow towed
Pelted ground and concrete trawled
Splatters on foreheads scowled
Paths in forests prowled
All that from a black ole cloud
It’s a flakey life with mounds of tin
Mr. Tin man
It’s a flaky life with mounds of tin
But from that mound came iron skin
Sturdy truss and reels that spin
Pliers and tires a Parker Pen
Clasps and rasps a mechanical hen
Steely things in the den
Nails alike with the washers ten
Scales or sparks a metal fin
Spools of string; toys of men
Tassels tangles in a bin
Quarters dollars for a yen
Sculptures formed a mortal sin
All that from a piece of tin
It’s a bloody cruel war we’ve seen
Master Jack
Yet from that bloody scene
Came berets toned in green
Minds and thoughts almost clean
Size and brawn brought down lean
Life and death on the screen
Love to last minds seen mean
Leaders lead mothers wean
Teachers teach await the Dean
Skies and towns stay serene
Wounds that injure face and spleen
Subtle thoughts that now careen
All that from scores of wars we’ve seen
Honed From sands that stack
Cloned From clouds of black
Toned From mounds of tin
Droned with wars of sin
It’s a sand heap world we live in
IN TUNE
I am in tune with the moon
In sync with the wind
In touch with the sun
In movement with the stars
In unison with the universe
A system of time space and mass
A kingdom of continuity and gas
Governed by the mind
Motivated by a spirit to seek and find
The answers to the reason
Why we have a changing season
Why the system must be
Be a period of transition
From here to eternity
As the relentless tide occurs
The sun is the vision that never blurs
The moon is never here at high noon
And the stars light the concert
Not one minute too soon
Checkmate or mad hatter
It doesn’t seem to matter
For it is mass that makes earth flatter
And as much as science can explain
The rationality is somewhat in vane
To try to analyze and comprehend
That there is no such thing
As the beginning and the end
For it is only man’s conception
That leads to this classic deception
Of man’s mortality to the relentless
Disintegration of posterity
Into a mere pile of dust
Subject to the wind’s intermittent gust
Lo what a putrid view of life
When we’re led to believe that there’s
Everlasting strife
And so little time here and there
And no sight left in the deceased’s stare
Just as I don’t buy the setting of the moon
Or the rising of the sun at twelve noon
There’s no beginning or end
Nor our dust blowing in the wind
Tis a perpetual system of which I speak
Left to us believers to conceive and seek
And along the way pick up those doubters sad
And get them to believe and to be glad
That we’re in sync with what’s done
And immortality has already won
Left only to be in tune with the moon
And at one with the sun
Any other conclusion just ain’t no fun
A QUIET MAN
Have you heard a storm with no sound
Have you sung a song without keys
Have you remembered your father without memories
A quiet man who had no goals except to work
A good man who didn’t ask for help or shirk
His duties to his family
The least of which may never be
In spite of his jealousy of me
He will always be
A quiet man
Who made enough noise
To get me to understand
That hard work is the only way
To spend
A quiet day
Who never took a drink
In my presence and
Never swore nor did he think
Of himself or make a demand
As a quiet Man
Who always thought
I would be a baseball star
Hitting me fly balls I always caught
And loaning me his new car
A quiet man
Who gave into my mom
His pride and joy
And his own calm
For determination given his boy
By a quiet man
Who died a sad man
Never knowing that his unquiet son
Would emulate his stand
The work values of the quiet man
HELPLESS – I
Lord, I feel so helpless. Like
A turtle on its back
A circle with no turning track
A horse with no saddle
A boat without a paddle
Help
Don’t you know we can’t have
Porches without swings
Bees without stings
Lions without a zoo
Or me without you
Help
So listen to my plea
Don’t take the sky from the blue
Don’t put the lions in the zoo
Don’t tell me that we’re through
Don’t you know I love only you
Help
Put together we are but a few
Like turtles in a stew
Clover that smells brand new
Eyes filled with tears
And children’s nighttime fears
Help
So listen to my prayer
Put the turtle on its feet
Make the ends of a circle meet
Put the rider upon the horse
So I can endorse
Me finding my course
Help
And help me find you
By taking these as true
I’m helpless if we’re through
Facing someone brand new
Help
With this melody
I have but one plea
Please help me
Help you to be
A loving leaf on my tree
HELPLESS – II
Lord, I feel so helpless. Like
Trees without a leaf
Time without relief
Turtles without a back
Thoughts without fact
Helpless
Horses without saddles
Boats without paddles
Days without nights
Winds without kites
Helpless
Geese without ganders
Barry without Sanders
Apples without a core
Houses without a door
Riches without the poor
Helpless
Porches without rockers
Shoes without Dockers
Swings without ropes
Geniuses without dopes
Helpless
Songs without a tune
Sun without a moon
Eagles without a cage
Yellow without a page
Helpless
Lions without a zoo
Tigers out there too
Living without dying
Voices without lying
Helpless
Truth without ears
Eyes without tears
Voices without cares
Singles without pairs
Helpless
Skin cold to the touch
Shivering much to much
Mother without child
Teenagers gone wild
Helpless
Brother without sister
Men without a mister
Me without you
My future is terribly blue
Helpless
With this melody
I have but one plea
Please help me
Help you to be
A loving leaf on my tree
Helpful
Growing the Appleseed above the horse weed
HE SHOWED ME
God showed me fear
So I could make happiness dear
God exposed me to defeat
So I could hear victory speak
God tore away the shrouds