HARMONY

I  said some things I can't regret;
They needed to be said.
If truth between us can not be,
We may as well be dead.

I need to know what's on your mind;
What's in your line of sight.
Has friendship now come to an end
Because you think you're right?

I have not wronged you my dear friend
Because I have no stand.
It is the one who holds views tight
That greets me with closed hand.

I can not hold to your belief.
It's purpose I can see.
Belief that tells me what to do
Just cannot let me be.

I need to be what's natural;
Not what some men dictate.
Of all our many views of life
The consequence is hate.

Perhaps all views will not unite
In wordless harmony.
But what's for sure they will not join
If you don't start with me.

MOTHER'S MARKET MEMORY

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There is a market in our town.
It's set up only once a week.
The people come from miles around
To buy and sell and just to seek

A feeling of a bygone day
When markets were a meeting place.
I took my Mom to sit and watch
To help slow down our life's fast pace.

The trapeze is a thrill to watch.
I ask Mom if she'd like to try.
"No thanks", she laughs but never says
I am too old to learn to fly.

We talk about the horse she had
So many, many years ago.
I say she could go for a ride.
Again she laughs but then says, "No".

We watch the kids jump up and down
In bungees on a trampoline.
She laughs once more but only says,
"To do that son, I'm just not keen".

When we come to a stand with fruit
I see her interest start to rise
As peaches, plums and cherries red
Become reflected in her eyes.

"These cherries are my favorite",
She says as she starts to dig in.
There is no time for laughter now.
There's barely even time to grin.

As we move on I start to shake
Because I know what lies ahead.
When choosing pastries or her life
My mother would choose to be dead.

Mom pulls me to them with such force
I have to strain to hold her back.
She laughs and then I do give in
And buy a treat we both attack.

"Thanks Doug", she says, "That was so good.
To that I always will agree.
Our time together was well spent.
Today I bought a memory.

MOTHER'S DREAM
MOTHER'S GAMES
MOTHER'S HOPE
MOTHER'S LEAVING
MOTHER'S MEMORIAL BENCH
MOTHER'S SAD ATTACK
MOTHER'S WAR
MOTHER'S WAKE

SOLDIER'S LAMENT

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"They" said I lost my life today.
That simply is a load of shit.
Let's tell the truth; collectively,
"They" justified the theft of it.

I died while doing what I loved.
How often I've heard that refrain.
No reason given can defend
A love that causes so much pain.

I could not love with guns in hand.
No camouflage can hide this fact
That killing is unnatural.
From life it only can subtract.

A thousand soldiers stand stock-still
As eight march with their now dead mate
To start my final journey home
Where loved ones in deep sorrow wait.

At home they say they're proud of me
Defending thus their way of life.
But no one says there'd be more pride
In living life without the strife.

The only voice of reason is
My own and I'd have surely said,
"If I could do it all again
I would not end up being dead".

I want to walk the earth again,
To hold my children, hug my wife.
I'd gladly trade those 'lofty' goals
My 'leaders' said were worth my life.

If you could see what I see now,
Your faces you'd all hide in shame.
My dying for your thoughtlessness
Was just not worth the passing fame.

God damn it! When will you wake up?
You're sleeping through your lives you see.
Until you change them I am left
In sorrow for eternity.

see PEACE POPPIES

PHILOSOPHICAL DEFICIENCY

I tripped up on posted thread
So I went to emergency.
I asked the doc, "Am I brain dead?"
"You look all right; but let me see.

You have a pulse, that's one good sign.
Your hearing seems to be OK.
You have a growth but it's benign;
Yet interferes with what they say.

You also lack a 'philo' gene
You need in order to compete.
So if you do, protect your bean
By wearing Wellies on your feet.

Don't worry Doug", he said to me,
"It doesn't mean you are less bright.
Though without the philosophy
You can't contribute to their fight.

Don't try to rehabilitate.
Just keep on doing what you must.
You won't contribute to more hate
If it's your guidance that you trust."

My guidance is biology.
It tells us what we can become.
Of realized capacity
We all have our own unique sum.

WALLS

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WE........
BUILD...
A...........
WALL....
ROUND..
US..........
AND.......
TALL......
THEN.....
STOP......
ITS.........
FALL......
TO..........
KEEP......
OUT........
ALL........
But now we've locked the void within
And that's where terror will begin.
Continue to create that pall;
Humanity will surely fall.

Enclosure