I was at a funeral recently, a work colleague, a nice lady
Her father had passed away
I was surprised to learn that she was an only child
And that her Dad...her Dad was a 'steeplejack' of all things
Yea he used to climb up and repair church steeples or build church steeples, whatever steeplejacks do
I wondered amusingly Did he ever try and get her in on the trade
"C'mon up here Sarah, there's a great view from up here" He! He!"
Later on in the service one of his nephews got up to give the eulogy
He talked about what a special man he was
I thought to myself, You'd want to be a special man to be a steeplejack
Me! I get dizzy standing on a chair
You'd want to have your head ******* on the right way doing that job
One mistake and you're... you're history
I thought his poor wife must have been a nervous wreck waiting for him to come home
He'd lived into his nineties (90's)
His wife had died just a few years previously
He sounded like... like quite a character.

I was reminded then of an old school Pal of mine... Tom from primary school (kindergarten)
When we used live by the sea
Tom was a great swimmer he'd won loads of trophies
There was an outdoor swimming pool in our village
And you'd often see him heading up to the pool
He'd have his towel and togs under his arm
He used to walk on top of the sea wall when he'd be going up the village
And there was this part of the sea wall that was very high
There was about a 15 to 20 foot drop onto the road on one side
And an even bigger drop of 30 to 40 feet onto the rocks on the other side
And the width of the wall was just around a foot and had little ruts in it (uneven surface) that you could easily trip on if you weren't careful
And he used walk on this like a tightrope walker yea!
And we used to watch him in awe with our mouths wide open in amazement
Asking ourselves 'How could he do that ?
What the hell was going on in his head that he could do such a thing ?
If he fell he'd be killed outright or certainly crippled
And no one would ever say anything to him, they'd just say "Oh! That's just Tom"...
One day coming home from school he took me into the swimming pool
He knew all the people who worked there
On this day they were cleaning the pool and had emptied out all the water
So what does Tom do but go out onto the 'diving board ' and starts bouncing up and down on it
And there's a drop of 20 to 30 feet onto the hard cement of an empty swimming pool
If he fell he'd be breaking his neck or his legs
Crazy!
He came to our house one time, now there used to be this big rocky outcrop that used come right up to the back of our house
We used to call it 'the Cliff', it was made up of all these big rocks and loose slatey type rocks and sand
It was as high as the house itself
We were all soccer ⚽ mad in those days, we used run up the steps to the back garden to play (was on top of the cliff)
We'd be looking over at the chimneys on the house
Tom came visiting one day, when we went out the back and he seen the Cliff
He announced straightaway "I'm going to climb that"
We said "You're crazy!"
We left him there bemused and went off to play our game
About 30 minutes later Tom appears at the side of our soccer pitch having climbed up from below...
And he could hardly kick a football, he just wasn't interested in that... wasn't interested
Inside his head he had...he had his own way to go.

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com

                                        My Grandfather’s Hayfield

From my own fields I can hear the band
The high school marching band, oom-pah, oom-pah
From several miles away, with merry songs
and merry cheers around the homecoming bonfire

That was my grandfather’s hayfield in my youth
Before the town and school replaced the past
The shaking baling machine compressing grass
Where the team captain now gives his whup ‘em speech

I found a terrapin where the cheerleaders dance
From my own fields I can see my youth

there’s a man in Idaho
with a too long name,
(unlike mine which was reduced
to “brother” growing up,
that’s how bad it was,

away Idaho is easy to spell
although
(it’s a state that I am clueless if
as a coastal elite, if and where,
it truly exists)
who I need to go on a walk with,
with a walk to Shonee Falls,
before
the snows settle in, cause my
fashionista uhh, Ugh, ok finally,
my Ugg  boots wil not only be
useless, but clueless why the
hell I have tortured them so,
(every inanimate object be
totally uninhibited ‘bout talking
to me)


yak

‘bout nothing in particular
but kinda like his out-look,
e-specially his beard, before
it melts come summer
which likely wud be a better
season for a shoeless Joe from
new york city-Yo!

Yo! (the onr true name)

anyway, his bossy life,
emailed me he is currently
unavailable due to other
pressing matters, which means
he is lying on some couch
smirking how he avoided me

but he ain’t gotta clue what
a new york jew can do, when
the aurthoro-tees say no entrada,
so I hope he got a spare bedroom
cause the nearest motel six is
nearby(in local parlance, a 3 hr drive)
just need to know, can you help,
do I need a passport and a Visa,
my American Express probably
will be unaccepted without a
credit limit increase, three words
I never heard, so stocking up this winter
with all the spare change hid in various
draws (not my drawers) and see if Greyhound knows to go to
Idaho (indigenous for i don’t knoe/ain’t got a clue)

so be there soooner (sorry oklahoma)
after we consulate them maps in the
Antique Maps room in the New York
Map room, which is guarded by two
mean looking lions, who haven’t been
fed in quite awhile

so no is refusted (refused and refuted)
cause in new york no is stated as follows:

yeah, yeah…yeah

Turn coats on the run
Votes up in the air
Undecided everywhere
What will it take to cross the line?

Those who want to turn
Back the hands of Time
Leisurely Sit on their rocking chairs
Afternoons, a gentle breeze, sublime

Decades of time watching the sunset
We honestly no longer can say no regret
Optimism for our future, slowly fades
Reluctantly, we Turn another page

Our world is turned upside down
It’s precarious in our sleepy town
For fun, kids use to drive around
The last bit of fun that can be found

Gang violence overrun, tent cities
They don’t want American’s pities
A heinous Cold Civil War begun
Death to America Everyone

They Demand reparations our homes jobs
Third world Country behavior, Macabre
Noncitizens hell bent on nefarious intent
Ammunition spent police came and went

Situational awareness danger can be bad
Hazardous to fly the American flag
Reminiscent of the freedoms
We once had

Turning point in this world today
Down on our knees, we pray
What society will do to our kids
Satanic minions grasp first bids

Teaching kids today Little Jack Horner
Evil lurking behind every corner
Come out Come out, lets play
Not to worry it will be OK
You won’t be missed anyway

Mathematics is now racist they say
Slowly taking all our freedoms away
How could this possibly be? Well, Let’s see
(2+2 = 3 ) two plus two equals three

Dumb the children to submission
Using warped basic edition,
But why? First lesson NEVER question
I Will pay you $10 for a days work

I say $4  is ten all subserviently Believe
Old folk No Joke know they’re deceived
Younger generations obediently receive
Too many people in this world no reprieve

You will Own nothing and you’ll like it
Dystopian world rapidly grows submit
Older generations must be downsized
The beginning Eugenic’s selection demise

They keep the youth Trainable less Wise
Crazy but true read with communist eyes
******’s Mein Kampf, Marxist manifesto
History Books Bibles literature all must go

We live in a bubble play the fool
No more need for propaganda school
Not realizing We are in their control
Planned pandemics maintain the death toll

Down on our knees, we please
Obedient servants appease
We can recoup control slim margin of error
Americans looking in the face of terror

Ring around the Rosie
pocket, full of Posey,
ashes ashes, we all fall down
Death has come to our sleep town
  
Government media slaves, follow the maze
God can pull us out of this living hell
God Saves It’s too early to tell
Thank Him for the bounty blessing He gave

An Epic poem
Quatrain stanzas
A four line stanza
And epilogue

Inspired songs;

1) Where have all the flowers gone? 1960
1958-1963 )Kingston trio (name change to
PeterPaul and Mary)

2) Blown’ in the wind 1964 live with lyrics
By Peter,Paul and Mary

Think of the non-Americans when you listen to this song

3) 500 miles with lyrics
By PeterPaul and Mary

The silence
of the lambs
resides inside
the courts
due to our injustice

Taken aback
by the shame
that pains
the hearts
deep within
the depths of us

Then there comes
the desperate silence
standing
at attention

Before the justice
that sees the sins of
of life's retention

Had only we
had listened
to the whispers
in our ears

We wouldn't
be wiping away
our fears
with the salty
taste of tears

Or seen
the visions
imparted
in our eyes

Telling us
the differemce
between the truth
and all those evil lies

Then there is
the silence of submission
awaiting our
due fate

Bookended between
the beginning
and the ending
with everything
at stake

And there are
the sins
of fear , worry, and all of our anxieties

That add to our growing list
of all our
improprieties

Comes that day
silence
will bury deep .
So deep that their seeds will never sprout

Prohibiting the weeds of doubt
that they never come
about

Silence speaks
so loud and clear
without ever making
a sound

The truth is in the silence
so look there
and it will be profound