It's been a long day, my dear friend
But it at last has seen its end
Lay your head down, and let if fade away
You can only hold on til you have to let go
So let it go, because you know,
Tomorrow's another day

You've come a long, long way
and you're far from where you planned
And how you ended up here
You may never understand
And the days and years slip from grip
Like tiny grains of sand
You can't count the squandered moments
That fell right from your hands

You've had a long day, my dear friend
And to say it is over, I can't pretend
For now, close your eyes, and let it fade away.
You've done all that's in your power
You've earned repose at this late hour
And tomorrow's another day.

I'll sit here, and watch the night for you
Protect you while you sleep.
I'll keep the whole world quiet for you
It won't make a peep.
And if I could carry your load for you
I'd take it off your hands
But all I can do is hope for you
I hope you understand.

It's been a life-long trip, dear friend
And this is just another bend
A rest stop along the road you have to take
Tomorrow's another day, it's true
And you'll do whatever you must do
Your way through hell and high water to make.

But for now, lay down your head
Close your eyes, and fade away
No burden can't be laid down
And picked up the next day.

She loved the world too easily,
She had no way of knowing
That life will wait to strike you down
When your soft side is showing.
She gave of self, such sacrifice
And when little else was left,
Twas cast aside most heartlessly
Left broken-down and so bereft.

Now bitterness her sword and shield
She wields with silent fervor,
And keeps her love from light of day
And those who don't deserve her,
And trust, it seems, the stuff of dreams,
She's buried far too far down,
In self-defense, it makes no sense
To ever let your guard down.

She has forgotten how to love
As she did way back before,
Before heartache had worn her down
Until she could take no more.
Perhaps someday she'll find a way
Her heart can again be free,
Til then, trust seems the stuff of dreams
Of some faded yesterday.

I ask you not to keep me, Lord,
I've no fear for the coming storm.
My life has led away from harm
My resting place is safe and warm.

Instead, my God, I beg of you
To keep all those that seem but lost
The broken, sick and destitute,
The battle-scarred, the tempest-tossed.

If some great blessing you had planned
To cast on me, I don't deserve.
Instead bestow that act of love
On those the world sees under-served.

I saw an old friend today.
She'd aged 30 years
in the few she'd been away.

Her former glow is all but gone,
No spark behind her green eyes.
Little more than skin and bone.

Time takes us all for a ride,
And leaves the marks on us
To check our faith and pride

But the woman I saw was not
A victim of time, no,
Her fate has been hand-wrought

My heart is broken, I fought tears
While she stood there
Recounting addiction that had added those years

I saw an old friend today
That time and ****** have taken away.
She says she's clean,
Trying to get her **** together.
Her face is skeletal,
The track-marks got her arms like leather.
But she says she's better.
It's hard, but she's better.
She just needs a break,
And if the world will let her
A chance to come back,
A chance to start over,
She says she's clean again,
She tells me she loves me,
And that last part is the straw
That breaks my emotional back,
And the pain in my chest
Feels like a heart attack
And I hugged her as if
I'd never see her again.
And begged any God that would listen
To prove me wrong.

I cried out to God for answers
While waiting for his reply
I forgot to do some living
'Ere I fell down to die.

Beheld I no great majesty
In wonders he had wrought
But pitied self for circumstance
That time and life had brought

Forbid that I would ever look
Beyond my meager station
And witness those at deeper lows
and show appreciation.

Hence, the twilight of my life
Has come, and shadow's fallen.
At last, across the great divide
I hear His voice is callin'.

Our answers come in all due time
And so little time is given,
So while you wait you might as well
Go do a little living.

Don't let me Lord into the ripe old age
when delirium is the only thing in my head
I don't know when I **** or wet the bed
my mouths can't open a tube in my nose
takes not but teases the end looming close.

Don't let me Lord into the ripe old age
when my legs just wouldn't stand by themselves
can move me nowhere without a hand to help
I don't know when  I would fall on my face
flirts me but fails me that last cold embrace.

Don't let me Lord into the ripe old age
when the marks of time are mind crunching pain
the ones around me don't see a gain
in the struggled breaths that force me to live
defer their tears to mourn and grieve.

Don't let me Lord into the ripe old age
I beg to leave before my mind leaves me
before the loved ones ask wearily
O Lord why not spare us the agony
hasten the end let him die quickly.

The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey
Circus will close its doors in May.                                
The Greatest Show on Earth has lost
Its flashy allure of yesterday.

The death-defying acrobats
Will have to seek other employment.
Exotic animal acts no longer
Are a source of great enjoyment.

The circus will fold up its tent for good.
But don't be sad; do not frown.
On January 20
A new circus is coming to town.

- by Bob B (1-16-17)