Here's a few things that keep me sane
When crazy has its way, as of late
Steadfast and true, they remain
My go to, time and again

The innocent smile of a child
What better way to wipe away doubt

The glimmer in a young mother's eyes
Knowing God used her to bring forth life

An early sunrise over the ocean blue
Gives my cloudy mind a good talking to

Quite time on a front porch swing
Helps to clarify my reasoning

The joy inside a bluegrass tune
That you can tap your toes to

The sweetness in a pecan pie
Can do a lot to rectify

A caged bird that's been set free
The very first time it spreads its wings

The sweet Southern draw of a girl down South
Are a few of the things I think about

That said out loud help keep me sane
When crazy has its way, as of late
Tried and true they remain
My go to time and time again

The curtain now has fully closed-
So why am I still on this stage
Declaiming words I never wrote.

Why am I in fancy costume, with
Heavy makeup on my face
To hide the wrinkles of my failings
And paint me as a thespian.

Cast in a play they say I’ve written
With a pen that's never touched my hand
And a last act that I’ve never seen.

I haven’t learned the blocking yet,
So I don’t know which way to move
Or which door I should exit through
And what will be my final lines.

As lights go down from the Interval
The audience regains their seats
To watch me in the final scene.
  ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
It’s over so I bow to scant applause
And no one comes to hand me flowers.
I stumble as the lights go slowly out,
And make my way from memory
To my dressing room down a dusty hall
Where I will take this garish makeup off
And walk home as the girl I really am.
                        ljm

I've walked up and down these city streets
Left my prints along the beach
Searching for that which I need
But seldom is it within reach

Every nook and cranny in my home
Climbed high the mountain top alone
Never sure of where it's gone
The illusive poem

Day and night I will not rest
This poem to find I've made my quest
I've laid it out at my behest
There's nothing needed more than this

I've called up everyone I know
Rang the Vatican in Rome
I will not stop my on the go
Until I find this poem

I've trudged the jungles of the South
More places than I dare to count
And still have yet to figure out
How all this came about

I'll keep on with my keeping on
Never bowing to the loss of hope
Because deep inside one day I know
I will find this poem

I've looked up among the blinking stars
Telescoped both Venus and Mars
Held up signs to passing cars
But failed to look deep in the heart

You'd have thought I would have known
The one place I failed to go
That's where it was all along
The illusive poem

When they're at their peek of brightness

She ties ribbons around the stars

She's been told by some, they like this

Highlighting who it is they are

Outside she spends her evenings

At the edge of her front yard

Reaching into the constellations

Tying ribbons around the stars

Back porch blues
I’m seeing ghosts
Skimming through
The pages
Burning bridges
Searching
For glory in my hell
Unaccompanied
Guilty innocence
What a pity
Had it all stripped just like that  
Orphaned
That look in your
Eyes that echos in pain
The sad little
Boy who cried
Wolf and no one came
Running to save him
How could his parents
Be so cruel
Abandon him in the direst
Of moments
That would shape the sands
Of time
What would the future hold
Wish I would have never known
The answers to that
Now a man struggling
With what ifs
All I wanted was to be a boy
And enjoy my childhood
Wondering where all the time went
Wasting away
In the distant cries  
Of a youth that took me under with it

Why do I think that I
Deserve more than the other guy
Acting like it's owed to me
Bought and paid for, mine to keep

Why do I treat selfishness
As if it is mine to possess
It's not enough I want it all
And when it's gone, I ask for more

Why do I hold onto pride
Ever tight for dear life
Afraid to let the people see
When it comes to the real me

Why do I light my angry side
Any disagreement, I try and fight
Pushing back with all my might
Thinking that, you're wrong I'm right

Why do I even think
I deserve anything
Angry at my selfishness
Which in turn hurts my pride no less

Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                           Let Us Celebrate No Tyrants Day


                           “We have no king but Caesar!”

               -A long-ago mob as written in St. John 19:15


Even the King of Kings is under the Law
And too, since Magna Carta, our earthly King -
From the people and their voices he can only draw
Such powers as their assemblies vote to bring

But may God protect us from a Common Man
Slithering to supremacy through serpentine speech
Emboldened by the power of cabal, club, and clan
Mobs chanting for their master, a soul-******* leech

God gives us His grace in a King and Queen
Republics give us the guillotine