How many trees does it take to print the power bills your required to pay , so the flood lights positioned about your front yard can highlight the fancy bird bath combination fountain you had installed ,  a monument to show your neighbors what an environmentalist you truly are ?
How much water is required to sport green grass in the summertime , a perfectly manicured lawn , edged , trimmed , fertilized each month like clockwork , shunning the fellow for growing a garden of fresh vegetables because his backyard is an " eyesore " unlike everyone else ?
How many deer heads mounted on a wall justify your self described account of manhood , one for each season , culling the herd , in the name of sport when it's obviously just a thirst for blood ! A thousand dollar rifle , two hundred dollar suit , flashlight , hunting knife , hundred dollar boots ?

I scored thirty two points playing basketball while you were drunk ! I'm sure your only infatuation was more 120 proof poison !  I was merely a teenage punk ! Money spent on food , clothing , medicine plus other useless junk when alcohol was the Golden Bull , a tonic to obliterate the duties of a father , something you never could get enough of , a liquid that took precedence over every other item in your view of the world ! You bled the checkbook dry every week , slaughtered the spirit of your children over something to drink ! Rocking in your chair , grandkids treating you like a God , you ran your own children into the ground ! Alcohol is a weakness , not a sickness , who could reach for a wolf then wonder why they've been bitten ?

Boiled peanuts , caviar for us southern gentlemen , cooked all night , lightly salted ! Sold at the side of the road by friendly farmers , thick accented entrepreneurs quick to tell a joke or relay a bit of gossip ! Cool mornings , colorful hardwood leaves and the aroma of these epicurean delights are as familiar as Magnolia blossoms , sorghum syrup and homegrown peaches in the Summertime !

Petrichor fills my senses , the western hemisphere receives the miracle of Dawn , magnificent palate of morning revealed in first light , punctual feast delegated amongst the plant world of the Americas ..Pull of the tide , the Moon coupled with mystery , disappearance , Sister Venus with nocturnal creatures of the forest relocate their private dwellings with the new day ! Warm , cool air confluence , Western cloud banks foretell Natures ambivalence ! Steadfast purveyor of the rambunctious , ever changing Earth !

Blessed are the young for their innocence and wonderment , for bright eyes and cheerful smiles ! Little ladies in training with tea sets , dolls and easy bake ovens . Young boys with frogs in their pockets , baseball caps , ***** from head to toe ! For their first day at school and precious artwork posted on the refrigerator door ! Hayrides and trick or treat , Cub Scout and Brownie field trips , bicycles , bonfires , marshmallows and Hershey bars ! Christmas songs , snowmen and sleigh rides ! Flying kites in March , warm April mornings , Summer vacations in June and July ! A prayer for the children tonight , tucked away in warm beds , safe , filled with imagination , joyous for their first peeks of sunshine at Dawn ! Saturday morning Pop Tarts and Nestles Quik , Bugs Bunny , Spiderman and the Banana Splits !

The country needs garbage men and ditch diggers ! Men that mow grass , empty septic tanks , clean streets ! Workers that paint bridges and water tanks ! Folks that clean out gutters , chop firewood , wash windows , empty grease traps ! Fellows that haul junk , rake leaves and wash cars ! Mop floors , clean hospitals , pick up trash on the side of the road !  Farmers that pull weeds , *** a garden , water a row with a five gallon bucket ! Men that shovel coal , spread gravel , haul dirt with a wheel barrow ! 'Tis nothing on this Earth more beautiful than a man confident with his work ! Respectable wages for a hard laborious week , unsung heroes that made this country great !

If this simple write should prove to be my swan song , let it be duly noted that I left headstrong ! As the Drill Sergeant , leading green soldiers , the fearless non-commissioned officer , carrying the colors ! The Calvary , under direct fire , dressing the ranks , preparing the charge , advancing forward , committing what cries to be heard unto paper for all the world to address , exposing the draconian tyrants of prose , poetic blasphemers and the vile fabricators of plagiarism !

What does it take for a quick fix ? A photo opportunity , pictures of you in the public mix ? Front page headline ! Standing by a storm sewer like Hernando DeSoto ,  exploring a wild expanse of territory ! Are you General Pershing ? Leading the " Doughboys " into battle on the western front or the new Panama Canal in west central Georgia ! It just so happens that I could possibly be the fourth cousin removed of our benevolent Mayor , an admission certain to generate a call to action , genetic predisposition to selfishly imbibe , supplicate ulterior motives , altruistic behaviors , uniformity of life in general ! Organisms in the battle of propagation , securing the ranks for future generations ! Each step plotted , precious energy allotted , risk reward calculations , minimal expenditures create maximum benefit , the secret to longevity , the Fountain of Youth , trapped in a culvert , water seeks its own level , 'tis a fact your honor ! For as waste trapped within cell walls , you to shall pass , your biochemical makeup will one day rain upon this Earth , trapped in a ditch in Chattahoochee Hills , with an indifferent public official oblivious to your plight , trying to complete life's cycle with all your might !

Loved with everlasting love,
Led  by grace that love to know,
Spirit breathing from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so,
Oh , this full and perfect peace !
Oh, this transport all divine !
In a love which cannot cease,
I am His , and He is mine.

In a love which cannot cease ,
I am His, and He is mine.

Heaven above is softer blue,
Earth around is sweeter green!
Something lives in every hue,
Christless eyes have never seen;
Birds with gladder songs o'erflow,
Flowers with deeper beauties shine,
Since I know , as now I know,
I am His , and He is mine.

Since I know , as now I know,
I am His, and He is mine.

Things that  once were wild alarms
Cannot now disturb my rest;
Closed in everlasting arms,
Pillowed on the loving breast,
Oh, to  lie for ever here;
Doubt and care and self resign,
While He whispers in my ear--
I am His , and He is mine!

While  He whispers in my ear --
I am His and He is mine!

His for ever, only His;
Who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah! with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart!
Heaven and earth may fade and flee,
First born light in gloom decline  !
But , while God and I shall be,
I am His and He is mine.

But while God and I shall be,
I am His, and He is mine?