He was the voice of those who had no voice,
The spokesman for the oppressed.
He became a true hero to the downtrodden,
Who had been denied their basic human rights.
There were those who tried to stop him,
But he proved himself a true force of nature.
Because you can arrest the man,
But you can't arrest his vision.
And while they could lock him in a cell,
They could not lock away his ideas.
And while they could put shackles on his body,
They could not put shackles on his dreams.
And those dreams live on,
To the very ends of the Earth,
In every classroom where black and white
Learn side by side.
In every place of worship,
Where young and old gather together,
In every peaceful demonstration,
Where tyranny falls, and liberty reigns triumphant.
And in the cry of every newborn,
That they be born into a world of hope and tolerance,
Where equality and civil rights are the norm.
For you can bury the man, but not his beliefs.
And though his voice may be silent,
His spirit will live on and on.

12-31-13.

I wish it could be different,
I wish there was another way,
If only for the sake of your children,
I would have liked to stay.

I came into your life a few years back,
When you were looking for a man,
I’ve tried to help anyway I could,
But I’ve done all that I can.

Your kids took to me from the start,
And they always called me ‘Dad.’
You even told me more than once,
That I was the best they ever had.

But you just used me from the start,
And there were signs along the way,
Cheating and lies, barely disguised,
It was the same thing every day.

I just can’t go on wasting my life,
Giving you my best years,
Too many nights I ended up alone,
Lord knows I’ve shed some tears.

Your daughter’s at a tender age,
And I hate to make her cry,
It’ll be years before she understands,
Why it has to be goodbye.

Tell your son I’ll miss him,
And tell your daughter too,
I’ll have to say very frankly,
I hope they don’t turn out like you.

I offered you my heart and soul,
And you left it on a shelf,
The time has finally come to pass,
For me to take care of myself.

Don’t bother trying to look for me,
For I’ll have somebody new,
The one thing I can say for sure,
Is that someone won’t be you.

09-23-14.

Two young brothers are left at home,
All by their lonesome selves,
The older one notices a new toy,
Sitting high up on a shelf.

He climbs up and brings on down,
What he believes is a toy gun,
He thinks about the games they’ll play,
Boy this sure will be fun.

He aims the ‘toy’ at his little brother,
And shoots him in the head,
But that gun was not a toy at all,
And soon the three-year-old is dead.

When a child dies,
All the stuffed animals cry,
Alone on a shelf,
They sit by themselves,
In a cold lonely room,
Like a final tomb.

Johnny’s tired of being bullied at school,
But every dog has its day,
Though all his classmates seem so mean,
Johnny will make sure they all pay.

The next day at school will be different,
From a knapsack he pulls out a gun,
Suddenly he starts shooting his classmates,
Shoots them in the back as they run.

Soon most of the class has been shot,
And their young bodies are lying there dead,
With one bullet left in the chamber,
Johnny puts the gun to his own head.

When a child dies,
All the angels cry,
The tears flowing down,
On the sad little town,
It’s a cold, cold rain,
But it won’t numb the pain.

For Jose this is the biggest day in his life,
It’s his gang initiation in the ‘hood,
He must seek out a rival gang member,
With a couple of shots he’ll be good.

Jose packs his piece and extra clips,
And his driver takes him to the spot,
He takes aim at his helpless victim,
And another is dead with just one shot.

But that one bullet it ricocheted,
You hear a young mother scream and cry,
As she realizes her young son is hit,
On a cold dark street he is left to die.

When a child dies,
The whole world cries,
All lives matter, big and small,
I ask you people, heed the call,
Please stop the hate, before it’s too late,
For the future of us all.

10-27-15.

She’s hot and wet when she greets me in the morning,
I know of no better way to wake up.
And when I need her she is always there,
She fills my loving cup.

It is an affair that has been going on for years,
And she will continue to comfort when I’m old.
When I am down she perks me up,
She warms me when I am cold.

Dark and bold she comes to me,
More beautiful than any sunrise.
Like a gypsy with her magic charms,
She has the power to open tired eyes.

Though some folks may criticize her,
Pointing out her mother’s a Columbian nut.
And yes, those South Americans are a bit hot-blooded,
But I just smile and say “So what?”

For coffee and I are partners in life,
From her I will never stray.
And should anyone try to get between us,
They will surely rue the day.

10-01-15.

This day is yours, it belongs to you,
Do anything that you desire to do.
Watch your favorite shows, eat your favorite food,
Do anything that puts you in a good mood.

Your friends are here to celebrate too,
This day is yours, it belongs to you.
You’ve been working too hard, you need a break,
Sit down and have another piece of cake.

Open the presents your friends have bought,
You can see they’ve given this plenty of thought.
This day is yours, it belongs to you,
So spend it joyfully with your favorite crew.

Just here to wish you Happy Birthday,
That’s really all we have to say.
And may your dreams all come true,
This day is yours, it belongs to you.

03-15-16.

Flowers bloom, the Winter thaw,
Outside the songbirds sing.
With the arrival of the bluebirds,
I know that it is Spring.

But listening to the bird’s songs,
And watching the flowers bloom.
I can’t but help myself,
For feeling a certain gloom.

For I find myself a bit jealous,
As the flowers start anew,
So often I wish I could do the same,
If I just knew what to do.

02-22-16.

To some the world revolves around them,
And nothing else can matter.
They’ll do anything to reach that end,
Including endless idle chatter.

They walk around like “Hey look at me.”
And are only happy when you do.
They’re like an exhibit for all to see,
Like an animal in a zoo.

Nowadays they’re on the net, joining many a site,
And they bully everyone around.
They’ll be on the computer, day and night,
If some attention can be found.

If they start with you, pay them no mind,
It’s the best thing you can do.
I can guarantee their words won’t be kind,
When they start attacking you.

They’re attention ******, as they’re known,
Or trolls as some may say.
They’re like little kids who’ve never grown,
They always have to have their way.

So take my advice, and don’t feed the trolls,
Because they’ll just create a scene.
They are the cyber world’s lost souls,
They are evil and they’re mean.

04-14-16.

Size Does Matter**

Size does matter, if you’re a car,
A bigger engine will take you real far,
Size does matter that’s understood,
When we’re talking about what’s under the hood,
You need lots of power to make those tires squeal,
But when we’re talking about women it’s a whole other deal,
Because size matters when racing on a track,
But in the bedroom it’s the motion in your back,
Because in a hotrod, you better have a big block,
But to a woman, it’s how you use your ****,
Because in the bedroom it isn’t a race,
To put that look of delight on her face,
Because in a car you need a big engine for motion,
But in romance, it’s love and devotion,
So where size matters on a drag strip,
In love it’s a whole other trip,
In a car you want it to go,
But in the bedroom, you best take it slow,
It’s no race to cross the finish line,
Take it slow and you’ll do just fine,
So remember you’re a man not a car,
Do things right and you will be her star,
Because it doesn’t take power and speed,
To satisfy a woman’s every need,
Be honest and kind and tell her no lies,
And you’ll be the man to win first prize,
Too much worry about the size of your tool,
Only makes you look like a fool,
So if you don’t learn to do what you can,
She might go out and find another man,
Because size may matter for spinning your tires,
But it takes a real man to satisfy a woman’s desires,
And if you can’t do it she’ll go out and find,
Another man who’s loving and kind,
While you're all alone worrying about size,
She’ll be out with some other guys,
Who may not do as well on the drag strip,
But got your woman doing a flip,
So size may help you racing on the streets,
But it ain’t gonna help you between the sheets.

01-13-10.