I just received a letter from PETA
And boy are they ever MAD
Seems the Chicken, I was finger lickin'
Turned out instead, to be a Rat

Must have called the 1-800 number
And started singing like a Stool Pigeon
With the flapping of wings along with the beak
To any who cared to give it a listen

Which brings me back to the letter
I received of cease and desist
Not really sure, who they think they are
but me being a carnivore
Know my rights and won't put up with this

It held all the usual jargon
About Lawyers, Lawsuits, and such
I have no idea what all the fuss is
In having a Chicken over for lunch

So let me tell you people from PETA
Don't get your knickers all up in a twist
If you've never tried, a thing deep Southern fried
Then you don't know, what life truly is

I just received a letter of warning
From the people of PETA no doubt
Informing me they've seen my new picture
I think the chicken must have ratted me out

Well you can rest cause I can assure you
In the picture no poultry was harmed
And the chicken also was taken
From a free range organic natural farm

The letter held all the usual jargon
About lawyers and lawsuits and such
It's not like the chicken was wasted
After filming I had her over for lunch

So let me tell all you people at PETA
Don't get your ******* all up in a ***
Right after my head she laid, I supplied the Preparation H
Then carried her gently to the chopping block

She was at the height of the women's liberation dear
But not the kind that you might think about
She was never scared at what women too often fear
Said yes when a man would ask her out

Never took full advantage of her attitude
Her smile was always genuine
Left alone the expensive grub on the menu
Always lived and loved the best in life

She was liberated of all the cares
That seem to drag most women off
Take all the time you want to stop and stare
She didn't care what other people thought

Never really worried about her weight
Or the style of clothes that she had on
Knew that really wasn't how she was made
No that wasn't how she was made at all

Sugar and spice and all that's nice was fine by her
With a touch of sour if you rubbed her wrong
Though on a dime she could turn with a kind word
For a poor soul who didn't play along

She was liberated of all the cares
That seem to drag most women off
Knew that attitude would get her nowhere
So she didn't care what other people thought

This world has been invaded by aliens
Though there's really no need to show fear
They've been living for years now among us
You'd be surprised at how very near

They're everywhere in our daily activities
In fact you wont believe what they've seen
By now they know us as well as we know ourselves
Try not to let "that" give you the creeps

I can't think of a place where their not sitting
Watching our most intimate moves
They've probably seen movements by our President
Which wouldn't make for good nightly news

They've found out they can't breath in our climate
After all these years they've left their suits on
That poses a bit of a problem
Cause that's exactly where they went wrong

It's all in the design of their equipment
On their planet they just couldn't tell
That their spacesuits look a lot like our toilets
Which hasn't gone over so well...

I sometimes think about the if only
And dream about the what might have been
What does that all show me
Am I not happy with the place I'm in

All those years of reckless living
Would I have lived them any differently
They say hindsight is 20/20'
Is that why I can't see what's in front of me

I'm trying hard for the here and now
To live what's past is past
To count each and every blessing
Being thankful for everything I have

Why is man never satisfied
Why is he always wanting more
Not happy with his lot in life
Looking for the bigger score

Today is going to be one of those days
When my ship comes in
I will stand right where I'm at and say
I am where I should have been

People spend a lifetime
Searching for the truth
Still along the way they're afraid to face
The choices they must choose

It's easier to sit for a lie
Than to stand for your convictions
While over time they tend to find
There's always something missing

They follow along with this fallen world
Down the pathway of destruction
Whatever they hear that tickles their ears
In the moment of deception

If it feels right, they cling on tight
Without a second thought
Too hurried to even worry
How it will all work out

In the spending of a lifetime
Searching for the truth
Where along the way they're afraid to change
With the choices they must choose

nothing seems to work out
the way i have it planned
when the crowd sits down
that's when i decide to stand

things always seem to go
a tad bit different for me
just a tick or two off
from what's considered life's normal beat

when they're no longer taking questions
that is when i raise my hand
when they ask for women volunteers
i stand up like a man

people often wonder
exactly what it is
that continually brings about
this life of quirkiness

my friends they ask quite often
is there a cure for what i do
9 out of 9 doctors surveyed
say they don't have a clue

guess i'll continue living life
the way it is i am
as long as i'm happy with it
i see no need to try and understand

If in desperate need
Of a little pick me up
Me thinks you should drink
Coffee from the cup

Like your dad, drink it black
Or moms, sugar with cream
You could go with the fad
Of the Latee Venti

Either way it's okay
As long as there is caffeine
To make your way through the day
Or at least past morning

Where you might down an expresso
For that mid-day pick me up
If you had to guess though
You'll not stop with one cup

Where you'll move past the boundaries
Into the vast great unknown
You might mainline your caffeine
Through a vein in your arm

However you care to get you there
Let's not call it a crutch
Don't want to leave you unaware
It's just a little pick me up

All...
     that you are

All...
     that you know

All...
     that you see

All...
     is on loan

All...
     that is new
                    
Has now grown old

To make way for all
New seed to be sown

All...
     that you love

All...
     that you hate

All...
     of the present

All...
     past mistakes

All...
     need forgiving

Before it's to late

To make room for all
On lifes crowded highway

All...
     that it was

All...
     it now is

All...
     of it measured

All...
     sealed with a kiss

All...
     you ever needed

One ounce of bliss

What all you got
Is all it now is

How can I explain this mystery
Of the amazing grace that's changed the heart in me
All because of Christ and Christ alone

It's not who I am or what I've done
There's no hope for me in how I perform
All because of Christ and Christ alone

There's a great chasm between that separates
The love of God from my mistakes
All because of Christ and Christ alone

The arms held out on that shameful cross
Endured sins pain to endear the lost
All because of Christ and Christ alone

In Christ I trust, in Christ I am
No great mystery in where I stand
All because of Christ and Christ alone

Christ is life, that's all I need to know
Where I need to be is Christ alone
All because of Christ and Christ alone

some will win
some will lose
who gets the choice
in the chance to choose
could be me
could be you
all depends
on what we do

we move along
this beaten path
some have more
some much less
some peoples needs
are never met
all depends
on where you're at

so easily
we lose count
some are in
others out
makes you wonder
what it's all about
all depends
on how it all works out

These allergies are out to **** me
I try to breath but all I do is wheeze

My head is beating like it's being squeezed in a vice
While a herd of horses run wild through my mind

I'm coughing pollen into the breeze
Huffing and puffing with eyes watering

It's no longer funny, my nose keeps on running
As the pills I'm popping end up doing nothing

These allergies are the ones to take all the blame
With a head that's pounding from the sinus pain

My friends no long want to hang out with me
When all I do these days is clear my throat with a sneeze

How many more months of summer are left
Just wake me up for meals I'm going back to bed

All I really need right now is some sort of relief
From the coughing, scratching, sneezing, wheezing of these allergies

Cling to this truth
Whatever you do
Do it all for the glory of God

With nothing to fear
As his path is clear
When giving him your all

In his righteousness
Is how you should live
Heeding the Father's call

In all you go through
In all that you do
Do it all for the glory of God

Why do we write the way that we write
Write the way that we do
Some with visions of fantasies
Others with smidgens of truth

Why add grandiose to all this
Rather than let the words choose where they're going
Why at times a hit with a miss
All for the sake of the poem

Why turn life upside down
Then spin it around inside out
Why take what little's left of the mind
Adding the fragrance of doubt

Why do it time and time again
Crossing the line more than once
Why can't we leave well enough alone
All for the sake of the poem

Who hasn't tried to reach for the sky
All through the ink of the pen
Who doesn't know it can't be owned
But it can be given

Who takes the wonder of the word
And in their minds eye watches it grow
So the simple poet in us all may be heard
All for the sake of the poem

I tossed a coin into the deepest well
Did my wish hit bottom, it's hard to tell
I've tried it all not sure what else
I can do to have you to myself

I've had nightly readings of the tea leaves
Hung hundreds of dream catchers from dozens of trees
Even wore my share of Mojo beads
What else do I need

I have snapped my fingers and kept them crossed
Stepped into the ally where the dice was tossed
Conjured swirling smoke from a Crystal ball
Wished upon the stars as I watched them fall

I have tried all of these and many more
Knocked on the wood of a oaken door
If you my dear are keeping score
It is you I've done all this for

all i am
is played out in song
of what i have
and haven't got
from the outside
may not appear a lot
but all i am
has been hard fought

all i am
in the sense of it
never one
to ever think to quit
not one iota
not a single bit
all i am
is all i'm meant

all i am
this side of life
is the question of
and the reason why
to say and do
to do and die
all i am
is the open sky

my friends all worry about me
as i can't keep a thing in mind
cause all that it's on lately
is You and me keeping time

they say i'm in on conversations
but can't remember what has been said
i try my best at explanations
that You are all that's in my head

all i do is think about You
that my dear's the honest truth
if i opened my mind and let loose
all my thoughts would come back to You

they could bury me deep in therapy
spend all they have on so called shrinks
after all this all they would know is
You're the only thing i think

as my head is filled with wonder
it's little wonder at what i do
big surprise that there's no other
thoughts i have that aren't of You

all i do is think about You
that my dear's the honest truth
if i opened my mind and let loose
all my thoughts would come back to You

my friends all worry about me
as i can't keep a thing in mind
cause all that it's on lately
is You and me keeping time

they say i'm in on conversations
but can't remember what has been said
i try my best at explanations
that You are all that's in my head

all i do is think about You
that my dear's the honest truth
if i opened my mind and let loose
all my thoughts would come back to You

they could bury me deep in therapy
spend all they have on so called shrinks
after all this all they would know is
You're the only thing i think

as my head is filled with wonder
it's little wonder at what i do
big surprise that there's no other
thoughts i have that aren't of You

all i do is think about You
that my dear's the honest truth
if i opened my mind and let loose
all my thoughts would come back to You

i will never be
what everyone wants me to be
what everyone expects of me
all i'll ever be is me

a drop in the sea
in the vast ocean of humanity
not a theory or conspiracy
all i'll ever be is me

can you imagine how free
that feeling can be
to fake it through there's no need
when all i'll ever be is me

I've sat down to write so many times
This poem in hand with blacked out lines

Not quite knowing what to say
I change my mind and then erase

I desire to tell you how I feel
Not knowing how it is you'll deal

With what's welling deep inside of me
And how rhyming it out I feel the need

As I sit alone and contemplate
What I don't black out and can't erase

I pour my heart without a care
This poem you hold that's soaked in tears

Perhaps this poem you'll never read
If I do not post for you to see

But if I do please believe
All in all it's you I need

I've got all a man could want
As far as I can see
So why do I feel I don't
Feel as though I'm free

With all these modern conveniences
Stacked in front of me
I'd rather be at the point
Where none of this I need

The point where I could be happy
With what's on my back
Not looking at others around me
Seeing all that I lack

Where the give away is more at play
Than the grab and keep
Where happiness is all I have
And the only thing I need

Where I can pick it up
And move at any given time
Not tied to the worlds gallows pole
As my life line

Not in the sinking sand of debt
Struggling to be free
But free from all I see
As my only need

i don't need happy times
i don't need the sun to shine
i only need these tears to cry

if i don't have you...

i don't need the birds to sing
i don't need the bells rings
i can't think of anything i need

if i don't have you...

i don't need a day of bliss
i don't need a morning kiss
i don't need any of this

if i don't have you...

i don't need a star filled night
nor do i need the romantic moonlight
all i need is a room to hide

if i don't have you...

i don't need it all worth while
i don't need a field of scented flowers
and i certainly no longer need a smile

if i don't have you...

i don't need skies of blue
i don't need my dreams come true
nor do i need the earth to move

when all i really need is you...

When I find I'm dry and dusty
When I am all worn out
When life has got the best of me
In this my desert of doubt

When I'm in need of an oasis
To drink from the living stream
That is when I turn to Jesus
Who is always there for me

When I find the battles raging
Again pounding at my door
With no hope of escaping
Another coming storm

That is why this house of mine
Is on rock and not on sand
With Jesus as the builder
I know all things I can withstand

If you find me in the valley
At the bottom of a ravine
With no way to climb out
Except in Jesus name

I will proclaim that name loudly
Be it there or mountain tops
The one name that always guides me
Out of every hardened spot

When I'm stuck inside a jungle
Surrounded by the wild
When I'm neck deep in trouble
And seeing no way out

I call on the creator
The one that knows all things
To help me here as well as later
All in Jesus name

He keeps a locket of her hair
Folded up in an envelope
From the days she was there
Before that's all she wrote

He pulls it out from time to time
Finding time to reminisce
About the time they shared a life
Along with a kiss

And just as fast as all that
He slides it in the envelope
Thinking back to the time
Before that's all she wrote

While some may write about their life
Wishing the facts we're more like fiction
Some draw off the lessons taught
Others with pieces missing

And then you have the happy clan
All good natured sages
Where they wine and dine on better times
Positively filling the pages

Either way it's okay with what they say
Not one write is wrong
Rain or shine each day riding the poetic wave
All strung along by the poem

From the simplest of words to those seldom heard
Whether you do or you don't rhyme
Comes packaged as the disease and also the cure
Darkness as well as the light

Some only write when they're down and empty
Filling the void with thoughts and words
Some when love is a-plenty
Begging those words to be heard

Either way it's okay with what they say
Not one write is wrong
Rain or shine each day riding the poetic wave
All strung along by the poem

They say all's well that ends well
And maybe that is why
Not happy with the situation I'm in
The moment you stepped out of my life

Must be because for me it never ended
The day you said we're through
You were so sure when you walked out that door
I myself never did stop loving you

They say happiness is where the heart is
And yours is not in attendance
As I rely on mine one beat at a time
While yours goes about its business

A heart that is self employed
A one woman operation
Where I sit at home filling out forms
And you, no longer taking applications

They say time is the greatest of healers
If that's so, physician heal thyself
With no magic pill that ever could heal
Why am I just now finding that out

After I've contracted this illness
Without you not sure I'll regain my health
On the street is the word, there is no cure
Where all I hear is, all's well that ends well

i feel at times i've written all i could write
said all there is to say
on the view points i have of life
and all that's come my way

i've found with time there's nothing new
on the door step of tomorrow
whether it be yesterdays forgotten love
or today's remembered sorrow

do i really believe the time has come
to lay down this magical pen
find a way to make it out
before it does me in

i'll continue to dream of the sand and sea
with the sun beating on my back
tossing in the waves all that i have written
all that i have ever said...

we're born into this life, to live to die
before the north meets south
as we peddle fast moving past
all that we're allowed

rely on luck, call it a bluff
bowing down before our sacred cow
but never is it quite enough
all that we're allowed

we make our beds as we take the hand
to late we find it out
hoping when we land that it's soft sand
into all that we're allowed

before the fall we had it all
then riddled ourselves with doubt
when over time we moved the line
of all that we're allowed

we place our bets on so much less
as frenzy feeds the crowd
expect the top to have a drop
from all that we're allowed

we've made a mess of this no less
 as we took the task to town
 and what we found without a doubt
 is all that we're allowed

we all love love but it's not enough
as we wonder what that's all about
we lose our heads as we all fret
over all that we're allowed

we pay later the undertaker
to dig a hole in the ground
but he only bothers six feet under
because it's all that we're allowed

Why do today what we can do tomorrow
Practicing our free will
We give more away than ever could borrow
With all the time in the world to ****

With hardly a worry, we're in no hurry
Each of us fit that bill
Never look past what we're told are the facts
With all the time in the world to ****

It's no surprise we fall for the lies
This drunken world always spills
Only to find the blind leading the blind
With all the time in the world to ****

With every excuse we ever could use
Jump at the chance for the thrill
None of us free, paying no heed
With all the time in the world to ****

Spending our time never questioning why
We've yet to pay the overdue bill
If we ever do, we'll be the ones to lose
With all the time in the world to ****

When the time comes, and it all comes undone
Left with a cracked windshield
On our last day with nothing to say
And no time left in the world to ****

We are the here and now
All it is that we're aloud
The moment before we are found out
The silver lining in the 9th cloud

We are the moment come
Long before the moment gone
The stage that life is danced upon
The smile that's never known a frown

We are the sitting calm
In the middle of the raging storm
In life's chill we are the warmth
The time that is forever known

We are the brightest leaves
Hanging from the tallest trees
The furthest point that you can see
All we can carry, all we can bring

That is what we both live to be
And you...you are all I need

You don't need to sneeze rubies and diamonds
You don't need to cough out pearls
Nor have the golden touch of King Midas
To be able to spin my world

No need to vacation in China
To let a few tigers loose
Or fly in on a magic bus
For me to notice you

You don't need to be the president
Or some international spy
On me all your money need not be spent
For me to want you in my life

You don't have to hold onto your breath
And turn the deepest shade of blue
Or at my dumb jokes laugh and laugh
For me to want to love you

For the common cold you don't need to find the cure
Or the perfect mouse trap
You don't need to bring peace to this world
For me to need to hold your hand

All you need to be is yourself
And to that self hold true
Because all I need above all else
Is to be madly in love with you

I am the surface of the sea
The constant churn that's underneath
The hidden strength inside the weak
I am all you need me to be

I am the here in where you are
Standing guard outside your heart
The flowing brush creating art
I am the near before the far

I am the shawl on your shoulder
The inner calm inside the storm
Standing here cause I am yours
I am all of that and more

I am the humble on its knees
The very joy you dare to speak
The salty tear before you leave
I am all you need from me

I am the rhyme inside the poem
The space next to you when you’re alone
The feather pillow beneath your head
I am all when all is said

I am the smile when you reminisce
The thought that lingers in the kiss
At the top when you make your list
I am love at the crest

I am the answer when you question why
The exhale to the longing sigh
Everything when you look to see
*I am all you need me to be

My shadow these days it seems
Does more things than me
Always in and about town
Clearly follows excitement around

Hooks itself to other folk
At their feet like a puppy dog
Happy enough to wag its tail
Following along their sunny trail

Having fun, the best of times
Showing off in the brightest light
Sliding across floors and climbing walls
My shadow seems to do it all

If it had a brain would it ever think
Of all the time it spent with me
The fun we had in broad daylight
Back to front, side by side

But alas now it seems
My shadow has no use for me
It came to this for me to know
The shadow I thought I owned was just a loan

we all take time to socialize
on our phones and in disguise
not once do we realize
in this we're not alone

we argue over what we see
standing firm in our beliefs
all of it done constantly
in this we're not alone

look on them with jealousy
wishing somehow that was me
hoping to one day be set free
in this we're not alone

some of us give much away
while some vague in what they say
in how they spend their senseless day
in this we're not alone

picture perfect family
picture perfect scenery
adding to the filtered needs
in this we're not alone

until we realize with tear-filled eyes
the hidden truth behind the lies
and in that truth is where we find
in all of this we are alone

Thought they had it won with ease
When along came Trump
Goodbye 2016
When along came Trump
They have yet to figure out
Why he won there's little doubt
A nation lost, a nation found
Hold on tight it's going down
When along came Trump

They all tried to socialize
When along came Trump
A media that's filled with lies
When along came Trump
Has their heads in full spin
Tasting their own medicine
Did it once will do it again
2020 on the horizon
When along came Trump

Living life high on the hog
When along came Trump
Our government is crooked ya'll
When along came Trump
Voted in to clean the swamp
That is what the people want
He's the do in all the don'ts
Has the will to all the want's
When along came Trump

They were eating all the pie
When along came Trump
Would not share a simple slice
When along came Trump
He pulled out a knife and fork
On day one he went to work
Miss Liberty now is holding court
Open windows and open doors
When along came Trump

This train was rolling rusty tracks
When along came Trump
With the bridge out up ahead
When along came Trump
He took his art and made the deal
With the left still in mid-squill
Has them under his right heal
He'll bend them till he breaks their will
When along came Trump

On the day I finally stop and drop
Into that old, knotted pine box
And they wheel me down front, put on display

All I ask is you raise a cup
Make something good about me up
As you send me off along my merry way

There is no need for you to fret
Or think of this situation as sad
I did all I could in the realm of give and take

Just find for me a shady spot
To cover up this dusty pine box
And a marker for my final resting place

And after that if you think of me
In the coming days and going weeks
I hope a smile comes across your face

If you think about it and
Every now and then again
Feel free to come and dust the cobwebs from my grave

Then maybe sit for a just spell
Then again if nothing else
Tell me a little something about your day

And as you sit and reminisce
Over that and because of this
It's best you have your say before too late

You never know when we'll go along our merry way...

i've never been one to write a love poem
no stretch to see that's true
so mark this down as my last hope
to tell you i'm in love with you

as many does as there are don'ts
as many don'ts as does
this simple fact won't leave me alone
the fact that i'm in love with you

what i wouldn't give to write a love poem
one to make the mountains move
to let you know you are the one
if i wrote a love poem, it would be you

I need somebody
To teach me a love song
Somebody
Willing to sing along
Somebody
That's good with harmony
To sing in octaves
Above and below me
I need somebody
To stand in my chorus line
Somebody
To sing with me for life
Somebody
To put their name on it
Somebody willing
To sing it with me to the end

Who do you bow to
What do you sacrifice
Is your altar the mirror
Reflecting lies

Who do you run to
When there is a need
Who do you turn to
When you scrape a knee

Do you find when you suffer
That you count it all joy
Do you wish for another
What you'd rather avoid

How closely do you follow
To your own creed
And does it ring hollow
In your beliefs

What do you worship
Who do you sacrifice
In your altar, the mirror
Do you see what you like

if you find yourself fresh out of love
and there, decide to give it up
i have plenty, more than enough
and will gladly give you all i've got

if your day to day gets hard to face
and you feel you need to hide away
be it early, be it late
i'll be that secret place

if you find you need somewhere to fall
i'll be the arms to catch it all
never again will you be lost
to always have to hold

Though this world may shiver and shake
Feel the quake from its mistakes
Not knowing what it's supposed to do
Spin through space without a clue

Show up empty show up late
Where every day seems a blind date
With no idea or master plan
Filling in the best it can

Tilt either direction in mid twirl
Through it all you'll still be my girl

While most alive are shoved aside
To a place there's no place to hide
There is you and me through it all
Each other's net lest we should fall

No matter what the world pours out
In its emptiness in its daily doubt
I'll take all of you that I'm allowed
Soon enough to find that out

You are both my sickness and my cure
And through it all you'll always be my girl

I'll hold you with all I've got
Every move and every thought
Love will be strong in my stand
Giving over all I can

Where no two days are the same
In the form of early in the shape of late
With the world no longer spit and shine
And no green grass on either side

You will always be my hidden pearl
And through it all you'll always be my girl

The character of a man
Can be best explained
In the way they act
When no one's watching them

Do they do right in the way
When there's no one there to say
Do they hold tight to the line
Time after time after time

A lot can be said
About the character of a man
In the way they act
When no one's watching them