From late June into September , perpetual hot weather , her bounty increasing with each passing day , harvest reluctant , painful , ,inflicting rash , whelp and sting , staple of southern cuisine , native to Mother Africa , brought by enslaved peoples at Eastern shore , across Georgia eliciting painful reminders to dark days , pod to Croaker sack , plant -to -plant and row -upon- row !.........

Morning hues of dawn ,  aspiring artist and palette , color the day as a child ,with bright crayons , sunshine and happy faces , for it's wonderment , ephemeral nature and innocence ...

My body is fast asleep yet my mind refuses to dim, as I conjure rhyme and riddle , reason , then cloak shared pain at will  !! I roll in the bed ,wake every hour and pray that the dreams will stop ....Up at 5:30 with pen in hand ,to jot down the anguish all over again !

Brown Thrasher looking left then right ., plotting her next move , dancing across fresh grass bathed in morning dew , Pileated Wood Pecker sings her morning song , rhythmically putting her toil to music , percussive taps draw inquisitive Eastern Gray Squirrels to her job site , playing and dancing from limb to limb , tree to tree unaware of danger above , Red tail Hawk soaring on warm air high above , Sun at her back , confusing potential prey below , mercifully giving her position away , high above the canopy of Maple , Sweet Gum and majestic Georgia Pine where a cottontail rabbit , frozen , nose twitching , ears turning to and fro , eases out of the tree line to awaiting sustenance in thick fields of green grass , berry , pine nut and bulb ...

Naive are the birds that fly , running from a scarecrow , Psychodelic ******* man , he's gunning for a hero , don't mind letting go , from my perch this evening , crashing into Heaven , ****** like St. Stephen ... Fly into print , ignite fuel , **** crow , will crow Babylonian capitulation .......

To  Gulf Shore , my temptress , a dying poetic salvo and wish
To be cast into warm waters , whence I first appeared , declaring ,
We've the shore of Pensacola for all eternity .........

A Tad of dad , bit of mother , Randy , sometimes Eddy and even Curt , as I Bob along life's rapids ,to Jimmy the lock of creativity , Foster good Will and a Smith of all that Don creativity !

Blue is the color of Sunday , reflection , invigoration , begat Red , color of Monday , impatient , feverish father of Tuesday , Gold , ambitious , attentive , mother of Wednesday , Green , whimsical , yet studious , sister to Thursday , Violet , passive , contemplative unlike brother Friday , Orange , boisterous , demanding cousin of Saturday , Yellow , uncommitted , and passionate ....

Anointed shamans  , brilliant orbs in every direction, light upon ambiguity , sparking lamentations , psalms of hope unleashing joy and wonderment through power of script carved by imagination !

Carolynn , child fast asleep in Papas arms , a warm embrace , sincere smile ..Place these tiny little hands upon my face as hope , a child's love marry sadness, wisdom for a man many years lost at sea , penny for your thoughts little one ?

Hardware store merchant ,-blacksmith-,--cobbler-,-cooper
corner grocer and chimney sweep, relics at hand of greed ,
unfair practice and market ploy , treachery .,.American mercantilism swept into memory by shareholder , financier . Common worker unite                 nihilistically not as fascist , marxist but with thought of humanity ,first fruits delivered upon a mighty people .. For it was simple , studious men and women whom signaled the birth of mighty Columbia , core values , freedom and the common good , concern for neighbor and dignity for all her people ...

I would go to Blood Mountain in the Fall during October , in the eighth sign of the zodiac with fruitful , spellbinding harvest Moons , tales of fierce battles among Cherokee and Creek , where blood and history hath fed towering oak , fir and imagination of visitor and resident alike* ...

To the army of gallant soldiers ,those whom have looked upon the face of Hades , undaunted , persevering till mission completion ,godspeed your journey home to a grateful Republic , may peace and good fortune shine above you the remainder of your days ........

The Atlanta Falcons ,  defender of the city in a sport of the passionate ! A longtime cold weather tradition of the Peanut State with youth , high school and university alike ......Memories that conjure Van Brocklin , Nobis , Humphrey , Van Note , Bartkowski and Ryan . Fall is for dark green numbered fields , pageantry , struggle as tactician , athlete and opponent mired in battle , bestowing honor , emotion , and pride in the warriors of yesteryear , locked in the spirit of competition , sportsmanship and Georgia folklore* !...

Pick a star above , as the light of day recedes , with honesty ,
As water lashes the bank , breeze , each collision of rock and wave , Buck Creek dominates the valley given by igneous rock this evening , as does my endearing love for Mary Ellen , heart aflame , crossing rapid hand in hand , amongst rock , moss , uncertainty settled by enduring love and passion , my Aphrodite .......

I defy any man or woman upon the face of this Earth to explain color to the blind , hearing to the deaf , speech to the mute  , a peach to one devoid of gustation , chemical depression to the unaffected .....

Remain diligent and steadfast , forbid apogee of Lucifer , the beasts anomaly ,and perpetuation of deceit , vanity , communique with the Almighty , not as the speakers but in private with grace and devotion , frailty and hope ..Salt tempered with honey .....Vinegar with wine ........

Pat a mule on the **** when you intend to walk behind it , rub the catfishes belly on the spot where he stuck , never turn your back on a billy goat whining , bluegill biting when cattle on the move ..
Never grab the tail on a old **** hound , Never run a rabbit in the summertime ......Throw away the first bucket from the well , don't grab a copperhead by it's tail .....Never sow a seed before Good Friday , never grow a melon in a cucumber patch , Never wipe your eye when your picking Daddy's peppers , never ride a boar in the old pig pen !......

Farm hands , securing free access  through pine thicket, with chainsaw , shovel  and swing blade , hand driving steel post into Georgia red clay tempered by unforgiving heat , rolling barbed wire , cowherds in precision running taut lines with come -a-long tool , tractor winch and post hammer , surveying favorable routes and relocation of Angus and Herefored , Brahma and Charolais ...Leather gloves ,cowboy hats , sunglasses , denim jeans and flannels shirts deflect a hellish Sun directly overhead as Summers project moves forward , not for pay , nay , but as a rite of passage , teenagers assuming the role of young men securing the bond of Father and Son , family tradition , and honor , respect and love for the land .....

Salutations to poet and poetess , My fellow architects of the spoken word-, you are Mercury in the house of Cancer , nourishing my very soul , rain to an arid heart , and comfort to a sometimes troubled mind !..........

Tranquility upon this body of water , killdeer , blue jay , mallard and Canadian goose occupy her shore this Summer , oasis surrounded by urban sprawl , last refuge for young at heart , she mystifies to this very day.........I skip a stone across her wide , blue expanse in the name of all that protect and preserve her , young and old , and those in the nurture of the womb , with hope that they may witness her beauty in the days ahead ...........

Corpus as told by Jesus of Nazareth , in question
When bread molded , water dry , rendered enfeebled ,
Tis fable for hungered , emaciated , ill of mind as scavenger
surely must eat his own kind , temptation breed thirst , serenity
without regard to salvation ?

Ambergris -of-honeysuckle--first cut of Summer hay ,- , petrified sap of Georgian pine , she is the epitome of love , salvation , weathered maturity and love enduring ,from a grateful recipient , knowledge of plow ,tilling of landscape, herb and berry ,  and bountiful , left thirsting for  counsel and the blessing of forefather , yea with a mighty countenance indeed !!!!

Swallows in haste , -escaping pang of Arctic breeze whilst annual
corporeal interceptor , mutating ,culling herd  ,broken little wing , terminal ,  frozen to ground ,monument to the merciless violence of the natural order ............

Impostor subduing light , vernal star at nova ,
Within grip , petulant , manipulative apparition
Bringing shadows into diurnal hope of redemption ......

St. Andrews Bay has left a mark on me , where jetties battle sea
Summer storm , distant , courtesy of afternoon breeze.
Thunderheads cool white sand  , wash , clean  and renew thoughts better left to antiquity ......Orange sky ...Lightning , where gulf and sky meet.........

Lakewood Fairgrounds in '68 , Southeastern Fair has come again , in awe at every turn , magical , mystery , in view of Atlanta......
Caramel apples , cotton candy , corn dogs and dill pickles ........
Natural wonders and clowns on stilts , barbecue sandwiches and licorice whips .......
******* jacks and carnival music , a haunted house and fireworks at night , Ferris wheel ,  merry go round ,ring rubber ducks for a prize..  
Milk cows and barkers , horses pulling wagons , popcorn and milk duds , Cocoa Cola and peanut brittle !! .........................

my drug myopia------my bitterness-----my sheltered life----like a harlequin----dancing a reel--then I'm camouflage-------a rotted tooth--
a euthanized dog-----the son of-a ***** -could do no good--- ..................
i see the fly on the wall-their brood found in stench-- so look away-- as I lie in ****--the sinner need savior-- pastor need flock---meat bounced from the back of a garbage truck--- ..........................
lonely-- impetigo----greasy--and willing----to slit my wrist -and risk no redemption----I'm the book you shut----kicking the ground--left to my own devices--- dead on the ground ...................

Counting the individual panes on a window , handles on a night stand and a chest of drawers .. Sixteen points of reference on a light switch , the dial tone is in the key of F major and I prefer to be alone ! Do you know what I'm going through , a play upon words just like I always do , in sequence , order in life to me is all about the timing ..Can you relate to counting your way through the day for the sake of having some form of control or say ? To hold your left elbow with your right hand and check each window for field of vision , recount the screws on the back of the television ?

Early morning in Putnam county , blue  , pink and yellow sky at daybreak  on a frosty November morning , freezing temperature exposing our breath as we alert the beagles of our presence.......The beagles know !!!!
Shot gun loaded , dogs released into thick Georgia pines and water oaks , depth perception and distance obscured . Within minutes the baying of the hounds begin , long and drawn , further each second filled by high pitched whimpers signaling the start..Song of rural Georgia , my Uncle and I on guard , the pack alerts the hunter of the cottontails arrival ....
We double time in the direction of the baying , the quarry is returning from start ,frozen ground crunching beneath our boots ....The dogs have returned , a single shot is fired and the contest has ended for now but repeated several more times that day....We return red faced from the cold ,  the smell of gunpowder and tobacco . The beagles at rest , we prepare our harvest for a feast at a later date ....Back indoors , coffee and a good day of hunting !

The southern belle , her spicy drawl , gift of gab and traditions .....
Gentle ways with a soft look , master of culinary skills , jams , mint teas and cobblers , prowess in garden , she is truly a magnolia with the scent of gardenia blossom .....

Hey pear tree ! I planted you myself over twenty years ago . You were a gift from a friend . When you were five years old you began to fruit , we loved this time of the year so much ! Canning pears and making pear butter for biscuits . I have great memories with my two girls thanks to you ! You were getting taller each year , and eventually I was unable to reach your fruit . My girls have since left and I can see that you have a family of your own surrounding you ! After another twenty years it has occurred to me that we both face the path of time . Your children , not unlike my own , have grown tall , even taller than their parent , blocking the sun and causing you and I to wither and break . To be alone ,to feel insignificant at times . We are very much alike indeed !

Within the Crescent City the confluence of architect , engineer , master carpenter  and laborer combined , precision  , create a cascading sea of individual notes and three bold harmonious divisions ,wind chest , regulator and tremolo breathe life into reed , flaute ,vox humana and diapason pipe of all sizes , large and small ...
Her towering facade , en chamade with a voice of the Almighty, so stands this mechanical wonder of wood  , metal , cloth , leather.. For this tonal masterpiece will stand the test of time not for song , but as a testament to the imagination , wisdom  and determination of her creators !.....

I've thought about it and I'm quite certain that the riddle of cancer , world peace and manned flight to Mars will be solved on the golf course !....At no time will the mind ever be more at peace than the days spent on the fairways and greens !.......

Cotton is truly King ,--from Blue Ridge to Southern border , creator of fortune ,  remedy to pain and struggle  ,  dividing---  pitting neighbor against neighbor ,  market afire funding Sheriffs and  constable , alive and rampant among elderly , teenager , public official ......
King Cotton reintroducing malignant , corruption , nay from yesteryear at mercy of whip and chain ,slave and sharecropper ,  but to the gun , homelessness and the horror of merciless addiction....................

Self induced inferno ,torching grass in mid-Winter spurring Spring growth , driving smoke into Rockdale , armed with Mason jar canteen , flat shovel , mattock at mercy of Alabama and her Western breeze an the conflagration before us , beyond well , spring or cistern , until the thirst of fire is quenched and at guard well into twilight .............

Handcuffed lone tree on the island , paraded in front of my peers ....
The whole world stopped to laugh at my plight , tarred and feathered ,
over potato chips , milk , a Slim Jim ...I was fortunate indeed , having stuffed my mouth with these delicacies before apprehended by a ******* , well over three hundred pounds .. He horse collared me , threw me on a  police car  The hood was painfully hot ! His buddies arrived to complete the humiliation ! Joe Friday , **** Tracey , Hero and Crew Cut ...My plea was hunger ..... Hero the Detective stuck his nose close to my mouth to see if I had alcohol on my breath . Crew Cut stood with his hands on his hips while I was being probed in public courtesy of Joe Friday ! **** Tracey was kicking at the ground , head down , obviously somewhere else' the whole time ! Everybody in the world seen me that morning . I was thankful that they decided not to execute me plus even more relieved to have something on my stomach .. If my number is called I would prefer that it was not from starvation . Jail will be another step higher on the social ladder for me ....

Am I the turn table playing your favorite 45 ?  No , call me the stack of pennies on the arm that kept the record from skipping !                                 I am certainly not the eight track player , or the tape itself , call me the match book that kept it from wavering  and distorting the sound ...........
Might you be the cassette pragmatic one ? No ! Sadly , I'm the teenager that could splice the tape back together but barely walk , high on blond Lebanese !

Inquire of my opinion of the maligned , I'll feed back like an amplifier pushed to it's limit , strike a power chord heard a mile away , stretch a note at the twenty fourth fret that would make Stevie Ray Vaughan proud , hand out a blistering improvisation of jazz , fusion , old school blues with undying reverence to the masters in heaven , watching over us , bemused at our folly , having secured their place in liberal thought and audible pleasure !

She opines a parable of the heart of Appalachia , wooden instrument , with goose quill adding song to the immense beauty of this great land , familiar as the cry of whippoorwills at dusk is the dulcimer ,
captivating , raw emotional purveyor of mountain folklore ........

The young man in Baltimore did not succumb to injuries resisting arrest .
He was ******* abused by the police. Call it out !!
The church members in South Carolina were not "called home" at Gods request .  They were shot point blank . Execution style .Call it out !
When the U.S. military tells you that civilian casualties are " kept to a minimum" with the "latest technology of war"....You are being fed a load of *******...Call it out !!
Watching the news with the sound cut off is the best way to be informed.
Keeps you from hearing politically correct nonsense..Call it out !!
Every ******* candidate has been sold out by corporate America prior to running for office , Presidential or Congress included. Don't be an idiot thinking otherwise  ! Call it out !
If you think that the public education system in this country is preparing our children for the future you are goofy ! Call it out !
If you don't believe that we are poisoning planet Earth with industrial waste then you have the I.Q. of a baboon ! ! Call it out !!

Cumulus , nimbus apparitions converge at dawn that instigate brief showers , sun bows , sunburst , followed by the cruel , humid unwavering heat of mid-morning.......
Cool rain at dawn , trickery , deceitfully forcing morning chores into the heat of day for farmer and gardener alike , mud , mosquitoes brought by damp conditions , seeking blood meals followed by foraging fire ants , triple digit temps , threesomes that antagonize ,  exhaust and destroy well made plans ......
At the end of the work day heat , humidity begat cloud cover with heat lightning at horizon , with the promise of relief , time of rest and reflection.....

Cascading , omnipotent life water of Cherokee and Creek ,forged in granite , red clay, confident tributary and commensal partner of damselfly , alligator turtle and heron ..
Mature , altruistic bounty brought unto industrious native people , turbulent tributary of the Piedmont .. Mother of the fertile southern crescent !.......

Lovely Gertrude . What has become with her passing ?
Fruiting bodies became one with piercing thorn that drew blood ..  Laborious annual rites of wine and song !  Hearts asleep on the beat , mouth culled with desire !
Blackberry Summer , my mourning matriarchs embrace ..
A grateful benefactor of her loving hand and good graces this July morning , in the field of berries , with warm memories !!

King Thomas , a Rhode Island Red , broke the silence sharply at 4: 30 a.m. .. Calling his knights to order , both Chinese geese marched , tails wagging , to the side porch to inform the house of the new day , with a noise that could wake the dead !... Little Bear , Chief and Preacher , would instantly beg for their morning constitution while Templeton and Cody , our two tabbies , would sit nervously wondering what was happening ! Little Bear , master of mischief , would circle the hens in their morning exercise ritual , with a smile from ear to ear..! The sound of laying hens in utter distress would invite the rabbit dogs across the street to bay continuously which incited his four other dogs ,  German shepherds , to run their enclosure thereby waking every other dog in the northeast quadrant of Henry County it seemed ! Atlanta was a quiet country town compared to Kelleytown , Ga. in the wee hours of the morn !

Sitting in the henhouse to relieve pepper burnt eyes with the sound of Miss Trellie whipping the okra, willow switch in hand ,  harvesting eggs , adding fresh hay to each nest  box , ankle deep in pig dung , snapping crowder peas , Fordhook butter beans , pulling black eyed peas , resting on a five gallon bucket , mother nervously on the lookout for " Giant Serpents " more commonly known as King snakes and taking breaks with a mouthful of figs, plus all the cherry tomatoes that my overalls would hold ! A daily event in the Summer ..... Children thrive on routine , dirt , a mothers love and a long list of chores each and every day !

Reinhardt  and  Hendrix , snowflakes , unscripted speech and the month of March ! Schools of fish , butterflies in flight , true love , dreams , the gaggles of blackbirds in Fall . You and I have the power of deja vu coupled with the gift of improvisation , like musicians , keys or boundaries exist but we are granted the freedom to choose any note within these parameters not unlike our brief time on Earth , for better or worse !

Blackberry cobbler , pecan and minced meat pie , country ham and cathead biscuits , our breakfast staple grits ....Nana's stove had the power to hold a sometimes fragile family together and I pray her recipes, good nature an pure love for her children will continue on for generations to come ....

You make me feel like Ive prepared a speech for a trophy given to someone else at times but thats your addiction......
I draw your bath each evening after you've complained about dinner
but that"s merely your *******........
You persecute my friends , curse my parents , set rules for me to follow
but that's only animal aggression........
Your ******* will be receiving divorce papers just as quick as there drawn up and that's my determination !!!!

When I heard the news this morning everything stopped for awhile . My sadness turned to disbelief as I pondered my own mortality. Human beings are cursed with the thought of mind knowing where their ultimate destination lies , the grave . For the successful musician the CD , cassette or the album creates the illusion of immortality. You will be remembered as one of the great guitarist in the history of rock music !
I'm heartbroken over your passing today but thankful for the memories you've shared and left behind for us to enjoy !