Her bare feet were tougher than her soul
They ran through the woods all day
Snapping twigs, relentlessly killing the life below.
Little bare feet that raced each other through these halls
She grew older and she grew wiser
Gaining strength from every fall.
Little girl, now not so little
Chasing new little feet
Through the house and out the door
Adapting to this new wild beat.

We rock together in the chair-
your morning tempest nestled into the crook of my arm.
I wait patiently for the edge of your storm
for clouds and cries to ease away and my coffee to cool.

What do you think about in the quiet calm?
Do you think? Or do you simply feel?
Comfortable and complete, I wonder about you
and the person you will be.

What do you see
when you stare
at the wall, the window,
the side of my face?

Colors, shapes, shadows, light- captivate you.
I enjoy watching you try to figure it all out.
Everything new,
nearly too much to take in.

Slowly- the sights, warmth, and motion
overwhelm you.
Your eyes close-
although you fight it.

We breathe together.
I hold you close,
lost in the wonder of your face-
so familiar and strange.

When children go hungry;
And even water is scarce,
When they have no shoes
And no country leader cares.
When school is too expensive
And illness goes unchecked,
Whose cause advances
As the economy is wrecked?

Greed is often the reason
If you ask yourself why.
Neglect and starvation
Makes the angels cry.

When parents neglect children
And seem to easily forget
That animals are not children
And children are not pets.
Everyone needs love and care
And a feeling they belong.
Any other treatment of them
In every culture is wrong.

Power can be made evil
For those who live by a lie.
People used as chattel
Makes the angels cry.

Some of us feel so lost
Overrun by a busy crowd
Seem to find our days are
Covered by a dark cloud.
Our old ones suffer alone
In tiny rooms of shame.
Our goal-oriented society
Seems to forget their name.

So, there is your answer,
You need not ask why.
Yes is the answer.
Indeed, angels do cry.

Little Timmy Trashcan
Was born on a lonely day.
His mother had him and then
She threw Timmy away.
She never wanted children
She just wanted her man.
So, she got pregnant
And her man just ran.

Little Timmy Trashcan
Grew up nearly all alone.
A neighbor hired to feed him
So, he was all skin and bone.
His teacher tried to help
But the mother told lies.
She watched a lot of TV
And it made her PTA wise.

Little Timmy Trashcan
Much smaller than his peers.
Got beat on and ridiculed
For all his growing years.
No man was there to teach
How to stand up and fight
And his mother was busy
Going out almost every night.

Little Timmy Trashcan
Never made it to adult.
He lived beneath notice
And this was the result.
He learned how to vanish
And bother nobody much.
Little Timmy Trashcan
Died from no loving touch.

Dad and Mom both want me
To dress like they both dress.
If I don’t follow their rules
They think my life is a mess.
I understand that they don’t
Like the way I wear my hair
But, if haircuts are mentioned
In the Constitution, tell me where.

I’ll be a mullet-wearing hipster
As a dedication to yesterday
If ever a day is officially declared
Celebrating double-knit polyester.
But until that day comes, folks
I want you both to know
I don’t want to look like I am
Character from a television show.

I don’t mean to be picky here
But I have suffered the ridicule.
I was the only kid dressed up
Like a CPA in elementary school.
We’re not talking about me
Joining a gang of outlaw crooks.
I just don’t want to get beat up
Because of the way I look.

I’m not shaving ‘***** you’ in
The back of my shaved head.
Neither do I want to come
Dressed as a nerd instead.
It’s probably all about moderation
And less about modern style
But with your kind permission
I’d like to talk with you awhile.

Let’s come to some happy medium
Where you don’t think it’s a scam
That I want to enjoy my youth
And be the person I really am.
I do understand parental guidance
And am grateful that you are here.
But please let me get with the times
Before I prematurely age ten more years.

Who was it, unwise child,
Who taught you to hate like this?
What kind of twisted mind
Made you frightened of a kiss?
Did some kind of twisted soul
Train you to hate based on skin?
Did one or both parents of yours
Mistrain you about morals and sin?

Who taught you to speak painfully
To those who were born less fortunate;
To laugh and call names of those
Who are sad or disconsolate
From the waves of life washing in
And taking them away,
To the kind of life you have never
Had to suffer for even one day?

Did your family force you to compete
For love, acceptance and approval?
Did you even undergo the threat
Of reprisals, and maybe removal?
Did you look to your parents eyes
For help and loving acceptance
And instead find the face
Of rejection, and even repugnance?

Everyone wishes all children
Get treated sweetly and kindly
But some parents are poisoned
By their parents to react blindly
And pass on the outrage
That was given to them as kids.
They too, are victims
Of what their parents did.

The hope for today is simple;
Don’t pass it on to your children.
Wake up, change things and
Do what it takes to love them.
Stop the cycle here with you:
Hold back that anger and hate.
Teach them that they, like you,
With your love and care, can be great.

Her kite strings are caught on a gill
She’s refusing to let go
Grains of sand have formed to hands
And are trying to hold her toe

                                No dad it’s not that
                                It’s an airship bound for Mars
                               With hands out the window
                               Waving king-sized candy bars

No son surely that’s not right
It must be a school bus full of children
With coloring pages
Half-way to all the way filled in
      
                                Dad don’t be silly
                                It’s Harold and his Purple Crayon
                                But he fell out of his balloon
                                And is trying to draw the ground

Oh no, will he make it
                                 I don’t know
I do hope he will
                                 I do think so

That’s good son
I’d hate to see him fall
                                I know dad
                                Wouldn’t we all

But you’re sure those aren’t whales
Floating through the skies
Because it sure does look like it
                                Dad!  Whales aren’t that size

                                Besides even if they were
                                What would whales be doing up there
Well, I mean they are just clouds
                                Not if you try real hard, I swear

                                                     Silly little humans there on the sand
                                                      Humphr­y, surely they’re little bugs

♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂ ♂

Fatherless broods, whose mothers hoped for change

Fight the law, abort their restoration;

Attack, burn, riot… consider nothing strange

Extorting payout from their host nation.

Fatherhood, dark elephant in the room,

Denigrated, dissed by baby-mamas

In his absence, speaks potently of doom

(Apparently blessed by both Obamas…)

***** donation, filling the wombs with child,

Disorganized communities, off-course

Guarantee police work when thugs run wild.

With marriage faltering in the race: lame horse.

Inhuman nature being what it is

Be careful who you shoot—and hold your ****.

your tiny breaths
are like love songs
to my heart

You rejected your children
Like they were not real men
Like they never had been
Born.
You were seldom with them
Dispatched so little wisdom
But yet plenty of criticism
And scorn.

It’s ten o’clock
Do you know
Where your children are?
Could you find them
By eleven o’clock
Even if you got into your car?

Your life was more important
Than any of your descendants
So they suffered the sentence
Of neglect.
They had to grow on their own
Because they were so alone
In a parental twilight zone,
No respect.

It’s ten o’clock
Do you know
Who your children are?
Did your parenting
Hurt them enough
To leave permanent scars?

Your partying mattered more.
What else is a person’s life for?
And nobody is keeping score
But the kid.
And if anyone should happen by
You can always makeup a lie
Just let them be fool enough to try
What we did.

It’s ten o’clock
Do you know
Where your children are?
Could you find them
By eleven o’clock
Even if you got into your car?