Many men are at times misled

as most could be thought of as blind

Measuring by what they won't do

instead of to whom they were kind

_________


Attempting to build an empire

judging themselves by what they deny

Thinking them best who resist temptation

be it a crime for a man to cry

________


No hungered child is a lost soul

nor a beggar be taught how to live

By preaching morals to the poor

we take from whom we should give

________


Who might say looking at their end

these aren't the same crystal bright eyes

Through which my life has always seen

god's sweet benevolent blue skies

________


Goodness is not what we won't do

nor a question of who we exclude

It is an unselfish act of Humanity

to see ourselves in those we include

_________


Tate
Original poem and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/530789/

Fruits of ***** I might never know
had we never loved so sweet
When we did plant seeds of desire
little chancing we might meet

Holding my breath as I jumped
chancing all on a single toss
Leaped the very bonds of Earth
trying for the worlds I would cross

But God did see my grasp inflated
as he pulled me back to Earth
Saying of my tenacity
"you have oversteped your worth"

Filled with confidence I did go
never caring what he'd said
For I would listen to no one
as I had no fear nor dread

Now holding to that grasp of faith
it's for you I shed my tears
Knowing you alone are worthy
of loving all of my years

Tate
Original poem with the music that it needs
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/531756/

What have I learned in my trials so far
I think all I need know for now
Been broken,tattered and forlorn
then beaten and made to bow
_________

I have gained a glimpse of life
few men have ever known
To see the futile-ness of man
only humility in grace be shown

_________

As I walked the long winding road
that led away from there to here
I find I am no different than most
that have held their own soul so dear

________
With time our life so gives
then along side it must take
Carving character as it goes
a better man of us will it make
________
As I no longer ask the question
God traded me wisdom for truth
Teaching me the meaning of life
in exchange he took my youth

Tate
Original version with art work and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/533249/

Remember me as I was then
not like you see me now
The laughing carefree way I stood
too towered and taught to bow

The happy young man you once knew
who's eye's were clear and bright
Played together each day in the sun
danced alone in the soft moonlight

Rather you see what I was then
than what I have become today
A warm heart who loved you so
with the strength of fire to play

When April swells the marshes
the red winged birds will know
To pipe these two words lightly
to all the winds that blow

The trembling stars of the night
once bold bright shining too
Turn their heads from me now
as I do now from you

Tate
Original version with my own art rendering and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/533257/

To my friends I now tell this tale
a story I have known so long
Of a father and his young son
who shared a love both deep and strong


We were blinded by the limestone
on the harness track where we raced
My fellows mount lie on the ground
a youthful mistake born of haste


The boy was somewhere near my age
a score minus one or two years
His fathers dreams were not to be
as hope ground to dust mixed in tears


My friend was inconsolable
at the accident he had caused
Pride injured on the field of youth
time suspended while judgment paused


His hand upon the sons shoulder
great wisdom in what he then taught
Gave to me just one more lesson
a gesture not wasted I thought


The father turned to walk away
rain cascading down his sad face
He granted his son redemption
in an act of kindness and grace


To this very day I look back
when tested by my own dear son
Remembering that one great man
that had showed me how it was done


Tate
Original version with pictures and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/533308/

A man knows not his purpose
until left along life's road alone
Letting go things of his former life
caring not what he may own

As then he finds solace to cry
when he sees that he is so real
Living through dark rains night
he then knows that he can feel

In that one divining moment
his purpose becomes so clear
Caring no more for adventure
he now knows the taste of fear

The lonesome anguish beckons
love lost aches and torments so
Feral demons of the black night
seem as to never let him go

The love that once beheld him
has him thinking he's insane
The mirror shows no mercy
to the face held in it's pane

The man you passed by the road
who looked as to never sleep
May be he that touched love's heart
with a soul both wide and deep

Tate
Original version with pictures and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/535973/

The heart never sleeps like the mind
forever it twists and turns
When the mind has had enough
the heart of love still burns

The mind tells the heart to tether
it's hopes upon a string
Always thinking it knows better
how to make life's chorus sing

These two dance through life together
two parts of just one soul
Each searching for love of another
while chasing a different goal

Many a man has followed his mind
to turn heart's love asunder
But he never knows beauty's bliss
and of love will always wonder

The mind is not the final judge
of what this life is all about
Better to not die with a whimper
but to live to scream and shout

Tate
original version with appropriate musical; accompaniment
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/536732/