A special gift lies on the wind
for each man who dares the blunder
Then rolls the dice to pay the price
to both touch and feel this wonder


As then one finds the reason why
that has thus far been so hidden
Endless the loads that walk life’s roads
with the fear that was unbidden


Therein lies the conundrum
which we know our hearts to command
Now it will be for us to see
how well the ship of life be manned


Our lives have no greater calling
then to comfort a poor child’s tears
Truth shows clearer through the mirror
for he who shares these hopes and fears


But oh the sounds of fatherhood
how narre they touch to the heart
Laughter and tears pour from the years
for each of us who play his part


Tate

Beside patches of green grass meadow
golden wheat fields wave in the breeze
Beckoning out to all my fellows
come walk through me with ease


Upon just such a lazy day
I once casually sauntered by
Hearing the call of nature's beauty
thought that God had spoke just to I


With the sound of a lonesome whistle
down the river the steamers rolled
To this the backdrop behind the field
the childhood longing is all told


Across the field dressed all in blue
a boy and his team worked the ground
I stood to watch an hour or so
not moving or making a sound


A smile as wide as the river
shown across the boys bright face
Perhaps this was the very first time
he had taken his father's place


In him I could see a purpose
a reward for his tiny soul
I could tell by the way he worked
nothing would lure him of his goal


Long it is since I felt like that
as a boy just going on ten
Doing twice what was asked of me
to be noticed by him again


Passing for gold in a boy's heart
are all the looks his father pays
collecting what he can in life
to spend long into older days


In him I saw both rhyme and reason
as we all live and pass away
A boy working so hard to grow up
while we men all wish we could play

Tate
The original of this poem I think is much better as I love the music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/444697/

A man feels zest of emotion
till it sets his whole mind afire
Calling forth his inner demons
fueling him run instead of tire


No problem then seems too immense
to not warrant a good man’s deeds
The boy hurt on the inside finds
he is the man this child now needs


Life's truths keep turning round and round
generations each wax and wane
Loving ones pick up the pieces
of the small child that still remain


Who among us can rightly say
he has himself just walked on by
To leave the injured child alone
within hearts lonesome soul to cry


It seems we need no help learning
epitaphs of profanity
But when our eyes see love defined
that's where we find humanity

Tate
Original poem with music is held here
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/444921/

What makes a man's character
are built of actions on life's field
Not from the size of his body
nor of the power it may wield

What makes these men so precious
are the gifts they share each day
Carrying our dreams with them
then teaching us along the way

Who can say they do not cherish
the idol of their childhood dreams
When building for him an altar
from where their tiny heart then beams

The traits that we adore in them
that we all wish that we could be
Sown from seeds of imperfection
and that handsome humility

Rising again, time after time
drawing on the strength all but gone
But oh what lofty heights indeed
for us to place our laurels on


Tate
The original poem with my grandfathers picture and accompanying music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/445371/

Looking now upon my child
how grateful I must be
He is the Sun and the Moon
the hope of the world to me

Glad of heart I walk with him
all the while he studies my stride
Carry for him the hopes and dreams
of the life we two abide

Sweets the gift to watch him grow
always bending to pick him up
Marking his every height on the wall
drinking the love that fills my cup

His light burns bright upon my soul
watching him play at being a man
Knowing that just what he'll become
is from me always saying "you can"

Find in yourself that goodness
which makes you straight and true
Be mindful where your shadow cast
as he is always watching you

A special bond are father and son
as daughters marry and move away
A boy will always remember the lessons
shared with dad along the way

Tate
Original poem dons in an Adobe format one of only three i have attempted
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/639963/

The world has riches oh so rare
but shares them only with a few
What I love is worth so much more
they are recollections of you        


I need so few of this worlds goods
having all your thoughts, ways and deeds
They lift my soul to the heavens
where I plant loves garden of seeds


Through your eyes I have seen wonders
so numerous I can't count
But oh such beauty none the less
before God I could not recount


What need have I for coins of gold
they can't buy what your eyes can see
My treasure lay within your smiles
stamped in the mint of memory


Tate
Original poem
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/445527/

Love entered in my heart one day
a sorrowed, war, torn, guest
When she asked to be let in
I had her sit and rest

_________

She woke my sleep with anguish
shook my hopes with tears
When my heart felt to sing
she filled its joy with fears

_________

As now she has gone away
I miss the old sweet pain
Sometimes when night whistles in
the wind plays loves refrain


Tate
Original set to the tune of Till I can make it on my own.
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/445577/