If our faith can move a mountain
then it should save a soul
To have untapped faith in oneself
is life's great gift and goal

Within all children lay a dream
to be more than their parts
To open gifts within themselves
warming their tiny hearts

Ask a small child this question
"what do you want to be"
Always it's seems there's something grand
through their minds eye they see

So where do all the lost come from
who find their dreams have died
Who see their hopes all washed away
as if cast on the tide

No one can say with assurance
what happened to those souls
How all their dreams in life were lost
or for whom the bell tolls

If asked of me I would just say
truth is hard to admit
The mind is not a vessel filled
but a fire to be lit

Tate
Original poem with pictures of my granddaughter
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/634176/

Pity the heartless
wish on them well
Follow not their teachings
for them time will tell
_____

Echoes of mercy
not for us, but for them
Is the essence of virtue
from which love will stem
____

While night is asleep
sunshine will be mine
I'll relight the candle
that made my heart shine
____

With that all the demons
once loosed upon me
Be chased back to Hell
and set my soul free
_____

I can't say if
but I can say when
I'll pickup my good heart
to love another again


Tate
Original poem with music and picture
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/448533/

You consoled my worn soul
lifting me to my feet
A noble heart of kindness
dealt Purgatory defeat
__
I found the nightmares fading
as the new thoughts took their place
Washing out the poison
that so long had filled that space
__
That smile faded my sadness
with sweet thoughts I had of you
As pains found no place to play
and nothing for them to do


Tate
Original version pics and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/527394/

I'm the deepening of the blue
upon the sky of man
I am the stories all told
like the billowing blowing sand
________

I am he who gave you life
beneath my sky gone gold
As sunset burns and dies
I give you my stars to hold
________

You have but one fleeting chance
plant the seeds of love to grow
Create a life long everlasting
such as none could ever know
________

Then you will be the gentle soul
upon whom all life does seek
You will inherit this little world
you the loving and the meek


Tate
Original with music and picture of Tatertot
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/444154/

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/

When I was young through beauties gaze
winds blew by me as if to sing
Their songs of love to me were praise
that lifted me upon their wing

Rich did the spoils of time unroll
an empire's trophies I would raise
And write my name across life's scroll
to earn the laurels of friend's praise

Can anyone know what will come
when the wind blows us cold and gale
Or what direction it be from
when finally we set our sail

But now those days are tempered dear
time's winds no longer sing for me
For now the quiet hush I hear
makes life's truth so easy to see

Tate
Original musical version
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/618398/

There is no ship quite like a book
it wanders as it may
Then takes us out amongst the waves
where gods and children play


To places far and wide we trek
chase hell's whale 'long the pole
Crest waves with Ahab na'er the cape
where gods may claim your soul


There your heart becomes a cannon
spit iron on the whale
Follow him through perdition's flame
and live to tell the tale


As the oarsmen all stagger back
cross themselves o’re the job
No hope to see another day
forlorn begin to sob


Imaginations running wild
wicked cruelty sublime
Chase your whale till you catch his tail
or till the end of time


Tate

Original poem and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/669082/

Life seems a never ending dream
filled with hopelessness and despair
Where we are put to trial everyday
while suffering is everywhere

To friends who think they come up short
through transgressions against a mate
Who feel they should confess their sins
then sit back and accept their fate

Some things are better left unsaid
best locked in your heart there to save
The pain you harbor in your chest
is your own, to take to the grave

Confessing sins to a loved one
while it serves to ease guilt in you
Transfers your pain to the other
who is blameless for what you do

Shame is the thing that hurts the most
it teaches us valuable things
Such as what not to do next time
you are hurt and the telephone rings


Tate

Though time eases my thoughts passing
and dulls the raking pain of years
It never really cleans the slate
nor wipes away the stain of tears


I look back upon my lost days
there find mans never ending plea
To right the wrongs of my past
that weigh so heavily on me


In the later years on looking back
from the winding road that I tread
It disturbs this mans waking mind
to think of follies I once fed


Don't weigh on your life foolishly
or the lesson you may just find
Is he that forgave your weakness
was more loving than he was kind


Tate
Original musical version
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/513375/

I chanced upon an evening walk
beneath the stars with you
Transformed was I to hear you talk
so bright and shining too

Emerald eyes from which you gaze
taken from your lands of green
Shone back to me in loving ways
more beauty than I had seen

I listen for each and every thought
to flow from your beautiful mind
Everything you say I am then taught
in greatest measure and kind

Daughter and heir of precious dreams
sweetest of days morning dew
Oh much more ever than she seems
such is the beauty of you

Tate
Written for Lucy the Princess of Ireland
The Original with Lucy Hamiltons Picture and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/448353/

If size were what life was about
then we would not matter a bit
Not to the thoughts that man can dream
nor all the sins he could commit

Our mind is what gives us value
sensitive beyond its design
Compassion and love will endure
in our children both yours and mine

This little blue planet of life
the only home that we know of
Holds us in it's loving embrace
as here was born every love

No matter what life can collect
nor how long life grants you in time
Why would it matter to the earth
or to heights of mountains you climb

Humanity won't remember
the man who commanded his friends
Only he who gives hope and love
so that life on earth never ends

Tate

Original larger than life version with music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/647092/

We come to terms with our mistakes
to strive, to try, then fail, to win
Seeing what bitter food it makes
tasting the tempting fruits of sin

Looking back along the past
succeeding through our strain
Makes us value life at last
with its unending strife and pain

Who once failed, find triumph sweet
where once stumbled, cry beware
To the other unaccustomed feet
victory comes to those who dare

Are we but images made of God
his work in labored progress
Made from the dust and the sod
our one sheer moment of happiness

What strife encumbers, the soul awakes
learning the errors, of our troubled route
Through sorrows, of our sad mistakes
come truths, we could not live without


Tate

What if loves I once ceased to know
were just my own mistakes to blame
How can I then tender a hope
when all my excuses go lame

Then all the stars would fall to earth
as the lights went out in the sky
Leaving me dark and by myself
to then ask of my god but why

The breeze picks up what's left of life
as it cleans the lost slate away
The four winds then come whisk and blow
memories of a finer day

At times I am my own worst pain
not the way I wish it should be
Failing to recognize problems
not in others but within me

Tate
Original version
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/631791/

Drink to mans lofty hopes my friend
think of ourselves as something great
Where we pretend starvation’s end
as beauties walk and watch our gait


Fill the glass and drink your repose
we were both good sinners as well
Living our lives as we suppose
one foot in heaven, one in hell


Wine is better for us than bran
it takes the bitter from the scorn
With each drink grows a bigger man
each bottle downed and one is born


We tipped the glass to innocence
as the light reflected each face
Circling embers in suspense
around the campfires of our race


So take the cheer and fill it up
as masters of the universe
And think it not on empty cup
nor to brothers with empty purse


May god forgive our foolishness
we talked of many things that night
But what we lacked was loves caress
and cheer of child within our sight


Thinking we were not life’s keeper
we never worried on their end
For why would we fear the reaper
nor did we help a single friend


Don't wait till your life is all done
to learn the lessons of a fool
Know the rewards of self are none
where love of others is the rule


Tate
Original version with music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/650025/

The sun sinks low in the sky
while the moon slowly rises
Dreams this way linger long
for tomorrow-in all its guises

I look back longing my days
just to find where I fell last
How can we see the future
who don't remember our past

Hard the road we trekked in life
living well as some had done
Youth hides the tears in shadow
paths shown by the ageless sun

I once held life's greatest joy
futures road lie before me
All that was or ever been
blessed as the tall Oak tree

Hope, my shoulder to the wind
muscles gleamed in the noon sun
Strong was my back that carried
the hopes that you were the one

Tate

original musical version
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/474921/

I have to wonder now and then
as the dreams I once held divine
Have left me just like other men
to age and wither on the vine

Where once I thought that I would be
so much further along in life
Now the dreams that I once could see
so cut me quick just like a knife

Perhaps the gods that rule my fate
have turned their backs upon me now
Lacking what I once thought so great
leaves me this truth to disavow

Where is the strength that gave men pause
where once I bent life to my will
When I was game for hell and cause
and drank until I'd had my fill

Be careful where your shadow cast
as the dimming light pays a toll
The day will come you breathe your last
when you will have to face your soul

But then I gaze upon my child
with the strength and the fire to fight
I think of when I was so wild
I shunned the day and loved the night

It makes me want to continue
to keep the Hounds of Hell at bay
Push the muscles and the sinew
to wake to face another day

Tate

© 2014 Tate Morgan
Written
March 27, 2014
Original
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/1335062/

Man can work sunrise to sunset
and thereby finding none of joy
Look far to the past for comfort
to the days when he was a boy

The pleasures come in kind smiles
confirming both field and station
Building along the path of life
friendships that speak to foundation

A native son of the Midwest
my life and soul are both free
What I wish to share with my child
is that sweet gift once given me

So each man will look back in time
taking stock of the life he led
To find if he is left wanting
and for who and what he has bled

Those times I see in my own child
of any things he missed there’s none
Creating dreams he’ll long cherish
watching him grow in Midwest sun

Tate
Original version with  son Tates pics and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/571994/

For whom do we all rise each day
with what do we gain happiness
For ourselves the masses say
though this is folly with sadness

The marching soldiers who had gone
our children who pranced to war
Had carried our hopes and love on
would die to please us never-more

No more the laughter to our ears
left forever the taste of dirt
As ground belayed the sound of cheers
and feelings of others pride hurt

In a moment the lonely sound
fell heavy on every mans ear
As the truth echoed from the ground
even the boldest shook to hear

For then the songs all ceased to play
we looked to sky and then to friend
They felt there nothing left to say
for woe had summoned this the end

Tate
Original Musical version
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/565963/

The old gray man alone now
tends to his dusty fields
Watering the emptiness
where the land no longer yields
_________
He wove his web of fashions
from the tears his pains had sprung
Where once he sang of starlight
back when his love was young
________
He heard the winds a-calling
turned to run a-hoping sure
To reach where she was lying
sharing pains they would endure
________
The gales did blow around him
precious memories, he'd miss
Drops would fall upon his lips
those that hers would never kiss
_________
Where grass and bending flowers
grew together like the weeds
Lie meadows all but barren
for the lack of sowing seeds
________
The blushing, blowing Poppies
that once grew all around near
Fill the fields with his memories
of the love he once lost here
_________
So next when you tread o'er
where the wind blows 'cross this field
Poverty of this old soul
waits the mercy you may wield

Tate
Original poem with music and pictures as it was meant to be seen
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/543860/

Grace and Eloquence knew you by name
playing together while you were young
The sweet smell of the summer breeze
lessons learned as you sung


Songs of the youth you once lived
white cloth flowing in the breeze
Wheat colored hair whisked in the wind
racing across fields with youthful ease


Think ye oh back upon those days
fondly remembering as we were
Cherished memories that we all save
another tomorrow of that we were sure


When life came in with the seasons
the cheering laughter of a friend
Secrets we all knew and saved
who would think it to ever end


Life has that way of fooling us
especially when we're young
Always promising another day
forever-another song to be sung


But like all great things we enjoy
the bill one day comes due
And as your friends each pass away
you wonder if next may be you


Tate
Original with music and photos
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/444680/

The games we played in childhood
made to ready us for our life
The fleet foot breathless soldier
forged to mimic our daily strife

These lessons turn round and round
with the sweet spinning of a child
Taught so that we may never forget
to make a man of the meek and mild

Somewhere between the child and man
we forget sometimes the reason
Why children love to play these games
as varied as each new season

The happy chimes of the baseball field
like notes from far flung rain
Carry us back to our childhood
reliving the laughter and the pain

The giddy chatter across the field
lofted high on the drifting breeze
Echo our life's fear of failure
wishing, if only time could freeze

We find much more when we lose
of just what we are made of
Discovering the test of character
that all good men so love

In life it's not the ones who condemn
nor win most times they play
It's friends who forgave our weakness
whose spirits echo through our day

Tate

Original poem with family pictures and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/542810/

Poetry had once walked with me
held to my heart when I was sad
Helped me mend from the pain I penned
brought comfort to sorrows I had

Poetry watched my heart shiver
gave me a blanket for the cold
Held my head while lying in bed
made me wish to live to be old

Poetry then danced the night away
to entertain this sullen heart
Both cried to the tale, I tried
from life's wisdom she did impart

Poetry was my only friend
as rain poured upon hallowed dreams
Lessened the toll on my soul
lent me comfort or so it seems

Poetry offered me her hand
as we danced around the pouring rain
Washing away in just one day
what poison wreaked from months of pain

Poetry and I laughed to see
what with her beauty she had done
We sat under an umbrella
while we both waited for the sun


Tate

Original poem with pics and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/507803/

Just a farthing for his childhood
poverty he met, for so long
Conquered through force of effort
he stood tall, as his arms grew strong

In his heart bold with life he lived
truth was the errant lover told
Not proud nor listless was the lad
who offered light of youth to old

First he came to were blind and dumb
ignorance, most cruel with its might
Harsh, cold and so unrelenting
he gave all he had to the fight

On through light of fearless nature
prejudice, once met he would brave
He hunted the cold screaming raven
to put her in an early grave

Along life's labored path he walked
jealous, persons followed him on
Enemies of kind nature
chased his spirit till near but gone

All that he would have been or done
love, he left behind for the fools
Gathered and scattered among us
as if just so many jewels

Left to us was his memory
kindness, shared by way he knew
Shown each a selfless character
he lit the way for me and you


Tate
Original with music and pictures
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/464458/

Tarry not down life's long road
stay quick fleet and true
Weary's the path on which you tread
be mindful of that you do
________
Seek the heart as long you search
wrap it tight in Love's embrace
be mindful to it's needs and wants
keep it clothed in silk and lace
________
Never assume once struck by love
she would not wish you to replace
But learn you hard as she is scarred
the feel of loss from her embrace
_______
Take you this from the lips of a sinner
heal the calluses, wounds and sores
The smart man learns from his mistakes
while the wise man learns from yours

Tate

Original poem and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/674400/

He falters now where once trod firm
I helped him whenever I could
Here was he, whose favor I'd sought
frail body where the man once stood

My spirit soared and loves him still
he had heard my heart’s lonesome cries
When I was the child of few years
while he a man grown old and wise

His was the soul I based mine on
the kind spirit who loved me most
Strength of purpose flowed from his mind
now stands this vision like a ghost

I bear witness as time runs out
where once I advanced in his sight
Both by favor and through merit
his eyes beheld my future bright

In time may we all find our place
helping others achieve their dream
While I could only hope to be
held by someone in such esteem

He's lost none of his true spirit
that still holds to my heart so dear
I will follow where this heart leads
every day of every year

Tate
Original version with music and pictures
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/644192/

Looking at you,
one man might say
Is like seeing Homer
within the light of day
For yours was the face
that launched a thousand ships
Your Honor would lead their way
By your heart they would all be judged
Your likeness shown in the evening light
Love of you beckoned them come what may
They followed your stars and never lost sight
Men laid down their arms to worship the night
Then shunned the light of day

Tate

Original with music and pictures
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/461072/

No more words dreamed by the poet
the skies are not kissed by the dew
Stories of the life they once shared
just memories of loves sweet hue


Tender words no longer touch him
gentleness he no longer lives
Alone he hides within himself
no beauty in life left to give


Music no longer rules his soul
a quiet mind surrounds this heart
Darkness descends upon the world
since he and she were torn apart


For he so loved her so complete
shared with her inner thought
To heaven go his soul alone
a lifetime with love he fought


There memories go to bloom again
in the warm spring rains of the sky
He’ll see her beauty stand before him
not the passage of time gone by


Then these two will greet each other
like some old friends and lovers do
To find the love they lost in life
where wonders of passions renew



Tate
Original poem and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/499682/

What will they say when we are gone
to tell of the days we have known
May they never measure our worth
by our  life’s failure, to have grown


Pray they say that kindness was found
in a world surrounded by pain
That we had given more than took
trying our best, to not be vain


I wish my friends to know of me
that I see them as a treasure
The pains of our lives that we share
are the jewels, by which I measure


When winters cold seems to descend
from the North Winds that blow a gale
Take heart that you are not alone
then may love, lift and fill your sail


When the sands of life all run out
should you pass on before I go
This world will know you had a friend
as over you, my tears will flow


Tate

If I could only see in the truth
to look beyond our simple ways
I would love knowledge even more
than all the lies of long gone days

If man could put away his sword
and beat to plowshares all he'd worn
Then I might be able to see the light
and forget the failings, of those I scorn

If we were not such fragile beings
that prayed for things not needed
Then I might think we had a chance
but all the lessons still go unheeded

If life would only start as it ends
with great knowledge left to share
We might not trample each other
then sin to hide what we must bear

If life could only do all these things
I would live deep in the truth so wise
To take the life, that I've been given
and turn to God with forgiving eyes


Tate
Original poem with pictures and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/442189/

On humble fare though he may dine
soft light of a candles flame
Walks with a sense of purpose and time
upon his soul is there no claim

A man treads light on honest poverty
no coward nor gentleman's slave
Gives of his love to the poor of heart
stands fast in the face of the grave

Bearing for her life's burdens
soothes the children of their tears
Is the rock all others break upon
leaves fond memory of his years

He knows the value of free will
as honesty will rule his heart
Owns pride born of forgiveness
to the fallen grants a new start

Give the fools their silk and wine
the dishonest pretense of gentry
Only welcome of a good mans door
can allow for a monarch's entry

He knows this as his fellows do
from every house, field and station
One need not be a worshiped lord
to be master of God's creation

Tate

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 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/

Another life I dream of now
thoughts of others nay-ere to wed
Where love has waited on the bow
shown in beauty  of all she said


I watched as she descended stairs
and dreamed the world was none but gay
With her my life had lost the cares
where we would dance the night away


The witted banter of close friends
then came the music swaying crowds
As dreams of love that never ends
on high the heaven’s streaming clouds


From marbled hall and wooded glade
of noble thoughts I was endowed
For love of her my heart had stayed
a life un-wavered and un-bowed


To he whom ever loved so true
I thank the winds of salvation
For blond tresses and eyes so blue
she, this wonder of creation



Tate
Original poem with music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/633246/

Without a care through summers fun
we both tousled life in splendor
Each played in the beams daylight streams
holding one another tender

Above the churning sky had blushed
without a worry of the night
We played on high till day was nigh
as darkness overcame the light

The wind from our lives blows by us
marking as time runs out it cries
Filling life's sails with tattle tales
while the dream of our childhood dies

The cricket's songs leisurely played
rain tapped the ground with our first kiss
A warm night bathed in cool moonlight
let me remember you as this


Tate

What man fears not mortality
who stands in line to die
To lose the breath we hold so dear
yet for ourselves we cry
The strength of a mighty army
echo's from the boroughs
Combining humanities heart
with love from where it flows
________

The quiet heart of the lonely
begs us all take a chair
Come sit at the table of man
break bread with all found there
She fed the souls each evening
round fires of brotherhood
Bringing like and not together
as each one knew she would
________

Where my own is but a lamplight
Illuminating one
Hers the love of a Mothers Heart
burned brilliant as the sun
So precious was the time we shared
for whom would you then cry
So sweet the nectar love conceals
don't let life pass you by

Tate

For my Aunt Kathy who passed away a week ago
The original with pictures and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/532361/

When once we walked among the trees
equals in every measure
Both felt the blowing of the breeze
that bespoke of life’s true treasure

We were once best friends together
whose futures seemed boundless and bright
Shall that friendship part forever
with the dousing of our loves light

All was unknown, unseen, untasted
emotions we had yet to show
All that's left are feelings wasted
those things that helped to make us grow

Shall they turn into bitterness
to cover failings of our own
Then douse down those whom others bless
from a heart that has turned to stone

Through common things and days events
for each moment there comes an end
With our lives joys and discontents
we choose whether we will ascend

One by one choices pass away
grasping those that we most savor
Oh may we not selfishly sway
to envy those, others favor


Tate

Feeling the day as it passes
to memory from the now
Finds my wonder of life's spaces
sweeping the sweat from my brow

So as the day now spins along
reckless and out of control
No hand upon the tiller's wheel
with no aim in life or goal

Cast to a life of drudgery
full to the rim with despair
Life seems too close to misery
lost souls live everywhere

The roadside vendors give respite
to the holes in their worn shoes
As all go running on and on
playing life unto the blues

The sound from the touting vendors
carole "Save your soul" and more
Learn to tolerate the preaching
take your soup as if a chore

Not surprised to hear their answer
when they're asked which they prefer
Would you rather have all wisdom
or be an entrepreneur

Knowledge is said the enemy
of the working common man
Slave, toil and suffer to the sound
of a life without a plan

Now walk the streets of the lonely
with no bed to lay your brow
Push along the cart you call home
of the fate you disavow

For that is all that's left of you
to hang your dignity on
You've lost the hopes of any dreams
your family is all gone

Pride now carried upon the wind
everything has a price and fee
Won't someone smile, hold out a hand
to share salvation with me

Tate

© 2014 Tate Morgan
Written
February 15, 2014

Of all the faces man puts forth
to hide his dark inner sorrows
Love is the one that matters most
as from the deep soul it borrows

It lives among us everywhere
memories of the gentle breeze
Speaking only truth to the wind
for all the others we're to please

Pen sonnets to your gentle way
sing songs of the cold raging sea
Amid toil from emotions bliss
these feelings, flow, freely from me

We know Fate in all her fury
fear no rage from her painful screams
For whenever the truth be told
she harms us only in our dreams

No one controls the hearts desire
nor whether it be happy or sad
As in each one of ours does beat
torrid seeds both of good and bad

We pine for that one's acceptance
a glint in the young woman’s eye
The sweet smell of her hair caress
as she wistfully saunters by

Those few small things all so precious
create memories cherished gone
Recalling times of loves sweet bliss
loving moments of youth go on

For all these things we know of us
and then a hundred, thousand more
Life will never answer them all
as we open up each new door

Man will always question his fate
search for that brighter inner light
To illuminate his darkness
and scare away the haunting night


Tate

As a child must learn to walk
before he attempts to run
So a poet owns the dark
long before he knows the sun

There's a shared fact to our lives
we poets all come to know
The quiet still of the cool night
that gives strength to mornings glow

It is just the way of things
that make us seem so far apart
To miss the heat or the cold
but touch workings of the heart

For whatever  the reason
we are here to make a choice
You see a child crying out
then have to give him a voice

Perhaps it's our fated lives
to give song to the cold din
But life’s a race we all share
and who cares if we don't win

It isn't how fast you run
nor how elegant you look
Think of those who took the time
to leave a mark in life’s book


Tate

Original with music and pictures
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/446736/

I hardly remembered my dad
from the time when I was a boy
When he left we were all bereft
there alone to fend for our joy

So with a pocket full of dreams
I traced the river as it flowed
More like a stray finding his way
I departed the winding road

I went out to try my fortune
and find the father I had lost
How I would grow I didn't know
investing my youth was the cost

He was a man of single mind
who would rule with an iron fist
Much was my fear when he was near
that I would make it to his list

Racing is a beautiful sport
as a horse is a handsome steed
I paid my way every day
to learn the things that I would need

After many years we parted
as I developed my own ways
Never dull my life is grateful
to have had those wonder filled days

Tate

When could I say that I believed
I was such a treasured soul
To give up the life you've conceived
for a chance at half not whole

Having tasted the nectar of life
who can say they would pass it on
For years full of trouble and strife
filled with all of what was, now gone

Life wasn’t meant to cost so much
that you pay for your love in years
I couldn't bear it to be such
that I cost you a life of tears

Many a night I looked up in awe
to the sweet sky above my head
Longing to be that star you saw
to hear the wistful things you said

So now I lie in wait for dawn
watching the stars all twinkle out
Dreaming of things that were, now gone
we never thought we’d live without

Tate
Original poem as it was created to be seen with music and pictures
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/538782/

My son thought it an adventure
learning how to build in full scale
Who could say they don't love the day
when their boy's light shone in detail

We had worked into the evening
my son and I together played
Sharing the trials exchanging smiles
rebuilding the home where we stayed

He felt this would be a great test
knowing on him I would depend
I think he knew as I did too
that summer was about to end

I drift back in dreams to the day
we both held to our love of clan
The autumn breeze played through the trees
saying my boy was now a man

Tate

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/

I thought I had forgotten
what with spring came back to me
Words un-uttered thoughts we stirred
of the way things use to be


I remember the dark door
where we hid from all the rain
A dry respite from the storm
safe in arms I'd felt no pain


I went back to the small doorway
where happily our loves had played
My heart ached for what could have been
if behind that door we had stayed


With wild, spring, rain, and thunder
something wondrous comes this way
Your eyes had said more that night
than your lips could ever say


Tate

She is the bright sun shining
melting on us butter and cream
Oh be our two hearts entwining
oh be for my hope this dream

________

She is this new babe crying
little flower abloom on the hill
Oh be for we both worth trying
oh be for my life this thrill

_______

She is the love without compare
beauty like a new born spring
Oh be of our eye's sweet stare
oh be for my love everything


Tate

This my letter to you my dear
who have never written to me
I set before you my great hopes
of the dreams that may come to be

I laid out the coin we minted
within my heart's own treasury
To toss about the thoughts we had
of our own benedictory

You stamped this coin upon my soul
embossed with love of hope divine
Pressed in the mint of memory
you will age like the finest wine

Should you choose to ever leave me
may we find our lost love and stay
Like dreams we both had forgotten
from the hopes of our yesterday

Tate

Original version and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/655598/

In dreams of my sweet former life
with the wonders childhood poses
I find those friends I left behind
still so young and fresh like roses

I wonder if to them I'm old
when they think upon occasion
Do they wonder as, I do
of that inner child's persuasion

To me they are the cherished ones
memories of lost summer nights
When we played hide and seek till dark
enriched by all life's smells and sights

In dreams they live on as before
echoes of games we use to play
I start each night as they ended
with the dreams from yesterday


Tate

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/442186/

When a young man I so loved you
with heart and soul both bold yet true
The fates have come between us both
though my feelings still speak of you


This was a love without a ring
instead kept by the heart and kiss
That also didn't fall with time
nor with the childish loss of bliss


When love is tethered to the heart
possessed of happy devotion
The passing years will never dull
the height nor depth of that ocean


So it was as it should have been
this love bound only in spirit
Would not be shed of by the grave
nor by those who failed to hear it

Tate
Original version with pictures and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/515537/

Every sweet life flowers golden
mixing old colors in with the new
Creating a wonderful child each time
of a mixed ever changing hue

My life has been both heartache
along by spirits of love in rain
Tossed up around and foundered
with the dreams I cannot attain

As I recall the lost soft beauty
of aching spirits in still delight
I looked to God's sweet Heaven
with thoughts that stir the night

For life's time waits on none of us
it masters fate with earnest callous
Caring for none in favored mercy
helping not whom it shows malice

But I shall have known wisdom
with his brother mighty pain
As my friends they so haunt me
with joys I'll never know again

I walked the earth so emboldened
in my brazen younger days
That I missed chances so golden
for the poor error of my ways


Tate

Original version of the poem with music and pictures
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/551373/

If I could create my own god
a soul of both solace and mirth
He who needs no one’s flatteries
nor demands them from all the earth


He would not possess jealousy
a trait that even men despise
Showing each one he is equal
within the lord of this worlds eyes


Having made of each a sinner
he would love all of us the same
Blaming himself for our failings
not tempering us in a flame


Our lives would be a tapestry
a quilt of love, that beauty built
Where he'd take pride in what we are
and not punish us, for his guilt

Tate