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/

I had a great, great, grandmother
still alive when I was a child
She was my grandpas, grandmother
even then she was a bit wild
Born in eighteen seventy eight
on a buckboard in Missouri
She had come a long way by then
she was fit and full of fury

We played cards everyday with her
beating her nearly made her weep
"Poopie, kacky, nanny" she'd say
"looks like it's time for you to sleep"
She'd wake me nearly every night
she returned from playing bingo
I'd play with her, games of euchre
sports of chance and foreign lingo

She would walk wherever she went
eat apples, including the core
Cuss and drink, then give me a wink
as she pulled the cards from her drawer
At times she would regress somewhat
"grandpa quit me in thirty four
Thought me uptight, he wasn't right
wouldn't run *** with me no more"

Her first picture was a tin type
"I was a looker in my day
I turned heads in the finest spreads
back then, I always got my way"
She witnessed many inventions
electric, lights to cars and trains
the first to own, a telephone
where she'd talk through the morning rains

At ninety she and I would watch
as three men circled round the moon
"We'll be on Mars, and then the stars
if I don't kick off pretty soon"
She lived to see her kids away
making sure they were buried right
"Yep" she'd say "I put them away
tucked em in for the winters night"

Once when we were playing football
and the game was getting quite tense
She'd sauntered by, looking quite spry
  I knocked her down, along the fence
She got up and kicked me senseless
too many bananas and beer
"Now you know, how to take a blow
don't ever show them any fear"

Granny was an institution
a relic of our bygone days
Laughter and tears, poured from her years
her sometimes odd and senile ways
She had outlived all her children
and a couple of grand-kids too
War nor drought, could put her light out
the toughest broad I ever knew

Tate

The post parade complete at last
the bugle finally played
My heart pounded as it sounded
just get us home safe I prayed
That night was like many others
as I sat behind the stud
Skies overcast, let loose at last
each horse seemed to swim in mud

__________
We turned to face the starting gate
I chirped to set him alight
All could tell as we knew too well
this was a hell of a night
Fire stoked in each the beasts nostrils
I could feel each burning breath
I knew too well, the hounds of hell
could take us both to our death

__________
We followed the gate to the stretch
the wings closed to let us fly
I tucked him in, hoping he'd win
and nothing would go awry
On back my neck breathed the Demon
front-ender that I most feared
The Devils Spell I knew too well
one the gamblers all revered

___________
Death rode the back of my helmet
his hot breath searing my neck
I’d rather he, be behind me
than in front and cause a wreck
The quarter pole bunched up tightly
the front end had closed ground
Tighter it got, man he was hot
he wanted to run me down

___________
The hooves pitched limestone in our eyes
we closed on the second turn
At my wheels, nipping on my heels
the Demon began to burn
He wanted out that was certain
but the field had closed us in
I couldn't see, neither could he
how either of us might win

____________
The Demon wasn't used to this
he had never been held back
He would burn wheels, kick up his heels
as he ran off down the track
I could hear his labored breathing
as his driver choked him down
The last turn steered, then we all cleared
it was time to go to town

__________
The field rolled out of the end turn
as the Red Sea opened wide
My stud snatched his bit, in a fit
we were off for a wild ride
Just in front of the Demon Seed
I felt we'd surely collide
I turned to see, he was on me
as he rolled up alongside

__________
But the fire had gone out in him
he had spit the bit the beast
He'd choked upon humility
or so it had seemed, at least
We had cleared the rest of the pack
stared down the Demon of Sin
To slip and slide on life’s rough ride
and come out the end to win

__________
The Demon never won again
retired of a broken heart
I think all knew, as I did too
he would draw an Amish cart
But that’s just how one grows in life
all made at times to feel small
The best aren't mean, though they are seen
to get up, each time they fall

Tate
Original with picture of Scarlet Message and I racing in Illinois
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/1022208/

His play he would be forsaking
facing the darkness we all fear
Soul aching tiny heart breaking
oh how he wished that I were near


The matriarch of his small clan
was ill and finally dying
It was his plan to act the man
while inside his heart was crying


I had finished my latest book
which I dedicated to Drake
The Ties That Bind weren’t so kind
as I heard his little heart break


I sent him the book to peruse
in the hopes that it would cheer him
To ease the blues and heal his bruise
though the diagnosis was grim


He took her my book with the note
opened it to the beginning
Where he read the quote,  I had wrote
his face all aglow and grinning


In the end what could any say
to this child who loves his small clan
Love whispered stay,  don't run away
to this boy forced to be a man


Tate
Original poem and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/701419/

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/

Wind ran by to kiss your cheek
round your neck our gilded hopes hung
The hand of God flowed soft within
from when he was happy and young

_________

Forget the nights of wanton desire
give to me not love nor tears
Evenings filled with endless dreams
bring me safe from all life's fears

________

Your beauty is so great to bear
my chest hardly held its ache
For beauty more than bitter tears
will make the soft heart break

________

Bells of the town clock tower
took too much from you and me
Yet off to the rock and river
they gave of life for eternity

_________

How often did we pass each other
o'er the long years as others do
Ne'er  once daring to ride the fire
to heavens door we never knew


Tate

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/

The water's edge rose to meet me
while either side the river lie
Across the bridge and path I ran
past tall fields of both wheat and rye

To the meadow where my home sat
there childhood dreams were born and died
I followed the path that life led
my guarding angel at my side

Here were crafted my hopes and dreams
from hence I’d come to test my skill
To find the place where I belong
perhaps upon some distant hill

Coming home from where I had been
retracing  steps from here to there
Has brought my life full circle now
teaching me the lessons I share

I had set out to find my purpose
only my own life did I see
But finding love in coming home
my treasured soul had found all three
  
Tate
Original musical version
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/557123/

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/

Deeps the need as long's the road
we tread on the silent ground
To seek the path along home
where our hearts and love abound

Time is the fire in which we burn
around the hearths where we sit
It feeds the body and the soul
with the hearts our minds have lit

From the edge of the unknown
we proudly tell all our tale
Wonders we have seen ourselves
as the old folks laugh and wail

Poor's the man who rails his own
for to him no fruit shall bloom
Wind and fury know his name
as echo to the silent room

Barren is life that lacks a child
for it knows no magic hour
Like tarnish to a silver cup
its life never seems to flower

Rich is the man who mends his ways
his path be strewn with gold
The child that blooms within his light
grows to love him when he's old



Tate
Original poem with pictures and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/446500/

It's far away I am today
from shores where my mind has been
In ocean spray, where children play
there I long for Irish kin


Warm fire of coal should be the goal
of the life I call my own
This kindly soul, now pays the toll
safe and sound, yet all alone


'Cross waves of wheat, that face I'd greet
her white, skin of milk and dew
A voice so sweet, echo's the street
green eyes cased in honey hue


In stacks of hay, where we might lay
dreamin hopes ring freshly true
For everyday, I wake to play
I give of my soul to you


By every dawn and carriage drawn
I watch leaves sail off the tree
All crying on, will not begone
the most precious tales of thee


On wings above does fly the dove
of a life gentle and true
Oh precious love, you be made of
as the lord created you


Tate


http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/740794/

He sees the world through learned eyes
that have witnessed many affairs
All the rising, falling empires
through history's gaze he now stares

But on they come from far and wide
beating a path up to his door
As if what they had to offer
he had never heard of before

Yet still they will not stop trying
to sell him wares of their own ways
And save the soul of this good man
before he meets his end of days

As a product of the old school
he's seen it and done it before
There is no need to prove himself
to each child who comes to the door

They could stand an education
from this man with a long life span
Never try to teach an old bard
on the new ways of god and man

Tate
Original poem with music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/652074/

I have a daughter Jessica
just as sweet as she can be
And every time I look at her
she is smiling back at me

She gave me all my grandchildren
with the joys that each would bring
Her face is bright as morning dew
like the first breath of the spring

A pixie of a girl for sure
who weighs but a hundred true
Yet has a heart larger than mine
or any I ever knew

Each time we stop by to visit
she suspends rules of the house
Lets me do whatever I want
the same as her loving spouse

Of my children she is the one
I have not done justice to
The truth be told it's all my fault
oh Jessie I do love you

Tate

We come into life as innocents
no prejudice upon our soul
Washed clean by a new beginning
not a single debt, nor a toll

We have two choices most of us
codes of fathers we just swallow
Or blaze a path in loneliness
others wonder but don't follow

It is that rare one we may find
who chooses to go his own way
These are the ones we all admire
not for them but us we should pray

Fearless souls unafraid to di
they the ones bucking convention
Who teach us all our life's follies
by adding a new dimension

As life progresses onward
to it's predestined conclusion
We learn then teach the least of us
to see truth not the delusion

Don't fear the ones with their own ways
for they may know what we do not
He who turns toward forgiveness
has discovered what most forgot


Tate

These scars I wear each tell a tale
of moments I'll never forget
When loves spark, had once left it's mark
and the fates had called in their debt

Where I fell upon a bottle
cut my arm and nearly bled out
I hit my head, thought I was dead
learned something of what life's about

My legs torn by years of abuse
racing horses like all my kin
I'd go down hard, leaving them scarred
the limestone would tear off your skin

But these were offerings of note
in a life spent chasing ideals
Testing extremes, of my own dreams
run down more than once by the wheels

Son you can't live your life afraid
of each danger that comes your way
So play the odds, tempt the **** gods
rise up and face each new born day

When you are but old and feeble
with your grandchild upon your knee
Tell your stories, of life's glories
show him the scars so he can see

A life spent cowering from pain
will  leave you so aching inside
The gift you'd miss, from life's sweet kiss
knowing you never even tried


Tate  

© 2012 Tate Morgan
Written
October 25, 2012

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

It seems we never get enough
attention from all our friends
We seek to play, everyday
in the vain hope it never ends

As writers we are a vain bunch
never satisfied with ourselves
Making wonders, of life’s blunders
that will then sit upon our shelves

From each of the great poets here
we search for that kindly spirit
Seeking such proof, tempered by truth
In hopes we can stand to hear it

We all seek the purpose of life
through our friends we each spread our wings
With each letter, we get better
from that comes the joy writing brings

Friends will die and leave us alone
with those things of life we can’t see
Though I know well, he’s not in hell
I think I’ll let the mystery be

Tate

I wonder where the songs come from
watching children skip all 'round
Playing like time had no meaning
as snow fell upon the ground

Man's last words are never of work
nor to rule the entire world
They wish they'd spent time with others
as enlightenment's unfurled

When you rush along through your day
throwing out gifts un-opened
The dreams your parents had for you
the ones that go unspoken

Take time out of your stressful day
and try not to dance so fast
Life is not a race to be won
sadly the music won't last

Tate
Original poem with picture of Tatertot and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/448357/

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/

Winds of change follow where I go
sirens cry o'er the sea
For what I wished I'll never know
songs they sing all speak to me

Had I missed a chance at ardor
to play, to run or to roam
Perhaps if I'd traveled farther
somewhere else I might call home

These the thoughts of a selfish heart
from love I could not render
Once loneliness had torn apart
all feelings that were tender

The hallowed heart I’d wished to find
most this life spent running to
Was never known to be too kind
longed for what it never knew

I spent this life a burning flame
always searching for more fun
I have only myself to blame
For the things that I have done

These truths of life come slow to some
lessons I  learned the hard way
It’s not the night that one runs from
it’s light of our darkest day

My wife has settled me a bit
such a handsome girl is she
She has my heart and well knows it
a better man lives in me

Tate

Each day I wonder why I'm here
is it to fill what love requires
Or is there much more to my life
than all the joys my heart desires

I have been the emissary
of ancestors who came and went
My purpose lay within the genes
that through life and death they have sent

As thousands struggled lived and died
they entrusted within my soul
Hopes and dreams of generations
to lead family in life's goal

My duty in this life is clear
pass love from the child within me
Along with prayers from those who've died
for all the hopes of things to be

While I tie my child to the past
going back to antiquity
He takes me into the future
granting us immortality

Tate

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/682747/

The old songs loved from long ago
come to me from my long gone past
On winds they caress me tonight
whispering from dreams I had last

The old days trooped by in glory
paraded across my life's field
Displayed in panoramic view
how many dreams they have revealed

Faces long gone look out from mist
to this once wandered man to be
Speaking from my past adventures
beloved friends long a part of me

Oh how they flood through my mind
to speak of days that've gone by
Forcing me to look to the one
that came from acts I can't deny

We are not each one right nor wrong
we are the result of our times
Held to account for all the good
as well as for all our crimes

Mystic chords of my memory
look back on the road I traversed
Remembering moments I loved
as well as those I have cursed

While each loved soul has given time
to pursuit of living pleasures
Only by reflecting on life
do I recognize its treasures

Tate
original version with my own art work accompanied by music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/504688/
All three of my books can be viewed here
http://www.writerscafe.org/aristate
They are available at amazon ,createspace and barnes and noble

Someone starts to sing a song
and it makes me think of you
Just a sad, simple, melody
both you and I once knew

As the words drift by my ears
a kind sadness fills my heart
The song has much more meaning
as time has kept us apart

I try to see your face again
to think of things unsaid
But all I can remember
is this song inside my head

My memory is failing now
oh so sad, but oh so true
All that's left of our sweet love
is this song that we once knew

Tate

Original at the cafe with music and pictures
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/477285/

Though now the clouds roll over me
as the west winds have blown
I find I long for distant plains
endless skies I have known

But what to me was east and west
and lure of many lands
could never replace the green grass
with tepid heated sands

For here was where I set my roots
bright summers in the glen
A-wash in colors of the fall
your heart shines now as then

Tate

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/

With pride deposed and passions slain
we hope, aspire and then on trust
Beneath vaulted skies we attain
to master life before we're dust

Then take the gifts that we have earned
and turn out surcease from despair
To reap the pearls others have learned
echos childhood calls to be fair

I crossed over a young boys path
who had stooped and bent for hours
There he escaped to love from wrath
while he tended to his flowers

In him I saw myself one day
a cold spirit needing tending
And in his face I saw the way
to happiness he was rending

Simple things from a little boy
do the same for old and new
Bringing to all wonders and joy
a smile he shared with me and you

A little thing from a kind child
who then shared with me his treasures
Taught me the virtues of the mild
exposing life's greatest pleasures

Tate
Original version with music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/604858/

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/

Many men awed by another
have then sought out their fellows land
Man shall turn brother on brother
to steal of him his woman's hand

How do we claim the virtue love
yet pray to our war in the same
We speak of peace from up above
then **** each other in his name

By taking life what do we gain
rendering all someone may own
Do we inherit sorrowed pain
for our own failure to have grown

I see good men, both meek and mild
but those who **** so needlessly
Take life of someone’s loving child
depleting all humanity

What will they say when we're no more
beware those who **** their own kind
We will become what all deplore
until only the wind you'll find

Tate
Original poem and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/680135/

Thinking we’re the fountain of youth
we spend life as if it’s money
Casting away dreams as we go
never knowing dark from sunny

The first we waste so endlessly
never thinking to stop and rest
Playing until we fall asleep
living life through memories best

Father time always catches us
no matter how swift we can run
Reminding us of mortality
to see we don’t have too much fun

When we finally wake from youth
to find the years so sadly gone
We wish they had been spent better
not worrying about our lawn

Faith may be the timeless healer
but lost time it cannot replace
And all the calls for Gods mercy
won’t give us back that youthful face

So we play each part as we go
thinking back on another joy
To wish we had taken notice
of the child when he was a boy

Tate
Original version with pictures and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/603062/

Neither birth, nor death, escape pain
it starts with the babe's cry
Men wax and wane, throughout their reign
in the end just to die

Through heat and cold we push onward
like Lemmings to the sea
Ever shore-ward, ever nor-ward
and on to victory

The weeks pass by without delay
and with them countless tears
As most I'd say, lament the day
that their months turned to years

What makes man something to behold
is not the after-life
It's in the gold, of stories told
and arms of the good wife

We need no promise from above
to tell us we'll be paid
By joys hereof, through souls we love
is man then measured weighed

Tate

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/

Much less the night upon the sky
no more than the foam to the sea
So less a breeze facing the storm
did you feel for me
_________

More than the stars that lit the night
way more than the rain to the seed
Much more than a home to a child
was your love, my need

Tate

Tony lived out in the country
on a hundred acre estate
There on our throne, we called Tombstone
is where we would tempt our fate
On what we called the back forty
set the barn where our ponies stayed
There we could count, each trusty mount
to partner in each game we played

We picked up our neighbor Georgie
from a bit farther down the lane
In an hours course, saddled each horse
then set off with the morning rain
Georgie always rode ole Rusty
a stud with a mind of his own
Tough and so wild, mind of a child
ole Rusty was bad to the bone

We never went on safari
without carrying BB guns
Which we toted, locked and loaded
we were all mother nature’s sons
We had mastered our universe
or to us at least it seemed so
That afternoon, we shot a ****
how he escaped I'll never know

Off we raced to Lost Creek
our favorite watering hole
Crazy Rusty, hot and dusty
rode out on point for this patrol
Out past the neighbors fields of corn
our club house in the willow tree
The winding lane, a weather vane
to the creek that ran to the sea

We tied the horses to a tree
in the grass by the swimming hole
Piled up the rocks, just like Fort Knox
making it deeper was our goal
All afternoon we played out there
shooting targets off the ridge
Saddled each horse, and in due course
we set off for the cement bridge

The bridge barely cleared the water
where the rain had swollen the creek
So now it ran, over the span
as it had the entire week
Now George of course wanting the lead
headed for the top of the ridge
He couldn't see apparently
the algae that grew cross the bridge

He met the bridge at full gallop
Rusties shoes slipped as he went down
George screamed "Oh crap," and with a snap
broke his leg and began to drown
We both jumped in and pulled him out
caught his horse and threw him back on
Pain made him hurl, he screamed like a girl
any dignity was now gone

We drug him back to his mothers house
where she promptly rushed him to town
Tony and I, both waved goodbye
determined that we wouldn't frown
We camped under the stars that night
each wrote out our Wills in a draft
Tony turned in, and with a grin
said "tomorrow we build a raft"

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/

I am the little leaf falling
feeling but half my worth
No more to wave in the breeze
to heaven from this earth

I alone do think I dream
of the love I wish to live
I myself do think I want
much more than I can give

She sees in me what I cannot
making fast my hope and stare
She holds this heart with tenderness
her love lay everywhere

So like am I a grain of sand
I compare my lifes own worth
To all who were my ancestors
sharing roots of each others birth

As autumn falls upon my world
should the birds no longer sing
Will there be nothing left to give
but a prayer upon a wind

Tate

I'll tell you my dream come true.  I want to be in love again for that love to be my last.  I wish to run home to her waiting arms every night make love to her till I can't breath.  Forsaking for her all others I'd feel her sweat pour over me, like a waterfall.  To have those rains wash away my sins baptizing me in tears of joy.  Fall asleep to the beat of her heart, all the while her whispers caress my ears with "I love you". Play on the beach sharing our deepest fears and grandest joys.  Wake not knowing where I end, nor where she begins.  Drink of her love till I drown.   Look at the moon each night I'm away, know she’s doing the same.  Close my eyes, feel her heart touch my soul, and know she has shared with me something precious.  Walk hand in hand through the park at 85.  Stare into each others eyes not seeing the years gone by, but the priceless love within.  I want to die in her loving embrace from a life well spent.  All the while the lofting sounds of laughter, pour through my window, as grandchildren play hide and seek, in the fallen leaves of changing colors.  To the sound of the lonesome whistle down the river the steamers would roll.  I dream my last words to be “I love you".  The last sounds I hear to be the new life crying down the hall  echoes of the child that will take my place.  A loving tear from my beloved wife and son, I'd pass from this world with a smile.
Tate

This is the only prose poem I ever wrote. The original poem for my wife
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/447640/

I traveled west to the sunset
where the desert begins to roast
the heat baked down, on every town
across the plain onto the coast
I came upon an old Buick
a woman two children in curls
Their dreams stranded, their car branded
a look of sorrow on the girls

I pulled my pickup in behind
walked to the window said "hello"
Offered a ride, "its cool inside
come with me and we'll find a tow"
At first they wouldn't come along
choosing instead to stay and bake
"We'll have to stay, cause I can't pay
I think this trip was a mistake"

The girls were all of ten years old
their pain had tested their belief
Innocent pawns, of sun-baked bronze
whose pleading eyes begged for relief
I saw in them the Grapes of Wrath
headed west on little money
relief from strife, a better life
in the land of milk and honey

I took them ten miles down the road
an oasis like a mirage
A bit of luck, found a tow truck
had the car towed to the garage
We shared a lunch that afternoon
their radiator was repaired
I'd eased their trials, restored their smiles
it felt good to know I had cared.

Their mother dreamed of better things
for her little girls in this life
She wanted more, than to live poor
as an abusers little wife
I never gave the girl my name
fighting against my vanity
Theirs was a goal, that saved my soul
sharing with them humanity

Tate

© 2013 Tate Morgan
Written
April 29, 2013

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/

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

The original with music and video of Georges wedding from 1957 in  8mm is here
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/644192

With the girl I loved most in life
I walked in street lamps glow
Could she hear my heart calling
for the love I never show


Treading lightly along beside
her footprints marked the snow
The warmth of heart I felt for her
I doubt she will ever know


With the girl I loved most in life
I walked in street lamps glow
Oh if I could stop Earth turning
then she might never go


Tate
The original poem with pictures and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/442713/

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

I watch my son embark on life
and I wish him all the best
His way will be no easier
than it's been for all the rest

The first child's life is the hardest
as they blaze their new found trails
Upon their shoulders rides the weight
of siblings, hopes and travails

An old woman once asked of me
as she touched upon my fears
"What do you want your son to be
when he reaches adult years"

I thought a while then with a smile
said that"happy" was my goal
"There might be hope for mankind yet
and for your immortal soul"

We might just ask too much of each
newly born generation
Expecting them to build upon
the previous foundation

It's pride that tweaks our vanity
in ****** pride our soul believes
Why is it only through this pain
that by love, our soul relieves

  I'll have that old woman to thank
when I swim the great expanse
There I'll make for the distant bank
where fate may grant me that chance

Tate

On mornings hence I'll forget
to forgive this callous blow
That left me broken on the field
where angels hearts don't go
________

As to the scar left there upon
I'll hide it best I can
For fear they might see my pain
and think me not a man
_______

When in future I'll be asked
to say this was my fault
Why open this tender heart within
to the unending pain of assault
_______

As future bears witness of
my life and deeds inscribe
Descendants will think me as kind
for the life I try to describe
_______

In life I took much less than gave
I walked the good heart line
Carried the hopes of the small
held theirs as they held mine
_______

But to God, I say through it all
I was true to his design
Gave my heart in earnest love
for a life, sweet, gentle and divine

Tate
Original poem with music and self portrait
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/446689/

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/

I am my life's sole keeper
in the garden of my dreams
Within it dwell the great hopes
along with all my schemes

Why for me only the hard way
has taught my mind since youth
Does it seem could be no other
than a fact and cold hard truth

I chose the road that I tread
from my bold disdaining action
I would never listen to another
except to my own satisfaction

Lucky that he knows me not
for my sadness hides regret
As they who think to know me
know less the nearer they get

My son how I do love him
touching most his dreams within
But all I want for his heart
is to not go where I've been

Tate

Original musical version with our pictures
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/474060/

My first love I gave devotion
in that curious wonderful way
Always searching her for Heaven
while we two spent our days at play

________
To my second love went strength
rock of the heart to be broke in two
So less like the many
so much more like the few

________
To my third I gave my all
bundled and tied within a ring
Breathing the very air of her soul
to me she was everything

________
My first love gave me sight
opening the eye's of man to see
Promising me the world
showing what a woman could be

________
My second gave me arms of love
that on cold nights held on tight
Promising to love me forever
squeezing with all their might

________
But oh it was my third love
that set my mind free
Who crafted a selfless character
then gave my soul to me

Tate

This the question of existence
to be a good soul all my days
I find the problem in my years
setting example by my ways

-----------------------------------------------------------­-------------

As I have tried to reconcile
with the conscience that rules my soul
I always find I come up short
never quite reaching that fine goal

-----------------------------------------------------------­---------------

When I was young I ruled the waves
holding sway in every court
I did as my heart commanded
as if life were a game of sport

----------------------------------------------------------­--------------

But now that I am not alone
I find myself caring much more
How my character is perceived
and what I hide behind each door

-----------------------------------------------------------­-------------

So now I have committed to
repairing the mistakes and flaws
Fixing all the things that went wrong
when I did not follow the laws

-----------------------------------------------------------­-------------

I pray that I be successful
in changing my bad ways to good
To give my child a fighting chance
just as every father should

---------------------------------------------------------­-----------------

If only I could travel back
to correct the sins of my youth
I could tell him to be like me
knowing I was telling the truth

Tate

The time trickles by unnoticed
our moments fade away
While their coming and their going
pass us by day to day

Each new morn comes by to meet me
as nothing seems to last
The thoughts of youth just melt away
as all become the past

With them go my joys and sorrows
this life spent chasing dreams
The grandiose philosophy
of lofty hopes and schemes

Younger days when I once believed
I'll sleep when I am dead
Now I feed the mind on learning
I still keep those fires fed

Why can't we inherit wisdom
pass along what we know
Given benefit of insight
might help our species grow

The generations march to war
pounding drums of glory
Saying it will happen no more
it's the same sad story

Gales form around each new child's life
what they don't know be true
The winds foretell what future holds
oh if they only knew

The sands of time keep flowing on
our lives to pass away
Some are coming, some are going
none ever come to stay

Tate

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

I thought I had forgotten
what with spring came back to me
Words unuttered 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
Original version with pictures and music
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/479276/