Each time it gets harder to dig up words with real meaning
I feel like an actor walking in to his first screening.
Its not important to anyone but me what I stumble to write
It is sad in this bitter world that finding words is such a fight
I want the trees to be greener, the flowers to last longer
I want the sky to stay blue and my mind to stay stronger
I want illness to just simply leave town for ever more
Just leave my life and on the way out don’t slam the door
I want to give more to the ones that I love so much
I want them closer to me daily so I feel their touch
It seems I have an awful lot of wants within my soul
When I find them all I will finally feel somewhat whole.

WHC….2024

Please keep the noise down I’m trying to grow old
It’s hard and it’s painful and wickedly cold.
I need more flowers, more brilliant green trees
More people around who stop and say please.
Let’s have some music and don’t let it stop
Crank up the volume, don’t dare let it drop.
Each day a new wrinkle with a memory to match
I try to recall the story and reach for the catch
So often I miss it’s just too far away
Yet memories we grab, have so much to say
Please help me remember and bring back the day
When words were my friend, with something to say.
Please don’t be angry if I can’t speak your name
I see your eyes and the soul is the same.
Please forgive me for not being with you
I’m not far way and there’s a lot you can do.

As years and days pass by and leave small shadows
I spend more and more time buried in angry fear
At an advanced age I struggle running through meadows
I also find that daily I fight to hold back the odd tear
Am I sad am I afraid or do I have a hidden foe
If I continue to fight on daily can I win this fight
Is there ever a victor in a war without any woe
As an old an battled man in ill repair
I try to plan my battles very carefully and few
But then my old confusion proposes a dare

Old eyes stare at faded walls,
A glance at a landline maybe for calls
Yesterday crosses the line of sight
But disappears in a heartbeat like a fright
Its been so long and it burns in red
Starting now to wonder about all the dead.
A little music and a little beer for some
Anything that makes an old soul numb
Plants grow while they stare at the sun
Some of us worry that life is now done
Darkness brings no sudden reprieve
But sometimes sad memories will leave
Morning always brings more of the same
We look around and wonder who’s to blame
Kids are gone and I am in the dark
Sometimes a call, a token, cold and stark
They take another soul away, I listen
I close my ancient eyes as they start to glisten.
Maybe it’s not an ending but a start
To teach all the young ones to have a heart.
Lonely is in the rear view for all of us
When we are carried out we won’t make a fuss.

Together in Age
Deeper then the cracks on the summer sidewalk yet
strong as the wind that the heat will share and set.
That is the tune of our long lasting hands in chains
and the description of all our loving pains.
Words are weak and never tell the story.
yet pictures cannot either they would be too gory.
All there is stands before us in a picture of gloom
One of us will go soon and leave a lonely room.

Just when a man settles and takes to the idea of peace and quiet,
just when a man realizes the value of family and earthly delights
along comes a pandemic.
Just when a man hears music in a more intimate way and reads words that bear a deeper meaning,
just when a man begins to understand and accept the near future and what it may hold for one with many years in the bank,
along comes a pandemic.
Just when a man appreciates subtlety, cold ale and a fine meal,
just when a man learns to be grateful for what he has left behind and for all the memories he has created
along comes a pandemic.
Just when a man can sit in the sun and feel the warmth and look forward to a peaceful night’s sleep
Just when a man feels repentant for crimes against his own world
and is prepared to accept his due
along comes a pandemic.
Talk of karma perhaps eases some bitter minds, many find blame to lay at the feet of others but it matters not because
along comes a pandemic.
No path is left unmarked, no trail leads to safety there is nowhere to hide.
Because along comes a pandemic.

The keyboard calls out after beer and gentle drugs give a nudge
I have a plethora of burning thoughts but my fingers won’t budge.
I want something sweet and comforting with a sweet tone
But fear and anxiety have cut me deep to the bone.
Its not writer’s block but a fear of tomorrows story
I fear it may be very messy and gory.
Who knows what bus will be the one or perhaps a grenade
Or standing in the cold of a Santa Claus parade
Don’t think too much it can cause many bad cuts
It can drive the car of life into several deep ruts.
Dance everyday though no music is playing
thinking all day on what your soul keeps saying
Dig up some words never heard in this life before
The ones that will be remembered and cut you to the core
Your legacy has the value of a suitcase and some ink
Hoping what you’ve written down will cause just one to think.