Thursday, October 18, 2007

Marriane

Nineteen Forty-one; Holland, the Netherlands
Swastika flags darkened the skies of your ten year old eyes
Marianne

The decree for the gold and all silver, be brought to the city square
but Marianne, Marianne, take it down to the river and drown it defiantly there

Father kissed mother goodbye
fled underground to resist and to fight
But oh Marianne, my sweet daughter don't cry
For there is a God who is greater than why

On the door, blanched hands holding guns leading bone-thirsty grins
Nazi soldiers came searching for men kept hidden in your floors
Marianne

Up the stairs, to the loose floor boards, and hide yourselves inside
Marianne, Marianne, to the door let them in
but bar all the fear and the hate from your eyes

Too often I think I've reason to fear
When all for freedom was the hope in your prayer
So Marianne on nights when I feel alone
won't you hid me inside the floor boards of your home

Saturday, October 13, 2007

A night to ponder

I can't tell which is worse: a world of friends i'll take for granted or a night spent alone without a friend in the world?

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Shore Work: Thursday, May 24, 2007

Each day begins very much like the last; with the sound of 4 alarms, and loud resisting groans. "Rise and shine big guy," I say, as if i desire to begin this day more than Caleb, who by now is already lacing his boots as I role out of bed. I step into my long johns, and stretch a very undersized, wool- long sleeve shirt around my neck; smelling the 6 days of unwashed body odor as I push my head through the collar. Next are my jeans, socks, boots, and sweatshirt. I fix my watch around my writist, realizing my usual 10 minute late- 7:40 A.M. departure from the third floor of the Hilton- pausing quickly to switch off the heater and lather my lips with sunscreen SPF4 chapstick. Oh the Bear-den, where breakfast is all serious; Pancakes and scrambled eggs, eaten with serious faces of course. The silence is close to always broken with an intriguing dream of bowline, sheep-bends, and square-knots; coiling rope or mending nets; and how Kyle seemed to somehow involve them with the German Army and a dangerous bridge crossing; where he played Robin Hood and couldn't decide what outfit to wear. dangit, The Clock strikes 8 and never fails to invoke crude obscenities, as we 11 file down the stairs like wounded animals and meet the days agenda of Weston- the taskmaster, ringleader, or whatever you might say. "We got a long day ahead of us boys," he says while giving each of us our specific task for the morning. Like elves of salmon fishing, we trot to our places and begin to build the toys of a June 5th Season opening. The weather is cold, and the wind nips my bare fingers like a growing puppy, whose teeth grow stronger the longer we work out in the yard. Oh the bitter rain, however we pray that it might beat loud enough to grace the veins of Weston's sympathy, who might, just might give us the privilidge of working inside, where doors are closed and heaters sing sweet lullabies to our now enlightened charisma.

Tell me how-5/26/07

from the story that nature told, on this winsome saturday afternoon; one would think that life was right, that peace reigned, and good-will had been brought to all men. i see mountains- peaked with snow and clouds. oceans water- void of all strife and reckless abandon. i feel wind- with its bright coolness. i smell approaching summer- with its promised warmer weather. i hear birds and their massed choirs- singing songs that resound life and hint at nature's vastness. all this i see, and while i can enjoy its beauty, i am derived of simple words and thoughts to explain how it all can co-exist with the house that lies in shambles beneath my scanning vision. not only this, but the lifeless bones that sit entangled in the ashes scream out unjustified: TELL ME HOW- does death- suffering- injustice- you name it, walk hand in hand with a life too inspiring for words. i ache to make sense of it all, but comprehend little beyond the fact that i hate it all- this life and its black and white realities; that nature goes on and beauty exists- all the while grief fills the hearts of so many.