Face the morning

When I know it’s yours?

You once

Gave it to me

But I let the night

Steal my heart away

I couldn’t see

How dark it really was

Now I wander

Aimlessly

Through my restless dreams

Searching

For what I lost

When I turned away

From you

My conscience wanders

Seeking solace

In its spiritual darkness

Searching for meaning

In the fertile silence

Of its barren forests

Where the ghosts of lovelorn songbirds

Sing in solemn, muted whispers

Where the truth has no face

And walks alone amongst

The uprooted chaos

It’s empty eyes, void of all light

It’s reedy shadow, barely clinging

To the remnants of the twilight

The evening left behind

It will never be the same

You gave us so much sunshine

Now all that’s left is rain

Take our tears with you

You made us feel

When you shared your pain

You made us smile

Now all that’s changed

We’ll always miss you

And hearts don’t come

Bigger than the one

You had inside of you

You knew to keep it

You had to give it all away

There goes an angel

On her way to heaven

See her star, shining big and bright

For every angel

Who makes their way to heaven

Leaves behind an ever lasting light

And we will always love you

We will always love you

We will always love you

We will always love you

We will always love you

You made us feel

When you shared your pain

You always made us smile

That will never change

And hearts don’t come

Bigger than the one

You had inside of you

You knew to keep it

You had to give it all away

There goes an angel

On her way to heaven

Watch her star, shining big and bright

For every angel

That makes their way to heaven

Leaves behind an everlasting light

And we will always love you

We will always love you

We will always love you

We will always love you

We will always love you

Dolly, we will always love you

-Dolly Parton 1946-2026.

Heaven must need another angel.

The warm, south wind

Carries it across the bay

Its ancient rhythm

Swaying with the tide

The early morning sun

Rises to its chorus

Showering diamonds

On your glassy plane

Seabirds waltz

To its airy melody

Daring the horizon

To swallow the sky

From their sandy shoal,

Seductive sirens

Lend their sultry voices

To its breathless lyrics

While wisps of pastel clouds

Float gently overhead

Lingering in the harmony

Of its joyful magic

In the distance,

The Blue Hour

Patiently awaits

Hoping to bestow

A note of melancholy

Upon the closing of the day

All the while,

Knowing its moment

Will be short lived

For once the stars

Grace the night

With all their brilliance

Your song

Will lift the hearts

Of all who’ve ever known

The blissful timbre

Of your midnight surf

As it kisses the moonlit dunes

The sweet, mellow sound

Of fingered strings

Drifting through the rubble

The gentle flutter

Of winged feet

In airless flight

To freedom

The soaring voices

Of a chorus

Bound in moral harmony

Ever strong

I hear the applause

The fervent rapture

Born of song and dance

Echo through these battered streets

In the mangled rebar

And twisted steel

Lie broken dreams

But not for long

For they will rise again

And again, and again, and again

Until their crescendo

Deafens their oppressors

Their voices growing louder

Their legs stronger

Their hearts more stout

More determined

The music

Never stopped

Listen to the pause

It’s more alive than ever

I can still hear the violins

-in honor of the gallant and courageous people of Kyiv. The Municipal Opera and Ballet Theater, The National Philharmonic of Ukraine, The National Academy of Music of Ukraine, along with numerous other cultural buildings and sites, were recently damaged by a large scale Russian ballistic missile and drone attack.

The music never stops it grows louder and stronger.

When you hoist your sail

May your course be sure and steady

May your seas be calm and gentle with its tide

May your breezes all be warm

May you weather every storm

May the shores you seek be generous and kind

I thought I heard

Your boyish laughter

As you ran through

The spray

Then I looked

And all I saw

Were three gulls

Skirting the shallows

I turned away

And let the sea

Keeps its secret

For another day

-for Liam

And life is easy

Got no troubles

‘Cause I’m okay

State of mind

Warm and breezy

Sun settin’ on a summer day

Sittin’ here

Bein’ lazy

Don’t care about nothin’

And that’s okay

Attitude

Somewhat hazy

Sun settin’ on a summer day

Summer day

Summer day

Sun settin’ on a summer day

Summer day

Summer day

Ain’t no upsettin’ a summer day

Gone away

Lost in a daydream

Goin’ nowhere

But that’s okay

Dreamin’ of

You dreamin’ of me

Sun settin’ on a summer day

Summer day

Summer day

Sun settin’ on a summer day

Summer day

Summer day

Ain’t no upsettin’ a summer day

Feelin’ fine

And life is easy

Got no troubles

‘Cause I’m okay

State of mind Warm

Warm and breezy

Sun settin’ on a summer day

Sun settin’ on a summer day

Ain’t no upsettin’ a summer day

Looked to the sun

Many times

On my best of days

In my darkest hour

For hope

Redemption

For judgement

And permission

Sometimes

For peace

And simple comfort

I seek

Its infinite wisdom

I envy

Its perpetual light

Its solitude

Its perseverance

My heart

Knows its warmth

My soul

Reveres its depth

I long to know

Its storied history

To unveil

All its secrets

To prosper

From its wisdom

I often

Speak to it

It never responds

Though, I find it to be

A good listener

I smile

When it rises

I cry

When it sets

It is a loyal

And steady friend

It’s always there

Plain as day

Behind the clouds

I count on it

Even when it rains

Maybe one day

It will shine

Just for me

As if to say,

“I see you

I know you’re there

Today

I’m here for you

For you alone

Remember this day

When I’m gone

I’ll see you tomorrow”

Maybe someday

Until then

I’ll keep looking

In the sky

It held the day back

From being all

It should have been

Yellows and Grays

Swirling high above

Blanketing the sun

Waiting for you

To give in

At first,

I thought you would

Then I remembered

That was never you

And when

I saw the sun

Break through

I knew

You’d be alright

Sky so blue

You went away

What did I do?

You left me

For another day

And now I’m feeling blue

Sky blue

Sky of blue

Your sun has set

What can I do?

I’ll see you

When the morning comes

Please tell me you’ll be true

And though the moon

And stars may try

To steal my heart away

I’ll wait for you

My sky, so blue

You’re just a day away

Sky blue

Sky so blue

You’re here again

I always knew

You feel the same way too

My sky of blue

My sky so blue

And though the moon

And stars may try

To steal my heart away

I’ll wait for you

My sky, so blue

You’re just a day away

Sky blue

Sky so blue

You went away

What can I do?

You left me

For another day

Please tell me you’ll be true

Please tell me you’ll be true

-sitting on the deck watching the day take its leave.

Don’t cry for me

Remember you and me

And the life we shared

And when you’re all alone

And the evening shadows fall

When you hear the moonlight calling

Think of me

And when you need someone

To help you through the night

I’ll be there

Like a prayer

Beside you in the dark

Just listen to your heart

Think of me

And all the love we shared

Think of me

When the sun comes up

And sinks beneath the pines

When the stars come out to shine

Think of me

When you hear the falling rain

And with ever season’s change

Remember you were mine

Forever hold me near

Forever hold me dear

I’ve been blessed

To have so many years with you

Think of me

My, darling

Think of me

When I’m no longer here

When I’m gone

Don’t cry for me

Remember you and me

And the life we shared

And when you’re all alone

And the evening shadows fall

When you hear the moonlight calling

Think of me

Think of me, my darling

Think of me

And all the love we shared

-a dear friend recently passed. Kind of soul, true of heart. For Brian and Renee.

Shade my window

The slow parade

Of clouds drifting by

Whimsy weaves

Through sigh-puffed memories

Happy, sad smiles

Crease my face

Melancholy rain

Swells my eyes

Grief softly glides

Down mystic cheeks

Outside

The wind holds

The sultry air

Close as breath

Brined seagrass

Bends toward summer

Seabirds pace

Pensive shallows

They know

The old pier

Echoes boyish laughter

Shadowed footsteps

Race across the sand

The sun peeks

The tide perks

The bay shyly glimmers

This day

Waits for you

-for my son, Liam, who would have turned 35 today. Fair winds.

Carry songs

That bless the day

The sun knows her

By her name

She moves

Like the wind

Through the evening trees

When she whispers

You can hear the rain

And when she’s quiet

The tide

Stills the night

So the stars

Can sweep your breath away

She’s more

Than all

Of what surrounds her

Without her

There’d be no yesterday

With its painted sky and paper moon

I’m haunted by a time recalled

In a picture hanging on the wall

A younger man stares down at me

Am I the man he thought I’d be?

Beneath the cracks that time reveals

Still live the dreams that age conceals

Won’t you take a chance on this old clown?

With his weary soul and weathered frown

Though the best of me’s behind me now

I’ll pick you up

I’ll pick you up

If you fall down

Once I saw the world through jaded eyes

But a blind man still can hear a lie

Mistakes, I’ve made more than my share

But loving you’s been my answered prayer

Won’t you take a chance on this old clown

With his weary soul and weathered frown

Though the best of me’s behind me now

I’ll pick you up

I’ll pick you up

If you fall down

A raging fire soon burns out it’s flame

But this faithful heart will never change

Mistakes, I’ve made more than my share

But loving you’s been my answered prayer

Won’t you take a chance on this old clown?

With his weary soul and weathered frown

Though the best of me’s behind me now

I’ll pick you up

I’ll pick you up

I’ll pick you up

If you fall down

-I wrote this lyric one long and lonely night, eight years ago. I was home alone. I had just gotten the call that my eldest son had been kicked out of the long term recovery program he was in for being caught using again. I’d never felt so low. I wondered, how could I have failed him? Did I fail my wife and family? Had I failed myself? As I sat there draining a bottle of wine in that moonlit room, I kept looking up at a picture of my wife and I, and our three sons, hanging on the wall. The lines “Little pitchers have big ears/Don’t stop to count the years” from John Prine’s “Sam Stone”, playing over and over in my head. We were all so young and innocent. It was only yesterday. There’s no perfect life. There’s just life. You get at it. She’s still my saving grace. She is my answered prayer.

Maybe I should have

Given you more of myself

In that moment

I saw something

In your eyes

But I turned away

And as I did

I knew I betrayed

All the years

That held us together

The air left the room

My heart mourned

The distance between us

Feeling like a broken promise

I hung my head

Then I heard you sigh

I looked up

Your eyes met mine

A dried tear

Scarred your cheek

A piece of you

On the floor

You smiled through me

And turned out the light

You fill my eyes with wonder

Your love shines

With the promise

Of a coming day

Yet, in my heart

Your thunder

Will never cease to thrill me

And now I find myself

Longing for the rain

Through the morning shades

I watched the fading shadows

Crawling down the hallway

The last remnants of the night

Trailing behind them

I turned into the light

And saw your haloed face

A tear wandered down my cheek

As my heart wondered

How I came to know such grace

I lied there and waited

For your pillowed eyes

To greet the sky lit day

And as you woke

I fell into you

Once again

And watch the world spinning by

I hear the crashing of the days against the edge of time

And I feel life squeezing in between us

And every morning, when the sun comes up

I look outside

And all the colors of the day remind me they’re ours to find

We just have to take the time to look for them

I know it’s not as easy as it seems

Life never is, we both know better

But now it’s time to linger in our days

And cherish every moment we have together

Grow old with me

Let’s spend each day falling in love all over again

Carry each other through whatever waits ahead

We’ll watch the sunset through each other’s eyes

And live each other’s lives like we have nothing left to lose

Grow old with me

I want to grow old with you

And if life should choose to bless us with more time

We’ll revel in it’s beauty and its grace

And when we leave this world behind us

We’ll look back on the wonder of our days

Grow old with me

We’ll spend each day falling in love all over again

Carry each other through the days that lie ahead

Grow old with me

We’ve nothing left to lose

Grow old with me

We’ll dance beneath the stars and feel young again

We’ll steal the night and never let it end

We’ll lie in bed and watch the morning rise

And live each other’s lives like we have nothing left to lose

Grow old with me

I want to grow old with you

Grow old with me

I want to grow old with you

-for ‘del

Are the ones

Whose mothers

Gave them life

Bring them light

Are their eternal sun

Richest

Are those

Who know

There’s no greater gift

Than a mother’s love

-in honor of all mothers around the world