The Veteran

For every hero on the stage
On parade or in the grave
With medals pinned and glory flags unfurled

The humble serviceman by scores
Packs the caissons, Guards the doors
Sails sea and sky across the troubled world

Comrades in arms who heard the call
And stepped across that line for all
Knowing well that fate might call their name

They crossed that sword mark in the dust
For freedoms sake and God they trust
And did it not for fortunes gold or fame

So on Remembrance Day give thanks
To veterans past and current ranks
And Praise Eternal God that they were there

Oh quiet heroes, every one
Without your hand, naught would be won
Pray our acclaim, the purest badge you wear

Antietam Creek

Antietam Creek

How is it now that we are borne

upon a wave of sacrifice,
whose lives were bound for greater things

yet now we pay the price.
And whose firm shoulders turned to bear

the blows for those behind.
Into our foe we press ourselves

as fates grim judgment pares the rind.
And how we think our selves above

things more eternal than we stand,
and bear upon our enemy

with death or life in gloved hand.
Stand not as what great wind may blow,

fore swear, we say we will advance,
as waves of grain encumbering

the field for sure will be entranced,
Against that wind we throw ourselves

for those we have behind.
And fates grim judgment pares the rind.

Pray Justice pares the rind.

"O beautiful for glory-tale
of liberating strife
when once and twice
for mans avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

Thirteen

The Sun endures it's Celestial Path
So we in chorus tarry on
And in the wake of traveled space
Another year has come and gone

What marks this place upon the line
Of times more ancient than we know?
The will to shed the tyrant's chains
Those who cast their fear below

Who in the seasons chill and burn
Were set to mind and charity
And of one will the die was cast
Our Nation of Fraternity

That with the pen and linen's might
The blood and treasure guarantee
Upon the Alter of God's Grace
Became The Nation Of The Free

So yes, we set this day aside
Count Thirteen past Midsummer's Eve
Remembering the Patriots Brave
Who gave to us our Liberty

Decoration Day

We woke up well before the dawn
Each last Monday in May
And went to all the soldiers graves
On decoration day

Then in full dress of blue and gold
With sash and badge and pin
We'd clean and trim and place a flag
For all our fallen kin

Day greater then than Four July
We tallied freedoms bill
And cooked upon an open fire
Till all were fully filled

Then more to point the morrows morn
Each generation train
That those with decorated grave
Have not fallen in vain

Spin

In the wind that blows through the cosmos
Is a vibe pitched higher each day
And it drags to the edges the weak and the mad
Spinning faster and faster they say

But as Hesse put forth in Siddhartha
Those who internalize all
Will step to the middle of life's dual paths
In mastery of their inner call

As the lost and extreme on the edges
Fall to sainthood or debauching style
I'll follow the path of the gentle and meek
Everyday putting myself on trial

Ode to John Gillespie Magee, Jr

John Gillespie Magee, Jr penned the poem High Flight.
My humble sonnet for him

Heaven’s Gate

Oh valiant lad who seized the sky
And took to wing with heart in hand
Where combat raged in final verdicts
Thor’s hammer at your young command

While in such mortal combat there
The poet’s expanding spirit soaring
And with that same heart carried forth
Upon the page with love your mooring

The true and brave who shared your sky
Who hurtled through the air and cloud
O’er heath and sea, to save your kin
Their hearts though mourning, shimmering proud

Regret ye not their eyes are teared
When Glory bound to find your fate
Your pen and linen wait for you
Upon the path to Heaven’s Gate

Shambhala

The sun still rises, I still wake
Oh where the Lord your soul did take
I weep alone
And wonder why
Is all we see fair doomed to die

None may escape the reapers blade
E'en the earth, the Lord has made
Where we reside
This little time
Biding for the sweet sublime

The promise made, we tell our kind
Of all reborn in God's Good Time
And e'en the earth
A plain of glass
Where Shambhala will stand at last

Now I will rise and seek my fate
The Dharma's wheel, it cannot wait
Then I will ride
Until it's done
E'er closer to a setting sun

So come my friends, we'll ride abreast
And pray we can withstand the test
Take a hand
Climb aboard
We'll trust the Word spake by The Lord

Questions

Oh questions, questions; Yes young man
Be glad you've come to me
Who've wandered in the stinging rain
And crossed the angry seas

Who has account and access to
The wisdom of the sages
Gathered like the morning dew
Throughout the passing ages

So sit ye here and bend an ear
Then open up your mind
It is not very often boy
You come across my kind

Patience now, you are so keen
To fit it all forthwith
Inside a box so neat and trim
And overlook the gift

So here it is, all in a phrase
For simple ones to know
You're only here a little time
No guarantees to show

The secret then is looking up
And for that moment raised
Have joy the moment's there at all
Eternal God be Praised

And every moment after that
Seek to exude your love
For it is how you tarry here
As how you're judged above

So be you on your way young prat
And keep your eyes a’tweak
Watch, more than judge, the wounded world
And listen more than speak

The Autumn Wind

The Autumn Wind came brisk today
And begged the leaves come down and play
We have to ask our Mother Oak
They answered in reply

The Mother Oak loved all her leaves
And if they played
Then she’d be pleased
She let them down into the wind to fly

Then in the happy wind they gyred
In colors matching earth and fire
As sunshine split the sky and danced
Amongst the mirth and joy

All day they twirled, ‘till evens bell
The wind grew quiet as shadows fell
And leaf and sun then rested
Exhausted from their play

Then Mother Oak bid all sweet dreams
As Mister Moon smiled down his beams
And Night did bed them all away
To dance again another day

Winston

Into the looming dark
My old friend Winston gazed
“Come hither friend and see the light!”
He said with finger raised

So straining hard and squinting then
I saw a glimmer spare
By and by it closer came
Soon it would be here

It seemed so much a phantom
Floating there upon the mist
But as its bearing yielded not
I saw his sat’ric twist

The light was firm embedded
Upon a giant of wrath
And there on either side of me
Were rails that bound its path

I turned to see my world of love
In peril dire and dread
And wondered why I tarried so
When I’d much warning had

Dear Winston tried to make a point
He did so as a Tao
That sometimes peril come as light
And recognize it now

For soon your group enlightenment
May be your abrogation
There’s never peace where justice fails
And giants presage your nation

Ra

Oh, that I with idle jest have marked a shadow
Above the worried brow of any I call friend.
Who would with that same fidelity as Cardinals, red winged,
Set upon a stand of sunflowers, knowing only that their fellowship
Cannot stop the breeze or season
Nor alter in it's Majesty The Celestial Path of Ra.
Where in such place mark the surety that mortal bonds are soon loosed
And all we have is but a vapor,
Left here only to comfort one another in our shared affliction.

Enchanted

We never know when fate will strike
And with what hammer it will bring
Will sorrow fall in buffeting blows
Or light and joy as music rings

For some the burden of their path
Is set the day that life begins
Was Karma there to chart the way?
With tally grim of prior sins?

But sometimes one will slip the veil
And in poetic bliss expand
Then share the light and music sweet
As shimmering forms escape their hand

Then we out in the hinterlands
Will smile and say “I knew them when”
Remembering the gentle child
Who loved us all, and will again