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

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 well that their fellowship
Cannot stop the breeze or season
Nor alter in its 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

North Wind

Seething souls filled with self hate
Drew the Devil to the gate
Spawned the water monster dread
Coming west to claim its dead

From the night air came the song
Waking all the slumb’ring throng
And we heard the quiet strain
O’er and o’er the song refrained

“Come North wind and we will see
All good things whar' meant to be
Our bonds tighter and defined
Whittlin' out the justice kind.”

Then the full moon broke the rim
Turned we all to call the wind
Firm Polaris showed the way
Low the song began to play

In the plains and mountains breaking
Earth and air were slowly quaking
Joined we then, North Wind’s song
From the lips of all the throng

“Come North wind and we will see
All good things whar' meant to be
Our bonds tighter and defined
Whittlin' out the justice kind.”

In the night the Doves did coo
As we buzzed the didgeridoo
Mocking bird and Jay awoke
Then Majestic Cardinal spoke

“Hear us now and know the truth.
God has made us master sooth.
Sleepers waken, hear the song.”
All together sang the throng.

“Come North wind and we will see
All good things whar' meant to be
Our bonds tighter and defined
Whittlin' out the justice kind.”

Drained the hate that spawned the gale,
Souls you sold for necklace shells,
Balance like a scything blade,
Sets upon the life you've made.

In this time of Shangri-La,
More than ever, turn to God
"All's forgiven!" Sing the strain,
wicking off survival's pains.

“Come North wind and we will see
All good things whar' meant to be
Our bonds tighter and defined
Whittlin' out the justice kind.”

Now the storm is but a lull
Still your basket's never full
So in Grace present your needs
to the Sacred Heart that bleeds

Good-Bye Poem To The Professor

Always tout the higher path,
Share the spark you're given.
With gentle hand dissuade the lax,
Press the life you're livin'

Your Friend,
Beto

On The Road

On the road. Like a Dharma Bum
My bible penned by Kerouac
What I have in sovereign verve
Makes up for any thing I lack

Your pillowed beds and comforters
Will make you soft and wake too late
Arise and ride the Dharma's wheel
It travels on. It cannot wait

And though I bed in humble kind
Or lader with the kit and freight
The world is mine and all it holds
I travel on. I cannot wait

Little Bluejay

The nest was too small for you
Newly mated were your sires
And the food too plentiful
Grow beyond the rim you did

So you fell and would have perished
But for one of tender heart
Took the very hat that shaded
Filled with rose petals and you

Then the surrogate nest was lifted
In the old pine tree was set
By the nest twas insufficient
While the elders cried and pecked

Now the dust has fully settled
In the straw hat being fed
Sitting in the sweet rose petals
What a mansion for a fledge

My Song

I wrote this song so long ago
The years gone on the fly
I poured my love out on the page
I'm sure I must have cried

I've strung it up and strung it down
And tuned it back and forth
Played it for the crowd and kin
Sold for all it's worth

Now I open up my Martin Case
To give it one more try
The crowd is waiting noisily
They love it when I cry

The hall is quiet and empty now
the lights are low and such
Just sitting with my old guitar
And the tune I've played too much

The wisdom comes upon me now
While sitting in my pain
What you write to show your love
Should ne'er be worked for gain

For then your love is just a tool
To fill your wallet spare
And though your coffers my be filled
Your heart will then be bare