I didn't pull my weight
The boss was really sore
He said "you're second rate
and I won't take it anymore."
He continued raving
On how I was misbehaving
Said my job was not worth saving
And so I longed for Avon
Avon by the sea
I must go back to Avon
Avon by the sea
When my lifeboat needs a haven
When my problems need a maven
This is where I need to be
There's a ten-mile barrier island
It's not that far away:
Where ospreys touch down majestically
and beach forests gently sway.
But also on the Jersey shore
are the roots that once made me,
In the little town of Avon,
and when all the walls are caving
and hunger turns to craving
I retreat to Avon,
Avon by the sea
I took the train last September
Got off at Asbury Park
Strode the miles of boardwalk
Had to stop at coming dark.
I had regrets, I shed a tear
Then I saw a dolphin at setting light
At Ocean Grove I sat on a pier:
And on the shore it seemed alright.
I've paid my dues, I made my plea
They say I was guilty in the first degree
Let me lose the past in Avon,
I'll fly in like an escaping raven
Look! My friends are wildly wavin'
in Avon by the sea.
Duty sits on her right shoulder
Honor sits proudly on her left
She has honed herself a warrior
to never cry or become bereft
Her mighty sword fells the enemy,
one after one till they are done
Her inner self is honed in the fire
of every day's brilliant, risen sun
Her empire is more than soldiers,
it is a lesson in listening to the heart's beat,
driving them ever forward with bravery...
never accepting that thing called defeat
79 words © 8 hours ago, Sherry Asbury
I am from spaghetti
from tomato pie and pigs feet dipped in sause
I am from mt Italian neighborhood
(treeless city streets.
I am from my grandfather's house
who I never met
I am from yellow Duncan yo yos
and Wiffle ball bats
I am from the Aunt
who loved me like a mother
The bus rides to Asbury Park
sitting 'round the pool deck in
wooden lounge chairs.
The sting in my nose from a salty ocean
The sand in my hair
to neon rides in the twilight.
I am from those moments memories are made;
Days so swiftly squandered away
Want you please speak to me in the 60's
In far out psychedelic rhymes
Take a ride beside the blacklight
On the Velvet Underground
Wake me up with the Strawberry Alarm Clock
Serving incense and peppermints in bed
Fixing a hole where the rain gets in
As the 60's flood my head
Walk with me through Asbury
With a flower child in hand
Listening to the groovy tunes
Of Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
Hang out with the hippies
Before Monterey goes pop
As they fly like butterflies
At the moment the acid drops
Want you please speak to me in the 60's
In the innocence of peace and love
Back then we all had our share
But is there ever really enough?
Below the wavy whispers in the melancholy sea
Sinks the timeless place where ships were once sailing fast and free
In the empty broken buildings glass and garbage thrown about
No one looking out the windows
Only seabirds scream and shout
Once the sidewalks teamed with tourists
Once the cotton candy flowed
Once the happy funhouse flourished
Once a long long time ago
Now we pick up shards of broken dreams
And put them in our coats
Wetake them home and so it seems
We carry on their hopes.
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