Somewhere over the mountain, hidden away,
There’s a land that is calling; I must not delay.
Somewhere over the mountain, that’s where she’ll be,
In the alpenglow, Mary's waiting for me.
They said I'd never recover from my stroke
A nightmare from which I never woke
A big chunk of me gone, a lower plateau
But I left the home, and off I did go.
It's our lot to grow old, not due to our sins
Trails go cold and entropy wins
But I'll boat down the waterfall where snowmelt flows,
I’ll find Mary in the place that nobody knows.
The terrain is forbidding, the ridge like a knife
Can't undo time, can't crash the afterlife
No country for old men, no breaking the rule
But I have to attempt, to give up is so cruel
Somewhere over the mountain, I wish it were so,
Mary is singing where wildflowers grow.
The starling will guide me, the meteor will show
The path to the valley where lost rivers go.
I went over the mountain, then took a fall
a thousand foot down off a sheer valley wall.
They buried my story, because no one must know.
They say I died then, but I died long ago.
No Damage Done
The storm approached suddenly
And the wind blew fiercely
But the tree fell slowly
It landed softly
Trying not to disturb the gentle plants and trees around it
The animals in the forest
Watched it fall
It would have been a cozy home
For me and my family
Said the squirrel
The perfect place for a nest
Said the robin
Its nuts would have given me food for winter
Said the chipmunk
It was a nice shady spot for napping
Said the bear
It landed softly, no damage done
Said the man
The animals of the forest agreed
The man will never know
The value of a tree
I open my mouth
My anger spills out
I say things I don’t mean
And mean things I won’t say
Damage
Oh such damage
Strangers or friends
Words I can’t defend
Family is broken
From words that I’ve spoken
When will it end?
Damage
Too much damage
So conflicted
I’ve inflicted
So much hurt
So much pain
Words like weapons
Sharper than knives
Killing dreams
Shredding lives
Damage
Unjustified
Unspeakable
Damage
Bludgeoning words
Shattered spirits
Wounded hearts
Crippled lives
Killing words
Chilling words
Handful of syllables
Damage
I count fifteen enormous branches on my giant oak
If lightning got them and they fell, it would be no joke.
I bet each one of them weighs at least forty pounds
This magnificent tree might be the largest oak around.
The thought is a terror when alone and you feel weak.
Sometimes, the stakes are so high, for fear you dare not speak.
Neither bet your honest dollar it will not enter through that door;
Its arrival will unravel everything, ending your lives if nothing more.
It's a fearsome being; such a despicable thing. It's my dad, boogeyman.
Deep in your psyche thrives a fear that will surely wreck your day.
Like this vicious entity, it will make you wish you prayed!
Best to keep your footsteps muted lest you wake it from a sleep.
Remove yourself hastily and find somewhere to escape.
Its own children were given as a live sacrifice. It's my dad, boogeyman.
The agony will never leave while the nightmare abounds.
It hears every footfall when it listens for your sounds.
Whether you know or either, it will find you somewhere in the dark.
If you're in pain, better to feel shame, and think twice about crying aloud.
It's a fearful being; such a despicable thing. It's my dad, boogeyman.
My dad, boogeyman
They are afraid.
They see the power I contain.
They tried to collar it
and control me so I would never see that power.
What they failed to understand
is the care and love
they endlessly received
was coming to an end
and with that failure,
they would bend the knee.
The bombs they dropped
turned my love to anger.
They tried playing victim.
They tried to change the script.
The day I stood my ground
they learned any love I had for them
would never be found.
They tried to crush my soul,
and replaced it with a searing pain.
I had to remember that pain I was seeing
was never mine.
It was the pain of the truth about them
and their power was fading.
Thanks to their treatment of my heart,
I learned from it all.
I have now become the one
who will make them fall.
Hurricane
You crash ashore like a savage one-eyed lion attacking its prey. Hunger gnaws at your belly, the trip from Africa has been long. Wind like claws slashing and ripping, roofs torn from their moorings and flung aside like paper. Concrete and steel buildings assaulted and torn apart like Lincoln logs. Your voice roaring, torrents of rain fall like spittle from your massive jaws. Storm surges form from your massive size are kicked inland by your mighty paws. Your clear calm single eye gazes down in triumph.
you pause suddenly
it is only a short rest
more rage yet to come
With a frenzy you resume the attack. Broken gas mains shoot jets of flame. Partial buildings with broken windows like toothless old hags. Vehicles tossed about like matchbook toys after a child’s tantrum. Boats found far inland high and dry. Your appetite sated for the moment you move on in search of other prey.
after the raging storm
destruction is everywhere
we will rebuild
The face that used to be cheerful is gone
The illusion dims all real hopes
Break thousands of hopes and ideals
The loss of life at a young age
For those who are trapped by drugs
Don't and don't try it
If you don't want to live in misery
Drugs are very dangerous
Sin, and destroy all souls and bodies
End up in prison bars
Let's prepare our mental strength
For the sake of welcoming a cheerful future
Live happily, healthily and peacefully
In the future it will be useful
Later happy until old age
Collateral Damage
Social
Evolution
Cleanly Sliced...
With A
Selfish
Edge.
-Gray Squirrel
11-08-2024
The hardest lesson old age has taught me,
About life is that collateral damage will never let me be.
When I was young collateral damage was not real to me,
It was something dreamed up to by others with no plan B,
Those in Authority who could not see,
That everything should be free,
And no harm should ever come to thee or me,
With all accidents avoidable if they listened to me.
Sadly we all have to make decisions that will not please,
Everyone with whom we chose to shoot the breeze.
And the further up the chain of command we climb,
The more likely someone will lose a limb,
Or a life will be cut short before its time.
Having learnt that lesson,
I say to thee who have not yet had that vision,
Procrastination will only lead to a decision,
That may put more in heaven,
And leave few with a break that is even.
So, when you need to make a decision,
You will know time is never kind to those who are on a mission,
To make every decision,
From, a no one can get hurt, position.
In the rush of living my heart stops
between each beat
and for a moment
or maybe just half a moment
she is there.
Not once, but always;
Waiting for me
between those beats,
in every one of my remaining days.
“ I miss you.”
Written as if the sun’s passing mattered more.
As if being uttered with muttered words,
heard only in the hollow of a poets’ dream,
could bring the past to life
or resurrect a love.
Words left borrowed
heavy on the heart
Actions defaulting
stillborn and dark
Pawning the foundling
orphan on loan
Love unbequested
— dying alone
(Dreamsleep: April, 2024)
Conceptual paralysis
Hot wired matrix
delusional her hereditary mono-glide
Diet tried smokers cough
Apocalyptic pop-tart
Disappoint a trend of the needy
You gave it back
Watching the watcher
You had a laugh
The diamond left its mount
The horse shouted out rude names
The map of life is on your palm
Testing your attention to see if you're real
The missing songs sang of castles walls
Paradox of building with sand
Next government field trip
Not no fun no fake-ness in the bosoms
Season's as her bounty
The streets of all our passion
People fill in the spaces
Kill in weird places
How can you no care,
Silently demanding
Glamorous outstanding
Electric compassion is who ate her
Was never far from anticipation
The dream loses fire once a foot has felt
More than the pain and shock of lost desire
If you try to count
the damage of hate
on this planet earth,
you can become
dead before you reach
the finishment
of the project.
It is a difficult assignment
which can confuse
any top world accountant.
October 04/2023
If ever there was a WW3,
I wonder where me and my family will be.
Will anyone of us survive,
Then how will they live, those that are still alive.
Where will it be,
What will we see.
To what sort of damage will we be fated,
How much of the world will be obliterated.
Will animals still roam free,
Or will the fish all die in a boiling sea.
Still it's pointless to worry too much about it,
Because I expect that the result would mean that being alive would just be s**t.
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