For me and mine...
Forgive him -
If he seems to have no patience
For the lazy...
We -
May be
Because of
He.
’98
67
Exclusion is a Silent Dagger
Exclusion is a silent missile
That kills you all the same
My broken heart is filled with pain Yet I cannot return the same
"Out of the loop", is my domain...
My sentence is to here remain
Exclusion is a sudden dagger
That's deadly all the same
I hang on to my shattered pride
Behind a mask of joy I hide; but -
The ocean of tears will not subside My bleeding heart has finally died
Exclusion is a silent dagger
Inside I scream for love in pain
Never brought to me in name
Now in the shadow, I hide my shame
Receive no kindness, receive no blame I never learned to play this game
Exclusion is a velvet dagger, that
Slays you all the same
My spirit stumbles, staggers, falls I rise and turn, to face it all
Now see my love has left no trace
But this? Her day? This is not time or place Exclusion is a shadow dagger
Inside I scream for love in pain
Slicing up my insides, I swallow
Shards of broken pride
And keep a smile upon my face
I will not show a trace... Of pain Exclusion is a silent dagger
Inside I scream for love in vain
Brave Sister
Mere words cannot describe, our beaming pride The loving admiration; as you proved to the world And yourself
That a woman of boundless determination And positive energy, like yourself
Can overcome the powerful
Negative people
Who would try and drag you down...
You stood your ground, up on the stand While lawyers tried to use you
Stood your ground, up on the stand
As you faced your ex abuser
Stood your ground, as you lost time Lost pay, and lost serenity...
Now who is the loser?
So be sure of what you've got
Been through an awful lot, to hell
And back; And now
More jail time for the whack...
Know, now
That nothing is impossible
For you...
And in your heart of hearts
You must try to forgive, let go of hate But never, ever
Forget...
You stood your ground
And won! ’95
69
F AMILY FIRST
It’s easy to find a man like me, if You can see my kids, there I will
Be. Lending a hand, but Out of the way.
So it probably seems
I’ve not much to say
That I cannot see through
The games “big” people play
Maybe
I should’ve tried to be
A party animal, emulating Farley
Kinnison, or Belushi; live fast, die young, why grow Into a patient father poet, you know?
Should I just chase after money, or fame, Fleeting approval, the love
Of the gullible and
Distracted masses? No
I only live for my family, so -
What is unique about men like me?
Nothin’, I guess; and most would agree, it Would seem to be near unanimously
(Cont.)
While an exceptionally peculiar “man”
Like the pedophile Michael Jackson, is stil A hero to many… Once America’s musical Prodigal son; now a wel known child molester…
( read the evidence!
Like Boss Limbaugh, Jackson was another Prescription drug abuser, and
Holier than thou
Hypocrite, too.)
If most tragic stories
Trace back to our (difficult) childhoods -
Why not do all I can, now, when I have the chance to make a positive impact?
I hope for the best, while I
Prepare for the worst, and still
Can imagine a day, that we truly live our lives For our own Family First.
7’09
71
With Only A Husband To Help Her
I cannot really tell for sure
if she hates me, the house
or the kids the most
when she’s all geeked up like this.
Assaulting her agenda
there are so many things to do
and so little time to do them...
with only a husband to help her.
People are always in her way,
and the partner’s a potent reminder of all that angers her now…
and only this husband to hear her.
Soon even her man, can no longer ignore The growing frustration; and the
Inescapable impossibility
Of preserving a marriage...
(single-handedly)
Attacking her agenda
They can’t move past their anger -
She’s got so many things to do
And so little time to do them
And only a husband to help her…
I know there’s plenty of work to do But if she could just slow down a bit, Learn to appreciate the difficult life She chose as a modern wife, and…
Stop running away, it’s never too late To seize each day and embrace our fate. ‘08
P AY NOW
Most parents seem to think, little
Kids are to be seen, not heard. Any Attention, spent on children, is an inconvenient Interruption, from important adult matters When the opposite is true
Most adults concerns, in fact
Only serve to distract from
Important child care duties
And, of course
It boomerangs, and the older they
Become, the more attention they need from you.
Now you’re left wondering how the others Suddenly got so far ahead…
It’s in those early, formative years That kids require the most of
Your time, and in those moments
They need your attention…
Undivided. Pay now
Or pay later, when all those
More important interests
Wil seem like wasted time
When more clearly seen in hindsight. 6-09
73
Missing You
(For Frances)
This house is not a home
Today
Staircase? It’s still
Rising fine, and
The bed, it seems
The bed, both sides
Are mine, all mine
The kitchen holds the fridge
Oven, sink, and new paint, too
But one thing we can’t live without What makes this house a home…
Is You.
8’96
Night time is the write time
(So much left to do)
Now you, my love
While giving us your all -
All you could seem to give,
Are left again to wonder
Just why a man like me -
(While simple)
Needs more -
Needs so much more from life...
Well -
There's simply so much left
To discover if I write -
(It does seem again tonight)
So as I rise, from the bed we share I must say,
Good night my dear -
I love you and
Sleep tight, my dear -
I must rise to write.
3'93
75
Anyway…
Me and the old man are at it again
and the rest of the family
are better
when they don't have to see
the two tired tigers
tied at the tail
tearing apart what
the world has left
of us, which isn't all that much
anyway.
6/00
My Love's Away
(For Frances)
My heart grew fonder...
Again today -
I need your love -
But you've gone away...
Your tender touch
It is my crutch
Your love for me
Just means so much...
And I miss the sex -
Of course, that too
But most of all
I just miss..
You.
8'92
77
shut down and move along
"I'm mad at him anyway", Chrissy said aloud For her Dad to hear, as well as everyone else (but he didn't, got up and walked away) take it easy on 'em, I wanted to say but didn't he's only a man, we're wired up differently the female brain finds the emotional connection men see from another direction
he's got it tougher than me in that way with two daughters to go along with his wife (my sister) , I've got a son and a daughter he's getting an emotional overload
and for men, sometimes it's easier
just to shut it down and move along
My Side (of town)
Our streets
Are dry
By the morning
Light
Telling not
The tale
Of our stormy
Stormy night.
6'93
79
Footbal
81
th
Mind Over Matter (The 12 Man)
While most of the fans stayed home, hearing The horrible weather reports all week A foot of snow, fell thick and slow On the few of us who made the show
We go to see our team win games
We go to see our team win live
We go to drink and have a time
Enjoy the day and feel alive
Hobbling on crutches, I went
With a cast over my broken shin
To see a football game, up endless
Slippery steps, to the nosebleed section We came to drink and scream and yell We came out here to raise some hell We came to be part of the scene
We came out here to lift the team
First game I remember, another cold & snowy day OJ broke 2,000 yards, most fans stayed home That day, too. My Dad and I, at seven, stuck it out He found that place, where we belonged... together.
Thirty five years later, still rooting for our team Through good times and bad, many rough seasons Of rain and cold, ice and snow, we’re always there We brave the conditions for a few simple reasons (cont.)
83
Moving beyond our physical selves
We are absorbed into the crowd
We see our energy lifting the players We know we give our team an advantage Die hard fans, we like to think
If we don’t mind the weather
We endure, it doesn’t matter
What it does to us
Mind over matter’s a simple thing
Brutal conditions are pushed aside, We rise up and cheer… together
Filled with hope and pride
We came out here to see a win
We came out here to feel alive
We came out here to seize the day
We came to love our life this way. 10/08
(DISCLAIMER !
Do not drink if you can’t handle it!)
Let Go (Grow up)
The complete confidence
Brought, then lost, through youth
Is temporarily revived
And sometimes thrives, yet
All the same
Dies
With alcohol.
‘91
85
Parking Lot, Section 8
(The Meadowlands)
On these days
We don't discuss
The weather
We endure
But on a recent
Quite unpleasant
December day
When wind and rain
Pelted
The tailgate
Parties, following
The game
After rooting in
A losing cause
Again
We had our beers
And cooked our burgers
Anyway; And without complaint
We endured
But we'd never seen a breeze
That could send our melting cheese
Into the air, with such ease
And then we cursed our fate.
Published by "inky blue", NY
Defeat (ed) (Fake Spike) Discussing broken strategies
As we lumber slowly home
Sobered by reality
We should have fucken known.
Too good to be true
What's a fan to do?
Had a win within our grasp, yet
Here again I'm feeling blue.
11/27/94 (Miami 28 NY Jets 24) 87
Defeat (ed), again (Fake Spike) Seeing it happen before
So many times before
We were quite well prepared
For the final "coup de grace"...
But sitting there
Watching it unfold before us
Wasn't the lowest point
(Although, at the time
You'd have had a hard time
Convincing us of that...)
The lingering pain
The constant, unwelcome reminders
In the following days
Well...
We left the stadium
Feeling nothing
Could be worse...
And we were wrong
Again.
11’94
Home From The Football Game
“You guys were so loud!”
My girlfriend said –
And really seemed to mean it…
We’d done all we could do.
“Not too much
To cheer about there.”, I slurred,
Still couldn’t conceive it, wouldn’t Believe it…
Almost saying, couldn’t quite
Be glad you weren’t there…
She knows, that
No matter the result
I wouldn’t miss it
For the world…
It’s just a part of us now.
A part –
That makes us
Whatever we are.
12’93
89
POLITICAL
91
Pat Tillman (Personal Responsibility) Do you know about Pat Tillman?
(If not - Look him up!)
Talk about integrity...
If we could only bottle it
and force feed it
All around Washington, D.C.
Starting with President Bush,
Who seems to despise, or at least
Disregard, all personal responsibility But Pat Tillman? He gave up his career In the National Football League
And millions of dollars
To get al-Qaeda and Bin Laden
(Extremely) Unfortunately, a Good and Honorable
Man, also
Gave his Life, and for a lie…
Getting Bin Laden and
those guilty on 9/11
was never
our first priority, as we are still being told...
And I hate to have to say it.
Then in the aftermath of his demise They took this bad situation
And somehow made it worse.
Look that up too.
How do these bastards sleep at night?
93
M
EMORIAL DAY (NICK MANDARAS) (Nick Mandaras, 19 year old casualty, whose Idea for soccer balls came to fruition, after His death; after he had…)
Told his Mom that he wasn’t
Coming back this time, and she actual y Believed him, before he left
For another tour in Iraq.
I’ve known people who made similar sorts Of dire predictions, about their demise, and They are usually wrong, but on top of that, People rarely believe them anyway.