Harvest Prayer

Blankets of fog rest softly on corn
Caressing brown tassels in early light
A soft mist kisses the cheeks of morning
And soothes the soul with ethereal white

Across the field, shadows of trees
Stand silhouette like guards of dawn;
Soldiers silent in corridors eastern
Await the king in castles of the sun

He burns in glory just below the horizon
Sending forth rays into velvet sky
Pulling quilts from the beds of his children
As they raise their green sleeves high

The palaces glow in rosy reflection
Clouds crown the day with a wreath
Then golden laurels in every direction
And every honor the sun can bequeath

Waking stalks rustle quietly in prayer
Their striated leaves like a chorus
Whispering hope to the farmer where
He stands listening for their voices

In Davy Jones' Locker

Beneath the crushing weight
Of waves and endless tides
Below the blue, into the night
A pirate ship with treasure hides

Coins of gold and precious jewels
Upon the bottom rest
Where Davy Jones laughs at fools
Who seek his treasure chest

In life, he was a simple man;
A sailor by his trade
Since, the captain has been damned
For prideful boasts he made

He went sailing round the Cape
With lockers full of plunder
And dared that God or stormy sea
Should ever take him under

Between Agulhas and The Point
At a place they call "Good Hope"
There arose a mighty storm
No mortal man could cope

For all the skipper's daring talk
And deals made with the devil
It was God's plank he had to walk
And there befell him evil

For such a wicked wave arose
And swept the open deck
It pulled the hull and sails below
Until the ship was wrecked

Then to the bottom of the sea
Went Davy with his crew
And true believers they will be
Who round the Cape anew

Crags are washing in the churn
And jagged boulders bare
Near here the sea took Davy Jones
But no man can say where

But if you look for pirate's gold
Or adventure, seek your measure
Take warning in the tale that's told
Of Davy and his treasure

Soldiers

Soldiers. soldiers
Where are you bound
And what are you going to do
With those hand grenades and bayonet blades?
Where are you marching to?

Soldiers , soldiers
Where have you been
Have you conquered another hill?
When explosions cease, will you find peace
Or will you be soldiers still?

Sunset Wine

Evening wears like five o'clock shadows;
grizzled grey gruff beneath wrinkled brow.
Every memory, taunting and hollow
except for black and white pictures now.
There is the man in the felt fedora,
smoking his smelly old Cuban cigar.
Back bent low as he rests on elbows
over his whiskey in a seaside bar
The restaurant air, heavy and greasy;
Scallops and shrimp and oyster stew
While ocean waves wash slow and easy
primordial sands with strains of blue
Piano tunes play from hazy poolrooms
Ivory notes that are filled with soul
A leather-jacketed man chalks his cue
Jazz of Count Basie and Nat King Cole
Will we fall in love only
to find it regrettable?
Shall I remain; a sweet refrain...
Unforgettable?
The night wears on in trails of blue
Cigarette smoke fills the seaside bar
Rolling like dark Mississippi bayous
As Muddy Waters plays his guitar
Girls hike up their shining skirts
Flash of flesh as they dance and grind
Buying their whiskey never hurts
Knowing the thing on every man's mind
Night goes flying in raucous laughter
Only to settle on spilling rim
Where the drink is drunk; sedated after
In quiet corners where light is dim
To be certain there will be
A morning after;
a dull accounting of distant sin
But tonight we are free
From parish and pastor
To swim in the sea or bathtub gin
Ragweed smell in restaurant lot
Tells of lovers parked in the night
Windows rolled up and smoking pot
Away from others and safe from sight
And all the while we hear the band;
Blues and Jazz of a thousand nights
Black cat bone, Hoochie Coochie Man
In waves reflecting colored lights
Out on the sea the moon shines alone
Drinking the ocean; salty with brine
Pulling her skirts and shuffling on
Until all is forgotten in sunset wine

Postcard

Inside a secondhand copy
Of The Old Man and the Sea
Is a gray postcard from Paris
Addressed from you to me
The month of May, three years ago
Not much to say, how could we know
Eight months later you would be gone
Now, I lay in my bed alone
Thinking how such a thing can be
When here are words you've written me
And so much more they seem to say
"I saw the Eiffel Tower Today."
The postage stamp, La Seine, Paris
Inside the Old Man and the Sea
Between the pages of Hemingway
In a faded copy of equal gray
Copyrighted in nineteen fifty-two
I have a postcard sent from you
"I've thought of you often"
And here, I smile
And dry a tear after awhile
To close the book with a tacit wish
Where the old man battles his mighty fish
And I silently struggle with what to do
With a postcard from Paris
And memories of you

Black and Blues (song lyrics)

I've got a black heart, and a blues soul
Guess I knew it from the start
But now it's taken control
People said keep your head down boy
And you'll be okay
My head's been down for so long now
Lord, all I can do is pray

I got a black heart, and a blues soul
And just like the turning wheel
All I can do is roll
I've known a few good women
But they left me alone
Been dark for so long now
My heart has turned to stone

Maybe took it for granted
But now it's taken its toll
Maybe not all I wanted
But now it's part of the show
You can laugh if you want to
But it don't make a damn
You can cry if you feel it
But it's just who I am

I got a black heart, and a blues soul
Yes, it's torn me all apart
For that sweet rock and roll
Record company executive
Said, "You'll do okay"
It's been so long and the contract's gone
But I'm still here to play

I've got a black heart, and a blues soul
Guess I knew it from the start
When the hurting took hold
People said, get a guitar boy
And you'll go a long way
Been so gone for so long now
Lord, all I can do is play

I've got a black heart, and a blues soul
Never thought I'd get this far
Living out on the road
Spent all of my daydreams
On one long endless night
But when darkness comes and I hit those strings
I know it's gonna' be alright

I got a black heart and a blues soul...

Golden Letters

The letters that you wrote me have
Turned golden in my mind
The yellow pages folded like
The prayerful hands of time

Each smile and kiss remembered like
A child on Christmas morn
Who wakes to white December
On the day that Christ was born

The sparkle in your eyes outshines
The brightest of the stars
Twinkling in the summer sky
I cannot reach so far

But I would hold your beauty like
The heavens hold the moon
Warm me like the morning sun
Until the afternoon

And when our loving time has set
And darkness closes in
Never will our hearts forget
How sweet our love has been

For your love has been to me
The treasure of my days
I have known such pleasure from
Your kind and tender ways

The letters that you wrote me have
Grown faded now it’s true
But it has not jaded there
The constant thought of you

And I will go on loving you
Until the end of time
Even though your letters have
Turned golden in my mind