Transitions

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Transitions

 

The tree of life is barren now

The air is crisp and cool

Geese have marked a trail down south

Leaving we poor lonely fools

To gander at the mystery

As it unfolds before our eyes

We marvel at transitions

The changing colors of the sky

We understand as we grow old

The future it foretells

We grow we fade we vanish

We know the story well

The time comes for us to shelter

Under roofs and in the ground

Our lives will close and open to

New sights new scents new sounds

We will have no tears of sorrow

No mourning howls at the moon

We will wonder at the chance

To dance a brand-new tune

 

 

Spirits Rise

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Spirits Rise

 

The spirit rises

The soul finds its home

The mystery falls

To the great unknown

 

If dreams are our guides

Then dreams will roam

On wings we will ride

To our spiritual home

 

We hold it in our prayers

We wish it to be true

Our world built in layers

The old becomes the new

 

Our ends are but beginnings

Always subject to revise

Our losses become winnings

As we let our spirits rise

 

Effigy to Robert E. Lee

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: TRUE HISTORY

Effigy to Robert E. Lee

 

We bought the whitewashed story

The noble Southerner

The native son who fought

For his people

For his homeland

For his way of life

 

As God is my witness…

 

We bought the whole narrative

Of the proud and brave South

Fighting against all odds

For an old-fashioned righteous cause

The plantation as an industry

Where blacks were merely workers

Where they were given meaningful lives

Grateful to their masters

For food clothing and shelter

And honest labor

 

All hail Robert E. Lee!

 

The finest of his generation

Number one in his class

Defender of the abomination

Of racial bigotry and slavery

 

As God is my witness

He will never be revered again

 

Perpetual Crisis

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

Perpetual Crisis

 

In a world of constant crisis

The flowers have no color

The ocean has no scent

The glow of light is duller

The simple joys are spent

 

When darkness haunts the home

We may never see the other

Whose troubles may be worse

We promise you my brothers

Some day we’ll lift the curse

 

But we are lost in all our worries

A new crisis every day

Our health our homes our way of life

We no longer see our way

Through the maze of constant strife

 

We must learn to stand together

Fighting hard for all it’s worth

Where we live and other places

All good people on this earth

Of all religions and all races

 

The Last to Go

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS

The Last to Go

 

Daughters before mothers

Sons before fathers

Like warm bathing in icy waters

A disturbance in the natural order

Like night before day

Like a bridge on the border

Like the past before tomorrow

Comfort before anger

Rage before sorrow

The stages of mourning

Turned on their heads

We must mourn the living

And converse with the dead

No one lives forever

The wise ones said

It is a road we all travel

One we travel alone

We can never look back

We can never go home

But oh to the one who is last to go

To him belongs grief

To her belongs woe

There will be no more tears

When we’ve come to the end

There will be no condolences

Our loved ones to send

We will have no more fear

As we round the last bend

We will welcome the chance

To revisit our friends