An Old Wooden Bridge

A quiet path I traveled by                                                                                                      

When soon a bridge the path became,

And over waters rushing by,

I wondered at its wooden frame.

For old and tired it looked to be,

Its rotting wood in weathered gray;

But if the far side I was to see ‑

Well then there was no other way.

So I considered my choices,

Having for sure come from somewhere,

While from the stream came no voices;

And what if beyond lead nowhere?

Although to go back I couldn't,

And in my heart of hearts I knew;

While pining I know I shouldn't ‑

But standing there what could I do?

And of such fear it's not denied,

As I held that rickety wood;

But here I am on the far side,

And now what's overcome is understood.

North Carolina Nights

The moon over Polecat Creek,

Merry in the month of May;

The reflection a white streak

Across the water to display.

 

North Carolina nights to tell,

Croaking frogs and a whippoorwill;

Like Alice in Wonderland swell,

Yeah, for me this state fits the bill.

 

But instead of Polecat Creek

With the full moon oh so bright;

It's that Cheshire cat jowl to cheek

With that toothy grin I have in sight.

 

My imagination running wild

In North Carolina nights to tell;

Where Cheshire cat moons have smiled

And polecats you can't even smell.

 

Now broadleaf tobacco I surely know

For I've been to Raleigh and Winston-Salem,

But at Polecat Creek in time so slow;

What's this thin leaf stuff I've been inhaling?

 

Oh yeah, North Carolina nights of mine

And your moon so very beguiling;

It don't matter for whatever the shine,

You keep this cat forever smiling.

Virginia is for Lovers

Virginia is for lovers said the sign

And even though we were just passing through,

My good wife and I inside the state line,

Said, "What the heck, let's find out if it's true."

 

Now we've been married what seems forever,

Complacent and comfortable in our roles;

And romance well, I shouldn't say, "Never,"

But in our fabric truly there's been holes.

 

So to Jamestown on to Virginia Beach,

A bit of history to the present day;

Like our life the two of us, side by each;

Through thick and thin together come what may.

 

Perhaps at times we've taken for granted

Our years together now fading from view;

But the truth to tell she's all I've wanted,

And Virginia's for lovers, I now know it's true.

 

Yes, a hotel in Richmond changed it all

Such renewed passion the old wife and me;

And feeling like Traveller sixteen hands tall,

I rode 'neath a photo of Robert E. Lee.

One Day

I set my sights on one day,

One day not too far from now;

And whatever come what may,

I would get there somehow.

 

But now that day's come and gone,

Just like that it came and went;

All those dreams I dreamed upon,

So much time I had spent.

 

And older now I look upon,

All the one days I have had,

And though most have come and gone,

Still I think it ain't so bad.

 

For dreams I still have a few,

And one day soon or far away,

I see at last what's overdue,

All my one day's are today.

 

Out on the Wire

Come walk with me out on the wire

High above and without a net

And your troubles no matter how dire,

I promise you'll soon forget.

 

Take the step leave the ledge

To that high wire in your mind,

And walk with me on the edge

In the moment so well aligned.

 

Two steps forward one step back

And in the middle let us meet,

Where only one way we can track

And fear at last we'll defeat.

 

Yes, upon this high wire let us dwell

Where all our worries we'll forget,

In the moment, what the hell,

Let us walk without a net.

The Gulag Gopher

The gopher in the garden of the gulag

Where the inmates looked upon with envy,

For if only burrowing was their bag,

Free as the Gulag Gopher they too might then be.

Yes, like the gopher beneath the fence to dig,

So many inmates held onto this vision.

Past the barbed wire their dreams were big,

Till like the gopher, tunnels became the mission.

Such an inspiration was the Gulag Gopher,

Until almost a deity to be,

For to follow its path the inmates were sure,

The Gulag Gopher alone could set them free.

Until cult like the gopher’s following became

And if in the garden the inmates would see,

To the Gulag Gopher they’d kneel without shame,

Praying to their little furry deity.

But within that gulag garden’s poor crop,

It seems somehow deities and the underfed,

Well you can imagine when they got the drop,

How quick the Gulag Gopher became dinner instead.

23 Skidoo

I saw a man in a muskrat coat

Who said, “23 skidoo!”

And I clicked the remote

As the channels I flicked through.

But there he was on channel 10

In that muskrat coat looking back at me,

And I kept going back again,

The muskrat coat guy wouldn’t leave me be.

And with a pennant so he waved,

From the twenties he seemed to be.

“Rah, Rah,” he said, “And you’ll be saved!”

Now sitting inside a Ford Model T

“Saved from what?” I asked the TV.

And you’ll not believe it but it’s true,

The muskrat coat guy answered me,

Saying again, “23 skidoo!”

“What the hell does that mean?” I said.

Just as he swallowed a gold fish,

Then throwing back his head,

He said to me, “Make a wish.”

So all my wishes I went through,

And there were 23 to choose from.

And once again he said, “23 skidoo.”

But still I had to pick just one.

And of all my wishes, who knew,

I said, “I’d like to become a flapper!”

And we both cried, “23 skidoo!”

As I flushed this poem down the crapper.