When we surveyed the planet Earth

From deep in outer space,

We found that she was giving birth

To you — the human race,

And when we came down from above

To teach you right from wrong,

And show you of the ways of love

And how to get along,

You said you needed to be free

To learn things on your own,

And so we listened to your plea

And left you all alone.

But then, alas, when we returned,

We found, much to our horror,

That what the human race had learned

Was weaponry and war,

And so we watch you from afar,

And patiently we wait;

Perhaps we’ll wish upon a star

While you decide your fate.

Silently swirling

Whirling

And twirling

A mountain of snow

Softly falls

On our town

There is no escaping

Scraping

And shaping

The mountain of snow

When it’s done

Coming down

But I’ll be debating

Waiting

And hating

The mountain of snow

As I shovel

So long

For there’s no curtailing

Wailing

And bailing

The mountain of snow

When the plow

Comes along

 

His name was Jack Pine

And he died for our sins,

Still he stands in a line

With his wires and pins.

While other trees ’round

Freely reach for the sky,

He is lashed to the ground

Without roots and bone dry.

 

There once came a day

When his wires went dead,

For mankind found a way

To use cell phones instead,

Still he stands there in line

As the new age begins;

His name was Jack Pine

And he died for our sins.

 

Today I’m on

The old people’s bus;

I guess I must be old.

Yesterday I wrecked

Cars for fun,

Indestructible

And bold.

Out the window

The snow falls;

I hope

I don’t.

Once upon a time machine

He fashioned from a box,

With nothing more than crayons

And a cache of broken clocks,

The little boy went scooting

Down the corridors of time,

And it was all so easy

For a young and open mind.

 

But now the boy’s a physicist

And studies all his days

To learn to build a time machine

In complicated ways,

And every day it’s clearer

What his facts and figures mean:

That only little boys can build

A real time machine.

 

(Originally posted in April 2016)

 

Adrift upon the Sea of Night

And lost in shades of black and white,

I saw a friendly, dancing light

Upon a distant shore,

And as I left my bleak repose

And sought the dark expanse to close,

Beyond the light, a voice arose,

Then two, then three, then four.

I raised my sails, set my sights

And hastened toward this light of lights;

The voices raised to lofty heights

And filled my heart with cheer.

This place I knew so little of

Seemed filled with peace and joy and love,

I laughed and praised the Lord above,

But then, as I drew near,

I found a void between us ran

And though no hardy sailin’ man,

I battled hard the gulf to span,

So deep, so long, so wide.

The sea grew rough, my ship was tossed,

It wasn’t long, I knew I’d lost;

The chasm’s breadth could not be crossed,

I hung my head and cried.

And then, within a single stroke

I left the Sea of Night and woke;

It all had been a dream — a joke!

I bolted for the door,

And walking ’round the neighborhood

I talked to everyone I could

And for a moment it felt good

To step upon that shore.

Out of a dark and old hidden cave

Near the ghost-town they call Devil’s Eye,

Arose the foul stench of a reopened grave

On a hot, moon-lit night in July.

 

The Indians told that the cave was the tomb

Of the crazy, young maiden Runs Wild

Who was banned to the cave, for the babe in her womb

Was the Devil’s Eye sheriff’s white child.

 

Now the sheriff, they say, found her dead in the cave

And he pinned a gold brooch to her breast,

And he fought back the tears as he dug her a grave

Where he lovingly laid her to rest.

 

The earth fell around her, trapping her tight

In the cave she continues to stay,

And sometimes at night when the wind is just right

You can still hear her wailing today.

 

Well, one day a drifter named Big Red Calhoun,

Riding through on the Lost Canyon Trail,

Stopped in for a brew in the local saloon

When he heard of the old Indian tale.

 

He rode to the cave with a lantern that night

And he dug up the corpse and the pin,

But there in the light, it was only pyrite!

He’d been played for a fool — taken in!

 

Her soul now released, the young maiden fled

And he let out a thunderous roar

That shook the cave walls and stone ceiling o’erhead

Til they buckled and crashed to the floor.

 

The stones fell around him, trapping him tight

In the cave he continues to stay

And sometimes at night when the wind is just right

You can still hear him wailing today.

Just lounging here

On the edge

Of a cloud

As generations

Of grandchildren

Are cast like kindling

Into the Lake of Fire

Below

 

They had never

Heard of Jesus

Their screams

Blend into

The cacophony

Of billions

Some eternal bliss

Above

A new morning breaks

The clouds are undone

The Spirit awakes

The flight has begun

The dark of night ending

We all are as one

Ascending and blending

Into the sun