Creaking of Dawn

At the creaking of dawn

Semis bustle through the Avenue

Men with covered faces

Lift heavy loads unto empty spaces

Filling slowly with goods for shipment

Equipment, papers, dies, casts

I sometimes wonder what is in the

Buildings just over the Ave.

So much mystery

Only 5 feet from me

Whether they are transporting toxic chemicals

The smells

Oh the smells

The streets outlined with built mounds

Of snow

Paths created from where the tires roll

I have this realization

That I really know so little about my neighborhood

My nation

And it all came to me

From my view

On Manhattan Avenue

Satisfied Corruption

Satisfied corruption

Don’t take someones word

On automatic assumption

Humanity will rise and fall

Some will tell the truth

Others a false call

Will ring on every persons ears

The willing or unable

Confident or full of fear

It is this small eruption

Will ill will

Built in conjunction

When you are on the receiving end

Beaten down

Will and resilience must not bend

It will happen on a Monday

Or Today

Or any day

For the needs of the liar

Will surely set

Your belly on fire

Tokens of Life

What is the cost of a dream

Not the capital or the initial investment

More importantly the hours laboring and spent

Rather than being well rested

What is the emotional cost

Is it two tokens

If I could somehow come up with a value

Two tokens of life

If it all works out do you get those back and more

Are you delivered from seeing your time

Wasted in hopes of achieving

Rather than just ending poor

And broken

What is the average

Per day

If not achieved is it wasted

Thrown away

Can I accept this

Failure is only owned when you label it

Give it a name and recognize it

But I refuse to do so

Call it reckless

But this is how it goes

I must continue on this path

Continue to let go

To see anything through

Through and renewed

To see what these life tokens can do

Continual Postage

Continual postage

Send me on my way

Held back

Deferred another day

What can send me out

Into the world

Hurled out with no precise measure

Regardless of challenges or pleasures

This will be my postage

Paid upon sending

I have paid it due

For once my stamp is applied

I must see myself through

Morning Exercise

The purpose behind

The green outside

In a winter morning

Simple prose upon warming

Keep inspiration flowing

The more you make

It’s yields keep growing

So at 9:20 AM

Hoping for a new set

Of inspiration

Looking for new adventures of writing

Looking low

Hoping the ideas are not hiding

I let my fingers and mind go

And this is what it has to behold

Christmas Morning Commute

Cold air on sheltered skin

Slow sunrise and morning skies

Christmas

Baking goods

Flour and eggs

Bells singing

House creaking

The more I grow

I realize

As we get comfortable

The world gets ready

For change

 

The Common Denominator

What makes it better

What makes it worse

These vital feelings

We may not coerce

Pushing them in

Pulling them out

Will do us no good

If we are living like we should

Shall I wonder under a rock

Beneath feet pounding

Or center myself on ground

With my heart pounding

I am here for you

And you for me

That is why

We cannot let it be

Growth can occur

From one solid root

Life will burst

Into something beautiful bold

Your hand I hold

As we cry

Waiting for the storm

To blow by

These are not easy times

But they make us real

Through the fire burning

Born is true steel

I will be here now

And will be here later

Love will pick you up

It’s the common denominator

Love will push

Love will pull

Love will bring us back

Fill our hearts full

We live through great moments

We survive the bad

But at the end of any day

The good fights been had

I wish to say this

So that all can understand

You are my lady

And I am your man

Latched Upon Sunlight

Some days are just short writings. Time seems to fly by and I can not grab enough of it to sit down and do my daily writings. This week I am trying to get 2 writings done per day as next week I will be on the road the entire time. So here is a shot little piece – it is starting to warm up in the Midwest – finally. Enjoy.

Winter wears thin

Latched upon sunlight

A little more feels alright

Wait for more to come

Equality

All this talk about equality

Let us remember it was a gift

To you

To me

So what right have we

To not give it freely

We hold onto this gift

Tightly clenched in our hands

While people beg to be equal

You plot to make other plans

Try to quiet the voices of upheaval

Standing in the way of progress

Will leave the heart cold

A heap of tender mess

This is no question of religion

Who is holy and who we bless

It is about sharing love we have been given

Don’t stand in the way

Change is winnin’

When cold mouths fall silent

Ears muted to the calling out

That is truly

Not what this country is about

Embrace the wind from the mountains

Fall back into the ocean tide

Stand with our neighbors united

Throughout all the country side

Democracy needs us now

In the moments tried and true

Moments committed to the history books

Are decided right now by me and you

Forget the political stands

Religions trying to buy you out

When fair is not fair

You must scream and shout

People who need equality

Ride next to you on the highway

Sit by you on the train

Do not let these peoples strife

Be forgotten in vain

The bird that flies in the night

Will be back at dawn

To lay at rest

When the work is done

As Martin Luther King brought light to the flame

Calling out to our generation to continue

To do the same

For we are on the cusp of progress

The moment when intuition and passion

Are put to the test

So let us not rest

Until everyone is seen equally

And as we say in the USA

To everyone

God Bless

Great Nostalgia – 13 Years Ago

Tonight post is short and sweet. We just rocked out at a sweet house party in Downtown South Bend the night before our big show here in the bend for St Paddy’s Day. I am kinda wiped out – but I will give it my best. I am feeling a little nostalgic because I realized that tomorrow will be our biggest performance in South Bend ever and I have been playing in the bend for 13 years!!! Holy shit! I played my first show when I was 15, my mom dropped me off at a local coffee house called “Higher Grounds” in DT South Bend. It was an amazing show and now tomorrow I will be on stage in front of 8,000+ crazy to look back at the journey – and funny how life works. But I am super excited – a poem will be written post show to summarize the feelings and emotions. For some reason word press is not letting me space correctly so this will be read by using commas (not for grammatical purpose)

All the chatter, Play it this way and what is the matter, Chords still ring out, I cling to this guitar like a mad hatter, I have seen many a shops open and close, Sang them a song before they had to dispose, Of all their assets and move out of town, Kinda sad to think that I would never again see them around, This town or any other for that matter, People have come and gone, Some great inspirations, Some not so much, But in some meaningful way it was my life that they touched, I think back with great nostalgia to the first show posters, My life since those first days has been nothing short of a great roller coaster, I have now traveled from coast to coast, I have found places I loved the least and the most, With my guitar I have traveled, I say this not to boast, My humble beginnings playing in Coffee shops to onlookers playing chess, I did not have a fabulous voice, I can honestly say that I gave it my best, Only 15 looking for a grand time, Little did I know that love and a calling I would find, Years went by, I continued to play, I tried to give it a little something just about everyday, Then music led me to my love, She landed in my life as gentle as a dove, She would sing I would play, Anywhere and we did not worry about pay, 10 years have gone by since then, I can not believe it has already been 10, Now we get to play on a much great stage, I guess you could say that we have turned the page, From the empty coffee houses to people packed in, I used to know this city when the music scene was thin, Now it is robust and growing, Songs are being written, People now create great art, I am humbled to think that I played just a small part, I hope South Bend continues to grow, What it will become in ten years nobody really knows, To do my part I will just continue to pick up my guitar sing and play, I hope for the best for this city one day, Wishing it the best on this St. Patrick’s Day.