The dawning of the fall jacket
An awning of warmth
Feeling the fall creeping in
One evening it’s summer
Throughout the night
Falls moment seizes
It makes its presence swift
Moving in with the new revolving moon
It’s a time of year defined by a subtle change
A change that shifts
Then sets in
And out comes the jacket
The big purses and backpacks
Dawning falls on us softly
And with a blink of an eye
Summers gone
To yet come again
Consume me fast
Consume me wild
Consume me across the miracle mile
Consume the waters
Along the east
Consume the land
For one big feast
Set your table
Pour your wine
Consume the world Devine
Heed no call for retention
In not one conversation
We will mention
That consumption is not the pinnacle
Why on earth
Would we be so cynical
Slaughter the cows and steal the berries
Worry not
The burden future generations now carry
Drill the oil and pull the gold
Wealth only goes to the strong and bold
Capitalize on every detail
Pack the ship
Set the sail
For we worry not of what we do today
We focus only on the day to day
For only a small minority would say
Is not our ground to conquer
The point of life is not the margin
We have more than humanity in common
We share what is now
And what is future
It is our commonplace
Our gathering table
For our generation and those that proceed
So let us be aware of every deed
There is more to life than capital pay
For some will have children
On this earth some day
That cause is greater than or equal to
The sum of us: me and you
Back in this town
We never grew up in
However we did live in
So this seems
With summers breeze
Lofty dreams
Four years ago
We grew up in
Chicago
Although never in residence
In learning and patience
Great drives back
To Lakeshore
And North Broadway
There once was a time and place
Where this felt like home
On a summers day
In Chicago
The pale pastels of the lake
Freshened breath with no mistake
On the horizon a rusted thorn
On the Northwest tip is worn
My home state moves
No chance to hesitate
Offering big tax breaks
For the industrial rake
Tearing up the land
I have yet to ever understand
How we can destroy such beauty
Beauty of our land
The water and the sand
Taken for granted our homeland
I will look out to the lake and wonder
If there is a beauty of fresh water
Upon this earth so mild
It is both mother and child
We must honor the world so
Unless mistakenly
We let it go
Cecil the Lion was slain
By nothing more than a human stain
Utmost disrespect paid
In each US dollar
Held all the locals
By the fabric of their collar
To get his intended target
He came prepared with padded pocket
I could barely stand to hear it
While he enjoyed to watch it
It is an unfortunate play
A game of intended consequence
Now we have one more reckless action
To answer for
It makes the honor of being American
Feel more destined to sicken me
Than free me
We now wear another badge of recklessness
Story of money paid for another nations trophy
Coldly executed
Lured out and destroyed
This making a living plucking plaque
Pleases himself with the attack
Of a icon
A symbol
Go ahead and cash it in your criminal
Let the fluorescent lights of your office
Offer a scathing reminder
That no bleach can undue
Hang your trophy on the shelf
But please never forgive yourself
Oscar has no love for fraternities
On that note
Oscar’s love left him
When she was in a sorority
I guess she had different
Priorities
While the majority of the US
Has the tradition of bad decisions
Oscar from Paris
Sees it much differently
He said that everyone
Was into his french accent
He was a type of delicacy
At these types of sororities
But they lacked in advanced thought
Somehow this childish nature
Would furnish a top degree
Oscar could not disagree more
I found this conversation
At a bar in Brooklyn
With delightful fascination
Oscar and me
Talking about sororities
In New York City
I’d rather be lying than say it
The city can frustrate
Illustrate the non city perks
In Manhattan on a hot summer spurt
Oak tables decorated elaborately
Tightly held collars creased with summer heat
In the subways
Not a getaway as much as an oven
Leaves my mind wandering
Of the lakes outside the Midwest
Only too relinquish my summer request
For now I tango with 90 in New York City
Trying to keep cool in the shade
Of 180 10th street
Stay inside to supercedes the heat
There are times I would rather be
On the lakes of the great state
Than on the city streets
To hold or let go
To live
Or grow old
We shoulder these decisions
In what I learn
What I know
The sensitivity of progress
Can be held up
Reset
Regress
If proper attention is not paid
To forward motion
And progress
I obsess
About the shape my mind
Creates
The inner monologue
That projects my final epilogue
“My journey will never get easier”
To a stranger I said
He quickly replied with no fetter
“True, but we only get better”
Oh the joy of redemption
To give life a exultant expression
When it pushes you to the end
Past the point of a simple bend
To the breaking convex
Not easy but rather complex
It gives back
One small ounce
To help push the mind
From the weathered mounds
The joy that can be felt
When life tries to help you out
Picks you up a bit
After seeing you almost drown
I am happy for these days
To be enjoyed and endured
To see a light in the woods
When all of life seemed unsure
The ridiculous news to report
Healthcare says it wants to hike rates
It was ill prepared
For how ‘sick’ the new customers are
This made my stomach turn
A giant corporate entity
Does not even know the US people
That it serves
Serving up new rates is what
They want to do
They don’t care to care for anyone
Other than themselves
No soft word can put this injustice down
We pay companies
That don’t want to care for anyone
That doesn’t foster the bottom line
Mother Theresa said she saw
The worst of poverty in the US
And we try to make changes
With corporate billions that don’t want to care
For the sick and elderly
Surely they have capitalized on our culture
With no intent to give back
Rather sneak a little more
We must understand that people are sick
Sick and tired
And it is our calling to care
So that we in turn can be cared for
It makes me sick
To see the headlines
That healthcare officials
Had no idea how sick people really are
They should cut a vacation and do something for once
Take care of the US people
A Cup of Songwriting 