My Integrity Not Forsaken

Injustice in this world seems to follow me
paid my dues yet it won't let me be
I must rise above this world’s violent ferocity
to a better place so I can be free.
From others trying to keep me down because they lack integrity
undoing their trust by their own duplicity
suffering comes but they won't take away my dignity.
So I pray that I don't become my own worst enemy
drown in the doubt and doubt my own abilities,
but to rise above on wings of reason and sensibility.
Preserving my sense of faith, justice, and morality
away to a life of pleasantness and synchronicity;
as waves of peace wash over me creating placidity,
victorious I've become and my reward is tranquility.


Copyright by NewLife2008

TIme Relinquished

I’m blank and I just can’t

though I wish I could,

even when I try I can’t think;

sometimes it just happens

in a matter of a blink.

I know what I want to say

it’s at the tip of my tongue;

I can taste it though it’s faint,

they say it’s because I’m older now

but I did this even when I was young.

Oh how I wish I could

and I just might;

I need to get up

and I know I should

but it’s such a fight.

As the electronic rooster crows

it tells me what I already know;

it’s getting harder to tell

this reason for my struggle;

I’m too tired or either I can’t hear very well.

I need to, but I don’t have the strength;

extracurricular is harder than you think.

My arch enemy makes it harder each day

if I only could do what I say;

I changed my habits, but it’s not quite enough.

Take my vitamins and supplements

but this losing weight is tough;

no matter what my regiment

time is an inevitable fate;

it’s catching up and will soon overtake.

I’m reminded time and time again

with each morning that I arise;

every glance of my reflection

the lines become more defined.

Realizing I’m further away from perfection

and farther away from the prize;

how in youth we were eagerly inclined

looking forward to another year in time

but as time passes and we get closer to our end;

we realize that time is no longer our friend.

Copyright by NewLife2008

Reluctant Parting

On the warm summer ground I lie,

the azure sky is my canvas.

Memories pass through my mind

putting me in a state of calmness;

and I’ve yet to say goodbye.

In agony, my last tears flow

as warm blood seeps into the ground,

my perpetrator effortless at his craft

no time to even make a sound;

fatal was his decisive blow.

Smelling the grass as I lay on my side

because my better judgment I betrayed;

the air is crisp and clean.

Squinting from the sun’s rays

I wishing this was only a dream.

I’m left to think what could have been;

my heartbeat down to a crawl.

If I had only chosen a different path today;

there’s so much I wanted to say;

and I know exactly where I would begin:

Thank you all though I didn’t convey

the love to me you showed.

I would love to have replied;

but this you will never know since

I’ll never tell you all goodbye.

I’m fading quickly now,

only seconds before I pass.

As I heave in one last sigh,

my heart is no longer beating

and I never got to say goodbye.

Copyright by NewLife2008

Catastrophic

In the silence of night, it arrived;

she awoke with terror in her eyes.

Certain of what approaches in the dark;

getting her family she has no time to waste.

Grabbing the kids while the sirens wail;

as the children cry uncontrollably

she makes her way to her safe place;

now all she can do is pray.

As she awaits clutching her kids

the sound of the roar is deafening,

Closer its’ approach the air pressure drops;

nothing more to do - they embrace for impact.

Holding on her children for dear life

the house is lifted from its’ foundations;

the walls crumbled where they huddled.

What seemed like forever was only seconds.

The tempest abates as rain continues to fall;

despite her broken leg she ignores the pain.

As she struggles to remove the debris;

the children sob, battered and bruise; but alive.

Left with nothing she starts all over again;

vowing they will never live in fear.

But deep down inside they’re forever changed;

looking up in the skies each time dark clouds appear.

Copyright by NewLife2008

My Son, My Heart

The distinct smell of iodoform permeates my sensory neurons

as I sit in the waiting room with my muted emotions

staring at the television I can’t emote a response to Monday Night Football -

Across the way my wife carries our son in ICU;

he doesn’t cry because he’s heavily sedated

but soon, his heart will no longer beat

because he has a terminal illness. At only

a day and a half old he will never know

what we look like or see our now sad faces.

What is worse, today is April 19^th, 1993

and MNF has been replaced with David Koresh -

the TV  burns fire and smoke fills the screen -

and my eyes fill with tears – not from the smoke

but from the fire that is being extinguish in my son;

he can hear our voices and softly smiles, holding my finger.

But now he is slowly fading away…he will be

gone but not forgotten; I didn’t hold him

she did – but I will always hold him in my heart.

Copyright by NewLife2008

Angling For The Sea

Fiberglass flexibility,

at six and a half feet

it’s half a foot taller than me.

Tip top, tip, windings all secure;

guides to butt guide, top to bottom

all the eyes are aligned.

Male and female ferrule

fit like glove over fist;

make sure there’s nothing I missed.

Oh, man the handle is firm and neat;

there goes the real seat, butt cap

and hook keeper, well that’s that.

Ball bearings all are well greased;

the gears work perfectly

as the reel handle I gyrate

to adjust the drag moderately.

The bail is firm and the line spool is

full of line, now to attach the reel foot.

With the remnant of a salt smell

I gather my other equipment;

aerator, tackle, tackle box,

weights, leaders, popping corks

hooks, and a variety of lures.

Now a drive to the shore and leave behind my cares.

Copyright by NewLife2008

To be Innocent Again – What I Wouldn’t Do

One must have the mind of innocence

to love freely without prejudice

and see with eyes open wide

of what a person truly is inside.

To be free of fear and mistrust;

from which our insides start to rust

rotting away hope and light;

diminishing our souls as it fades into the night.

We must insist on being innocent;

free from the whispers of discontent

from the doubt that drapes and suffocates,

killing our hope the more it permeates.

So resist with every ounce of your being;

we‘re all the same, we want something to believe in.

Whether we make it or whether we fall,

like a child we’ll eventually heal from the scars.

Those childlike qualities is what’s missing,

look deep inside; they’re in each one of you.

Remember what it was to live and love without hate?

It’s the only thing that will save us from our fate.

Never give up believing in humanity

because humans are you, them and me;

embrace others no matter race, creed or color

we are all children of God; sisters and brothers.

Copyright by NewLife2008