"Season of the Soul"

The chilly autumn breeze across my cheek
Beauty within nature is what I seek

Leaves caught in the wild fly and rustle
Bear cubs by a tree rumble and tussle

The raven’s caw is heard all around
My skin shivers at that shrilling sound

The squirrels run around looking for food
The beauty of the land brings on a peaceful mood

My step lands on a twig and snap it goes
Up on a ridge stands a couple of does

They leap off into the distance with style and grace
A large spreads across my chilly face

I sit on a rock and watch a babbling brook
The water cascades into every cranny and nook

The sun beams high up in the sky
There is no way these lands could tell any lies

In nature my soul feels free
This gorgeousness goes as far as the eye can see

The days end finally comes near
And the animal’s calls die down in my ear

I stand and walk and take my leave from this place
The one thing that can always bring a smile to my face

"Enduring Freedom"

Time and again we march into war
Sometimes wondering just what the hell for

Then we see it rise up into the sky
That symbol of freedom rising so high

The banner of old glory the stripes and stars
Saluting those glistening red and white bars

But these aren’t the bars of a dirty old prison
Instead they are of a land built on tears and crimson

Building a nation on the shoulders of others
Mothers, fathers, daughters and brothers

Giving their lives unto thee
Fighting so hard for us to be free

And again we will march will blood, tears and sweat
To stomp out any and all opposing threats

So whenever you’re in doubt
What this country is about

Looking up into the sky
At the symbol so high

And remember those who perished
The loved ones we cherished

So stand up with your pride
And set your fears aside

As we march for old glory
To tell your grandchildren stories

Of how we helped build a nation
Freedom its foundation

"Realizing Fantasy"

When we were young kids
We read enchanting tales
Of dragons and sorcery
And women in vales

Legendary stories of war
With evil tyrants and kings
Never quite knowing
What the upcoming battle would bring

But what if these stories
Were actually real
With thieves looking for treasures
They could loot and steal

What if there gigantic dragons
Who roamed the endless sky
And brave warriors who kept fighting
Waiting for their turn to die

Towering castles overlooking the valleys
The roaming hills and the lands
With wizards who could casts spells
With the simple wave of a hand

Knights who lived by the sword
And believed in honor and virtue
Princesses who were beautiful
And their innocence true

Sorceresses whose laugh
Could chill through the bones
Noble ones who ruled mercifully
From up upon their throne

Worlds and caverns with magnificence
That is utterly untold
And god like powers
You wish to grasp and hold

Beings that posses a wisdom
That surpass the greatest bounds
And creatures whose songs
Make soft whimsical sounds

You may think these are just stories
And simply nothing more
But in reality my friend
This goes further than ancient folk-lore

The places, the people and beasts
Are as real as you or I
And as long as we have our imaginations
They will never really die

"The Thirst"

Running like a man possessed
Just totally obsessed
With the smell and the taste
Not wanting to waste
The smallest of dropsThe reaper of a crop
So divinely sweet
Bitter barely and wheat
The need powering the want
The brewing teasingly taunts
The golden nectar quenching my thirst
Tis all of my dreams and thoughts at first
It puts me in a place that I shouldn’t be
And makes me do things you should never see
It arouses my senses
At all others expenses
‘Cause I’m running like a man possessed
Just totally obsessed
With the smell and the taste
All my life to waste
The smallest of drops
I am the reaper’s crop
It’s really not so sweet
As they lower me down deep

"Frankenstein"

Now I’m here to shatter all expectations
And calmly wait for unholy damnations
‘Cause out of my mouth spills this new revelation
I’m sick of hearing your poisonous incantations
And listening to your empty glass bottle salvations
That you’ve been preaching in such desperation
Trying to seclude me from my growing generation
Hiding me away from all of life’s great temptations
But as you slip with growing frustrations
My eyes are opening with less hesitations
And as I search on for a new destination
Will I get lost in my own sweet sedation?
But now I leave you in your crumbled foundations
Leaving you at the mercy of your failed creations
Maybe now you’ll think with more reservation
Because I took in my hands, my own salvation
Tasted the sweetness of life’s great temptations
Traveling so far for my final destination
All the while reveling in my new revelation
Now that I’ve shattered all expectationsI’ve lived up to the dreams of my generation

"Theory"

Lately it seems stupidity and society
Are going hand in hand
A world we are all living in
Where conformity is on demand

A place where one man's voice
Can make a nation sway
But when that nation wants to be heard
That same man holds his stay

The free willers and free thinkers
Are coming fewer and farther between
Take a look from outside the box
And you'll see just what I mean

It appears free hearts are a threat
To all those who seek the throne
I say each of us should stand up
And burry that age old bone

Cause you have that great ability
To think with your very own mind
I beg you to just try it once
And you'll be pleased with what you find

Hopefully this will do some good
This theory that I just shared
Hopefully you will all think about it
And we'll make conformity hide in despair

Remember, free will and free thought
Are your two greatest gifts
Use them to save society
Use them to close these drifts

"A Pirate's Life"

No better life you’ll see
Then the spray of the sea
With the wind in your sails
As you topple the gales

It’s a pirate’s life for me!

We’ll plunder and we’ll pillage
We’ll come to your village
To take all your jewels and gold
We’ll steal and we’ll loot
Even fill up our boots
With more than one man can hold

But challenge us not
For you’ll walk the plank
And surely the sharks
Will devour your shanks

It’s a pirate’s life for me!

One more ship to sink
Then we’ll cheer and we’ll drink
As we start to sail away
We’ll put on fresh rags
And raise up our flags
We be huntin’ for treasure today

It’s a pirate’s life for me!

Oh it’s the squeeze box tales
And the wind in the sails
With the spray of the salty sea
It’s the rivers of rum
The gold and the guns
It’s a pirate’s life for me!

"Beauty"

My two-headed beauty
She's worth more to me than all the gold in the Yukon
You all can keep your treasures!

A head harder than mine
With a body as sleek as the eagle's
That cuts swiftly through the sky
Sharpen her tongues to a razor
Work her hard!
She'll love me for it
Work her hard!
I'll love her for it

The sun breaks the frost bitten hills
My breath heaves hard
I can see it stream off
Like the gushing rivers that fill my lake
A perfect morn!

The chattering of birds and squirrels surrounds me
Swing!
Snap! Chink!
She takes a crisp bite out of the flesh
Swing!
Splinter! Break!
Another good bite

Hours pass quickly in the breeze
Sweat glistens on my forehead
Muscles tense and tighten
Swing!
My body relaxes with the follow through

Swing!
Crack! Pop!
The ground is littered with the left overs of my work
She's dancing with me now
We're become one
One to survive

Swing!
Split! Shuck!
The sun setting lazily off into the horizon
Leaving me with a good gut feeling
"I'll be warm tonight"
Cozy as a bear curled up in his den
A hard day's work
Swing!
Oh what a perfect day!

*This poem is dedicated to the memory of Dick Proenneke