Poems from Willow Creek
(2023)
OUR OLD SWING
An old hay rope and board we found
down by the Willow Creek
Swinging high our spirits abound
Tracing trees with our feet
Me pushing you and you pushing me
Me pushing you and you pushing me
Locking elbows and laying back
Katydids our soundtrack
Me pushing you and you pushing me
Me pushing you and you pushing me
Me pushing you and you pushing me
Me pushing you and you pushing me
La la la (I know you remember)
La la la (when we were young)
La la la (and I know Our Old Swing is gone)
La la la (but the memory lives on)
THE PRESENT MOMENT
Every Sunday at 8 AM, the boys out back
sat around on the hay bales
storytellin’ smoking like stacks
Soaking up the sun
Just thankful to be one
With right here, right now
Right here, right now
Mama called it “their church meeting”
Hanging out and watching the horses
Just enjoying The Present Moment
If that ain’t church, what is
Soaking up the sun
Just thankful to be one
With right here, right now
Right here, right now
Right here, right now
Right here, right now
THE FAMILY FARM
It’s where I work and I pray
Where the cattle and horses graze
Where my kin and I were raised
Home, home
It’s where I find peace
Where I am free
There in the pine trees
Home, home, home, home
Hmmm
I thank the heavens for it all
and when the angels make their call
I will smile and a tear will fall
A SPECIAL PLACE
Tree house, the home of my youth
Cut down the bones of you
Spilt out my own on the land
Still now a scar on my hand
How we were free to make believe
Free to dream
Free, free
THE HIRED HAND
Torn Levi’s and a dirty shirt
Worn blue eyes looking for work
Home from war, soul sore
Quiet, drawn into himself
Kind from what I can tell
Leaned on our gate on The Family Farm
said I’ll work all day, I’ll work real hard
Fixing fence till dusk for dawn
Tightening the tension with a come along
Come along
‘Till a wire snapped and cut his cheek
Washed it off in The Willow Creek
All summer long, side by side
Said “I best be movin’ on” with twinkling blue eyes
Shook my hand and smiled “Until next time”
THE RIDE
Have you ever heard the sound of horses
Snapping branches beneath their feet
Splashing water, skipping stones when horses roam
Through a creek
It’s a pleasant sound, the rhythm of the beat
Have you ever noticed the scent of rawhide
Or creaking leather beneath a saddle seat
Nostrils blowing steam in a full gallop stride
A full gallop stride
Close your eyes
And ride, The Ride
(“and i got on the horse bareback and rode around the fields with no saddle, no bridle. And I can remember putting my hands out and it is a freedom, it just a freedom. you’re on this animal like you’re one in the same thing” - L. Joseph Spear)
Fly, fly, fly, fly
Won’t you fly, won’t you fly
Enjoy The Ride
Enjoy The Ride
KIDS AT PLAY
When I was young there wasn’t much wrong
Never heard of drugs or a hard rock song
Around and ‘round the town
With metal skates clamped on
We made our toys from spare parts
Old rubber bands and orange crate carts
Slingshots from inner tubes
Rags from the closet our parachutes
Around and ‘round the town we flew
Just me and you
At play, play
Everywhere we’d ride our bikes
Or hitchhike, God forbid
Swinging from grape vines like Tarzan did
Wooden swords and Pop’s fedora
With a feather stuck in
Around and ‘round the town just being
Kids At Play
I think the trouble with kids today is too much TV
And not enough good ol’ fashioned Play
Play, play, play, play
Good ol’ fashioned play
TRUE GRIT
Cowboys are special as the song goes
Puts a calming hand on his horse’s nose
Hooves were trimmed just a bit too close
Weeks in ice Old Dan soaked
And there the cowboy by his side
through the bitter wind, through the night
whispering to him “You’ll be all right”
The two of them tough as rawhide
True Grit
True Grit
Fixing fences, clearing trails
Turning tires, pulling nails
True Friends we ran a straight line
Never judged his ways nor did he judge mine
True Grit
True Grit
Back to the wall his chances frail
He’s taken many-a-hit
Tough through it all he did not fail
He truly is True Grit
IS IT REALLY THE WIND
If I could be the wind
I would know everything about it all
If I could be the wind I’d rise above it
Whether big or whether small
Sometimes lightly, sometimes strong
Sometimes rightly, sometimes wrong
Like a Spirit we do not see
Could it be that The Wind is He
The wind, the wind, the wind
Is It Really the Wind, the wind, the wind
Is it the wind, the wind, the wind
Is It Really the Wind
If I could be the wind
Rolling hills on your skin when I call
If I could be the wind I’d end where I begin
Whether big or whether small
Sometimes lightly, sometimes strong
Sometimes rightly, sometimes wrong
Like a Spirit we do not see
Could it be that The Wind is She
The wind, the wind, the wind
Is It Really the Wind, the wind, the wind
Is it the wind, the wind, the wind
Is It Really the Wind
Where is The Wind when you need it most
Where is The Wind when you need it
Where is The Wind when you need it most
The Wind (the wind, the wind, is it really)
The Wind (the wind, the wind, is it)
The Wind (the wind)
Could it be that The Wind is
AND HOW WE DID RUN
Pretending to be whatever we could
Trekking together through creeks and wood
Running through maples, iron, and oaks
Reminiscing heroes and favorite old folks
Oh, How We Did Run
Oh, How We Did Run
Flying through golden rod haze
Riding through daydream days
Black and white her colors were known
Side by side we’ve grown
Oh, How We Did Run
Oh, How We Did Run
How, How, How, How
My kin too rode her with fun
Betsy, my pony And How We Did Run
Us both 26 when she died
And on her last day I silently cried
WHEN FAITH GROWS THIN
I’ve walked in a crisis
And I’ve ran with soldiers wide
I’ve rode a spaceship into the sky
And there too at a new mother’s side
Ooo, When Faith Grows Thin
Ooo, When Faith Grows Thin
I’ve been with the marginalized
And I’ve climbed mountains, swam ocean’s tide
I’ve faced lions on the Serengeti Plains
And there too with you in epidemics wide
Ooo, When Faith Grows Thin
Ooo, When Faith Grows Thin
Ooo, When Faith Grows Thin
Ooo, When Faith Grows Thin
I’ve been questioned When Faith Grows Thin
And if you feel you’re nearing the end
Do not fear, just search deep within
I am courage, your strength, your friend
Ooo, When Faith Grows Thin
Ooo, When Faith Grows Thin
FIRST LOOK INSIDE
Am I the one?
Am I the one to blame?
I want to walk a straight line
To know what I’m about
When I’m the one to misalign
Inside I scream and shout
Am I the one?
Am I the one to blame?
I wasn’t sure many times
And rose up beneath myself
Wiser now I First Look Inside
for the truth on the top shelf
Am I the one?
Am I the one to blame?
I look deeper into my soul and begin to see my trail
I look deeper into my soul and begin to see my trail
When I am sure it is not me
I will help you to see
THE OLD BARN
High in the silo
I see the plain
Bone dry Ohio
hiding from the rain
A-hey-ya-hey-ya
A-hey-ya-hey-ya
Hay dust
in my lungs
Tightrope tendon
where we swung
A-hey-ya-hey-ya
A-hey-ya-hey-ya
Ashes, ashes a tear falls down
Ashes, ashes it burned to the ground
A-hey-ya-hey-ya
A-hey-ya-hey-ya
A-hey-ya-hey-ya
A-hey-ya-hey-ya
Where we were then only God knows
Matters not where an Old Barn goes
SNOWBOUND
Blizzard of ‘52
Cattle bound in snow
Fighting bitter wind of day
5 men and 2 boys go
Cleat track our only heat
Pea jackets, horse hide coats
Buckled galoshes on our feet
Trudging through the snow
Tan colored hides
Slashed with a knife
Cattle shot, death was slow
Red splashes on white
Snowbound, snowbound, snowbound, snowbound
It was over now
Except for cold