Words of Freedom

 

Some are unlike us in how they might act

How does that make them less of a person

You’re wrong, you’re fat, you’re ugly, you’re stupid

Our words can maim them worse than our weapons

 

So let’s use our words for good – not evil

I love you- you’re special – you’re beautiful

Words can help us see the good in people

A few kind words can make the day joyful

 

A few will try to silence our voices

But we must break free from hate and deceit

Let them know we’re free to make our own choices

Our future will not be defined by their drumbeat

 

Freedom does not mean we have to conform

Or be hated for voicing opinions

We’re not indebted to follow the norm

Or practice the popular religions

 

We call ourselves free but free we are not

We are slaves to current theology

Never grateful for the things that we’ve got

Instead, demanding an apology

 

We live in a country where leaders say

You are undesirable therefore flawed

Still I ask should not they be free to stay

Aren’t we all equal in the eyes of God

 

Our country is broken there is no doubt

To fix it we must all work together

First we must recall what freedom’s about

Stand united and strive for the better

 

There’s always something going on but nothing ever really happening

When you hear me talk of revolution

And the changes that must take place

I mean, we need to find the solution

To put humanity back into the human race

 

We’re so quick to point our finger

When we see what’s happening in our land

We will let our anger boil and linger

While too afraid to extend our hand

 

We’ve let prejudice and violence

Through complacency become the norm’

But if we continue to stand alone in silence

Then we will surely perish in the storm

Things I learned in My Youth

Maple trees are easiest to climb

Oak trees offer the grandest view

Willow trees are better to hide behind

If someone is looking for you

Love thy neighbor is always right

But lust is usually a sin

In a fight between a fist and a nose

The fist will always win

 

Don’t raise your hand just to impress a girl

If you don’t know the answer

Don’t take her to a hockey game

If you’re trying to romance her

We’ll keep in touch means it’s the end

Despite your good intentions

Because out of sight means out of mind

Due to inattention

The Past

A loving place where I did once dwell

But will never be allowed to return

You are the spring that feeds the stories I tell

The keeper of the things that I have learned

Each step I take is filled with memories

From a life that I once knew

Every smell from flower and tree

Pulls my thoughts back to you

There in those backyards of my memories

I recall my pledge from so long ago

That I will remain open and free

And cling to youth and never let go

Reflection

I look into the mirror and

Wonder who it is that I see

Those once youthful eyes now frosted

Staring back with maturity

There was a time I composed my

Own songs and sang them so proudly

I gave little care if I showed

The world the foolish side of me

My battle scars displayed smugly

From my war on conformity

 

Questioning every verdict and

Accepting nothing as issued

Loving strong and crying deeply

With all the appetites of youth

Those passions gained, sorrows and pain

I chewed them all with brandish tooth

Then spit them out into the world;

My words of honesty and truth

 

Perhaps I had the whole thing wrong

Or somewhere I just stop trying

I traded away my talents

For music easier to sing

I bartered my soul for comfort

Trying to ease life’s bitter sting

 

I look upon this furrowed face

Of adversity and trial

It’s not the ending but the chase

That has given this man his smile

 

So please do not lament for me

For I am happy with my plight

I look upon my history

And know that I have chosen right