Teach Your Children

Please teach your children

Empathy and respect

Despite what generations

Have tainted, spoiled and wrecked

All those damaged men

Returning from the war

Is all the pain they carry

Worth what they were fighting for?

Say a prayer for those who lie

In muddy unmarked graves

Without a name, or wooden cross

Inscribed with, “Jesus Saves”

Please teach your children

Empathy and respect

Despite what they may endure

From prejudice and neglect 

Those faces in the Pentagon

Just see numbers on a page

The games that they play now

Lack the honor of bygone days

The weapons are too lethal

The intentions all too cruel

And the media propaganda

Adds gasoline to the fuel

Please teach your children

Empathy and respect

So they will cry out in the darkness

Spreading light that care reflects

Only then can we evolve

Into angels that rise above

Only then can we build a world

Infused with peace and love

Please teach your children

Empathy and respect

Despite what generations

Have tainted, spoiled and wrecked

Dreams for Two

Some people say you can’t have it all

But if you’re gonna dream, don’t dream small

My dreams are as wide as all outdoors

As wild as the ocean washing the shores

In some I’m a hero, in some I’m a star

In some I travel to galaxies afar

In all I’m gone from this dying town

Where industry departed leaving only a frown

I dream to leave this broken neighborhood

Where gangs took over where schools once stood

I know folks think I’m a silly fool

The same folks believe in the antiquated rule

That you are what you are, you shouldn’t rock the boat

And to leave the ghetto you must swim a moat

Filled with alligators, sharks and man-made traps

That beat you down and tether you with straps

But I’m with the belief that all are free

To shape their own thoughts and destiny

So my dreams are as wide as all outdoors

As wild as the ocean that washes the shores

As relentless as the tides that never cease

As outlandish as the thought of world peace

If I dream of the mountain, I may reach the Knoll

If I believe in tomorrow, I’ll set a goal

If you hold out your hand, I’ll walk with you

And never alone, I’ll dream for two

Jade

Plates of glass and tempered steel

Slap of cards and roulette wheel

Trust in luck is overused

Ego a sapling easily bruised

Right has left, and left is wrong

The mind a blister, the soul a song

They said you and I were meant to be

So I let you go reluctantly

I drew an ace and palmed a king

Wished to forget everything

Lies are lies even when believed

You were gone--I should have grieved

Instead I laughed, threw back my head

Outside was fun, inside felt dead

Of all the games we could have played

You picked the deck that held a jade

You played it smart; you won the hand

It’s a game I’ll never understand.