TO A ONCE MIGHTY OAK

 

The heartwood has rottted, the tree must come down.
Our families watched her grow
Since we obeyed the crown,
Since we slaughtered the Buffalo,
And dragged the Red Man Down.
The tree has been here Since the slaves’ first years,
Since the first of our wars caused its share of tears.
This citizen, now laid to rest,
Now sharing the fate of so many forests,
Survived disease, drought and wars.
Despite weary limbs, it stood tall and scarred,
Proudly defiant, over the town she stood guard
Our tree fell long after it died,
Weakened, unseen, on the inside.
But fewer cared to reason why
Than found cause to weep and cry.

AFTERWORDS

Cold trickle showers, hot coffee on the grill
The storm is forgotten, its effects linger still
Havent seen a TV in a week or so
We could be at war, and I wouldnt know
Devastated forests as far one can see,
Toilet paper could possibly become a new currency
And ice more precious than the Queens jewelry.
The curfew is needless, i claim
There’s nowhere to go, it all looks the same.
But with the neighbors trees gone, I can see the sunrise
And with the city lights out, stars fill the sky.
With the shade trees gone, a garden can grow
And I have new places for fruit trees to go.
That fence was rotten, beginning to sway,
We needed a new roof and paint job anyway

JURISPRUDENCE, a parody

Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, please don’t go away
Jurisprudence, we need you to stay
They call the sun dark, and the ground blue,
Its up to you to keep to the truth!
Jurisprudence, please come back to stay

Jurisprudence, you’ve taken some hits
Most GOP judges are pro corporate shits
The only Americans not treated with scorn
Are our brave soldiers, and the unborn
Jurisprudence, We can’t take much more of this

Jurisprudence, bust ‘em on their lies
Jurisprudence, no matter what their size
Come November, we’ll outvote ‘em
If they cheat, we’ll kick their scrotums
For that moment, you can avert your eyes.

COUNTRY SONG, AINT GOT NO MELODY

I WON’T GO THERE
–
They said”Jump in! The waters fine!”
I knew better than to freeze my behind
I stayed topside, and drank a few
While the rest caught colds, pneumonia, and the flu!

I won’t go there , I won’t do that,
I’d strike out just like Casey with his bat
Another TKO, laying on the mat
Feel free to ask, but I won’t do that

I met a pretty gal at this fancy bar
She took me to her home in her fancy car
But my lucky stars I did stop thanking
When she said, Bad boy! You’re getting a spanking!

I don’t do that, I won’t go there
Go ahead and pout, I really don’t care
No more weirdness, please, I’ve had my share
I’ll hold your beer , but I won’t go there

A guy whose face had been in the paper
Invited me to be a part of his caper
He said I’d regret it when I declined
He made the news again, when he got 99

I won’t do that, no Sir or Ma’am
I’m happy to stay the way I am,
Not rolling in dough, nor am I on the lam
Just getting by the best I can

He said to me, ” Let’s get rich quick!”
“This business plan is way too slick!”
Now, I don’t gamble, but I would wager
That he never got rich selling old pagers

I won’t go there, I just can’t
I’m way too old to take such a chance
That’s how it is, spare me your rant
I make just enough down here at the plant.

Weasels in the Hen House

There’s weasels in the hen house,
Rodents in the corn
Larvae ate the leafy greens
And more are being born
The garden has been invaded,
From inside and without
And the scarecrows are too jaded
To give a damn about it.
The soil has been poisoned
It’s fruit unsafe to eat
And still the people will buy it
For it costs much less than meat
There is only so much Garden,
But, oh so many of us!
That we can govern our appetites
Im beginning to distrust
The garden must be tended,
From predators protected
Because there’s danger all about
From inside and without

ON SEEING A DOG ABANDONED

ON SEEING A DOG ABANDONED
Please don’t run, little fella, I won’t hurt you
The way someone has
I won’t tie you up outside in the summer and let your water dish go dry
The way someone did
Someone tested your love and devotion to its limits
And you would jump back in the truck he kicked you out of
And you would bite me if I did to him what I’m thinking
I want to see him to cower, the way from me you’re slinking
Screw him it’s time to start on the forgetting
Time to put some food in you, take you to a vet and
I need a new winter coat, my old one is now your bedding
It’s time for you to get back the love that you’ve been giving
Maybe in a week or two you’ll be receptive to some petting
The way someone will

WHEN GRANDPA KILLED A RATTLER

WHEN GRANDPA KILLED A RATTLER
“It wasn’t just a snake, it was a rattler.”
Grandpa said with a shake of the shovel,
Over which the long body was draped
It wiggled, but the rattles made no sound
“They’re very aggressive.”
He tossed the aggressor’s body over the back fence,
The tall, wooden protector of neighbors from each other
made with posts, crossbeams, and slats
Milled from the trees, Cypress, I believe,
Cut down when most of the swamp was drained
Just like that, the snake was forgotten,
Now he was the neighbor’s problem

I wished I could have replied
With aha! insights I had yet to attain
I know you killed it for safety’s sake,
For Mom and Tiger and Sis and me
I know, too, that it was just a snake,
Who had a family who followed a scent trail
Blazed by countless ancestors
Who ate the rodents that invaded the silos
When the land grew wheat and corn
Then the crop became houses, the people provided
With papers proving, beyond written doubt,
That it was just a snake, who only knew one way home.

Tiger never got snakebit, bees got me twice
The fence is gone, Dad planted a hedge for me
there are houses all around, I’m the old-timer now
Who just killed a rattler with Grandpa’s shovel
And notified City Pest Control

THE STUDENTS TAKE THE LEAD

Who's teaching the lesson today?
The students are leading the way
With I-pads in their backpacks,
And smart phones with smart apps
They picked today to not run laps,
Nor listen to official bull crap.
The usual calculated pap
Today our kids are talking back
Speaking with loud action
A chorus of marching feet
The time for change is not someday
When four weeks ago was already too late
What gives them the right, you ask?
To interrupt their history class?
But what have we done,
To whom have our votes gone?
To politicians who feel their pain,
And go on to feed at the trough again
As yet another damaged kid takes aim,
More teachers and classmates feel the pain
Things just can't stay the same
They're doing it for their own sake
For an end to the horror and heartache

Sometmes history is learned,
Some history has to be made

CATCH THE MOON

” You have to run fast to catch the Moon!”
My older brother said as he raced me
It was blood-red, beautiful, and setting soon
He laughed when I fell and hurt my knee

” This time, I want you to really, really try!”
” You have to run fast if you want to catch the Moon.”
I ran, and as i reached for my prize in the sky
Across the moon’s face flew the shadow of a loon.

My brother passed away far too soon
You could say he jumped too high
“You have to run fast to catch the moon.”
He said before his very last try.

“Don’t follow that path.” my mother cried.
“Losing both sons will be my ruin.”.
Not try, Mother? I would much rather die!
You have to run fast to catch the Moon.
(c) Greg Cobb 2018

MILES BEHIND THE VOODOO

THE AUTHOR TRIES TO WRITE ABOUT MILES THE WAY MILES PLAYED

Miles Davis broke through barriers like a terrorist,
Staccato gunbursts aimed at targets the audience couldn’t see.
Explosive notes toppling musical Jericho’s,
Scaring the shit out of guys pretending to get it
Guys like me
Raised on melody and meatloaf, three minutes with cheese
Baloney on white bread, that was either my lunch, or me.
But Miles got it, he rode that sound like a gaucho,
Picking runs out of the herd, taking them down,
Burning that Davis brand flesh deep, one after frenetic other
That was Miles, racing and chasing, outpacing his contemporaries
In the pursuit of the new, scoring the dragon of Now, that never satisfied him
And came too fast for us.
Miles is gone
Right, stop the presses
His music lives on ({yawn}}
What can I say? I’m no Miles of the keypad,
Joining words and genres that never met before, making them friends
New combinations of words and notes get harder to find every day
Many no longer try, if music was money, they’re just getting by
Miles only stopped when he died
He didn’t run out of ideas, he only ran out of time