60

I was told that Jesus loved me back in 1964

while building the garden of Eden 

On the kindergarten floor

With little stones, sand and twigs

bursting with love from a heart so big

a red headed child, freckled face, blurred eyes 

Innocent, curious, passionate, shy

My musical gate was in 68 

With ‘meet me where the rainbow ends’ 

and where I yearn to be

But the summer of love was happening elsewhere 

not on my streets reported the bbc

My antenna was alerted to the division and the fears

That robbed many a youth that scarred their future years.

A nail bomb put an end to my best friend 

and the family fled in the shadow of the night

and wind blew east above the prayers of a priest

But nothing could take away the feeling of fright

Shots echoed across the city, the sound of the sirens followed on

Violating my homeland, dividing the streets and avenues before the dawn.

Those Kindergarten days of ‘Jesus loves me, this I know’ 

would resonate with me when the church bells chime

detonating the visceral bombshells of the past 

That leaves a piercing ache from that horrific time

I watched the revolutions come and go

as the wars swept across the globe

the bulldog continued to snarl for power 

as Erin wept for her children young and old.

Then a cry of the youth in 76 

Ferociously rocked my world

disturbing the mantles of power, 

In their ivory tower

Leaving them in a swirl

Now a cloud hovers over where the music once played 

The silence is deafening as it wrestles in my mind

as we battle through the refrain of night after day

With nothing to witness but the killing of time.

I watched time slipped by as I waved it goodbye

To where the ghosts of the past are engulfed in a fog

They weep and wail like a tortured banshee 

To an explosive epilogue 

My exhaling breath deflects from my mind

The years of many turns and twists 

Yet to my own gain the joy remains

In the receding moments that used to exist.

More time has gone before now than yet to come

In this abundance of seconds minutes and hours 

The wrongs are put right by confessing each night

Still the miracle of life holds all the power 

Now I gaze upon the autumn leaves

as the seasons come and go

and watch the pheasant from my window 

strutting gracefully to and fro

Peace transcends as the wind whistles by and evening shadows fall

the starlings murmurate above the swaying trees that stand so proud and tall.

This journey never fails to surprise me

from hysterical laughter to a problem of pain

Some salty tears roll down my face, but there’s no one here to blame

I ask, what will another decade bring, laughter or lingering love? 

While I catch the sunrise behind Binion 

peek over the summit lighting up the skies above.

Another day has arrived …. 

The hallelujah rings

Let the seagulls fly and dive, 

let the children sing

Let the lighthouse shine, 

let the swimmers swim

Let me dance, laugh, live and love …. cause I know Love always wins

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