THERE WAS A SUNRISE

There Was a Sunrise

There was a sunrise

That never came

A day of darkness

And tearful rain.

There was a heart break

That tore in two

The part of me

That's part of you.

There was a sadness

That hid the joy

That lived inside

The girl and boy.

There was a knowing

That became wise

When you no longer

Looked in my eyes.

There was a silence

That louder grew

No longer hearing

The sound of you.

There was an emptiness

That filled my life

No worldly refuge

From worldly strife.

There was a coldness

That came to fill

The void of your warmth

That chills me still.

There was a a day

That changed my soul

And you laid down

Your greatest role.

For on that day

That came, I lost

My gift from Heaven

That bore no cost.

For us, but you

Paid everything

Your life, your love

That had no strings.

That day, that day

Was like no other

That endless day

I lost my mother.

You left  your body

And flew to Glory

And left us here

To tell your story.

And what is that

But endless love

Your songs and stories

A heart full of......

Such lovely laughter

Such sweet delight

The way you lit

The darkest night.

You were a mysterious

Mischievous you

A little kid

And a woman, too.

You loved your family

You loved the Lord

You worked at loving

And you worked hard.

You were always there

And you'd always be

Anticipating

A call from me.

But there were times

I didn't call
And I didn't know
How your heart would fall.

Till that day came

With no sunrise

With no glad welcome

There in your eyes.

I learned so quickly

How a heart can break

How a heart can give

What it cannot take.

I learned in sorrow

What I could not in joy

That your joy was living

For your girl and boy.

And now you're living

With the Lord above

Your glad feet running

Through His fields of love.

Our lives continue

Devoid of your cheer

And a deafening silence

Since you're not here.

The world feels different

Now that you're gone

Only a mother can make

 This world feel like home.

©by Voo

July 25, 2017

1:24 a.m.

                          

THERE STOOD A HOUSE

play music for scary effect

There Stood A House

There stood a house

And the house stood there alone

No cat with teasing mouse

No dog with tortured bone.

No squeaking floor

No belfry bat

No one to disturb

The peace of that.

No rattling branch

No howling pack

No one to leave

And then come back.

Except the child

That swings alone

In midnight moon

She sings her song.

The little girl

With pig-tailed hair

She swings and sings

To empty air.

For many moons

She's swung like that

Through storm and sleet

And days so black.

For no sun will shine

Upon that place

No breeze comes by

To touch her face.

The passers-by

Walk out of their way

To avoid the house

Where sadness stays.

For they all know

The story wild

And the hateful fate

That befell the child.

So long ago

On that terrible day

When the monster took

The sun away.

And then the family

Moved from the home

And left the girl

To swing alone.

They left so broken

Almost insane

They didn't know

That she remained.

She couldn't leave

The place she died

She watched them leave

And stood and cried.

Then to the swing

She went to play

The swing her Daddy

Made that birthday.

And there she swings

And sings her song

As the old house watches

And stands alone.

©by Voo

July 23, 2017

1:46 a.m.

FLIGHT OF THE STREET PREACHER

Flight of the Street Preacher



Crazy.....insane...is that your name?
That's what I heard today
They all threw rocks and chains and blocks
And I dodged out of their way

Stupid...moron...they screamed at me
As I did my 180 twirl
Why don't you go back where you came from?
We don't want you in this world!

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled at them
And blessed them in my heart
Just take your Jesus and get out of here
They yelled at me: Depart!

We want our fun, you mindless one
Our TV shows and trash
How dare you come here and bring us down
Why, we ought to whip your a--!

Bring it on, my brothers
I said, opening my book
Turned my cheek and started again
In the glow of their angry looks

For God so loved the world, I read
And they pelted me with hate
That He gave His only begotten Son
As they screamed at me my fate

The crowd grew near yet I felt no fear
Even when they tore my clothes
For I saw a hand reach from the clouds
And into the sky I rose

Holding the book and reading still
I heard their astonished wails
They stared at me and to a man
They shouted "What the hell?!"

You're closer to it than I am
I pointed to the sod
You're on your way to Hades's gates
And I'm on my way to God

But wait! they pleaded, Don't leave us now!
Teach us how to fly!
And I looked down at their startled faces
And said, First, you'll have to die

Die to self and die to sin
And die to Satan's grip
And to a man, the words "I'm lost!"
Poured forth from anguished lips

I preached to them for many hours
And they prayed the sinner's prayer
Then the day grew late and they went their way
And left me alone up there

And in the darkness, I descended down
Till the dew covered ground I met
Uh, Lord? I queried, What's going on?
And He said, "You're not dead yet."

©by Voo
May 7, 2006
11:00 p.m.

DOWN SOUTH TO HOME

Down South To Home



Way down south
They have this thing
Called love
It grows on trees and bushes
And in big truck patch gardens
Like watermelons
And rhubarb.

People tell me
At one time,
It even came attached to babies
Right outta the womb
But I can’t find nobody now
To corroborate that
So I just keep it filed away in my head.

Too many damned fools
And dreamers
Running loose in the world now,
You can’t believe nothing you hear
And very little of what you see
So you got to be careful
Or you’ll get run over by a lie.

My mama was sixteen
Her mama, twenty-nine
When I was born
(We all just kinda grew up together)
Them and me
Not a man in the family
And not a one of us with no daddy.

One day Mama run off
With a peddler fella
Who sold shoes and liniment
Out of the back of his car
A shiny eyed, nice looking man from up North
Who talked a good tale and charmed all us ladies
Just like a snake with a bird.

That left her mama
And me, with no mama
Alone in the world with nothing to do
But cry in our pillows and keep us a look-out
For red dust to come flying behind a big car
Hopefully, finally, bringing her back.

I waited many a year
For that day to come
And it never did while I was a kid,
The only thing that did happen
Was another bad thing
And I don’t really know how to talk about that,
So I won’t.

When I was going on fifteen
I thought about leaving, myself
So I packed up the only things
Mama ever gave me
Which was a porcelain-faced doll
And a bunch of old clothes
And me and that doll and my dreams  hit the road.

About twenty miles outside
The hills and the hollers
Where I grew to be fourteen and a little past that,
A man in a pick-up asked if I wanted a ride
And I said “Yessir.”
(I was awfully tired)
And I climbed in to his grin and his un-welcomed stare.

Two miles down the road
He pulled into some trees,
Turned off the motor,
Handed me a Grapette,
And a big pack of peanuts out of a bag
And sat there and watched me
Until I began to feel sick.

“What’s a purty little thing
Like you doing out here by yourself?”
He asked, throwing my empty out of the truck
I clutched my knapsack close to my chest,
And said I reckoned I was on vacation
And that I reckoned he ought to be starting the truck
And that I reckoned he needed to move his old hand!



“I got a knife.” I told him
And he just grinned wider and leaned in real close
“Well, I betcha you do, honey
But you know what?
I bet I can take that knife from you
And cut your pretty throat with it!”
And at that, I jumped out of that truck and I ran.

He chased me for nearly a mile, I think
Till I got so tired I couldn’t run
He’d pull up beside me and then pull off
Then he’d come up behind me and then stop in front
And I was so scared, I was about to cry
When I saw a State Trooper car come round the bend
And the man in the truck high-tailed it fast as a cat.

I ran off in the bushes till the Trooper drove by
Then I ran out of the bushes and up to the road
But I was too careless and I dropped my stuff
And my little doll fell, her head shattering like glass,
My only companion for many long years, 
Her little white face,
Broken there on the ground.

“Shit!!!!!!!!!!!” I wailed
And began to cry
“Now, I ain’t got nobody and nothing to love!”
And I just grabbed the rest of my stuff
And walked away feeling like I was dead inside,
With big dirty tears streaming all down my face
Not knowing where in God’s name, I was going to go.

Why did I just tell you all of that?
I said all of that just to say this,
I walked all the way clear up North after that
Walked into Detroit and then on to Canada
All over Antarctica, no, it wasn’t Antarctica,
One of them other cold places
That starts with an A.

And when I got past grown
And was too tired to walk,
I started dreaming about going back home
Seeing my mama and going back home
Not that she’d be there,
But I  sure wanted to see her,
And get out of the North and head on down South.

The only thing was,
No one could tell me how to get there
Everybody I asked said their compass was broke
And that nobody, nobody, went down South anymore
And that they didn’t rightly think that it existed no more
(Plus, they all want to know why I want to go
To a place that is hotter-n-hell.)

“Cause that’s where love lives!” I always tell ‘em
But I can’t explain what I mean
And they don’t know what love is anyway,
They were born in the cold, so I shut my mouth
And keep right on dreaming that I’m driving down
That long reddish road full of hot reddish dust
Back to the only home that I’ve ever known.

Back to the tar paper shack in the hills,
Where the ghosts of my mama
And her mama are waiting
And that poor little baby
That my Mama brought home
And that poor little baby that I birthed all alone
All of them, ghosts, waiting for me to come home.


Down South
Down South
Down South to home.

©Voo

June 27, 2011

10: 58 p.m.

BRING ME A DRINK FROM THE WISHING WELL

                                             

And The Birds Were Singing

By Alain Morisod and Sweet People

Bring Me A Drink From The Wishing Well

 bring me a drink from the wishing well

catch me a star from the sky

feed me a feast from the hands of true love

and light up my life with your eyes.

dance me till dawn on a moonbeam

sing me a song from the soul

set sail with me on the river of dreams

and pledge me a heart of pure gold.

write me a story that goes on forever

kiss me a kiss without end

hold me in arms that protect me from harm

and send all the love you can send.

and then, in return, my own shining star

I'll make all of your dreams come true

I'll love you forever and leave you, I'll never

and together, sing that song with you.

©by Voo

May 15, 07