No interest in the lover
nor for the poet at all
you no longer see the man
who stands beyond your wall
no song to sing in harmony
no lyrics both recall
no need to understand
the boy, the man, at... – by Don Stephens | 1 View added 10 months ago
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Sleepin’ on a train in Texas and I dreamed of Tennessee
I woke up in Alabama and saw you sittin’ across from me
I wondered how I got to heaven…I never saw the Nashville sign
Then you looked at me and smiled and took Tennessee off my mind
I was... – by Don Stephens | 5 Views added 10 months ago
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From cooing daughter
to pretty maid
(I sincerely thank your Mother)
Too sweet a maid
thus made a lover
Too loving a maid
thus made a mother
So, tis fairly said,
I made the daughter,
a maid, a... – by Don Stephens | 19 Views added 2 years ago
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I love you Lord Jesus
please hold me real tight,
the Devil’s out walking
out walking tonight
Oh I love you Lord Jesus
take hold of my hand
I’m starting to stumble
don’t think I can stand
I love you Lord Jesus
please sit by my side
I... – by Don Stephens | 10 Views added 2 years ago
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The old Easter Bunny stopped by my house today
(of course I didn’t recognize him right away)
saying he’d lost track of one of the Michigan Shoemaker kids,
particularly one Kristie A.
He was a rather pleasant looking old hare
in a dusty frock... – by Don Stephens | 225 Views added 2 years ago
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I await the hands of Fate
to shape and mold me through the years
I feel the strain of each subtle change
preparing for laughter or tears
I hear the bells in the chapel knell
across the hills of the country parish
and I stand nude for a... – by Don Stephens | 315 Views added 2 years ago
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Not all 100 hearts are valentines
lined up outside your door,
so ask them in for tea and cakes
while I explain some more.
10 are the hearts of couriers, each one brave and true,
bringing public proclamations of the love I have for you.
24... – by Don Stephens | 4 Views added 2 years ago
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His lips incurred a lovers’ debt
his heart would never pay
her eyes were so enraptured
they saw nothing but today.
The flash of fire, the quickening,
was all they knew for sure
and at that moment it was enough;
no more could they endure
... – by Don Stephens | 222 Views added 2 years ago
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When all other things have come to rest
each in its own time and to its own place
will my mind still be churning and burning within
leaving no hope for honest respite?
Do I stand alone upon this knoll
being one to all
and to myself another
... – by Don Stephens | 11 Views added 2 years ago
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I feel a world within me
unrelated to the one on which I stand
I am the universe to the world inside
I shape the land I roll the tide
The world took no joy in my first breath
nor will it weep as I lay down
but the world within will shudder... – by Don Stephens | 12 Views added 2 years ago
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We often go to our Secret Garden
where only the two of us may stroll….
where the sweet peas make a jungle
and the purple lilacs grow,
where errant breezes waft a thousand scents,
where untamed roses grace the walls
and the little... – by Don Stephens | 14 Views added 2 years ago
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There’s magic in his little hands
I’ve seen it for myself
He brought to life those antique toys
gathering dust upon the shelf
He brightened all their colors
and held them til they rang with joy
I’m telling you there’s magic
in the hands of... – by Don Stephens | 7 Views added 2 years ago
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With the day nearly done, the setting sun
lends a shadowy scene to the questions
asked by the breeze in the top of the trees,
“Whyyyyyyyyyyy?”
The older pines in staggered lines
pass along the echoing questions.
From every limb insists the... – by Don Stephens | 5 Views added 2 years ago
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Oh what joy at Yuletide
to find the flock is full again!
The Shepherd fulfilled the promise
without regard to what has been.
Is this not the miracle
proclaimed so clearly on that night,
that even the least among us
can walk into the light.
... – by Don Stephens | 7 Views added 2 years ago
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Vas da nacht before Christmas as da old shtory goes
ven little Hans Mitvoch shtood on his toes
staring up at the sky the full moon made so clear
in fear that old Santa vould nicht come hier.
Hans knew his haus vas east of da vall,
but still he... – by Don Stephens | 9 Views added 2 years ago
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Beyond the gate
the world waits
though it doesn’t stay for me
I hesitate
I anticipate
I fear what I cannot see
I hear it call
beyond the wall
thought it never says my name
I want it all
but I’m so small
I should find someone to... – by Don Stephens | 9 Views added 2 years ago
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Prologue:
As children we marveled at the mystery of Santa. Why does he live at the North Pole? How old is he? Who are the elves and how did they meet Santa? How did Rudolph get his bright red nose? The questions were nearly endless. Do... – by Don Stephens | 357 Views added 2 years ago
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How can the world be getting’ smaller
when my stack of bills is getting’ taller
somethings gotta give…and mighty soon.
I got tired of sittin’ in this leakyboat
paddlin’ like hell to stay afloat,
so I just laid back and wrote this little... – by Don Stephens | 16 Views added 2 years ago
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Thanksgiving Day begins early in a rush and a hustle
with company coming the kitchen’s abustle.
The turkey’s roasting and the ham is glazed,
the eggs are deviled and Mamma seems... – by Don Stephens | 7 Views added 2 years ago
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Witches and Ghosts and big yellow pumpkins
Dark spooky corners, black cats on the prowl
Goblins and ghouls and Frankenstein monsters
Black bats flying by and Werewolves that... – by Don Stephens | 34 Views added 2 years ago
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Moving silently down shadowed halls the darkness hinders not at all.
Pushing softly on each passing door then returning to the one before.
This one moved the tiniest bit just by barely pushing it
Inside the room in deep shadows lay a man with... – by Don Stephens | 8 Views added 2 years ago
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Love, they say, has many faces
and no certain path it traces
and its’ ways ever amaze the unbelieving.
Like a figure in the mist
or a lover barely kissed
lies the dream… between flesh and... – by Don Stephens | 18 Views added 2 years ago
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See there the ghostly galleon
drifting o’er the azure sea
sailing for an unknown port
on shores unknown to me
How often has it sailed before
upon the vastness unexplored?
And it will sail how many more
before the sails are... – by Don Stephens | 8 Views added 2 years ago
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Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds -
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -
wheeled and soared and swung... – by John G. Magee Jr. | 370 Views added 2 years ago
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If you love beer brats and tater tots,
busty blondes in tank tops lookin’ hot,
monster trucks, mud bogs, and pop tops…
I reckon you might be... – by Snodeel | 8 Views added 2 years ago
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I once heard a wise old Toucan
say, “no one lies better to you than you can.
for I hear me talk
but most hear a squawk
unless you’re as gullible as I... – by Snodeel | 21 Views added 2 years ago
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I once saw a skeeter named Moe
dining alfresco on the tip of my toe
I gave him a whack
His dinner went splat
Now there’s no skeeter no... – by Snodeel | 5 Views added 2 years ago
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Rona moves among us without revealing that she’s here
drifting in upon the breeze landing gently as the dew
most never feel her kisses soft as sunlight in your hair
but some she strikes like lightning… pray it isn’t... – by Snodeel | 2 Views added 2 years ago
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The doves flew slowly to the old elm tree
and there perched on a gnarled limb.
They cooed and preened til they fell asleep
as the setting sun grew dim.
A brown chubby rabbit hopped lazily along
toward the cozy shelter of home;
probably singing a... – by Snodeel | 5 Views added 2 years ago
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They say the art of giving
is knowing just how to receive
I also suggest that part of the art
of giving….is knowing what not to... – by Snodeel | 4 Views added 2 years ago
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Walls between us walls around us
Who built the walls that surround us
I don’t remember when they rose
I asked around…nobody... – by Snodeel | 10 Views added 2 years ago
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On Christmas Day my finest gift, of all the gifts about me strewn,
was my bow and arrow set which from mighty oak was hewn.
Though the arrows were tipped with rubber and the bow was strung with string
to nine year old eyes like mine they were... – by Snodeel | 32 Views added 2 years ago
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Lord, I’m so tired and so hungry.
Lord, I’m hungry even now as I pray.
I don’t know if anything matters
I just barely keep living each... – by Snodeel | 6 Views added 2 years ago
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I just heard the fairies from Kalamzoo
tap on the window. They were asking for you.
I rose from my lonely seat on the floor
and asked them, “Please, fly round to the door.”
I invited them in, and as a good host should do,
inquired of their health,... – by Snodeel | 1 View added 2 years ago
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Who calls my name above the whispered wind song
and rustles yellow leaves near my window
while the weeping willow sways beneath a winter moon?
Mournful ghosts of forgotten dreams drift
unbeckoned through my mind, spreading ashes, and taunting me... – by Snodeel | 2 Views added 2 years ago
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How can the old house still stand
when everyone has gone
Doesn’t it know
Hasn’t it heard
Can’t someone please explain
that its past is no longer prologue
It’s now…not then…... – by Snodeel | 14 Views added 2 years ago
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I was walking through a cemetery
late one cold and windy afternoon
pondering on the distended egos
that demand such cold monuments to their doom
For here and there in brittle splendor
stood granite angels on little plots of land
oft times portraying... – by Snodeel | 8 Views added 2 years ago
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Up to now I felt quite well in the box they made for me
I was willing to breathe their rebreathed air
repeat their chants and pray their prayers
smile at their blunders and care for their cares
but now I have some scissors.
Scissors and knives make... – by Don Stephens | 11 Views added 2 years ago
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Cottage Fairies have a funny way
of playing in empty homes they say.
They sing and laugh and romp all day,
but for their mischief they gladly pay.
These little imps will dance and shout
moving tables and chairs about;
so it isn’t odd for an owner to... – by Don Stephens | 14 Views added 2 years ago
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The winter sky was waxing bright, but War is Hell and Hell is here,
As dawn arose to relieve the night…O’ life is sweet but death is near.
The stuttering machinegun from a secret vantage point
does with fire and smoke and lead many comrades souls... – by Don Stephens | 15 Views added 2 years ago
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Oh whatever powers be
within the earth the sky or me
burst this thirsty mind of mine
into a thousand particles of being
each as a seed from the Mother Tree
to be hurled from pole to pole
across this scarred and wrinkled... – by Don Stephens | 13 Views added 2 years ago
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At times like this it’s very hard
to know just what to say
for friends would like to comfort you
and take your grief away.
But may it reassure you
to keep within your mind
the thought held dear in memory
of school days left behind.
Lazy days are... – by Don Stephens | 30 Views added 2 years ago
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I’m a carousel horse
and I go round the course
yes I circle around all day
and I go up and down
as I go round and round
while the “oom pah pah” music plays
You can have a good time
if you’ll just spend a dime
then hop up on... – by Don Stephens | 8 Views added 2 years ago
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I would not weep upon the morrow
if there could be surcease of sorrow.
Nor would I bemoan the dark of night
if I knew dawn would bring the light,
but when a soul, so draped in woe,
as is mine this eve…I bid you... – by Don Stephens | 7 Views added 2 years ago
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Oh I have stayed too long with this mistress,
over long in her arms have I lain
for she no longer coos to console me.
Her faded charms are now sweaty and... – by Don Stephens | 352 Views added 2 years ago
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Hear da pretty boidy singin’
high up on da limb?
I saw him flyin’ earlier.
I wish dat I was... – by Don Stephens | 14 Views added 2 years ago
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In sweet repose
I share this night
with you, my Lady,
and I, your knight.
The miles between
mean naught but time
and serve to buoy
our love sublime.
Still chaste, untouched,
my Lady, lies
and makes our love
her... – by Don Stephens | 9 Views added 2 years ago
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I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn... – by John Masefield | 425 Views added 2 years ago
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Who calls my name above the whispered wind song
and rustles yellow leaves near my window
while the weeping willow sways beneath a winter moon?
Mournful ghosts of forgotten dreams drift
unbeckoned through my mind, spreading ashes,
and taunting me... – by Don Stephens | 7 Views added 2 years ago
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Towering rolling floating mountains,
barren white monoliths of ice
riding gracefully up up on endless swells
Ancient ballet masters dancing
in stop to a soundless air,
to poise upon the crest with an artist’s pride
then sweep down into the trough... – by Don Stephens | 8 Views added 2 years ago
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Sometimes breakin’ even
is just like getting’ ahead.
You start the day
in the same old way
and end up back in... – by Don Stephens | 15 Views added 2 years ago
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He stands frozen in my memory,
one foot in the drifting boat
and one foot on the dock
with his balance lying in between.
With only a second to decide
his commitment: to the dock
or the seaward moving boat.
I didn’t notice earlier
just where he had... – by Don Stephens | 7 Views added 2 years ago
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How I long for a rolling deck
and the feel of a freshenin’ breeze
settin’ the land far astern
slidin’ out to the open... – by Don Stephens | 12 Views added 2 years ago
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When Lil’ Kris, the orphan,
came to our house to stay
Ma said we shouldn’t call her “orphan”,
but I said it anyway.
I asked Ma, “ What is an orphan?”
(cuz she looks like one of us)
Ma sez, “An orphans’ a special child
who deserves a lot of... – by Don Stephens | 7 Views added 2 years ago
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Some hearts are for the taking
too quickly given away
and some hearts are for the breaking
too fragile to bear the... – by Don Stephens | 11 Views added 2 years ago
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Every bottle on the shelf tells a story
about some young fool’s fall from glory.
Stop and listen for a moment if you can
for in the bottom of the bottle lies the... – by Snodeel | 4 Views added 2 years ago
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Joe, I been sittin’ here a thinkin’
how I’m sorry that you’re a stinkin’….
you were my only friend.
Now brother you know that I ain’t lyin’
When I say I was sorry ‘bout your dyin’
right up to the bitter... – by Snodeel | 5 Views added 3 years ago
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Moving silently down shadowed halls the darkness hinders not at all.
Pushing softly on each passing door then returning to the one before.
This one had moved the tiniest bit just by barely pushing it
Inside the room in deep shadows lay a man with... – by Snodeel | 14 Views added 3 years ago
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Surely no rape was ever more darkly planned
than time’s assault on innocence
for the ravaged child cannot reclaim
the right to youthful... – by Snodeel | 9 Views added 3 years ago
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I love listening to the fireplace
on cold dark winter nights
when no one else is talking
and it casts the only light
We’ve spent pleasant hours together,
the fireplace and I,
for it spins the most wonderous tales
of days to come and things gone... – by Snodeel | 6 Views added 3 years ago
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