Hypocritically Politically Correct

Behind this edifice lies a loneliness
that cannot be denied.
Patience and principles are put on the stand
and ceaselessly are tried.

Pushed from the left
and pulled from the right
a moderate man walks the fence
and tries to keep his mind.

Though he has no enemies
He is the enemy to all.
No matter what he does to do what's right
he is set to take a fall.

With his hands in the air and hands in his pockets
he is told that he is no good.
Disregarded and discounted
he is often misunderstood.

Told not to say what he thinks
and less of what he feels
only HE can be sterotyped
by the mongrels on his heels.

Left alone when not needed
he is told he's obsolete
which sets the stage for past lessons learned
in history to repeat.

I was raised to be respectful and respectable
and to be good in word and deed.
Kind to all around me
and helpful to those in need.

Never have I been hurtful
or held intent to harm.
Yet today I am treated
as if I was raised in a backwoods barn.

So I bite my tongue and close my eyes
and feel resentment start to rise
towards those who often criticize
and demand that I apologize

for being a white guy in his middle age.
They say that I don't belong.
But I will not apologize,
because I've personally done nothing wrong.

And though I don't agree with all they say
I do not counteract
because in the wisdom of all the ages
I know that I'll be back.

Jemma

The shorter days of fall have grown longer here without you
as have the shadows cast upon me.
The waters edge seemed to have a spell cast upon you
and so you ventured there without me.

I hope the cool water soothed you from your day out in the sun
and perhaps numbed the pain that you have been feeling.
I hope that you drifted off as you drifted out
and death has brought you healing.

When I saw you there, so softly drifting in the sunlit waters
my heart sank to their depths
I swam out to you and pulled you in
and held you there and wept.

The waterline has risen
from my weeping and my tears
but you are safe now in my arms
where I've held you all these years.

Two old souls on the shore
One now free to roam.
One left with a broken heart
and future days alone.

The old black dog has come around
but I will not let it stay.
I wish that you were here, just one more time
to chase that hound away.

If there is comfort to be found
when we find our way to death
I hope that you did find it
when you took your final breath.

I hope that your spirit roams the fields
of that farm that you loved so much
I love you Jemma and am proud of you
for all the lives you've touched.

Goodbye my love ~ until we meet again.

Here Today

You're front and center
which is where you should be.
Everyone who knows me knows you
and there is so much love.

I hope that whatever I have given you
before and after is enough
so that you don't have to know the pain and sorrow.
I've tried to create a new beginning and a very different tomorrow - for you.

It has cost me the life that I once knew.  That may be good.
But I feel sorrow that you should have to look upon the bricks and stones of my past.
I have never intended to tell you about the wars, or the stones, or the tainted grapes.
What's important is that you become who you will be, not because of who I was.

I hope that you'll be seen and I hope that you'll be heard.
Honesty and sorry have seemed to be the hardest words.

I was everything to everyone and yet nothing.
I was larger than life, but overshadowed all those years by the clouds
with all their darkness and thunder.
You brought the sun and the blue sky back to life - I knew those things once - and so
I hope that you will forgive me for loving you more than myself.

Am I selfish or selfless?
I don't know.