Poor Dam Fool
By Jim Stewart, C 2001, Back Porch Music
(Award Winning Poem)
I guess you can say
I woke up a poor dam fool again this morning.
I chased another pipe dream down a dead end street
I reached for the brass ring
But went home with an aluminum ring pull tab
I went to the end of the rainbow
I found the pot empty
I put a tooth under my pillow
The tooth fairy left me a bill
I wished upon a thousand stars
and blew out hundreds of candles
I just wasted my time.
I wrote Santa a letter
It came back address unknown
Yeah, I guess I'm a dreamer
I'll go to sleep again tonight chasing another pipe dream
And I'll wake up a poor dam fool
If I wouldn't have tried
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Amen The Final Chapter
By Jim Stewart, c 1990, Back Porch Music
It's been long since the snow has melted
And the flowers have wilted to the ground
But I went back to see the one from which I came
The grass has grown back on the ground now
And not another soul could be found
But there is something about this solitude
That brings the serenity out in me
Is it the words of the parsons prayer
Still ringing in my ear
Or the words to some forgotten church hymnal
Like bringing in the sheaves comes to mind
As I kneel down to pray
I see an old man out of the corner of my eye
Putting flowers on his wife's freshly dug grave
At the same time I hear a bay crying
It's a Vicious Circle I think
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away
As I head back to my car
Just as mysterious as the serenity hit me earlier
A smile comes across my face
Amen, The Final Chapter