Sally Centerfold

He was not/ in high school/ any more/ and he had/ no bevy/ of beauties
He had a wife/ and children/ and he had promised/ to love them/
But there she was/ on the table/ in the local barber shop/ a place called/ Pop's
It was a busy shop/ and he always had time/ for his favorite magazine/ not Time
In the center of the pages/ was the very place/ where passion rages
Sally Centerfold/ was there to say/ "You're not too old/ too gray/ to play"

At first/ it was just daydreams/ and nigh time fantasies
After all/ men were men/ and in his private place/ he could do as he pleased
After all/ it was his brain/ and his Sally Centerfold/ was there to entertain
After awhile/ he began to see/ Sally Centerfold/ almost everywhere
He saw her at Surplus Foods/ he saw her at Macy's/ buying new shoes
He saw her/ at the diner/ where he had lunch/ eating the same foods

Tim always went/ and worked out/ with Jim/ and now he saw her/ again
They were both on treadmills/ and he grinned/ because she was/ next to him
She turned toward him/ and smiled/ and his heartbeat/ went wild
Time was up/ the machines stopped/ and he thought/ "What am I to do"
She began to talk to him/ she was Nancy/ fancy Nancy/ and he was Tim
"I'm fifty," / he said/ "And I am twenty two" adding/ "I really like you"

"I am twice your age," / Tim said/ "I could be your father/ don't bother"
"You are tall and handsome," / she said/ "I'm not your daughter/ not her"
"Then what/ tell me what you are"/ "I am your lover/ your bedroom star"
"You are very bold/ and blunt" / Tim said /"Yes/ today women/ are up front"
She drew closer to him/ "Tim/ the least you could do/ is buy me lunch
I've seen you/ at the diner" / she cooed/ "I like what I see/ and I'm in the mood"

"It's been a long time/ since I have been/ with a beauty/ like you" / Tim replied.
"I've been married/ my sweet/ to my lovely bride/ long before/ you were alive"
"Yes/ Tim/ but no one will get hurt/ she is the main course/ and I'm dessert"
"To tell you the truth/ Nancy/ I've been dreaming for days/ about this"
'Well then/ maybe it's time/ for our first kiss/ I'm all yours/ you know"
"My day dreams/ have got to go/ my very first kiss/ was a long time ago"

"Sweet sentiment/ from a man/ who loves/ his children/ and his wife"
"Yes/ I'm not young anymore/ but I love them/ more than life"
"I understand/ Tim/ and it's okay/ I hope/ I meet a man/ like you/ some day
A man who will/ never be/ any woman's/ one night stand/ that kind of man"
"Well/ you can't find him like this/ a kiss from your lips/ is not just a kiss"
"Well I guess I can try/ but let me tell you/ it's not easy to find/ your kind of guy"

Too Many Two Faces

Do we all wear/ too many faces/ to stay/ in others' good graces
Do we all want/ so much/ to fit in/ and have many friends
Are we willing to do anything/ say anything/ be anything/ for anyone
Woe is us/ a person for people/ hiding behind/ so many masks
And if you doubt it/ try to get round about/ just wait/ until somebody asks
I wonder/ it you are willing/ to be less/ less like you/ and more like me
Of course/ we never need them to ask/ / if we are quick/ to put on a mask
But this part/ isn't any fun/ how do we choose/ the right one
We wait patiently/ and we listen for cues/ and look for/ his or her views

Each encounter/ you may confess/ is one step forward/ to success
You are not really/ a people pleaser/ you are cunning and calculating/ the best
Too many masks/ to account for/ and right things to say/ make for a stressful day
But then. there is a group/ that can help us win/ and we fit in
A group/ that wears/ the same opinions/ interests/ masks and clothes
Every one/looks alike/ well sort of/ different heights/ and faces
They may come/ from different places/ and maybe/ different races
They may have/ more or less children/ but that's as far/ as it goes

We don't have/ to fill out any forms/ just follow our group's norms
And remember/ if Joe or Suzy/ gets fired/ their membership/ is retired
We may keep boozers/ addicts/ and carousers/ but we don't/ tolerate losers
All that glad to see you/ let's do what we all do/ we are true blue
All ends/ and suddenly/ in shock/ needy/ we are told/ to take a walk
The party/ is over/ and we won't ever/ be invited/ to another
Suddenly/ a frown is replaced/ by a grin/ and we are/ourselves once again

Humanity a Family of Many Colors

I often wonder if it's really true that we are all connected
If all human life is sacred and should all of us be protected
Why are some people better than others/ if we are sisters and brothers
Why do some people deserve more/ yet so many are hungry and homeless
Five percent have 95 percent of all the money/ is that odd/ or funny
Five million American children/ go to bed every night/ hopeless and hungry

Color some families poor/ and some families rich/ some in the Oreo middle
The rich/ sent those jobs away/ to people/ who will work/ for a lot less pay
The third world poor/ have jobs galore/ yet they work for/ 29 cents an hour
I wonder/ if those new jobs/ are new opportunities/ or economic slavery
I wonder/ if the global economy/ is for more profit/ not to set them free

Color the human family/ black/ white/ yellow/ red and brown
I wonder/ where most of them live/ and work/ in cities and towns
I wonder/ which among them/ are serfs/ and who among them/ wear crowns
I wonder/ how much their color/ determines most of/ their destinies
I wonder/ is our country/ a melting pot/ or a mosaic/ of many colors
I wonder/ if the colors/ in our country/ can one day/ be one family

Color the biggest street gangs/ red and blue/ gangs are like families/too
The member of/ the Bloods and the Crypts/ are not color blind
Where they live/ in their hood/ some color is bad/ another color is good
Being in a gang/ is not a game/ gang-bangers/ kill each other/ with guns
I am told/ they do crimes/ and sell drugs/ that they are killers/ and thugs
Color our city streets/ with blood/ blue and red/ count the homies/ who are dead

Color the human family/ Christian/ Muslim/ Buddhist/ Hindu/ and Jew
Each of them/ has their own/ perspective/ believe they have/ the real truth
I wonder/about that/ it seems so odd/ so many religions/ only one God
I have/ my own faith/ my perspective/ the path I walk/ is Christianity
Yet I wonder/ can't we make room/ for each other/ in the human family
I wonder/ since we all know God/ can't we live/ in harmony

I wonder/ about what's become/ of the human family/ and what it will be
Will the day come/ when all of us/ have food/ shelter/ safety/ and opportunity
Together/ we can all have plenty/ have the joy/ of human dignity
Together/ we can choose to take hands/ and be/ a loving/ human family
Is it possible/ to live in peace/ and accept each other/ as our sister and our brother

Sexy Sadie Such a Sad Lady

It was tea time, well actually margaritas and martini time
It was sizzling gossip and hurt her mother's feeling time
Her daughter was a "Yes if you are man enough"
Yes if you life span is long enough

Some one the ladies pretended to abhor
And so like generals commanding troops in war
Without compassion or kindness in maddening blindness
The ladies at lunch talked about her daughter at the table
Called her daughter a whore

Her mother replied/ never flinched/ never cried
"Since you ladies are such a compassionate bunch
I will bring my daughter to our lovely lunch.
And then/ be prepared/ I'll answer your herd

Tuesday/ the mother and daughter/ entered together
"My name/ and you know it/ is Sadie Mae Gray
I heard from my mom that you named me last Tuesday
You knew me when I was four/ you knew me when I was eight/
You knew me when I was twelve/ and on my first date
You don't know/ that I was raped/ when I was four/ and when I was eight
You don't know/ you couldn't know/ that I was raped/ on my first date"

But one of the mothers/ knew him/ suckled him and grew him/ gave her love to him
The boy/ with the bushy blond hair/ tall/ handsome/ without a care
"In the room you gave him/ to lay his sweet head/ he threw me ever so roughly
Yes/ you sweet momma's boy/ Ned/ threw me down on his bed
and this/ is what your boy said, 'You'll give it to me/ you'll not cry out
May parents have gone out/ and if you struggle or shout/ you'll be dead.'

He took off my clothes/ your sweet boy/ Ned/ Ned rode me so hard
Like a wild animal/ your sweet boy/ Ned/ and the blood from my vagina
Yes/ the blood from my vagina/ turned your sweet boy's sheets/ crimson red
After after it was over/ his semen inside me/ trembling all over/ I shook and said'
Yes/ I shook and trembled/ before your sweet boy/ Ned/ not wanting to live
'And once again/ after two callous men'/ I said to your sweet boy/ Ned
'You left the woman's place/ inside of me/ cold and empty/ took it all from me
Left a reminder inside of me/ that I have no purity/ no lock or security'
To your sweet boy/ Ned? I cried many tears/ as I said, 'I'd rather me dead."

He was Nancy Norma Nelson's/ sweet boy/ Ned/ and she was the one
Oh/ yes/ she was the one/ who said/ "Sadie Mae Gray is a whore."
The ladies all looked at Nancy Norma Nelson/ with the look/ that angry women's eyes wear
Not a frown/ not a stare/ a "You know what you've done" / kind of glare.

The ladies thanked God/ that they had never been raped
The ladies thanked God/ that they somehow/ had escaped
In the secrecy of their minds/ they replayed all of their dates
Each of them/ gave it all/ to get all of their dreams
Captains and players/ on high school/ sports teams

And they knew their knights in armor/ their lady charmers
Yes/ they knew their high school letter men/ all and every one of them
Their boys/ had no fidelity/ no loyalty/ no honesty/ in fleeting memories
Each the women/ grew angry/ and thought in misery/ "He cheated on me"

And in acts/ that were intended to be/ sweet revenge
Each of them/ yes every one of them/ gave it all/ to many young men
And the truth is/ the the young men/ they never/ no not one of them
Married one of the women/ their knights in armor/ their high school letter men

Her name was Sadie Mae Gray/ and for the first time in years
Her face formed a smile/ that somehow swept away/ all of her tears
And from that day/ when a young man said. "I'd like to get laid"
Sadie Mae Gray/ never again/ would say/ what she had always said,
and that was,"Are you man enough/ to go to bed with me"
Instead/ she look at the young man/ with the look/ that angry women's eyes wear
Not a frown/ not a stare/ but a"You know what you've done"/ kind of glare
After that day/ it soon got around/ that Sadie Mae Gray/ doesn't give it away

There are Hidden Faces

There are hidden faces lost in a crowd
There are hidden faces waiting to be found
Jumping Jim-a-knee/ they're so quiet they're loud
Zipping/ zapping/ feet a flying/ we are all just trying
Did I say trying?/ A jet plane is slow compared to
The speed that you and I/ do fly just to get by them

Look/ oh no don't look!/ Diddley dum de dum/ have you ever seen one?
They are totally boring/ and not even one of them/ has any fun
if you don't count chewing/ big wads of/ Wrigley's Spearmint gum
They are totally/otta boately/ and scrim bittley yodely/ beneath our lofty pride
And we all know/ they have no/ feelings inside
Though it's tip tiddley true/ that if you put them down/ and make them frown
tears often come to their eyes/ mere amusement for us/ to make time fly

There are choices/ you can ignore them/ or abhor them/ or if you choose
then you can mop the floor/ with them/ again and again
They are after all/ faces lost in a crowd
They are hidden faces/ waiting to be found

Some might write you a note/ and leave it on your desk/ hoping that you
might do all of the rest/ might honor them/ and make them your guest
They often write words of desperation/ words of loneliness and exasperation
"Won't you please be my friend/ I really need a friend/ we could do things
together and have lots of fun/ Please/ oh please/ you could be the one
Without you I'll be lonely/ and oh yes/ I am almost undone"

I myself/ yesterday afternoon/ I found those words/ in a note on my desk
it was the first face/ I had ever seen/ in the crowd/ and it looked very human
I must confess/ to tell the truth/ I almost failed the test
I came oh so close to saying yes

Today I searched/ for that face in the crowd/ for some reason/ I was no longer
so proud/ I shouted at the top of my lungs/ Where are you/ hidden face in the crowd
Come out/ oh yes come out/ and I will give you/ my yes
Yesterday/ you reached out/ and you know the rest
I crumpled your note/ that you left on my desk/ and threw you away
lest I pass the test/ the test that says I am better than you and I am the best

Today my face in the crowd vanished/ wilted like a Spring flower/ at the end of the season
cut from the field/ and imprisoned in a vase/ and no longer part of/ the human race
You lived out your loneliness/ and I lived out my pride
and yesterday/ you threw your life away/ like I threw your note/ in a garbage can
Yesterday you cut your wrist/ and let your blood flow/ like a red tide
Yesterday you committed suicide/ yesterday you died

I promise that I will look and find faces in the crowd
I will reach out and make new friends
We will spend time together and have lots of fun
An none of them/ not even one of them
will ever/ no never/ be lonely again

\

The Man in the Mirror and Me

I could not/ would not say that the man in the glass that I see
He could not/ would not/ actually/ factually/ finally be me
Though I wish/ I hope/ I someday may truly be he
A much younger man/ thinner man/ a can do more man

Stronger than/ lasting longer than/ with much more than

Who I am/ who with pain in his back/ and a wrinkled face
Who with grayer hair/ who with less down there and a slower pace
He can run faster/ risk a disaster/ and end up a winner in the human race
Who doesn't worry about the clock ticking/ or the end quickening
He is at the beginning/ striving for winning/ and at his ending

Some day he could be/ some day he may be/ some day he might see
Some one older yet dearer/ some one wanting/ to look in my mirror
He will then/ like me/ see what he wishes and hopes to be
And time is all that separates/ the man in the mirror from me
But today he has youth and vitality/ while I have all of my memories

And today/ I could not and I would not/ trade my memories for his
possibilities/ for all his uncertainties/ and all of his destiny
And today I smile and hold my wife in bed/ for she is the best thought in my head
she is the passion by which I am led/ and the beauty/ my rose that is red
the joy and happiness in each/ and every day that lies ahead

I Would Love You Forever

I Would Love you Forever

Like a falling rain

On your window pane

I would love you forever

Again and again

I would love you forever

And always be your friend

I would love you forever

And wash away your pain.

We have soared like the eagle

On the thermals of our love

We have found loves freedom

In the power from above

And in wonder

We’ve heard the thunder

When the lighting fills the skies

As I looked into your eyes

We have walked through the valleys

In the strength of growing older

We have dreamed of horizons

As we’ve learned to live together

We have been there for each other

In every kind of weather

As our souls softly gathered

All of our hope, all that mattered

Has it been so long, a very long time?

It seems like a moment since I became yours and you became mine

Has it been forty years of laughter and of tears?

It seems to be just a moment as we traveled through those years.

And I know deep down in the hollow of my soul

That I couldn’t wander without being next to you.

Some days I weep and tears roll from my eyes

Because nothing else really matters but the moments of our lives

Like a falling rain

On your window pane

I would love you forever

Again and again

I would love you forever

And always be your friend

I would love you forever

And wash away your pain.

Words of an old man

Fall softly like the rain

Sunshine is ready

To warm our hearts each day

I will love your forever

Again and again

I will love you forever

Even after one of us is gone

I will savor each moment of time

That we are together that I am yours and you are mine

I will hold you in my arms as long as I can

You are the only woman in my life and I am your man

I will love you forever as long as I can

I will love you forever again and again

I will love you forever with every breath I have

I will love you forever and always be your friend.