???????????????????

Mystery Melon
By GC SMITH

Whoa,
damn near
tripped
over the big old thing

What in hell
is a huge
watermelon
doing on my porch?

Now,
I have
lots of friends
some are even farmers

And,
I have
a few enemies,
none nuts, far as I know

But,
caution ain’t
necessarily paranoia,
leastwise, I don’t think so

So,
I’m gonna track down
that mystery gifter
before tasting that melon

Gonna
Have me a party,
providing
that melon’s okay

Thing
proves out
not cyanide laced,
well then, I’ll chill it

First,
I figure to
infuse that melon
with 80 proof Vodka

Wanna
come on over
for a good old
down home party?

Cowboy's Lament

An Old Rodeo Cowboy
By GC SMITH

My old pick up truck’s seen much better days
but, what the hey, the same can be said of me

We both got scars from hard roads traveled
scrapes, dings, bumps and ragged rust spots
hard worn signs we’ve both been time used

We’ve traveled this land on hump back old roads
we’ve been out on life’s great four lane highways

Our paint and skin has been flayed by desert sands
our hearts scorned, froze out by blue Norther ice
but we still slog on through life’s bitter winds

A worn saddle lies in my pickup’s bed
a box with old, yet clean wiped tools

Some other bits and parts of a travelin’ life
are stuffed into two threadbare old duffels
all in all not much for our decades of movin’

There’s an spavined old roan horse
back behind in a dinged up junk trailer

That poor boy should’a been pastured somewhere
instead I’ll keep haulin’ that critter back there,
like me, he’s a ghost of our old glory days

There' nothing to hold up my time faded Levis
there won't be no more champion belt buckles

Boots down at the heels, leather all cracked
tell an sad story no one wants to hear
‘bout them days that can’t come back again

Yet, I know we’ll keep on a roamin’,
still hopin’, searchin’ for lost times renewed

We’ll wander around, movin hither then yon
me, that horse, and my old ragged truck
because there plain ain’t nothin’ else to do

We’ll never stop rollin’, not while we live
‘cause that ain’t what we was born to do

We’ll search on and on for another good day
though we know in our hearts, down way deep
it’s a last hope and it ain’t comin’ true

Red Meat

Ode to a Carnivore
By GC Smith

What ever happened to the great big omnivore?
That bloody big beef eater;
it seems his day is done

P.C. I figure has tolled the death knell
So many folks shouting, “MEAT IS BAD”
the beefeater may soon be extinct

So what are we reduced to?
Soy and its ersatz fakery
Veggie burgers? Tofu?

Ugh!

I’ll have a thick rare steak
that tenderloin from a cornfed beave
it may well kill me, but I’ll die content

Two Poems

a new one:

A No Story History
By GC SMITH

A self made man is never made by self
but pushed and prodded to become that one,
that individual, the product of those who came before

A self made man is the hodgepodge
of inherited genes, of living history, of his culture
and, oh yes, shaped by happenstance and chance

A self made man may think himself unique
but likely shun the mirror image that reflects
all the shaping of men who came from times before

A self made man does not reflect, nor genuflect
in homage to the history that backs his being
but rather pounds his chest like a Silverback gorilla

So, could I tell a story about the bits and pieces of a life
that is the sum and substance of the past and the present;
no, for I think that would take the self made man I’m not

and an old one:

Pennsylvania Coal Region
Age 12, Circa 1950
By GC Smith

The chill of winter
The warmth of bread and soup

Seeing icicles depending from the roofline
Wondering if they’d fall and pierce my heart

Peddling newspapers in sub-freezing winter
Thawing frozen fingers under cold running water

Hearing the sizzle of my wet gloves
Tossed on the coalstove surface to dry

Smelling room filling aroma of chicken soup
Simmering with tiny bubbles for many hours

Tasting the hot broth full with vegs and noodles
Tearing warm crusty bread and dipping it in the liquid

Dark settling early on winter's night
Blankets piled high, sleeping contentedly

July 4

For Independence Day
July 4, 2008
By GC SMITH

America, America
we once were
proud of you;
you shined
a beacon
for the world
to see,
people
flocked
to you

Your light was
that of liberty,
opportunity,
of embracing
disparate peoples;
you looked for truth
for better ways
for all of us
to live

Oh yeah.
there were the warts
the stops and starts
the imperfections
the injustices,
but
through the years
from founding days
till recently
you always
tried to
do much
better

But now,
You’re sadly,
badly worn,
you seem to have
lost your way;
but
I still hope
it’s temporary,
will we
soon see a
new born
better
day?

Perhaps
we will.
I hope
we do.

Do you?

Holiday Repast

A Seafood Boil
By GC SMITH

You, my frien,' you got straw hat fo' to keep da sun away. Dat ain' too dumb. 'Specially you gonna sit out in dat little boat all the day. I's a waitin' back here on da shore for you to come in wit the fish and da crab. Den we pluck fresh onions and corn and 'taters from da garden and we cook us a boil. I can smell dem spices a roilin' in da pot already. An' dat slice smoke sausage. Mouth waterin' tinkin' 'bout them crabs and dat string o' fish you gonna bring back from da sea. Sun getting low in da sky now and shadow grow long. It now time for you to get on back here, pull da boat up on the sand, and drink a cold beer or three wit me while we wait for the cookin' to be done. Crank up yo liddle outboard 'n get on back here now. We have us a party.

For Independence Day -A Rememberance

America in 26 Letters and 260 Words
by
Gerard C. Smith

America is our nation and it is at war. This Beautiful land was attacked by perverts on September 11, 2001. But the peoples of America are Courageous and we will right this wrong. In this free and Democratic nation terror cannot hold sway. This is a new Era. We are Fierce in our determination to rid the world of terrorists.

We are Generous in understanding that Islam is not the root of terror but rather those roots are found in the perversion of Islam by barbarians. We remain High minded in honoring the principles that made this nation great even while waging war against the cowards who attacked our nation and murdered our citizens.

We are one nation, Indivisible. We are Judicious; we seek to harm no innocent as we rip terrorism from this earth. We will strive to remain Kind and Loving and Magnanimous with all of the nations of this planet while we relentlessly pursue the disciples of evil.

To some, America is New and Ostentatious and Proud and Quarrelsome and yes, even self Righteous. But despite those perceptions we are Steadfast in our essential decency. And we will be Terrible in delivering our swift sword in the war against terror. For now we are United in our resolve. This nation of Varied peoples from the four corners of the earth has come together in Wondrous resolve that is free of Xenophobic bluster. We are a Young nation in the history of our world but we are Zealous in our resolve and we shall prevail.

God bless America.

P.S.
I wrote this a few days after 9-11-2001. Maybe it holds up. Maybe not. I added the following with three words.

Now years later I’m not sure what we as a Nation should be seeking. Maybe Vengeance? Maybe Retribution ? Maybe Justice? Perhaps the three are intertwined. But Iraq was never the right place for the looking. We should have concentrated on Afghanistan. Perhaps that unfinished job would be behind us.