INNOCENCE COMES NATURALLY
WHEN YOU ARE NAIVE
WORKS OUT SATISFACTORILY
IT THAT'S WHAT YOU BELIEVE
Sally came running in the door…”Grandma I have a secret!” She yelled.
It’s a really, really good secret…but I promised not to tell.”
“I want to keep my promise but you don’t know how hard it’s been.”
“Trying not to tell anyone…trying to keep this secret in.”
Sally looked up at her Grandma…her wide eyes, big and blue…
“Grandma can you help me? Grandma tell me what to do?”
Grandma took Sally out to her back yard saying…“There’s something I want you to see.
They sat down under a very large oak… “This is my secret tree.”
“Grandma…” Sally laughed …”This is not a secret tree!
Everybody knows about it…everyone can see…”
Grandma put a finger to her lips…and gently shook her head
“The tree is not the secret, silly…it’s what it holds.” she said.
Ever since I was a little girl…and a secret was given to me
I’d hurry home and sit right here…underneath this very tree.”
“And when I was sure I was alone…that secret I’d retrieve
then I would let that secret out and share it with the leaves.
And so this tree is filled with secrets…every secret I ever brought
secrets she will never tell…and some I’m sure I’ve long forgot….
With that Grandma stood up and walked away…happy as can be
leaving Sally all alone in the shade of her secret tree.
On her way to the house Grandma turned around and smiled…
She couldn’t be sure but she believes
Sally was whispering to the tree
sharing her secret with the leaves.
Don’t wear those tires down
Rolling them round and round
Every time you go to town
To see a tender picture show
With that eyeful girl again
Slow hand to be her beau
The softest place ever been
Her eyes, they never end
With every look, you fall right in
Bend round Long Mountain
Roll home jingle jangle truck
You gonna see that girl again
Remember when you didn’t know about
Death…..
Every day was an adventure
Highlights…
Your Toys….
Ice-cream…
A walk through the fields
Like a trip into the unknown
Just two miles….
Will you get home before its dark?
Dirty knees…
Sole flapping on your shoe….
No resupply…
Till Mams sausage and mash…
Sunday night…..
Bloody bath-night…
Nick your chin…
Dads razor….
Torch on under the sheets
‘JAP KILLER’ in the Commando
Torch flickers…..
I will dig a tunnel
Escape Stalag 17
Lights out….
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ……
© Tony McNally
She sleeps with her arms
flung above her head
a beautiful rag doll
come to life
She tosses and turns
As the night drags on
She speaks to a friend
no one can see
She's a shadow
cast upon the wall
By the glow of the miniature moon
in the corner
She laughs with her teeth showing,
Loves with her arms open wide.
But I like her best when she's sleeping…
And that is Anna,
dreaming.
She rests on a wooden frame
made of their memories of her,
the hands she's held
and the shoulders she's hugged,
and the people who brush past her on the street
with lives of their own.
She thinks of another home,
with a bright green door
and purple flowers
covering her shoes.
She wishes,
just like anyone,
but she is content
to lie on a wooden frame
with her arms flung above her head.
She laughs with her teeth showing,
Loves with her arms open wide.
But she's most beautiful when she's sleeping…
And that is Anna,
dreaming.
Her light hair
is draped across her face,
shivering in the wind
that is every breath she takes.
Her closed eyes
with their fragile lids
tell me everything
I need to know.
She loves things she knows
and things she doesn't know
and things no one knows
and things that don't exist yet.
She laughs with her teeth showing,
Loves with her arms open wide.
But I wish you could see her sleeping…
And that is Anna,
dreaming.
One of my favorite attributes of children, when I see it I feel blessed,
Is the enthusiastic, unbridled innocence with which they all possess.
A child will sing uninhibitedly before he realizes there’s a song.
A child will dance spontaneously whenever music comes along.
A child will draw upon a canvas before she realizes it’s a wall.
A child will climb as high as she can before she knows that she can fall.
A child will run around naked before he realizes there is shame.
And until we teach them differently a child treats everyone the same.
A child will stick her finger anywhere before she knows that thinking’s flawed.
A child will marvel at the heavens before she knows there is a God.
A child will play with a ray of light before he realizes there’s a sun
A child will attempt to pull a trigger...before he realizes it’s a gun.
Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook 173 more children have died by guns
Never again to run around naked or play in the rays of the sun.
Never again to sing, or dance, or draw upon a wall
Never again to marvel at the Heavens, to climb up high, or fall.
These 173 individual cases are everywhere we look
Each tragic death of a child is someone’s Sandy Hook.
Each loss of life...of innocence makes us want to stand up, scream and yell
For we all know with each death our innocence is lost as well.
There are solutions to this problem...solutions we all know
For Heaven’s sake when we needed it we found a cure for Polio!
It’s up to us to help assure our children will survive.
It’s up to us to help ensure their innocence will thrive.
Until we do we’ll continue to grieve but our grieving will be for nought
As we try to explain to our children why their innocence is shot.
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Part I of II
This is the story of Larry Joe Prince
And the way Arizona stole his innocence.
It is written with hope that there may come a day
When a wise judge will grant him his moment to say
All the things so conveniently left out of court,
Made American “justice” look more like a sport,
With a high-priced attorney that didn’t think clear,
And the false testimony of one with much fear,
And the state prosecute thought “I’ll surely reach fame”,
He said, “Hell, I don’t care who the state wants to blame,
It’s a paycheck to me; I don’t care about truths,
It’s my ego I feed, I’m a low lying sleuth!!”
So they all drew their “guns” on that guy Mr. Prince,
Absolutely no shred of secure evidence,
They proceeded to send him to death row to sit,
For the murder of one that he did not commit,
And the biggest and worst sin of all that was done,
Was the way that the people held on to their “guns”,
They embraced all the lies to evade what was clear,
As revenge prevailed justice with each little tear,
And for those in the grave who just watch from above,
With no longer a voice to teach them that real love,
Is not proven by putting the blame on a man,
Just because he is there….cause the courts and you can,
See the proof of one’s love speaks out so very clear,
Even after the grave when one’s body’s not here,
You will hear their soul cry, and you’ll then know for sure,
If they’re resting in peace or they’re haunted some more.
There are families that hide from life’s reality,
The dead man in this case begs you hear his soul’s plea,
Make amends for the errors you’ve made in the past,
And put down all those stones, and those already cast,
If this dead man could speak he’d have something to say,
Of the circus that ran through the courtroom that day,
And if not for the dead man then do it for you,
Cause we all have to answer to God what is true,
Larry Prince knows he’s clear and he wins either way,
Cause he’s INNOCENT judge, the state’s in disarray.
So please read all with care on this day we implore,
Please don’t look at this life as a game where you score,
It’s integrity that is of stake in this court,
And it’s not mine or yours it’s this country’s that’s short
Of a quality no longer active today,
If it dies, it’s the lives of our loved one’s…they’ll pay.
Take your time, read it all, and be true to your heart,
And we’ll all pray it’s not too late for a new start.
Part II of II
They all loved cocaine but they hid it from Dad,
He just couldn’t believe that his kids could be “bad”,
So his eyes he did close, and they stayed tightly shut,
While his best offspring died with that stuff in his gut,
And they said, “It was murder”, and placed the blame there,
Yes, it’s true ‘bout that bullet and blood in his hair,
And the roots of that crime have been hidden so well,
By the real guilty ones with the lies they did tell,
For those self-righteous ones that just stared and stood by,
And condoned this deceit without batting an eye,
For the cowards that watched as the killers went free,
Be aware this could happen to you or to me,
And your sons or your daughters could one day be led
To a place where they wish they would rather be dead,
So now don’t be afraid to let truths in your ears
When your children are hurting with eyes full of tears,
Don’t you cower or shudder, don’t whine and don’t wince,
And remember the story of Larry Joe Prince.
Written in parts, from 2000-2002
Original Copyright 2002
Registration Number / Date:
TXu001112792 / 2002-12-02
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07/21/13 ©
*
she told a white lie
and it turned black as coal
the poor thing didn't realize
that she sold her own soul
2013 ©
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families gather in a place of condemnation,
weary, excited, downtrodden, in a 'fair and equal' nation,
look foward to a day, when they see the face of a loved one,
behind a plexiglass window framed in steel, with the aura of being 'under a gun',
little ones elated, of the day they see daddy's face,
it matters not to them, they must be in this place,
just a look, a glimpse, of so much time lost,
and mothers, sisters and brothers, all pay the cost,
arrive at the gate, the car is searched,
and in the distance, the attack dogs, hungrily perched,
the car is dismantled, and questions of interrogation,
what are these pennies for? (i didn't know i needed a reason).
reaching the entryway, a small piece of material is given,
we ask, 'what is this for'? (no answer--excuse me for livin'),
one woman steps up to be searched for the visit,
"rub that piece of material across you breasts, ma'am", (what? this seems illicit!),
she complies, without complaint, because the kids want to see dad,
and now, she too, has been made to feel she is bad,
the other officers gawk, they seem to be enjoying this,
some even appear they'd love to give her a kiss,
little ones stare, they don't know of mama's shame,
mama says to them "oh honey, the nice man's just playing a game",
he takes the material, and places in a machine,
the drug test comes up negative, his face gets mean,
he tells her, "no, wait, miss!!! you can't go!" (it's like a threat),
"you must now rub it between your legs, we're not done with you yet!",
the woman looks at me, her face is beet red,
we all feel helpless, in shock, we can't believe what he said,
she takes the piece of material, and rubs it between her thighs,
he says "no not like that! higher!" (and this poor lady begins to cry),
he doesn't apologize, or have any sensitivity that what he's doing is rape,
his fears have swallowed him completely,
our mouths are agape,
we all go through this process, feeling so violated, and psychologically torn,
then we force the smiles on our faces, we can't complain or mourn,
and this is just one ingenious scheme, an obstacle, one tactic,
that divides families who have someone in prison--(yes, you're right, it's sick),
had i not seen it with my own eyes, how these innocent people were made to sob,
why on earth do they have these obstacles and these people in these jobs?
so the one time these people get to see their loved one in a year,
they go through the entire visit, feeling bad, ashamed, and in fear.
9:36 AM 7/12/2013 ©
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