Vote Early and Often

Let every flag and speech remind us
That primaries are now behind us
Now, each one as his conscience guides
Must take the torch and choose up sides
It’s time to set our jaws like flints
Like no event before or since
Support, endorse, and celebrate
Your designated candidate

What if the guy you backed didn’t make it
Well, then my friends, you’ll have to fake it
And get your keesters off the dime
For all good men, now is the time
To bell the cat and bet the ranch
This country needs an avalanche

For we’ve been slippin’ down this slope
Drunk on a cup of change and hope
Yes, we all sipped that deadly drink
Which brought our fam’lies to the brink
And what’s been in that brew we’re drinking?
Not hope and change…just wishful thinking

“My country, right or wrong,” they say,
And most of us sure feel that way
But when your country’s off the path
Invoke again your righteous wrath
Gird your loins and set your faces
And get thee to your polling places.

© 2010 by Tarzana Joe

On the Withdrawal of “Combat Troops” from Iraq

That boy who ran the marathon
The girl who watched your kid
The cop who trained on weekends
Just look at what they did

They volunteered for service
Each and every one
They learned to trust their judgment
While they learned to use a gun

They took a plane from Texas
And left their lives behind
They served the cause of freedom
And prayed fate would be kind

We thank them for their service
But we’ll never understand
What it means to risk your life
In a hard and foreign land

We never feel the fire
Or watch our brother fall
And though we can not comprehend
We’re grateful for them all

That boy is back and running
That girl has her own kid
The officer laid down his life
Just as his father did.

The story of their valor
There’s no need to enhance
They went out on a mission
And they gave the world a chance

In memory of...

The Healers

There are these other people
We seldom ever see
They're hardly even noticed
By folks like you and me

These other men and women
Who seem to seek the light
Who, though they're sorely tempted
They always do what's right

They take the gifts God gave them
And share them where they can
They use their skills and kindness
To help their fellow man

They never seek attention
They never whine and weep
And when the day is over
How good those guys must sleep

These "others" that I speak of
They leave for foreign lands
And they do unto others
As Jesus Christ commands

No need to preach the gospel
Or loudly sound their views
Every hand that they extend
Explains the great, good news

And like the God they worshipped
The used their hands to heal
And learned like no one living how
A crown of thorns would feel

If there's no God in heaven
As some folks will attest
Of all the lives that ever lived
These lives were just the best.

But if there's God in heaven
And, oh, my friends, there is
The house where they're abiding
Is one right next to his.