the warriors code Lord Byron 1820

western style, not samurai

When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbors;
Let him think of the glories of Greece and Rome,
And get knocked on his head for his labors.

To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan,
And is always nobly requited;
Then battle for freedom wherever you can,
And, if not shot or hanged, you’ll get knighted.

i did say he was a minor poet : )

......

IF not (2009)

forgive me Rudyard

updated from 2005


I've lost my head so many times
In looking back they're almost crimes
When instead of trusting I's overcome with doubts
I waited and waited and got so tired
And I lied and lied and then conspired
To make myself the target of hate-filled shouts

I dreamed until I could dream no more
And thought to settle many a score
With who circumstance says make the rules
I used up all my mispent youth
Searching for the weapons of truth
That I could use to educate the fools

But no one listened, never did
And in my turn, I underbid
And lost so much I dared not start to cry
Now I drift upon the sea
That consecrates both you and me
And rarely do I stop not wondering why

The unforgiving minutes wasted
So many thirsts gone unabated
Still one thing's absolutely ever fair
My open eyes saw more than most
'Til I became an envied ghost
Failing in the learning not to care

stephenhsmith 11Jan2009
......

nullification

the ultimate purely ironic?
immortis but not ironclad
for in wars of ideas
as with those between men
the good get killed with the bad

collateral damage will not be escaped
any reading of History will show
thus more important than ever
on the subject of change
the old admonition, "go slow"

stephenhsmith 11Jan09

......

one maze gone, the other goes on

the human maze on Galveston's beach is gone

but what if Life is a maze ?...


if Life is a maze
with a million ways in
and another few million
ways 'round
there's only one certain end
we all will find
the one all before us
have found

but for all in between
the journey's our own
despite what you're told
'tis not an unsimple task
for the answers you'll get
are often determined
by what kind of questions
you ask

to learn what to ask
and also what not
consumes many years
not days
others can help
but never forget that
they too are in their
own maze

stephenhsmith 2Jan2009 ......

AR NatGas Tax (in verse)

as i ascended up the stairs i met a tax that wasn't there, it wasn't there again today, so someone else will have to pay.

or in prose... once again... Fuck You Sheffield
......

all i am so far is words, 'n worn out tunes

i guess i have a proper place, somewhere in all this time and space, but damned if i know where, and when, and how. i hope i'm bound for some great thing, a timeless phrase, perhaps to sing, but scribbling will have to do for now. i'm lost amidst the shifting sands, the twilight looms a thousand strands, i feel my legs are buried in the dunes. i thirst for time to slow it's move, so i may yet come to improve, 'cause all i am, so far, is words and worn out tunes.

i'm waitin' on a thunderbolt from some prophetic line i wrote to light the sky perhaps to start a fire for now i have to plod along lookin' for that perfect song to pull me out of all this muck and mire i hope in time i'll learn my way to say the things i have to say on crowded nights and lonely afternoons til then i struggle on my own and hope when all my seeds are grown that i'll be so much more than words and worn out tunes.

stephenhsmith 13Dec2003


......

Uniquely American

"the twin fallacies that anything and everything can be bought
and that stealing is only a sin if you get caught"

- shs 27jun2008 ......

Karllary

Hillary's reference was veiled
But her ambition's now naked
'cept to the blind who'll not see
That the harder they push
The more they're like Bush
Still searchin' for that WMD ......