The Storm and the Tree

The Storm and the Tree

Tom

 

The folks in the village woke,

To a new day,

Some went to work,

Some to make hay,

They had faith,

In the ancient lore,

That things today,

Are always as before.

Far away Mother Nature,

Was brewing a new brew,

A brew young of age,

A brew with a soul,

A brew with rage.

 

She wondered where to pour,

And picked the village,

Where folks believe,

Today is always as before.

 

The sky turned dark,

The air turned black,

The wind howled like a beast,

And lightning did crack,

There was nothing in the lore,

That said wind could roar.

 

After the brew was poured,

Upon the land and village,

Folks were quite confused,

Did the storm come to pillage?

Upon the scorched earth,

All there was to see,

Standing firm and tall,

Was one great tree.

 

No one knew,

What this could mean,

Such a sight,

Had never been seen.

 

An ancient sage,

Looked around,

Said to the folks,

“You are on hallowed ground,

For fused are the souls,

Of the storm and the tree,

After this,

That is how it shall be.”

So they took the tree's wood,

And made instruments that sing,

And built a great hall,

To hear how they ring.

 

When the instruments did play,

The music danced rounds,

Folks heard the colors,

And saw the sounds,

Such a thing,

Knew no bounds.

 

When the instruments did play,

Truth came folks' way,

This is the Hall of Truth,

All folks did say.

 

Eventually they grew tired,

Of these concerts of truth,

And built many weapons,

Gave them for free,

At the weapon's booth.

 

They went to settle the truth,

By the shedding of blood,

And it ran on the ground,

In a putrid flood.

 

Then the ancient sage,

Came to the deserted hall,

Played on the instruments,

Played on them all.

 

A great circle of wind,

Circled the hall,

Circled the land,

Circled it all.

 

The Hall of Truth,

A place sacred before,

Faded away,

Until it was no more.

 

Folks no longer heeded,

The Hall of Truth,

It they no more needed,

Like a sore tooth.

 

They all went to fight wars,

And the corpses of soldiers,

Littered the ground,

Like festering sores,

Silent with no sound.

 

And when the circle of wind did flee,

Then upon bare scorched earth,

Stood one great tree,

Like the mast of a tall ship,

To sail a new sea.

 

For no matter what storm's rage is handing,

It must leave,

One tree standing.

 

'Tis true,

Tho destitute destruction,

Far as any can see,

Of the fusion of souls,

Of the storm and the tree.

Soul of a Violin

Soul of a Violin

Tom

The old tramp thought himself of no worth,

Born of lowly birth,

'Till to him a master violinist did play,

And the tramp did learn that day,

To play sweetness never heard on Earth.

 

The tramp took an old beat up violin,

No one thought worthy to sell,

Down to the deepest depths of the abyss,

To play for the damned in hell.

He played a melody of great love,

Even the devil bowed to his feet,

Unloosed the chains and the locks,

The damned no more pressed by rocks,

Honey flowed from the depths to above.

 

How is it that old beat up violin,

Played by a tramp of lowly birth,

Made the damned free and whole?

'Twas the beauty inside that beat up violin,

The beauty of its soul.

From the Glen to the Pirate's Gold

From the Glen to the Pirate's Gold
Tom

Every time a soul was in need,
A hunger any where to feed,
A wound that did bleed,
I would help like rain grows a seed,
Like rain grows a seed.

To help a stranger,
To help a neighbor,
To do a favor,
Never a kinder soul than I,
Never a kinder soul than I.

My name is Will McJohnson,
I come from a glen peaceful green,
And I heard of a tall sailing ship,
To places never seen,
To places never seen.

Then I said “Please captain Please,”
“I want to sail the seas,”
“I'll swab the deck and man the sail,”
Said the captain, “You'll stay alive if you never fail,”
“You'll stay alive if you never fail.”

So we hauled a load of pork and beef,
To trade for coins of gold,
For the cargo we had sold,
But pirates were waiting for the gold,
Waiting for the gold.

They fired their cannons,
Yelled “We've come from hell,”
“To take your gold,”
“Join us for your life as well,”
“For your life as well.”

Right and wrong fled me,
Like the morning dew,
It did not matter good or bad,
To keep my life was all I knew,
Keep my life was all I knew.

They taught me their vicious trade,
To slaughter crews,
For riches made,
Stealing gold was all we knew,
Gold was all we knew.

In time the admiral of the pirates,
By sword and pistol was sent to hell,
Many throats he cut quite well,
They chose a new admiral that wouldn't fail,
A new admiral that wouldn't fail.

I was chosen to lead the fleet,
To plunder, slaughter, to steal gold,
Many a young sailor his maker meet,
Not even the devil could me beat,
Not the devil could me beat.

The navies of the world,
Said they must stop our noble brand,
Stop our plunder of all land,
Leave nothing but bare sand,
Leave nothing but bare sand.

They built great machines,
To destroy enemies in war,
Destruction never seen before,
They thought that's what machines were for,
What machines were for.

They met us on the open sea,
With a typhoon behind us,
Ordered us to surrender early,
Or their machines would show no mercy,
Machines show no mercy.

And my cowardly cutthroats turned and ran,
Into the typhoon,
And the devil took them every man,
My ship stood alone against the navy band,
Stood alone against the navy band.

I then sat upon a cannon,
With a bottle of rum,
Send them all to hell boys,
Tell the devil here they come,
Tell the devil here they come.

But our keel broke and our masts over lain,
To machines with no mercy,
They hauled us off every one,
And they clapped me in their chain,
Clapped me in their chain.

And all Earth's people bowed and prayed,
To what the machines had made,
But when the truth is told,
A story quite bold,
All is bought with stolen gold,
All is bought with stolen gold.

But here I stand at the gallows,
To be hanged for all to see,
The admiral of the pirates,
There will be no gold for me boys,
By damn no gold for me.