The Raven and the Lineman

“…and I need you more than want you and I want you for all time…and the Wichita lineman is still on the line…”

–Jimmy Webb, Wichita Lineman

By Maurie Nord

“There! That creature stops below me!
Every day I see him
From my perch on high
His shining head bows down
Glistening rays of dazzling sun
As from the head of a
Wingless angel
I call and call to ask him about mysteries
But he does not understand my speech
He walks with two of larger legs
He sits
He clasps together
A smaller pair
He bows his gleaming head then eats his food
Will he leave some there for me I wonder?
And I wonder what he knows of me?
Of my long curved bill and glider wings
Or of that monster bird who gleams as
Brightly as his head
Who has glider wings which glide and
Glide whose thunderous voice and breath
Can shake the very heavens
What does he know of a great bird
This mystery cousin?
What does he know?
This creature with the gleaming head
Who has no wings and cannot fly?
Yet he can climb oh yes
Like a squirrel can this creature climb!
He can reach my perch
Perhaps he can climb to the heavens!”

And climb he daily does
This lineman climbs the perch today
Of a raven who takes such great
Delight in scolding him or so it seems
The sun declines
The lineman prays
His work is done for six more days

….”You know I need a small vacation but it don’t look like rain….”

The 777’is well on its way

He leans against his truck and sighs
Beneath a starry sky that lives and moves
In eternity
He asks and prays
“Are you really up there?
And what do you know of me?
What does the croaking raven say?
Are you really up there, beyond the stars
Oh Lord God of Elijah?”

Wandering Sheep

Jesus came to save His people from their sins.
He is the Good Shepherd and when a sheep falls into a ditch
He quickly goes and rescues it.
What are your ditches?
What has made you say,
“Well son-of-a-bitch!”
His reach is long enough to pull you out
and later you will be able to laugh about it
and give Him praise
and throw your crown down
on that great and glorious day

Where have those Faces Gone?

Where Have Those Faces Gone?

by Maurie Nord

He was born into a place called “Shaver’s Bench”
Mister Shaver was the founder
unless you miss your guess
On the Eastside of Trail
a smelter town in BC
where they made heavy water for the
the bomb, you see, I mean Little boy and Fat man

They marched around the square
though the war was long over
though ten years over
they marched around the square
bag pipes still wailin’
war drums still poundin’
Through those long lost days
he still remembers
the force
the courage
the resolve upon their faces
looking up into their faces and trembling
as they marched
and though they never spoke a word
he could hear them say
“You will never conquer us
you can try to stare us down
when you try to beat us down
and when you think you have it done
you’ll be staring at the gates of hell
he wonders this old man
it has been so long
where is the resolve?
where have those faces gone?

copyright Maurie Nord 2014

Finnegan’s Complaint

Finnegan’s Complaint

By Clancy O’Lafferty

Finnegan in the bar once again
must complain
This time about his old age
A pint of ale down
and a round for the house
eveyone is attentive ;you see
he raises his glass
and he says “what an ass
I ended up old don’;t you know?
That I cannot remember the simplest things
and not able to come or to go!”

copyright Maurie Nord 2014

Life of Faith

Life of Faith 

 by Clancy O’Lafferty

 

Have fun

experiment

this is the only

chance you have

got to experiment

with faith

cheer up and

know that I Am

I am beside you

all the way

a Teacher who will

never betray you

nor forsake you

I will remake you

into the being I want

you to be

I give you the space

Let’s see a smile on your face!

 

 copyright Maurie Nord 2014

Mullet

Mullet

by Clancy O’Lafferty

I don’t care what you think of my “mullet”

I had one long before they so called it

If i want to I know how to so cut it

I’m a barber by trade so just shut it

Take your PC correctness and think

the smell overwhelms and it stinks

YOUR  mullet’s a fish

a rotten fish

Always so right

You declare what is light

and if one dares say no he is wicked

 

Remembering Ernest McQuary

Remembering my step father, Ernest McQuary.

He was a shade tree mechanic and a darn good one too.

His legs sticking out from under a 51 Ford and he’s talking for the mechanical parts:

Maybe it’s a nut or a bolt and he says:

“I’m not comin’ off! I’ve been on here since 1951 and I’m NOT coming off………

go ahead and try you asshole and do you know what?

Yer gonna skin yer knuckles when you miss a pull on that wrench that’s what!

…and do you know what else?

I’m gonna make sure that so much rusty sludge will fall in yer eyes

that you regret ever trying to unloose me!!”

Well, by this time I was fairly break dancing with laughter

even before break dancing was invented…

and of course this only encouraged him to continue all the more

Miss you Ernest!

I Get Around

Maurie Nord Hard to believe…….on a Greyhound bus fifty years ago ,14 years old and listening to this song at every juke box on my way to Trail, BC, to visit my dad….man is that an exercise in prepositions or as Mama Buckley taught us: in, at, to, for, of, with, by, into, near, on, about, above, below, beneath, between, beyond, during and inside….lol She made us memorize them! Here’s to Mrs Buckley “Mama Buck” a beloved English teacher!

Tick Tock

Tick Tock

by

Maurie Nord

I could hear the difference then

tick                                      tock
tick                                      tock

the tock sound’s a lower tone

tick                                      tock
tick                                      tock

on a sofa sittin’ home alone

tick                                       tock
tick                                       tock

looking at a blank wall
just a pair of ducks there
dad carved out of wood well
painted ’em with great care
hung them on the bare wall

tick                                          tock
tick                                          tock

A duck and a drake

tick                                          tock

tick                                           tock

 

wings outspread

tick                                             tock
tick                                             tock

flying both together well

tick                                              tock
tick                                              tock

decades pass

tick                                               tock
tick                                               tock

the ducks are long gone now

tick                                                tock
tick                                                tock

there’s a rock ‘n’ roll song now

tick                                                tock
tick                                                tock

a rock and roll ditty
really takes me back there
staring at the wall from the sofa where I’m sitting
running my fingers through my long white hair
and hear

tick                                                   tock
tick                                                   tock

I can still hear the difference

tick                                                   tock
tick                                                   tock

the tock tone is lower

tick                                                   tock
tick                                                   tock

copyright Maurie Nord 2014

 

Darcy Lynn

 

Darcy Lynn

By Maurie Nord

In nineteen-hundred and sixty-five

For fifteen years I had been alive

Less a month to the day on the 12^th of May

When a baby was born from the Lord for me

They thought of a name for her

“April”, at first, but then they thought May

be that name wouldn’t work

“How about Darcy?” The proud father smiled

They were happy with that and they thought for awhile

Of a middle name and decided on “Lynn”

At that is where this poem begins

Many autumn leaves fell and cold winds blew

Many May twelves passed and June twelves too

Then a warm summer day came into my life

Darcy Lynn said “I do” and I made her my wife

Now twenty-six summers have come and they’ve passed

Since the day that I met her and met her by chance?

“Not so”, says the Lord, “For I had it all planned

And I still have you both in the palm of my hand.”

12^th of May 2014

Happy 49^th birthday DARLYNN you’re catchin’ up to me!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Your Mee Mew

Married here at the paddle wheel