Peace, Love, Happiness
by Derek Gladding
8/6/06
There are too many people dying. There is too much suffering in the world. People should be spending their lives acting differently. People should respect one another. I’m talking about everyone. If everyone respected everyone else, then this would be a much better world/universe. Wars should not be fought. People should rejoice instead. Life would be much more fun if violence did not exist. Please do what you can to be peaceful in your day-to-day lives. If you have the extra energy, then use it to convince other people to be peaceful too. Peace and happiness go hand in hand. Love is what God wants for us. There is nothing wrong with wanting a better life. If each life is bettered, then all lives are bettered and the world/universe is bettered. That would be truly wonderful! God would be quite proud of us humans if we achieved a consistent state of peace, love, and happiness. We must try!!!
Sweet Dreams
by Derek Gladding
7/08/06
Talking with a lover, Laughing with a friend, Dancing with a partner to the earnest end. Sleep is calling my name sooner then soon. Smiles are flying freely and feet are shuffling fast. Night is covered in starlight, Stars are blanketed in black, Hopes are growing greatly, piling on the stack. Miles away my dear closes her eyes to rest, and I'm thinking of her and how we both passed the test.
Tree Buds
by Derek Gladding
4/10/06
My view of the river will soon be blocked by leaves on the trees,
but I don't mind...
I'll just have to take a short walk to go see it.
I can't complain come
soon the Summer sun...
I wonder if this will be the one.
My dreams are riding tall through France
and Native America.... and
beautiful music echoes everywhere.
I'd like to play for the armies and cause them
to become peaceful friends with each other and everyone.
The buds on these Springtime trees are growing fast and
are good at representing my dreams.
Wily
by Derek Gladding
10/17/05
I'm feeling wily,
like a wild cat coyote,
sneaking through the shadows of a distant secret cavern
just seconds before the drunken miner
turns his head lamp on...
just minutes before the sudden rumbling cough
of the approaching railroad car
causes the coal dust to tumble
down and cover his boots.
Common Ground
By Derek Gladding
10/14/04
Common ground...
What a word!
Full of hope,
And endless light.
That night I grasped
A slate of sacred stone,
A vision true,
A toneful place.
A message guide
So through and safe,
A healing home I had misplaced.
My friends were there
To climb with me
Unlocking time’s old mystery.
Fingers spun the working wheel,
With lyrics of the living wage…
Naming us along the way,
Collecting signs of the simpler age.
Without any Warning
by Derek Gladding
9/20/05
Lost in the dew
is a missing night
which floated by too quick and light
through the air of ending summer.
She slipped into my SILENT dream
without any effort at all and
LAUGHED
echoes of carnivals
that we both once had known
but didn't expect last night at all...
something like a flirtation that smashed upon us
without any warning...
Not that I mind.
Teton Sioux
by Derek Gladding
1/24/98
The Teton Sioux stood their ground against the newlanders
And they ALMOST fought for their land at the Northwest Passage
During the 1800s with Lewis and Clark...
But Black Buffalo broke up the battle before it belittled the savages to the point of the arrow.
Winter came early that year on the Northern plains...
The wind never seemed to stop,
And it was colder than I have ever known it to be in the United States.
Isn’t that where they were...
Or, were they in another land?
How could they trade their lives to explore new worlds….
To dance for each other and play music together?
Did you know the Mandates had never seen a Black man before?
Naked except a robe;
They gave him 4 girls to sleep with
And then they went out....
And Venereal Disease was cured with mercury.
An unusual housecall to Segougagia sold to a young French fur trader long ago.