Ah, what do these youngers know?

even their lingo is avant-garde

hear me tell it then

there stood a time in a distant past

when men took chances

these were the times

when a nation bore two banners

that of the Federals and that of Confederates

Ah, what do these youngers know

ever rafter running from this narrative

what do they know of terminologies

secession and nullification

of Southern States

clamoring to be an independent nation

'twas in a distant past indeed

that men at Bull Run bleed

then again at Antietam

multitudinous battles spread over land

From Virginia to Georgia

Texas to Tennessee,

Carolinas duly integral

this was not just any other war

it was a war for America

what do these youngers know

about the love of nation

battles from beginning to end

that produced prodigious Men of History

and through their blood

a single banner was molded and raised

their agony etched honor

and in perilous times

an accord was reached

we see that sole banner today

flying high

kissing the sky

we know already

that its colors

is a story of courage

a story adduced in many ways

what do these youngers know?

of Gorge Gordon Meade

of George B. McClellan

of Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson

of Robert E. Lee

of Ulysses S. Grant

many were men

who framed a nation

against all odds

and many were men

who rose again and again

to face the bayonet

yet, today

the very same banner

is burdened

by partisan Brouhaha!

The dust from old books

the smell of cedar wood

disappear into words

dive bare through being

climb smooth limbs of ivy

ideas glow bright against

the midnight sky

warm gold staff

solid

ivory

sapphire

Cashmere drips from

Tattooed skin in taxi cabs

Beyond the filth of broken streets

back to my gentle home

Where color meets clarinet

Where tone slides past skin

within the weight of snow

I hear your laughter mix with Coltrane

My love unconditional

immortal our minds bend

to deep introspection

From minuscule moments of beauty

encounter a misty dream

Knowing locked between lines

and the red string of forgiveness

life is a downpour of emotion

and an endless mirage of tests

however difficult they may be

the beauty of life eventually

outweighs the trial.

It was a solitaire diamond

She wore on her left hand

I guess I didn't know

She was talking with you

Until I found it in the night stand

Next to lingerie I never bought

I heard it hit the floor

You may have my things

But,

The diamond you lost was me