Songs I Sing. B. Germain Reynolds

and bones

      Waiting for the touch of hope.

      Who Gets Me?

      When it rains, and I get wet

      When they tempt me, and I am beset

      When they come for me, and I am weak

      When I break out in sweat and patently reek

      When the fire rages, and my hair gets singed

      When my feet are tangled, and my pride is dinged

      Who gets me?

      When the floodwaters rise, and my boat sinks

      When the power is out, and everything is on the blink

      When my pencil breaks, and I do not have a pen

      When the milk spoils, and I have less than ten

      When my team loses, and my tea runs cold

      When the music stops, and I refuse to be sold

      Who gets me?

      When I wake up early and still miss the bus

      When I open my heart, and my passion is a plus

      When I sit on a chair, and the legs break

      When they turn up the heat, and I’ve had all I can take

      When my covers are cold, on an unmade bed

      When I lean out the window and fall on my head

      Who gets me?

      Sometimes Sing!

      Sometimes sing!

      Energy bring.

      When your breath is taken by a sight or sound

      And marvel overtakes you.

      When truth sinks into your conscience

      And sets itself to music in your soul.

      When you get so tired, plain words will come out wrong

      Relax, there is always a song.

      From babies to children, so they learn how to listen.

      Teenagers testing their voices on top ten tunes.

      Adults and elders shouldering care.

      Those who grow plants,

      Raise chickens,

      Teach.

      Softly as a hum.

      Lustily, as often as you eat.

      Sweetly in the tempo of a believer.

      Loudly, above the instruments in the band.

      Reverently hearing the words as a lesson just for you.

      Proudly joining the bats, birds, fish, frogs, insects, mice, and whales.

      Sometimes sing!

      Human thing.

      Songs We Sing

      A cacophonous din in my head rings

      Clashing with my soft cries for at-one-ment

      Quieting when the choir of voices sings

      Their pitch and cadence richly heaven-sent

      Who takes first prize, second place, lowly third?

      What came before, after, next, or dead last?

      Will only dire consequences be heard?

      Or can choices claim a role in the cast.

      Character rules in the lyrics I spit

      Nature and nurture write the final score

      The songs are raw, repetitive, and writ

      From my heart to yours our shared folklore

      Songs we sing when we are sorry and sad

      Songs we sing while we are merry and glad.

      What to Do?

      When they come for you

      Their voices snuffing yours out

      Their actions rendering you impotent

      Their wants diametrically opposing yours.

      When desire disappears

      And smiles elicit stares

      And tears erase laughter

      And touch terrifies.

      When fiction fizzles

      As truth sounds out a rhythm

      At odds with your hopes

      In step with your fears.

      When energy lags

      And peace is poetry

      Incompatible to your prose

      And blood is thinner than water.

      When time rushes on

      And leaves you unsteady

      With gaps in your recall

      Too wide to cover with notes.

      When joy is a piece of cake

      Or a cat’s meow

      Or an old love song

      Or a forgotten phrase.

      When they leave you alone

      To cover up the scars

      To pick up the pieces

      To shore up the walls.

      Brick by brick

      Piece by piece

      With tattoos of triumph

      Your billboards of acclaim.

      To issue statements of conviction

      To write lyrics to live by

      To sport whiskers of witness

      That winning is believing.

      Taking names

      Leaving crumbs

      Holding fast

      Pounding and pushing.

      Borrowing from history

      Rewriting the conclusion

      Drawing family from fracture

      Painting a new picture

      Embracing tomorrow

      Bringing a fresh tab of answers

      As you constantly ponder

      What to do?

      Life Verbs

      Write

      When the pen is full

      And the heart is open,

      Read

      Until dusk turns into dawn

      And the words start to make sense,

      Sing

      With soulful pitch

      And a thankful spirit,

      Speak

      After you have prayed

      And God touches your tongue,

      Run

      Far away from trouble

      And toward the light of peace,

      Walk

      With