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Blackwater Men

Where muddy waters flow
Where only grasses grow
Still roam the souls you know
Of Blackwater Men.

Blackwater Men will never fade away
They still return on two tides every day
They come and walk again
To view their past domain
It's where their bones are lain
These Blackwater Men.

Long, long these souls will haunt the salty shore
Until the time when there's a world no more
Then these past men will ride
On one last foaming tide
To heaven and there reside as Blackwater Men.

We who live are richer by far
Because they went before
And trod the paths of time
They ploughed, they fought, they prayed
And gave the place some meaning.

So now as we follow 
Let us bless these people
Who made the river work and 
Sowed the seeds of life
Which we take with us each day
And so we join and say
Amen.

October 2000

The above may not seem to flow well but it was written to be set to music.  This has been done by Clive Smith of South Woodham Ferrers and is a choral work within a suite.

Then and Now

You have enjoyed your years so far
and sit in quiet reflection
but changes happening to your mind
promotes panic for resurrection.

You want to tie your shoes and wash the car
run up the stairs and then
without thought carry a pile of stuff
and run down those stairs again.

Viewing other towns and countries
on TV within your home
gives a yearning to revisit places
you were once so free to roam.

Now all the fuss at airports and the long
trek to the plane
precludes a once world traveller
from ever going abroad again.

Pathos and unfairness brings on tears
you try to hard to hide
confused emotions spar with anger
and you suppress the pain inside.

There was a day when a beer fixed it all
and conscience was something rare
when all that mattered were results 
and thoughts of others weren't there.

But treat yourself kindly old man
you are entirely free to choose
to forgive the way you lived before 
and stop hitting on the bruise.

Sooty

We collected her from a puppy farm
Where she had really earned her keep
Giving the owner many Labs to sell
She now needed to rest and sleep.

We collected her, all of us together
Then took her for her very first roam
Her given name was Sooty and
She gladly embraced her new home.

Her first day and night with us
Had her shaking within her fur
She needed the reassuring touch
Of someone sitting close to her.

But once she knew she was staying
She fitted into family life
She built much loving loyalty
Steadfast through our joys and strife.

She watched over us always
Checking our way was clear
Putting herself between us
And any stranger who came near.

Came the day when she had to leave
When her fourteen years began to tell
We were there when the needle entered 
And swaying slightly she gently fell.

These animal friends are just on loan
And we owners know it well
But the pain is deep when they go
And for a while - we are in hell.

Old Man

What's your story
Old man?
What have you seen
And done?
Put down that watering can
And sit here in the sun.

Tell me of wars
Old man
Times short of work
And food
Did you serve or work the land
Just did the best you could?

And after that 
Old man
You say you took 
A wife
Had a child but lost her
So ran away from life.

You ran for thirty years
Old man?
And never more saw
Your home?
Do you find this garden
Has cured your need to roam?

Are you happy now
Old man?
Do you hear the
Skylarks song?
Is your soul at peace here
Have your demons gone?

I've heard your story
Old man
So I know what 
To do
If life is cruel to me sometime
I'll get a garden too.