Selected Poetry and Songs
By William Gentry
Copyright 2013 William Gentry
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Table of Contents
Foreword
Poetry and Prose
I Have Not Seen Enough Yet
Shade Tree Farm
Money and Blood
Charity of Consequence
A Rose So Red
Turning Pink
Folly
West Virginia
Ships On The Water
A Song for Mr. Johnson
About Poetry and Prose
About I Have Not Seen Enough Yet
About Shade Tree Farm
About Money and Blood
About Charity of Consequence
About A Rose So Red
About Turning Pink
About Folly
About West Virginia
About Ships On The Water
About A Song for Mr. Johnson
Foreword
Hello to all the dreamers and poets. I too aspire to be one. I have titled this book, “Selected Poetry and Songs,” because these are the poems and songs I can still manage to find. I write and move, and in the course of moving many times I have lost a large number of poems and pieces of prose I have written over the years.
In the future I hope to retrieve as many of those lost writings as I can, and put together a complete work. At the end of this book I have included an about section, which is more or less where I was at the time and the impetus for the poem, song or prose. Feel free to criticize my ramblings. I ain’t scared ovs ya.
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Poetry and Prose
Pain and degradation
live next door to me,
In a house of empty souls
trying to be free.
In a perfect world
this house would never be,
But sadly enough
this house is all I see.
I shall only take a moment
to glimpse upon the past,
When bliss and joy filled the house
and held it there steadfast.
But these memories
do not replace the present,
And these recollections
have left me but a peasant
Though the house's story
may be at a close,
I will write the remnant imageries
in poetry and prose.
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***1***
I Have Not Seen Enough Yet
Take me to the ocean,
Take me to the sea.
Fill me up with salt water,
Toast my skin with the sun.
I have not seen enough yet
I have not seen enough yet
I have not seen enough yet
Take me to the south of France,
Or float me down the Rhine.
Play me your good time music,
And show me your good time.
I have not seen enough yet
I have not seen enough yet
I have not seen enough yet
Sometimes we get so caught up,
And stress replaces joy.
Just remember how you saw the world,
When you were a little girl or boy
Remember...you have not seen enough yet
You have not seen enough yet
You have not seen enough yet
So let's go to the ocean,
Yeah let's go to the sea.
Climb the highest mountains,
And crawl beneath the trees.
We have not seen enough yet
We have not seen enough yet
We have not seen enough yet
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***2***
Shade Tree Farm
I was out walking through the shade tree farm
The sky was clear and the sun was warm
I was glad to be in the shade tree farm
The breeze was cool and the sun did no harm
I went down to take water from the crik
When I saw a fair maiden jus' a bathin' in it
In a shallow pool she was bathin'
Said, "waters fine, won’t ya come on in."
Shy as I was I only approached
Reached down to wet my lips
Sittin' there at the water’s edge
She pulled me in the crik bed
We was jus' a laffin' and a havin' fun
When there came a shadow upon the sun
I saw the farmer with a shotgun
He said, "Whatch-ya doin' wit' my daughter son"
I said, "I was jus' walkin' through yer shade tree farm,
The sky was clear and the sun was warm,
I went down to the crik to take some water,
And I run into your daughter."
"Now, I don' mean no harm,
But jus' to admire your shade tree farm."
He said, "That don' sound right,
And you best leave now
or I bury you tonight."
It's kinda lonesome when you’re travelin
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***3***
Money and Blood
Life comes at such cost
Ends up in loss,
Find me release.
Money measures success
While drugs are you at your best,
Makes you want to retreat.
Love is a facade
A hidden macabre,
Of lies and deceit.
Life comes at such cost
Ends up in loss,
Find me peace.
Live day to day
Do as I say
Not as I do,
Don't keep all your eggs in one basket too.
Don't ever be late,
Don't be content to wait,
I just can't relate.
I don't want to fight it,
I want it to end.
So give me a minute
to let it sink in.
If you want to stay here,
you give up or give in.
Just give me a second to realize
These standards were set
By men who hated their lives.
Fear pays for you sins,
Again and again,
You must repent.
But you've been through the fire,
Brought back by the water,
Baptized by some pervert.
And he says that your blessed,
Now get undressed,
And twice you'll convert.
Fear pays for your sins,
Again and again
Will you relent?
Money and blood are all that I know,
Or give me some flesh and send me below.
Money and blood are all that I know,
Or give me some flesh and send me below.
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***4***
Charity of Consequence
So we drove to your mother's house,
seeking some end,
to all of the lethargy living within.
But we couldn't find a cure;
for a man with no history,
and girl with so much potential.
And my brother was a soldier
who went off to fight a war.
He sought peace with a gun,
and the bom
bs at his fingertips.
Knowing that the war
Was just a syndicated television show,
Where the ratings would rise
as the body count grew.
But my father was an optimist
with a gleam in his eye,
and it took me 27 years
to figure out why.
He said that everything was cyclical,
and the world would be fine.
It was the people that were f@*#=ed,
and in their own good time.
On to your mother's house
I dreamed in the car,
that I could build up a monument
with a televised, syndicated history
of the world's greatest mistakes
Because everyone love's tragedy,
and everyone loves a war,
and when your praying for death
Death comes to your door.
But when you pray to be reprieved
The end is just beginning again.
Then I met a man
with a tear on his heart.
Shouting: we salute you America
from a thousand dead children,
standing at attention
at the gates of heaven
to welcome the millions to come
But I remembered that everything was cyclical,
as I watched him enter the coffee shop
to order some coffee,
and toast,
and eggs.
Because The Charity Of Consequence
serves pain and prosperity,
to come from the killings of the masses.
It comes from the killings
of the masses.
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***5***
A Rose So Red
A rose so red
where lips do tread,
and secrets reveal the pearl.
A gift so flush
my heart doth rush,
to set your mind to swirl.
And sweet parting treats
speak gaily of feats,
that know not one desire.
But that blissful dream
I dreamt it may seem,
while glancing as a squire.
A rose so red
where hearts do tread,
the paths of endless joy.
A plan so grand
as if it were to be planned,
in some great planner's ploy.
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***6***
Turning Pink
On a lattice trellis,
above the daisies and roses.
You spin a delicate passage,
towards the sun and quenched by hoses.
A simple alert face,
unassuming and set to please.
With many brethren,
nearby to tease.
Oh tropical oddity,
Coral Creeper or Chinese Love Vine.
I whisper your name,
through lips soaked in wine.
A cunning fox,
you would make.
If only your being could
prevail away from the earth,
your hand I would gather and take.
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***7***
Folly
Lashless, colorless, odorless folly
Pray thee do not come to me
For your mind is full of clout
With eyes bigger than your mouth
And brazen arms that could bend
If not buckle from grief within
Circling some young thing garishly ample
Prejudiced by what you cannot sample
Tasting bitter tongues as if to warrant
"Some excuse for lasciviousness," she spoke, observant
To the changing weather and ebbing tides
To the wind and earth and all you leave, besides
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***8***
West Virginia
Chorus parts 1 & 2;
I took my bride
To the riverside,
And washed my hands
Clean.
They shot her down
On our wedding night,
And now my fire is burning bright
Verse 1
I will take my hands and heart
For the only thing
That I have loved
In this cold world
Is washing down the riverbanks
To the belly of… the Atlantic
Chorus repeat
Verse 2
So keep your good book
At your bed side table
Say you’re prayers tonight
When the witching hour does approach
My love’s light
Will shine through… my sins.
Chorus repeat
Verse 3
You may think me an evil man
And that may be
But when the reaper
Takes your love away from you
You come speak to me
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***9***
Ships On The Water
Watching the sunset on Koh Larn
Ships on the water bobbing with the current
Clouds slowly passing by
Carrying foreign waters to far away lands
Lightning makes thunder claps in the distance
As the water laps against the concrete walls of the northern harbor
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***10***
A Song for Mr. Johnson
Dark and windy was the trail.
I held my lantern steady, but it failed.
I just kept walking,
Walking through Hell.
When I met the devil,
I was happy just to see a face.
He grinned and shook his head,
And said I see you know this place.
Last time you were here,
You left without a trace.
But I have no time to deal in transgressions,
I only have, just one question.
He said, “Are you gonna wear my cape?”
Well, I said devil,
You pegged me wrong.
And there ain’t no way I’m gonna sing your dark songs.
I like your darkness.
I like your sin.
But there ain’t no reason for me to come here again.
You see devil,
I got a woman,
Who makes me whole.
I got a woman,
That satisfies my soul.
She don’t go to church,
And she don’t read from your black books.
She’s got a new religion,
And I do believe I’m hooked.
So do me a favor,
Pack your tricks.
‘Cause I got a new temple to build,
And you can bet it ain’t made a bricks.
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***11***
About Poetry and Prose
I wrote this poem after my parent’s divorce. It’s about the house I used to know while growing up.
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About I Have Not Seen Enough Yet
I wrote this when I first travelled to Taiwan. I have spent much of my time trekking here and there. I truly believe the world is yours to get out there and experience. AND you should!
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About Shade Tree Farm
This is a silly song I created while I was a student at Evergreen State College. I wrote two such silly songs there. I hope to find the other one. Here, in no particular order, are some of the normal English meanings for the slang in this poem: crik=creek, laffin’=laughing, Whatch-ya doin'=What are you doing, wit’=with, crik bed=the bottom of the creek, ya=you, yer=your, don’=don’t
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About Money and Blood
This was around the time that the news came out with all the stories about priests molesting children in various parishes around the United States. I am Catholic, and was raised in a Catholic church. I have much love and respect for the church, but some of its supposed leaders are a serious mess. I don’t agree with everything the church espouses. I am also a Taoist, a Buddhist and a Zoroastrian. Faith is truly a house with many rooms. If you are an atheist, I truly feel sorry for you.
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About Charity of Consequence
I wrote Charity of Consequence when my brother was going to Iraq for the second time. My brother is a Naval officer, an E.O.D. or Explosives Ordinance and Demolition Senior Chief. He has been to Iraq twice, and once to Afghanistan. He is a singer, a songwriter and a great human being. Love you bro! Check out one of his songs he wrote and made a video for when he was in Iraq. J, my brother, is the one in the middle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJg4x4J-DIE
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About A Rose So Red
I wrote this in high school for a girl I went on only one date with. I guess I didn’t really know who I was writing it for.
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About Turning Pink
This poem is exactly what it appears to be. I was drunk in a garden in China.
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About Folly
This was after I made the mistake of moving to Thailand for a second time. Maybe it wasn’t a mistake, but it felt like one at the time.
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About West Virginia
I worked for Americorps*NCCC and Americorps*ND. In my first year with Americorps*NCCC I travelled to Washington D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania working on various projects called SPIKEs. When my Americorps team was in WestVirginia, I first heard the bluegrass of the land. Hearing the music of West Virginia inspired me to write this song.