Lancelot the Quarter Horse

Growing up in Central Mississippi,

I was an only child.

My imagination was my playground amidst and within the surroundings..

Horses and dogs were my brothers and sisters..

they were unconditional in their love.

I blocked out the sadness I felt the day we parted.

Today, for some reason, it came rushing back to me out of nowhere.

Sam the Hound, Lady the German Shepherd, Lad the Collie..

KoKo the Shetland Pony, Lancelot the Quarter Horse, John the Palomino..

In one day they were no longer in my life,

and I never saw them again..

All because my parents could no longer live together..

the damn divorce..

It hurts even now to think what my dogs and horses must have wondered..

What happened to them?

This life is a gift to all of us,

it is a shame how we sometimes treat it..

and the scars we carry are somehow the very things that make us who we are..

for good or ill..

wkm

Nashville

After Bill

the song ended as the candle melted away
the scent of Pine filled the room
the steady rain sang upon the metal roof
she poured a glass of wine and walked over to the sliding glass door
A portrait of William Faulkner watched over the den where she stood
her daughter called down from upstairs,
"Is daddy coming home tonight or tomorrow mama?!"
Estelle walked to the bottom of the stairs and looked up,
"Your father is dead dear, you are dreaming again."

wkm
Nashville

Rain Shower

Sitting here listening to the rain,

already missing you...

it's just a rain,
no high winds, no lightning,
a little thunder off in the distance,
but listen..
on this hot humid summer day in June,
it's a simple rain shower..
some graces only come through storms
through the sporadic chaos of "This"..(selah)
but then there are those mysterious moments,
when it comes as a simple rain shower..
listening to the sound of the rain
already missing you....

wkm
for R
Nashville

Cicada Blues

Female Cicada attach themselves to trees after having sex with the male Cicada.

They lay their eggs into the bark of the tree.

When the eggs hatch they fall to the ground and burrow down to between 1 and 8 feet under the earth..

They live as Nymphs from between 13 and 17 years underground..

They burrow up at an appointed time and swarm,

singing their song of freedom.

Their life span is about 6 weeks above ground.

Then it begins all over again.

The Cicada Blues.

wkm

Nashville

To Something Else

I don't believe anyone who says they never doubt.

Someone who is always "fine".

Joy and Happiness are two different things..

and Joy doesn't come from knowing something is right,

Joy comes from a humble understanding,

an understanding that He is greater than my faith or my doubt..

Darkness and Light

one can't exist without the other..

then you have to change the name of day

then you have to change the name of night

to something else..

wkm

Nashville

Lament

The last notes of the song faded into the distance

the traveling minstrels topped the hill and disappeared

the raw lament brought tears to the eyes of an old man watching them leave

He had lost hope for the times he lived in..

the song was about a Calvary soldier from the Civil War,

his horse had been shot out from under him,

he had been bayoneted lying on the ground

In the song a Confederate soldier found a letter in the dead mans coat..

"My dear Sarah, I am glad to hear our son is fine,

I had prayed daily, even in battle, for mercy on his young life.

I am sure the Lord of Heaven hears many prayers like this,

and for some reason her heard mine. I am so grateful.

I now pray to for this war to end soon, 

and that I might hold you in my arms again.

And should I fall, my only regret will be not seeing you again."

wkm

Nashville

The Crying is Done

He walked through the house once his loving home..

the river had destroyed it completely.

Silt and dark grey globs of mud covered everything..

nothing was worth saving.

Then he walked out the back door..

The hundreds of acres recently planted were gone.

Cotton, Soybeans, all of it, not a trace of farm land..

the river had replaced it with a thin oozing swamp..

the rows filled with garbage from up river..

the man sat down on a stone wall that once enclosed his herb garden..

his head fell into his hands.

He allowed himself this one moment..

he heaved with a sense of despair and hopelessness..

He wept.

He knew it would be years before his land would yield anything..

He would have to get a job somewhere in the mean time..

maybe in Memphis selling cars...who knew?

He wiped his eyes and stood up.

"That's it." he spoke out loud..

"The crying is done..time to get on with it."

wkm

Nashville