David Jackson

Rain Drops Fall Off the Leaf

by

Posting poems in the night for
you who read me,
somewhere in this world.
Oh I have done it for so long now.
I may have published
the first poem on the net.

It went
Hello World.

“Hello Ball”,
said Art Carney.

I roll the ball toward
some overwhelming question
without an answer
and tell you that
beauty is truth.

Then a few judge
whether I
said it
well enough.

when all I wanted, really,
all you wanted

was to hear the words

rain drops fall off the leaf.

Another Poem Among the Roses

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It Looks like another poem
is waiting among the roses
or the thorns
or maybe the sidewalks,
hoping for sidewalks
instead of muddy paths,
muddy paths and
muddy lives.
Hoping for better
is better than
nothing.
Hoping for better
child
is always
better than wasting away
thinking life is
so unfair,
which it is,
which it is.
Humble hands must work
Humble hearts must try.
Humility is beauty, and
Beauty is truth.

Folk Rendition of We’re Gonna Make It by Jodey Bateman

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Friend and folk singer Jodey Bateman in New Mexico translates Pablo Neruda and sings many folk songs in three languages. His knowledge of folk music is such that Jodey’s work is worth saving and presenting.Here he sings his folk rendition of Little Milton’s classic song.
http://www.motherbird.com/folkmusic/We’re_Gonna_Make_it.mp3The Song is originally a soul song
We’re gonna Make it By Little Milton
Here is Little Milton’s Biography

Here are Little Milton’s lyrics:

We may not have a cent to pay the rent
But we’re gonna make it, I know we will
We may have to eat beans every day
But we’re gonna make it, I know we will
And if a job is hard to find
And we have to stand in the welfare line
I’ve got your love and you know you got mine
So we’re gonna make it, I know we will

We may not have a home to call our own
But we’re gonna make it, I know we will
We may have to fight hardships alone
But we’re gonna make it, I know we will
‘Cause togetherness brings peace of mind
We can’t stay down all the time
I’ve got your love and you know you got mine
So we’re gonna make it, I know we will

Our car may be old, our two rooms cold
But we’re gonna make it, I know we will
We may not can spare a single crumb
But we’re gonna make it, I know we will
And if I have to carry ’round a sign
Sayin’ “Help the deaf, the dumb, and the blind”
I got your love and you know you got mine
So we’re gonna make it, I know we will

Give notice in heaven, Leadbelly, this is a classic too.
Little Milton sing his song:

A Poem for my Teachers

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Rarely did we ever come back

to say thank you,

almost never.

We were busy.

Oh they made speeches to you,

mostly other teachers or administrators.

They told you of the difference you made.

The difference you made?

Miss Mabel,

Mrs. Shumaker,

Mr. McDaniel.

The difference you say?

You noticed me.

You told me I was special.

You sat me in the highest chair,

quietly without fanfare

without anyone ever knowing,

except for me

too many years later.

You picked me up and

set me on my feet.

And so I say to some teacher who may

wander into this poem,

some other child’s teacher.

 

I cannot say thank you to

Miss Mabel,

Mrs. Shumaker,

Mr. McDaniel,

so I will thank you.

 

You may not see

but flowers are blooming

at your feet.

 

Thank You Teacher.

 

Thank You Teacher Poem Copyright 2012 David Michael Jackson

I am the Grass Let Me Work Poem by Carl Sandburg

by

Grass

PILE the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work
I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?

I am the grass.
Let me work.