(C) Walter J Wojtanik – 2020
POETIC BLOOMINGS – COVID-19 PAD – Day 22: Song Lyric Epigraph
Category: Song Lyrics
ANGELS CRIED AT CHRISTMAS REPRISE
Five years ago, I penned the lyrics for this song in tribute to the young lives lost at Sandy Hook Elementary on this day in 2012. I re-post this each year on this day in tribute. A melody has been composed but still hasn’t been recorded.
ANGELS CRIED AT CHRISTMAS
Melody and Lyrics by Walter J. Wojtanik
Hearts of joy,
Playing in this world of love and happenstance.
Little minds,
Wanting just to learn of life’s glad circumstance.
Standing on the brink of years,
Standing tall in spite of fears
with open eyes.
Gentle souls; their mothers’ dears,
rained upon with angels tears,
oh, how they cry,
I’ll tell you why…
Another day,
Never knowing what’s in store, so unprepared.
Not the way
Children’s lives are supposed to be; confused and scared.
No one could have guessed their fate,
Mercy came, but much too late
for little ones.
So much love within their hearts,
Just waiting for their lives to start,
Oh, how we cry,
Tell me why.
The angels cried at Christmas,
Hearken angel voices sing a new refrain.
Now every year at Christmas,
Angel tears will fall again in sorrow’s stain.
Come now Angel, it’s okay,
Let love wipe your tears away
though your smile is gone.
Here now Angel, it’s all right,
Every new star shines so bright,
like your love, your light lives on and on.
Your Momma knows,
Deep within she feels your hand upon her heart.
And Daddy knows,
That even though you’re gone, you’re never far apart.
Babies when you left that day,
Angels now where angels play,
All looking down.
Missing Grandma’s warm embrace,
Grandpa won’t forget your face,
So, dry your eyes.
Please, don’t cry.
The angels cried at Christmas,
listen to the angels sing a new refrain.
Feel our love at Christmas,
Angel tears will flow with love ‘til we meet again.
Come now Angel, it’s okay,
Let love wipe your tears away,
though your smile is gone.
Here now Angel, it’s all right,
Every new star shines so bright,
like your love, your light lives on and on.
The angels cried (please dry your eyes)
The angels cried (a tearful sigh)
The angels cry,
Yes, they cry at Christmas.
© Copyright – Walter J. Wojtanik 2012
FOREVER
I stand on the edge of this field,
& I can sense his presence here.
Living is easy, but with eyes closed
he can misunderstand a lot.
He has not seen thing clearly
in nearly thirty-seven years.
Nothing is perceived as real,
& it’s hard to be someone else,
when the who you are is no longer a star.
I know it’s a dream; it’s not too bad
& we’ll remain sad for the loss of you.
No one was the boss of you.
It’s all wrong but it’s nothing.
Don’t get hung up, let me take you down.
Strawberry Fields.
(C) Walter J. Wojtanik (with a little help from my friends!)
OLD FRIENDS
Old friends, old friends,
connecting through the years,
through the tears and fears of yesterdays.
Memories shared and compared to the days they
sat on their park bench like bookends.
A newspaper blown through the grass
time-stamping the miles of laughter and smiles,
a random tumble of disappointments and joys.
Just a couple of the boys watching as a windblown leaf
falls on the round toes of the high shoes
of the old friends. Old friends,
linked from their “springs”
until their rapidly fading Decembers,
they’ll remember their days as
winter companions, the old men
lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sun,
for their days grow shorter
and a last, long lasting look at the world
is all their time can demand. In the distance,
the sounds of the city sifting through trees
settles like dust on the shoulders of the old friends,
We will all return one day, as old dust,
airborne and free, seeing the world
and landing, not demanding anything, no more time.
Can you imagine us years from today?
Sharing a park bench quietly
we will sit and reminisce, with misted memories
filling us full, but us not feeling fulfilled.
Only our friendship will remain, our sad refrain:
How terribly strange to be seventy.
Old friends,
memory brushes the same years,
silently sharing the same fears.
© Walter J. Wojtanik
*Italicized blue sections are the lyrics of Simon And Garfunkel’s – Old Friends
“Love / Anti-Love” Poem
THE RIVER RUNS
And it goes on and on, oh, watching the river run,
Further and further from things that we’ve done,
Leaving them one by one.
And we have just begun watching the river run.
Listening and learning and yearning.
Run, river, run.~ “Watching the River Run” – Lyric by Kenny Loggins
Life is a river.
Cut into the world
swirled through valley
and dale; pastures
and disasters; ever-flowing.
Going along between the banks,
charted. Finding a fissure,
it branches and chances
to break free, new adventures
to explore. Going on and on.
Leaving our past on a fast
current; leaving memories
in our wake. Forsaking all else,
Watch how it goes.
Watch how it flows. Listening
and yearning to learn all we can.
Life goes on
Run, river, run!
© Walter J. Wojtanik
dVerse Poets Pub – Poetics: The River
HORN-RIMMED GLASSES
Lyric by Walter J. Wojtanik
So you ain’t twenty-twenty,
but girl that ain’t no shame,
’cause the truth of it, Honey,
is I’ve learned to play the game.
Seeing is believing,
and girl I see it clear,
looks can be deceiving,
come and sit yourself right here…
I think you’re so damn pretty
and I love your big blue eyes,
but living in the city
has you wearing this “disguise”.
And those guys aren’t seeing
all the beauty that you do,
and the way that they’re being
you would think it might be true…
You know they say men don’t make passes
at girls wearing horn-rimmed glasses,
but maybe the masses just
don’t know what they’ve been missin’
Brothers, I’ll be kissin’ them
and steaming up their lenses,
the difference ‘tween them girls is
while yours is cleaning contact lenses
I’ll be making contact friends
with the girl, with the girl, with the girl
with the horn-rimmed glasses.
So don’t fret a thing dear
for you know they aren’t too bright,
when we’re doin’ our thing dear
they’ll be home alone at night.
Yes, seeing is believing,
and I believe I’ve won the prize,
your sighs are relieving,
seeing you with my four-eyes…She’ll be seeing clearer,
the closer I get near her,
and pretty soon I’ll hear her
whispering my name…
You know they say men don’t make passes
at girls wearing horn-rimmed glasses,
but maybe the masses just
don’t know what they’ve been missin’
Brothers, I’ll be kissin’ them
and steaming up their lenses,
the difference ‘tween them girls is
while yours is cleaning contact lenses
I’ll be making contact friends,
with the girl, with the girl, with the girl
with the horn-rimmed glasses.
Making eyes with the girl
in the horn-rimmed glasses.
THAT’S HOW IT IS (The Un-Coolio Version)
How are you doing, my friend?
Not bad really, how have you been, chum?
You know how it is, I’m just doing what comes natural.
(yes indeed)
What have you been working on lately?
Just working hard. What are you doing?
I’m taking some classes, brother.
I’m tryin’ to get out from this bad situation, man.
Good luck with that then.
I’m trying to find an employment situation
[Loud banging noises]
Oh gosh, it seems to be going downhill!
I’d like to find work as well, seriously man!
These things are not sitting well with me.
Fella, I’m not handling this well,
I’m not kidding in the least!
You know what my feelings are
with the automotive shooting sprees,
fellows taking my things and stuff,
drug addicts… I can’t tolerate it!
Things are tough all over, not just here
That’s true, but I can’t take much more of this!
I agree with you. But can I tell you a thing or two?
What is it, my friend?
As much as I hate this place, I love this place.
I know, right?
That’s how this ghetto is, man!
I totally agree!
(C) Walter J. Wojtanik – 2016
Poetic Asides April Poem-A-Day Challenge – Day #19: “Cool/uncool poem”
*This is an English translation of Coolio’s song “That’s How It Is” – the Un-Coolio lyrics
SILENT, STILL
“I spoke to you in cautious tones
you answered me with no pretense
And still I feel I said too much
my silence is my self-defense.”~ from “And So It Goes” by Billy Joel
You’d think I’d learn to keep my mouth shut, but you’d be so wrong. Strong opinions get me in trouble every time! It’s not that I’m a lout or a big mouth, sometime things just come out when I least expect! I suspect this need to express gets my best at every turn. You’d think I’d learn.
Where all are concerned, I’m told my fount of words is like a vast ocean. I should use great caution if I wish to run silent and deep. I should keep my opinions under check in order to protect myself from myself. Otherwise, there’s no helping me. So I’ll tread lightly and be slightly less vocal. That should keep me out of trouble.
The squeaky wheel
can be easily replaced.
Use lube, or lose face!
© Walter J. Wojtanik – 2016
Poetic Asides April Poem-A-Day Challenge 2016 – Day #11: Defense
THROUGH THE EYES OF A POET'S HEART 
We’re here for the briefest of eternities.
And as we see, every one of us
has the same life to share.
The sun shines on us all, warming our souls
and brightening our existence.
With persistence, we seek the lunar light at night
knowing soon that a new morning awaits
those of us who choose to embrace it.
Choosing to ignore our sisters and brothers
to seek another agenda, we’ll suffer the pangs
of our own misguided ignorance.
In deference to a shared unity, we shall
yearn for that sense of community that glows
within each of us for the short time we abide
upon this earth. But no bright sun,
nor any gilded moon remains eternal.
It is our infernal reality that we will all
expire before they do. We’ll not see it through.
We will all be done too soon!