Yesterday When I Was Fifteen

We walked the long way home from school

Hoping to delay our time apart.

Best friends and classmates, we tarried in the sun

Of September afternoons so dear to our hearts.

Yesterday, when I was fifteen.

Our arms were laden with huge stacks of books.

Homework instructions are hidden from sight.

Jackets and sweaters draped over our arms

Were welcome this morning, but cumbersome tonight.

Yesterday, when I was fifteen.

All the beautiful streets of our small hometown

Baking and bustling in the hot autumn sun.

Full of big dreamers on their way to mom and dad,

Recklessly talking and having teenage fun.

Yesterday, when I was fifteen.

Falls City High School

It was the sixties, and our heyday was near.

We were innocent so briefly, some so close to war.

They had no intentions of dying so quickly,

We had no idea this day had happened before.

Yesterday, when I was fifteen.

We all went our ways to discover our destinies.

We now have grown older and long for rest.

I still think of school days and warm days of autumn.

I still think our time in life is simply the best.

And yesterday, when I was fifteen.

This poem is dedicated to the five men from Falls City who died in Vietnam.

FALLS CITY, NEBRASKA:
SP5 GARY WAYNE DUNN	SN PAUL AUGUST HOLTZ	LCPL MELVIN ERNEST KUHLMAN
PVT CARL ROBERT MARRS	PFC ROBERT DENNIS MURPHY

My Heart My Home

When spring holds nothing back with its refreshing April rains,

The richness of the coal black earth brings forth a beautiful sight.

I watch the grasses wave across the prairie in the summer breeze.

I gaze across the rolling hills, perfection in the absence of intrusion,

Like an emerald green sea of billowing waves it rolls and rolls forever.

This is the breathtaking scene as you wander the country roads

Of a lovely mid-western farmland, lush and rich with the scent of new birth.

I long for an afternoon of slowly driving through the prairie lands

Of my home, the land that raised me and offered beauties to my soul.

The land that I ever long for. My heart. My home. My Nebraska.

Liars In Ugly Clothes

Never trust your emotions.

They're liars in ugly clothes.

They fill your head with nonsense

And thoughts you would never suppose.

They're evil little tricksters

Wrapped up in deception and fear.

Their purpose is to try to convince you

To believe what's not really there.

When you're feeling sad or lonely,

Emotions tell you no one cares.

Just look around at those who love you,

And trust in yourself if you dare.

Your emotions are a state or reaction

Of unreasoned opinion or belief.

They make you susceptible to impressions

That cause inner turmoil and grief.

Emotions cause violent reactions

Of anger and malice and hate.

It's never wise to trust emotions

Or allow them to dictate your fate.

For emotions will fill you with nonsense,

And defeat and self-doubt always grows.

Never trust your emotions.

For they're liars in ugly clothes.