Sunday, March 12, 2017

lonely





by alice marston sternwall

everybody hates the lonely
don’t let them tell you otherwise
you are having a nice conversation
then you see the desperation in their eyes

all the years of solitude
come rising up like foam
in the flickering beams of your sympathy
they finally see their way home

their dreams and sad opinions
flow through the night and into dawn
their clutching hands reach out to you
but you are already gone

perhaps when you lie dying
in a little room alone
you will give a thought to those desperate ones
and regret your heart of stone



Thursday, March 2, 2017

a ballad





he world is bad but should be good
robin hood slept in king john’s wood
king john was bad, but robin was good
let us sing a song of robin hood

o merrily merrily merrily we go
all of good cheer we be
fair robin doth dwell in the deep deep woods
dwelleth there doth he

the king put a bounty on robin’s head
and swore to hang him from a tree
o merrily merrily merrily we go
all of good cheer be we

maid marian rode by the castle gate
she caught the bad king’s eye
all merrily she rode away
between the forest and the sky

all merrily we ride away
with robin and his merry men
and we’ll stay in the wood be it understood
until the good times come again

friar tuck stood up with a flagon of ale
he drank it down right strong
o merrily merrily merrily we go
singing this merry song