SING SWEET MOCKINGBIRD
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Ansel At His Gallery,
Yosemite
ANSEL ADAMS' EYES
‘Range of Light’ shine on me
From Glacier Point to Tuolumne
Take my soul to raptures grand
And touch my heart with Heaven’s hand
As high clouds kiss the blazon skies
Where the blue meets the white of nature’s dyes
I sight that silver lining that paves the way
Hiking through Yosemite on this stunning day
Rising through alpine meadows’ bliss
Finally reaching Tenaya’s abyss
The rim! Cloud’s Rest! and Half-Dome’s shrine
Resplendent in glacier polish shine!
Taking pause, I smell some wild mint
Found amidst the granite’s moon rock tint
Suddenly, I’m seeing black and white skies
And viewing the valley through Ansel Adams' eyes
No scope of colors, but shades of gray
I beg the Sierras this way to stay
Squinting my eyes, I try to hold
These lights and darks and contrasts bold
So blessed was I in this Cathedral of Stone
But with my tears, the colors –again- were shown
As my teardrops fell on that wild mint
I gained back all my sight with tint
And there, between the granite sheen
Glistened the greenest green I’d ever seen
The ‘Range of Light’ now shined on me
In God’s greatest colors did I see
And I turned to His valley to behold
Spectral rainbows and rays of gold
Robert Kawika Sheer
All rights reserved
Love Watch Photo
LOVE WATCH
Two hands of time ticking are we
Upon a clock of destiny
Tuned in perfect time we meet
Keeping watch of a love so sweet
We may not know who holds the key
That keeps us ticking in harmony
But as we turn and pass the time
We know our hearts together chime
I count the minutes, and you, the hours
As we twirl around like wind-blown flowers
And every hour brings forth The Chase
Till we meet again on the dial’s face
Then once at midnight and once at noon
In shining sun or romantic moon
We join together in perfect aim
As a dozen tolls our hearts proclaim
Robert Kawika Sheer
All rights reserved
(plumeria: a Hawaiian tree flower that grows in clusters)
Plumeria clouds that float on by
Clear my mind of wind and rain
And I am lost somewhere in Heaven’s high
Singing some gentle soothing island song’s refrain
I welcome the walks through the willows we take
Down that dreamy carefree country one-lane road
Through the arboreal threads that cascade into the lake
To my April magic Hawaiian cottage abode
And to you, this place I bring
A pace set in time so sweet and so slow
So you may hear the hillsides sing
And watch God’s green garden glow
Robert Kawika Sheer
All rights reserved
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STAR-SPANGLED
BANTER
O say can you see a sacred song’s birth?
Penned on a ship on an American firth
By the dawn’s early light as the sun blessed the Earth
A patriot wrote a poem of incalculable worth
A ballad about a banner that was so proudly to be hailed
Now fluttered in the wind, tattered, but not yet failed
At the twilight’s last gleaming, he wondered as he sailed
Would it be seen throughout the night from the ship where he was
jailed
He thought about those who had brought the stripes and bright
stars
--- the victors, the fallen, and those captured behind bars --
Through the perilous fight for what we knew to be ours
And to all the people of this planet between Venus and Mars
Over the ramparts he watched the cannon balls teeming
And the rocket’s red glare cast upon the waves gleaming
The bombs bursting in air awoke him from his dreaming
And as he looked at the fort, his tears started streaming
For in all his life, it was the most glorious sight
Giving proof that the nation had lasted long through the night
Our flag was still there! -- by the dawn’s early light
-- the Star-Spangled Banner flapping with might!
Today, that banner is still displayed for everyone to see
Welcoming all nations towards a world of the free
Where in the homes of the brave, they’ll shout, “Don’t tread on
me!”
And thank the American patriot -- Francis Scott Key
Robert Kawika Sheer
All rights reserved
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(lyrics for a country-western song --
the word "guitar" should be pronounced
'cowboy-style' with a heavy accent on the first syllable)
I heard a bird up in a tree
Somewhere high above
I tuned my guitar on my knee
To its singing like a dove
When I finally saw it
The strangest thing occurred
It sang the notes my guitar hit
For ‘twas the mockingbird
Sing sweet mockingbird -- use those chimes!
My vocal chords are shot
My throat’s been scoured a thousand times
Like grandma’s old steel pot
My guitar does my singing
I find each fret with luck
No man, nor bird, has ever heard
This tune I now shall pluck
(guitar instrumental)
“Well,” I said, “I should get lit!”
And filled my whiskey cup
That bird just sang the notes I hit
Before I made them up!
Sing sweet mockingbird -- use those chimes!
My vocal chords are shot
My throat’s been scoured a thousand times
Like grandma’s old steel pot
Then that bird burst out in song!
One I’d never heard before
But as I tried to play along
It stopped and ‘twas no more
I lost that voice as it flew away
The sweetest song I've ever heard
I learned my lesson on that day:
Never mock the mockingbird.
I learned my lesson on that day:
Never mock the mockingbird.
Robert Kawika Sheer
All rights reserved
