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Hook Your Chin to a Star

My Little Child  © 2018

(Douglas)

 

My little child,

the days are getting shorter, 

and there’s no moonlight, 

so go quietly for the boarder, and

look for the light glowing in the window.

be safe my child and cry into your pillow

never make a noise while 

crossing over the river

it’s a noisy railroad car but 

silent is the rider

I want you to be brave 

and hope that we’ll meet again

For I will always Love you

and I will always care

 

When in the darkness 

and the fear starts creeping in

that’s when your life story 

is about to begin, so

look for the light glowing in the window.

be safe my child and cry into your pillow

never make a noise while 

crossing over the river

it’s a noisy railroad car 

but silent is the rider

I want you to be brave 

and hope that we’ll meet again

For I will always Love you

For I will always Love you

For I will always Love you

and I will always care 

The Geese Story (true tale) © 2019

(Douglas)

 

we were born in Kentucky

where the water was sweet

our papa made corn whiskey

and cast out the spent mash to feed                                       

The dogs, the chickens and some cackling 

geese

 

when he went on deliveries

our responsibilities 

to keep the fire burning

and cast out the spent mash to feed                                        

the dogs, the chickens and some 

mischievous geese

 

We were one two three little girls

making moonshine, the best in the world

tending the fire all day long

Our homestead in Kentucky

surrounded by, sycamore trees

We always felt so lucky 

made us so easy to please

until we found dead, “gasp!” 

our once noisy geese

 

well, winter was fast approaching

and warm bodies puck easier-ly 

so we hurried to the plucking

down feathers are good for the freeze

we marveled at our ingenuity

(The Geese Story continues)

We were one two three little girls

making moonshine, the best in the world

tending the fire all day long

while papa was out on a run

next morning we woke early “really early”

to a cack - cackling!

alive, featherless and angry

smelling of an old brewery

So, we quickly netted sweaters 

for their bare bodies

   

the ending of this story is about 

those thieving little geese

they did their bit of outlawry                

by stealing old mash fermenting

when we found them dead drunk, 

not even moving 

(“I mean they were really out!”)

 

We were, one, two, three little girls

Making moonshine, the best in the world

Tending the fire all day long

while papa was out on a run,

our geese were having some fun

and now that’s the end of our song!

 

 

Kentucky Rain © 2018

(Douglas)

 

I was a belle of the ball

a southern woman with means

 

I once had magic

to charm the men

with un-certain sadness 

we moved out west

 

my family was from 

Kentucky born in Boone’s Fort

and made Whiskey

had a reputation

for our family recipe 

a sour mash creation 

balanced with the sweetest taste of

 

Kentucky  rain,  

coming down 

Sweet Kentucky Rain 

 

Before ma died and we were 

orphaned

Many a young man came 

a-courting but

we left Lincoln County

and the Kentucky green

we moved to the desert 

for the dyer heat, but now I’m missing the

 

Kentucky  rain, coming down 

Sweet Kentucky Rain…

Daylight © 2018

(Douglas)

 

Daylight creeps into night

in a chorus of night sounds 

we ride

 

to the desert under the sky

we’re watching the moonrise

wheels drive

 

in a vale of darkness

I hear the hissing of the train

Pop worked for the railroad

and now is taking us to a strange new land

 

Daylight rolls into night.

while the train leaves another station 

we ride

 

our mom left before us

to a border town near, Mexico

where the Marshall’s our uncle

destination’s sure to bring us sorrow!

 

Daylight rolls into night.

while the train leaves another station 

we ride

 

my brother my two sisters                                     

follow on this, ghostly moonlit ride

Pop travels on, to get work

in an Arizona silver mine

to where the heat is unbearable

and the wind blows dust just like carousels

we wake up to thunder

and a feeling of loneliness

 

Daylight rolls into night.

while the train leaves the station

without us

This Desert Place© 2019                         

(Douglas)

 

We were just southern girls with ribbons and curls                

I was the middle of three sisters

my baby brother will never know his mother!

feeling alone on a ranch just north of the 

border, of Mexico 

                  

years go by pop’s gone most of the time                   

my older sister has gone to live with family in Tucson 

While I was left in charged of my brother and sister  

in a dangerous place like this a smile is just a whisper  

of some forgotten days, As I

 

Find my place, and

I give grace, for this

desert space 

I now call home

                   

living in some boarder house, out west! 

feeling alone on this ranch with outlaws at the fence

one summer I killed 30 rattlers and skinned them to dry 

and sold them for hatbands to cowboys as

they rode by our little enterprise! As I

 

Find my place, and

I give grace, for this

desert space 

I now call home

 

on an old gray mare I’d ride away

to a valley of coyotes in a territory state

I’d sing as loud as I could to the red hills of Bisbee 

just a 10 year old kid from the hills of 

Kentucky, but now I’m here    

I’m a belle on the border, who

takes this steed and rides away               

I am a pioneer

and I sing to the wind

and the call of the wild

and my desert home, As I

 

Find my place, and

I give grace, for this

desert space 

I now call home

Hook Your Chin To A Star © 2020

(Douglas)

 

like a band of gypsies                                 

from the hills of Kentucky

I grew so weary of the road 

I was a young mother

my husband a miner                                   

I wanted to make us a home

 

I moved 47 times in 37 years!

it was time to settle down

one more move from the desert to the sea

one more town to town 

 

once was a belle on the boarder

married sister’s husband’s brother

back then that’s just what you did

 

hard times were upon us 

from Tucson to Santa Barbara

just as the depression hit

 

hold your head up high…, and

hook your chin to a star

The legacy of family, grows

strong in who we are

 

let me tell you some stories

Of desert Territories

in the shade of this avocado tree

 

I’m a prayerful strong women

In this beautiful garden

I planted everything you see!

                                        

Keep your head up high and                            

hook your chin to a star

The legacy of family, grows

strong in who we are

      

I married for survival, And the love of family

we made a life in this tourist town

on a loveless promise so that you can live your dreams

sometimes you’ll feel like shutting down, but

 

hold your head up high…  and                                        

hook your chin to a star

The legacy of family, grows

strong in who we are

For America © 2017  

(Douglas/Covington/Covington)

 

too many tales to un-tangle

too many mountains to un-climb 

to many things we need to tend to

too many times we are unkind

 

we’re all sons and daughters

swinging left and right

and just like an eagle 

we need both wings to fly

For America

 

We all share a common history

we put a man on the moon

we’re making cures for cancer

explored the great outdoors

 

we’re all sons and daughters

swinging left and right

and just like an eagle 

we need both wings to fly

For America

                

we could fly so high, 

we all have the right,

to fly . 

 

we’re all sons and daughters

swinging left and right

and just like an eagle 

we need both wings to fly

For America

               

We could fly so high, 

we all have the right,

to fly

 

in the past there was depression 

and the future we never see

I try to focus my attention

on the lines of my face

 

we’re all sons and daughters

swinging left and right

and just like an eagle 

we need both wings to fly

For America (2xs)

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