Once Again

Once again

we’ll give it a try,

a gift so great

that money can’t buy.

We tried it once

and gave it our heart,

but it was in vain

from the very start.

Three lonely people

each trying to merge,

three strong forces

fighting life’s surge.

One a young girl

full of hurt and pain,

wanting something of life

like a deep cleansing rain.

The lessons of life

had dealt her a lot,

death and desertion

since a small tot.

Another a woman

the mother of the girl,

wary of life

watching it unfurl.

what started so great

with a grand childhood,

somehow turned sour

going bad where it would.

The third a man

so lonely of heart,

longing for a bond

and a family to start.

A planned day meeting

by a mutual friend,

sparked his love for

These two to the end.

Alas as I’ve said

success was not found,

the two parted from the girl

as she went Texas bound.

The details are many

and not worth going thru,

suffice to say they

still loved her true.

Now she’s returning

two years older and wiser,

each reflecting on the past

guarding the future like a miser.

What rules to follow

only guide don’t shove,

most important of all

is to show her our love.

Once again

we’ll give it a try,

a gift so great

that money can’t buy.

Gary R. Cramer

June 10, 1987

One Of Life’s Many Fools

Once I had dreams

of becoming someone great,

now I wonder were

they dreams of a child eight.

There were visions of acts

on life’s grand stage,

now only emptiness

and the feelings of rage.

Did I do it all wrong

maybe gone to more schools,

instead I did it my way

now one of life’s fools.

Gary R. Cramer

October 28, 1992

Questions Of Pain

Oh dear God

the aloneness so deep,

Pain so intense

it makes me weep.

How can it be

I allowed it to grow,

coming from where

I just don’t know.

Such a heavy burden

within my chest,

this haunting ghost

won’t let me rest.

What’s missing in life

my heart without song,

why can’t I feel

like I truly belong.

Wanting to achieve

something worth while,

but the more I search

my stomach fills with bile.

No small thing gives a

man peace of mind,

so hard to explain

something you cannot find.

As a youth I wrestled

with fear and superstition,

now as an adult I

most cope with ambition.

What should I do

where must I go,

voiced since adolescence

and still I don’t know.

Thru the course of

many a normal day,

I grow so restless

seldom feeling gay.

Like a spinning compass

without a North Pole,

I wander thru life

A truly lost soul.

looking about I see

others with far less,

and yet they’re fulfilled

living in happiness.

Wanting to succeed

feeling I can do that,

but not knowing the way

or the course of attack.

So often the frustration

me feel I might explode,

from not finding the vehicle

to lighten the load.

For whom do I search

and what do I yearn,

to teach me the lessons

of life I must learn.

Gary R. Cramer

July 16, 1987