It was a sweltering hot day here in the north country. The sun was up high and it was seathing hot.
It was the Fourth of July. After spending 45 minutes finding a parking space and standing in the hot sun watching the parade, we had finally made it to the spot I wanted to be in for the fireworks later that evening at The Monument where the cities fireworks are held. It's a tall monument with an eagle perched atop. It was erected in memory of the many soldiers that had died there when it was a battlefield during the Revolutionary War.

I'd had this huge argument with my son the other day. He is my adult child, now, 21. He had gotten so insanely angry with me. He was red as a tomato and screaming at me "SHUT UP"! All the while smashing one of my dining room chairs off the ceiling onto the floor. There's still a big hole in the ceiling and a knick in the linoleum.

As I am not accustomed to such loss of control I immediately jumped out of my chair and yelled "HEY"! Meanwhile thinking, "my goodness this boy is really make me whup his grown arse".

As I sit home I feel hopeless. Helpless to do anything for my fellow marines, for my fellow man.

I am a proud Air Force brat (later Marine). I'm proud because I had a father that made it home from Korea and later Vietnam, He always came home with gifts and trinkets he had hand-made by the natives from the different worlds he explored.

My first gift was a dollhouse made of bamboo and all the tiny furnishings were made of budweiser cans. My mother would joke and say, "Daddy must have missed you real bad and got drunk".

As I'm sitting here evaluating my life.
How I fell about it.
How much I want to share.
My story's not of romance or stuggle or strife.
I'll put it quite simply, my life is my life.

I want the world to see what I see.
To share in my joy, my soul, to feel free.

Free of expression and judgement and law.
To simply sit back and see what I saw.

A painting with pink,my true favorite color.
To know it's my fave and still love the others.

My heart to bleed
My love to give
My choice not to falter
My choice not to fail

My chance to give wholly
My chance to take rest
My chance to carry
My life to test

My brothers My sisters
my children my kin
My parents My life
My weight of My sin

My walk of shame
My spirit My purity
My love My influence
My reach of Eternity