For Peace

For Peace

They put a gun in your hands and call you a man,

and tell you you're fighting for peace.

Dropped in the midst of a war without explaining it or

telling you you are the beast.

So you march in your ranks, with your missiles and tanks,

making peace with your fire and lead.

While there's death on all sides, and all mother's cry,

when they find out their children are dead.

If it's peace you fight for, how is it won with a war,

isn't love the only weapon of peace?

Isn't love the only weapon of peace.

By J. Barrett

Ex-tinguished

Ex-tinguished

You're turning out the lights of our past,
slowly flipping the switches.
The memories are fading,
like dreams after waking.
What was once illumination,
is now a lone flickering light,
surrounded by darkness.
As more light gets extinguished,
as each memory fades,
my heart darkens,
becoming a black hole in my chest,
sucking in my thoughts,
ravelling my soul into tight, wet knots.
I am where the light can no longer survive.

By J. Barrett

Memories

Memories

A lot of us smoke to forget;

drink to forget; fight to forget...

But we can't just put the noose

around only the ones we choose.

It's like burning down a village

hoping the bad ones will die,

while the good folk all survive.

Many good memories disappear,

falling like stars through the atmosphere;

withering up and burning away.

The good seem to go in a blink,

before the bad even show any chinks;

then the bad memories in retention,

seem to get all the more attention.

We remember the pain and the sorrow,

like it was yesterday, today, tomorrow;

while the laughter, smiles and joy,

seem like distant memories of a little boy.

By J. Barrett

Black Dog

Black Dog

I used to be afraid to die,

Now I'm getting bored with life.

I wonder where it is that I,

Will end up on the other side.

And I wonder what it is I'll find,

When my time is nigh.

The emptiness in me grows,

But I try not to let it show.

The only thing I want to know,

Is how on earth will I go,

Drawn out and, oh, so slow,

Or be a swift, striking blow?

Sobriety eats away, away,

At the chains and gates,

That keep that Black Dog at bay.

The old me keeps on calling,

I feel like I am falling.

No matter how I stall him,

I just cant seem to fool him.

This hole I want to crawl in,

It's all about to fall in.

Sobriety eats away, away,

At the chains and gates,

That keep that Black Dog at bay.

I used to be afraid of death,

But now, what have I left?

As I draw my final breath,

Know I have given my best.

My soul it needs to rest,

About me, please don't forget.

By J. Barrett

Because I'm Thankful

Because I'm Thankful

I spent 12 months of my life in Amsterdam,
And though I don't remember that much,
I'm thankful for all of the photos,
Because of them I remember enough.
I spent way too much of my money,
I smoked it with a twirl and a twist,
I'm thankful to each of those baggies,
Because for once marijuana ain't missed.
I've been a stoner for as long as I remember,
The gag being I don't remember a lot,
I'm thankful for my year always stoned though,
Because of that I have finally stopped.
At the time I was desperately lonely,
Mary Jane being my only true friend,
I'm thankful I learnt to forget her,
Because she wasn't really helping me mend.
Like any lady she just cost me money,
Had me hooked, couldn't leave her alone,
I'm thankful I saw the dependence,
Because it's just me now, alone here at home.

By J. Barrett

Old Mother

Old Mother

Old Mother, how much it is that you've seen in your time,

But now you are one with the earth, and one with the sky.

The wrinkles that crossed lines on your face and your hands,

Old Mother, now are the canyons that crack across lands.

Your mouth that spoke such wise and wonderful words,

Is now the mouth of every beast and the beaks of all the birds.

Your hair that would wave in the softest of breeze,

Now moves with the clouds and rustles the leaves.

Your eyes that have watched so many passing years,

Are the knots in the trees, drops of dew are your tears.

You live on in the wind, you live on in the dust,

Old Mother, you're the dawn and you are the dusk.

You're the trees and the wind, and the sun and the rain,

Old Mother, you're the moon, the night and the day.

You're the sand and the shells, the ice and the rocks,

You're the dog in the chase and also the fox.

Old Mother, your sands have flowed steadily through our time,

Even now they're scattered wide, you'll live on in our minds.

By J. Barrett

(D)Oh-Boy

(D)Oh-Boy

They may have only been doughnuts,

But they were more than doughnuts to me.

They were the first thing, in a very long time,

That I'd been able to buy my family.

They were fluffy and fresh and so sugary.

They were jammed full of sweet sticky jam.

They came in a box, half a dozen,

And when I carried them in I was The Man.

We were all, each of us, looking forward,

To biting past the glazed crust to the dough.

Each dinner plate was finished in record time,

Then I was delivered the deserting blow.

They weren't on the bench where I'd left them,

Neither were they on a shelf in the pantry.

I searched high and low for those little nubs of dough.

In the fridge? What had given you that fancy?

They'd been baked fresh today, those doughnuts,

They'd been fluffy and light and heart warming.

Now they're chilled and hard bready balls,

With glazed icing that direly needed a thawing.

The cold gluey jam was like jelly,

And it didn't ooze out as it should.

They slopped and plopped, the innards that dropped.

All in all those doughnuts were no good.

Little Billy began crying, Susie ran off,

A puddle of jam left melting behind her.

Sally, she booed, which put you in a mood;

I think buying them nothing would've been kinder.

So remember this ode, to those little nubs of dough,

And if you're buying them fresh, please don't chill them.

They should be fluffy and light, an absolute delight,

And the refrigerator will certainly kill them.

By J. Barrett