Mind over Matter - A Book of Poems by John Dullaghan - HTML preview

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For me and mine...

Forgive him -

If he seems to have no patience

For the lazy...

We -

May be

Because of

He.

’98

67

Exclusion is a Silent Dagger

Exclusion is a silent missile

That kills you all the same

My broken heart is filled with pain Yet I cannot return the same

"Out of the loop", is my domain...

My sentence is to here remain

Exclusion is a sudden dagger

That's deadly all the same

I hang on to my shattered pride

Behind a mask of joy I hide; but -

The ocean of tears will not subside My bleeding heart has finally died

Exclusion is a silent dagger

Inside I scream for love in pain

Never brought to me in name

Now in the shadow, I hide my shame

Receive no kindness, receive no blame I never learned to play this game

Exclusion is a velvet dagger, that

Slays you all the same

My spirit stumbles, staggers, falls I rise and turn, to face it all

Now see my love has left no trace

But this? Her day? This is not time or place Exclusion is a shadow dagger

Inside I scream for love in pain

Slicing up my insides, I swallow

Shards of broken pride

And keep a smile upon my face

I will not show a trace... Of pain Exclusion is a silent dagger

Inside I scream for love in vain

Brave Sister

Mere words cannot describe, our beaming pride The loving admiration; as you proved to the world And yourself

That a woman of boundless determination And positive energy, like yourself

Can overcome the powerful

Negative people

Who would try and drag you down...

You stood your ground, up on the stand While lawyers tried to use you

Stood your ground, up on the stand

As you faced your ex abuser

Stood your ground, as you lost time Lost pay, and lost serenity...

Now who is the loser?

So be sure of what you've got

Been through an awful lot, to hell

And back; And now

More jail time for the whack...

Know, now

That nothing is impossible

For you...

And in your heart of hearts

You must try to forgive, let go of hate But never, ever

Forget...

You stood your ground

And won! ’95

69

F AMILY FIRST

It’s easy to find a man like me, if You can see my kids, there I will

Be. Lending a hand, but Out of the way.

So it probably seems

I’ve not much to say

That I cannot see through

The games “big” people play

Maybe

I should’ve tried to be

A party animal, emulating Farley

Kinnison, or Belushi; live fast, die young, why grow Into a patient father poet, you know?

Should I just chase after money, or fame, Fleeting approval, the love

Of the gullible and

Distracted masses? No

I only live for my family, so -

What is unique about men like me?

Nothin’, I guess; and most would agree, it Would seem to be near unanimously

(Cont.)

While an exceptionally peculiar “man”

Like the pedophile Michael Jackson, is stil A hero to many… Once America’s musical Prodigal son; now a wel known child molester…

( read the evidence!

Like Boss Limbaugh, Jackson was another Prescription drug abuser, and

Holier than thou

Hypocrite, too.)

If most tragic stories

Trace back to our (difficult) childhoods -

Why not do all I can, now, when I have the chance to make a positive impact?

I hope for the best, while I

Prepare for the worst, and still

Can imagine a day, that we truly live our lives For our own Family First.

7’09

71

With Only A Husband To Help Her

I cannot really tell for sure

if she hates me, the house

or the kids the most

when she’s all geeked up like this.

Assaulting her agenda

there are so many things to do

and so little time to do them...

with only a husband to help her.

People are always in her way,

and the partner’s a potent reminder of all that angers her now…

and only this husband to hear her.

Soon even her man, can no longer ignore The growing frustration; and the

Inescapable impossibility

Of preserving a marriage...

(single-handedly)

Attacking her agenda

They can’t move past their anger -

She’s got so many things to do

And so little time to do them

And only a husband to help her…

I know there’s plenty of work to do But if she could just slow down a bit, Learn to appreciate the difficult life She chose as a modern wife, and…

Stop running away, it’s never too late To seize each day and embrace our fate. ‘08

P AY NOW

Most parents seem to think, little

Kids are to be seen, not heard. Any Attention, spent on children, is an inconvenient Interruption, from important adult matters When the opposite is true

Most adults concerns, in fact

Only serve to distract from

Important child care duties

And, of course

It boomerangs, and the older they

Become, the more attention they need from you.

Now you’re left wondering how the others Suddenly got so far ahead…

It’s in those early, formative years That kids require the most of

Your time, and in those moments

They need your attention…

Undivided. Pay now

Or pay later, when all those

More important interests

Wil seem like wasted time

When more clearly seen in hindsight. 6-09

73

Missing You

(For Frances)

This house is not a home

Today

Staircase? It’s still

Rising fine, and

The bed, it seems

The bed, both sides

Are mine, all mine

The kitchen holds the fridge

Oven, sink, and new paint, too

But one thing we can’t live without What makes this house a home…

Is You.

8’96

Night time is the write time

(So much left to do)

Now you, my love

While giving us your all -

All you could seem to give,

Are left again to wonder

Just why a man like me -

(While simple)

Needs more -

Needs so much more from life...

Well -

There's simply so much left

To discover if I write -

(It does seem again tonight)

So as I rise, from the bed we share I must say,

Good night my dear -

I love you and

Sleep tight, my dear -

I must rise to write.

3'93

75

Anyway…

Me and the old man are at it again

and the rest of the family

are better

when they don't have to see

the two tired tigers

tied at the tail

tearing apart what

the world has left

of us, which isn't all that much

anyway.

6/00

My Love's Away

(For Frances)

My heart grew fonder...

Again today -

I need your love -

But you've gone away...

Your tender touch

It is my crutch

Your love for me

Just means so much...

And I miss the sex -

Of course, that too

But most of all

I just miss..

You.

8'92

77

shut down and move along

"I'm mad at him anyway", Chrissy said aloud For her Dad to hear, as well as everyone else (but he didn't, got up and walked away) take it easy on 'em, I wanted to say but didn't he's only a man, we're wired up differently the female brain finds the emotional connection men see from another direction

he's got it tougher than me in that way with two daughters to go along with his wife (my sister) , I've got a son and a daughter he's getting an emotional overload

and for men, sometimes it's easier

just to shut it down and move along

My Side (of town)

Our streets

Are dry

By the morning

Light

Telling not

The tale

Of our stormy

Stormy night.

6'93

79

Footbal

81

th

Mind Over Matter (The 12 Man)

While most of the fans stayed home, hearing The horrible weather reports all week A foot of snow, fell thick and slow On the few of us who made the show

We go to see our team win games

We go to see our team win live

We go to drink and have a time

Enjoy the day and feel alive

Hobbling on crutches, I went

With a cast over my broken shin

To see a football game, up endless

Slippery steps, to the nosebleed section We came to drink and scream and yell We came out here to raise some hell We came to be part of the scene

We came out here to lift the team

First game I remember, another cold & snowy day OJ broke 2,000 yards, most fans stayed home That day, too. My Dad and I, at seven, stuck it out He found that place, where we belonged... together.

Thirty five years later, still rooting for our team Through good times and bad, many rough seasons Of rain and cold, ice and snow, we’re always there We brave the conditions for a few simple reasons (cont.)

83

Moving beyond our physical selves

We are absorbed into the crowd

We see our energy lifting the players We know we give our team an advantage Die hard fans, we like to think

If we don’t mind the weather

We endure, it doesn’t matter

What it does to us

Mind over matter’s a simple thing

Brutal conditions are pushed aside, We rise up and cheer… together

Filled with hope and pride

We came out here to see a win

We came out here to feel alive

We came out here to seize the day

We came to love our life this way. 10/08

(DISCLAIMER !

Do not drink if you can’t handle it!)

Let Go (Grow up)

The complete confidence

Brought, then lost, through youth

Is temporarily revived

And sometimes thrives, yet

All the same

Dies

With alcohol.

‘91

85

Parking Lot, Section 8

(The Meadowlands)

On these days

We don't discuss

The weather

We endure

But on a recent

Quite unpleasant

December day

When wind and rain

Pelted

The tailgate

Parties, following

The game

After rooting in

A losing cause

Again

We had our beers

And cooked our burgers

Anyway; And without complaint

We endured

But we'd never seen a breeze

That could send our melting cheese

Into the air, with such ease

And then we cursed our fate.

Published by "inky blue", NY

Defeat (ed) (Fake Spike) Discussing broken strategies

As we lumber slowly home

Sobered by reality

We should have fucken known.

Too good to be true

What's a fan to do?

Had a win within our grasp, yet

Here again I'm feeling blue.

11/27/94 (Miami 28 NY Jets 24) 87

Defeat (ed), again (Fake Spike) Seeing it happen before

So many times before

We were quite well prepared

For the final "coup de grace"...

But sitting there

Watching it unfold before us

Wasn't the lowest point

(Although, at the time

You'd have had a hard time

Convincing us of that...)

The lingering pain

The constant, unwelcome reminders

In the following days

Well...

We left the stadium

Feeling nothing

Could be worse...

And we were wrong

Again.

11’94

Home From The Football Game

“You guys were so loud!”

My girlfriend said –

And really seemed to mean it…

We’d done all we could do.

“Not too much

To cheer about there.”, I slurred,

Still couldn’t conceive it, wouldn’t Believe it…

Almost saying, couldn’t quite

Be glad you weren’t there…

She knows, that

No matter the result

I wouldn’t miss it

For the world…

It’s just a part of us now.

A part –

That makes us

Whatever we are.

12’93

89

POLITICAL

91

Pat Tillman (Personal Responsibility) Do you know about Pat Tillman?

(If not - Look him up!)

Talk about integrity...

If we could only bottle it

and force feed it

All around Washington, D.C.

Starting with President Bush,

Who seems to despise, or at least

Disregard, all personal responsibility But Pat Tillman? He gave up his career In the National Football League

And millions of dollars

To get al-Qaeda and Bin Laden

(Extremely) Unfortunately, a Good and Honorable

Man, also

Gave his Life, and for a lie…

Getting Bin Laden and

those guilty on 9/11

was never

our first priority, as we are still being told...

And I hate to have to say it.

Then in the aftermath of his demise They took this bad situation

And somehow made it worse.

Look that up too.

How do these bastards sleep at night?

93

M

EMORIAL DAY (NICK MANDARAS) (Nick Mandaras, 19 year old casualty, whose Idea for soccer balls came to fruition, after His death; after he had…)

Told his Mom that he wasn’t

Coming back this time, and she actual y Believed him, before he left

For another tour in Iraq.

I’ve known people who made similar sorts Of dire predictions, about their demise, and They are usually wrong, but on top of that, People rarely believe them anyway.