It was with dissatisfaction
That the losing faction
Started packing up their things to go
Their discontent became a rage
That to the whole world they did show
Calmer minds and tempers now
Let us hope are in control
Padre
Weekend Writing Prompt #193 – Faction in 39 words
Bamboo slats, or lakeside reeds
Mere grass is all the craftsman needs
And a thing of function and beauty too
Soon takes form as his hands move
We too alone may not amount to much
But in our interactions, lives we touch
We are interwoven within society
Becoming more together than just “you” and “me”
Padre
Eight score years ago
Capital dome – like the nation incomplete
Lincoln stood upon the stairs
Reconciliation he did seek
“The bonds of affection,” he said, were suffering strain
But that those bonds of friendship should yet remain
Four years later
The dome now complete
He called for there to be no malice
To rebuild – no conflict to repeat
Today we see that white doomed bastion
Of liberty in receipt
Of scenes of bitter hatred
Enough to make one weep
These are times of testing
A crucible of pain
Let us heed old Abraham’s words
So peace and democracy – can remain
Padre
Weekend Writing Prompt #191 – Crucible in 100 words
Seemingly past its prime, its steps well worn
Giving the appearance sad – forlorn
But democracy’s not dead – not quite yet
Though its recent path has left some regret
But we who believe in higher things
Trust in a public voice
Above tyrants or kings
So while its been battered
And some questioned its repute
The will of the people
Shall not be mute
Padre
Jim Adams challenged us to write about a song that has a title beginning with a P or G. Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road does just that. It is the title track to his 1973 album. Rolling Stone lists the song at #390 of the 500 best ever songs.
The imagery includes references which link to the film The Wizard of Oz with the yellow brick road, and a return to the plough (Kansas). It has deeper meaning in comparing “high society” life and expectations with the simplicity of life.
Lyrics:
When are you gonna come down?
When are you going to land?
I should have stayed on the farm
I should have listened to my old man
You know you can’t hold me forever
I didn’t sign up with you
I’m not a present for your friends to open
This boy’s too young to be singing
The blues, ah, ah
So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can’t plant me in your penthouse
I’m going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road
Ah, ah
What do you think you’ll do then?
I bet they’ll shoot down the plane
It’ll take you a couple of vodka and tonics
To set you on your feet again
Maybe you’ll get a replacement
There’s plenty like me to be found
Mongrels who ain’t got a penny
Sniffing for tidbits like you
On the ground, ah, ah
So goodbye yellow brick road
Where the dogs of society howl
You can’t plant me in your penthouse
I’m going back to my plough
Back to the howling old owl in the woods
Hunting the horny back toad
Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies
Beyond the yellow brick road
Ah, ah
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Bernie Taupin / Elton John
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Padre
The seat was marginal
Could go either way
So social media
Came into play
When votes were counted
T’was hard to believe
That the incumbent
Still had tricks up his sleeve
Padre
Weekend Writing Prompt #190 – Marginal in 31 words
It was no Truman Show. It wasn’t even Big Brother. It was humanity on display. Tower block over looking tower block and all the life that took place through open curtains or closed drapes. Did they know their domestic existence was on display to be observed or even documented by whoever may?
Well such thoughts and concerns were always in the forefront of Cindy Andrew’s mind. Her mirror-tinted window film, and plug in sound-proofing made sure she wasn’t caught going about her daily routine of recording her neighbours.
Padre
She was carried along by the crowd. Going against the flow seemed useless. The mass of humanity surged out of the stadium and into the streets. They were electrified by the words of the address. The leader’s piercing blue eyes seemed to each person to have only been focused on them alone, and the forceful tone of his rhetoric made them want to act, there and then.
Ella hadn’t been as inspired by the blatant populist rant though. She was not “one of them.” She was her own woman, a free-thinker. Yet there she was in the tidal-wave exiting the stadium. Even so, she felt alone among the thousands.
She shuffled her feet waiting for a break in the flow: a side street, anyplace to which she could escape and make her own way. Her own way, she kept repeating to herself. It wasn’t just a way out of the push of crowd she sought, but a way out of the corporate insanity that had brainwashed a nation.
Padre
Random First Line Prompts: She was carried along by the crowd.
Tumbling rocks, hills giving way
Trees uprooted, sweeping all in its way
Landslides in nature
So I am told
Are terribly awesome
Things to behold
Then there is in the human realm
Things like elections
That can too – overwhelm
And though a landslide
It may not be
The result is still one
That made history
—
Padre
It might take time
More than a day
We just need to keep chipping
Or in this case dripping away
But just like cave features
A future we can build
With kindness and compassion
Till all is fullfilled
It might not be easy
Some time it may take
But it is worth the effort
For society’s sake
Padre
