That’s My Story Have you seen a smiling angel Standin’ on a mountain overlookin’ everybody That’s the way my soul is turnin’ Each and every hour that I sit here thinking of you That’s my story, that’s the glory That’s the way that I feel about you That’s my story, that’s the glory, Why I’m never blue Have you seen a young lad a’weepin’ As he sits and wonders why his little brother died Maybe then you’ll know the meaning Of the silent moments as I gaze into your eyes Have you seen a poor man a’smilin’ Well he’s telling all the world that he’s thankful to be living If you have then stand close beside him ‘Cause if he wasn’t happy then you might be frowni’n on him Have you seen a young land a’growing It’s casting out the terrors that are trying to keep it down Can’t you see the troubles it’s holding Why don’t we stand together, try and help it where it’s bound

For All The Alien Children For all the alien children, children of the world That come to live in Canada Let me gaze upon you, every boy and girl Gather ‘round me hand in hand Now I look around and see the faces I feel your colours move and need to say to you The beauty that you bring is what we are made of Though it’s not our native land it always will be home And all the alien children, teach us your wisdom Help us learn to understand you Share your religions, what you believe in Just who you are when you’re pretending Tell us all your stories your myths and your fables Your greatest villains and your favorite heroes And don’t forget your friends, the laughter they gave you Bring along those children’s songs, the games, the dolls you knew For all the alien children, can’t you see You are here to carry on This is your tomorrow, your history Both you and Canada are still so young We all have one God for whom we will die The future’s waiting now but you must realize Your memories and dreams are of an alien child Treasure these and all you are if we are to survive

The Lady Known as ‘She’ The eve was dim and overcast, a drizzle cooled the air Warm but for the winter breeze, two lovers blocked the stairs Then from a window with a curtain moving, no one missed a beat I ducked into a tavern while the night’s eyes I left them to their street Just inside the doorway I adjusted to the light While the drone of patrons lonely for a fire that won’t ignite All the stools were God knows filthy, all the butts had left their tell I slipped behind the bar, my shift was due Fine anecdotes I sell Something seemed unusual, a disturbance in the force Both the waitresses were edgy, I thought, lousy tips of course But back towards the far end of the room a hovering occurred Like flies upon a honey jar they swarmed They spoke, but no one heard Scent of a blossom from an oriental folk tale Hypnotic in heat, she amused Entrancing, alluring, in all her regalia But who does she really dream to be This memory of a lady known as ‘She’ Some vixen had the weaker stallions stirring up her nest While their boasts were almost blabbering each louder than the rest The boys then parted briefly, found I couldn’t help but stare She turned, the green eyes dancing as they smiled The unfair auburn hair The night was almost busy; they had come to drown their pain While the neon sign outside the glass was dripping wet with rain Two hookers and a crooked cop were fighting over crack When Gentle John, our bouncer intervened They won’t be coming back Things picked up ‘round midnight, just once she crossed the floor Most likely to the ladies room, I was busy pouring fuel To keep the hopeful hungry though they all were played as fools She came back dancing teasingly about The floor was in her shoes Scent of a blossom from an oriental folk tale Hypnotic in heat, she amused Entrancing, alluring, in all her regalia But who does she really dream to be This memory of a lady known as ‘She’ You still could smell the cheap cigars, near everyone was gone They’d taken home their camouflage of whisky, wine and song And when she asked me if I had a date, I said I wouldn’t pay She laughed, pushed me her glass, “Top off the rocks, Two fingers Dubonnet” Four A.M. was closing time, just two of us were left I tallied all the IOU’s, the tips, the slips and cash And when the lights were dimmed, the doors secure, the night was almost gone I locked the safe securely, armed alarm My working day was done The rain was almost finished as we hurried to the street Papa Lizon’s Pizzaria was still open for a treat With my place just a block away, no one would be around Three flights, and down the hall, inside the door, Alone without a sound Scent of a blossom from an oriental folk tale Hypnotic in heat, she amused Entrancing, alluring, in all her regalia But who does she really dream to be This memory of a lady known as ‘She’ The next hour was a mystery, memories sooth me still Reborn as molten lava slowly rolling down a hill I heard a scream and then a silence fell, not one I could ignore I’d never been so satisfied, so used And then she wanted more We talked until the sun awoke, a shower on downstairs Both fell asleep exhausted maybe seven hours we shared And after ham and cheese and coffee it was time for her to leave I asked her if she’d like to come again, She simply said, “We’ll see” Sometimes in a winter’s rain, a flash of auburn hair But alas, she never did return, nor did she ever care I wonder who she might be stalking, who can help her mask her pain Dazzled, tantalizing, all alone And I never asked her name Scent of a blossom from an oriental folk tale Hypnotic in heat, she amused Entrancing, alluring, in all her regalia But who does she really dream to be This memory of a lady known as ‘She’

Linda’s Name You think there’s still a chance that you might see me If I should pay a call outside your door It seems you can’t forgive me girl, I wouldn’t really blame you If you told me not to see you any more The evening fell around us as a snowfall Soft skins and firesides in flame Then we lay as lovers and I swore there was no other Then I had to go and call out Linda’s name Sandra don’t be distant, don’t be lonely I really tried to love you just the same A brief misunderstanding While caught up in the passion And I had to go and call out Linda’s name I tried to let you know just how it happened The ecstasy you showed me was to blame I wish I could convince you girl that I am really sorry That I had to go and call out Linda’s name The memories were almost long forgotten It seems I never left behind the pain Maybe if I’d know you first there would have been no other And I never would have called out Linda’s name

Harbour Lady You look out ‘cross the Lady at the harbour and the view She’s misty in the cool mornin’ air Looks just like the postcards and don’t mean to boast But just a while ago the Olympics were here You always will remember, how could you ever forget Those beaches on a sunny afternoon English Bay bikinis, those Kitsilano waters Or the Banks by the light of the moon Harbour Lady so lovely, you got lions above On the mountains lookin’ down over you Let’s take a walk along the seawall ‘round by the park Where the whales are playin’ down at the zoo The view from the Seabus sort of takes your breath away Her towers as they tumble to the sky Big sails a’flyin, those long white ocean liners And the freighters as the tugboats pull them by You can hop the False Creek Ferry down to Granville Island, Maybe see a mushroom dome as big as a cloud And we saw Halley comin’ when the Lady hit a hundred With Expo here to welcome the world She’s got a special glow at night when nothin’ but her lights are on And Granville is a carnival fair The steam clock blows at twelve and Gassy Jack is well On his way down to Blood Alley Square I love those Robson aromas, the way that God looks over her In the afternoon down at the docks And so to lovely Vancouver, that Lady of the Future Captain George and Lord Stanley, thanks a lot!

Wish You Were Here Sailed out of London when the war was done Became an immigrating Englishman Rode to the prairies, not too much was there The winters got so lonely, and no one seemed to care Rose and the Guitar Man weren’t far away We passed by in shadows but the couldn’t stay Martha’s the mystery, the rest I never knew The dream is long forgotten, like to start again with you, and I Can’t get you off my mind, think about you all the time The pain’s more than I can bear, wish you were here Too many memories are left behind Halloweens and birthdays, even Valentines We still got tomorrow; we can catch up on before It’s springtime in the Rockies and I love you all the more Gaze at your picture each and every day Brings on a smile each time I see your face Long hair a’shinin’, that twinkle in your eye If you knew how much I love you, how I want you here beside me, and I It’s hard to say I love you when my tongue is tied Can’t say I don’t because you’d know I lied I’d like to say I miss you with your innocence and lace It’s so lonely in this hotel room and you’re so far away So listen to Jesus if you’ve got the mind He’s still out there talkin’ to you all the time Poetry’s the story, and music is the plan Such a sweet communication, now I hope you understand why I Chorus

Selvington Grove Deep in the forest of Selvington Grove Where a lad in his journey did chance in his rove On a handsome young maiden lay bathing so fair He was struck by the glory of beauty so rare Feared of how to approach her he coughed in his hand Then the maid did awake, she turned from him and ran And she screamed loud and shrill to express her alarm He cried, “Tender young maiden, I bring you no harm” She was frightened but still she believed of his words As she hid in the bushes of Selvington Grove And she watched as he came and her fear left her mind For his stature seemed honest, his face it was kind As he reached her he said in a voice which was clear “Was it something I did which would cause you such fear?” She said, “ No, no kind sir, I knew not it was you I feared only a villain whose thoughts would be cruel” Then he stretched out his hand and she offered him hers And they walked hand in hand never saying a word Then they lay side by side near the place she had bathed Deep in Selvington Grove ‘neath the sun’s golden rays Aloud were his thoughts as he kissed her sweet breath Tender maiden my love has no shelter or rest And I beg you forgive me for now I must go May we meet here tomorrow in Selvington Grove When she went in the morning he had not come by And she waited long hours ‘till day was to die Then she wept in her sorrow of how she’d been wronged By the handsome young rover who happened along Then she took of a tree limb so long and so sharp And she plunged it so deep to her broken young heart And e’er as she died she could see a young man With a stature so honest, a face which was kind With her last words she told him she feared he had fled And he told her he’d gone to prepare for their wed And she died as she kissed him with all of her love Near the place of her bathing in Selvington Grove

Just a Man Now many years before my time and I suppose yours too There lived a man that few men saw and fewer ever knew His stature in the physical was not one meant for all But what he didn’t have in brawn he had in heart and soul He was educated dearly by his poor beloved maw He was one of many children who had never seen his paw In boyhood days he toiled hard in fields of wasted lands Before he’d reached his teenage years he’d grown to be a man And then the hurting sorrow hours when by his mother’s side He prayed to God Almighty for a shining light to guide And in the dying moments as his loved one passed away He dedicated all his years to help all people pray He was just a man A child of God like any other man He was just a man, but what a man He became a small town preacher known only to a few But his prayers and words of kindness were the ones that pulled them through For he loved that dedication and he preached with yearning plea For to take the road to heaven down upon the bended knee With his little book of wisdom and his heart of solid gold He would preach his favorite sermon and the message always sold It was one about a giant and a little shepherd boy And the way they fought the battle, one an axe and one a toy And the axe it had much muscle while the toy had only love And the fight was one of principle ‘tween the axe and up above And still it rings out clearly how he summarized his words “Think it over congregation, take the cross or fight the sword” He was just a man A child of God like any other man He was just a man, but what a man And he traveled over many lands and many waters too Spreading word about a guiding light for folks like me and you And his memory still lingers for good things don’t pass away He was just a small town preacher who helped others find the way He was just a man A child of God like any other man He was just a man, but what a man

The Poet In a corner all alone a lonely poet writes a song his words are flustered, spelling’s wrong he has not been a poet long but while he ponders, trying strong a cavalcade of rhyme along a theme of beauty once undone by a scriptures abstract minded tale In pity of his solitude where in a mist of soft perfume surviving in his darkened room from glaring of a windowed moon he’s starving while his visions loom a hastened word, a pretty tune his song has ended far too soon a crumpled poem wasted out of fear Again he’ll try to show his wrath while struggling on some bloody path where once before he tumbled past but in the race he finished last and when he stopped he heard the crash obscenities were shouted to his ear But still he tried it once again just proving that he was not sane he could not quite control his brain he thought it wise, he knew it lame he plundered onward just the same and flopping like a whooping crane this song you hear is what’s to blame before you frown I have a moral too I am not him, he was some other man I tried to tell him but he would not understand That to conquer fame you must be crazy too

Reflections It seems spring don’t come ‘til autumn on the prairies It’s June and the birch trees still are bare It’s not hard to remember Those cold winds of September blowin’ there Folks don’t seem to mind they keep on smilin’ With hearts so warm they never feel the cold From first thing in the mornin’ They’re workin’ in those rollin’ fields of gold And we sing about those cowboys on the range And the farmers’ life that never seems to change No matter what we do some things just can’t be improved So close to God, so very close to you Skies stretch on forever on the prairies Breezes from the foothills cool my brow Back here in Alberta With some family and a girl I’ve come to know You know it’s not too hard to wonder where we’re goin’ It’s more important how we play the scene We got to give back all we’ve borrowed When that final curtain’s lowered on our dreams Chorus

Philosophical Daydream Well I rode into a town about four oh five a.m. Upon a hippie donkey who was cluckin’ like a hen Who was flyin’ like a penguin which means he didn’t fly at all So I took him to the stable where he laid down in a stall But I’d forgotten I was supposed to disembark from his back So I fell into the tack room where I landed on a tack After screaming seven hours I began to ease my mind But I still could not sit down yet ‘fore I had a sore behind So I began to walk out to the street to see what I could see When a pole made out of telephones began to hit my knees So I began politely to curse that telephone pole When my donkey came out of the barn and pushed me through a door I was gettin’ pretty flustered by this time you’ll understand So I stumbled through a doorway and I bumped into a man Who must have weighed a million tons if he had weighed a pound So I ran out to the telephone pole and we had another round Then the sun began to rise I knew that soon it would be day I saw my fingernails were dusty and my teeth were turning gray So I went lookin’ for a shoeshine boy who gave out tradin’ stamps When I stumbled through some bushes and I found a Girl Guide camp Where the little girls in blue were shoutin’ “We’ve got puberty, Ban the bomb but not the pill and ban the belts of chastity” Now on hearing’ that I found I was encouraged to impose And before I could contain myself I found I had arose Into the open right before their eyes, they gave a cry of glee And then twenty thousand Girlie Guides came runnin’ after me At the time I did not feel inclined to leave the scene So I threw my clothes onto the shore and jumped into a stream And the girls they did the same just as fast as they could And they all tried to save me just like every Girl Guide should Well they pulled me to the shore and they began to rub my back And my legs and my stomach and my, no, can’t talk about that ‘Twas becoming most enjoyable, my eyes were closed in bliss And then I found out that my face had just connected with a fist Belongin’ to the Girl Guide leader who stood about six feet four And I ran to find my pants or should I say to find my drawers Well it really doesn’t matter ‘cause you know what I mean It’s not proper not to have them on not even if you’re clean That is especially in a Girl Guide camp in the middle of the day And more important when their six foot four leader comes your way Then a couple of the girls who sympathized with my condition Told me to stay with them while they hid me in the bushes When everything was calming down and I was left alone With the two little Girlie Guides who were so far from home I was tempted strong to ask them what today was all about But I hadn’t much time and I knew I’d better get out Of these bushes before the monsters tried to eat me alive So I went back to the stable where I had my donkey tied So we rode into the sunset just like Audie Murphy I kept wonderin’ about my fingernails, they still looked dirty And I know I’m not too certain ‘bout the things the girl guides said But all that I’m sure of is it started in a bed And it started with a hen that laid an egg one day ‘Cause a rooster laid the hen, and that’s all I’ve got to say