tiger

It's a carved-in-stone matter of respect, I say,
(Though some think it odd to feel that way),
But from the time I first walked into your class
In that dreamtime so many years past,
I NEVER have called you "Anne"

You were "as tough as nails"
And "as good as gold,"
And you MADE me learn English
By touching my soul.

(Oh, you "spanked" my butt, too — we both know that ---
But YOU only did it with purpose and love,
And there's sure nothing wrong with that.)

And if I just happened to earn mine, too,
By trying to teach as well as you,
I hope mine is close by yours

Calling Busy Corner!
Is this Little Paul's Cafe?
Have you seen Bobby and Good Doc?
Don't tell me they've gone away!

*****
There's a softball game tonight, my friend,
So be there just at dark.
You'll see Catherine and Eva Jane slugging it out,
Near the hospital, there in the Park.

There'll be some of the greatest players
In the history of the game:
There'll be Bakers and Tapleys and Personses ---
But the greatest is "Good Doc" King!

So hurry and bathe and comb out the lint,
And don't fret if you're broke like me:
With the rest of the best of the good things in life,
The games in the Park are free!

"Kinneygarden" started!
I was the first one there ---
In an hour, the first to leave.
Did you ever get spanked
With your backside bare
And your galluses down to your knees?

LIFE'S SCHOOLHOUSE
by Billy Tate

On a steamy Southern summer's day
Momma's momma came to stay
And I was ashamed of her country ways,
Lord I was crazy in those days!

She was short n'stout and she waddled about
In an old shift dress with the hem pulled out.
Didn't bother her none to pray and shout,
And I'd duck down when the neighbors peeked out!

She used to rock and sing Baptist hymns at me
While I was rockin' to Jerry Lee.
I'd turn the radio up and I'd count to three...
Lord, have mercy, she was country!

Well, I was just a child, so it took me a while
t'know that country beats city by a country mile,
And there's One who can change yo'starch and style
Yes...Jesus leads us through life's trials.

And Lord, have mercy! I'm country!

OLD DOC PITCHFORD
(By: Anonymous)

Where once roamed a restless young tiger
-Short on patience
-Short on patients

Now dwells a sage old lion
-Long on patience
-Long on patients…

NOW
(By: Anonymous)

I want Now
And I want it Now

I don't want it sooner-
And I don't want it later

Now is too late for sooner
…And Now is too soon for later

If I remember Now sooner
…I'll save it for later

If I remember Now later
…I would have wished for it sooner

Now is all I have

I want Now
And I want it Now

By: Lathan Hudson

I saw them looking at you yesterday
And I wondered, "Do they know how much I love you"
Did they know I vowed the first time that you came my way
no one in this world would be above you

Then they reached to touch the flowers in your garden
O' each one was arranged so carefully
And the single red, red, rose that stood so splendid
I wondered "Do they know it came from me"

And I don't really think they even saw me
And they may never know just how I feel
As I placed a simple kiss beside your precious name
Then turned and slowly walked down from the hill

I saw them looking at you yesterday
And I wondered, "Do they know how much I love you…"

I just might have got away with it,
If there'd been a dozen of ‘em left,
But the fact was there were only eleven,
And eleven don't go into twelve!

I'd found ‘em in a nest under Gene Wynn's house,
Just up the street from us,
And I brought ‘em out and let one drop,
And the odor made me cuss!

So I got upwind to mull it over,
And before I'd thought to think,
I got myself in a LOT of trouble,
And Oak Street in a STINK!

THE FRIDAY PARADES
by Billy Tate

On any chilly Friday when the game was here
Sylacauga came alive and excitement filled the air!
And you'd rush downtown to Hagan's when you left the Pep Rally,
If you wanted to see the band, you had best not dally!
Then you'd stand in the street, looking up Broadway,
And you'd feel the rush of life and your hormones at play.
Soon you'd hear the drums cadence and their distant beat,
And your blood would start to surge from the tips of your feet!
Bright colored uniforms, bright Fall leaves;
Majorette's feather plumes flying in the breeze.
Now they've crossed the tracks and they're coming to the light,
The Pep Squad behind them yelling, "Fight, team, fight!"
Is there anything so stirring as a drum's tapping rattle?
They have led men off to wars, they have led them into battle.
The snare drums are louder now, the bass drum deep;
The majorettes are strutting now, the shuffle of feet.
Down at Whitley's Barber Shop the clipping has all stopped.
The clients are on the sidewalk with their hair half cropped.
And Hollywood's motorcycle is clearing the band a way,
If he has to move you back a bit, it seems to make his day.
Now in a flashing move horns have moved up to lips;
And the band comes alive on a rousing Sousa trip!
Well, it's "Stars and Stripes Forever" in the canyon of our town!
The majorettes are kicking, their batons are whirling 'round!
Tell me, do you remember Sara Ann Mims?
She was Harmon's daughter and a majorette gem.
Dark hair, dark eyes, a figure so petite;
She set a Drum Major standard that never has been beat.
The band has now reached Hagan's, and here they'll do a show.
With a whirr of her whistle, the leader stops their go.
For a moment there's a silence, and the leader's hands are raised;
Then suddenly they fall and the band begins to play.
What a rousing tune it is! It's another Sousa!
And loud, are they loud, bet they hear them down in Coosa!
Lithe and lively moves by our lovely majorettes;
To us they're every bit as good as RCA Rockettes.
And male eyes young and old are rapt with adoration
At the beauty of a woman, by far God's best creation!
With the Sousa march done and their show at Hagan's through,
The Drum Major pauses for a moment or two.
While the band flips their music, she scratches at her nose,
And she flirts with the crowd and she waves to her beaus.
But then quickly back to business, her whistle loud and sharp,
And the band surges forward playing "Colonel Bogey's March"
Oh, I loved to be beside them, and hear them shuffling by!
Trumpets, tuba, trombones, it's enough to make you cry!
And the saxes, flutes, and French horns, and the scratchy clarinets;
And that thing they hold and pong, Lord, I can hear it yet!
And let me tell you, man, if a parade didn't getcha
You were deaf or blind or crazy, or dead I'll betcha!

‘e just keeps on keepin' on
Till the longest day is done,
An' ‘e doesn't seem to e'er say "Ah'm tard!"

‘ow ‘e ‘as a bloomin' life
Or ‘ow ‘e keeps a wife
Are questions better left up to ‘is Laird.

But when'er ye need a lift,
‘e'll n'er give short shift.
‘e'd work ‘is draggin' arse off for a friend.

An' for all ‘is manly ‘ide
‘e's a young'er down inside,
An' ‘e keeps me LMAO at both ends.

So it's "Dean! Dean! Dean!
You AlaTexan Double-Tiger Dean!
Though y'put y'self aside
To ‘elp me live it wide,
You're a better po't than I am, Gunga Dean!"

only part of me can be seen in this hull
that presents itself to the world each day
and first appearances are mute and dull
i've planned it carefully to be that way
to climb high mountains, to be
somewhere catching nine-pound fish
is life's ambition, a goal for me
it's one-millionth of a profound wish
i hope to keep the friends i've got
and do the things i love so much
to walk with kings and laugh a lot
yet never lose the common touch
don't point me out and say, "he's dull"
less you've removed this outer hull

ANNABELLE LEE
(a song for Edgar Allen Poe)
by: Lathan Hudson

FROM THE PEN OF A POET LONG, LONG AGO
WHO LOVED A YOUNG GIRL BY THE SEA
THE RIVERBOAT CAPTAIN CHRISTENED SO PROUDLY
HIS LADY "THE ANNABELLE LEE"

AND HE CALLS, "ALL ABOARD -
WHO'S COMING ON BOARD
PULL THE GANG PLANKS
AND POUR ON THE STEAM
THE SANDS, THEY ARE SHIFTING
ON THE WIDE MISSISSIPPI
'DEEP CHANNEL' THE ANNABELLE LEE"

ANNABELLE LEE...ANNABELLE LEE
ROUNDING THE BEND - LIKE A LONG LOST FRIEND
HERE COMES THE ANNABELLE LEE
ANNABELLE LEE...ANNABELLE LEE
THE PADDLE WHEEL TURNS
AND THE WHITE-WATER CHURNS
'NEATH THE STERN OF THE ANNABELLE LEE
HERE COMES THE ANNABELLE LEE

TWO BOYS FISHING WITH BAMBOO POLES
FROM A RAFT TIED OFF TO A TREE
MAGNOLIA MAIDENS WITH PARASOLS WAVE
FROM THE BANKS TO THE ANNABELLE LEE

AT A TABLE OF 'CHANCE'
IN A 'GENTLEMAN'S GAME'
SITS A GAMBLER WITH CARDS NO ONE SEES
ON THE 'QUEEN' HE'S A KING
WITH AN 'ACE' UP HIS SLEEVE
RIDING HIGH ON THE ANNABELLE LEE

ANNABELLE LEE...ANNABELLE LEE
ROUNDING THE BEND - LIKE A LONG LOST FRIEND
HERE COMES THE ANNABELLE LEE
ANNABELLE LEE...ANNABELLE LEE
THE PADDLE WHEEL TURNS
AND THE WHITE-WATER CHURNS
'NEATH THE STERN OF THE ANNABELLE LEE
HERE COMES THE ANNABELLE LEE

THE DOLLMAKER
(By: Anonymous)

THE DOLLMAKER DRESSED YOU UP IN SILK AND FINE LACE
AND PUT YOU ON A SHELF NEXT TO ME
THERE I WAS A RAG DOLL WITH AN ORDINARY FACE
YOU WERE TOO PRETTY TO BELIEVE

"YOU'RE GONNA BREAK HIS HEART",
SAID THE TEDDY BEAR TOY" -
THEN I HEARD A TIN SOLDIER SAY,
"A CHINA DOLL GIRL NEEDS A CHINA DOLL BOY
AND SOON HE'LL COME AND CARRY YOU AWAY"

BUT HE CAN'T LOVE YOU LIKE I DO
AND IN MY DREAMS TONIGHT THERE'LL BE
A CHINA DOLL LIKE YOU
FOR A RAG DOLL LIKE ME

OH, WHEN WOULD THE DOLLMAKER SEE HIS MISTAKE
I'D WONDER EACH NIGHT BEFORE I'D SLEEP
AS IF BY MAGIC, EACH MORNING I'D WAKE
AND YOU'D BE STANDING THERE BY ME

ALTHOUGH PRINCES OF PLASTIC AND PROMISES
OFFERED THEIR KINGDOMS TO YOU
MY HEART WAS MADE FOR YOUR HEART
SOMEHOW THE DOLLMAKER KNEW

THEY CAN'T LOVE YOU LIKE I DO
AND THAT WISE OLD MAN COULD SEE
A CHINA DOLL LIKE YOU
FOR A RAG DOLL LIKE ME…

I have a friend who dwells with me,
Deep-cloistered in my soul,
In secret, private chambers there
Where tales untold are told.

We speak of dreams that might have been,
Of those gone long ago,
Of some that died in agony,
And those yet to unfold.

Together there we share our lives
And synchronize the years.
One makes the other laugh or cry,
Then wipes away the tears.

And when my soul is borne away
To bide on other shores,
I'll take my friend along to see
Where then is evermore.

"When We Were Young"
By: Mike Elrod Trammell

We always knew where we came from.
Back in the days when we were young.

Getting up at dawn, then was with ease.
Hanging out all day at Lake Louise.

Running and playing till nights end.
You never got tired, you were with
your friends.

Crossing those tracks a million times a day.
Still gave you the time to wander and play.

Friends may come and friends may go,
but the friends in the Mill Village you always
will know.

You were what you were,
never had a whole lot, but
"Rich", yes indeed or have you forgot?

Think about it today and where you came from
Back in the days when we were young.

He said "Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
And his works no longer exist.

He said "A lie told often enough becomes the truth!"
And he corrupted and murdered millions.

He said, "I did NOT . . . " so emphatically and so often
That everyone knew he DID.

They said "We are the greatest people, the greatest nation —
Nothing like us ever was!"
And no one knows who they were.

He said "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do!"
And He saved all mankind!