Category: Sacrifice

BrooksLooks @ Going Away

~ Brooks Bradbury / BrooksLooks ~ Leave a comment

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GOING AWAY

i’ve loved you and cared for you
every day of your life
i’ve paid a ransom price
to be your mother
a parent, a wife
in the roll of life’s dice
you’ll never know the depth
of my sacrifice
 
no time for small talk?
nor the details of my day?
so self-important now
you weren’t raised this way
and you tell me how you don’t care
it’s there in your eyes in that blank stare
 
good luck you’ve had your say
i won’t abide your disrespect
goodbye for now, i’m walking away
i don’t need you
i’m not some old door mat
my heart and i
can’t look back
 
i’m walkin’ away
my bags are packed
i loved you with all my heart
now i can’t look back
the fuse is burning in your life now
ticking like a time bomb
and you’ll never know how
i gave everything to be your Mom
 
i gave it all to be your Mom
a mother scorned by her own child
the most painful crime of all
you’ll realize sometime
when your heart’s in free-fall
when your friends are few
and she leaves you
and the bills come due
 
remember that i loved you
you’ll remember things i say
but i won’t abide your disrespect
goodbye for now
i’m walking away
 
i don’t need you
i’m not some old door mat
you broke my heart
and i can’t look back
i’m walkin’ away
my bags are packed
i loved you with all of my heart
and i can’t look back
let me know when you’re back on track

© Copyright 2014 Brooks Bradbury BROOKS LOOKS

BrooksLooks@ Paradise

~ Brooks Bradbury / BrooksLooks ~ Leave a comment

Paradise

FROM DOS CABEZAS THROUGH THE WINTER
INTO A SMOKY MOUNTAIN SPRING
ON THESE CAROLINA BACK ROADS
SWORE HE’D NEVER TRADE FOR ANYTHING

ALWAYS HEADED TO SOME MAGIC PLACE OUT WHERE
THOSE CROOKED ROADS HE KNOWS WILL TAKE HIM THERE
TO A PLACE, A PARADISE OF WHICH HE’S FOND
OUT ON THE EDGE OF TOWN, ABOVE AND BEYOND

HE PASSED THROUGH OOSTBURG IN THE AUTUMN
STOCKBRIDGE IN THE SPRING
CAN’T REMEMBER WHERE HOME IS NOW
OR IF THAT STILL MEANS A THING

TAKE ME BACK WITHOUT A CARE
TO A PLACE LIKE HOME, I WONDER WHERE
LET ME CATCH MY BREATH AND STARE
STRAIGHT AHEAD INTO THE FOREST THERE
IN THIS HOME ON THE ROAD TO EVERYWHERE
ON THE ROAD HOME IS ANYWHERE

ONCE HE KNEW THE CHIRICAHUA LANDS,
ALGONQUIN, CHEROKEE
HE KNEW THE LAND OF IROQUOIS
APACHE SPIRITS SET HIM FREE

IT WAS ALLEGHENIES IN THE MORNING
BERKSHIRES THROUGH MIDDAY
BLUE RIDGE SUNSETS IN THE EVENING
SWEET SHEBOYGAN ON THE WAY

IT WAS A GOLDEN AGE IN TIME THEY SAY
MOST EVERYTHING WENT HIS WAY
AND ON HE WENT SWEPT AWAY
LIFE’S CURRENT TOOK HIM HIGHER, FURTHER ON EACH DAY

IT WAS UNIQUE A ONE-WAY TRIP IN TIME
MOMENTS SAVORED AND SUBLIME
UNTIL HE REACHED PARADISE ON HIS DYING DAY
NO REGRETS AT ALL THEY HEARD HIM SAY

TAKE ME BACK WITHOUT A CARE
TO A PLACE LIKE HOME I WONDER WHERE
LET ME CATCH MY BREATH AND STARE
STRAIGHT INTO THE FOREST THERE
IN THIS HOME ON THE ROAD TO EVERYWHERE
ON THE ROAD MY HOME COULD BE ANYWHERE

© COPYRIGHT 2014 BROOKS BRADBURY ǀ Brooks Looks

BrooksLooks@ One Life

~ Brooks Bradbury / BrooksLooks ~ Leave a comment

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One Life

there at the outset we’re missing the smarts
act less with our brains, more with our hearts
we don’t even know that we don’t even know
and the current of life continues to flow
carried along as wild winds blow
are we the vigilant guardians of some narrow view?
who don’t even know that we haven’t a clue
and at the end of our lives will we discover it’s true?
that it was less about me and more about you
like roaming bulls in life’s china shop
always ready to fight
never knowing when to stop
oblivious to what’s right
addicted to the daily news
 
am i only the vigilant guardian of some narrow view?
do i not even know that i haven’t a clue?
at the end of my life will i discover it’s true
that it was less about me and more about you?
are we leaping from one extreme to another
is our age of over-reactions
padlocked ideas and polarized factions
narrowing views and distant blood brothers
and the fading age of our loving mothers
 
where are we as a nation, a city a town
as people and races
and politics astound
are we heading
toward consciousness?
a new-age ethos to be?
or are we only drifting about
in a wide-open sea?
 
will our species ever achieve
unconscious competence?
will we truly believe
or will we squander our providence
lose the flight of the dove
with spirits diminished in the face of lost love?
 
are you only the vigilant guardian of some narrow view?
who doesn’t even know you haven’t a clue?
at the end of your life will you discover it’s true?
that it was always less about you
you could have taken a wider view
it was always less about us
limited by our narrow view

© Copyright 2014 by Brooks Bradbury ǀ Brooks Looks

BrooksLooks@ Service: I Tremble

~ Brooks Bradbury / BrooksLooks ~ Leave a comment

I Tremble

I saw your face on Facebook today.
You died serving our country.
We’ve lost you at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.
I can hardly breathe in gratitude.
Your supreme sacrifice is overwhelming.
My heart breaks for your proud family.
And for each life you have touched.
You will forever be a part of our American Soul.
Your life is a reminder how precious
the freedom you have helped to provide.
I tremble to receive such an extraordinary gift.

© 2014 Brooks Bradbury | Brooks Looks