station

by horace p sternwall

i was walking down the street with wings on my feet a chap asked me the time i threw him a dime i wanted a nickel, you fool he shouted as we ran back to school where the history teacher, mister fire was discoursing on the roman empire we shook the dust off our shoes and told everybody the news that civilization was dead and we should all have fun instead our pleas fell on deaf ears those were the lean years we felt no elation when, after a long journey, we finally arrived at the railroad station

testament, part 2

by horace p sternwall

part two of two

leonardo da vinci had a master plan he wrote words in the wind and drew pictures in the sand mary magdalen lived in a house she had a dog for a cat and a cat for a mouse nebuchadnezzar kept his fireplace hot he welcomed all wisdom but banished all thought old king cole had a cow and a mule he ate in the stables and slept on a stool pope innocent the second stayed all day in bed with a pipe he never smoked and a book he never read the queen of sheba had mountains of gold but the story of how she spent it will never be told good king richard in the holy land fought king john was a bad man but richard was not sinbad the sailor had a thousand tales to tell he sat in the market with nothing to buy or sell friar tuck and little john sat in the trees and watched the sheriff ride on by with their hands on their knees under the midnight sky all things must pass uncle bud drives his wagon past the rabbit in the grass very soon the vikings will return - a mighty host king arthur and sir galahad will only be ghosts listen to my words and please excuse my rhyme you will never get a nickel only a lousy dime end of part 2

testament, part 1

by horace p sternwall

part one of two

adam had an apple he gave it to eve he told her a story she did not believe blackbeard the pirate was quite a guy he swam in the water and looked at the sky christopher columbus sailed the ocean sea he was a guy just like you and me delilah was a woman with long curly hair she danced in the circus and won prizes at the fair erwin schrodinger had a cat and not a dog he went for a walk and got lost in the fog fatima was a dancer graceful as a fawn she smiled at the sultan and danced until dawn george washington cut down an apple tree consumed with guilt he ran off to sea henry the eighth was fond of steak and kidney pie and drank a river of wine that never ran dry isaac newton let the rain come in he never drank whiskey and he never drank gin prester john was a man of few words he walked in the sand and listened to the birds the king of the world has no home and no throne he rides his mule and throws his dog a bone end of part 1