Jody Willman's Poetry/Lyric section
All Poems and Lyrics contained on this page are sole property of Jody Willman. They are displayed here for your reading enjoyment only. Thank you Jody for sharing them with all of us. If you would like to contact Jody in regards to his poems/lyrics you can PM or Email him Through the Message Forums...... Bruce Wall 2005
Southern Thoughts
A warm southern breeze, off the Gulf of Mexico,
Can sooth a troubled mind.
And her live oak trees, everywhere you go,
Each of them is one of a kind.
Your mind can just drift, not to a far away place,
Like a dream never caught.
You know now is your gift, it shows in your face,
You’re having a southern thought.
Barefoot kids and dirt roads, go hand in hand,
Just like the clothes on the line.
Rattlesnakes and horned toads, the Skynyrd band,
And Ozark Mountain shine.
Peaceful Sunday mornings, wild Saturday nights,
Those big catfish that you caught.
Ignoring hurricane warnings, loving bar room fights,
Just another southern thought.
A love that never dies, childhood friends that stay that way,
And memories that last.
A freebird when it flies, an old barn in the field-faded gray,
Grim reminders of the past.
The pride that burns inside, because you did survive,
All the battles that you’ve fought.
It’s been a hell of a ride, you feel lucky to be alive,
And that’s another southern thought.
Jody 12-4-04
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Paw Paw Cried
My paw paw cried
And this is what he said
He said
I’m sixty-five, and I’m still alive. and that’s a miracle in itself.
I’ve been down, below the ground, under the hard rock shelf.
But mining coal, never eased my soul, it took away my breath.
So I had to split, I just up and quit, postponing my own death.
Chorus
I drilled holes in the soil, looking for oil, cause the bread was right.
Too tired to speak, seven days a week, drinking hard every night.
Without a doubt, that wore me out, I never saved a single dime.
So I left that alone, and now it’s all gone, just in the nick of time.
Chorus
I went to Nam, for my Uncle Sam, and I received my purple heart.
I still hear the jeers, after all these years, for going to do my part.
Sam I’ve killed for you, and what do you do? Offer me some SSI.
It’s kind of funny, it’s my own money, and I get it just before I die.
Chorus
There are some things, like diamond rings, that I may never own.
Worked fifty summers, most were bummers, all that money blown
I’ve never been fired, but now I’m tired, so I think I’ll take a rest
Running out of sweat, smothered in debt, the S worked off my chest.
I saw my paw paw cry
Yea my paw paw cried
My paw paw cried
And this is what he said
He said I love you boy, and then my paw paw died.
© 2003 Jody Willman
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Choices
She’d long ago stopped loving the man,
His buddies and the bottle were more than she could stand.
And it hurt her bad, life is so damn sad.
She was almost gone when she got the news,
She’d done a lot of fighting for the right to choose,
And now the choice is there, life is so unfair.
Choices are something that we make every day.
Life has no instruction sheet to show us the way,
Whether right or wrong, once made they’re long gone.
You’re given the beginning, and stuck with the ending
The appointment at the clinic was at three p.m.
The last person she expected to see there was him,
But he fell to his knees, and he begged her please.
She saw a promise in his eyes that she’d never seen before,
So with tears on her face, she let him walk her to the door,
Now that’s ten years past, and life sure moved fast.
Out the window she sees them playing catch in the yard.
And she wonders how some choices can be so hard.
She knows her right to choose, brings with it the right to lose.
Jody
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Mankind mankind, oh Lord, what have we done?
It’s too late to cry, and there’s nowhere else to run.
We’ve cut down all the trees, and laid the land bare.
The sun keeps getting hotter, we don’t seem to care.
We have problems that talking; just will not cure.
The world has to work together; of this I am sure.
Stop using the excuse, that I’m a mere mortal man.
Lets put our faith in the good book, follow Gods plan.
I don’t have all the answers, but I do think it’s odd,
How we destroy the things, made by the hand of God.
Like the air we’re breathing, not fit for man or beast,
The water that we’re drinking; impure to say the least.
There are too many diseases that we never had before,
Is it too late to save us; are we now rotten to the core?
How do you heal a planet, that’s been ravaged for so long?
Can we ever really make right a thousand years of wrong?
Starving children in our streets, how can we let this be?
We put our old in nursing homes, because it sets us free.
Our minds are on more money, raised that way from birth.
We don’t care about the future, only how much we’re worth.
Alcoholism and drug abuse kills our children every day,
Or they’re shot in a drive by when we send them out to play.
We can even abort them if we somehow change our mind.
Just have a family later, when we finally have the time.
How can it be, that you and me, can’t find a better way?
We kill people for their color, or for something that they say.
We can attack a foreign land, if we don’t like their style.
If we think this is Gods plan, well we missed it by a mile.
Joseph C. Willman 1999
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Love
I know just how to love, it was an easy lesson learned.
Well it fit me like a glove, and so I never did get burned.
I watched mama real close, and studied my daddy hard.
When he’d take the water hose, and spray her in the yard.
She’d laugh until she cried, my daddy grinning ear to ear.
And up until the day he died, it was her only kind of tear.
I remember my grandpa, being fussed at by my granny.
The first time I ever saw, him slapping her on her fanny.
It seemed like every day, they would argue for a while.
But granny got her way, as grandpa sat there with a smile.
Judging by their behavior, you’d think their love no greater.
But when he met his savior, she followed two weeks later.
Life has dealt some mighty blows, to people that I cherish.
Even in pain their love still grows, it’s not allowed to perish.
From loved ones that were taken, before their allotted time.
Some went to sleep to never awaken: others took by crime.
All those who did survive, were made stronger in the end.
That’s how I keep love alive, by sharing it now and then.
And now I see my offspring, so innocent in their youth.
Watching them I want to sing, for now they see the truth.
Now my baby girl’s a mother too, my sons become a man.
It’s hard these days to make me blue, for now I understand.
The greatest moments in my life were sent here from above.
Despite the struggles, and the strife, I still know how to love.
Copyright 2004 Joe Willman ( LOVE ) is the title
---------------------------------------------------------------------
My Rockin’ chair
Well I’ve been around here for a while,
And I’ll likely stay a little longer.
Cause something here makes me smile,
And it somehow makes me stronger.
This place here just rocks my soul,
Gently like a rockin’ chair.
Makes me feel I have a role,
Like I do belong somewhere.
And it makes me want to jump and shout,
Like something bad has left my heart.
But you know what I’m talkin’ about,
You had to have felt it from the start.
There’s something special in the air,
Might it be the company that I keep?
I know I need this rocking chair,
It gives me comfort when I sleep.
Jody 1-31-05
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Grandchild of mine, you’ve blown my mind, and made my spirits soar.
When I saw you smile, there for a while, I dreamed only of an encore.
That twinkle in your eye, even when you cry, makes my heart explode.
With love and pride, from deep down inside, it lightens my every load.
I’m an old man now, but you have somehow, given new life to my soul.
I pray every night, that God makes me right, living my grandfather role.
If I ever make you cry, no matter the reason why, forgive me for I am old.
I’ll spoil you bad if I wish, and overfill your dish, that’s my God given right.
I can’t wait to see you walk, listen to you talk, and hug your grandpa tight.
I’ll tell you long stories, of all my past glories, and exaggerate them a bit.
That’s what grandpas do, for the love of you, and it will never ever quit
Tiny little fingers and toes, perfect ears and nose, beauty beyond belief.
Mostly I think your mind, is a rare thing to find, unspoiled from any grief.
I’ll try to keep it that way, for every single day, the rest of my natural time.
When this you read, know you’re the seed, that gave my poem its rhyme.
Jody October 2003
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tumbleweed heart
She can almost make you love her, by just standing there.
You’ll see the sparkle in her eyes, the highlights in her hair.
God forbid she should smile at you, right from the start.
It’s already all over she has a tumbleweed heart.
Chorus
A tumbleweed heart can walk off with your soul.
Your mind will get shattered and out of control.
Life to her is a movie, and she’s living her part.
The lady can’t help it she has a tumbleweed heart.
He can’t bear to stay in one place too long at all.
He’ll leave it up to you on just how far you fall.
He won’t hurt you on purpose, but he will depart.
The ole boy ain’t sorry he has a tumbleweed heart.
Chorus
A tumbleweed heart can walk off with your soul.
Your mind will get shattered and out of control.
Life to him is a movie and he’s living his part.
The young man can’t help it he has a tumbleweed heart.
See that old lady sitting on the park bench over there.
With the ragged old clothes and the thinning gray hair.
Or the wino in the alley, who was handsome and smart.
They have no one to love they have a tumbleweed heart.
Chorus
A tumbleweed heart can walk off with your soul.
Your mind will get shattered and out of control.
Remember life ain’t a movie but you do have a part.
And just don’t fall in love with a tumbleweed heart.
© 2004 Jody Willman
HC 5 box 474 287
Kirbyville Texas
75956
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin guitar
My very first love was a Martin guitar.
I heard grandpa pick it on the hood of his car.
It sent cold chills up my spine.
Became ingrained in my mind.
My very first love was a Martin guitar.
Chorus
That Martin guitar had a melody that rang.
No matter who played it no matter who sang.
It’s brought tears and laughter and carried me far.
My very first love was a Martin guitar.
I wish it somehow, could’ve just stayed that way.
But deep down I knew, I had to learn how to play.
And if you sing about it, you really need to live it.
Take out a piece of you’re heart and just give it.
My very first love was a Martin guitar.
Chorus
Alan’s “Where were you” is a big part of him.
And “Time in a bottle’ still belongs to ole Jim.
You all have a piece of the old man in black.
It’s deep in your soul, and can’t be taken back.
That Martin guitar had a melody that rang.
No matter who played it, no matter who sang.
It’s brought tears and laughter and carried me far.
My very first love was, Grandpas Martin guitar.
© 2004 Jody Willman
HC5 box 474287
Kirbyville Texas
75956
---------------------------------------------------------------------