This is a soft, sad poem with a tune (the word for it is “song,” but I am no musician and I have no music for it, so pick a tune and hum along) about three people who I have spoken to only rarely but who have each left an impact on me.

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Nick and Jesse and the Old Rose Lady

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Nick and Jesse, where’re you headed?

Are you on a dead end road?

Yeah, we’re goin’ on down to the 7-11

Maybe gettin’ somethin’ to drink

Guess I’ll check in in a decade or so

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Old rose lady, how are you doing?

Did it rain any less this year?

You’ve gotta have hope, y’know

But you’ve also gotta pull those weeds

Hoping alone won’t do it, I fear

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Nick and Jesse, you gonna be all right?

Are you gonna grow up kind?

Spite and Trouble Nick and his ghost of a friend

Standin’ with no jacket on a mountain in the rain

When you grow up, freedom like that’ll be hard to find

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Old rose lady, where have you been?

What was your life before you were here?

How did you come to know so much about hope

That you can say it all over the fence?

How do you hang on to something you hold dear?

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Nick and Jesse, you gonna find the answers?

You gonna find your way?

Jesse, don’t you lose that wide-eyed wonder

Nick, oh don’t you lose that wit

You’ll need ‘em when you go out today

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Nick and Jesse, how do you hope

To grow up fine?

I don’t know much but I know enough

To know that it won’t be easy

But be darned sure I’m gonna try

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And a Bit More: That is the ending of the poem, but this is a discarded part. I liked it enough to want to stick it in at the end, even though it doesn’t really fit very well, but I decided against it. So here it lies, left behind.

There’s a woman down the street who knows a whole lot more

Than you or I combined

Says she don’t know how this got so bad

But she’s hoping for us all the time

It makes me cry, all the faith she has

In a world so very unkind and I think

Maybe if we all do a little dirty work

And if somebody can throw us a line

We might just turn out fine

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I would greatly appreciate any comments or constructive criticism you have to offer.