Shared Strength

When the chips are down and there is no on around. Staring at the empty shelves Oh the lies we tell ourselves. As we await the bye and bye.   When our ship comes home and we conquer the throne. The person everybody sells Oh the lies we tell ourselves. As we await the bye and bye.   Looking down on the jokes No account worthless blokes. Their plight worst than hell's Oh the lies we tell ourselves. As we await the bye and bye.   The limelight fades in a flash but want of praise like a rash. One can't scratch themselves Oh the lies we tell ourselves. As we await the bye and bye.   The hourglass flows for all and soon the season is Fall. No time to ponder on realms Oh the lies we tell ourselves. As we await the bye and bye.   The sun fades dark and bitter bringing with it lonely Winter. A poker face hides all tells Oh the lies we tell ourselves. As we await the bye and bye.   Nick Campos  -  March 2024  

Bounce, Bounce, Bounce dribbling down the road Onto the single lane road, I know this path by heart A small hill, the oaks, the swing hanging in the tree The miners lettuce, acorns nestled along the way Fields of star thistle in the sun drenched fields The hill crests and I pass the spot of mourning Visions of my mother sobbing over the dead The squirrel went right and then came back left A fitting burial required a shovel and a school tardy I see the tree where we hide out from the Indians Bounce, Bounce, Bounce dribbling down the road Down the small hill past the thicket on the right Adjacent a rope swing that has broken bones I see the speed bump, where my arm fractured A great lesson on small sticks and roller blades The day is warm, but it will soon be very hot We don't give it thought it's all we really know I pass the dog kennel where two dogs live, boxers Noses pressed to the links as they know me well Bounce, Bounce, Bounce dribbling down the road A small worn path at ...

The kindest thing never said I see you for you alone Purple hair, tattoo and all The toll of the creative battle   The kindest thing never said Thank you for seeing me Failures, mistakes and all And choosing me anyway   The kindest thing never said I will sit with you today Aging, loneliness and all  A life coming to a slow close The kindest thing never said I hear your point of view Different, faults and all Broken roads move us along The kindest thing never said Is not much really to do Small, meek and all Just takes the time to see The kindest thing never said Is sometimes not a word Mean, hateful and all In silence we hear his voice   Nicholas Campos - March 2024          

A bottle of pills Speak the words left unsaid A needled vein The story comes to an end A child is born The pride of Mom and Dad A tooth is lost The pillow of make believe A friend is made Everything is going just fine A story time The pillow shakes in laughter   A broken plate The door slams closed tight A home broken The pillow drowns the sounds A friend is lost Nobody seems to understand A birthday past The pillow the only real friend A choice is made Everything is out of control A first time The pillow silently watches A thought of hope Does it really matter anyway A child falls The pillow catches it all A life lost Long before the bitter end A call for help The pillow hears the cries A bottle of pills Speak the words left unsaid A needled vein The story comes to an end   A pillow gone Lying alone in the garbage A lid is shut The pillow is not a real friend Nicholas Campos - March 2024

Some see the darkness  The violence and the pain Giving anger a voice. Others see rainbows The beauty and the goodness Naivety a choice. Most see confusion The critical state we're in Deciphering noise. Who can I believe? With so much information Where is the wisdom? Day by day I go Watching people fall behind Focus on my own The system fractures Families break at the seems Broke capitalism Gone is pure faith Replaced by bitterness Rage against society Hate thy dumb neighbor Watch news and believe it all Negativity   Both sides always wrong Walk like pigs to a slaughter Die wrong being right   Why must we all lose Fight the stupid fight of fools Our own prideful might   Till the bitter end Each other is all we have Only friend in sight   Faith the recipe Kindness the only key unlocks Hearts of you and me   Nicholas Campos - March 2024

  My precious little bean A flower in her hair Eyes closed tight I dream A future bright and fair Her star shines bright Intelligent and kind Her beauty is a sight But pales to her mind At first I held her close Her blue eyes beamed Joy from head to toes Pure love it seamed. As she grew I did too Step by anxious step As parents often do Following in footstep.   Momma's little girl Daddy's little darling Gandma's little pearl Papa's always guarding   Tough she proved to be Challenges in time Where no match you see To her focused climb.   A smile lights the world And the quickest of wit Confidence to be bold And the grace to just sit.   A heart of fine lace To share God's kindness A sweet loving face Best not gaffed as weakness.   A life all her own We watch with esteem Into dreams unknown There goes our little Bean   My precious little bean A flower in her hair Eyes closed tight I dream A future bright and fair   Nicholas Campos - March 2024  ...

There’s a hole in Papa’s ears where all the words go, Where they compete with all the headlines of the day. The closer that I get, the farther away I seem to be, ’Cause there’s a hole in Papa’s ears where all the words go. We don’t talk much anymore — I don’t have much to say. Hell, he couldn’t begin to understand me anyway. So we pass on by, locking eyes with the shadow on the wall, ’Cause there’s a hole in Papa’s ears where all the words go. We live in different worlds, and we talk a little more — A little more than the weather or what’s coming up today. And it comes to me, more than occasionally, That even I can make the headlines of the day. Now a father of my own kids, screaming in the lawn, I try to lean back and relax after a full day’s run. But the thoughts fly by and echo through the pines, And I can’t help but think of the hole in Papa’s ears. I visit Papa every Tuesday afternoon in the home — His sunken shadow drapes the wall near his chair. I tell him abou...

What is death but a question oft pondered Where do we go and will we meet again What about the things I know What about the things I love We ask these questions through all ages A search not for answers but control Death the greatest unknown, beautifully so It's unpredictability displays true equality The question properly pondered rather Is the question of what is life truly Divinely purposed or a great accident You are here, I am here and we are here   I see sadness in great wealth and in blight I see happiness in health and in terrible sickness I see kindness and love in peace and in war Perhaps, we are as unpredictable as death What is life I ask the blank page before me The answer seems clear in my minds eye To balance the you, the we, and the I While only seeking change from me To give freely is not necessarily charity To give from money or some living trust But give rather the heart in word and deed Time and time again without expectation To change without expecting the chan...

Mr. Toad's Road Around we go on Mr. Toads' road Left and right through hairpin turns Our destination, the place we began We will arrive a few minutes older But mentally, I am not quite so sure  With each turn I see the joy and wonder The laughter of childhood imagination Seeing reality through a child's lens  Has me contemplating the child inside Crowing like Pan, against adulthood   Around we go, like so many before  I can feel the urge inside to just let go To be a kid, free to be free of worry  This is her moment, This is my moment This is our moment of pure imagination Soon the world will call and I must go To continue my march back to the beginning My final destination is the place we all began But perhaps, I will take a dream or two with me To treasure and guide me along the way To look at the world as a kaleidoscope of color And not be troubled to try and make sense of it Even as tender, precious moments fade in time Against the dulling and constant strok...

  M arch, M arch went the guards of Ft Worden   Through the foggy fields of grass   Left, Left  the commander shouts towards the sea   As the bugle echoes off the row   Perfection is paramount and practice its key   March, M arch went the guards of Ft Worden   Work be done it's a family affair   as the bite of Christmas fills the night air     But tomorrow will bring the most discouraging news   As the harbor of pearl meets uncertain doom   The bugle sounds different as they kneel in the pew   For sacrifice speaks of remembrance     March, March went the guards of Ft Worden   March, March into a land unknown   As the ship is hurled and tossed on God's great sea   those left home long for the past   of left, left as they march across the foggy field   Today will bring no bugle only fear   for those left behind by the guards of Ft Worden     March, March went the Gua...

The sky echoes the fading day Warning of the dark An instinctual warning sign What is soon to come    Like chickens we retreat again Hurried in our pace As darkness delivers worry Until the dawn breaks Lost is the arrogant edge That daylight doth bring What was once known, now a stranger In darkness new eye   A prayer for deliverance nigh To protect once more Through power greater than thine In darkness unknown   Soon the sun breaks the grip of night With rays effulgent A life looks different in color  Heart felt gratitude   Noon day brings a flood of light Nothing left untouched In it's radiant warmth and succor Dark a memory   The sky echoes the fading day Warning of the dark An instinctual warning sign What is soon to come   Nicholas Campos 2023

Her hair shines in the incandescent light. A big, bright bow illuminating childhood.   The precious innocence of a life yet lived.  Free of the calloused marks of self doubt.   From wounds prior, levied upon ones self.  She colors the clean page, each stroke unique.  Dancing across the sheet in a perfect chaos.  Her lips loosely clenched with eyes open wide.  As she brings life to what she knows inside.   Freckles, eyelashes, twinkling eyes of youth.  Nose crinkled, pink gloves, a posture like mom.  It is clear that which she works to become.  Moments, moments, so precious, so pure.  I want to always remember them perfectly.  Like her blank paper, this is how it must be.   A single perfect stroke of color, lost in the art.  Try to capture as I may, lost it is meant to be.  Lost perfectly in the great artist's masterpiece.  Lost in pale contrast to beauties next stroke.  I caught the moment to...