Do you remember those days
Of bright skies and clear air,
And happy-go-lucky ways,
When we were free of care?
Can you recall that past life,
When we lived day by day,
When we knew not gall nor strife,
And thought only to play!
Picture when we knew no fear,
All dark designs disposed,
When we were disposed to cheer,
So blithesomely composed!
Oh, how I wish we were there,
When dreams were reality,
When I was debonair,
And you were fancy-free!

~Daniel F Mitchell

With a voice of sirens she sings,
With broad bold lips,
Whispers from a distance,
Smiles with perfect teeth,
Beckons me, her silken face,
Skin smooth and azure,
Wraps seductive fingers around me,
Spreads her skirt fro
Voluptuous rolling hips,
Draws it back a bit to show
Her petty coat beneath,
Edged in silvery lace,
Luring and retreating
My inordinate lust to entice.

I succumb without resistance,
With unconfined wings
Sail out to meet her,
I the holy ghost, and she
The virgin entreating,
Rolling me off to paradise,
Into her warm wet embrace.

~ Daniel F Mitchell

They taught me how to kill in Oklahoma,
Made me blend in with the green and the polish,
And sound off, one, two, three, four,
Made me mean, a fighting machine,
With no regard as to why I must be inclined so,
To go low, and go high, and snatch, and mask,
Without missing a beat or smelling the gas,
Perform all tasks in a military manner,
Stand at attention, stand at ease, hurry and wait,
To the rear march, company halt, forward again.

They taught me how to kill in Oklahoma,
To string a lanyard so as not to blow off my hand,
The mathematical precision of tangents and trajectories,
How to place a projectile for optimum radius,
This is my rifle, this is my gun,
To sling and unsling fast as a blink,
Field strip any weapon with closed eyes,
To crawl low like a snake and strike swiftly,
To run through a mine field in my sleep,
To jump from a helicopter without breaking,
To take the blow with the shoulder,
To go for the throat with a standard choke hold,
To pierce the kidney so it bleeds sufficiently,
To catch a bullet without crying out,
To die without denying I did it like a pro.

They taught me how to kill in Oklahoma.
But all I wish to remember,
Was sitting on a howitzer one evening,
Watching the sky turn from peach to lavender.

~ Daniel F Mitchell

In my dream, I dreamed we dream
That what we see is what we deem
To be real – we esteem as truth.
I had visions of endless youth,
Of daisies in a sunbeam,
Of sun beaming from my eyes,
Of perfume-scented skies,
Of blossoms blooming in a kiss
On my cheek in eternal bliss.
What difference night or day?
What wise intelligence can say
That what I see, or seek, or seem,
Is less real than flowers are,
Or the light of an afternoon star
Warming the gardens of my dreams?

~ Daniel F Mitchell

The united snakes
Are wound in a ball,
Bound up in great might,
So none can recall
Lost liberty’s stakes
Like justice for all,
No concern for right,
No space for the small.
The grip is too tight.
The pact is too strong.
Now no one dares fall,
And part writhing wrong.

~ Daniel F Mitchell