The Master

As the bow glides
Onto the strings
I hear the sounds
The magic of fingers
A Master at work.......

The music of memories
As it sets
Into your soul
Strings singing their song
Setting the notes......

Close your eyes
Feel the flow
Touching the inner you
The soothing sound.......

The Master lays
Down his instrument
To only walk away
Leaving the echoes of silence
To fill the room.......




Michael VanDyke @ 2016

Mom...

Do you really hear us
When we talk
Are your thoughts
As you want them to be......

As you talk
You stop
On what you say
In your eyes
We see you
Don't understand......

Everything is new
You have forgotten
The moments before
As we lead the way
For you.......

You have to trust us so
Nobody will hurt you
Nor,shall you fall......

We don't get mad
Nor do we yell
It's not you
Doing these things
This we know.......

Sometimes you still laugh
Say a sentence
Or two........

We know you sleep a lot
Do you also dream
We hope you really do.......

We can tell Mom
Is still Mom
The squeeze of our hands
As you hold us so......

The best I see
Is the gleam in your eyes
As the treats,we give......

A big smile
A thank you
The smile in your eyes
This is the Mom we know.....




Michael VanDyke @ Oct. 2016

Old Walls and Memories....

If these old walls
Could talk
As they see
The books coming
Off the walls....

Tell us of stories
That were told
From times
Gone past
To the future
As it unfolds....

The floorboards
As many boots
Walked it's floors.....

The smell of coffee
As it brews
The mornings away......

How many tears fell
Or the laughter of all
That was behind each wall.......

This I see
As I drive by
An old homestead
Buildings all......

As they stand
Old and true
As they are
All alone now 


Michael VanDyke @ Oct. 2016

Peace......

I have this peaceful place I go
It's not far
But sometimes It's hard to find
When I do find it
It's a beautiful place to be.....

It's not of material,building or land
Nobody else can go there
Some wouldn't understand....

 I found this place of peace
As a child
Wanting to go away
But to stay at the same time....
I can be anywhere,in this world
It will be where I want it to be......

I visited this place of peace
As a child,a teen,a GI in the Army
Adulthood too
The peace controls my thought
My actions too....

This place I speak of
Has no book shelves
No rooms
Really no other places to see or go.....

Peace,where we all should be
I don't visit there
As much as I use to
I taught myself the peace
In the world I live in now
I still fnd it
As needed so....

My home is of peace now
We made it so....

The outside world is ugly
As I see the exceptace
Of things that shouldn't be
They turned their backs
 On respect,honor and scruples.....

This place of peace
You probably know
I know a few people
That have this place of peace
Where they can go
I can see it on their faces
As they return....

I am at this place of peace
As of today
Tomorrow too.....

Words are pouring in
Paper and ink
Thoughts,feelings
It's all starting to flow......

Find your place of peace
Don't tell a soul
You will want to go there often
Until you can control.....


Michael VanDyke @ Oct. 2019

The Crow.......

As the Crow calls
I see it leap
To spread it's wings......


As the clouds open up
I feel the gentle rains
Touch down
The softness of the sky
As you looked above
The coolness in the air........

Was it a warning
For his companions
Or us
The few that listened.......

As the rains let up
The Crow, thrusts his wings out
Catching the breezes
To lift him high.........

Unfolding the magic
On it's journey
For only
He would know.......

The flight above the trees
Rivers and deep valleys below
The wind glides him
Like a silent hand
Holding him so.........

Silence is not with whispers
With his eye sight
He knows.........

The flight was short
From one valley
To the next
Gliding in to the trees
To perch and watch.......

The gentle rains
Start up as before
In the distance
I hear him so.........

The Crow, as he calls.........




Michael VanDyke @ 2016

Lost Alive.......

As they sit there
In silence
Are they in thought
Or in remembrance
Of their past......

Maybe trying to think
But can't
Conversation is gone
A few words here and there
Fewer, as the day's go by.........

Doesn't know your name
Trusting you
Because you are in their every day life
People that haven't
They remember no more
The smile they show
When they see you
But ask
Who was that
After you left...........

Is it a world they have
Without thought
Or direction...........

We can't turn them away
You love them
As you always did
Of the yesterdays...........

They can't remember you
You can and do remember them
As you care,love
And understand why...........

Don't turn them away
They don't want this either
Their life was taken away.........

We still love them
Care for them
Give them a safe place to stay........

See them, as much as you can
No excuses why you can't
Because there are none
On this earth to use...........

They could be our Father
Mother too
Aunt or Uncle
Maybe You.....................


Michael Vandyke  @ 2016

Broken Chains of Darkness.....

I was raised in the darkness
In the shadow of life
An abusive parent
With us
No where to go....

Mom was strong
She lost her spirit
Long ago
The protection
We tried.....

Why we asked
It wasn't anything
We did......

Other families
With love and respect
The laughing, loving and caring
How come we didn't have that
Which others shared......

Dad was just a father
Had to earn that word
To be called "Dad"......

It was to be
I had enough
Chains have to be broken
The old life buried.....

My brothers and I
We started our families
Raised them with love, respect
Above all caring......

Past buried
Not forgotten
Darkness turned to sunshine
The shadows, walked away.....

Mom is in a better place
With our Lord Jesus
In heaven you see......

We hope Dad is too
His darkness followed him
He buried it to his soul......

Our shadows of the past, walked away
So the darkness had no where to stay.....

The days of Grandchildren are here
Making the past, so far away
Bringing in the sunshine
For more happier days.......



Michael Vandyke @ 2016