Jake

Jake was a mule and lazy as could be
Lying around all day under the old oak tree.
Pa needed old Jake to help plow a field
He told my ma, old Jake just won’t yield.

Pa worked half a day trying to get Jake up
Ma came out of the house with something in a cup
Pa ask what she was going to do “what you got there?”
He reply was a “little lye, he’ll get up I swear.“

She got a great big corn cob, had a little plan
Rubbed some lye on his rump and away he ran
He was bucking and kicking, jumping left and right
Kicking at everything that was in his sight.

Ma said “I will teach that stubborn mule, he’s got to mind me”
Old Jake just continued on his jumping, kicking spree
He kicked down the old fence, tore up the flower bed
Kicked down the chicken coop his rump real red.

Ran as fast as he could to the old water tank
Jumped right in with great relief and down he sank
Pa said, “We need to get him out of there as fast as we can”
But in his mind Jake had another plan.

He stayed in the water the rest of the day
The fields not plowed yet I am sorry to say
Ma and pa went to the house, didn’t know how to swim
Had to leave old Jake, the sky was getting dim.

They went to bed that night, was tired as they could be
Got up the next morning and what did they see
There was old Jake under the tree content
Ma got a cup of lye, she was hell bent.

Lullaby

Restless, I wander about not knowing why peace will not come.
As I step into the cool night air I am in awe at the beauty as silver hues quietly sift through the trees casting age old shadows.
The stars are playing a symphony to the earth and the moon is softly singing a lullaby.
The sacred old owl and wolf join in and reach their god. The coyote will not be ignored.
Nature goes within herself as she is calmed by the twinkling symphony.
My heart swells at the stillness and beauty of the night and I softly sing to my God.

The Bell

It was in 1880 when they moved to this small town
He was just a little boy and wanted to look around.
The big Brazos river ran by Old Washington Square
Lots of important history has been recorded there.
As he rambled through the trees, he saw a church that had been built with majestic care
There were some big boys looking in a well, he wondered why they were there.
They had something on a rope being lowered down inside
The little boy shaking with fear thought he had better hide.
Behind a tree he hid, the thing on the rope they were holding tight
He prayed that he was hid and was well out of sight.
As the boys released the rope it dropped into the well
The boys all sworn to secrecy, the story of the bell.
The church members had bought a bell and put it on the book
When the people heard it ringing they all came out to look.
Was there a fire somewhere or had someone died
A man was calling to them, please come on inside.
He said “The loan man is coming and we have no money for the bell”
That was when the big boys got the idea of hiding it in the well.
What about the little boy hiding behind the tree
The big boys discovered him there and were as angry as could be.
They grabbed him by the neck, shook him hard and strong
If you ever tell our secret you won’t live very long.
For eighty six years he kept the secret locked up tight inside
He called his daughter to his death bed just before he died.
He said “ Sister, I have kept a secret that I would like to tell”
“It’s all about some big boys and a bell in a well."