Love this poem. We just got back from a month-long, cross-country winter camping experience. 10 degrees or so most nights across Northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Kansas in deep snow. I am reminded of a night on the Snake River in the Swan Valley, Wolf Flats Recreation Area. Wild swans, Mallards and Canada geese swimming to keep the ice from freezing them in. In the early dawn hoar frost a giant moose lumbered skitteringly across the road, astonished that we were there and disappeared into the thicket.
When you’re cold long enough, you don’t notice it… But God, I love being back in the central heating of home!
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
One must have a mind of winter
Gerard Van der Leun
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Love this poem. We just got back from a month-long, cross-country winter camping experience. 10 degrees or so most nights across Northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Kansas in deep snow. I am reminded of a night on the Snake River in the Swan Valley, Wolf Flats Recreation Area. Wild swans, Mallards and Canada geese swimming to keep the ice from freezing them in. In the early dawn hoar frost a giant moose lumbered skitteringly across the road, astonished that we were there and disappeared into the thicket.
When you’re cold long enough, you don’t notice it… But God, I love being back in the central heating of home!
It is not death I fear, but the cold.