Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Traversing

With the silence of broken heart.
Questioning what will be of my tomorow?
Will my friendships from me depart?
Dear God will it be a day of sorrow?
Alone I am left to ponder my past.
It seems I am doing this more each day.
Where has my memories been cast?
What can my confessions now say?
I seem to have reversed my age and mind.
Traversing along my twisted trails.
My eyes growing dimmer now shut and blind.
I pray to you dear Savior on my body frail.
Bring to me the promise of your Son.
Let me reach out for his guiding hand.
For the answer to my quest is of only one.
To be given through you Eternal life Grand.

posted by Peter Todd @ 7:51 PM 0 comments

Drunken Reality

By Peter A. Todd 2/27/1988

It was the evening of New Years and all through my home
You could hear a pin drop as my son answered the phone
It’s the police my son said as he passed it to his mothers hand
Soon Dad will be home, won’t that be grand
For they had been up all night, waiting for me to come home
I was just out with the guy’s getting stoned
How was I to know they would be of anguished fright
As they sat with their dreaded fears all through the night
They came to the Hospital to see for themselves
It seems because of an accident I was not in good health
I was in a coma, having bad dreams
Oh! Dear God if you would just take away the screams
The ringing in my ears as if time had no end
A deathly message to my mind it sends
Why didn’t I listen to my family I loved
Then maybe I would not hear these screams from above
I was only out with the guys to have a good time
Its not my fault I didn’t see that double line
We only had a few drinks or was it more?
My minds so mixed up my head is so sore
Why is it my friends and family seem to be laughing at me
Yet the tears in their eyes I can so plainly see
This is no time to laugh, I am in pain
It seems to be me their all putting to blame
The room is getting darker I can just about see
Why is it this morbid cold air now surrounds me
Open this door can’t you see I am not dead
Its just a slight pain I now have in my head
Why won’t they listen to my cries and pleads
If only my heart would beat instead of bleed
At last they have come to set me free
Why are they putting these fancy cloths on me?
The time is passing so fast I can just about see
Why are my loved ones now crying over me?
All I can hear are their screams and their cries
One would think that I had just died
Its morning now I must of fell asleep
Why is this bed they gave me so soft and so deep
At last the pain is gone and I lay here alone
Beneath my self dug grave and scriptured stone
Forgive me God I was just out with the guys
If I had not had those drinks I would still be alive
I should have listened to my children when they said
PLEASE DADDY! DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE OR SOON YOU’LL BE DEAD

posted by Peter Todd @ 7:32 PM 0 comments

Parental Loss

 From Gloucester Daily Times
 Monday, October 31, 2005
 
To the editor:

It is with heavy heart that I attempt to pass on my thoughts to those families who have lost loved ones, particularly youth; fathers and mothers searching for the answers to why such a sad loss could come into their journey of raising children.

We bring them into our circle through a bond of love. We dry their tears when they cry. We bandage their wounds that come from rough-housing and play. We join with them in all their celebrations in their achievements. We also pray to our loving savior to keep them safe when they are away from us.

Parents do have the gift to embrace their children, but sadly they cannot totally control the detours of cruelty in this world through the rush of the media world and the peer pressures of mistaken friendships or even love.

Life can be so unpredictable. We try to reach out to our young, but the race of the clock has turned them away.

Is foolishness to blame? I do not know, but I do feel that there is a need to be able to bring to our young a better way of communicating. We see on nationwide television foolish acts, just so that promoters can make big bucks. The boob tube has put in the mind of many children and, yes, even adults, that we are invincible; we are not.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I pray to God that these loving parents do not put all the guilt on themselves. To the children, teenagers or first-time parents, look to your mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles. They need and want to share their love and, more importantly, their wisdom with you.

I am proud to say that I am the proud uncle of more than 100 nieces and nephews and cousins. I am the only Todd with no children, but proud to be a stepfather. Most important, in my thoughts, the proper uncle. That title makes me the happiest person alive.

As a child, I was raised as a state ward, through no fault of my parents or family. I was in numberless homes, whipped in my last one, but I survived.

Had I been a child of today or teenager, I even question the outcome.

So, in closing, I urge the young people to seek out the advice that will lead them to a better life. Your grandparents, fathers and mothers have been through it all. Seek their wisdom and embrace their love.

Pete Todd

Gloucester

posted by Peter Todd @ 4:06 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

City Hall Poem & Talk

In this great hall we've pledged allegiance to our flag
Once prayed openly , and these in silent prayer
Searching in quiet thoughts of what we now have
From years past and challenged days
Surrounded by mirrored images of our past
On this day we begin a new page in the book of time
Celebrating the rebirth of this Majestic Lady
Standing in awe of the great rebuilding we find
United in a circle where citizen's have stood before
That the ravages of age could not tear away
From the Keystones above its windows and doors
We celebrate with the greatest of pride this day
Citizen's we not only celebrate the rebirth of a building
We also begin the work for new and challenges in view
It is the people who seek the rebirth of their beloved Gloucester
That begining today will put their trust in all its leaders
Elected to serve our city with all its pride renewed

posted by Peter Todd @ 7:34 PM 0 comments