STARLINGS
Riding with my family in a ‘58 Buick
I can still recall
How we’d drive through the valley
To my Grandmother’s house
Every summer vacation
When I was small
And I’d gaze out the window
At the farms and the orchards
And the sound of our motor
Would frighten the starlings
And they’d rise from the fields to fly
My mother would grumble
“Those birds are a curse
They’re a thorn in the farmers” side
But I couldn’t help feeling sad and inspired
By their desperate ballet in the sky
Chorus
Say a prayer for the starlings
A hot, dry wind beats their ragged wings
Have a thought for the starlings
No one ever listens to the songs they sing
Say a prayer for the starlings
There’s no welcome for them anywhere
Leave some crumbs for the starlings
They say that Winter will be cold this year
She was sitting on a curb by the Seven Eleven®
She asked if I had some spare change
Her skin wore that leathered and windburned look
And the light in her blue eyes was wild and strange
I sat down beside her and asked her her name
She said, “pick one you like, I need something to eat”
And her life made me think
Of the dead leaves in Autumn
Drifting like ghosts down the street
Is the life that we celebrate only a dream
A lie that we serve like a god made of stone
And our hearts are the hunter
Birds with no nesting place
Weary and aching for home
Chorus
Written By Randy Stonehill
© 1989 Stonehillian Music/Word Music (a div. of Word, Inc.)/ASCAP
Scroll back to where our "conversation" began on this thread. That makes this poem really special! I love poetry! Thank you!
The last two verses were so sad, allow me to respond with a poem that blesses me when life is tough.
THE COMFORT OF GOD I have been through the valley of weeping,
Through the valley of sorrow and pain;
But the God of all comfort was with me,
By His hand to uphold and sustain.
As the earth needs the clouds and the sunshine
So the soul needs both sorrow and joy,
So when God puts His own in the furnace, He intends all his dross to destroy.
When He leads thru some valley of trouble
His omnipotent hand we can trace;
For the trials and sorrows He sends us
Are part of His lessons of Grace.
Well He knows that affliction is needed,
He has a wise purpose in view;
And in the dark valley He whispers,
Hereafter thou shalt know what I do."
As we travel through life's shadowed valley,
The fresh springs of His love ever rise,
And we learn that sorrow and losses
Are all blessings God sent in disguise.
So I'll follow wherever God leads me;
In the darkness His Word lights my way. I have proved that our Lord can give comfort,
And His grace and His strength for each day.
---Selected