The Bar
By Dave Donahue

Come in, come in were’ open today,
To sell you a beer and hear what you say’
Never mind what they say about you in town’
You’re here to sit and let go of the frown,
I’m sorry your life has turned out tough’
But look at him over there; he’s had it rough,
The bar, the bar, where all is ok,
Just a place to chill and drink it away’
There’s always someone’s who’s got it worse’
The grass isn’t greener on the other turf’
So tell us your troubles and stay for a while’
You home is not far, maybe a mile’
Give us a tip, this ones on your tabs
We are your friends at the bar called Sad’s.
The End

Where are you GOD?
By Dave H Donahue

Where are you GOD, can you hear me down here?
If lived my life and have experienced fear’
Times of trouble that since have past’
I lay almost dying, it wasn’t bound to last’
This life for me as I did something wrong
I risked it all for one last song’
Diagnosed with an illness and I know we all die,
But this is something, not a pie in the sky’
It’s real yet it feels like a dream’
I wake up at night and can hear my scream’
Why did I do it? Why did I lay?’
With a person I didn’t know, I have nothing to say’
There is no cure and I’m afraid you will be ill’
You’re lucky, today we have a pill’
To extend your life for a day or a week’
If you’re lucky you will live to see your son speak’
I’m sorry but you know we did what we could’
There no turning back there are no shields
Accept your fate; you’re a child of HIS’
Leave this world with faith, it is what it is.
The End

Days of gray
By Dave H Donahue

Days of gray when the sun is shining
I look outside and see light blinding’
It’s been this way for a few years now,
My eyes feel sore from pushing the plow’
Working so hard my hands are worn’
From working in fields, my overalls torn
I think to the days when all was new’
My youth is gone my excitement few’
What happened to me and my days of fun?
When I was a child and played neath the sun’?
I’m getting older, they say that’s what it is’
You can’t go back your starting to fizz’
But it’s not over yet I want to say
I have more to do and more to play’
It’s time to go, give me your hand’
You did your job, now it’s the Promised Land.
The End

Life in Durham
By Dave Donahue

It’s a beautiful day as I go outside,
Walk up the street wow what a sky
The sun is shining coming up from the east
I look to my left and what do I see
A guy by the dumpster selling crack
Pants below his a** how about that
And that’s how it is in this place I call home
Cars broken into by bums who roam
The streets of Durham
Where anything goes
But I look to the sky and see what I see
A wonderful awakening above the trees
And that’s how I see my life around here
Beautiful sky but below it brings me to tears.
The End

The Surfer
By Dave Donahue

The surfer sits on his board and looks out to sea’
For a wave that’s perfect to set him free’
He sees way out a wave to the west’
That’s coming closer to give him a test’
Bigger and bigger the wave looms near’
And he turns his board and paddles in fear’
“It’s way too large for me to ride”
But he jumps to his feet and takes off with the tide’
The sound is deafening as he hears the roar’
Of the huge wave around him as he heads for the shore’
He is inside it now he can see up ahead’
The tube of the wave crashing over his head’
And then it’s over the wave spits him out’
He made it, he’s done and lets out a shout’
The life of a surfer, it’s all about the ride’
Those few moments of being a part of the tide’

My Name is Dave I have AIDS
By Dave Donahue

My name is Dave and I have AIDS’
Don’t know when it happened but I must have got played’
I went so long and worked so long,
Bought a house, a truck and had a feeling I belonged
I was an electrician, a marine, and a hard working stiff’
Grew up in a town where there was always a riff’
A Bar, some bikers and some crazy times
Lots of women fit into the rhyme
Till one day it all crashed down
My bro died of cancer and whoosh he was gone
My other friend drank himself to the grave
While my dad jumped off a bridge they had made
200 feet to the Bay he fell
License is his pocket so they knew who to tell
I went through life struggling everyday
And finally made a name for myself
Through hard work and being an elf
For those who needed a strong back
And someone who would give no flack
In 2005 it almost ended for me
In the hospital a nurse said “Its HIV”
“You almost died I hate to say”
“You been diagnosed with AIDS today”
My life has changed from that day on’
No longer working my back isn’t strong
The medications wear me down
I have trouble walking sometimes I’ve found
But I’m here today thank god for that
To watch my son grow up and play with a bat.
Maybe he will be a pro baseball player
Like my friend from Ocean Beach who played for the majors
Or a fireman, a fisher, or a doctor who heals
Someone I’ll be proud of when I no longer feel
My toes or my body from the HIV
And he will bury me I’ll be proud and finally set free.

Tick Tock
By Dave Donahue
Tick tock goes the clock’
Never knowing when to stop’
Another minute another hour’
Time goes by as it sits on a tower’
Tick tock another day past’
Time again has gone too fast’
Another day another chance’
To make a difference and make a stance’
Tick tock where will you be’
When the clock stops for you and me?
The End

“Struggle”
By Dave Donahue
It’s been a struggle I’ll say when this life ends for me
And I try and use my ticket that sets me free’
From this body that’s beat and tired and worn’
By struggling for years since the day I was born’
My mom was a drunk and I was small back then’
It seemed I’ve always had a hard time to fend’
For a piece of the pie that everyone needs
To make their life easier than just able to feed
The mouths of babes who they brought in the world
They weren’t prepared and lives unfurled
I see it in me and those I’m around
The struggle the struggle of lives abound
Why is there suffering and why do I care
About a person I know nothing and can’t pay their fare?
Is it humility or empathy that makes my heart so
Or maybe being in the same situation they know?
I don’t know I have no answers you see
This is why I look forward to being set free.

The End
By Dave Donahue

The Beach
By Dave Donahue

I was raised at the beach way out west’
Where surfing was the way to express your best’
Make a name for yourself by surfing big waves’
They had a name for me Big Wave Dave’
I was known for my surfing over by the pier’
Id ride big waves without any fear’
But as I grew older life got in the way
I had to work and there was no time to play
Pay the bills and keep a roof over my head
Was harder than surfing and I’d rather be dead
Cause the work was hard and it beat me down
Caused me to drink another beer, another round
My surfing was put on the back shelf to dust
Because making a living for me was a must
My father had died from his own hand
I found myself a stranger in a strange land
With nowhere to turn I joined the Marines
And embarked on a journey of life after teens
It was hard and I struggled and fell along the way
But always woke up to see another day
Till one day I got sick, my body was tired
I fell down again and from my job I was fired
I think back now to my life how it’s been
I only wish I could start over again.
The End

The wishing man
By Dave Donahue

The wishing man, though out his life it’s all he’s done’
Wishing for brighter days as he sits in the sun’
His life has been nothing but hoping for a buck
No opportunities for him so he depends on luck
From the kindness of strangers who see him around
As he wanders aimlessly in his home town.
He lives up the hill is what people think
But his life revolves on doing nothing but drink
He’s an old man now the years come and go
And he continues to wish that he’ll get lucky ya know
But nothing changes and he ages with time
Begging for a change, a nickel a dime’
Some would say what a waste of a life
He should just go away and leave in spite
But he continues his daily routine around town
Getting older and older going around and around
His life has been what many others has been
Living day by day wishing he’ll mend.

The Bed
By Dave Donahue

Lying in this bed there must be something wrong
There is no light coming in and something’s holding me strong
I look around and see someone near
Dressed in white and her face is clouded with fear
Where are my legs I can’t feel them at all
Like a prisoner I’m strapped in case I might fall
I’m in a hospital room I can tell from the looks
Of doctors around me carrying books
I can see their faces and my wife’s too
The look of saying there’s nothing we can do
I look down and I see I’m in trouble
My legs are gone and I’m seeing double
The faces are fading away from me fast
There’s nothing I can do but remember my past
As I slip from reality and into slumber
To a life unseen where I’m just a number

The prison
By Dave Donahue

Is cold in here the room’s dark and smells
Of urine and feces that sits in pools like wells
The walls are covered with writings that speak
Of brighter days of men who have grown weak
Who knows who they were and why they were here
I can imagine their lives were filled with fear
And as I sit on this rusted out chair
I can’t help but think this life is a scare
For no good deed goes unpunished, it’s just not fair
Another life embittered while some go on strike
Because they feel their pay is too low
And a man still sits here in death row
What a mess has been made in the disgusting world
People trample people to only to see their lives unfurled
I’ve seen enough of what I’ve seen
Leave this prison this life to another unclean

Time to go
By Dave Donahue

It’s time to leave this place for good
I should have left when I knew I should
She said it would get better but it went on and on
We ended up in a place that was already gone
I tried, we tried but in the end I succumbed
To the pressures of life that left me numb
There is no future in a place like this
Only those with keys, the others will miss
I’ve had so much in the other life
They took it from me and it cuts like a knife
So in 2 days I’ll make my run
Out of Durham and back to the sun.
The old man
By Dave Donahue

The old man sits on his chair and looks’
At the people around him reading books’
Why do they read and why not sit
And look at the sky and how it all fits
That’s how he lived his whole life through,
Looking up at a sky so blue’
He never learned to read or write
He was taught only wrong from right
And working hard in fields was his fate
To keep a roof over his head and food on his plate
But it’s over now and he sits all alone
Watching others as they complain and moan
About a car that won’t start or a baby crying
He thinks it’s ironic cause he’s close to dying
His body he used to scrape out a living
Has been beaten down from all the giving
He’s tired now and wants to say goodbye
And leave this life and begin to fly.
The end

Red Robin
By Dave Donahue

Yesterday sitting there upon a tree,
Was a red robin that looked over at me;
It did not chirp or fly away,
it was there for a minute I have to say
It sat there and looks at me for a while
I could swear this robin cracked a smile
Then it cocked its head and ate
A worm crawling that had no fate
Other than be this red robins lunch for a day
And the robin looked at me again and flew away
The end

Death Row
By Dave Donahue

The man’s been sitting on death row
Day after day with nowhere to go
They said it was murder, how could it be
He was out in the forest chopping a tree
But they said they had evidence that would prove he was wrong
And he ended up serving a sentence so long
The day has come when it’s time to go
To the bed they have for him you know
Strapped to the chair he can feel the pain
Of the poison entering his throbbing vein
It will be over soon he says his hand has been given
So he gasps a breath and goes where no one has driven
He feels his body floating and he feels nothing all
Like he’s up on a cloud standing so tall
What a beautiful feeling being way up here
But he can’t really tell and he’s starting to fear
That he’s in a place he shouldn’t really be
He thought after death he would finally be free
It’s not the case and the devil has his hand
Taking him away to HIS promised lands
Where his people are beaten and turned into slaves
Those people, those people who no one could save

The Friend
By Dave Donahue

I had a friend one time you see
A friend who could depend on me
He was witty and fun and had lots of toys
Things that I never had as a boy
But he wanted more and couldn’t stop
The constant need for things that made him drop
He lost it all through drinking too much
And died an early death but such is such
I felt sorry for him and do to this day
But realize that life is not always play
Cause there’s bills to pay and mouths to feed
So I sacrifice what I have and forget the greed
I’ve had and lost and got sick too
When I was diagnosed with HIV you know it’s true
I don’t care though I still have a job to do,
My son still has to become a man too.
The end

Tornado
By Dave Donahue

Tornado tornado why do you come here
And put all these people to fear
We worked so hard to make this great town
And in a moment it’s all crashed down to the ground
Tornado tornado why did you come here
This place we call home became so dear
It’s all we have and you took it away
Leaving us staring at nothing today
It not fair I say you shouldn’t have come
You should have at least left us some
We have to move on from the damage we see
And find a place where you won’t be free
To do so much damage and cause so much pain
Tornado tornado don’t come our way again.
The End

Writers Block
By Dave Donahue

He’s writing his book, but he’s hit a bump
Nothing to write now he’s in a slump’
What does he write, a novel a book?
Or a magazine that gets lots of looks?
He doesn’t know and his mind is a mess
So he stops himself and gets himself dressed
Its writers block he says to himself
Ill figure it out when I go to my shelf
And find me a book that can help me see
That there’s tons of things I can write freely.
But it doesn’t help and he rushes out
To get some air to cure his bout
Of writers block that he’s had for a while
So he begins to run for miles and miles.
It still doesn’t help as he slumps in his chair
So he sits and ponders his total despair

The Divorce
By Dave Donahue

She’s had it she’s through and wants to move on
From this marriage that’s lasted way too long
The spark is gone it’s fizzled away
There’s nothing left to say today
It was fun while it lasted I hope you do well…
Sure you too just go to hell’
This marriage is over why don’t you just leave
Here’s 100 bucks go away and leave me be
I can’t take any more of your constant dread
Of having to work and make your bed
I never promised you nothing don’t you know
You on the other hand took me in tow
With your wild dreams of a marvelous life
And me by your side, your adoring wife
Go away now you’re nothing to me
I think of you now as an annoying flea
The end

Circus Freak
By Dave Donahue

Just another circus freak an anomaly that bothers
There for the viewing pleasure of all the others
He was born this way he didn’t ask for this
Everywhere he goes he can hear people hiss
At the sight of his face which makes people wince
He wishes someday he could be turned to a prince
But it’s not going to happen a sideshow he is to be
Making those laugh so that they can feel free
From their worries they have be it few or many
He makes them feel they are worth a penny
But he’s sad and lonely at the end of the day
When the people he entertains go off to play
It’s such an unfortunate thing to be
A circus freak for everyone else to see.

Wishing Well

I wish I wish how I could just see”
How wonderful my life really could be
I got so sick they said “you almost died”
When I woke up in the hospital and cried
This isn’t happening to me I know
It must be a mistake I never wanted to throw
My life away so soon in the game
I was supposed to go on, who can I blame
There’s no one no one who can change the facts
You contracted a disease we know it’s just that
Its AIDS I’m afraid and your life will not be bad
It’s just not going to be what you had
Have faith be strong the doctors say
You live you’ll live another day
But it doesn’t feel right my head feels so spun
Isn’t there anyway this can be undone?
I’m sorry there’s nothing more we can do
Then tell you go home, hopefully someone loves you.

Changes of life poems