Wondering Why

Days and nights and months go by
Suns and moons and seasons fly
As light and dark exchange the sky
And new born babies emit their cry
As older children find another high
And young men in foreign fields lie
Rushing to the day we all shall die
And all I can do is wonder why.



©1970 David P. Cannon 2-27-1970
 
In December 2009, this poem was adapted into a song by Bobby Cole and Cameron Restaino.

The Light

I’ve seen the light and it was dark
The blackness glowed as a spark
Tomorrow came and yesterday went
But where was today; how was it spent?

Perhaps I never knew you and you not me,
And that’s the way it always will be
If we never see each other again
It’s best there was no beginning to our end.

©1970 David P. Cannon 2-23-1970

Lost Words

I spoke the words
I had been looking for
As sleep crawled
Inside my bed

But this morning
I had to search the floor
Because the words weren’t
Inside my head

©1970 David P. Cannon
2-23-1970 Revised 1 31 2010

The Master of Rhyme

Why have all the years gone wrong
Why couldn’t the poet sing a love song
To the girl who listened with open ears
For the words that could evoke happiness tears

Instead the poet wrote of unsatisfied love
Themes of sadness and hopes to rise above
All the common and ordinary men
While the vibrant young girl became a broken woman

She grew tired of waiting to hear the words
And sought another for the bees and the birds
And while she was gone from the master of rhyme
He found the word “Love” but it was not in time

His beautiful words had imperfect meter
Here ears and her heart would not let them greet her
A little too late even though they were his best
Now without her love, he lets his pen rest.

©1970 David P. Cannon
1-13-1970

I Don’t Want to Makeup

I don’t ever want to makeup
Because I never want to breakup
With you

And I don’t ever want to see the day
When I hear you say
May I unpack
Because I never want to see your back
Walk away from me

I don’t ever want to hear your voice
Say that I’m your second choice
Because I never want
The day to come
When you and I are not one

And I don’t ever want to see the day
When I hear you say
May I unpack
Because I never want to see your back
Walk away



© 1970 David P. Cannon (lyrics) / Rob LaVecchio (music)

Someday...Little Angel

Someday

When you’re old and wrinkled and gray
You’ll remember
How I loved you
But now
You’re gone
And you can’t hear my song
I sing when nights are cold
And darkness stays so long

Little Angel, spread your wings
And fly back home
Call me on the phone
You know I’m here and so alone

Little Angel, spread your wings
And fly to me again
And say this is the end
And your life with me
You’ll spend

Because someday
When you’re old and wrinkled and gray
You’ll remember
How I loved you
And pleaded that you would stay.



© 1970 David P. Cannon (lyrics) / Rob LaVecchio (music)

Last Goodbye

We walked the sand
Strolling hand in hand
And then you turned to me
With a tear in your eye

And as you cried
You sadly said to me
"This is my last goodbye,
Truly my last goodbye,
I can't go on
Knowing that my love is gone
Goodbye."

I watched you run
Flowing with the sun
Oh, God, what could I do
I knew that our love was through
And as I tried to hold back the tears
Your words kept ringing in my ears

"This is my last goodbye,
Truly my last goodbye,
I can't go on
Knowing that my love is gone
Goodbye."

©1970 Lyrics: David Cannon
Music: Jaymee Cannon
1-31-70 She left for good two days later.

If you are able

In 1970, when I was writing poetry, some of which was very antiwar, a soldier in Vietnam was also creating verse. His name was Maj. Michael Davis O'Donnell of Springfield, Ill. Forty years ago, on Jan. 1, 1970 he wrote this poem that I read more than a decade later on a Vietnam memorial wall in lower Manhattan. It has been something I've never forgotten, and today I found it in a drawer.

Remembrances

If you are able,

save them a place

inside of you

and save one backward glance

when you are leaving

for the places they can

no longer go.

Be not ashamed to say

you loved them,

though you may

or may not have always.

Take what they have left

and what they have taught you

with their dying

and keep it with your own.

And in that time

when men decide and feel safe

to call the war insane,

take one moment to embrace

those gentle heroes

you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell

1 January 1970, Dak To, Vietnam

Two months after writing this poem, Maj. O'Donnell's helicopter crashed in Cambodia. He was offically declared dead in 1978. His remains were repatriated to the US in 1995 and DNA confirmed it was him. His identification was made known June 20, 2001. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetary. More details are available at www.virtualwall.org/do/OdonnellMD01a.htm