Across the Crick"

Where is this place? This here "across the crick' ". A place where I kin dance, and laff"...and talk... loud and fast like the old folks did...holler if I take a mind to! Talk...talk...talk...without bothering nobody! I kin throw back my head, put my hands on my hips and holler...holler out all the stuff I been a keepin' bottled up inside a me! If that's what I take a mind to do...

Why, I wouldnt have to worry 'bout nuthin'...not life or love or little miss "I wouldn't do that if I wuz you"...aint no two faced people on that side a the crick'. Ever body lookin' out for everybody.

Yes sirree...I'd like to find that place again where folks do things a lot differin' they do here on this side of the crick"...where Im stuck!

Here on this side , ya put shoes on feet that jus' want freedom...hats on head when ya dont need'em. You eat when ya aint hungry and ya marry who ya dont love.

Over there across the crick you run bareoot through clear clean water, and watch it trickle through the dust in streaks till it gits' to ya toes. You feel the warm sun when ya lay ya face rite down against them big old flat rocks. The ones that rise up friendly in middle of the crick'. Ya let the warm sun soak into ya bones...ya close ya eyes and smell summer. No certain smell...just all the smells that make summer be summer.

There "across the crick"...old folks are trying to out talk each other. Youngin are trying to listen while they chase lit'nen bugs... and day dreams...Sometimes standin real still, just letin' things be. They let the sounds melt through their bones till their hearts are about to bust from all the goodness around 'em. ..."there across the crick'"...cause over there even the youngins' know...that this is as good as it gets!

There across the crick' is how things used to be...the good old days folk call'em.. It is the place we left behind and spend all our lives trying to get back to...running the wrong way the whole time.

It's a feeling deep inside us yearning for the shelter and protection of unconditional love and total acceptance. It is an empty feeling that we never seem to be able to fill, a sweet sadness forever a part of our memories...a place we choose to remember...whether it existed or not.

Shirley Cochran-Walls

Love's Quiet Release

I ask God "WHY?" He said, there is no "WHY"...there is only "IS"! The tears of love are painful, but memories are bitter sweet medicine to heal the wounds of the heart. He didnt promise He would change it...only help me accept it.

To let go of the hurt is important to the healing process. Dont try to forget...it wont work. Exercise the memories, re-live them. Enjoy them and use them to remind yourself it is a magnificent world, full of change and surprises. Nothing lasts forever, neither good...nor bad. Each time has its own season. Each person their own destiny. Life may not last, but neither does pain. You will see the tears of memory heal into your character, to become a lasting part of who you are. A memory for your soul to hold wrapped in love secure forever. You realize the one you lost helped make you a better person by teaching you to let go of the pain. You arent being disloyal by enjoying life...it is the way they live now...through your good memories of them.

Shirley Cochran-Walls

A Warm Legacy

As we pass along life's journey,
we will leave foot prints on the
paths we choose, our finger prints
on those we touch, our heart prints
on those we love...and our memories
with those who loved us.

Shirley Cochran-Walls

Guy David's Freedom

Beneath the golden rain tree
lies in peaceful slumber there,
a fair faced youth with eyes of blue,
who sleeps without a care.

On gossimer wings he laughs and sings
of a life never meant to last.
There wrapped in his dreams he accomplishes
things, that should have come to pass.


( This was written for my brother who died at birth.
A life lived in heaven accomplishing all the
things he was meant to do.)

Shirley Cochran-Walls

A Dove Among the Thistles

A dove gently lit among the thistles
to guide us along the way,
with urgent end impending;
problems and worries unending.
He gave us a new recognition
of a promise of yesterday.

Shirley Cochran-Walls

Special Places

There's a place where decisions are made,
old hurts are forgotten, and the future is
planned. This special corner of our mind
where life is good. Memories and dreams
are held in high esteem, only you know
where your special place exists.

A place where you make contact
with the forces of the universe,
you set your soul free for awhile.
Maybe, a crowd, or covering several
miles at once, it could just be your
little corner of the universe.

Private and secluded...it belongs to you,
there you become like a butterfly
as the cocoon of worldly problems fall
gently away. You can re-group, re-new
energy....and rethink your problems.
New courage and tranquility wait for you
in that special place where life is re-newable.

When you realize the road map for this
journey is etched on your heart byby
God's own design...you will find peace,
serenity and solitudfe inside yourself.

When you discover... this place buried deep
inside your own soul ...you will have finally
found the meaning of true happiness.

Shirley Cochran-Walls

The Resignation

As the sun came up this morning,
it brought promise in it's magnificent glow,
as warmth filtered throught the room,
I knew it was time to go.

I'm beginning to feel much better
about 'most everything I do,
I'm more confident and self-assured,
and I owe it all to you.

Don't think of me as ungrateful,
as I leave you here today,
all things are but for a moment...
and I was never meant to stay.

I'll be grateful to you forever,
but I must follow my guiding star,
I must be who I am...
just as you must be who you are.

Don't shed tears for my absence,
among tears, smiles can never grow,
they are thistles among the flowers,
or cinders on pure white snow.

Be happy we loved each other,
but make room inside your heart,
for another love on the horizon
a new life...and a brand new start.


Shirley Cochran-Walls

DISORGANIZATION...

...Disorganization...is merely the sign of a very healthy individual trying to do more in a shorter period of time than those lazy obsessively tidy types who can think of nothing better to do than straighten objects in drawers and stuff like that which only feeds their own egos and makes them think they are better than those of us who are truly gifted..(quote from...Southern Lawnmowers Dealers Newletter...Submitted by Tim Steele...Quality Services...Louisa, Ky...(I like this)