JERRY OLIVER

2 poems

THE PRESIDENTS SPEECH (AND THE DECADES OF LIFE)

In the 1950's
kids hid under desks at school
during air raid and atomic bomb fall-out drills

In the 1960's
the youth and intellectual leaders
took enough acid to believe in love and peace

In the 1970's
we mastered cynicism and menace
and became punk enough to scream 'it doesn't matter'

In the 1980's
it did matter for me, the king
hedonism ruled the streets and morality kept the house

In the 1990's
the lines were drawn and secrets held
and commitees planned one world systems of business deals, wink

In the 2000's
we hear great stories about the oceans as protection
in those days gone by
 
In who's world?
Asleep at the wheel and over the cliff we go...
bye bye

SEED

Sometimes I feel like
a twig

If the wind blew
the wrong way
I could snap

Other times
I think I’m
a redwood
and will never die

I’ll just stand here petrified
 

Jerry Oliver is a singer/songwriter/recording artist and guitar instructor at The Musicians Hall Of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. Originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota Jerry has been writing poetry since his 8th grade English teacher compelled him to keep a journal which he has faithfully done since 1974. The journal sprouted the seed of thousands of poems and songs since that time. Though Jerry has always taken his poetry as serious or even more so than his music he has only recently decided to try to publish his works.

Check out Jerry's music site at www.jerryoliver.com