Keeping Your Sanity

I lost my mother before I could drive

At 36 my brother wasn't alive

But I did keep my father til he was 75

By that time I could really jump and jive

I started classical music at the age of 4

But let me tell you there was much more

I could read music before writing

But I couldn't remember

Tears streaming and fighting

Trying to escape my brother's anal reaming

Hand over my mouth to quiet my screaming

The 16 years that memory was repressed

He taught me keyboard moves only known by the best

I transfered that learning to guitar and bass

Then one day that memory hit me in the face

That same day he met me crying in the sun

Apologizing and saying he'd never touch my son

I believed him without doubt

I knew he was true

My son loved his uncle more than anyone he knew

I worked and played music all of my life

I was playing the day I met my wife

I even played in prison and escaped everyday

While playing an instrument it seemed I was away

It saved me then as it saves me now

Two times through chemo

You might wonder how

We all need a giver of strenght

To give life some sanity if not some length



James Edward George