Just because I might consider myself a whimsical writer doesn’t mean I’ve always had a carefree life. Look closely at the picture and see the pencil-printed words I wrote during a battle with a broken heart. Ah youth…

I spent a year and half in Houston, Texas learning carpentry skills from a master carpenter. I still use those skills on a regular basis, and I’ll never forget ol’ Marvin. But even as I was learning an invaluable trade, I could never put aside my pen (or in this case, pencil) for more than a few hours.

Case and point…I just opened one of my older spiral notebooks and a crumpled piece of very light bluegreen paper fell out. It was an old invoice for some panel doors and casing from a plywood distributor in Houston. And it was dated in 1978. But I didn’t keep it for that reason. On the back was a poem I scribbled with my knife-sharpened carpenter’s pencil. I had just gotten some “dear John” type of message from the girl I thought was my one true one. So, of course, I had to pour out my heart and since there was no handy notebook, I grabbed the closest paper I could find. In my own whimsical way I wrote my thoughts to an inanimate object…because I knew no one would want to hear my story of woe and heartache.

So my carefree life wasn’t carefree at that moment, but in its own way it was still whimsical as I wrote…

To The Sands

To the sands I sent a message
Of my dedication here.
I sent it to the sands
‘Cause I knew they’d shed no tear.
As I thought of how I’d loved her
And was turned away at last
I became constantly idle,
Always thinking of the past.
Love had once again denied me,
And I numbly turned away,
Just forsaken by the distance.
There was nothing I could say.
From the sands there came a message,
And it made my throat go dry.
It said never give her up, boy
Even if she makes you cry.
Yes, you know you’ll always love her
And you’ll miss her even more.
So believe that you can do it,
And she’ll love you like before.

© 1978 Tony Funderburk
April 14

By the way, the message from “the sands” didn’t prove to be accurate or true.

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