Ballad Of 100 Lives Poem by Thomas Segel

Soup for my heart and frosting for my brain:
Joy fills my heart as I think of mystic rains.
God’s tempest did kiss the ocean’s waves
And sent the smell of salt and spray a-dancing to my face.
Majestic falls so clear and free
Came tumbling to the sea
And did thrill my heart and
Fill my mind with how a man should be.
While at my side the Rose of Life did sigh
And sing a woman’s prayer
Of life and love and forgotten songs…
Of wind in children’s hair…
With thoughts of past and future mixed
The honking geese did fly
Towards the sun to kiss the clouds
And praise the earth and skies.

Then came a clash of mind-to-mind
That shattered the woman’s prayer,
While upon her burned the eyes
Of saddened life and lost despair.

O Woman! You have climbed a mountain
Seeking Kingdoms at the top….
And I am but a man and can not
Tell you when to stop.
Still you sing and still you laugh
And joy is now at hand:
One day you will sigh and then
We will fly to kiss the angel band—
And then be sent back to earth to labor hand-in-hand!

Look upon the boundless ocean
Place your ear in the billowing wind;
Turn around, then look back again!
The world has turned another time,
And left dreams of satin
Memories of bittersweet wine….
Moods do change as summer to fall;
But how many will stand up to the call?
Of love so rightly wronged?
By the sound of a crying lovebird’s song.
And who will stand in the flaming light
Of warm expression on a cold winter’s night
To sing a song of love anew
And let its laughter ring in the morning’s dew.
Even now as a fire lights the night,
You stumble on and hug the ground
Like a stranger with loss of sight.

O Woman standing on the edge of time!
Cast away your silver dreams of wine
Then turn and run into the depths of night
And let the flames of love be your guiding light.
I am but a dropp in a boundless sea,
But even now my God has his eyes on me.
I know he will break the darkness and give me sight
By sending me just one true love that is right.
On the crossroads I stand alone
Just waiting to find my heart a home.
I shall not falter in my task
To find myself a love to last.

O Lady standing beneath the ancient oak
Creating visions in the golden smoke
And giving wings to the angels’ song
Of love that cannot go wrong
One day I shall find just where I belong.
Shine O stars, cast off your radiant beams,
For I know you are sending down sparkling dreams.
You set my mind afire
Burning with just one desire:
That is to catch you before you fall,
Or to climb one of your beams so tall.
You hold the key to Heaven’s Door…
I know I needn’t say anymore.

But still the night lingers on
Dancing and singing its fruitless songs
You must beware of the moon-eyed maiden
Her hair a’golden and eyes of satin
She will show you splendor in her arms
Then build in you a raging fire
That will scorch your soul as her flames reach higher
Heed my warnings: I tell no stories
For many lost souls have died in her glories.


Even now I must ramble on
After singing to you my crazy song
I can tell you where we are all headed in this world,
That is, before we climb those steps of pearl.
Stop! Look around! What do you see?
Your friends, a jug of wine and me.
And so to you this tale is told
Of a poor little man with a whole lot of gold.
Take from this ballad just what you can
For I have my own joy to spread throughout the land.
A gold-spun love that I know will not die
She walks by my side and I needn’t ask why.
O Lord, I do thank you for this heavenly gift
You have taken my poor heart from the drift
Of longing for love the whole night through
And you have stopped a lonely soul from wandering, too.
Give me the strength to carry on
And let all be right when the day is done
The sun shining in through the trees
The wind fills my heart with a fragrant breeze
I hear the sounds of a princess come to call
Her silver voice rings through the halls
Of the once-dead temple of love
Made alive by my God up above.
If you care to sing my song
We will dance together the whole day long
Listen to the call of the lost sheep
Who wonder all the day then cry in their sleep
For theirs is the saddest of tunes
Played by the wind as it howls at the moon.

And now ninety-nine lives have passed
And I have but just one to last
Till the golden trumpets blow
And the Lord comes down to claim my soul
So I bid you all have peace of mind
For no one really knows the time
When there will be no more songs and no more wine.
Watch the sea otters on the reefs as they play
Caressing the aqua-blues waves all the day.
Stand if you will on the purple sands
And look up at the trees created by God’s own Hand.
Blow O Wind: Carry your message afar.
You know how right you are
Let the birds in the sky take to wing
They truly hear the song you sing.
Hear Mother Nature’s joyful cry
And let her sacred children fly
All of this is God’s monument to man
So my last life I will lay in His Hands
I now have an everlasting worldly love
To take with me to heaven above!
And I have found my wandering heart a home
So no more will it have to roam
And I have ended the endless task
To find myself an eternal love to last
But in my search for this brilliant love
I’ve followed many a path to hold my star up above;
And I could not touch or possess truth’s gold
Until I saw the road of my own soul.

Thomas James Segel