KEITH

 

Private First Class in the stone is cut

That stone up on the hill,

And the space between the numbers there,

A few years would fill.

And the name is same as I bear;                      

We were a pair.

– eab, 1966 *If he were living he’d have turned 80 today.*

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KEITH

KEITH ^[1]    

On that standing hill a monument lies.                            

A memorial, still, for the body that dies.

And the stone is cut with a record of days;

Brief a man, but now he low lays.

– eab, Dec. ‘66

^[1] Keith R (Roger) Bryan (b 11/20/1936), my only brother, was killed (5/24/1954) in boot camp at Fort Lewis.

Note: my opposition to war did not come till a year or so after this poem.

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Stuart Hamblen – Converted to Christ, Oct. 18, 1949

This Ole House

This ole house once knew his children
This ole house once knew his wife
This ole house was home and comfort
As they fought the storms of life
This old house once rang with laughter
This old house heard many shouts
Now he trembles in the darkness
When the lightnin’ walks about

CHORUS:
Ain’t a-gonna need this house no longer
Ain’t a-gonna need this house no more
Ain’t got time to fix the shingles
Ain’t got time to fix the floor
Ain’t got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the windowpane
Ain’t a-gonna need this house no longer
He’s a-gettin’ ready to meet the saints

2. This ole house is a-gettin’ shaky
This ole house is a-gettin’ old
This ole house lets in the rain
This ole house lets in the cold
On his knees I’m gettin’ chilly
But he feel no fear nor pain
‘Cause he see an angel peekin’
Through a broken windowpane
 
3. This ole house is afraid of thunder
This ole house is afraid of storms
This ole house just groans and trembles
When the night wind flings its arms
This ole house is gettin’ feeble
This old house is needin’ paint
Just like him it’s tuckered out
But he’s a-gettin’ ready to meet the saints
 
4. This ole house dog lies a-sleepin’
He don’t know I’m gonna leave
Else he’d wake up by the fireplace
And he’d sit there and howl and grieve
But my huntin’ days are over
Ain’t gonna hunt the coon no more
Gabriel done brought in my chariot
When the wind blew down the door.

Carl Stuart Hamblen, on this date, 10/18/1949, country songwriter, converted to Jesus Christ.  He authored the above (a “hit” in 1954) and later penned “It Is No Secret What God Can Do,” “How Big is God?” and “They That Wait Upon the Lord.”

Hamblen was born 10/20/1908 at Kellyville, Texas the son of a Methodist preacher.

He passed from this life 3/8/1989.

PERSONAL NOTE – Heard this first, riding in a 1934 black Chevy (spoke-wire rims) with my only brother, Keith, who was killed in May 1954.

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KEITH

Private First Class in the stone is cut,

That stone up on the hill,

And the space between the numbers there,

A few years would fill.

And the name is same as I bear;

We were a pair. [1]

                – eab, ‘66 DEC

 

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^[1] Keith R. (Roger) Bryan (born 11/20/1936), my only brother, killed in boot camp May 24, 1954 at Yakima, WA.

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