Poetry Through The Years: Blood, Sweat, and Years

By Paul Anthony Minger

Finally my 2nd book is here, Blood, Sweat and Years..... Honestly I thought it would be more "Years" before I published but between the time of the first book getting published and this book, I was inspired through the ups and downs in my life so much that many of the poems and stories tend to write themselves and before I knew it I had enough

• Language: English
• Publisher: ReadersMagnet LLC
• Release date: Dec 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781955603980

Paul Anthony Minger

Born in Weirton West Virginia, I lived up and down the Northern Panhandle, Chester, Coburn, New Martinsville and back to Weirton. Enlisted into the Army Reserves in July '93 then served on active duty from June '97-'00. After 9-11 I reenlisted back into the Army reserves and served until I retired in January '16 with 3 deployments, once to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan. Worked offshore drilling from June '00-March '17. Happily married my beautiful wife on March 29th, 2020 and now living in Pennsylvania with our children.

Book preview

Poetry Through The Years: Blood, Sweat, and Years

Copyright © 2021 by Paul Anthony Minger

Published in the United States of America

ISBN Paperback: 978-1-955603-99-7

ISBN eBook: 978-1-955603-98-0

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

ReadersMagnet, LLC

10620 Treena Street, Suite 230 | San Diego, California, 92131 USA

1.619.354.2643 | www.readersmagnet.com

Book design copyright © 2021 by ReadersMagnet, LLC. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Kent Gabutin

Interior design by Renalie Malinao

Contents

Keep It on the Page

I’ll Walk These Woods With You

The Little Things

Shallow Waters

Within Your Heart (The Ex’s Version)

Shaking the Hands With Time

The Heart of Reality

Faded Away

Where are You

Karma

Waiver for Christmas

I Will Blow You a Kiss

Christmas Spirit

A Valentine’s Dream

Let Them Dance

This Old Boat

What Is Meant to Be

I Am an American

You Are More than Worth It

Puddles in the Storm

Hope and the Sea

My Own Story

Sometimes

What is a Real Man?

Where Are You

You Let Me Fall

She Still Flies

Glass Heart

Where-ever You Go

Remember Our Own Dance

Above the Clouds

I Miss You

Tears on My Shoulder

Your Time

Tear Drops

Every Part of Me

Another Waiver for Christmas

Rain Cloud

Voices in My Head

Broken Arrow

This World of Today

I Will Always Love You

Unbroken

Keep Smiling Through the Rain

See You Later

A Prayer to an Angel

Another Christmas Gone

Life’s Greatest Riddle

Evil at the Door

It Happens

What is the Price of Love? (Rewritten)

Corruption

Unforgiving

The Life of My Heart

The Good Guy

The Visit

Chemistry

4th of July

The World Needs a Hero...

Conscience

Every Word

Tomb

Who I Am

1st poem of 2018

Rumors

Ripple

Today Flew Away

Memorial Day

No Words

What’s on my Mind

Who Would You Be?

Watching the Pieces Fall

Nothing

No Words

A Simple Plan

Deeper the Lie

Behind the Smile

America Burning

Our Angels

Memory

Hard to Say Goodbye

These Tears I Shed

Anchor

One More

I’m Lost Between (Anxiety to Depression)

I Would Marry You

Mister Know-it-all

Make a Wish

She’s Caffeine

I Will Always Love You

This One is for the Memories

My Special Gift...

15 Red Roses

Just Breathe

Good Lord won’t bring me to you (In Sara Evans’ voice)

One less

Baseball Cards and Bubble Gum

Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone

See You Smile

(rapped out fast pace with emotion)

My Twelve Days of Christmas....

BONUS

Dear Sun

Memories

Conversations With My Daughters Over The Years

Keep It on the Page

The writing starts

With a stroke of the pen

With just a dab of ink

Another stroke again

Allow thoughts to flow

From the mind to hand

Another random idea

From an ordinary man

Each letter is struck

Carefully articulated

Another word spelled

Always anticipated

From the right to left

Thoughts turn to print

Exposing a meaning

With just a small hint

Purpose laid out

With every strike

You keep on reading

The words you like

Could be about love

Violence and rage

It’s only a story

Keep it on the page

Spelling is checked

Sentences are made

Punctuation important

Interest shall not fade

All I’s are dotted

The T’s are crossed

It wouldn’t make sense

If meaning is lost

Paragraphs constructed

Pages begin to fill

With a longer message

Those thoughts become real

The theme seems unplanned

As chapters are named

Numbers are counted

Pages no longer plain

From child to adult

Mature to senior

Give your book purpose

Know what you write for

The book is written

Laid out for others

Waiting to be read

From cover to cover

So, go live your life

The best that you can

Whether you’re a woman

Or that of a man

Write about your children

The time that you spent

Speak about your pets

And what they all meant

You may have your doubts

But one thing is true

This is your story

It should matter to you

So, was it educational?

Adventurous or wild

Did you find the reader?

Or was it their style

Was it inspiring?

For a grander stage

Whatever your story

Keep it on the page

Written: 08-29-2020

Keep it on the Page was written with the idea of me writing another book. I tend to write a lot but I also tend to be quite verbal when it comes to my beliefs. I realized that, over the years, that both writing and being verbal doesn’t always mix so if I’m going to write and publish, I know that I must know when to speak up and back up my words and also there is a time where I must keep my mouth shut and allow my words to be on paper. People can enjoy a great idea or different perspective but not everyone can handle confrontation well so by keeping it on the page will avoid the confrontation. So with that in mind, I hope those who reads this book can enjoy my perspective on life and the words that I try to describe it.

I’ll Walk These Woods With You

I’ll walk these woods with you

We will walk them for the view

Traveling for miles

With nothing but smiles

I’ll walk these woods with you

I’ll cross these cricks with you

We will jump on a rock or two

Shoulder to shoulder

Skipping across boulders

I’ll cross these cricks with you

I’ll climb these hills with you

We will grab twigs that grew

Climbing and gliding

Slipping and sliding

I’ll climb these hills with you

I’ll hide in the weeds with you

We will play like we use to do

Something we all did

Back when we were kids

I’ll hide in the weeds with you

I’ll lie in the plains with you

We will lie till morning pass noon

Wildflowers in the breeze

Holding hands, you and me

I’ll lie in the plains with you

I’ll walk these woods with you

Enjoying nature, old and new

Looking to the skies above

We will both fall in love

With nature’s morning dew

I’ll walk these woods with you

Written: 10-03-13

When I came up with I’ll Walk These Woods with You is when I was at a moment in my life when I came home from my last deployment and I was going through a lot of personal issues. I would go to a park, like Raccoon State Park in Pennsylvania and Coopers Rock down Morgantown West Virginia and I would just walk through the woods thinking to myself. I love nature and I could spend all day out there just enjoying the scenery. The picture on the back of my previous book, Tears, Wishes and Dreams, where I was sitting by the creek bed, was taken at Raccoon State Park by my nephew who decided to walk with me that day. That’s the day that this poem came to mind.

The Little Things

You give her your love

She knows that you do

She is all you think of

She knows that is true

You put in long hours

She sees your hard work

She knows you’re tired

She wants a second look

You kiss her goodnight

She wants a little more

You turn out the light

While she closes that door

You fall fast asleep

She lies there awake

Her heart still weeps

She shivers and aches

You feel all is fine

She’s feeling so lost

You are falling behind

Her soul is the cost

She wants the little things

That will make it better

Not diamonds or rings

Just flowers and letters

She wants those words

Verbal or written

Poems about birds

Or write about kittens

Compliment her hair

On how good she looks

Something you can share

A movie or a book

Give her those moments

Make them heartfelt and true

Give her the acknowledgment

Cause all she wants is you

Written: 07-21-2013

I admit I am the worse person to come to for any type of relationship advice…..lol The Little Things isn’t intended to be for any type of advice, just how I feel that a woman should be treated. It’s how I want to treat the woman that I’m with. I’m old fashion in the way a man should treat a woman and feel that chivalry should be still alive but I also believe that a woman can be strong minded woman can take care of herself but shouldn’t have to. Both, men and women should complement each other and this is just one side of what I believe how the man should stand up to compliment the woman…

Shallow Waters

You live your life

In shallow waters

Not daring to chance

Anything harder

Sitting the beach

Feet in the sand

Feeling the waves

Cleansing your hand

Keeping it simple

Enjoying the day

Watching the world

Not daring to play

Keeping it safe

Not wanting to swim

Life passing by

By not jumping in

---------------

It’s time to jump

And take the leap

Feel free to dive

Into the deep

Don’t be afraid

Just hop on in

In order to play

You have to swim

Take the chance

Enjoy your day

Life isn’t simple

But it’s time to play

You will find

You will get further

If you step on out

From Shallow Water

--------------

Sitting the beach

Watching forever

As life goes on

Beyond Shallow Waters

Written: May 17, 2013

Shallow Waters is about taking chances. We all find ourselves within our comfort zones that we perform so well in that we refuse to step out beyond our own boundaries. We are too afraid to step into a new activity, hobby, job or career in fear that we will fail. So we may stay within our own shallow waters for so long and become so complacent that we will actually deprive ourselves from loss opportunities out of fear of drowning.

When does a lie become the truth?...When people start believing it.

Within Your Heart (The Ex’s Version)

Flowers will not blossom

The trees will not bloom

Nothing will ever grow

In this desolate tomb

The ground continues to rot

Poison ruins its soil

Weeds welter and die

To lay in their own spoils

Light refuses to enter

The darkness can’t be described

Oxygen has been displaced

Nothing will ever survive

Animals will never live

People may never go

Who can ever imagine

A place being more hollow

It’s a place I once been

I have the proven scars

The nightmarish memories

More desalinate than Mars

It’s a place I’ll never forget

It threatens the very thought

It’s a place where love don’t last

And that’s within your heart

Written: 10-08-2013

We all have that ex in our lives that we wish we could tell them how we really feel about them. Well, this is one of those moments that it probably best to Keep it on the Page and not get in trouble with speaking out loud, especially to the person that something like this was written for.

Shaking the Hands With Time

Could everything been different?

Looking back on the hands of time

Wishing things could have changed

That ended with no reason, or rhyme

For those tears I could have saved

If only could have held them all back

Those times defaulted into weakness

When all my strength fell through the crack

Remembrance of all the pain

Scars of heartbreaks and lonely nights

Those times for words of wisdom

Whispers, everything will be alright

Images of bags with broken hearts

Watching you leave that very day

Those times when a friend was needed

While miles departed us both ways

From Thanksgiving to Halloween

Haunted memories of all the screams

Those times you shouldn’t have left

Are moments embedded in my dreams

Different roads I had to travel

Led me to the path that I am on