come to me where I sleep,
Turn, turn, turn again,
Say, one of your friends,
is in trouble deep,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
Tell me the trouble,
tell me once to my ear,
Turn, turn, turn again,
Joliet prison,
and ninety-nine years,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
Oh, what's the charge,
of how this came to be?,
Turn, turn, turn again,
Manslaughter in,
the highest degree,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
I sat down and wrote,
the best words I could write,
Turn, turn, turn again,
Explaining to the judge,
I'd be there on Wednesday night,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
Without a reply, I left by the moon,
Turn, turn, turn again,
And was in his chambers,
by the next afternoon,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
Would you tell me the facts,
I said without fear,
Turn, turn, turn again,
That a friend of mine,
could get ninety-nine years,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
A crash on the highway,
flew the car to a field,
Turn, turn, turn again,
There was four persons killed,
and he was at the wheel,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
But I knew him as good,
as I'm knowing myself,
Turn, turn, turn again,
And he wouldn't harm a life,
that belonged to someone else,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
The judge he spoke out,
of the side of his mouth,
Turn, turn, turn again,
Saying "The witness who saw,
he left without doubt",
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
That may be true,
he's got a sentence to serve,
Turn, turn, turn again,
But ninety-nine years,
he just don't deserve,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
Too late, too late,
for his case it is sealed,
Turn, turn, turn again,
His sentence it is passed,
and cannot be repealed,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
But he ain't no criminal,
and his crime it is none,
Turn, turn, turn again,
What happened to him,
could happen to anyone,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
At that the judge jerked forward,
and his face it did freeze,
Turn, turn, turn again,
Saying, "Could you kindly leave,
my office now please?",
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
His eyes looked funny,
and I stood up so slow,
Turn, turn, turn again,
With no other choice,
except for to go,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
I walked down the hallway,
and I heard his door slam,
Turn, turn, turn again,
I walked down the courthouse stairs,
and did not understand,
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind.
And I played my guitar,
through the night to the day,
Turn, turn, turn again,
And the only tune,
my guitar could play,
Was "The Old Cruel Rain And The Wind".
The 2025 poem Cold from Cheryl Caesar's newest collection, Saving Stars:
Wednesday they shot the poet in her car.
The bloody airbag hit me in the face.
I pulled in like a tortoise. I dug far
into the frozen ground, as surface air
was roiling with a noxious orange gas.
I dug so deep I had no voice to hear.
When I emerged, I watched the video:
the neighbors crying Shame! and Murderer!
All human and defenseless in the snow.
Where do we shelter now? How can we hide?
The killing cold is coming from the inside.
The 2026 poem Pearls also in Saving Stars:
In our back yard, the snow is thick and smooth
as icing on an Irish Christmas cake. Sweet
enough to burn your tongue. Safe at the window,
we feel no touch of cold.
The evening has gone grey and mauve
as an old children's book. Deer glide past,
cutouts in a paper theatre. Silently,
without fear; there are no guns here.
Our elderly neighbor Benito turns off his light.
Widowed mending broken bones, he rests.
No bang and clamor of masked, gun-toting men.
We all receive the gift of another planetary turn.
We close like oysters. Over the small grains
of the day's irritations, we let flow
our nacre. soothing our flesh, forming
another pearl on our life string. Look close:
each on reflects a scene of our precious,
our sweet and precarious peace.
Peace Like a River, written and sung by Paul Simon, 1972:
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