Author Archives: jackpelham

You will have to put on your thinking cap to understand me here—And there are certainly those who would rather misunderstandThan to put on their thinking caps. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.And yes, I know better, from years’ … Continue reading →

Please help me restore this early American folk song that passed down through my family! This catchy song is so obscure that there is nothing to be discovered about it from an Internet search. I’m a choral composer and conductor … Continue reading →

It is an amazing gift that man has the facultiesFor observation and analysis,And for drawing conclusions and sticking to them.

Jesus had told the man, “Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise.”And billions, who cannot agree on much else, have taken it as a fact. “It must have happened,” they will tell you,Whether any writer tells us after the … Continue reading →

And I wonder about the birdsWhether they are singing to be heard by usIn the first place.

The birds could quit singingAnd there are manyWho would not notice.

Perhaps we should recognize the foolishnessOf expecting someone to behave betterThan he has yet been taught.

There are places yet in this countryWhere the black man had better notShow his face after sundown,Just as there are placesWhere the white man hadBetter not show his face, either. And this is the way they want it.

As necessary as it is,The marketplace wearies me so.

Who loves excellence the mostIs not the consumerWho spends only money,But the artisan who spends himselfTo make things just so.