Without further delay, a taste of Handsome Johnny's stuff...

(a.k.a Lonesome Johnny the Free Rambling Man)

Yes, 'tis true, but greater still
are the nautical miles I've tread in water
And as the mermaids laugh, and swim circles around me
I can but gaze upon them, also to smile
For truth and knowledge are brothers, cruel masters both
to strip away that which binds the daily toil
Gaze then, if you will
towards the bright and shining firmament on high, saying
"Shake not thy thunder on me, this day
for I shall not bend nor break as I am wont to do
This blood is hot, and runs quickly still
Through the veins of a young man."

John David Cochran
26 September 1996
taken from "Notes from a Hasty Retreat"