History Recalled
A Trilogy of Verse, 01-15-2015
Velasco Ghosts
Spirit Guardians, 01-15-2015
They say those ghosts still wander here
In Surfside by the sea
Like angels they are guardians
Of hard fought liberty
The city hall museum too
Does host them every night
These mariners and soldiers lost
Who died for freedoms right
From first when Austin’s Colony
Did occupy this land
No lives were ever lost for naught
And here they proudly stand
With Thunder on the Brazos sounds
Now heard forevermore
Great battles fought for Texas truth
Did freedom’s rights ensure
And still these ghosts do linger here
On porches in the sky
Assuring every resident
On them they can rely
They celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day
On floats of Emerald Green
Run the beach borne marathon
So mystical that scene
They man the shrimpers bringing luck
To those who ply the waves
On boards they daily ride the surf
The demon ocean paves
Their knock upon that bedroom door
Your nerves will always test
But all that they are seeking
Is just some place to rest
And never should you fear this clan
Great heroes from our past
For Velasco was a battleground
For some the very last
David L. Devaney
Atop Old City Hall
That Garret Hideaway, 01-15-2015
When you visit this museum
Atop old city hall
The Karankawa greet you there
As now I do recall
The steps you climb rise endlessly
To this garret by the sea
There’s a miniature Velasco fort
And maps with history
You’ll too perceive an eeriness
As though one’s watching you
But all those ghostly stories heard
Are never really true
You’ll sign a register that sits
Beside those endless stairs
Then breathe a bit of history
To which none now compares
For since the nineteenth century
When Texas was a child
Young pioneers and colonists
Have tamed this land so wild
They fought and died and fought again
Those battles herein found
And though great storms have come to call
The museum stood its ground
It is one place where all who come
Find Texas in their veins
A hall where birthrights are revealed
Through manmade antique panes
A deep breath then invigorates
Your sense of Lone Star pride
Once down those steps that never end
There’s treasures found outside
David L. Devaney
Fort Velasco
The Challenge to Restore, 01-15-2015
This Republic was created
Where the Brazos finds the sea
The settlement Velasco
Began its history
Challenged then defended
As independence grew
Old spirits still seen wandering
While you are passing through
Midst neighbors friends and colleagues
A treaty was agreed
Its words a true precursor
For freedom the first seed
One public and one secret
Two documents were made
To end this great hostility
So peace would here pervade
Yet Mexico ignored them
This “Texas’ would not live
They did not ratify these words
Then all the past forgive
Yet still Velasco’s truth was shared
By woman man and child
The Texas heartbeat here begun
Would not now be defiled
For strength and truth and freedom formed
Do last forevermore
With Velasco here in Surfside
The people dreams restore
Acknowledging tradition
With drive beyond compare
Come join this quest to recreate
The history we share
David L. Devaney