Sam Reno

Rancho Cordova, California, USA

Born in 1928, Capricorn (or the Chinese Year of the Dragon.) Non-combatant Veteran of WWII and Korea. Civilian Electronics Engineer in Vietnam and the Marshall Islands. Received Award Of Merit from Vietnamese Army. Senior Systems Field Engineer for Surface to Air Missile Systems in the Middle East: Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, for over 17 years. MIRCOM Certified Instructor. OJT and Formal Classroom Instructor of Foreign and Domestic Students. Over 9,000 hours of Formal Classroom Education. FCC Radio Telephone Operator's License with Ship's Radar Endorsement. Professional Musician: drums, saxophone, banjo and piano for many years. Inventor, Poet and writer.

Charlie Bird

My wife had a male canary
Just as bright as he could be.
He'd sing and call, and yell at you
Wherever you might be.
He sang solo all his life
His songs gave a special thrill.
He could always make your day
With a brilliant warbling trill.
His name was simply Charlie Bird.
His feathers: white and yellow.
His mood was always full of joy.
He was a very happy fellow.
One day Charlie started shaking,
And he could no longer sing.
We tried new herbs and medicines,
But he never flapped a wing.
Then one day he looked at me.
I knew what he tried to say.
He wasn't long for this old world,
And he died that very day.
He laid out flat upon his back;
A soldier's stance: head high.
Back-braced he lay: legs down straight.
Now only his soul could fly.
He didn't have any babies,
And he never had a mate,
But he gave us timeless happiness;
On that we can't debate.
Now Charlie Bird is a memory,
And still we miss him so.
Now he's buried, high on a hill,
Where the misty wild-winds blow.