Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Another New Year's Eve

What better way to say goodbye to this year than a poem about memories! I have been so blessed by so many through the years...I can only hope that I have brought a few smiles to some of you.

Here you go....from 2010...

Memories
Thanks
Lord,
For memories.

Those moments
When the years roll back
To times good and bad.

Old friends,
New meanings,
Faces untouched by time.

Reminding me
Of unseen hands
And forgotten plans.

What joy
To see
Your hand holding me.

Thanks
Lord,

For memories. 

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Time to Put Away the Decorations

As much as I love Christmas, the time has come to put away the decorations....ok, in m house we won't do that until Jan. 1...My twins' birthday is the 31st and we always told them when they were little that the decorations were for them between Christmas and New Years.

So, I give to you one last Christmas themed poem for 2013.....

This Child

This child
Shatters the night
Revealing the path
To redemption

This child
Breaks the silence
Creating celebrations
In heaven and on earth

This child
Crushes the last enemy
Laying waste
To sin and death

This child
So helpless and small
Is the Savior
Of us all

This child
Is

Jesus.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas and all through my house....IT'S CRAZY!!! Not really, but it certainly isn't "not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." Life sure can get us wound up, especially at Christmas. I somehow managed to find a few moments to myself earlier this evening and penned three Christmas themed poems....here's one of them:

A Life in Few Words

He left glory
Wrapped Himself
In flesh
Because of love

Stubborn hearts and
Unbelieving masses
Broke His heart
But He kept on

Rejected
By His own
Because love
Was too wide

Beaten
And mocked
Reviled He died
His arms held open wide

A borrowed grave
Was a temporary home
Three days and then
He arose

One day
Whether near or far
He will return for His own

Lord Jesus, come


Monday, December 23, 2013

Thinking of the Child

I often wonder what it must have been like that night so long ago....when Christ was born. What went through the minds of the shepherds and Mary and Joseph?

Thinking of the Child

Gaze in wonder
At the Child-King
Given to redeem
People like me

So small
And helpless
Yet given to conquer
My greatest enemy

Laid in a wooden manger
Wrapped in simple cloths
One day to be laid
Upon a wooden cross

Come to destroy
The power of sin
This wondrous child

The greatest of gifts.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

'Tis the Season!

I love Christmas, but I'm terrible when it comes to writing about it. This was written just a couple of days ago. I apologize in advance....

The Shepherd’s King

Breaking
Through the night
An angel gave
The news to shepherds

These shepherds
Found the king
Not in a palace
But a stable

This king
Gave his life
For the broken
The poor
The lost

A king
For the despairing
He still calls
To the wounded

Come, be at peace.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Some days you should never pick up the pen......

One of the dangers in this blog is that I seem to have forgotten how bad some of this stuff really is. My senior year in high school seems to have been the genesis for a lot of bad poetry. The reason seems to be the three girls who managed to break through my veneer and touch my heart....and cause bad poetry.

I apologize for the following:

Smile

If I could make time stand still
I’d stop it at this moment,
With you this close to me.
Because there’s a reason why I smile.

The warmth we’ve shared
Has touched more than we two.
We’ve made others happy
Because they’ve wanted us both
To find someone who cared.

It was God’s will that we be together.
Maybe not forever,
Maybe for only a couple of days.

But no matter how long
Or short our time will be
Because of it
We shall both be better
And I just want to thank you

I just want to make you happy.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

It's the Holiday Season

As with my reluctance to write poems about my faith, I have a great reluctance to write poems about Christmas....It's not that I don't love Christmas, I just have a hard time feeling that I can say anything worthwhile or that someone else hasn't already said.

Having said all that....Here's a very recent one dealing with Christmas.

Meditations on a Holiday

Have the sounds
Of the season
Overwhelmed
A child’s simple cry?

Dazzling displays
Of electric light
Threaten to blind us
To His star

Can we hear
The angels
Over the roar
Of the commercials?

A tine baby
In a rough-hewn bed
Christmas
Is something both
More and less
Than we have

Made it to be.

written Dec. 4, 2013

Sunday, December 8, 2013

A Step Along the Way

I would say "you asked for it, you got it," except that no one asked for this! Lol! Here's today's selection...

Desire
Lord,
Why are we...
Why am I
So blind
To my need for you?

I know all the words,
All the steps.
Ritual is my
Second nature.
But where are you?

How I long
To know you,
To see a glimpse
Of your glory,
A touch of your hand.

Help me
Leave behind
Empty moments.
Fill me

With You.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Nostalgia is Memory with the Pain Removed

There are a few friends that I have lost touch with and I regret that so much. I wrote this poem in 2003 while thinking of a few of them.

Friends and Lovers
I thought of you today
And smiled.
My heart remembered you
As we were,
Unbowed by time,
Unspoiled by tears.

But that’s not real
No matter what I want.
Life has performed its task
And so here we are
Fumbling awkwardly
Over memories.

You have grown
And become the person
I always knew you
Would be
I’m not sure what I am,
Other than scarred.

Much has passed
Between chance meetings
Yet one thing remains
I am still blessed

By you. 

Monday, November 25, 2013

Fresh From the "Way Back Machine"

Ok,be honest. Do you get the "Way Back Machine" reference? If you do, then we share more than a few things. Anyway: today is a poem that dates back to 1976. I remember writing this after a long, late night car ride spent watching the moon as the car pressed on into the night.

I don't say it's good....but here it is:

Abstract
Revolutions of blinding speed
Create the silent movement of
An invisible object

Rocks standing with daggers pointed
Towards
Invisible objects hidden in the heavens

Blazing incandescence
Of a million flaming orbs
That light the pathways to the stars

The precise ordered movements of an arm
In its predestined path
Towards a predestined point of destruction.


Alarm

Friday, November 22, 2013

Back in the Saddle Again

I've been sick and pretty much quarantined for the last three weeks. The combination of meds made me a little loopy and so I've been unable to post anything....But I'm feeling much better today and so I've decided that it's time to get back into the swing of posting these poems for someone's satisfaction (?).

And so....

I present to you a love poem.....I can't remember the exact date, but it I had to guess I would think that it was from 1978, my senior year in high school.

Who Knows?
They tell me that when we’re together
We smile brighter
And I know that I like to be around you
Because you give me a lift
We stay in each other’s company
And share the very deepest things
Could it be that we’re falling in love?

When we spend time together
Everything seems to go smoother
For us both
Doing the simple things
That are usually tedious
Become entertaining and enjoyable
When we’re together.

The hard things come easier
As we travel on our way
Knowing that each other is there
To help
And care deeper than we’re both ready to admit

I think we are. 

Friday, November 8, 2013

The cure for insomnia...my poetry

Here's today's selection.....
Deliverance
Darkness swept down upon him
Threatening to crush the breath
From his very soul.
The talons of hate
Tearing at his heart,
The evil smell of death
Hung heavy about him.

Struggling,
He slowly sank beneath
The weight of a thousand
Unforgotten sins
Wishing only to be forgiven
The lies of a lifetime
Bound into a single moment
Of painful truth.

Forced to his back,
Feeling the foul breath
Of his conquerors
Enveloping his face,
Desiring to have the peace
Of being stabbed in the back.

Then, as if in an instant
All the accusers were gone.
A rough-hewn hand reaching down
Helping him rise to his feet
To steady once faltering steps

Where have your attackers gone?
A voice of quiet thunder
Moved his broken soul.
Before him was only this man
That seemed like a long forgotten
Friend.

My child,
There are no sins so great
That my Father above cannot forget
Once my blood has washed you clean.
Then, as if the sun had dawned within Him
Jesus stood in all His glory

And Heaven sang. 

Monday, November 4, 2013

Words that Fail.

I seem to have the hardest time writing about my relationship with God. I'm not sure that I've ever written one poem about the Lord that I've ever thought was worth reading. I'll let you decide....

Savior
Death was upon me
Bathing all in darkness.
Alienation and sorrow
Filled the void.

Hope was long forgotten
Leaving only an anguished wail
All was despair
All was lost

Bursting upon my night
Burning brighter than
The noonday sun
Love
Reaching to the center of my pain
Destroying the despair

His name was Jesus
He who made the world
I had heard of him
But now I knew His love
From death came life
Darkness to joy
Hopelessness to life eternal

This was Jesus.

Friday, November 1, 2013

The Dark Side I Sense in You.....

This poem comes from 1977. This year was a very dark and difficult time in my life. It was a time filled with physical and emotional pain, and the writings of the time reflect the dark nature of my struggle. There were a lot of these type of poems from this period. This one just happened to fall next in the stack.


Sidelined
The pain is no stranger,
Actually it’s a quite frequent visitor
And he never misses a chance to drop in for a visit
But he’s not very gracious
When he comes he make it hard to get around
Have you ever tried to walk up three stairs
And couldn’t do it without breaking into tears?
You ought to try it sometime

Walking can make you cry
Forget about running
And jumping and all sports
I can ride bikes and swim
Without too much pain
But it’s pain all the same
Only not so bad

Everybody understands
And they really feel sorry.
That’s real nice
But it doesn’t take away
The tears.

I dream of what it use dto be
When I could walk and run
And enjoy sports
But that was before it happened
That was a trail of enthusiasm
This is a trail of observance
Damn it.


Written in 1977 

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Sometimes....

Sometimes you start a poem and you know exactly where it's going and other times you get started and it just kind of wanders off on its own. This is an example of the second. Here it is...such as it is.

Hand in Hand
Long ago
She captured his heart
As they held hands

But young love
Seldom lasts
And they stopped
Holding hands

Life happened
With hope and joy
Sorrow and pain
And
Paths diverged

Dreams achieved
And shattered
But a quiet longing
Marked them all

Every night
The stars knew
Their longing
They wanted

To hold hands.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

I Don't Remember This One.

I can remember at least something of the origins of most of the poems I write. This is the exception. I include it here because it was in the stack and I made a promise to myself to post every poem I've ever written....

Moment
Here, alone in the depth of
Lightless night
I choose my time to cry
A few tears of pleasant
Sorrow.

Bitterness is not found in my heart,
For we did not live a lie
And hatred never invaded our lives
We know that it was good
And that we grew

The happiness we knew
Will never fade away
We blessed each other’s lives
For a while

As we grow from today to tomorrow
Let us know peace
That what had happened
Had run its course
And was good

For both of us. 

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

For a Friend

I visited with a friend today. He has cancer and is not expected to live many more months. I will miss him but know that we shall see each other again in heaven. I wrote this for him.

Difficult Days

Kneeling
Next to his friend
Taking
His hand
Tears flowing freely

Cancer
A hateful name
For an even more
Hateful disease

There was no joy
In his eyes
Pain wracked
His beaten spirit

No words
Can bridge the gap
Between the now
And tomorrow

Whispered prayers
Of hope
Between two men
Say enough

Dark days to come
With tears and pain
Aren’t enough
To break the spirit

They part
These two friends
Knowing
There are few left
But certain of
A reunion.

October 22, 2013


Saturday, October 19, 2013

Just in case you ever wondered.....

I've been amazed at the responses to the poems I've posted. But, as they say, all good things must come to an end.....and so I now publish what is easily the worst poem put on this blog so far. This dates from either high school or my first two years of college and features without a doubt the worst ending to anything that doesn't begin with "it was a dark and stormy night."

They're not all as bad as this....I hope.

I Can’t Seem to Say What I Want to Say
Who can place the value of your friendship
For to me you have been invaluable
In those times when life is ready to pull me under
The waves of depression
And sadness that so often
Rise up and slap at us with evil intent.

Your friendship is more
Valuable than the most precious metals
And it sparkles more brilliantly
Than diamonds
And is more beautiful
Than the peaceful blue-green sea

Your friendship is more lasting
Than the earth and sky and sea
And is more solid than the
Foundations of the earth
I seem to feel that you will always be there
If ever I need you
And I want you to know

That you will always mean a lot to me.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

It seems somehow irrelevant to post this today....but I thought; "what the heck!"

My Top Ten Ways to Fix the Government Shut Down

10. Pay all Congressmen and Presidential Staff in Monopoly Money.

9. Really shut down the government....really!

8. Only pay those who are non-congressional employees.

7. Fire all Congressmen and Senators and employ them as security guards at war memorials waiting to be visited by angry veterans.

6. Threaten to make all members of the House and Senate look at pictures of Nancy Pelosi without make-up and in a bikini.

5. Send them all to China, Russia, Mongolia, the Antarctic....anywhere!

4. Make them all work for free in a day-care center...I mean after all, they all act like toddlers anyway.

3. Threaten to take away John Boehner’s supply of visine real tears.

2.  Fire the entire bunch of idiots, cancel their pensions, and hold new elections in 60 days....with no previous office holders allowed to run.

1. Why fix the government? We seem to be doing ok without it!

Written 10/6/13

Monday, October 14, 2013

Hot Off the Press!

Lest you think that everything I've ever written comes from years and years ago....here is one that was written in the last 30 min!

A Cry in the Dark

I am wounded
My heart pierced by sorrow
My soul burdened
By a load too great
For me to bear

Who is there
To bind my wounds
To soothe the great aching
Of my soul

Where are the arms
That would hold
Me in the dark
So that I might rest

Who would sing
Over me
Songs of hope
Words of love
And peace

Only the hands
That formed the worlds
Can dry my tears

There is
Only one
Who is my hope

The Great God
Who gave His Son
He is all I need.



October 14, 2013