PAD 24-2 Complete..., Poem Away Leigh Hunt Rondeau

Completely Spring

Children playing under cover.

When the rain quits, they’re elated.

Whole wet world now to discover.

Springtime’s to be celebrated.

Tulips open up in brightness.

Paper boats sail in a puddle.

Yards awash in sunny lightness.

Children playing.

PAD 24-1 Complete..., Poem Away Octelle

Completely Calm

“He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” Matthew 8:26

When skies grow gray and winds grow strong,

with Jesus Christ you can’t go wrong.

When you’re soon about to sink

and be dumped into the drink.

Don’t worry what others think.

He can save you in a blink.

When skies grow gray and winds grow strong

with Jesus Christ you can’t go wrong.

PAD 23-3 free

Rejoicing

I just watched a video

where boaters

released a whale from

a tangled net.

When it was finally free,

the whale leaped with joy.

but I think the people

who freed it were just as happy.

PAD 23-2 free

Free

F eeling high as a bird in the sky

R eveling in the scents of spring

E xcited for the freedom to

E xit the house without a coat.

PAD 23-1 free

Running the Race

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, Hebrews 12:1

Lord, set me free to run the race.

Please, loose me from what bogs me down.

May Your sweet Spirit set the pace.

Lord, set me free to run the race.

May I run swiftly in Your grace

And cast off sins that weigh me down.

Lord, set me free to run the race.

Please, loose me from what bogs me down.

PAD 22-3 correspondence

Apostle Paul wrote letters.

Could he imagine

their effect?

PAD 22-2 correspondence

Email

Email links me to my friends

When I don’t see their faces

Because I stay at home a lot

Don’t go to many places

Except when I just get a way

And travel just for fun

Gallivanting by plane or car

Always on the run

Then it’s back home again

Sharing email with my folks

Making plans, encouraging

And even telling jokes

It seems odd to think about

A time when there was no email

How slowly things seemed to go

When depending on snail mail

PAD 22-1 correspondence

Leaving

I remember those long newsy letters

from Mom in her cramped handwriting,

filled with details of daily living.

Her hand must have cramped, too,

because sometimes my sisters and I

would get carbon copies.

My aunt, whose four children stayed in the area,

used to wonder why we five girls scattered

from hither to yon, and I’m not sure why,

but I know when we received bright autumn leaves

sealed in plastic, tucked in the envelopes,

we had a yearning to go home.

I think that was intentional.

PAD 21-3 sketch

A poet sketches life

Making word paintings

Lending experiences to others

PAD 21-2 sketch, Poem Away mathawi

The Sketch Pad

The sketch pad is a handy tool

That you can use at home or school.

It makes you feel so smart and cool.

But sometimes you forget your pad,

And it’s a thing you wish you had.

Exasperated, just a tad.

So put it in your purse or pack

To rid the need of turning back,

And then you won’t feel out of whack.

Record the world from your own view,

The trees, the lakes, the mountains, too.

It is a freeing thing to do.

PAD 21-1 sketch, Poem Away Rondeau

I’m Just a Sketch

I’m just a sketch of what I’ll be.

He works in detail bit by bit.  

The Artist works progressively.

I seem a mess, I must admit.

At first some art appears as blobs.

A masterpiece may seem farfetched.

His work’s chiefly an inside job.

I’m just a sketch.

Poetic Bloomings Humility

Seaweed and Pond Scum

Marine plants produce

seventy to eighty percent

of earth’s oxygen.

If God can use lowly algae

in such a fantastic way,

surely, He can use us.

PAD 20-3 dark

Dark

D isciples felt let down while Jesus was in the tomb.

A ll their hopes of a conquering king were lying with him.

R emember this when your dreams die. 

K ing of Kings and Lord of Lords resurrects.

PAD 20-2 dark

On a wooden bridge

Listening in the darkness

To water rush past

PAD 20-1 dark, PB quinzain

Things go bump in the darkness.

Is someone out there?

What was that?

PAD 19-3 license

The Last  Hunt

Dad started hunting

when he was nine.

He loved it and fishing.

An outdoorsman to the core.

After he got Alzheimer’s,

he kept asking what was in season.

It worried us, him wandering in the woods

with a gun, not knowing what he was after.

One day, during deer season he came in

and said he saw a deer someone had shot.

Did he? We were never sure if his stories

were real or from some time in the past.

Later in the day he said he’d better go get that deer.

I always stayed out of the woods during hunting season,

but I put on an orange vest and went with him

to make sure he didn’t get lost.

Sure enough he found it.

He tagged it and we sent it to the meat processing.

But when it came back we discovered

the meat was spoiled.

We never told Dad.

He got his deer.

It kept him out of the woods.

That’s the last time he hunted.

PAD 19-2 license

Poetic License

When I write sonnets

I tweak the meter and rhyme

They’re sonnet mutants

PAD 19-1 license

Marriage License

We were ready.

Invitations out.

Reception food bought.

Chairs borrowed to set up in the yard

Bridal gown and groom’s suit ready

Honeymoon planned

Preacher

Organist

Singer

Groomsmen

Bridesmaids

Did you get your marriage license? Mom asked

Friday after 3 PM the day before the wedding.

We rushed to the next town,
got the license,

five minutes before closing.

What’s that saying about

God watching out for babies and fools?

PAD 18-3 Little...

Little Did I Know

At one point in my life

I said I’d never

work with people with developmental disabilities.

They say never say never.

Twenty-some years and counting.

PAD 18-2 Little...

Little Sister

I remember when my first grade teacher

had us all say how many sisters and brothers we had.

I said three and a half sisters. Mrs. Adams laughed

and told everyone that I was getting a new sister or brother.

A brother? No way. I couldn’t imagine such a thing.

In later years I missed having a brother,

but when Mrs. Adams mentioned the possibility

it sounded silly. One day when I got off the school bus

Mom stood on the porch calling to us, waving a dish towel.

She had been in the hospital for a week or so.

We ran up to the house and into the living room

and there sat a bassinet with yellow everything.

There she was my baby sister. I thought so, Mrs. Adams.

PAD 18-1 Little...

Little Red House on the Hill

As children, we used to play

a game called Littler Red House on a Hill.

My family also lived in a little red house on a hill.

At times it was pink, yellow or white.

I liked it best when it was red.

It was a tiny house for seven people.

We didn’t notice it so much though.

It wasn’t till we went back, after we had all grown,

we wondered how we had ever lived there.

But it was our house and that’s just the way it was.

Maybe that’s why we’re still close knit as a family.

Or maybe that’s why we live so far apart.

PAD 17-3 Reason

Long Lasting

The reason why I stay

Instead of being gone for good

There is no other way

To keep my promise as I should

And I have learned a truth

Even if I would like to leave

Won’t always be a youth

At this age, I am glad to cleave

Our bond has grown so strong

Through all the years, the highs and lows

And I’ve known all along

From little seeds a great oak grows

PAD 17-2 reason

Why I love the Lord

Is because He first loved me

Plus, He’s just awesome

PAD 17-1 Reason

Seven Reasons Why I Travel

(Ivorian sonnet)

The reasons why I long to go away

are greater than the ones that make me stay.

I’m curious and want to learn, that’s one.

The second is I need a break, it’s true.

Yes, staying sane involves a little fun.

The third is simply that it helps me grow

in loving others from diverse locales.  

It’s what we all need more of, this I know.

It’s always great to meet and make new pals.

The fourth, I hope it doesn’t sound cliché,

it challenges me just like a race to run.

The fifth, to see things from a different view.

The sixth is that I do so like to go.

And seventh, celebrate a special day.

PAD 16-3 catch and release

The Itch

I’ve got the itch

to catch a train,

a plane, a bus, a ship

a horse drawn carriage

anything, anywhere

for an adventure.

PAD 16-2 Catch and Release

Borrowed Voice

“Release me!”

commanded the alien

on Independence Day

using a borrowed voice

from the man he strangled.

Sometimes when my hubby

teasingly catches me

and won’t let go,

I borrow the creepy voice,  

“Release me!”

PAD 16-1 Catch and Release

Fishing with Daddy

Daddy fished a lot,

but it was a rare occasion

when it was just him and me,

in a rowboat.

I remember one time he put two hooks

on a line and I caught two sunfish at once.

Then one time I was pulling in a large pike

and the reel fell apart.

Whether we caught fish or didn’t,

I enjoyed being with my dad.

PAD 15-3 prediction

Future Meeting

I predict

that when I die

Uncle Bill will meet me at the gate,

because he died in World War II

and I always missed knowing him,

a brother and best friend of my dad.

PAD 15-2 prediction

Prediction

P rophesy! Who hit you? the guards said to Jesus.

R eligious leader couldn’t guess who they were actually crucifying,

E xpecting they were doing God a favor getting rid of the blasphemer.

D id they ever forecast that the sky would go dark just before Jesus died?

I nteresting, they didn’t estimate the damage that would be done to the temple

C urtain, nor could they imagine that it signified an invitation to the

T hroneroom to find help in time of need. In all likelihood, their

I maginings would be an extrapolation of their misguided doctrine,

O r the prognostication that they were rid of Jesus forever.

N ow, we can make the projection that Jesus will return.

PAD 15-1 prediction

Predictions

I suppose when we plan,

we are making predictions.

We’re predicting the sun will come up.

We’ll get out of bed and have breakfast.

We’ll have the meetings,

perform the tasks,

run the errands on the to do list.

But sometimes like weather forecasts,

guessing whether the baby will be a boy or girl,

or predicting the dates of Jesus’ return,

the next day doesn’t look a bit like we thought.