Constanza

 

Perseverance

(a Constanza)

 

The man I married’s still with me,

With bodies tired and getting old.

And still our hands we like to hold,

 

Some forty years for all to see.

There’s been good times and there’s been bad.

There’s been sad time as well as glad.

 

Some years seemed like eternity,

But some zipped by like rocket ship.

There’s years I would have liked to skip.

 

At times I dreamed of being free

And leave poor hubby in the dust.

My vows made staying a sound must.

 

And now we’re married happily.

We still hold each other’s hands—yup.

So we can hold each other up!

Poetic Asides In the name of...

 

In the Name of Effort

(a clogyrnach)

 

We started out with energy

We thought we would have synergy

But as time wore on

Energy was gone

With a yawn

We had tea

Clerihew

 

(A Clerihew)

 

Biden forgets he’s president

His dementia is evident

Though we may feel sorry for old Joe

We’ll be glad to see him go.

Poetic Bloomings Borrowed line

 Thanking Unseen Peepers for Evening Frogsong

 

How many times,

racing barefoot past the goose pond,

did I hear those tiny frogs singing their songs

for all they were worth?

 

It was a sound of my childhood.

A delightful song

Steady and constant

A sound I was thankful for.

 

It wasn’t until I was an adult

I heard the full story.

To my surprise those peepfrogs

hadn’t always been there.

 

When my aunt and uncle

were about to be married

they bought that bit of land

from my grandfather.

 

My uncle noted there were no peepfrogs

like he used to hear where he grew up.

So the young lovers

sloshed in a muddy pond by his home.

 

They laughed together while catching

enough peepfrogs

to begin the peepfrog population

on their land.

 

The story taught me

to appreciate

the efforts of the people

who have gone before me.

 

(Title is line from Pat Anthony’s “The Well” June 7, 2020)

cinqku

 Take joy!

In His love.

In His mercies

In His grace and kindness

In Him!

Choka

Italy’s Calling

(A choka)

 

Italy’s calling

Houses huddled on hillsides

Old buildings, cobblestone roads

Mountains, rivers, sea

Rose trellises on archways

Tables on quaint balconies 

Majestic churches

Broad fields of flowers and grapes

Boats floating on the canals

Italy’s calling

Will I be able to go?

I will dream until I can.

(A Chastushka)

Giggler Gary met a woman

Mary felt that she’d love no man

But he finally won her over

Laughter made her less a rover

Poetic Asides Serve

 Serving Up Kindness

(a cento)

 

I heard one calling, Child!

And I replied My Lord.

Love is unselfish, understanding and kind,

For it sees with its Heart and not with its Mind

Stop to cheer a fellow human

that's a bit worse off than you.

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

The two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift and the people who lean.
Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,

but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

 

(Lines from George Herbert, Helen Steiner Rice, Roy Neal, Emily Dickinson, Ella Wheeler

Wilcox, Matthew 20:28)

Carpe Diem Cascade

 

Carpe Diem

(A Carpe Diem Cascade)

 

They say live for the day

But today is sandwiched

Between the past and future

We must consider all three

 

Some carry the past’s baggage

And worries of tomorrow never happen

They regret missed opportunities

They say live for the day

 

It would be nice to forget the past

And not worry about the future

Just enjoy the now

But today is sandwiched

 

We must learn from past mistakes

And plan optimistically for the future

But live to the fullest

Between the past and future

 

The past is a school teacher

The future guides our goals

Today is soon past

We must consider all three

Byron's sonnet

 A Prayerful Moment

(a Byron’s sonnet)

 

In the moment of this new day, I pray

For You my Lord to be with me in grace.

You have invited me to seek Your face.

Please, fill me with Your Holy Ghost today

And may I see Your workings on display.

In all I think and say and do, be praised.

I sing to You with voice and arms so raised.

And let us walk together come what may.

 

Reveal to me the changes I should make.

Forgive me for all wrongs that I commit.

And help me give to others, not just take.

And may I do Your will and not just sit.

And please help me avoid all that is fake.

And grant me resolution not to quit.

Poetic Bloomings bored

 Bored for the Lord

 

Meeting with God

and his people

should be the last place

I get bored.

 

But there are hazards

of being a writer

of poetry and

daily devotions.

 

I listen to the sermon

spotting the wordiness,

the beginning, middle, end

another middle and end.

 

I think, It took him 45 minutes

to say what I could have said

in a fourteen-line poem

or a 250 word devotion.

 

And so I take notes

I’ll never read

and doodle

flowers and faces,

 

letting him think

I’m hanging on every word.

Bussokueskika

 

In the Dust

(bussokusekika)

 

In the moment here

In my living room writing

Like calm before storm

Soon will be a caregiver

Cleaning up a lady’s home

While my house sits in the dust

Burns Stanza

 Love on Display

(Burns Stanza)

 

Oh, twenty twenty’s come and gone

And twenty twenty-one is on.

I wonder with each morning dawn,

What’s ‘round the bend? 

Was 2020 just a con?

How will this end?

 

It seems those who are in control

Are out to dig a bigger hole.

Has our dear country lost its soul?

I have to ask.

How can we aim to make it whole?

Too big a task.

 

All thing are possible with God,

His mercies, deep, his grace is broad.

His miracles can have us awed,

If we’d just pray.

And then His answers we’ll applaud,       

Love on display.

A Brevette

 

Children

W O R S H I P

Jesus

Poetic Asides condition

Condition

(bref double)

 

The condition where I find myself

It makes me wonder how it came

It doesn’t meet my any dreams

But choices I made brought me here

 

Some happenings I didn’t choose

And here I sit upon a shelf

Not going forward like I planned

If God would only puppeteer

 

At times I feel it’s someone else

To -dos become my task master

Their tyranny is often felt

I’m bumped along by others’ schemes

 

Compared to others I have wealth

And so I search for better themes

Boketto

 

I’ll Get There

(a Boketto)

 

Taking a break from cleaning

No music, headphone’s charging

Cars passing by on the street

All is quiet

It’s about lunch time

 

But I feel too comfortable

Sitting in my recliner

I’ll get there

 

 Hubby’s working in his room

He must be getting hungry

I know my tummy’s growling

Soup, sandwich and

Salad’s waiting in the fridge

 

But I feel too comfortable

Sitting in my recliner

I’ll get there

 

 

While I’m taking my break

I thought I’d write this poem

Do some mental exercise

Since body’s tired

Now, I must make lunch

 

But I feel too comfortable

Sitting in my recliner

I’ll get there

Blitz

 Good from Heaven

(a Blitz)

 

Praise the Lord

He is good

Good and loving

Good and kind

Kind hearted

Kind and caring

Caring and compassionate

Caring and righteous

Righteous and Holy

Righteous indignation

Indignation against evil

Indignation against hypocrisy

Hypocrisy of the religious  

Hypocrisy of the deceived

Deceived yet well-meaning

Decieved by clever fables

Fables and lies

Fables distorting the truth

Truth wins out

Truth is Jesus

Jesus is the way

Jesus is the light

Light and love

Light and wisdom

Wisdom to live

Wisdom to give

Give completely

Give unselfishly

Unselfishly live

Unselfishly serve

Serve others

Serve God

God offers hope

God offers life

Life and joy

Life and enthusiasm

Enthusiasm and creativity

Enthusiasm and curiosity

Curiosity enables learning

Curiosity enables success

Success at living

Success and prosperity

Prosperity of the soul

Prosperity of mankind

Mankind on earth

Mankind in Heaven

Heaven the true home

Heaven for eternity

Eternity

Home

 

Poetic Bloomings Under the Moon

 Under the Moon of Poetry

(a ballade)

 

Amidst the meter and the rhyme

Amidst the lines and the verses

Amongst the poets of our time

Come the blessing and the curses

From the cradles to the hearses

Stirred up in creativity

Some wonderment it disperses

Under the moon of poetry

 

Those who marvel in mere wording

Unite together with intrigue

Spotting wonders like they’re birding

Cheering each other in their league

Somehow erasing all fatigue

Fervent fans of hyperbole

Enthusiastic for the gig

Under the moon of poetry

 

Tears and laughter they are sharing

Tribulations, wisdom and grace

Persevering not despairing

Painting with words at their own pace

Life complexities face to face

With honesty the master key

Attune to person, time and place

Under the moon of poetry

 

Poeming for challenge and for fun

Gathered in mutuality  

In this, they feel that they have won

Under the moon of poetry

 

.

Au bade

 Sunrise Scene

 

The man’s silhouette

with arms outstretched

In a blaze of colors.

 

The serene lake echoed

its amen at the glorious  

image of the cross.

Appreciate Poem

 What’s Wrong With this Picture?

(An Appreciate)

 

At last

I have the time

To write, to draw, to sing

But what is it that I’m doing?

Just chores of daily living

Poetic Asides Activity

 Memorial Day

(Anacreontic verse)

 

Flags waving

Parades and picnics

Long weekend

Memories

Bloody battles

Lost loved ones

Price for freedom

Uncle Bill

My Dad’s brother

And best friend

Many stories

Skipping school

To hunt together

World War II picture

Big ears, big grin

Freckles

Sad letter from Dad

From the Philippines

When Bill died in France

Called Grandma brave

A brave soldier

At home

With her boys at war

Purple Heart

I treasure

One request

I have of God

When I die

For Uncle Bill

To meet me

At the gate.

(Alouette and Amphigouri)

 Summer Fun in the Creek

(Alouette and Amphigouri)

In the summertime

Barefoot so sublime

Running, rambling, kidracing

Splashing in the creek

Moods soaring at peak

Cold toes tickling, sunfacing

 

Laughing and funny

Days bright and sunny

Splashing, kicking, kerglunking

Making a big mess

This we must confess

Surprising and kerdunking

Alouette

 Our Play

(An Alouette)

 

Playing and laughter,

That’s what we’re after,

Whether we are girls or boys.

Having fun’s the name.

Life is just a game,

Imagination and toys.

 

And it may seem strange

That nothing will change.

Day after day, it’s this way.

But one day it will,

When we had our fill.

Then hard work comes from our play.

 

 

 

Poetic Bloomings soft/hard

A Prayer for a Softened Heart

(An Alliterisen)

 

Lord, make my heart moldable. 

Please, slowly soften it in Your hands.  

Yes, make my will Your own.                     

Help me be not so hard-headed.       

But lovingly led by You.                          

Lord, let it be silky soft.

L’Arora

 

Sometimes You Seem So Far Away

 

Sometimes You seem so far away

And other times as near as my breath

I often forget about all of the times

You’ve made yourself known.

I have to remind myself

You are good. You are real

Faith in You

Is more than what I feel

 

Sometimes You seem so far away

So I go out in nature

Listen to the tall pines sing Your praises

And the birds chirp out their delight in You

The rivers and creeks remind me

Of Your like-giving flow

You are love. You are hope.

This I surely know

 

Sometimes You seem so far away

But then I turn to Your Word

I hear Your spirit speak to me

Like You did to Adam, Moses,

Joseph, Samuel, Daniel

Through them all You made Yourself known

Despite my doubts and fears

My relationship with You has grown

 

Sometimes You seem so far away

Then I remember answered prayers

The family that I have

My house, food, clothing

The quiet town I live in

You love me and hear me

You answer my prayers

You forgive me and set me free.

 

You are good. You are real.

Faith in You

Is more than what I feel.

cinquain

 

Hey there!

I love You, Lord!

Let us walk together!

And work together with great joy.

Yes, let’s.

Poetic Asides news

 

Costly Wreck

 

A semi crashed on the highway.

Stopped traffic for a bit.

Many readers of the news article

expressed concern for the driver.

But  just as many, probably builders,

grieved the gold strewn on the ground.

AKA lumber.

Ae FRESLIGHE

 Yielded and Shielded

 

Lord, make my heart pliable,

To You completely yielded.

For You are reliable

And in You, I am shielded.

 

From evil, I’m protected.

His fiery darts fizzle.

When with You I’m connected,

His storm becomes a drizzle.

 

When wickedness oppresses,

Depression, I can’t afford.

You secure my successes,

So I hide in You Mylord.

 

Alphabet poem

 

ABC’s of My Walk with You

 

Adoring You, Jesus, the life, truth and way

Believing that You are my hope each day

Creating the vision you put inside of me

Developing ears to hear and eyes to see

Embracing Your compassion and grace

Forgiving others as I seek Your face

Grasping the dimensions of Your great love

Holding on to Your hand lent from above

Imagining the day I’ll go home with You

Jumping for joy that is deep and true

Keeping on keeping on through thick and thin

Laughing with Your Holy Spirit within

Moving in the direction You give

Nurturing Your Word that I may live

Opening my mind to Your amazing plan

Partnering with You, I know that I can

Quickening  my mind to what You have to say

Realizing You’re it, there is no other way

Sleeping restfully knowing that Your near

Trying to allow Your voice to become clear

Urging others to embrace the love of Christ

Viewing others from the perspective of Your eyes

Wondering when The Day will come

Expecting You any time to take us home

Yearning for that day when all will be healed

Z ipping along with Your purpose and zeal

Poetic Bloomings IT Happens

 

What’s Happening?

 

I have reached the age

when friends and family

are becoming disabled.

 

Will our next reunion

be at a resort

or a nursing home?

Morning poem

 

Poems are like shoes

Practical to use

Or fancy fashion statement

Shoes for every taste

Poems don’t go to waste

Whether to calm, prod or vent