Saturday, May 6, 2017

A Poem for That Good Night

Given to me on a hill by Dylan Thomas's father. 


I remember the morning-
it did not seem long ago,
when all my life were simple things,
that melt like passing snow.

I was rich in the morning,
they laid treasures in my lap;
Days and weeks and laughter:
All that mortals have.

I spend my riches quickly,
they slip through my hands like smoke;
the money you can never earn,
the currency of hope.

Because my day was never mine to choose,
nor my birth by my desire,
I will thank the one who gave me life,
I know He will raise me higher.

A gift, this little passing life,
not mine to hoard or waste,
I must hold aloft my prize
until I see His face.

And you of little faith; my heart,
may bless, curse, even rage;
but know that he who gives the hour
has overcome the age.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

A poem about Purity



Lord, make me new as the sunrise,
Lord make me pure as the rain,
that I might be as free as the wind,
or honest as pain.

Lord, make me whole as a mountain,
by placing Zion in my heart.
If I wish to walk with you,
I guess I must be set apart.

A life spent chasing the whispers
that reach my heavy ears
would not be a story ruined,
or a waste to all my years.

If now until my death I walk,
in lonely hedgerows before the sun,
I will not say I wished for better,
if at last my race is won.

There are heroes in the stories
that wander, righteous, filled with grief.
Theirs is sadness, theirs is mourning,
in the hours before the dawn.
Theirs is triumph, theirs is laughter,
theirs is love, and endless song.


Monday, February 13, 2017

Something For Valentines Day

My dear,
I recall all the little things,
that made me love you.
None of them make any sense,
like the way you walked
or how you spoke
one cloudy day.

I can also think
of the three big things
that make me think of you:

that you trusted me, when distrust was what I would have done,
that you respected me, when I was not sure if I respected you,
and that you chose to be you, without realizing it. Without pay or reward. 


A Poem for Train Platforms

This poem was found taped to the bottom of a train schedule, and was titled: "For all those standing on train platforms." I believe that the writer was having the first good day he/she/it in a long time.


The storm clouds are tall and black-
I should know, I made them.
lightning snaps like aircraft flakk,
but I close my eyes and ignore them.

Demon faces; all my fears
take shape in the clouds around me.
Though they howl into my ears,
I know I will keep flying. 

The darkness is all that I can feel,
And hope a thing I cannot find,
But I'm your little bird, my God.
And I'll fly blind.

All that seems real is this mountain of steel,
crushing all hope and joy from my mind,
but I'll be your little bird, God.
and I'll fly blind.

I cannot feel your palms cupping around me,
nor your spirit walking before me,
Nor your power, flowing through me.
So I will disregard my 'reality'
and fly,
eyes closed,
a little bird,
in a fake storm,
blind.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

A poem for days with Wicked Winds

A Poem. Found in a greyish-brown slush drift piled high on the side of a street.

When the Wicked Winds of Winter
come slashing down the street,
I'll meet them with a toothy grin and shuffle slushy feet.

The wild wails of panic, the drums of progress too,
will only the get the smallest steps from my heavy leather shoes.

But oh! to hear you voice, to see the beckon in your eyes-
and lo! these frozen lanky legs of mine, they'll swiftly spring alive!

I would caper like a new-born calf or march like tall marines,
or dance because it would make your blush and say I caused a scene,
I would talk ten thousand frozen leagues across these wastelands white-
To be with you and hear your voice and know you were alright.

Saturday, January 7, 2017

A Child's Poems

These are a list of poems I found in a child's sketchbook. The age of the child was retro-estimated to be approximately five thousand years old, because this is an immortal elf child we're talking about. I am placing these here for safe keeping, and also in case someone needs to write their thesis on what sort of poetry five thousand year old elf children write on midsummer's eve under the moon.

The Ship

Its many sails were taut,
caught in the breeze.
Its anchor was all coiled up,
like a silver snake, around a tree.
Its rigging was like a spider web;
and men were many flies,
except that the men go living-
but the insect dies.

Its cannon were all  ready,
to blaze the night away,
its keel was good and steady,
 eve in the wildest fray.
Now i've told you all you need,
except one thing you should rightly heed,
though the seas be fierce,
though they toss you up and down,
be you loyal and honest,
to your kind and crown.


The Faerie Queen

The Faerie queen was clad in green
and danced beneath the hemlocks tall,
the trees made a roof for a woodland hall.

The hemlock boughs,
they made a wreath
or perhaps for the sun a shining sheath
and for moon's soft beam

the Fearie Queen was clad in green
and danced through a mossy dell,
for there a crystal spring didst well.
And far away she did go,
and where she dances?
No man does know.


The Tree

The tree is green, perhaps a sheen lingers in the boughs?
If so then I might inquire why, and how. But there is something sacred, in mystery as well as fact, so I will stop to wonder and forget what my knowledge lacked.
A heavenly host (five, ten, twelve at most) surrounds the tree. They hang from little silver strings as if hovering daintily.

We anticipate that Holy Date, when we open all the gifts. And as that day nears at an exciting rate, (as Christ did anticipate, his fallen flock to emancipate,) we gather round the tree.

Beneath the Stars

Darkness covers the sky,
revealing other worlds,
lifting the roof on high,
the moon shines like a pearl.

The trees whisper about wind,
making way for stars,
yet night is never blind,
torches wheel by hours.

Like lances they thrust their light,
piercing void with spears,
looking down from highest height,
they will shine for countless years.

Stars hold many stories,
gazers claim when and why,
but for us they hold a lesson,
to be diamonds in a dark sky.


The Shore

The ships go to and fro, from port of sand
searching for a rumor, a tale of a long-lost land.

The gulls are crying to the sailor,
 the gulls are crying to the sand,
 they are crying of a rumor:
a tale of a long-lost land.

The ships go to and fro, from port of sand and stone,
going far into the west, far away, alone.

the gulls are crying, the gulls are crying, 
the gulls are crying amongst the sand, 
they are crying to the sailor, of a tale of a long-lost land.

the ships go to and fro, from port of stone and wood,
trying to bring a Godly thing into this sinful world.

The gulls are crying to the sailor,
 the gulls are crying to the sand,
 they are crying of a rumor:
a tale of a long-lost land.

The ships are leaving harbor, leaving ports of gray,
looking for their celestial kin on a hill, far away.

The gulls are crying to the sailor,
 the gulls are crying to the sand,
 they are crying of a story:
a tale of a better land.

The ships have left this darkling world, a shell of empty sin-
they sail to that humble hill to join their angelic kin.

The gulls have cried, the gulls have cried,
the gulls have cried amongst the sand,
they have cried to the sailor, of a tale of a better land.


The Wind

The wind was whispering in the trees,
 like a silent silver lance,
a short lived wintry breeze tht chose the leaves to dance.

the wind was singing among the stones, like a sad and solemn bird,
speaking of some holy bones, buried beneath a christian stone, to a sleeping world.

the wind was roaring in the rocks like a lion for its prey,
a roar that at the Nemian it mocks,
shattering the stillness of the night and echoes into day.








Saturday, October 8, 2016

A House Called America

This is a poem I found on the highway, pasted to stop sign facing the sunrise.

I grew up in a house called America,
There was a crack running clean down the floor,
I played soldier on guard over my half of the house,
Because the wings of the house were at war.

I’m writing this letter to you: America,
The millions like me who feel like a waste,
I’m writing to say that I love you;
I can’t recall when we abandoned that phrase.

Yes, you reading this poem,
Yes you whom I may never see-
You are America and I cherish you,
For who you are and who you were born to be.

I still dream of what we may become:
A land that is both just and free,
Though at times it seems that the dream is undone,
When I wake up in reality.

Still, I will never reject you,
There is nothing that won’t make you home to me;
Because by the living God who holds you,
You are my family.