Poems, Personal Stories, and Observations

Archive for the ‘Poems’ Category

The Old Book Shop

It’s in an old building,
In a crowded downtown.
Hard to get parking —
So many cars around.

A kindly man working
At a parking lot states,
“You can’t park here; it’s full,
But I’ll show you the way.”

We back up; he gestures,
He twirls his arms.
“If you follow me now,
You will come to no harm.”

“The next lot has spaces,
Plenty of room.”
His accented English
Helps us find our way soon.

You pay for the parking
With an app on your phone.
You wish things were simpler:
You’d rather be home.

You walk to the book store —
In the heat of the day.
With the map on your phone —
Just a few steps this way.

We spot the store’s sign
And soon we are in —
A wealth of hardcovers,
And soft ones, and bins …

Of this book, and that book
For children, for adults.
Some history, some mystery,
Religion, and cults.

Some science, reliance
On signs that will guide
You, to worlds beyond —
To adventure you ride.

On entering, I had asked,
“Will you buy my old book?”
“It’s from 1921;
It’s one hundred and five.”

They said, “It’s not worth much; wait 200 years.
Then you will find that it’s really quite dear.”
And later, I ask, “How old is your store?”
“About a hundred years, minus ten, and minus four.”

Five floors of books,
No time now to explore —
But we hope that they’ll be here
For 86 years more.

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Poems

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Lord, Take Me Home

Lord, take me home!
This world’s so full of woe
Sin and sadness all around —
Suffering abounds.

[…but where sin increased,
grace abounded all the more…]

Lord, how do I cope?
Please give me abundant hope.
Strengthen my song
And help me long …

For justice, peace,
Love and good will, until
All people love You,
And still ..

I’ll always long,
Until I can sing Your song.

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Hold On

Hold on; you’ve got to hold on.
Tough times come and go,
But beauty continues everywhere —
Lord, teach us to be aware.

You’re not alone; God is by your side.
He shares your pain; He shares your joy.
The universe sings of His love —
Hold on to the One from above.

Every pain is worth the joy.
Every heartache will be healed.
We don’t know all the reasons —
Still — hold on through the seasons!

One day we’ll see it’s all worth it.
All we went through becomes perfect.
A joy is waiting on the other side,
But you’ve got to hold on for the ride.

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How is Your Weather?

“How is your weather?”
We often say.
What if we meant,
“How is your day?”

What if we meant,
“How do you feel?
Tell me your story;
Tell me what’s real.”

“Tell me the longing
Deep in your heart,
Your joys and your sorrows —
That would be a good start.”

Longing for sunshine
On a dark, cloudy day?
Longing for peace –
Putting turmoil at bay?

Deep in our hearts,
Only God can fulfill
Our need for His love —
Let Him make your heart still.

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Poems

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I Cannot Remember

[This poem was prompted by a bit of memory loss
as I get older, but also how some memories stay
longer than others.]

I cannot remember you name right now,
But occasionally, I do.
Your face seems more important somehow,
And that’s what stays in my view.

I cannot recall the time that we met,
Nor the place that we first were together.
However, it’s undoubtedly true,
That meeting, our connection’s forever.

I cannot recall some places I’ve been,
Or only but dimly in visions.
But somehow they stay so deep in my soul,
As if a location in heaven.

I don’t remember what brought me here,
Nor why I am in this location,
But wherever I am, God only knows,
It’s part of my destined vocation.

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Memories

[I don’t especially like this poem I wrote, but I ran it by
some “friendly critics,” and they liked it, so here it is.]

Memories keep coming back —
My sins and failures of the past,
But, thankfully, the Lord was there —
To keep accusing — the Devil won’t dare.

Memories of friends that died,
Others, that I left behind —
Physic’ly, or in my mind.
Sometimes, perhaps, I was not kind.

Others left me at different times —
I didn’t know with my small mind
The reasons that would cause these rifts —
Perhaps they were a painful gift.

So many awkward, embarrassing scenes —
I almost have them in my dreams.
Still, better just to have a laugh
Than dwell upon a jumbled past.

Well, what’s a life without some pain?
Without it, some say, there is no gain.
And with a painful lesson learned
The joy that’s birthed is fully earned.

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Poems

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Could You Be a Farmer?

Could you be a farmer? 
And leave the city, all secure,
Venture where it all depends
On God — and not on you?

But your hard work,
You’d never shirk,
If you were not to starve.

With breaking backs
Or robot machines,
You’d till the soil
By any means

To strain out, or  
If the soil was rich —
Abundant food
That modern souls

Have not a clue —
The labor that
Our ancestors knew.

With sweating brows
And muscles that ached
From dawn to dusk,
For survival’s sake.

But surely there were
Good times, too.

The love of God,
The love of friends.
Quiet evenings,
As winter descends.

I’ve only read of farms in books,
The tales of homesteads,
Of babbling brooks —

Of Little Houses on the Prairie,
Of wild animals to be wary,
Of building cabins with bare hands,
Of bravely living off the land.

It’s a dream that might never be —
Still, younger folk can start, bravely.
Alas, old me, not strong enough —
Those people were made of sterner stuff.

I’ll keep on dreaming, and till my little plot.
Little dreams, too, can mean a lot.

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Poems

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Red Robin Bobbing

They’re finally here, the robins dear —
They’ve hidden all the winter.
But now they hop across the grass
Like frogs, but all aflitter.

I only seem to see the male,
With red breast so distinctive.
His yellow beak, next to his cheek
Means spring is not a fiction.

There’s something bright, a great delight
When ‘cross the lawn he’s bobbing.
He never fears, he brings good cheer —
With joy my heart is throbbing.

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Winter Creatures

All day long, the snow fell,
Softly, quietly; you couldn’t hear —
When your eyes were closed.

All the next day, we shoveled;
The mail was undelivered.
Could we hope for it the next day?
Or the next?

Yes, after dark the mail truck came,
One day, or two; some hours late,
Bringing news, and things to read;
The carrier freezing in his truck.

(But I’m hoping not –.
Do they wear electric suits,
Like astronomers, watching distant stars?}

I trudged out to get the mail,
And sorting it, found it not all ours.
Four pieces each, for neighbors next –
Should I venture out to deliver the rest?

Perhaps foolishly — yes, I went.
And on the way, looked to my left.
Two deer stood silently, watching me.
In the silence, dark, and cold,
We watched each other, warily.

Some days we see the animal tracks,
And even trails, worn in the snow.
Squirrels, birds, and chipmunks, too —
Deer and rabbits have passed through.

And today, with sun on snow,
A flash of red in bush does show.
A cardinal has come to eat
Some seeds I set out for a treat.

A rabbit came to our porch, too.
He tried some parsley, grass –
But few, the blades that he had picked to chew.

So blessed we are, with all these creatures,
God, through nature, a constant teacher.

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Restoration

[Inspired by recent observations of furniture restoration,
 restoration of old homes, and boat repairs.]

Sand the nicks and fill the cracks,
Stain and varnish, maybe wax.
Smoothing, repairing, filling holes,
Some furniture — renewed from old.

Abandoned home, so full of junk,
Rats and mice, and smelly stuff.
Maybe gutted to foundation;
Now begins the restoration.

A leaky boat; it can’t be used,
A hole-filled shoe; it’s been abused.
A crack-ed window lets wind in;
Repairmen will transform these “sins”.

So take my soul, O Lord, renew
The parts that have rejected You.
Renew, refresh, and cleanse, until —
My soul with You is one again.

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