If Not for the Bird Songs
[After 66 years in California, my husband and I moved to Ohio,
to be near kids and grandkids. For whatever reason, it was emotionally
heartwrenching. This poem expresses those things that kept me going,
especially verses four through six. The person mentioned is a female in-
law, who helped me by her friendliness, and introducing me to many
people and places. Never underestimate how your kindness will help
people!]
If not for the bird songs,
My mind would be lost –
With all the changes,
With all the strangeness.
If not for the fairy fireflies,
I would have lost the wonder,
My mind torn asunder,
I would have gone under.
If not for the thunder,
I would make the blunder
Of sinking in sadness,
Being blind to the gladness.
If not for your smile,
I would have dwelt a long while
In a pit of despair;
Might have torn out my hair.
If not for your kindness,
I’d live only in blindness,
A desert of dryness,
So listless and lifeless.
If not for God’s comfort,
My life would be forfeit,
My joy would be dormant,
My thoughts tending morbid.
O, the greatness of God,
Who lifts up the lowly,
Who brightens our story;
Let us give Him the glory!
clarakatalin 
Missing Men
Missing men and absent abbas,
Deadbeat dads and passive papas,
Men who have gone off to fight,
Men who seem to be off site,
Men who sit and read the news,
While their kids are so confused.
Men who don’t know how to be men,
‘Cause their dad was missing when …
As they grew up, there was an absence
In body, spirit, or emotional lapses.
God, our Father, we pray to thee:
Fill the gaps we cannot see.
Help the men who never learned
For family, wife, to be concerned.
Who might not know to show respect
To women — sometimes they in fact reject
The ones who dare to have a mind;
Some men have not learned to be kind.
Don’t get me wrong, the ones who fight —
The rough guys, tough guys, they’re all right.
I only hope they will include
Some kindness in the interlude.
Yes, dear men, you have a role
To care for wife and children’s soul.
And like us women who too have flaws,
To see God’s plan we must give pause.
Category:
Christian, Commentary, family, Poems
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