A Poet's Lament or Damn It All Anyway

To be so prolific can be quite horrific

I may be manic and cause a big panic

If  I've  an idea and no pencil or pen

No paper to write on, no tablet plugged in

I'll scramble around while words fall like tears

I try to remember to use my mind's ears

The trouble with that is the words usually come

From deep in my center, my heart and my tum

My mind's ears don't hear the words in just the same way

There's a loss in translation, a meaning astray

To lose a good poem ruins a chance for a friend

Someone to relate to, an ear you can bend

Then to try to rebuild it is seldom effective

'Cause the brain gets involved and becomes too selective

'Course, thinking too much becomes so reflective

And  you're left with a poem that's simply defective !

The Touches of Love

The touch of a finger to the inside of knee

A light sense excites and invigorates me

The brush of my lips to a bare shoulder blade

Can not be bested by stuff that’s man made

An arm ‘round the waist and holding it tight

Tip of my toe on instep so slight

Cheek to breast softly and beat of a heart

Palm on a thigh, a tender impart

Of acceptance and love, of honor, respect

Those touches add meaning we just can’t neglect

They help to ensure that feelings unsaid

Don’t go unnoticed, or devotion unfed

Legs intertwined, just resting at ease

Holding a hand as we drift off in peace

Fully embracing, trying to be one

Alive in the moment.

Eventually - Buyer's Remorse - Too Late

The stuff that I ordered a few days ago

Arrived on the doorstep today

Another box of packing and paper

With a doodad or gadget to play

I love buying stuff and waiting

It's a great way to pass through a week

But the fact of the matter if I thought much about it

Is the stuff is not what I seek

It keeps me from seeing the moment

It keeps me from watching a bee

It keeps me from realizing the one that I love

Is being pushed far away from me

As I insert another mail order

Into a slot in my mind

And I know it's there and it's coming

I can avoid being kind

I don't have to tell him he's handsome

Or take hold of his hand as we drive

Or cuddle with him or rest in his arms

Or even pretend he's alive

I know that he needs affirmations

As most good men do in their way

But I can avoid doing anything nice

If my order will be here today.

Through The Eyes ...

Through the eyes of a man a woman is beauty

Through  the eyes of a man a woman is pure

Through the eyes of a man a woman is holy

And through those same eyes a man is made sure

Of his place on the earth and why it's created

Of his place on the earth and what he's to do

Of his place on the earth he'll provide and protect her

And in his place on the earth he'll deeply love too.

Bridget

Bridget is walking on little girl’s feet

Pushing toy lawn mowers on driveway concrete

Last week she was doing “take a step, take a seat”

Now she’s walking “take a step and repeat”

Two little pony tails up in the air

Fine as an art brush, a baby’s thin hair.

I love all my children and grandchildren too

I’d give my life for them. It’s what I would do.

The Book of Prayers - Part Two .........................copyrighted

Here is Part Two.  My heart breaks each time I read this and remember the pain - and gratitude - of writing it.

O Lord, I'm so humbled, so small and so weak
I read these intentions, they cause me to seek
Your healing and counsel for others, not me
My selfishness fades with each one I see:
       My aunt who lies dying with no love of you.
       Please guide her and bring her to your life anew.
  
       A young boy in trouble at home and at school
       Please give him a father to show him the tools
       Of manhood and meaning, obedience and care
       For self and for others - a cross he can bear.

       A man in depression pleads for his life
       To return to the days when he had a wife

       A woman I know, in trouble she cried
       Please God, I beg you, take this child inside.

Oh Lord, were it not for your personal pain
The cruelness upon you, for which you once came
This book would ring hollow, just wishes in ink
But because you too suffered, we feel a strong link
        A prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer of delight
        And one just in praise of things going right

        A plea for an answer, beseeching a sign
        A thanks be to you for love that's divine

We're able to come, to kneel and to know
By pouring our hearts out our backs will unbow
The comfort that comes from our faith in you
Gives comfort in moments of sadness and blue.

While making a place to share and give thanks
Which you did also with those in your ranks
The lows and the highs of life on this earth
We share with you gladly, our calling from birth

I thank you, dear Lord, for guiding me so
For setting that book out, for wanting to go
So deep within me and help me dig out
To let me find out what life is about.

The Book of Prayers - Part 1 ................... copyrighted

At our place of worship, we have a small sanctuary for personal prayer.  Outside of it is a book in which people write things they wish to pray over or that they would like others to pray over.  Before going into the sanctuary one day, I was reading the book.  The result of those moments of reading are this poem.....................

It's noon on Tuesday, my usual time
I come to God's chapel to seek His divine
Guidance and mercy, His hope mixed with love
I come to this chapel drawn in from above.

My troubles are many, complex and acute
My heart is so heavy with worry and doubt
The table before me holds schedules and books
And a tablet to write in, in which I now look.

It holds pleas and beggings, desires and angst
It holds love for others, some cares and complaints
It's full of the human conditions we know
It's full of our longings, our hopes and our woe.
              Please pray for my mother who struggles with fear
              My son and my daughter, my heart holds so dear
              My neighbor with cancer, a friend with no job
              A general intention for grace brings a sob.
              Grant victory for one who is struggling to live  
              A day with no fighting, a gift one can give
              To honor the dead, our son left in 'Nam.
              A grandchild is coming, watch over the mom.

END OF PART 1