We’ll say goodbye to days that were
With all the visions they incurred
While every road must have a bend
So every page may have an end !
The times have come and gone away
To leave us lost or led astray
Or on the path to happiness
Possessing keys to our success !
To each is given that bag of tools
God’s map to life supplies the rules
What shall we do then if we fail
We’ll try again with tooth and nail !
the moon is there for all to see
yet toils in obscurity
there was a time it wasn’t so
all those in love would seek its glow
to ask the goddess of the night
to answer dreams with softened light
i know the times i’ve done the same
with no one near i’d call her name
though full or half or hidden be
she’s always there to comfort me
your son
i’m not an old man yet you see
i’m waiting too there by the sea
he gives me hope and this i know
he’s waiting there for me to show
i’ve stumbled and fallen this is true
but now i’m up i’ve made it thru
so here i am on bended knee
to ask forgiveness and forgiven be
how i made it here upon this place
was a mother’s love and strength and grace
i love you mom
The early hours are best of all
The air is crisp and full of fall
The wind is brisk it knows its way
The lower branches bend and sway.
Seems all the birds are southward bent
Where warmer breezes have been sent
We’ll have to wait until next year
For summertime to reappear !
Oh, Dorothy where are you now
Who’ll till the fields, who’ll milk the cow
Who’ll tend the geese and raise the hen
Did we forget remember when ?
The farmer is a dying breed
Who’ll grow the food and plant the seed
What shall we do to stay alive
How will the rest of us survive ?
The world has lost its common sense
Its main concern is self defense
When all is done we’ll look around
Discovering we’ve run aground !
Dear Lord above what shall we do
The future now seems overdue
I wonder what would Noah think
Of mankind trembling on the brink ?
Most days I find my morning sings
My heart grows bold and sprouts new wings
I fly so high into the sky
I brush the clouds while passing by !
Sometimes I think I hear the sound
Of feathers drifting to the ground
And I am sure angels are there
To do God’s work with love and care !
They are His messengers we’re told
I guess they must be really old,
I do not mean to give offence
I comprehend they’re God’s defense !
Well here we are another day
What is it there is left to say
Just one more spate of noun and verb
Some sweet, some kind and some acerb ?
Close to the end we wait on line
And query how we’ll spend our time
Will it be worth this last delay
Is there value in one more stay ?
We’ve had our chance of small avail
Do you believe that we shall fail ?
I’ll take no risk and won’t assume
Now I am in God’s waiting room !
Oh Lamb of God so full of grace
I wish I could have seen your face
In shining light or dark of night
I’m sure it was a brilliant sight !
Old men who leaned upon their crutch
The widowed who had suffered much
The crippled old, completely blind,
They flocked to Him to solace find !
While those whose spirits went astray
Came to hear what He had to say
A godlike man with message clear
God loves us all, allay your fear !
I am the vision you once knew
When you believed dreams could come true
I am the hope born in your heart
When life first had its fragile start.
I am the power you need to live
With courage and the strength to give
I am the choice you had to make
Decide to bend or chance to break
What shall you do as time draws near
The final choice is yours and here !
There are these things that we hold dear
The right to life that’s free of fear
A sense of self we must not lose
A love of God, our right to choose
And faith in those who will not fail
To keep our values unassailed !
I love you Lord, you’re stuck with me
And from your love I shall not flee
You are my hope and faith and dreams
And everything that’s good it seems !
You’re never far away from me
You are my strength, my charity
My voice, my thoughts and all I know
Are yours alone where e’er I go !
When lives are touched by tragedy
And good men fall in agony
We pray our God who is all-see
Will help them rise to victory.
Sometimes it seems thoughts tiptoe past
That fragile space where dreams are cast
And linger there in that dark spot
Till time beyond forget-me-not.
It is with wonder that I see
The mind’s acute complexity
What power above did give us breath
To see us through from birth to death ?
What would we learn if we could know
When life is done, where do we go ?
Early in the morning before the day begins
I say a little prayer, today the good guy wins
I hope that God will hear and grant my simple wish
That faith will conquer all and pain will not exist.
But as I lie abed awaiting breakfast call
I realise too soon there is no help at all
Our paths are set in stone like those in Galilee
And we must make that choice if we are to be free !
When I was young I fell in love
What was it I was thinking of
The curly hair, the handsome face
A trip to some romantic place !
Before I knew it children came
It made me grey and changed the game
We grew up fast it had to be
But oh such joy, a family !
The years rolled past now all are grown
Those children gone their seeds are sown
While old age creeps upon the stage
This empty nest is all the rage !
Oh tiny babe with wrinkled skin
Today your new life does begin
You squirm about midst anxious cries
Can’t wait to see your laughing eyes.
That little button is your nose
Those wiggly digits are your toes
Your hands do have a mighty grasp
Onto the fingertips they clasp.
As time moves on the story shows
The loving way your nature grows
Into the child who’ll learn to be
In tune with God’s community
While in our hearts this newborn lives
It is to God that glory gives !
Wise Solomon he had it all
But knew his kingdom would soon fall
The wisest man to ever live
God vowed that was His gift to give.
King Solomon had many wives
Who brought false gods into their lives
Huge stables, horse and chariot
Two thousand strong when they found it.
A thousand wives and concubines
Imagine how that family dines
I think it might have been such fun
To party with old Solomon !
You’ve been my love since you were small
I’ve watched you grow to be quite tall
I’ve followed all your childhood dreams
Though some were silly now it seems.
But as you grew along the way
You didn’t hesitate to say
The thoughts you held close to your heart
I sensed that you were kind and smart.
The time has proved I was not wrong
You’ve turned out good and wise and strong
How glad am I that you and me
Are part of the same family !
The witches dance by firelight
The fires burn throughout the night
Groans and moans enough to spare
Goblins and ghosts float on air !
Children shriek they are afraid
Sleeptime’s rife with nightmares made
I’m glad I’m no longer young
Subjected to childish fun !
Halloween’s just not my style
I’d prefer to laugh or smile !
I like to sing aloud and long
A sweet and joyous feel good song
All about the home of the brave
Where freedom’s free and must be saved !
This land where gold lines every street
That is if you will move your feet
Get out of bed and use your mind
There is a treasure you shall find !
While sloth may be the choice you make
And ignorance the path you take,
You won’t believe what joy it brings
Until success does give you wings !
There’s something lost where has it been
It made us this one great nation
With freedom of conversation.
Demosthenes spoke by the sea
While heroes like Marc Antony
Defended Caesar’s legacy !
There’s Thomas Paine and Nathan Hale
Great men whose words would never fail
While immigrants rough seas would sail.
They came for freedom their first choice
With speech that they might freely voice
And values that none could coerce.
How sad they’d be to see us now
Our children mute they can’t learn how
This government will not allow !
Those ships that rode the ocean waves
And carried freedmen, foes and slaves
To this wild land across the sea
Did in the end find liberty.
This journey took full many years
Filled with great loss, a trillion tears
When most began their hopeful trek
From faraway on wooden deck.
We here today may look about
And view their voyage with no doubt
It took true courage which they had
To build this nation, good and bad !
At times I wonder why it’s so
The ones we love must come and go
But ever live within our hearts
We miss them all as each departs.
I understand the reason why
The pain of loss gives cause to cry
Remaining still devout with care
Although they are no longer there.
Somehow we learn to be quite strong
To keep our tears where they belong
And paste a smile upon our face
Remembering that last embrace !
The days we knew and loved the best
Have disappeared with all the rest
Where have they gone I do not know
They faded in the afterglow.
Oh would that we might try again
To reach out for remember when
But life moves on with no return
No refund or deposit earned !
Sometimes the truth is hard to find
There is so much to rend us blind
How sad that most times we don’t see
That only truth can set us free !
Have you heard the angels sing
Their voices bear angelic ring
I know their choir is ultrafine
The chills run up and down my spine
I wish that I might join their ranks
So I could share my grateful thanks !
There is a river I have seen
Its waters flow and ebb and stream
Sometimes it trickles on the ground
Among loose pebbles all around
Reminding us of how God’s word
Spreads like those waters as it’s heard
Embracing all both far and near
Sharing His blessings through each year !
My nana was my special friend
She taught me how to sew and mend
To make my bed and hang my clothes
To fold my undies and my hose
We talked sometimes into the night
She made my problems turn out right
And helped me overcome my fears,
Oh she’s been gone these many years.
I wish that she could see me now
To know I made it through somehow
I want to thank her from my heart
She gave my life it’s special start !
Claire V. Bogdanos 