Be still my heart nay do not speak
The angels know tis whom I seek
The time is come twill be quite soon
Just keep your eye fixed on the moon
And when the color turns to red
It is the time of which it’s said
Our Lord and Savior will return
To cleanse this earth and evil burn
Thus should I die before His task
Remember me is all I ask !
The sands of time consume my feet
In gritty piles silent, discreet
The speed of light is on its way
Its hours burn both night and day.
There is no vigil I must keep
It matters nought how long I sleep
For time does know its boundaries
It comes and goes and perhaps flees.
The winds all blow in divers ways
Tis soon the last of all my days !
I sense the silence falling on my ear
What is this message that we cannot hear
Who reaches out because of these dark fears
I think the day of tribulation nears.
Awake, I know the morning will soon come
What is it we are all escaping from
There can be no true place of safety left
And that of which we dreamt leaves us bereft !
The early sunlight filters through the trees
The naked branches quiver in the breeze
The air is chill and threatens soon to freeze
I spy the foam-capped waves upon the seas.
The winter winds of change creep round the bend
As late fall exits after summer’s end
The icy gray grip of frosty morning
Is the master of each daily dawning.
I hear the cold sounds rasp upon my ear
Increasing as the year end grows quite near,
Oh to join that moving mass exodus
And escape this winter’s freeze and excess !
I feel the silence all around
There is no movement to be found
No beating heart, no breathing sound
The quiet permeates the ground
The air is still, unused, unbound
The loss intense, the wound profound !
The sounds of life’s struggle carry on
Like some sad elusive marathon
The unseen chains that we drag about
Will do nought more than enforce our doubt.
A simple act is encumbered then
By the hesitant “remember when”
If we could but rise beyond our pain
To rejoin the hopeful once again !
Oh that we might remember well
The classic tales that wisemen tell
Of love and pain and avarice
And joy and fear and fate amiss.
See how the world progresses on
From Eden into Babylon
The changes wrought may interfere
With what you’re taught year after year.
I yearn to taste the glory old
That laces stories I’ve been told
The magic’s gone from all we see
Leaving but mediocrity !
The name was Cemetery Hill
Its victims’ cries do echo still
Where fifty thousand was the cost
Of dead and wounded and those lost.
The men that fought that long hot day
They had no chance to getaway
While blood they shed covered the ground
There was no hero to be found.
A war is such an ugly curse
I can’t believe there is much worse !
There are those times that I can’t help but wander back
To those wartime years after Pearl Harbor’s attack
Now as our numbers winnow down to disappear
Gone the values we had that triumphed over fear.
Too many forget those stark days we learned to bear
Almost as though the bulk of us were never there
Memories so hard to crush, dormant in the mind
Whence hides the greater part of courage each did find !
Once was, I wished that I had wings
So I could fly, discover things
Right now I need to find a way
To help me get through day by day.
Just how it happens, I don’t know
I can’t decide, where do we go ?
I’m sure the Lord is always there
I am convinced that I’m prepared !
I seek His strength to follow through
And do the best that I can do,
The impetus of my whole life
Is love of God not sin or strife !
A chill pervades the morning air
Outside the glass, all seems quite fair
A thought invades my whirling mind
If I should seek what shall I find ?
A world that’s lost in rhetoric
Of words and phrases, take your pick
Or texts that pop-up anywhere
While strangers all your thoughts do share.
There’s too much info that is free
What’s happened to our privacy ?
In God’s Eden one peaceful morn
Was the first time a lie was born
As Satan turned from good to bad
And ruined the paradise they had !
Sly Satan spoke strong words to Eve,
His purpose meaning to deceive
He answered her as she asked why
“I tell you that you will not die !”
“Come eat of this forbidden tree
That opens eyes so you can see
The difference of wrong and right
And what is wise here in God’s sight.”
Oh foolish child you could not know
How perils of your act would grow !
The air is brisk, the day commences
And energizes all my senses
Another chance with true hope in store
To reach the goal that I’m striving for.
I sure could use the Lord’s help and care,
If He doesn’t mind, to get me there !
Have you noticed that the leaves are flown
They’ve been whisked away to parts unknown
I wonder where they now congregate
It once was beside each garden gate.
There was a game the small children played,
Heap up the biggest pile of leaves made
And then just jump and roll around
In that leafy mess upon the ground.
I never thought that game was much fun
With all that cleanup you would have done
But now I’m confused, where are the leaves
Are we victims of bucolic thieves ?
There’s so much now that used to be
A segment of our history
Forgotten days and glory old
When men who ruled were brave and bold.
They raised our hopes and promised dreams
None have the courage now it seems
Their service is with lips alone
Mass fallacies which they intone.
God save us from the hypocrite
With whom no honor cares to sit
Return us to our glory days
Help us redeem our honest ways !
I saw an owl perched in a tree
He meant to hide himself from me
He seemed so quiet, somber, wise
I was not fooled by his disguise.
Oh mister owl you cannot sing
What message is it that you bring
You turn your head and blink your eyes
You will not win a beauty prize.
It is your wisdom that we seek
But who can learn, you do not speak
This wizened omen of the day
He turned his head and flew away !
I wonder if our Lord above
Looks down to shed His tears of love
Upon the sights that reflect up
Of those who sip from Satan’s cup.
We are His children gone astray
We need His love to light the way
His word is writ for all to share
It’s real, it’s true and always there !
Oh Abba, have you heard my plea
I beg of You, remember me
I love You so, there is no more
I ask of You one last encore !
The wistful willows bend and weep
The mourning doves have gone to sleep
The raucous gulls their silence keep
While in the night dark shadows creep.
Failed dreams lie stagnant in a heap
The charm is gone, the price too steep
The prize we seek beyond our leap
For as we sow, so shall we reap !
I see God’s colors clearly, crisp blue of winter sky
The umber of the dried leaves as they go flashing by
Cool gray of all the clouds as they circumvent up high
And in the sleeping gardens, dull green of plants that die.
The colors are quite somber, I wish they were alive
Suppose I’ll have to wait for the springtime to arrive
I can barely bide the time till the brightness will revive
As I make this silent wish that I shall be alive !
Each day that I awake in the haze of early dawn
In that special moment, I thank God that I was born
And ask the Lord above for another useful day
While I beg Him once again to bless me on my way.
I’ve been praying on my knees since I was very young
In these last twenty years there’s no way it could be done
I try always to remember faith is never free
Weighted on its shoulders rests responsibility !
Oh for the days of auld lang syne
And friends we’ve lost or cannot find
We knew such joy and made great plans
The dreams we shared traversed all spans.
Though others fell beside the way
We managed to get through each day
But truth to tell it’s not the same
Sometimes I can’t recall a name.
I see the face and note the scent
I don’t remember where it went
There is a void left in my heart
This empty space since your depart !
I am a child of God, I am
Through all my years, He’s held my hand
I’ve treasured life, not all of it
Times were I searched through bit by bit.
There’s still much that I need to fix
The good, the bad and nature’s mix
I speak to Him, I’m sure He’s there
I’ve leaned on Him and sought His care.
One thought that must each life enhance
Be grateful for that second chance !
There’s much to learn from nature’s rage
To teach a lesson sound and sage,
Environment came much before
A roof and windows, walls and floor.
I always think that God knows best
His methods have withstood the test
He gave all creatures their first home
Like forests, oceans, fields to roam.
We’ve islands, valleys, mountains tall
A wealth of habitat for all
I wish the world would understand
There’s no cause to abuse His land !
A man stood by the lintel on that historic day
I’m sure that he was sorry he chose to pass that way
And there among the soldiers with rabble gathered round
A man collapsed on the path and hit the stony ground.
On his head he suffered a mock crown made of thorn
His body bore the scourges, his garment wet and torn
The stranger he came forward to give this man relief
He helped him drag his burden just like a common thief.
The stranger’s name was Simon from Cyrene he had come
Who guessed we’d know his name for two thousand years and some,
His courage and his kindness played well on that last day
While our Lord Jesus died in that place so faraway !
The flame burns bright, the words still flow
I’ve more to say before I go
The years have flown, I’ve seen so much
My mind’s alive, my heart’s been touched.
There’s reams now left for me to say
I’m grateful for each extra day
The presence of the Lord is here
The time is now, standup and cheer !
Claire V. Bogdanos 