I awoke this morning with these words in my head, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish” ( John 3:16 ). Wow ! For those of us who are parents this is some wake-up call, but for those who have only one child, what a sacrifice ! This unseen being or power that masquerades in many forms to many peoples for many centuries must really like us, you think ? Frankly, I can’t begin to imagine that kind of love, I’m not even capable of it. How about you ? Is that why love has such power, not to be confused with lust ? The Bible is full of stories of love, when did we lose the true meaning ? Perhaps we should consider the story of David and Bathsheba, now that was lust ! Just look at the results, the baby died and the wisest man who lived, his brother Solomon, left us reams of prayers and wisdom and a civilization that perished. But love, like that of Jacob and Rachel endures forever. I think that is God’s love for us and passes all understanding ! I’m sure His promises are eternal and I’m willing to spin the wheel with God, no matter where the chips may fall. Will you join me ? It is truly the lack of love destroying this old world today and it’s time we got our act together ! Sincerely, Claire B.
CONSTANT ( 2014 )
I thought one day I would be old
I knew sometimes I’d feel the cold
I never thought I’d be alone
With no one here to call my own
Though all of this is now the fact
I have survived with faith intact.
The constant loss I could not bear
Would be the absence of all prayer
But if I cannot speak a word
I have no doubt my thoughts are heard !
DATELINE: HOBOKEN, NJ, USA “TRASH” ( 1984 ) 2014/01/01
EXCUSE ME, but you’re raining on my parade ! Oh, no it’s only Ronald McDonald sponsoring another sidewalk fest for the local neighborhood, frenzied and noisy. Speaking of parades, we’ve missed one, New Year’s Day ! How do all those bands and marchers manage to be so sprightly and energetic the day after ? I’d venture that the rest of the population including HOBOKEN can barely manage to lift their heads off the pillow much before warm-up time ! What is the secret ? This year I couldn’t get the adrenalin to flow until about 3 PM, and I stayed at home New Years Eve, just the TV and me, listening to the serenade of breaking beer bottles and screeching tires from the streets below. My morning after blues included one quick foray onto the sidewalk with black plastic bag clutched tightly in my very cold hand while the aging body repeatedly bobbed to scoop up the remains of the nights revelry. Thank God and the local politicos for a swift and efficient Department of Sanitation. They sure can cleansweep this town, toute suite ! When I was young, my mother told me that you could learn a lot about human nature by observing people’s trash cans. Some were all dented and dirty, others clean and painted with pride, some had no cans at all using boxes and bags while others simply used those of their neighbors. Now that’s a life lesson ! I honestly don’t know if that was what she truly meant however I never doubted her sagacity. Excuse me, but I just ran out of Lysol ! Sincerely, Claire B.
ONE MORE TIME ( 2014 )
I’ve seen the little children play
Around the park along the way
I’ve heard their jumbled shrieks of glee
While hiding there behind a tree !
They laugh and skip and jump and run
It’s heart warming to see such fun.
Sometimes I feel the strongest yearn
To be a child who can return
I’d put my grownup cares away
Just to be young for one last day !
MAGIC ( 2014 )
There is no one born without worth
We are His children from our birth
This world so great and marvelous
Such beauty God has gifted us.
He counts the hairs upon our heads
While angels guard us in our beds
There’s so much magic happening
With His true wisdom beckoning.
A consequence this wealth recalls
When in the forest one leaf falls
The stars above can sense the sound
And heaven hears it hit the ground !
FREEDOM’S LOSS ( 2013 ) 2013/12/31
We have come to the end of a perilous year
One that’s been filled with deception, anger and fear
We have learned to exist with incredible lies
To put aside our values and cover our eyes.
I’ve been chatting with God in my usual way
Asking for help to get through a very long day
I wish this coming New Year would teach us to be
Once again the bastion of truth, land of the free !
KINDNESS ( 2013 )
The heart is full of sadness
The mind so full of grief
One needs a sense of gladness
For laughter brings relief.
A simple love of goodness
Can reach out to lift pain
An act of tender kindness
Stirs souls to hope again.
A DECISION ( 2013 ) 2013/12/30
I believe each man approaches faith by life’s crooked path
A victim of passion, disillusion, anger or wrath
When all else is exhausted and his time seems to run out
He turns to God his heart full of pain, his mind full of doubt.
And there in the starkness of a life devoid of some aim
He discovers the truth as he calls on God’s holy name.
Soon the path becomes straight and he will recapture his life
Learning to live with His love instead of chaos or strife.
WINTER ( 2013 ) 2013/12/29
The winter winds blow fierce and wild
The branches heaped the snow is piled
The air is brisk and cold and chill
It numbs the mind and bends the will.
Oh winter wind of strong repute
Tower of strength one can’t dispute
For God to you has power given
To freeze the very air of heav’n.
We beg you now to use your gift
To help us heal and change and lift.
OLD WAYS ( 2013 ) 2013/12/28
I heard the bells last Christmas Day
And all the hymns carillon played,
I thought about the stories told
When I was young, not quite so old,
And pray the children that I meet
Remember well and will repeat
Sweet memories that change has cost
Tradition gone beliefs we’ve lost,
Time to revive the olden days
Returning to those golden ways !
NEW YORK ( 2013 )
As the slim fingers of dawn slowly waken the sky
Whole flocks of wild birds begin their swift transiting by,
Up on the rooftops seagulls are perched searching for prey
While the caps on tidal waves are all churning and gray.
There across the narrow gap that the water creates
Is a vast citadel where great adventure awaits.
I’m too old to begin my life all over anew
But it’s a fine place to start for the bold and the few.
This incredible place full of dreams and wild surprise
Is a home meant for the strong the ambitious and wise.
WAR ( 2013 ) 2013/12/27
I hear the cries of desperate men
Who do long to breathe freedom again
The sound arrives on the stillest air
I feel their pain and their dark despair.
On the lonely nights that winter brings
How can they bear all their sufferings ?
In a foreign land and so alone
May God bless those who are far from home !
THE CHRISTCHILD ( 2013 ) 2013/12/25
I awakened this morning and looked all around
I wanted to share with you the comfort I’d found.
In the smallest of ways on the happiest days
A great flock of birds seemed to be chirping God’s praise,
I laughed hard at their breadth but disturbed not their song
And wished with the whole of my heart I could belong.
Then I suddenly thought of that first holy night
And all the creatures of God that witnessed the sight
What a wonder it was, what a glorious gift
With the power to heal and the will to uplift.
The beasts of the fields welcomed His coming to earth
While the stars in the sky celebrated His birth !
THE MESSAGE ( 2013 ) 2013/12/24
Tis Christmastime, it’s here once more
The folks we love rush through the door
We greet them all with happy face
They’re all decked out in tweeds and lace !
We’ll dine and open gifts en masse
We’ll hug and kiss and take a glass
Of Yuletide nog or maybe beer
To wish us all the best of cheer.
Along the way we may recall
The reason that we’ve gathered all,
It’s not about the gifts and things
It is the message this day brings !
FOREVER ( 2013 )
I heard the prayers said on Christmas Day
From the bloody wars a world away
As they echoed loudly through the hall
Upon my heart fell a heavy pall
That felt like a weight I could not lift
I know peace is an elusive gift !
Somehow all my tears refuse to cease
From war and death there seems no release.
So I begged God for a helping hand
To cleanse this lost and forgotten land
And I shall wait for my answer clear
Pray it won’t take forever to hear !
MY FRIEND ( 2013 ) 2013/12/23
I am feeling somewhat ancient and aching all the while
But I always try to manage to show a happy smile.
My God has dealt with me kindly over so many years
He has granted me much joy some without too many tears.
As I recall my life from its beginning to its end
I express my gratitude God has been my special Friend !
A CHRISTMAS PRAYER ( 2013 )
May you find joyous peace
May The Lord bless your life
May your troubles decrease
As you parry with strife.
May the hand of the Lord
Heal the ache in your heart
And with loving accord
Give your life a new start.
CRYSTAL PALACE ( 2013 ) 2013/12/22
There’s a faerie house shining so fragile and bright
Like a beacon that guides the forgotten at night,
Upon each branch of each tree whether fir or pine
Are glistening sights that choose to sparkle or shine,
In the ice laden limb of each lacy bent tree
There’s a crystal palace that I’m able to see.
When I was a small child what I’d give to live there
Free from this world with all its pain waste and despair
But now that I’m grown and my lessons are all learned
I’ll pray that I find the peace I think I have earned !
SEASONS ( 2013 )
My heart sings out, it is full of cheer
I can’t believe old winter is here
How the chilly night invades the room
As the darkened sky reflects the gloom.
I remember all those days of gold
That prefaced our lives before the cold,
While the winds that steal our breath away
Seem so intent to shorten our day.
How much longer will we need to wait
Till the sun enters the garden gate ?
I’m fond of fall, the summer is fine
Spring is the reason our world will shine !
CHRISTMAS DAY ( 2013 ) 2013/12/21
True, Christ was not born on Christmas Day
In that foreign land so far away,
You must believe all that He has done
He’s the long expected blessed One.
It matters not what the details are
Or how long ago or just how far
For dates are fallible and unsure
It’s what will be that’s truth to endure
Rejoice for any date He will come
Our salvation and God’s only Son !
ICICLES ( 2013 ) 2013/12/20
The drip, drip, drip upon my wall
Resembling a small waterfall
I hear the sound I query why
Where is the source of its supply ?
Icicles cling by my front door
Perhaps it’s that and nothing more.
How marvelous that God has thought
To leave remains of what He’s wrought,
This fragile ice will help recall
The beauty of His last snowfall !
HOPELESS ( 2013 ) 2013/12/19
Do you often think
We’re perched on the brink
In a world insane
With values inane
An outcome preset
The most godless yet ?
FISHTANK ( 2013 )
I am a fish and wish to abide
Close by the sea and edge of the tide
But the fish in me is never sure
If my atmosphere is foul or pure
And swims about with no aim in sight
As I float to make it through each night.
ICESTORM ( 2013 ) 2013/12/18
My world seems covered by a frozen glaze
Like frosting dripped upon vanilla cake.
SNOWFLAKES ( 2013 )
The snow drifts down to coat the ground
There’s not a spot left to be found
Without its masquerade of white
That glows and sparkles in the night.
The stars above shine clear and bright
They cast their luminescent light
And hearken to the crystal sound
As frozen flakes swirl all around !
WAVES ( 2013 ) 2013/12/17
I know a place where seaweed grows
In quiet and secluded coves
Where sea air whines its plaintive song
And we somehow can sing along
While waves and shore do gently kiss
Having found their unfettered bliss.
Bold seagulls here and there may fly
And dive and swoop and cloud the sky
With sights and sounds that scold the tide
Beside the beach where seashells bide
And hide in shallows tossed between
While God reviews this magic scene !
EXPECTATIONS ( 2013 ) 2013/12/16
Our lives begin imagining
While we are young and expanding
With dreams and hopes and something more
That waits outside the cottage door.
It’s then begins the fantasy
Of what we wish or plan to be
Who thinks that life will go astray
When we’ve just begun its first day ?
We stumble, fall and make mistakes
Learn to avoid most small heartbreaks
And travel on lifes busy road
With someone who helps share our load.
How grateful that our lives might be
If we should wed our destiny
To lifetime goals of peace and joy
And courage that we need employ
With love of God walk hand in hand
One day into the promised land.
REDEEMER ( 2013 ) 2013/12/15
There was a child so long ago
Born in a manger, cold and low
That gentle child became the man
To carry out God’s master plan.
I wish I had been there that day
When He was born so far away
To celebrate that happening
The birth of our beloved King !
Claire V. Bogdanos 