At last the time has come for us to see
The battles that define our legacy
That follow us wherever we may go
No matter what the odds win, place or show.
This world a test in which we must compete
Display our colours calmly in defeat
And if by chance the winners we should be
Do take the lead with deep humility.
Have faith and trust in that we will conceive
Know God abides in all that we believe !
We know the hand of God above
Bids us accept His way of love
This should be so for all of us
The fuel of life’s great omnibus.
To lead another by the hand
We find it sense to understand
God made no one to live alone
Our hearts and heads not carved of stone.
We own the power to include care
With values that we keep and share
Our duty is to love with joy
In truthful ways we need employ
For love is more than carnal lust
It’s kind and sweet and sure and just.
On wings of hope our dreams take flight
To carry us through troubled night
Up to the clouds above our heads
While we sleep tight upon our beds.
For dreams can be the sweetest things
As we escape on quilted wings,
Then wish no more my precious child
That days will be both kind and mild.
Our God shall greet us as we fly
Into His arms with lullaby
And sing a song there while we sleep
To cradle all the fears we keep
And waken with the mornings light
To other fortunes beaming bright !
There is one truth of which I’m sure
The infants heart is good and pure
His innocence exists innate,
While growing he is taught to hate.
A child that’s raised in wisdoms care
Is one who learns to give and share.
His kindly deeds and honest ways
Will closely shadow all his days,
And if we shower him with cheer
One day may lead us out of fear.
My heart cries out, the pain intense
What life is this devoid of sense ?
Are we all mad or lost our mind
As time moves on what shall we find ?
Is peace a word we’ll disregard,
Which human traits shall we discard ?
I think we’ve had enough of this
The loss of faith and lack of bliss,
It’s time for us to lift our eyes
Ask God to speed mans just reprise !
The winds of war blow harsh and shrill
To pierce the heart with their bone chill
Battles fought without thought or care
While wars are waged by those who’d dare.
Fear that’s wrought upon the living
Small time spent in kindness giving
To save the world and aid the meek
The peace of God has none to speak.
There to some end that one can’t name
They kill the young, the old, the game
Both sides lay dying in the street
Finality which tastes defeat,
The sense of it one cannot see
Oh war, where is thy victory ?
Thank you Lord for another day
The wind is cool the sky is gray
But if we wait a little while
The morning sun begins to smile.
Such joy to wake this way each morn
Why should I feel lost or forlorn ?
My heart is full my mind is clear
My love of God defeats my fear
I am so glad that I can see
God’s gracious care that comforts me !
EXCUSE ME, they’re playing our song ! Do you remember the words ? “God bless America land that I love”. A kind of poetry, words of songs that began with men like George M. Cohan and women like Kate Smith. Words we’ve disregarded for years in lieu of MTA, Walkman, Beatles, Michael Jackson and even Lionel Ritchie. The problem has been that we haven’t made room for both, like forgetting how great a cold beer is after acquiring a taste for Stoli on the rocks! “She’s the emblem of the land I love, the home of the free and the brave,”. It used to be, these songs filled many a hall with resounding applause and many a heart with astounding pride. What “the world needs now ” is a healthy dose of plain old fashioned patriotism. Let’s see a show of hands and maybe a show of flags. Take time out to thank someone for doing their job well, a nurse, teacher, postman, waiter, bus driver, a child. Maybe they’ll thank us in return by doing even better ! Today we stand at the crossroads and must choose between old habits or a rejuvenated search for national identity. Look around, we grouse too much, blame someone else, ask others to do our job not realizing that we are each an integral part of the whole. A broken toe causes a body to limp, throw away the crutches, stand up tall and stop playing cripple! Excuse me while I salute the flag! Sincerely, Claire B.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year 1918, that was the original Armistice Day that morphed into Veteran’s Day in 1954. My only sibling was born at that precise moment in 1939. My dad referred to her as his “American Flag” ! She weighed in at 8 lbs. 11 oz. and became the epitome of patriotism as she grew. She sure could write ! Recently, necessity demanded that I winnow my mementoes, the result being the discovery of my original DATELINE articles self-published for the patrons of HOBOKEN HOUSE, I will be sharing, without editing, these 30 year old articles and hope you may find the humor is still applicable ! Good luck with that, right ? For those of you who thirst for other avenues of interest, may I suggest that you read “Thieves of Baghdad” by my son, Colonel Matthew Bogdanos, U.S.M.C., retired, an exciting account of the search for ancient relics. Do you remember that old commercial, “Try it, you’ll like it !”, perhaps ? Sincerely, Claire B.
I miss the dream that slipped away
It fluttered by and did not stay
I’ve missed it all these many years
And always will recall the tears.
This dream of ours that was so sweet
Left me alone here incomplete
My heart was lost and insecure
Too sad to say there’s been no cure.
My love was strong my heart was true
I hoped somehow yours could be too !
Beseech the Lord, He’s always there
Lift up your voice to Him in prayer
And raise your arms to call His name
Beg Him help save the halt and lame.
Grant us the strength to see this through
Roll back black clouds from skies of blue
Reach out a hand which we may clasp
Or garments edge that we can grasp.
Lord with each breath we’ll ask today
For aid to carry us away
Upon the winds in God’s command
We’ll follow Him air, sea and land.
Oh brisk November, cold and chill
Baring all of bleak winters ill
Your days are short while nights are long
The winds too brash, the currents strong.
The message that’s delivered here
Now echoes clearly on the ear
No matter what your stay may bring
God guarantees each newborn spring.
I’ve thought a lot about romance
And pondered if a second chance
Might be of value at some stage
Who has the time at this ripe age ?
The faithful love that does endure
Is one which is both kind and sure
Within this sphere that we may share
The love of God for whom we care !
The dark angel has passed me by
One cannot guess how glad am I
I’ve been upon this path before
And grateful now he’s skipped my door.
I am not ready yet to die
There is much left that I must ply
Perhaps he’ll understand my plight
Convinced I’m not too weak to fight.
Of course he’ll try another day
And know when I can’t longer stay
But when that time arrives at last
I’ll pack my dreams and exit fast !
It seems to me as our frantic life moves on
There’s one book of wisdom we can lean upon !
Can it be that I’m a dreamer who fritters life away
And does not have the sense at least to try another way ?
True I don’t have the answer as to what my life should be
But I hope that God approves if I choose humility.
I am so sad I’ve lost a friend
Much too soon for ones life to end,
Seems time had only just begun
Replete with love and joy and fun,
And now to bid this last goodbye
Ere the angels teach her to fly !
Her gentle smile, her charm and grace
Her tender ways, her sweet, sweet face
She’s left us with her last embrace
And gone to find God’s holy place.
The wind moves quickly through the trees
Loose missiles sailing on the breeze
Branches bristling flush with their leaves
Some landing there upon the eaves
Some flying swiftly to the ground
Others blowing turn round and round.
Like fugitives in some mad race
Each seeking their own resting place
Gusts increasing now growing bold
Like vestiges of legends old
That leave to us our final quest
We must survive old Natures best.
How sad it is to bid goodbye
To close the door and wonder why
The past is never far behind
It lingers long upon the mind
And carries on its tethered wings
The burden of forgotten things.
I thought with time I might forget
Those moments bearing deep regret
To be so sorry for the day
I should have said don’t go away,
But you are gone and time will tell
We had no chance to say farewell !
How can it be that we grow old
And watch our lives as they unfold
Yet never note how all this change
Has come about, I find it strange.
Our mind has eyes that do not see
Enslaved by greed we are not free
While hearts that love are left alone
To build foundations stone by stone.
Where is the joy in how we live,
Who owns the gift we do not give ?
Children, children, they start out small
Quickly growing and getting tall
Children with vision in their eyes
They dream vistas great with surprise.
To find their way in all this joy
What is it that we must employ,
What kind of future will they see
As part of their own destiny ?
What glowing visions there would be
If dreaming were reality !
I do not wish to live in fear
I cannot see the sense
I’d will the terror disappear
Such thoughts are too intense.
I do believe God would agree
I’ll speak for the defense
His love will keep us safe and free
We are His innocents.
Coming of age In the 30’s and 40’s was a difficult time. Prohibition, depression, poverty and the threat of a world wide war was a formidable venue to thrust upon one generation. Between the desolation caused by the Dustbowl and the epidemic of Infantile Paralysis along with Diptheria and Rheumatic Fever, we were a nation under siege. Remembering that penicillin did not surface until mid 1940’s, near the close of World War Two. We survived because we believed in our God, our country, our flag and ourselves ! Small wonder the fates worshipped at our feet but we were too practical and honest in those days to pay them much attention. Through the years my mother had this standard answer to any complaints visited upon her. It was, “I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet.” This obvious reference to conditions of the era affected my outlook for a lifetime as once again her secular 8th grade education proved the power of common sense. I now gift you with her closing line that echoes still, “this too shall pass.”
Sincerely, Claire B.
Welcome winds whisper sweet nothingness in my ear
While silent shards of sunlight pierce the shadows sphere
The morn has whisked away the demons of the night
And left untouched the eagerness of early light.
Thus begins anew the cycle which shall revive
Perhaps that character we all need to survive
Another day, another time, another place
Imagining the fragile dawn of human race.
Winter wind your chill voice calls
I hear the echoes through the halls
They wail and blow and heave and sigh
What will be autumns short reply ?
This season new bursts on the scene
Assuring us much to be gleaned,
Spine tingling cold and freezing rain
Historic storms without restrain.
Undaunted now I cannot wait
As day and night participate
The wind blows wild as snowflakes fall
Soon ice and snow will bury all !
I’m on a journey I’m traveling alone
The passage is slow and the cast is unknown
It’s terribly far and sometimes it’s too dark
I must carry on though its outcome is stark.
I’ve been on this road for a very long time
How I wish it would end it’s such a steep climb
My spirit is weary more so with each day
When I’ve reached the conclusion I’ll kneel and pray.
It’s a cumbersome thought that now piques the mind
At the finish of life what is it we’ll find ?
I’ve no dreams of great eloquence or grace
My heart just sings to view your laughing face
Such joy it carries to my simple heart
Enough to give my day a blessed start.
I’m sure this love that spreads is whole and real
And feeds the courage of the hope I feel
That you’ll turn out to be the finest lad
With kindly thoughts and deeds as did your dad.
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Claire V. Bogdanos 