I have climbed to the top of the mountain
I have waded the impossible stream
I have suffered through a lifetime of pain
And been part of the American dream.
I have held myself in parade proudly
And have determined that God made us all
I shall answer the last call profoundly
Be it the spring, summer, winter or fall.
These criss-cross tracks seen from o’erhead
The only sign our eyes have read
Some lonely truck half-cased in snow,
No telltale signs that we should know
How drivers found their safe escape
In this abandoned stark snowscape !
The storm continues wild and wet
How long before the wind will let
The drifts abate and settle down
So we may trudge on solid ground ?
I love the snow its smell and feel
Reminding us of all that’s real
One more facet of God’s great love
That shadows us from up above !
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 !
I love you Lord, this much I know
I’m thankful for the trees that grow
The flowers that will all spring forth
As winter winds escape due north,
The raucous clouds that bring us rain
To help implode great fields of grain
And snow that melts into the stream
Where schools of fish will spawn and teem.
I’m grateful for the air that sings
And carries life upon its wings
The gull, the dove, the sparrow small
Belong to God as do we all !
My Mother taught me how to smile
To keep my values all worthwhile
And try to be both sweet and kind
Despite the anger one may find.
My Father taught me to be true
Respect the old red, white and blue,
To honor God with faith and deed
And cultivate both plant and seed.
My Nana taught me how to pray
And live with truth from day to day
My Pop he gave me sober thought
To follow all the lessons taught.
My old Aunt Rose helped me to grow
Into the girl who learned to sew
My children taught me how to wait
With patience at lifes starting gate.
I’m blest for all the lessons learned
And grateful for the friends I’ve earned
But most of all I’m thankful for
The chance to knock at God’s front door.
This heart of mine has run its race
But finds there is a lot more space
To gather in those left outside
Who’ve lost their way, their hope, their pride.
They need some help to reinvent
The manner days and lives are spent
While we who’ve tred this path before
Have learned to knock upon the door
That opens wide to Gods true way
To teach, to help, to thank, to pray !
A simple man rose up one day
And felt he had just cause to say
A thank you for his every need
To God above who gave him heed
With blessed morn and evening star
Safe path to walk both near and far
The sense to think and hear and see
Deep gratitude that he is free
And pride of nation as he prays
For God to bless his future days.
In the dusky dawn
Of an early morn
As I raise my head
From a comfy bed
I am quick to say
My thanks for the day
To the God I love
In heaven above.
Each morning as I a waken, in those first few moments when awareness stirs, I take the time to thank my creator for another day. I do not question whether my benefactor exists! I remember the manners that I was taught as a child and am grateful and will continue to be so for every subsequent breath that I take.Ingratitude is unacceptable! But what I wish to convey to you today is the simple fact that my heart sings and has done so for most of my life in spite of adversity. As we have learned from Job, faith is all! Tears are a necessity, like washing ones heart, purging our emotions not unlike windshield wipers clearing our vision as we travel on life’s “fractious” highway. These are not incompatible feelings but rather complimentary. The point I am attempting to advance is that one needs to be “tempered” by the other, you know “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”! The total of which leads me to an example of both beauty and sadness by Tennyson, “Tears Idle Tears”.
“Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy Autumn – fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more.”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
As one of the “Apostles” of the 19th century and the genius who followed Wordsworth (whom I also adore) as Englands’s Poet Laureate, his writings are almost immortal and endless, each more valiant than the previous! Do you recall that I have voiced my request for another 100 years so I can get it right this time? His concluding line, “O Death in Life, the days that are no more!” He may just be the “Willie Mays” of poetry, you must make that decision on your own. You’re next up in the batter’s box, try hard to not strike out! He’s a champ!
Sincerely,
Claire B.
I was born in between World Wars One and Two
Which lent me a special perspective and view
Learning to live with the wide scarring war brings
Soon you begin helping to heal all the stings
To take nothing for granted and do your part
Becomes an incentive with peace in your heart
It remains forever despite where you trod
You must not forget to be grateful to God.
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Claire V. Bogdanos 