I want to help this is my choice
Though all I have is my small voice
I hope its sound rings clear and true
As what I wish is all for you!
ONE TRUTH ( 2015 ) 2015/07/02
Patriotism is never out of style for me
This is my life, my nature, my identity !
THE ALTERNATIVE ( 2015 )
I’ve often thought that people care
Too much about the clothes they wear
And worry over foolish things
Like perfume, body art and rings
While others take great time to choose
Whose signature is on their shoes.
Now when it comes to pick a car
Some folks take things a bit too far
A car’s a chassis on four wheels
In custom color that appeals
It takes us where we want to go
And really must not steal the show.
Tis better far that we agree
The gifts of God to all are free
It matters not how we are clad
But if our hearts are just and glad
To know at last each choice we make
Will please our God is no mistake !
ROLL CALL ( 2015 ) 2015/06/05
A man who walked with God was he
A profile of integrity
A man of honor who chose love
To please his Father there above
A man who died to save us all
From Satan’s might and last roll call !
AMERICA PROMISES ( 2015 ) 2015/06/03
There is one flag that I’ve seen wave
That signals all here come the brave
This standard that most recognise
Bring tears of joy to many eyes.
The memories of where it’s raised
When victories have garnered praise
The sight of which will touch the heart
That’s how it’s been right from the start.
In spite of tyranny’s great might
This emblem promises a fight
For freedom’s sake and mankind’s good
Our nation and our flag have stood !
OUR VICTORY ( 2015 ) 2015/05/06
Some might think that I am foolish
Or even that I’ve lost my mind
I am not known to be churlish
Not spiteful, silly or unkind.
I have no wish to tarry on
Or try to take up too much space
Please note, I am no paragon
Quite long ago I learned my place.
Our lives should be more simplified
With cause for no great mystery
We live by faith and faith implies
Our honor is our victory !
TIN SOLDIERS ( 2015 ) 2015/03/06
I do remember very well
Tin soldiers and the tales they tell
So much of my own childhood play
Was spent imagining their day.
While soldiering was all the style
Accomplishments were well worthwhile
Real soldiers now make us take note
For soldiering can change the vote !
Most of our children have grown old
Served their nation with valor bold
The wars have come and slipt away
As mothers’ tears were in the way.
There is a lesson we need teach
The road to peace is in our reach
Tin soldiers are no longer seen
There’s Army, Navy and Marines !
OUR BATTLE ( 2015 ) 2015/02/22
There is no honor in a war
That is not what the battle’s for
We fight to gain a victory
To bring us peace and set us free !
INTO THE FRAY ( 2015 ) 2015/02/02
Excuse me but I need to say
That all I hear are lies today
Please tell me how the truth got lost
And what will be the total cost ?
Is there one person who does know
Which way the winds are apt to blow
Who can define the final goal
Can it be true we’ve sold our soul ?
This must not be a bartered thing
For honor soars on vaulted wing !
COURAGE AND HONOR ( 2015 ) ( in honor of ) 2015/01/02
We’ve lost a man who knew the way
To help the public every day
So smart and kind and honest too
A man of honor tried and true.
He had the courage to speak out
Without the need to rant and shout
He was well loved with great esteem
Perhaps he’s gone to join God’s team !
THE VIGORISH ( 2014 ) 2014/12/31
There is a God He sees it all
How many truly heed his call
We know this God He hears quite well
But oh, the stories He could tell !
For those which think we hidden are
Will glow as brightly as a star
There is no secret left undone
Our God is privy to each one !
Great fools we are to think we’re free
There is no deed He does not see
The price we’ll pay with vig will grow
Depending on the love we show !
THE RISK ( 2014 ) 2014/12/27
Where’er I look what e’er I see
Are signs of God’s supremacy,
There is no way escaping this
His sacred and eternal bliss.
This gift is ours it waits for us
The joy is there, it’s lifetime plus
To all my friends and those I know
It’s worth the risk as time will show !
DATELINE: HOBOKEN, N J, USA ( 2014 ) “PERFECTION” 2014/11/09
EXCUSE me, have you heard of Sir Edward Dyer (1543-1607), Earl of Oxford, English lyric poet and attributed author of “My Mind To Me A Kingdom Is” ? Â Today, a chilly Sunday morn, these 7 words were my waking thought ! Â I am not a suspicious sort but I question the reason, I should like to learn where these words emerged from. Â Perhaps we live an alternate life within our private dreamworld ? Â Or as my mother was prone to point out to me quite frequently, I possess an overactive mind, aha ! Â Back to my original observation about this poem written mid 16th century, please take time to research original 8 stanza, 48 line piece of melodic perfection ! Â Once again I credit my English mentor, Lorena E. Fry for introducing this depression-era child to the pure joy of words ! Â Can you imagine what it must have been like for the ancient Greeks to participate in the Socratic Circles of Plato’s time ? Â Or to stand in the Pit of the Globe in 1600 London ? Â Where would we be without the vocal power of the pulpits of life ? Â I’ll close with Dyer’s last stanza:
My wealth is health and perfect ease…….My conscience clear my chief defence
I neither seek by bribes to please……………Nor by deceit to breed offence
Thus do I live, Â thus will I die…………………….Would all did so as well as I !
Sincerely, Â Â Â Â Claire B.
DEFEAT ( 2014 ) 2014/11/04
There is no winner in defeat
That moment lost will not repeat
The air is chill the world is blind
What is it that one seeks to find ?
For strength and faith shall ever be
And like the wind will set us free !
YOUR CHOICE ( 2014 ) 2014/10/25
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 !
THE ANSWER ( 2014 ) 2014/10/06
I wait here for the toll of the chimes
That signal welcome to latter times
And the days that we’ve been dreaming of
With much thought of peace and hope and love.
What must we do to earn this pleasure
Step by step and measure by measure
Remember to keep the Written Word
Learn to avoid the evils you’ve heard !
Perform the deeds that you know as just
To earn God’s love and eternal trust
Be slow to anger, answer with thought
Forsake not the morals you’ve been taught !
TOSS THE DICE ( 2014 ) 2014/09/03
When I was young with vision clear
My heart was bold I knew no fear,
But as I grew the world did change
The clouds above grew dark and strange !
Familiar things assumed new shapes
One’s sense of loss sought out escapes
What happened to the olden ways
Of peace and hope and love and praise ?
Tis soon the time to pay the price
Shall we just pray and toss the dice,
It seems we have no other choice
For who is left to raise a voice ?
A NATION LOST ( 2014 ) 2014/08/26
If honor lies beyond one’s reach
What are the lessons we need teach
Which qualities should we demand
Of one who sits tall in command ?
How much or little should there be
Of sense and sensibility ?
And if we share the mighty seat
What can we do to void defeat ?
Both truth and courage come to mind
Where is the hero we need find ?
COLLATERAL ( 2014 ) 2014/08/23
The men who die to keep us free
And give their lives for victory,
They’ll never see the war’s ending
Or hear the peal of freedom ring !
They sacrifice all that could be
Without a thought or guarantee,
There was a chance they knew darn well
They could be caught and sent to hell !
Some would survive another day
While others meant to turn away,
How sad that their reward is small
For death in war rates no recall !
VISIONS ( 2014 ) 2014/07/16
What does one do when dreams are crushed
And turned into a heap of dust
That leaves us all beyond our aim
With broken hearts and vanquished fame ?
Conquistadors and noble knights
You’ve heard their tales of valiant fights
And heroes who rest in their grave
Had visions that they died to save !
While we who are the bottom rung
Have simpler aims and hopes unsung
We beg our Lord to understand
And help us reach the promised land !
WONDERLAND ( 2014 ) 2014/05/15
A child of God I chose to be
When I was but the age of three
My nana took me by the hand
To enter God’s great wonderland.
We sang the hymns that I loved best
The years have proved we stood the test
Her faith was strong, I took her cue
I followed God and I still do !
HOMAGE ( 2014 ) 2014/04/22
When I remember yesterday
So long ago and faraway
I chuckle and I laugh aloud
(Between just us or in a crowd).
We had such fun both you and I
All through those years before goodbye
A mother and her child were we
Who lived in peaceful harmony.
Along the way we both grew old
Still sharing stories to be told
I hope you know how much you’re missed
And what I’d give for one last kiss !
CHOICES ( 2014 ) 2014/02/16
God grants us all a wider choice
In learning how to use our voice
To make our way and do the right
From early morn through harried night.
Pursue the course and do the best
To forge our way and pass the test
This is one task we cannot fail
The stakes are high we need prevail.
No matter what decisions made
One can’t escape or chance evade
The simple act of courage bold
To choose new ways or keep the old.
My last reaction’s brash and hard
Like Abraham, I will choose God !
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 !
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.
DATELINE: HOBOKEN, NJ, USA “DESTINY” ( 1984 ) 2013/11/14
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.
DATELINE: HOBOKEN, NJ, USA “BE PREPARED” ( 2013 ) 2013/08/05
In early 1943, the preplanning and superior amounts of arms and power of the enemy forces were taking the larger toll of the Allied resources and men. Civilians at home had to step up to increased responsibilities. Farmers left the cornfields to join the battlefields and I became one of the teens who chose to spend that summer working the land for room and board in the place of a father and son who went to serve their country in the USMC. Some experience, a dairy farm upstate New York raising hay, melons, milking cows by hand, fighting mange with sulphur and petroleum ( ugh ). Learning to ride a workhorse, clean stalls, raise chickens, collect eggs, bale hay, 1940’s style ! You know, cows got milked twice a day. Another “ugh” was artificial insemination ! I have always been a quick learner, thankfully. That summer without the beach, popcorn or the boardwalk, reminded me of the Girl Scout promise I had made to do my duty to God and my country, to help one another and to be prepared ! What wonderful values youngsters learned in the scouting movement, not what you can do for me, but as JFK said, “what I can do for my country”. Why have we forgotten so much, why does everything seem upside- down ? When did we get sidetracked by ME, ME, ME ? The age of Aquarius ? This morning I read Chapter 3 of 2nd Timothy and found one answer, do you think it’s the correct one ? Do you believe that America has lost her way ? I hope not.
Sincerely,
Claire B.
CARELESS ( 2013 ) 2013/07/21
I’d like to tell you how things were when I was but a child
The values that were taught to us in lessons bold yet mild
Where honesty and fairness and true courage was the wayÂ
To learn to love each other and show kindness every day .
Somehow we’ve lost that purpose we can’t seem to get it back
We find ourselves defeated and subjected to attack.
I feel sad for little ones living in this hostile clime
Will they survive tomorrow or through out the rest of time ?
It’s a lonely kind of story in which they have been caughtÂ
To never find the glory in the rules that they’ve been taughtÂ
It’s a hapless sort of reason that just may see the endÂ
Of a world in its last season unless it learns to bend.
Claire V. Bogdanos 