This is God’s giant stage and we are players all
We tread upon the boards and pray we do not fall !
DOWN TO A MAN ( 2017 ) 2017/03/31
Our lives are cast in many ways
With results for all of our days
No one may change what has begun
For history’s been set and done.
We hope and pray we do not fail
And of our strengths we shall avail
So each will do the best he can
To fill that role down to a man !
BOSS OF YOU AND ME ( 2017 ) 2017/02/24
I hear the wind so wild and cold
It shares a chill quite brash and bold
And struts its sound beyond the storm
Oh how I wish I could get warm.
I’d guess the forests need to sleep
While gusty winds do clean and sweep
It is a job of giant length
And needs to work at high pitch strength
For God owns all the powers that be
And is the boss of you and me !
GREAT VICTORY ( 2016 ) 2016/12/16
In many dreams that I recall
I’ve seen the writings on the wall
Those simple words a judgement were
And caused the fall of Belshazzar !
Now Daniel was a man of God
Much suffered as his life was hard
But win he did as we all know
And latter days, his writings show.
So much that we have all been told
Of visions from those days of old
He brought us truth that we will see
God’s ultimate great victory !
PARITY ( 2016 ) 2016/10/08
There’s much to be said for a life well spent
More to be taught from what the years have lent !
BLUE SKY ( 2016 ) 2016/09/17
So many questions I’d like to ask
It truly is a cumbersome task
There’s too many things I need to know
Like trees and plants and flowers that grow
Or fruits and berries, all types of beans,
About life and death and what it means
There’s one more question I’ll put to you
Can you tell me why the sky is blue ?
CHILDHOOD DIES ( 2016 ) 2016/08/15
When I was very young,you know
My special game was tell and show
There hidden ‘mongst so many things
Questions curiosity brings.
And thus I learned to query all
‘Bout wide or lean and small or tall
And always found the answer was
Like this or that or just because !
As I progressed along life’s way
I put my childish games away
Twas then that I did understand
All childhood dies in adult-land !
LEGENDS ( 2016 ) 2016/06/08
Now I have trod thouands of miles
From the Highlands to the low
And wandered o’er its paths and stiles
Threading through the fields that grow.
I’ve hiked so many mountain peaks
And clambered over rough stone
I’m bored by shopping and boutiques
I prefer to trek alone.
It’s ancient times that intrigue me
With stories that I have known,
What’s captured me is history
And the legends it has sown !
CURIOUS ( 2016 ) 2016/06/01
I can’t imagine what we’d find
In the crevices of the mind
With all those nooks and crannies there
So much info for us to share.
Tip-top full of variety
Oh what a sight t’would be to see
I’d pray tis not injurious
Not sure if I’m that curious !
THESAURUS ( 2015 ) 2015/08/07
I pull the words out of the air
There are so many words to share
Some words are good and kind and sweet
While some are mean, fierce, incomplete.
Of all the words I’ve ever used
I shy away from those confused
And try to stick to making sense
As nastiness has no defense.
I pray that God and I agree
Of all our words there are but three
That humans, angels, heaven too
All need to hear, that’s “I love you.”
LIFE’S VENUE ( 2015 ) 2015/07/25
There was a child that used to be
Wide-eyed and cheerful, full of glee
And then one day all got to see
That grownup person who is me.
I’d like to be the way I was
But that can’t be I’m sure because
Along the way we took a pause
To teach us how a grownup does.
One finds that learning’s never done
The process blurs once you’ve begun
No guarantee ’tis always fun
The race continues till it’s done !
ONE SMALL STAR ( 2015 ) 2015/07/23
Oh winds that blow where have you been
In your journeys, what have you seen
You have roamed your existence through
What else is there as old as you ?
The winds have blown at God’s command
Since He split water from the land
Old Noah floated with the breeze
Until he saw the tops of trees.
From the beginning to the end
Your power has been our best friend
How wise God was on that first day
He planned our world for work and play
And we who think how smart we are
Have not yet changed just one small star !
IF I WERE AN ELEPHANT ( 2015 ) 2015/06/27
I wish I were an elephant
With rugged trunk so long and thick
T’would be my speaking instrument
The trumpet sounds both loud and quick.
I grunt and growl and rumble too
Traveling with the herd for miles
My hooves send messages to you
While trunks curve down for friendly smiles.
I’m told that I am very smart
My memory so ever long
Seems I’ve an extra loving heart
Among all beasts I’m the most strong.
Now I’ve been here since mammoth days
And that is like forever time
By now you should respect my ways
And help me to survive decline !
TAKE TIME TO DREAM ( 2015 ) 2015/05/13
My advice to you my darling friend
Is take time to dream before the end
Do it now ere you have fully grown
It curries magic you have not known
Supplying cushions to fall upon
As life turns into a marathon !
ABOUT READING ( 2014 ) 2014/12/17
There is a world that lives inside
the covers of a book
Where anyone who wants can hide
or peek or sneak a look
For in the world of make-believe
some words can set you free
Where you can stay or take your leave
or learn who you can be !
Now books are truly curious
they teach us many things
Some sad, some glad, some furious
some happiness that sings.
I do believe it would be bad
without a book to read
How could we know if all we’ve had
did fail or did succeed ?
INHERITANCE ( 2014 ) 2014/11/16
This legacy I leave to you
Before my words and breath are through
It’s that you learn to live with joy
Treasure the tools that you employ
Give thanks for gifts that you receive
Above all else in God believe !
FOR THE NOVICE ( 2014 ) 2014/11/02
Now Mary was the special one
God picked to bear His only son
From Judah’s tribe she had to be
Samuel vowed to Ruth’s Jesse !
Descended from son David’s clan
His grandson who was called Nathan
Was that forebear of Miriam,
Her name was changed to Mary then !
Now Joseph was descended from
King David’s young son Solomon,
Oh what confusion this must be
Describing Christ’s birth history,
It is so hard to learn these facts
I should have picked the Book of Acts !
DATELINE: HOBOKEN,N J, USA ( 2014 ) “FACING ONE’S MORTALITY” 2014/10/04
EXCUSE me but I digress, wouldn’t you ? I find myself musing among the words of Dr. Holmes, the senior Oliver Wendell of course ! If you have followed my DATELINES, then you will know how taken I am with his writing all these many years. There is a line he wrote in a letter from Beverly Farms, 7/9/1885, that is exceedingly profound and I would like you to ponder its core meaning ! He ends his self critique with these words: But the morning dew means little to the withered leaf ! Wow ! He repeats in a letter from same on 7/9/1894 noting that his opinion hasn’t changed. May I ask you to search out these letters on WIKIPEDIA, nothing like authenticating. Now what does this have to do with facing one’s own mortality, everything ! In our lives we calmly allow atrophy to overtake parts of our anatomy to stifle the most exciting contributions we are capable of making, from actions to words ! This includes progeny to thought process, wisdom. Why did God give us speech ? Or the capacity to think, plan, dream, hope ? And not the lions ? For we are special in His image, not automatons, however we are perceived. I for one wish to exercise my abilities until the day I bid adieu, knowing all the while that this is what I was created for. In Genesis 9:1 instructions to Noah, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. Amen ! Sincerely, Claire B.
“And if I should live to be……….That last leaf upon the tree……….In the spring,……….Let them smile, as I do now,…………At the old forsaken bough………..Where I cling”………….( final stanza). The Last Leaf by Oliver Wendell Holmes
THE FROG ( 2014 ) 2014/06/25
Sometimes I think that I could be
A noisy frog under a tree
With leaves so strong they seem to float
Upon the stream much like a boat
And there to be called Captain Frog
Who sails about and keeps a log.
Perched on my head a sailing cap
That while afloat I still can nap,
In storytime this tale is told
About a frog and princess bold.
I harbor thoughts now ever since
That I might be that froggy prince
But feel a magic kiss, how odd
For even frogs believe in God !
THE SUN ( 2014 ) 2014/05/31
The early sun that filters through the window blind
Brings welcome warmth into the room where dreams unwind
Its fingers undulating all across the spread
So careless thrown upon the length of my small bed.
I’ve often thought God’s greatest gift must be the sun
It is the reason life exists for everyone
Another facet of nature’s vast mysteries
That rise beyond the heart and mind that knows and sees !
DATELINE : HOBOKEN, NJ, USA “COMMON SENSE” ( 2014 ) 2014/05/22
EXCUSE ME but today is one of those frustrating times when I am awash in waves of nostalgia that simply will not evaporate or disappear. I find these inexplicable occurrences are triggered by some minute detail, a date or an odd notion, secreted away in the intricate catacomb of the mind ! That’s a mouthful of words, but all true. At this moment, I believe the trigger to be the occasion of Memorial Day ! For those of my generation, I would imagine that World War Two ( note: in deference to those unfamiliar with Roman numerals ) is the guilty impetus today ! Perhaps almost 75 years later, one would expect the memories to have faded into nothingness, however that war remains as viable today as it was all those years ago. The names of places that existed only in travel brochures or the geographical almanacs of the era easily roll off our tongues plus we can actually spell them, like Enewetak or Tinian. Just imagine, a generation deprived of the option of earning degrees that can think AND spell ! Is that like walking and chewing bubble gum at the same time ? HAHA ! I wonder. Can anyone explain Common Core to me, is it related to Common Sense ? Thank you for your help ! Sincerely, Claire B.
DATELINE: HOBOKEN, N J, USA “BLOOD MOON” ( 2014 ) 2014/04/12
EXCUSE ME I need to access WIKIPEDIA ! I awoke this AM with 100’s of questions in my head and a need to check out this “BLOOD MOON” because it rings a familiar bell. Well I was right but online didn’t help ! There I was researching the pages of the world’s most read tome, can you guess ? And there IT was; JOEL 2:30, ACTS 2:20 and REVELATION 6:12. Thank God for my memory, although my mother was convinced that my ability to remember was the result of all the eggs I consumed as a kid ! As a child of the Great Depression, eggs cost 5 cents a dozen or were free when you uncovered an occasional fowl’s nest in the bushes. Eggs were called brain food in those days, can’t imagine why since hens appear to be brainless ! Only creatures I ever saw that frantically ran around after their heads were chopped off ( like a chicken with its head cut off ). No kidding ! You’ve read my post about candling eggs to check if they were fertilized ? Remember 5 cents a dozen as opposed to $ .75 for a capon ? Simple economics ! Well, back to Blood Moon, any opinions ? What’s with “beating plow shares into swords and pruning hooks into spears” ? That’s totally backwards ! “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision” ? Any answers ? God bless us all ! Sincerely, Claire B.
LOST INNOCENCE ( 2014 ) 2014/02/06
I thought myself alone one day
When voices soon came out to play
They called my name and cheered me on
Return with them to times long gone.
I dreamt I was transported back
To childhoods trust and angers lack
To days of joy when friendships grew
And sharing dreams were things we knew.
Then I awoke to noise and din
Into our world engrossed in sin
I wish I knew how to return
To that safe place of love and learn !
DATELINE: HOBOKEN, NJ, USA “ARMISTICE DAY” ( 2013 ) 2013/11/14
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.
REBORN ( 2013 ) 2013/08/28
Ever after once in awhile
On the darkest day to be found
The hidden sun reveals a smile
And the earths gladness does resound.
In but an instant here and there
You can note an ecstatic sight
The sun peeks thru the sudden flare
And our wee space glows ever bright.
A world that’s drowning in darkness
Lurks about like the stranger lost
To seek hearts bearing true kindness
While not discounting the cost.
The clouds break together once more
Simple as day following dawn
And our strengths grow stronger before
We renew our faith as reborn.
Claire V. Bogdanos 