I’ve had this dream that comes and goes
From fingertips to tippytoes
Yet what it means none but God knows.
When I was small and loved to play
I’d splash in water all the day
Closeby the ocean or the bay.
I’ve spent my life beside the sea
It’s where I feel both safe and free
And where my ashes placed will be.
In sleep I hear the ocean’s roar
I sense the gulls that o’erhead soar
And pray that I still hug God’s shore !
What joy it is to see the face
Of one who finishes life’s race
It matters not your rank or place
Just learn to win or lose with grace.
Achievement occupies no space
To try again bears no disgrace
And oh, such pleasure in the chase
As with God’s help one keeps the pace.
There is no stigma can erase
His winning circle we embrace !
I hear the groans from the street below
As awnings crank, tires screech and go
The blare of morning is all around
And crams the air with its frantic sound.
Oh how I miss the silence and peace
That once I knew on a distant beach
But like the mouse in the country bred
I thought I’d try the city instead.
Oh silly goose, what did you not find
You left the calm of your life behind !
All through my life I shall recall
Those balmy days that prefaced fall
The flippant breeze that slipped the waves
And carried voices from the graves,
Where are you love, where have you gone
What God is it you wait upon ?
Please tell me will we ever meet
Is death by war the last defeat,
Where is the day we know must come
Will God greet all or only some ?
Now once upon a time ago
Before the world began to grow
Into the place it has become
With all at war and peace for none,
Are you a global warming buff
Or is your faith in God enough ?
How would you wish for it to be
That all might have immunity
Or better still that you and me
Could till the soil or fish the sea,
This simple life would satisfy
But I’m afraid wars will not die !
It seems to me the world about
Is filled with anger and with doubt,
Each day begins with a clean slate
As we move nearer to our fate.
I’m grateful every time I rise
For all the beauty of His skies
And all the wisdom that is free
To understand God’s charity.
I must believe He loves us all
The young, the old, the great, the small
And willingly accept that He
Is rooting for our victory !
A little time to breathe the air
A little more just being there
A tiny space to think aloud
Like time to float upon a cloud
A moment with no purpose bound
And minutes where silence is found !
I found my love when but a teen
I knew great joy at seventeen
I thought the world was lean and keen
When I had turned just seventeen.
The times were tough and war was mean
When I was only seventeen
My heart got broken neat and clean
And there I was but seventeen.
All through those years that passed unseen
Life disappeared at seventeen
I wish my time had been pristine
Like once it was at seventeen
I’d sacrifice the years between
Again to be just seventeen !
I have walked by the side of the road
As the Lord helped me carry my load
I have treasured the words that He spoke
Though my spirit’s been bent it’s not broke.
I have wandered across this great land
With its vistas all spacious and grand
Like the lady who lives by the sea
Holding the torch of our liberty
And I know in my heart it is true
I adore the old red white and blue !
I am a saddened stranger lost
Here in this world so tempest-tossed,
Its fury which does much abound
Leaves none unscathed upon the ground.
It rages through this honeycomb
Of life that is to peace unknown
Oh Lord, be kind let calm abide
There’s no place left for us to hide !
This morning as I rose from bed
I thought about the day ahead
And hoped that God would pave the way
For all of us who grateful pray
That peace and calm might once more reign
While love and joy their power regain,
Not only for the day at hand
But all that’s within His command !
Flying carpets where have you gone
I need a rug to ride upon
Perhaps a shell like Venus had
Or dolphin’s back, like Alan Ladd.
We should recall those olden days
When fantasy was all the rage
And films and books and fables old
Like fairy tales were stories told.
Today the truth is all we’ve got
Accepting that, I’d rather not
While Ali Baba was his name
Those forty thieves brought him his fame
Arabia was mystic too
I liked it then, well didn’t you ?
Today tis sad, this world to think
It seems we’ve reached the final brink
There’s no time left for let’s pretend
The world we knew has met its end !
Tred softly friend the world is wide
One cannot know what dwells inside
In faith we all have tales to tell
There is no mystery or spell.
Each dawn awakes to a new day
We’ll beg the night to fade away
Let’s close our eyes pretend to be
A world in perfect harmony !
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 !
I keep myself so busy
There is always work to do
Sometimes I feel so dizzy
That I take a break or two.
My life is full of meaning
And I pray it stays this way
With God to do the gleaning
There is faith in every day !
You are the rain that gently falls
The summer breeze that softly calls
The robin high above the eaves
Playing I-see-you in the leaves.
The gull, the wren, the dove, the lark
All creatures moving in the dark
The water rushing rocks and rills
The wide expanse of fields and hills
This world that is Your vast domain
The gift You’ve promised will remain
You are the stars that shine above
You are the object of our love !
I haven’t thought too much today
What my life will be tomorrow
I’ve no desire to find some way
Where moments beg, steal or borrow.
I have no dreams of afterlife
Or hope that soars to distant height
I search for peace absent of strife
A world bathed in God’s quiet light !
There was a story that I’d heard
So long ago it seems absurd
About a man who lost his way
He couldn’t tell his night from day.
He wandered far across the land
Through mountainpass and desert sand
He crossed the waters wide and deep
He travelled on without much sleep.
Until at last he stopped to rest
And found the object of his quest
An ancient town and tiny gem
By name it was called Bethlehem !
I’m not lonely, how can that be
Since there is no one here but me
I am my own good company !
I’m sure the Lord’s forever there
He always answers every prayer
And whisks away life’s dark despair !
I know His love is there to give
To teach each one how to forgive
And help us all our lives to live.
The lessons learned there at His feet
Become the goals we need complete,
Fulfill our hopes and futures greet !
I am that simple grain of sand
Who tempest tossed waits His command
Sometimes I tire, impatient grown
Where is the fruit of seeds I’ve sown ?
How long must I endure this pain
And when may I relief obtain,
So many questions fill my mind
Where is this peace I yearn to find ?
A gentle voice I seem to hear
It whispers softly in my ear
“This God alone can truly know
He will be there whene’er you go !”
A lonely man with head cast down
I saw him pass with puzzled frown
His shoulders hunched his step was slow
It seems he had nowhere to go.
I wonder what can be his grief
His burden’s great without relief
How weak the old appear to be
Bowed down by our society.
Perhaps if I could make a wish
That with God’s help their pains vanish
I’d pray so hard that they might be
Allowed to keep their dignity !
The colors of the rainbow bright
They run amuck from dark to light
No shades of gray for us to find
For who of us is color blind ?
The madness of the world about
Has tendencies to rage and shout
They cannot see or do not note
What color to us each connotes.
I’d like to think my world could be
Bathed in true colored harmony !
To fill the world with gentle thought
To teach the lessons you’ve been taught
To guide your heart along life’s way
To silence anger and display,
To keep alive your fondest dream
To live with hope and peace redeem
To mix with all and be discreet
To stay your course without defeat,
To love your God, to Him be true
Respect yourself and follow through
Observe the rules to self instruct
Embrace the world with good conduct !
Have you wondered where your life has gone
Have you heard the peal of time’s alarm
Resounding loudly in its own way
When days are lost and all gone astray ?
For those of you who remember how
Let us speak with God right here and now
Asking Him in the kindest of ways
To help us through these difficult days.
Tell us again about what we face
When we meet at the end of the race
Help us to understand what it means
As we all reach the end of our dreams !
The chapel bells ring out so sweet
From here up high above the sound
I see the people in the street
Parishioners all flock around.
Tis Sunday morn and bitter cold
The snow is hard and crunches loud
I see them all both young and old
Laughing hustling in a crowd.
Quite suddenly the quiet falls
The silence seems so full of calm
The chimes o’erhead toll out and call
It is God’s love that is our balm !
The terror of the night draws near
Keep still my heart it may not hear
A drama that each life endured
While hour to hour we are inured.
The smallest sound becomes a threat
We have not found our solace yet
Elusive peace where have you gone
Into the land that lies beyond ?
Say can you tell me what is there
Or will you guess how I shall fare
It matters not for who can know
What lies beyond each new shadow ?
It doesn’t matter what I say
Sometimes my breath gets blown away
It doesn’t matter what I think
Sometimes I feel I’m on the brink !
It’s really hard to stay on track
Sometimes I want my body back
I am so tired of life on strike
Although I’ve learned to push the “Like”.
As I observe my patience grow
So many things I did not know
Get clearer still for me to see
There’s so much more that’s yet to be !
Oh gracious Lord, the snowflakes fall
Like camouflage disguising all
The ugliness that war has wrought
Within this web in which we’re caught
How wonderful this world would be
If peace should score a victory !
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Claire V. Bogdanos 