The wistful willows bend and weep
The mourning doves have gone to sleep
The raucous gulls their silence keep
While in the night dark shadows creep.
Failed dreams lie stagnant in a heap
The charm is gone, the price too steep
The prize we seek beyond our leap
For as we sow, so shall we reap !
Each day that I awake in the haze of early dawn
In that special moment, I thank God that I was born
And ask the Lord above for another useful day
While I beg Him once again to bless me on my way.
I’ve been praying on my knees since I was very young
In these last twenty years there’s no way it could be done
I try always to remember faith is never free
Weighted on its shoulders rests responsibility !
Sometimes the nights seem dark and cold
Shadows threaten both young and old
The winds do play beneath the eaves
They swoosh the ground and lift the leaves.
While in the heavens stars implode
Our world is waiting to explode
The signs are there for all to see
This is no secret mystery.
We can’t receive some magic pass
Like Alice through the Looking Glass
But rather face reality
Where God alone holds the brass key !
Love is the glue binding hearts together
Random acts of kindness are the tether.
I love my life, the long and short
When I was young my heart was caught
Into a web fate spun for me
Out of the things I’d hoped to be.
The filament was light but strong
My wish was that I would belong
But sometimes dreams are overdue
And wishes cannot all come true,
Life teaches us accept the ploy
Learn to relax and then enjoy !
There is a place that I recall
Where visions wake when twilights fall
It isn’t very far from here
In fact, in time it’s very near.
I like to visit now and then
Because I need remember when
The price is right, an hour of sleep
To transpose dreams my heart will keep
While I return to yesterday
Before our love wasted away.
The war for peace goes on and on
There is no winning, no gladsong
The globe is shrinking, smaller now
Yet none can win, they don’t know how !
There’s a world that’s out there, one that I shall never see
With all its magic music and such happiness for free
It reaches now to touch me with sights I have never known
Though I shan’t live to see it for my time is not my own.
I can sight the lights afar and do hear the distant sound
Distinctly in the twilight as the darkness closes round
And I’m sure that someone else will be right there to share it
As for me the truth is this, I’ve no strength left to dare it !
Just close your eyes, what do you hear
The sound of chaos on your ear ?
Oh what a joy that it would be
To hear the surf beside the sea
Or deep within a leafy glade
To cherish sounds God’s creatures made
Or like the quiet of the air
You sense in fields as you stroll there.
But all that I can do today
Is shut the windows, run away !
Oh ladybug where have you been
What kind of trouble are you in
I see you there upon the floor
How did you enter through my door ?
You must have hidden in the greens
Because my windows all have screens
There is a question I must ask
It will not keep you from your task.
Oh little bug you move so fast,
The good you do is great and vast
Your species spreads around the earth
When will we realise your worth ?
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.”
When I was just a tiny child
There was this dish that drove me wild
My favorite soup, can you guess
With flying colors passed the test.
Carrots, celery and parsley too
Were cooked together in a brew
Of chicken stock all warm and bold
So good that I could eat it cold
But the best part, the noodles yet
Were letters of the alphabet.
I tell you now that I still store
A jar of noodles on the door
And when I feel I need a break
Those alphabets are what I make
I’m sure my love of words began
With this great soup homemade not canned !
Oh where, oh where has Johnny gone
Is he back home upon the farm
Or has he found another way
To guide his life from day to day ?
What do you seek my darling boy
To help you more your life enjoy
What wonder is there left for you
Or miracles that you may do ?
I pray you give it greater thought
That in the web you won’t be caught
And render unto God your King
Obedience in everything !
I have trod a perilous path in my search for the Lord
And have paid a precious price much more than I could afford
I left my old world behind in search of His peace and grace
Knowing well in advance that I can never see His face.
Now the love of the Lord is beside me where ere I go
And the moments that He guides me are what I’ve come to know
The road is longer than I thought, much greater is its cost
It doesn’t matter what it takes without Him I am lost !
Sometimes the road is rocky, sometimes it’s dusty too
Sometimes it’s filled with traffic, sometimes there’s but a few
Along life’s road there’s trouble perhaps no happy end
This is no simple matter for each must find a friend
With all the grit and dirt, the rocks, pebbles and each stone
God never meant for us that we travel on alone !
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 !
I envy not your lives to come
Now that my own is almost done
I would not walk this way again
To feel the loss or hide the pain.
I thank our Lord my time has passed
I know not how my heart did last
And move to that which is beyond
Without a will to carry on.
Somewhere within this universe
Bide powers that are too perverse
They creep and crawl and lie in wait
To bar our way through heaven’s gate !
This life is mine, from my God a gift
With a book of rules, I’m set adrift
And I must learn long before I die
Which rules I shall observe or defy.
Our God is kind, loving and giving
He requires prayer to earn forgiving
For in the end when there’s no strength left
Who is there to blame for our life’s theft ?
We own the clock in this human race
But none knows where is the other place
So I’ll wait in line with all the rest
To say my prayers and to give my best !
This beauty that is God’s to share
Displayed to us from everywhere
Shines brightly like a diadem
Its brilliance sparkly as a gem
For all to see and know who’s king
Of earth and air and everything !
I think I have become too old to be
A Disney fan or Star Trekkie
I much prefer the music of
The B G’s or Burt Bacharach’s stuff.
There is no jewelry that I wear
I’ve no desire to color my hair
In the heat or cold, I shun a hat
I guess I’m boring, I can see that.
I’m afraid my books do cover all
The tables, chairs and bench in the hall
I’d rather read than watch the T V
My favorite is B – I – B – L – E !
Patriotism is never out of style for me
This is my life, my nature, my identity !
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 !
I can see fireflies they’re all aglow
It’s curtain time for their magic show
Soon the stars up high begin to light
They flicker and dance and shimmer bright.
When I was small and not yet grown tall
I’d play outside by the garden wall
To catch them buzz and flitter about
Quite a happy sight without a doubt.
As I have aged my memory brings
Pictures that pull upon old heartstrings
It’s too late now to remember when
No one can ever go back again !
It seems that life is, with all its features
God’s perfect world of imperfect creatures,
How shall we learn what perfection can be
Until we share in His eternity ?
This struggle’s old, six thousand years about
You’d have thought by now we’d have worked it out !
To those days that were and are no more
With youth and beauty flown out the door
To leave us dreaming what used to be
When times were young and our lives carefree.
Oh to relive those elusive days
Where we thrived on love and hope and praise
Since all’s now past, chances diminished
The road is done, we’re almost finished !
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 !
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 !
There is a celebration here
Tis true release from all my fear
Fear is suspect in all to come
God is my hope thus I fear none !
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Claire V. Bogdanos 