Best Beaches Poems
When I think of my heavenly promised land,
Where someday I will make my eternal home,
With Jesus, who came, the world to redeem;
Oh how the best things of this world grow dim!
When I imagine God’s beaches of golden sand
Along the shiny shore of the smiley glassy sea;
I cannot wait there to go and on my place stand.
Oh what a joyful thought; what an eternal land!
Where down here on earth can I find anything,
To compare with the immortal flowers above;
Which never fade away by day-they feel alright-
As they sing glories to God; for all is light.
Who can show me in this ailing world anything,
Close to the water of life clear as crystal above.
Which never freeze; for there is not any winter—
But flows graciously; inviting me eternity to enter!
My land smells some sweet smell of rare roses,
Angels sing soft songs seasoned with angelic smiles
Every time I think of this land and its unfading roses,
I wonder how fairer my Jesus looks when He smiles.
Oh when I think of my ever sweet promised land
All valuables I have round about me simply fade away.
When I picture the everlasting beaches of golden sand
All the earthly white sand beaches simply fade away.
Oh when I think of my heavenly promised land,
Where someday I will make my eternal home;
I feel so lonely in this world, I am so home sick!
I long to go home to sing with angels every week,
Praising God for ever as I eat from the tree of life.
Shouting Alleluia as I drink the water of life.
For there will be no more crying no more dying;
But singing and shouting and praising Jesus our King.
I know it’s possible through the blood of the Lamb.
i wander these winter beaches
where autumn's storms
have removed the footfalls of summer
believing in spring
here i am alone listening
to the waves mellifluously remind
yet never recalling
floating the river Lethe
alone where the frigates soar above
pelicans traversing the waves
the terns work the receding water
i am the intruder
waves erasing my past
placing before me rearranging sands
paths never worn
only the belief in spring
with each step forward
i wonder if the gulls see
my past being removed, the future
dependent upon some wave
fortune or contretemps
i wonder if the gulls feel
this surreal gull glides, turns, drift
upon grateful wings
grateful to those who long ago
gave freedom to thought from hunger
the plight of thought
the flight of thought
freeing this surreal gull to wander in wonder
i wander here keeping the dream alive
faith it will evolve into more
some empyreal dictate
some Newtonian machine
there is a numen to winter beaches
here i can laugh with humanity, smile
the hubris belief this can be destroyed
changed yes, but so may volcanoes, asteroids
none of which has a brain
here i can believe that dreams
will be given to reason, logic
and end to war and peace on earth
that there is nothing fatal
even science cannot deny
these rearranging sands and time
will produce another poet wandering, wondering
i wander these winter beaches
where autumn's storms
have removed the footfalls of summer
knowing sunrise, sunset, and spring returns
i am alone, yet far from alone
i am home
where dreams glide, turn, drift
soaring in the thermals of thought
the flight of belief
terminus ad quem
terminus a quo
Playa Del Rey 91 The Patient Stones
I
The word, when said
Makes some go dead
The sound of dog (she)
II
Most beaches lead somewhere
Some beaches lead nowhere
Truth or dare (campuses
Have grassy, waterless beaches)
III
Dickinson: words begin living
"when it is said" (not dead)
Emily knew of flight
In Fight to write
I was in-processing my Army unit in Germany when the fortieth anniversary of D-Day happened; but, alas, I couldn't leave. I wanted so much to be there to meet the old surviving veterans, to shake their hands and hear their stories. I had read accounts of D-Day-- June 6th, 1944. I had already seen several times the film The Longest Day, based on the book by Cornelius Ryan.
Eventually my family followed me back to Germany, and we later took a vacation that included Normandy.
We visited Sainte-Mere-Eglise, and I pointed out the manekin of Private john Steele--the paratrooper that had gotten stuck on the church's steeple.
We visited the upper German fortifications of Point Du Hoc, where Army Rangers fought their way up impossible cliffs.
We paid our respects at the US war cemetery on Omaha Beach, and my sons and I walked where so many Americans had died to free Europe.
My wife was very somber and respectful at these sites; she is French, and grew up hearing stories of the German occupation.
I often still watch on June 6th either The Longest Day, or Saving Private Ryan, and try to imagine my forebears on those beaches.
Their courageous bodies lay like garland
on the sandy shores of Normandy,
Their duty there well defined.
Fearless of every returning home
And with their dying breath's they whispered
For God, Country and the Flag
Let Freedom Ring, Let Freedom Ring
With their last full measure of loyalty
and impeccable divine gratitude.
Honor now their vestment!
Their deaths filled with Integrity!
They sacrificed their lives
Not for "Honor or Glory!"
For "The Stars and Stripes!"
Known as "Old Glory!"
harlotry to think
of worlds when waves do crash so
and the breaks come in
BEAUTIFUL BEACHES, A Letter to Daniel
By Curtis Johnson
Hi Daniel,
There once was a man living high on a mountain whose name was Harry
Mt. St. Helen was threatening to blow its top, and everyone started to worry
Harry had been there 60 years and thought he would live on to tell his story
So after being warned to evacuate, Harry refused and decided to tarry
Sadly, when the volcano blew, Harry was later found in 40 feet of ashes
It’s interesting at times, that life can be so tame, so sweet, and so calming. Because of our positive experiences, we relax and enjoy seasons so charming Like Harry, we are unconvinced of danger, and need not fear rumors and warnings
Sandy beaches on the oceanfront are beautiful and lots of fun, when all is sunny and bright. For eight years my family and I lived in San Francisco within four blocks of the Pacific. Believe me when I say that the Oceanside is a calming and charming place. We spent lots of time in the Golden Gate Park and on the beach.
One Sunday afternoon, my two small kids and I took a walk across the rocks above the ocean beach. The waves were coming in pretty far, but I thought that we were high enough. I thought wrong. We had not been on the rocks 5 minutes before the waters came splashing against the rocks that we were walking on. I held the kids and protected them from the big splash. I got pretty wet, but no harm was done, and the lesson was well received.
The sandy beaches of life will often suddenly turn into rushing waves of sea salty waters. My friend, there are times when the volcanoes of life will heat up and blow their top. When they do, we best be aware, heed the warnings, and seek higher ground.
Dan, I do not know what you may be going through presently, but I am praying for you. If for any reason you taste those salty waters of what was once a calm and sandy beach, I have every reason to believe that God is going to change things for you. If the volcanoes of your life have blown its top, I have every reason to believe that the ashes will not bury you. When the troublesome adversities of life blow against all of us, God is always both warning and leading us out to safety.
So Daniel, my friend, may we together seek higher ground. Love you. Curtis09262013
I'm dreaming of the sandy beaches
Just like the ones I’ve seen before,
Where the surf is rising,
With lovers surmising,
While kayakers skim along the shore.
I’m dreaming of the sandy beaches
With every poem today I write
Hoping you have good weather up here
If I think of you,
I’ll shout a quick “Good night!”
[Repeat]
I'm dreaming of those sandy beaches
With every poem today I write
Of my presence here please do not lose sight
And may your holidays be bright!
Written December 10, 2022
[with a special nod to Irving Berlin,
a parody of his "White Christmas"]
Green turtles are listed as, endangered
and are mainly found, in tropical and sub-tropical sea oceans
they are one of the largest sea turtles, to have ever embraced our oceans
and are the only Sea Turtle herbivore, and a great sea ocean mentor
Green turtles graze on seagrasses, that helps maintain beds of seagrass
and when they have digested, going to the dunny release’s vital nutrients
for many species of plants and animals, as they thrive with stimulants
and seagrass beds are nurseries, for species to amass their social class
Sea turtles need beaches for nesting, but humans are encroaching
and they harvest their eggs, and hunt the adults for greedy investing
Coastal development, vehicle beach traffic, and other human activities
are destroying sea turtle nesting, and climate change is male declining
Utterly cold waters for two southerners from Oslo.
They take our breath away when swimming.
The land of the midnight sun and the gorgeous
Aurora lights are featured at Uttakleiv Beach.
Kept our eyes open too for unusual sights at
Lofoten Islands in northern Norway.
Eye of the Dragon was one showpiece - a most
Intriguing natural rock formation -
Visibly impressive, virtually unmatched.
Both my wife Nora and I, have our bucket lists.
Each of us have longed to visit our northernmost
Arctic Circle area and its famous fjords.
Colossal - the Trollfjordan near Lofoten which
Hails as the best holiday site ever in Norway.
April 12, 2023
Ice cliffs shine in polar devotion
Across December beaches stand
Sentrys to shores of frozen oceans
Sea shells lie in crystallized strands
Snow angel wings of silver sand.
12/28/21
NA in Winter Quintain contest
Judged 1/19/22
Stones I Have Known
I know that stone - scoured smooth beneath the tread
Of workers' feet too early out of bed.
It sparkled finely to my childish sight,
A treasure rare, lit up by morning light.
Its drooping lip a quiet toddler's seat
For gazing out at life along the street.
At Junior school, the stones were black and grim,
High walls around to keep us all within.
The seashore stones provided wealth untold,
On mudstone flats glint ammonites as gold.
And Oh! that rock still there upon the beach,
There was a time it soared quite out of reach.
Much later then, the stones that edged the moors,
Of grit and dark the wildness there endures,
Drew up our youthful spirits high aloft
To bleak lands, ancient trackways, peat bogs soft.
In coastal city, built on trembling clays
And windswept mudbanks, were my student days
Swift spent beside the chain-worn granite blocks
Which formed the landscape of th' ancient docks.
The stones of London were a different breed,
Erected there to grace a civic need.
The Cenotaph, old Nelson and the rest,
Erratics planted raw at our behest.
In foreign parts, on beaches where we lazed,
By lava sheets - rough frozen in such crazed
And weird anthropomorphic shapes and planes.
When trippers leave the vista pure remains.
I know those stones on sparkling river bed.
New children play arranging pebbles, red
And white. It makes a pleasant place to sit -
I stay awhile rememb'ring all of it.
My final stone I do not know at all.
I haven't seen it yet as I recall.
* donkey stone --soft sandstone historically rubbed on the edge of a doorstep to create a pale line so that the edge is easier to see.
“I Remember Beaches”
I remember beaches
hot white sand with crystal
blue water and phosphorescence
melting into everything
Salt on my face, on my lips
even my hair was drenched
in it. There was so much sand
that I could have my pick of
just exactly where I wanted
to place my towel ….
Lots of space, open space….
We’re talking, twenty five to forty
years ago now. But now,
the beach is a circus.
A parade of jesters posing
for each other in costume.
So many tents and umbrellas,
in fact,
I couldn’t see the waves.
Shocking to me it’s like the mall
or some sporting event.
A beach used to be a serene thing
with wave sounds. Not a cacophony
of blasting rap and towels
so close, they almost touch.
It was hard for me, being older,
to walk upright and not step
on girls with many tattoos and
hipster bathing suits perfectly posed
toward the sun. Not friendly.
What has happened to this city?
The “City of Angels” is seemingly
a city for homeless and rich people.
Nothing else exists. It saddened
me deeply. I was once in my prime
here and there was room for all.
It was a paradise for surfing and
boarding and just riding waves.
Actual “good music” was played
and people were animated and fun
and friendly
But, now, I am often shoved away
so that someone else can get a
better seat on the bus. Even whilst
I am holding up a Medicare card.
Or I take too long getting into the
grocery store with a cart. I reach
for a basket. I am verbally condemned.
The beach is here to promote gratefulness
people should be kind and gracious
they should want to help others
and offer what they can
to help make life worth living
I’m losing faith……
I walk along the beach watching the incoming tide,
Combined with a strong wind they will not be denied.
The white horses ride proud on many a wave,
Gloriously white, foaming and devilishly they behave.
On the rocky shores they mercilessly crush everything in their way,
Sinking boats and ships that now on the sea bottom lay.
They are a force of Mother Nature, man cannot withstand,
So many times the white horses have wrecked what man has built and planned.
I see the young folk on a bright summer’s day,
Challenging these white horses with their fine wind- surfing display.
The surfers ride high, twirl and spin and enjoy their day.
But it is the white horses that reign supreme and will always have the final say.
Terry Godwin
Beaches are open
strong waves are hitting the
rocks
kids are coming back