Best Benefits Poems

It was in the sorrow
That I learned to empathize and care
It was in the darkness
That my heart spoke the best prayers
It was in the silence
That my voice sounded tender
It was in the fear
That I found the courage, the strength

It was in the yearning
That I learned...

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expendable lives
our elderly, sick and poor
benefits denied
D.C. may call the shots now
God is the equalizer


*Written in honor of John Freeman
for his contest "Sayings of Wisdom"...

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Give praise to God!
Call upon Him.
The joy is this - that you can call upon Him.

While it is day, before the darkening of days,
sing to Him. Laud his deeds!
Indeed, his deeds are worthy of praise.
He allows this - our praise.
Give praise to God!

Have you considered...

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As he sat on his old front porch gently rocking his swing.
    His old mind a million miles away not really thinking on anything.
Staring into space he just let his old thoughts run free.
     Wondering how he got...

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I can't see the benefits
I'm still taking needless risk
I breathe the same air that Jesus did
I still carry his pain 
I have mastered it
I lay it down at his feet 
Please forgive me your Majesty
Give me the strength to overcome
Help me in my time of...

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I met a Sheriff the other day.
Just teasing, I happened to say.
I am stopping by to pay my taxes.
Giving you my money before axes,

He said to me, “I get none of that money“.
I looked up in surprise, and thought, how funny.
He and many others forget...

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Living my life on the Dole*, 
Because my Mum told me so, 
Interview at ‘McDonalds’, but that Tyrant told me "No!", 
See, we're a family with pride, 
Don't sell fries at super-size, 
But where's the pride, 
If I can't provide, 
For my own style of...

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Triolet

*Friend with Benefits*


This mountain girl raised in the hills,
A friend with benefits turned more.
No attachments, detached, until.
This mountain girl raised in the hills
A perfect shot, can't get my fill
She tastes like sweet cherry liqueur
This mountain girl raised in the hills,
A friend with benefits turned more.



Jared...

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Your friends with benefits are no true friend:
as (au contraire!) your friends when used are a
perverse weed from which you must then defend
against when trust and friendship sweep away;
your friends aren't lovers' toys to be abused
or spent on reckless nights of screwing (them)
where prudence is...

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All my life I've been extra large plus
I'm known as a very large fellow
I would easily pass as a school district bus
If somebody painted me yellow
"No secret to losing weight" I've been told
"Just cut the fat from your diet"
"Get up and about even if it's...

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(Haiku)

empty spot on bed. . . 
with TV remote in hand
she sprawls across it

(Limerick)

He used to steal every top sheet
and the blankets that covered her feet.
But now that he’s gone,
all the covers stay on.
Even sleeping, she now finds life sweet!

(Couplet)

Divorce might leave a gal lonely...

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Lowers blood pressure
Improves the immune system
Helps us sleep at night
Increases our energy level

Mental benefits
Reduces anxiety
Promotes calmness and relaxation
Reduces stress
Helps one cope more effectively with depression
Reduces compulsive behavior
Opens the door to bringing yourself compassion
Kindness
Acceptance
Being this way with others  deepens our relationships
Helps us notice painful 
Problem-solve...

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Could you love
an old white redneck
with HIV,
inhaling too much medicine?

Could you love him
if he were able to listen
without judging,
but commiserating,
curious about nuances,
finding dark humor
transcending rumors
of ego’s timorous tumors
and climatic anthro-terrifying tremblers?

Could you love a sad house-bound poet,
with too many kids of vulnerable colors,
multiculturally married but...

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Social distancing,
including global apartheid,
brings us to Zoom
into each Other, virtually,

More virtuously win/win
or uncivilly win/lose?

For remote educational,
advocacy,
organizing and planning
social communication
reading
and exercise
and meditation
prayer
and therapeutic circles,

Religious
and secular humanitarian
win/win physical
mental
economic
political health systems
for ecological/theological
democratic wealthcare receiving
and co-giving
remote green-therapeutic
non-violent communication
Services

Delivered with fewer carbon fuel-rooted risks
while increasing green cooperative 
interfaith opportunities
for multiculturally...

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Patience 
can be
a great gift. 

We should
wait patiently
as life unfolds
before us.

There are lessons
to learn and things
to experience
in life.

As we daily grow 
in wisdom,
truth and
Love.

...

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