Best That Is To Say Poems
Not long after The Beginning,
There were Animals and there was Man.
A great chasm lay between, that legend said
Only a Leap of Faith could span.
Animals seemed happy on their side;
For, after all, such a leap could not be done
“Make the best it,” they all said;
All, that is, but one.
There stood Dog, alone upon the brink,
The distant Man’s reflection shining in his eyes;
Something was robbing Dog of peace;
Something was urging him to try.
Compelled, he stood and stared,
Nothing could distract his gaze.
Now and then, Horse would come;
Each time, the same old words to say.
“I understand. I really do.
I admit it. I’ve thought about it too;
But it’s too far for me to jump,
It’s certainly too far for you”.
One day, as Horse spoke his words,
Cat rudely interrupted with a sneer.
“Go ahead and try. You’ll break your silly neck.
You can’t go there. Your place is here”.
More resolute now, his vigil became duty;
Still, he often wondered, “Why?”
But something deep inside kept saying,
“You must. You must. It’s do…or die”.
Then, one day, he turned and walked away.
Oh, yes, he’d need a running start.
He knew now, he had the Will;
But only a Leap of Faith could prove his Heart.
Just before he made his Leap of Faith,
Dog saw the loneliness in Man’s eyes.
“He needs a friend, someone to help
And always stand right by”.
With those unselfish thoughts,
Dog had reason, he felt whole.
And well he should, for at that very moment,
God granted Dog a Soul!
But Souls don’t come so easy,
And his leap was short that day.
If Dog was to make a Leap of Faith,
Man would have the final say.
Dog’s faith was truly tested, front paws upon the edge.
He hoped Man’s eyes hadn’t lied.
Then Man’s Heart swelled and touched his Soul.
He helped Dog up and placed him proudly at his side.
Oh, so jealous was Cat I’m told;
His eyes turned green that day.
“Oh, you are an heroic mutt;
A friend of Man, you say?
I’ll make that leap by myself.
You can bet, I’ll find a way”.
So, Dog had made the Leap of Faith.
He and Man became Best Friends.
So it shall be, for all eternity;
That is to say, until the Very End.
From an early age she yearned for something great
What it was she did not know, but she really couldn’t wait
For many interests she had, both large and small
Her love of animals and great friendships, she grew with them all
An insecure father who controlled all around
Was mitigated by mom until she was ground down
All added to the general confusion we experience early in life
But our values and strength of character help us with strife
That we continuously face over our time on this earth
Which produces some grit and grime that impedes our search
For that pinnacle of happiness, whatever it is
The finding for some is like taking a quiz
On subjects we don’t quite understand
With no guarantee to reach that promised of lands
Of joy, contentment, bliss, all words that describe
Whatever we believe is that ultimate ride
Her journey is similar to many of us
It’s good times and bad that cause a great fuss
Her strengths are vision and commitment to move towards a goal
Not letting “reality”, pain, or confusion take too great a toll
Understanding that it isn’t just reaching the end
But enjoying the journey and making sure you ascend
To that place of places we all want to be
Our true heart’s yearning, I think you’ll agree
For her specifically, that is to say for my wife
She’s given me all that I wanted in life
A great family including kids, dogs, cats, horses, and then some
And encouragement to go after a calling that was right under my thumb
She’s a great friend, and remarkably so
That I want her to have that additional glow
That comes from achieving her ultimate heart’s yearning
Making something out of nothing, using passion and life’s learning.
Page 7
We’ll build a wooden structure
With planks torn from our ships
And place it by their gates
Then we wait for the eclipse
Now I know you all have questions
About how I know these things
But I’ve studied all religions
Foreign Nations, Queens and Kings
Some kingdoms honor Bears
Some worship cats and eagles
Some lions, tigers, bears, “Oh My”
Foxes, wolfs and beagles
Now, these Trojans have one fondness
It stands upon four feet
It feeds upon the grassy plains
And they ride it down their streets
We will build it long and sleek
With a tail tacked to its end
And ears, upon its oblong head
But, with one thing more to send
There, concealed inside its belly
Are those who lie in wait
For the beast to be drawn inside
The Trojan’s massive gates
Page 8
So until the sun starts rising
You men must now embark
And assemble the device
While working in the dark
The others on the beach
A distraction will devise
To keep your labor secret
From those Trojan’s prying eyes
Now off with you, behind that mound
I have a party to attend
It’s not often I can have some fun
At the same time to offend
( Troy 1184 BC, The Beach Party )
The Flames of passion darted up
Into the evening air
It made the glittering of sand
Seamed like stars were everywhere
The drums had reached a beat
That made the young men, have to dance
And I’m sure it made The Trojans
Lose control and wet their pants
Page 9
While young men danced on burning sands
Displaying sex appeal
The Greeks would pause and strike a pose
And flex their buns of steel
The Trojans on the wall
Filled with heighten passion soon
Turned their backs and dropped the drawers
Displaying many moons
It seemed as if, we played all night
Now its time to take our chances
Bring forth the horse, and by due course
We all took second glances
The carpenters that worked all night
Had never seen the beast
It was a horrible interpretation
That is to say the least
I should have choose an artist
Much more suited for the task
For instead of building a mighty horse
There stood a giant ass.
No time to make corrections for
The dawn was growing near
We must move without detection
And crawl in through its rear
To be continued...................
Why I Plan to Skip My 55th Class Reunion
By Elton Camp
We were “The Ones Who Really Rate”
That is to say, “Senior Class of 58”
At the 50th reunion, I got a bad surprise
I found that I couldn’t believe my eyes
It made me gasp and then almost choke
To see all those ugly looking old folk
Some too senile even to recognize me
Five years later, I’ll just let them be
I’m glad to say I’ve remained the same
The way most of them aged is a shame
Another reunion, why even try?
I think I’ll just pass this one by
Ah for the love of our Lord. Many folks don't understand
what is meant by the "Immaculate Conception".
I too at one time thought the title referred to the
Virgin birth of Our Lord Christ. That it was as said in the bible
that the Holy Spirit came down on Mary and she conceived
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, for those of us still not quite up
on that term, it simply means that the Blessed Virgin Mary herself,
( when she was conceived in the womb of St Ann, her mother,)
was conceived without original sin. A specific honor given to Mary
by God so that Christ could be born of Mary who by God's grace
was conceived sinless-that is to say without original sin-
and "full of Grace".
I hope that helps some who were as confused
about this feast day as I used t be.
God bless us all and Have a
happy feast day.
May the Blessed Mother put a kind word
in to Jesus for each of us.
Note to self: Never again read 'The Monk'
by Mathew Gregory Lewis
before drinking myself into a diabetic coma...
...All night long
The Wandering Jew requested directions to salvation;
That is to say,
Whenever I wasn't being pursued by the Bleeding Nun
- She seemed like a good enough sort
For being just another figment of my horrific imagination;
It would appear she only wanted a sanitary napkin:
"Leave me alone" I kept telling her,
"I rarely have a spare Tampon!"
...Even in my dreams I can't seem to relate to women...
...At least I'll always be immune to Matilda's seduction...
...Because I'm only a "borderline heterosexual"
- I'm really more of a "feline enthusiast"
- Kinda like William S. Burroughs, I guess?
...This was quite possibly the worst nightmare I've had
Ever since dreaming about
Ambrose Bierce's 'The Damned Thing'
- I wish I never had to sleep again...
...I'm terrified to dream of 'The King in Yellow'
by Robert W. Chambers!
I have been condemned to a fate worse than Poe!
And H.P. Lovecraft is sooo-oh-oh-oh,
Ridiculously jealous of me too!
So don't start to panic - It isn't just you...
"Hebrews 10:19-20 ~
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh."
~ The Holy Bible
The Holiest of all was veiled
in the Tabernacle of God,
Only the High priest could enter,
once a year with sacrifice blood,
When Jesus came down to this world,
He became the sacrifice Lamb,
His blood shed on Calvary's cross
tore that veil from top to bottom,
His flesh veil through which we enter
boldly into the Holiest,
The blood of Christ consecrated
a new and living way for us,
Now God's presence is no more veiled,
We can come to the throne of grace
with boldness to obtain mercy,
In our prayers, seeking God's face.
20th April 2023
For Constance La France's "Writing challenge - 'V' words" contest
*After my last post I thought it would be nice to lighten up a bit with some warm, happy (well, not so happy for Elmer) pest poetry. Who doesn't love bug humor? This one actually won first place in a Deb Guzzi contest back in the day.
"And so this court finds you, Elmer T. Roach XXIII, guilty of the crime of pushing your fellow bug off the edge of the pan and into the hot oil below, thereby ensuring that he would be fried to a crisp whilst you nibbled, alone, on what was left behind. For said crime you are hereby sentenced to death. You will hang by the neck, er, that is to say, you will hang by the antennae until you are dead, dead, DEAD! Do you have anything to say for yourself, sir?
"Yes, your Honor, if it pleases the court. When in the course of insect affairs, one often finds oneself in a situation where difficult choices must be made. To eat or not to eat. To run and hide in a crack, or to stand one's ground. Indeed, to live or to die. Your Honor, let's forget for a moment that I have two hundred twenty-one mouths to feed, with one on the way. Let us ignore the fact that a father must keep up his strength in order to ably support such ones. Must I remind this court that we all live by the law of the kitchen, that it's each bug for himself.
And so Your Honor, there I was, placed in a most difficult predicament. With only enough droppings to feed one bug and not two I made the decision to push him over the rim. Yes, I freely and of my own volition make confession to this hideous, yet necessary crime. However, let no man, er, bug judge me. Let he who is without malice, she who is without greed, they that are without the constant, ever present pangs of hunger cast the first stone.
I am free. I am freeeee...."
"And so it was that justice was executed in behalf of the state of Bugdom. Elmer T. Roach the XXIII hung by his antennae until he breathed his last. Alas, he professed to be of no particular faith. Nevertheless, a mass of Christian burial, presided over by the Very Reverend Heathcliff J. Bug LVI, was arranged for him by his dear widow, now heavy with nymph. It has been reported that the hymn chosen for the memorial was, Go Rest High Upon That Cupboard. Further announcements to follow.
I am a dreamer.
Not in the usual sense, I suppose..
In the unusual sense.
I don't dream about money
about jobs, places or power.
I dream, a creative swirl, questioning wonder
everything around me to be seen and forgotten
I don't know who I am, or what I am
I know not if I have purpose or exist merely by chance.
But this life
My life? Your life? all life?
This life.
It is filled with infinite possibilities
in one life time-
In one lifetime? In a hundred? In a thousand?
This world could not be explored in a lifetime
But in how many
Lifetimes?
To measure ones existence based on the accomplishments you've completed
be it by a %
Is miniscule
too complete every task fathomable- and unfathomable, that is to say
experience everything
in one life time?
Maybe 10? 100? 1,000
Maybe a 100,00, the number of things on this world alone seem uncountable.
But in 15,000 lifetimes when you're close
close to everything
Would space travel be a thought?
What then.. my infinite lifetimes finally completed, I have tried everything
on earth
But this?
This multitude that is this solar system?
This universe this galaxy..
to even name it seems impossible! There are so..
so many lifetimes I could live and yet never live them all.
We all have but one.
Every breath finite, one breath closer to
Unfathomable.
I know not yet of all in life, who am I to worry and wonder at deaths door.
There will be plenty of time that later- perhaps enough to fill 100 lifetimes?
The Occupation
Before all of this
before all of the universe
even before the super speck singularity
there existed Alpha and Omega
that is to say that,
there was only the very quiet and very still
infinite future of endless possibilities
existing everywhere and all at once
a present unrealized and undefined
no beginning and no end
chaotic and void for lack of time
distance and instant undefined
somehow,
infinite possibility harmonized
infinite energy was realized
but it had no where to go
so it existed as a ball of light
that gathered infinite possibility
until it particalized and became
the very first instance of a present time
the very center of a future
was now defined
the particle converted to momentum
it's space conquered and defined
so the electric ball shrank down
to grab another piece of infinite possibility
the past the distance left behind
the momentum in the past now pressed on the future
points of time multiplied
until distance reached a size where
the infinite energy began to divide
into energies of different types
and the balls of light gathered together
to form molecules of all kinds
and great spheres of fusion
that could convert the balls into lines
and when all the conditions were just right
within the newly organized
infinite possibility time line
came the third day and
the first planet to come alive
and produce mass seeking mass
to energize and multiply
if life can only come from life
then the substance of the future
must be alive
and all that exists is but the gravity of thought
organized and placed within a line of time
his children are consciousness at liberty
as a race of beings we define
the line of time we occupy
the meek shall inherit the earth
and all things belong to the wise
Form:
When I was three foot tall I could fly.
Now that I've reached near six and descending
things have become more, grounded.
It wasn't an aeronautical event or
some Newtonian physics explanation,
or even a Las Vegas prestidigitation,
it was merely that my mind, that is to say I,
could entertain the obvious conclusion
of the possibility that if events, things,
were just right - JUST right, that I
would be able to see a view I had not
seen up to that point in time, and,
in fact, haven't, for some time.
When I was a yard high in my front yard,
I could arise, even higher than a yard,
brightened, and too, wide-eyed wondering
at the way the neighborhood looked from
above the treetops...who knew, I thought.
Did I get there by that some certain gait,
neither too fast nor too slow, but,
like some Goldilocks visa, just right?
The sunshine vitamin D blowing breezily
around porch poles and branches to press my face.
Who knew indeed, who knows now, or soon,
what can occur without Google glasses,
or no child left behind or
digital synapses to bit-by-bit,
obscure the inherent, the wonder, the view
borne away from civilization facts
to life outside or, above our gravitations.
When I descend toward a vertical yard again,
maybe that obscurant vision-set I have
carried pensioned toward epilogue will
fall away like deciduous leaves and
I'll be able to see the branches under
life, and rise away again.
© Goode Guy 2013-07-05
Courage
Courage is what you have
when you have only two choices left.
One of them to accept fate,
and the other to cheat it,
beat it,
unseat it...
meet it halfway,
and then knock it back across the line.
That is to say,
whatever "it" is.
Size does not matter,
when the intent is right and good.
David was never afraid,
as the Lord was with him.
He knew he could defeat the giant,
it was only a matter of how hard,
the evil would fall,
from way up high on its pedestal,
down to the hard ground,
where it belonged
to begin with.
Have courage,
and pray.
You will then be,
never fighting
alone.
CRAZY ANGEL
He is good-don't take him away
He is loud, don't silence his noise.
He is talking when you’re talking.
when you are saying your say.
Crazy angel, takes care of everyone but himself.
Always going way out of his way, to protect and direct:
At your feet; He holds the lantern,
this has always been his pattern.
He won't let you stumble nor go astray,
no judging others as he lights their way.
Too good he is, his heart is a cliché' ...
"A heart like gold": That is to say:
He is loud, don't silence his noise;
He is good-don't take him away.
When the plane is going down,
"who must get the first mask",
I asked- "you, or the baby in your lap"?
Of course, he said "the baby".
But that answer was wrong:
"Who'll save your baby, and everyone else
if you are the last one, that is unmasked”?
We may be left at the mercy of the Sylph:
The first law of saving others, Is to first;
"Save Oneself".!!
My childhood memory of Easter confronts me with three very pleasant reflections. Perhaps my first experience with the idea of Easter came with the way our parents would sacrifice so much for us to look pretty and handsome at the church on Easter Sunday. We never felt more special nor looked better than that at any time for any reason.
Coming in second as I look back over several decades ago is the delightful Easter egg hunt. As a child, that was one of the most fun experiences of the year. The hunt was always on Easter Sunday after returning home from church services. There was the added bonus of the hunt within the hunt. That is to say that there was always 'A Golden Egg' that included something extra special that always lit up our happy stary eyes and hearts.
But the third item was the most mysterious of the three even though it always appeared first chronologically. In fact, there was Holy Week that always seemed to flow with a sense of awe. There were movies depicting the 'day Christ died' and the Sunday that he rose. Nevertheless, the Friday before Easter known as Good Friday was a problem for me because I did not understand how a day could be good when such an evil act happened to Jesus. I do not remember when, but heaven surely shined its light on me and explained the goodness of Good Friday. I tell you, that light was so bright that it lit up my entire life and the light of Christ's Goodness and what he did for me and you have served me for a lifetime and will continue to do so throughout eternity.
Certain traditions and celebrations over time often fall by the wayside, and family values and habits change. Life takes on different priorities. Notwithstanding, we must remember that we enter this world with a family standing by our sides, and when we leave this world, families will be there as we exit. Oh, I know that the boiled and painted eggs no longer grace our lawn, and our kids and grandkids may not be as well and formally dressed as we were in yesteryears. That's okay, as long as we never forget as our families gather for dinner this Easter that Easter must always be about THE CHRIST and The Family.
03292018 FB PS Contest, Easter 2018, Hopkins-Drewer
I.
I think on my shoes propped
on a wooden writing desk,
the leather synthetics, the soles, the
wear, and the feet they protect - feet
which take me here to there,
and, again, to here and there.
She walks in and says "hello", with
a kiss and the usual small talk, as
if to say "I love you" in the little
things (the home we've made, the life
we've built, the not-so-little-after-all
things, you know).
II.
I watch her lines as they move
in poetic form, her slope, her glow,
and the soul of a woman who takes
me here to there, and, again, to
here and there.
She's the fogged breath on my
telescope which blurs the
view of comets in outer space.
That is to say, she completes
me.
If I think on here ways, the
red-washed waves of her cheek,
and her blood orange hair that
licks the salty sea, I find it's too much.
She, lensed by angels and brisk as
ghosts, is all I know. We each breathe
fogged breath to blur the scope,
and like weathered boots in the snow,
from here to there, and, again, to here
and there she will be,
and, again, to here and there - that's where I will go.