Antipas was one of many heirs of Herod the Great
Morally and civilly, he had fallen from his state.
His kingdom, a collapsed castle, he couldn't reinstate.
Sinning with brother's wife, shamelessness had become his fate.
Like raindrops on a bison, did John's censures sadden him?
Like venom, the wrath of Herodias filled her to brim.
The extant of Baptist, she thought, like a twig she should trim
Didn't she, as a queen, have the right to amuse her whim?
By the fame of Jesus as though life-threat, Herod baffled.
His human and animal instincts between them battled.
Curiousness and qualm, like flatware, within him rattled
Has John resurrected? Physique and Psyche fell fear-grappled
Does the sun fear the darkness? Jesus fulfilled his mission.
To build his realm of love, did he need Herod's permission?
Categories:
censures, jesus,
Form: Sonnet
He was not hungry, but, he knew the hunger of each soul.
He knew, many were physically and mentally ill.
The liberation of each soul from their bonds was his goal.
In him, the poor and the downtrodden felt an unknown thrill.
Caste, colour, and creed differences couldn't touch his shadow.
The leaven of the Pharisees couldn't enliven him.
Dining with the socially rejected was not just a show.
He harmoniously relinked the earth's broken rhythm.
The lowly found in him father, mother, brother, and friend
At his touch, Levi felt his sins were being washed away.
The censures of the scribes, as sewage streams, had no end.
Could they, yet, keep him away from his compassionate way?
Those who could not cure diseases, kindled them for the poor.
It's in Jesus, for their illnesses, the poor found their cure.
Categories:
censures, jesus,
Form: Sonnet
Generous praises offered by friends might mislead sometimes.
Confusing the core of friendship is beyond their thought list.
It's when, like a broken gong, the church bell faultily chimes.
Even the age-old concept of Angelus gets a twist.
The lake's surface remains dull until a pebble troubles
And evokes ripples that awaken awareness within.
My lethargic potential in snug zones found no ruffles.
Till your suns and showers of censures manured me to win
As gems between coal, within your curses, blessings, I find
Each stone you throw at me is my stepping stone to success.
In your pessimism, my possibilities are enshrined.
With the hurdle poles you plant, I row my boat and progress.
Within the axis of existence, each foe is a friend.
As the benefaction he or she bestows has no end
Categories:
censures, appreciation,
Form: Sonnet
My child, a baptism took place when you jumped into the river for my sake—Ringo Bing
Just like her favorite character Alice she dresses
A young girl named Cassy sits bored by a riverbank
She looks into reflecting waters twirling her long tresses
A giant ladybug hanging onto a twig, has fallen and sank
Cassy jumps in, pulls with all her might on its wing
The ladybug's wing tears from all the water it drank
Swept up, she is thrown onto the ladybug with a fling
Flown far from the river, the ladybug thanks her for saving him
I’ll call you my young fair Alice, and you can call me Ringo Bing
Cassy admits to the current identity crisis she is in, one of seven
Ringo struck, by her inability to remember a poem of Alice’s adventures
He offers her a key and whispers, fits a door to the other side, heaven
Blurry swishes of gardens and trees, Ringo lands, fixes his wing and dentures
The door! In a panic realizes the key is lost, the one she’s clung to forever
Wormholes, galaxies, beaming showers, black holes, she now censures
Never needing the key at all the picture is clear, she sees stars of silver
The key a crutch, has held her back from the flow of the river
Categories:
censures, character, child, childhood, fantasy,
Form: Terza Rima
The politics of religion,
its statues on fire
All martyred saints burning
in canonized pyre
As cardinals of vengeance
seek new hearts to be stoned
Inquisitors ramble,
the Creator on loan
The religion of politics,
papal decrees
Guilt laden promises,
salvationists fee
Crusaders on horseback,
twelve Apostles alone
Which is more dangerous,
the Word or the throne
(Chorus)
“Raise the curtain—praise the Lord,
darkness censures fast
Faith though blind, still hope to find,
beyond iconoclasts
“With eyes wide open, see the light,
all else to render lies
His love unending, given free,
eternal life the prize”
(The New Room: April, 2022)
Categories:
censures, god,
Form: Rhyme
A bevy of censures,
to hit and strike back
Each written reprisal
to ward off attack
A mother-son warning,
once truant come true
Her words now my weapons
—to kill and renew
(Beaupre: February, 2021)
Categories:
censures, voice,
Form: Rhyme
When the erstwhile Tweeter-in-Chief vents
It is "Freedom of Speech," a First Amendment Right
When Democratic Party will "fight" tyrant-efforts
Defense rests on moral equivalence, yet last night
As many as seven Republican Senators got Party censures
For voting to convict Christian Trump of incitement (01/06/2021)
(c) Deo sheltering in place while US democracy blows over this planet.
Categories:
censures, america, betrayal, christian, community,
Form: Epigram
I held a snake, a yellow python
to be exact
a REALLY big, REALLY long snake
banana yellow
no it wasn't a fake
one month ago
down in Mexico
skin felt just like a garden hose
only bigger and snakier
No one believed it but have
pics as proof
I would NEVER have done this
in my youth
as the tail wrapped gently
around my wrist
no utterance of a hiss
I felt utter bliss
this significance not
to be dismissed
could NEVER have done this
in my youth
would have fought nail
and tooth
Older equals bolder
I guess
needed to reach out of myself
a test
the rest of my will be
an adventure
no fears, no filters
no censures
while holding that python, I felt power
and didn't shrink and cower
but conquered---- ME -----
Categories:
censures, power,
Form: Rhyme
Today, I ponder…
Paraphrasing what Jesus said,
As a man thinks…so he is…
If he criticizes, slams, knocks others, and shows scorn,
Will he become a hard-hearted, insensitive, bigot, unworthy of heaven?
If he makes fun of another for his own amusement,
Will the heavenly hosts laugh when he walks up to the judgment bar?
(Or will they mourn deeply for the loss of a brother?)
We ask God to forgive us as we forgive others.
I ask myself, “How am I at forgiving others?”
Paraphrasing what Jesus said,
As a man forgives…is he likewise forgiven?
If he does NOT forgive, is he, then, not forgiven?
If a man condemns, censures, and makes harsh judgments,
Will he then be condemned, censured and judged harshly
…at final judgment?
What will Jesus do?
Will he feel the pain of our lacking?
Will he take action against the unforgiving?
He has taken action in the past!
He threw over the money changing tables in the temple
Because they dishonored Heavenly Father –
Do we dishonor forgiveness when we judge others?
(continued)
© January 11, 2011
Dane Ann Smith-Johnsen
Categories:
censures, faith, introspection, religion, jesus,
Form: Free verse
“Sweetheart of P. S.” I am, she proclaimed.
And this she stated when her membership was new.
“Who is this poet that to us had exclaimed?”
It was time to check her profile without adieu.
This self-declared sweetheart had credential.
Could she? Would she? Shall she really be?
The “Sweetheart of P. S.” became quintessential.
She captured poet's hearts with friendships spree.
She took us on vacations and adventures.
Commented on our work flamboyantly.
Encouraged and loved us each without censures.
Can you guess who she became, subsequently?
Yes! Linda-Marie Barriana, “The Sweetheart of P.S.”
A Poetess extraordinaire as she proclaimed…Success!
© Dane Smith-Johnsen
September 15, 2010
Categories:
censures, adventure, friendship, inspirational, on
Form: Sonnet
Now-
alive
to events,
censures his
world
Categories:
censures, on writing and words,
Form: Epigram