Three long years since my love has gone away
And I have settled into a life of lonely self-ease,
Seeing no regrets or sorrows I need to appease
Still sometimes I think I live in perpetual disarray.
If morning should portend a dark and gloomy day
My personal freedom ensued from a dread disease
That took my loved one away like a chilly breeze,
Leaving me alone and bewildered in fogs of gray.
So, this quandary lingers in my oft-grieving mind
How to move my life into exciting new adventures
Without feeling guilty that my love is left behind,
That she is no longer able to grace my ventures
Which will not prevent me keeping her enshrined
And honoring her among my cherished treasures.
written October 26, 2021
CV-19
CV-19
I do not like CV-19!
I do not like it in the air
I do not like it in my hair
I do not like it anywhere
I do not like it when you sneeze
I do not like it when you wheeze
I do not like this dread disease
I do not like it on green peas
I do not like it with cream cheese
I do not like it on fruit trees
So, take it away
Remove it fast
This awful plague just must not last
O, Lord please make it a thing of the past
I thought I'd been doing things right.
I exercised and supposed the food I ate was mostly good.
Then something struck me; it became my life's most serious plight,
coming as it did so suddenly in my mature adulthood.
This horrific surprise
was not a person with whom I could reason or reach a compromise.
I had a cancer, and I feared one day it could lead to my demise.
"I'm cancer-free." This mantra each day I now say!
Strange to think one's body can betray
one in that way!
Learning it was genetic, I knew for all my life I'd have to fight.
It's been nearly three years now since I vowed to do all I could
to ensure that dread disease would never again materialize.
By being healthy and basking in God's grace, I live each day.
Nov. 30, 2018 for Dear Heart's
Fragmented Rhyme- November 2018 Writing Challenge - Poetry Contest
I don't, and probably won't
know the truth of her fate,
I don't know whether she left us,
but I do remember her well.
Tall, slim, quiet and shy,
I remember her deep orange hair,
and an awkward prettiness that grew.
But more than the sight of her,
and the lack of sound of her,
I remember a peculiarity.
She was there every day,
and then she was not there
almost every day.
Many I've seen since
and suddenly not seen since.
Each had their own story,
stories that I'll never know.
I don't, and probably won't
know the truth of their fate.
We chattered with amusement,
callous or unknowing,
when she appeared for a day at a time.
A day at a time,
two, maybe three times a year
for a year-and-half or two.
Later I heard a whisper,
dread disease, it said,
and it all made nasty sense.
Moments past midnight I awoke
to the horrible understanding
that perhaps she wanted only
to feel normal for a day.
11th August 2018
She's fat and she's ugly and she smokes and she smells
and she scares all the children on the street
Every child runs to hide when she screams, when she yells
but a man down the block thinks she's sweet.
He's old and he's dirty and he lives all alone
and he suffers from a dread disease
The sight of this woman makes him sigh, makes him moan
and he don't give a damn about her fleas.
While scrounging through the dump for a new set of threads
They per chance came to meet eye to eye
With smiles on their lips and music in their heads
They felt nearly young enough the fly high.
Now they live in a trailer on the back of a lot
and if you have no cotton in your ears
You can hear the echoes of the fights they have fought
so they lived ever happy through the years.
-1968
Father....where were you when the Jews were gassed,
and countless slaves, whipped and slashed?
Father....where are you when the child-killers roam,
forever now from mother’s home
Father....where are you when your priests abuse the young,
in your house when matins sung
Father….will I burn in hell, have I made you frown,
…. will your angels hunt me down?
Father....I’m dying of this dread disease, so would you put my mind
at ease?.. just be a mate, now tell me straight, but please Lord don’t pontificate.
13/10/15
Peaceful presence surrounds nature
In the cool quiet morn
Wispy clouds fan brushed decorate
A canvas newly born
Orange marmalade sunlight glows
Through silhouetted pines
Casting lavender upon clouds
Making their glory shine
The constant hum of crickets bright
And roosters' noisy den
Gives a pleasant orchestra ring
To a great concert blend
The death angel visited a scene
He carried one away
Now we all know that Ebola
Can come here to stay
Our future is more uncertain
Will the dread disease spread
Who will be touched next in America
Where has safety now fled
At the doctor’s office, I had to fill out forms,
Showing gory details—infirmities and norms.
They said, “Take a moment to furnish what we ask.
Just tell us your condition, and your family’s past.
Did your ancestors carry some dread disease?
Like hardened arteries or painful swollen knees?”
Reluctantly, I listed the sick and the lame,
All of my progenitors since the Mayflower came.
About three hours later, with pages by the score,
Intense pain seized me, and I passed out on the floor.
Then I heard someone say, and much to my sorrow,
“It’s time to close today. Please come back tomorrow.”
I thought one day that I would surely die,
But that was before Jesus, heard my despairing cry.
I knew that only He would have the answer,
For that dread disease we know as cancer.
I fell down at His feet and started praying,
Knowing He would hear what I was saying.
I said dear Lord, a sinner I have been,
And something happened in my life just then.
I prayed from a broken heart that I wouldn't leave life lost,
That He would save my soul regardless of the cost.
He cleansed my heart making it white as snow,
Now ever onward in His name I'll go.
He healed my body making it good as new,
Because He had a job for me to do.
The job He gave for me to do that day,
Was to witness to the lost along life's way.
He took the tongue that I so long abused,
And gave me in its place a tongue unused.
He placed sweet peace and joy within my sinful heart,
Causing me to wish I'd known Him from the start.
The light no longer sparkles in her once brilliant eyes
Listening carefully to hear her softly muttered cries
She hovers alone behind her closed bedroom door
Not yet ready to face what life still has in store
Once vibrant enthusiasm filled her body and sole
Listless, drained so frail her cancer taking its toll
Dread disease evil tenticles devouring all in its path
Lying still avoiding movement to chase away it's painful wrath
Never complaining only praying for those she will leave
Knowing for them it will take some time for them to grieve
Women who's treasured spirit will linger long after she is gone
Service rendered to strangers and friends her entire life long
Closing tormented eyes she slips from this mortal existence
Arms held forth to engulf her sweet heavenly countenance
Joy there must be as she meets those who’ve gone before
As she walks gracefully through heavens door
Note: 48 years and she still holds that special place in my heart. She blessed every life she
touched.
The little farming town filled the church to overflowing when she left us. You would have thought
she was a celebrity.
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