I’m on this side of the door
Only God knows what’s on the other side
I’m on this side of Eternity
Only God knows where I’ll reside
All we need to do
Is to open the door
And all we need to heed
Is to open our heart more and more
We are face to face with God
His face the sky
And ours the Earth’s face of multi-race
The sky His blue eye
Can we see face to face
Can we see eye to eye
Only by God’s grace
Yonder, will we get over by and by
There may be many wild horses
But we have bridles and stanchions
For the broken and contrite heart
In My Father’s house are many mansions
Straining, yearning for a glimpse
of the magnificent personage
when shoved forward by the crowd’s energy
he found himself face-to-face
with the object of the crowd’s adoration
What else could the ten-year-old lad do
but kiss Mr. Kennedy on the cheek
~ for which he earned a standing ovation
__________________________________________
On the campaign trail, c. October, 1960.
Face to face
Me and my life
Is like fish and water
We can’t be separately
I could see the reflection in the mirror
The hands writing of my destiny
Is clearly written on the walls of my life
So should I live or should I go blind
Should I worry or should I follow
The choice remains my source of survival
Cos I can only be who I am if I only chose to do so
So should I fear or should i love
Even when I know fear is stronger than love
The ticking time never stop moving
Life keeps coming and going
Were should I stand
Should I live or should i go blind
Should i leave or should I stay
How far can i go
Cos everything i do depend on the decision I make
And now Am looking at my destiny
Face to face
Part of travel’s seeing things
You’ve never seen before.
The world awaits; you only need
To open up the door.
Yet sometimes true connections
Unexpectedly take place
When a chance presents for people
To start talking, face to face.
They may be polar opposites
In how and where they live,
But in conversations all involved
Have so much they can give.
It’s a special opportunity
To have this little taste
Of another way of being
Which to miss would be a waste.
There are hours the mirror does not lie,
And silence rings louder than bells in the sky.
A whisper comes from the shadowed wall—
“Remember?”—and you do. You recall it all.
The smile you gave too late to save,
The rose that wilted on a borrowed grave.
Your name still floats in someone’s sigh—
You left, and never said goodbye.
Your hands are clean, but not your soul,
You bartered truth for sweet control.
What price is peace, if peace is numb?
The ghosts you fled—they always come.
And love—poor love—you turned away,
Afraid it asked too much to stay.
Now here you stand, with breath to give,
But still unsure you want to live.
The quietness brings you back, and you remember the words that I say,
The same faith you had to move on to confront the heartache and pain,
The words unspoken that held you in bondage that tried to steal your worth,
I released to put your heart back in place to be seen and not just heard,
The moment your heart intertwines, the connection feels the same,
Two hearts of a generational lineage with the same purpose and on the same page,
Every time you will see things clearer, my purpose will be set into place,
You will eventually understand with your heart in my hands, and the two of you face to face.
Wild words fly about,
your arms are caught in tremors;
We are a mirror
radiating frustration,
mulberry cheeks start to flash;
Two are too crazy
to stop and see what is true;
Heartbeats heat up quick
empty of understanding;
A blowup of slang fireworks;
Friends come together
filled with such potent faith;
Gently aggressive,
this most tender touch of trust;
Face to face no matter what.
We live in a technological time,
where magic is more plausible than not.
All is possible in this paradigm,
including self-expression and free thought.
We've traveled to the bottom of the sea
and stepped upon the surface of the moon.
Farmers now pick ripe apples off a tree
and fly them overseas that afternoon.
We've learned to text or talk to anyone
instantly, by computer or smartphone.
And have harnessed the power of the sun,
building buildings of steel instead of stone.
And the internet's a magical place,
but; I miss interacting face-to-face.
Face to face
Look into your eyes
Tell you that I love you
I'll wear no disguise
Lie down next to me
My fingers through your hair
Caresses on your skin
Secrets that we'll share
Of how much we want more
Unencumbered bliss
Trace each other's bodies
Sharing of a kiss
Loving one another
Vulnerable, shown
Concerned about the other
No longer me alone
Carefully I'll handle
Your heart, so delicate
As is mine, be gentle
We'll walk together yet
Open to inspection
I'll let you see inside
My deepest inner being
With you, nothing I'll hide
In the mirror an insight ...nothing concrete but nothing further true... !
Around the corner
from where I live alone,
in an unfurnished studio apartment,
there’s a shabby restaurant where
I often sit nursing a cup of coffee.
I asked Life one day, “Why me?”
Sitting across from her and
looking directly into her eyes,
“Why did you come to be with me?
I never wanted this. Now I’m distraught,
You have given me nothing but
heart-ache and pain,
broken dreams and empty promises.”
“I was a contented spirit,
Roaming the realms of the heavens
immortal and eternal;
But now, thanks to you, I am
besieged with mortal maladies and
haunted by your old nemesis, death!”
~Contest: Chapter 1 Poetry Narrative
~Sponsor: Matt Caliri.
I walked into the McGinty Funeral Home
and saw this enormous sign
“This funeral is by invitation only”.
I stared at it.
Should I go in?
I know I was not invited.
No one was around.
Who to ask?
The worst they could do is ask me to leave.
I was her friend.
I squared my shoulders and walked through the curtain.
Her family was thrilled to see me!
Almost no one else had come.
I learned from a friend many years later
That the funeral home had been rented out that afternoon
For a Happy Divorce Party.
I figure the sign I saw was part of the festivities.
Whoever had to go to the bathroom left it in the worst possible place though.
We always start across the room
Yet end up side by side.
I'd tell myself you're like the rest,
But then I'd have to lie.
Oftentimes I wonder: why you?--
Still young, finding your place.
But maybe, like a mirror, through you
I see myself face to face.
Today, mid conversation,
I saw it in your eyes--
A shift so subtle and so plain,
Like lifting off a guise.
I pretended not to notice,
But inwardly I smiled,
'Cause I just lifted off my own.
I like this; It's been a while.
Face to face
With His G R A C E
He shines so bright
With love to excite
A guiding light
In the dark of night
Bite Size Poem no34 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Line Gauthier
January 26, 2022
First, a phone that insistently rang,
Soon, a voice that croakily sang,
Then, a door that did as insistently bang
And a steely chain that knew how to clang…
Next, a calmly approaching unsmiling gang,
Face to face with him, they should hang
And relaxed the bastard watch against the pangs
From their boa-constrictor-mimicking ropes with cobra’s fangs…
And it was to be a torture fully intended;
Its former arranged duration evilly extended,
Victim’s final lifeless body made to lie supine,
As just that to any onlooker should be fine!
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.