When Jesus, the Christ, embraced me as a lad
Whispered in my ear God’s unconditional love abides
And lives inside the deepest recesses of my heart
Where no one can snatch it away, wound, or destroy it
I became a passionate follower, knowing His love
Is “greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.” *
With God's love came healing from sin, and the courage
To be His reflecting image to a lost and broken world.
I found a new home in the hereafter; I learned to live
A life of inspiration to others, guided by prayers,
Because He loved me, I have learned to love others.
Agape love fosters a life of enduring joy and peace.
*line is from "The Love of God," lyrics by Frederick M. Lehman
SECOND PLACE WINNER
Written April 17, 2021
For “Agape Love” Contest
Sponsored by Regina McIntosh
FIRST PLACE WINNER
Brian Strand's "Verse Libre" Poetry Contest
March 7, 2022
My Briefs Lorraine
Fecal stains on my briefs
they must be washed
but to my dismay
they’ve gone away
I left them in a drunken stupor
on the floor by the pooper
and now they’re nowhere to be found
It’s not that I should have a care
I have many other briefs to wear
but my Lorraine is dear to me
they’re brillant blue and such a sight
reflecting in the pale moonlight
what shall I do, it’s such a plight
If I don’t find Lorraine tonight
Just make me laugh Contest
Sponsored by Christine Lehman
August 27, 2016
???
The wife had a problem with me,
h o t m e s s to the hundredth degree,
thinks she can do better,
I’ll go out and let her!
Not my fault I cleared the pantry!
I ended up on the darn couch,
pinched nerve in my back from the slouch,
I need chiropractic,
for my darn sciatic,
then the whole next week I’m a grouch!
She came in crying one evening,
I thought, “YAY! Maybe she’s leaving!”
but she just broke a nail,
now I’m still stuck in jail,
I think she was just deceiving.
I wonder if we got divorced,
would she even show sweet remorse?
I would probably smile,
maybe I should go file?
“WHAT hun? Be home by nine??? Of course…” :(
I think I know just what I’ll do,
go in and tell her we are through!
I’ll take the couch with me,
it’s just so darn comfy,
"yay! Then I wouldn’t have a curfew!"
Just Make Me Laugh Contest
Sponsor: Christine Lehman
Date Written: August 27, 2016
I’m walking my tiger home!
So what!
Wow!
That’s the strangest thing,
I’ve ever heard!
You just might say!
Well! Mary had a little lamb,
And you had no problem with that!
She even took it to school one day,
That made the children laugh and play,
History! Made that nursery rhyme,
I could do that!
I’ve got a big cat!
Mary had a harmless lamb,
Mines a stripy tiger,
Hers was cute and white as snow,
Mine is hungry! And I’ve far to go,
Mary’s story was very real,
Mine is just a tiger’s tail,
So off we go upon our way,
That is why!
I’m walking my tiger home today.
24/07/2016
For contest sponsor
Christine Lehman
(Just make me laugh)
The Irritating Fly
The irritating fly zoomed round the room
Not stopping anywhere as I planned its doom.
It flew up and down, and buzzed round and round,
Pestering me with that annoying sound.
It zipped by the window and hummed by the door
Then it buzzed back around the room once more.
I picked up a spray, taking careful aim
But that relentless fly buzzed just the same.
I chased it with swatter, I chased it with spoon,
The end of that fly was going to be soon.
It zoomed round the kitchen and buzzed round the hall,
It flew round the ceiling and settled on the wall.
A well aimed swipe then a sudden splat;
For that irritating fly, that was that.
Barry Stebbings
31/05/2016
Entered into Contest, 'Just Make Me Laugh.'
Sponsored by Christine Lehman.
I was bored in Manhattan that day
So decided to pay for a lay
He was handsome and young
And was VERY well hung
I walked like John Wayne all of the day
Thanks to James Fraser's Bored In Manhattan poem for the inspiration!
Just make me laugh contest
Sponsored by Christine Lehman
27th December 2015
If God is something that you think,
It is only a process that you drink;
Wittgenstein's answer of yes and no,
Does only referential justification show.
Societal concepts are never jokes,
But at other people make pokes;
They're straight with direct meaning,
So have an implied, absolute feeling.
David Lehman said Wittgenstein,
Was quoted by dons as sane,
And I just think he restated that,
Language is within society, fact.
God is not physical in any way,
'Cos ontology can't have it's say;
It can't describe the dais God,
Using predicate logic most odd.
But all things are describable,
And sets with no God table,
So we can easily conclude,
That he is just us being rude.
Reference: Wittgensteins Ladder by David Lehman
Love in a beach hut came my way,
and, a bit cramped, we lay
until the moon rose over
Kettle's Bay.
Polly, the maid, came opportunely,
to bring us tea
and the three
of us sat happily.
Love out of a beach hut came my way,
and Polly came half-way through
with tea
and that's when we threw her in the bay.
----------------------------------------------
8/3/2015
Contest - Just make me laugh
Sponsor - Christine Lehman
3rd place win
i miss the softness of her touch
cut short by Lehman brothers’ harsh
collapse
i miss kindness of time before the crash
economy in relative peace
living off fumes of postwar boom
before post-traumatic stress of recession-plagued world
robbed me of ability to fulfill my dreams
and fully reveal my inner self
thanks to din of private property
and rumble of greed
world is psychotic, denial laden
- where love can be a marketplace
humans commodified to the extreme -
i yearn for a world
where people can be people
judged on the merits of their person
not their circumstance
for in such a world
there would be no need to worry
for inherent goodness in every human being
is a guarantee
someday that world will be realized
this i know for sure
this poem a dedication
and an affirmation
of that truth.
Lotte Lehmann (Sentanka)
Charlotte Lehmann
Die große Opernsängerin
Sie schrieb und filmte
Ihr Ruhm bleibt unvergessen
Und bot den Nazis die Stirn
Charlotte Lehmann
The great opera singer
She wrote and filmed
Her fame will always be remembered
And she defied the Nazis
Charlotte Lehmann
La gran vocalista de ópera
Ella escribió y filmó
Su fama siempre será recordado
Y desafió a los nazis
Note: Charlotte Lehman, known as Lotte Lehman, born in 1888 in Perleburg, Germany, and one of my relatives, was a famous opera singer in Europe and the USA. She emigrated from Vienna to the USA in 1937. She sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York from 1934 to 1945. In 1951 she retired from public live and gave singing
instructions. One of her scholars was the well-known opera singer Grace Bumbry. Lotte Lehmann was also a writer and poetess and a filmmaker. She died in 1976 in Santa Barbara, California and was buried at the famous Vienna Central Cemetary in 1977.
Hungary people can’t hold a grudge
They judged that it would never budge
Walled off by a dam
This heavy metal jam
Raspberry sludge was factored fudge
Author's note: Well, Stanley--it's another fine mess you've gotten me into. It all goes to
show how impossible it is to move liabilities off the balance sheet. Enron, Worldcom,
Citigroup, Lehman Brothers, and the debt crisis will strike again...and again...and again....
I'm dreaming of a quiet Christmas ,
Just like the ones , I'll never know
With no children screechin
Or pastor preachin
Of where all sinners surely go .....
I'm dreaming of a quiet Christmas
With every cheque , Im tryin' to write .
But , then Lehman Sisters took flight ,
Hopeing Citigroup , can get it right .
( 2 )
Now I'm dreaming of a quiet Christmas .
I pulled a "cracker " , late last night .
She was sent from heaven
Aged twenty seven .
With "stats", for which Miss World , would fight .
Yes , I'm scheming for a quiet Christmas .
Told Santa Claus , I'll be off-line .
Hope my yuletide passion is fine ,
And I'll make it thro' to zero-nine ...
=================+=======================
With apologies to Irving & Bing ( That's Crosby !!! NOT Chandler )...
To be entered in John's Christmas song " what-not "....