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Poem based upon: "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
He asked me to mend his grandfather's watch—
gears jammed with decades of pocket lint.
"All we have to decide," he said,
"is what to do with the time that is given us."
I scraped silt from the mainspring coil
like an archaeologist brushing bone.
Through my loupe, each scratched tooth
became a canyon. Outside, rain
needled the cobblestones.
When the balance wheel finally shuddered alive,
I handed back seconds he could now spend.
Omniscience
Miracle Man
2/9/2023
God calls me redeemed; I’m not judged in a group,
He sees hidden things without need of a loupe.
Because He is omniscient despite His unseeing,
He knows each imperfection that clouds my being.
There is no thing that’s beyond His knowing,
so It behooves me each day to view seed I’m sowing.
That always, in my witness, my testimony is real,
for on judgment day He will grant me no appeal.
King of the runway in my Christian Dior pantsuit
Accessories as well right down to the boots
Not a well known fact
These designs fill my racks
A poet of sophistication in this limerick loupe
All you dear friends I have here in the loupe
Are truer than many, they put up with my poop
A pooper by fame
Try hard not to shame
But at times lose control, excuse this nincompoop
King of the runway in my Christian Dior pantsuit
Accessories as well right down to the boots
Not a well-known fact
These designs fill my racks
A poet of sophistication in this limerick loupe
A friend in a pinch is seldom a cinch
to be found in a world uncaring.
Some might offer aid, then want to be paid,
with an attitude overbearing.
Friends made from the heart will never depart
though the way may be rough and tumble.
They stay at your side through a rocky ride
to help you go on if you stumble.
When myriad woes attack you like foes
or obstacles rise up in doubles,
those loyal appear to assuage your fear
and bolster your spirits in troubles.
Once it’s clear to you that a friend is true,
you possess a most precious treasure,
with rewards that grow far more than you know
or a jeweler’s loupe could measure.
If you’re tempest-tossed and find yourself lost,
shy of courage to make you bolder,
or your cherished hopes fly out of your scopes,
you can lean awhile on their shoulder.
Whatever the rhyme or reason or time,
by silent accord in friendship’s creed,
true friends will be there, your fortunes to share.
A friend in need is a friend in deed.
Aye, friends of this sort are a special breed.
A friend in need is a friend indeed!
~ Harley White
Twinkle the stars in night’s display—
Sun’s shining rays light up the day…
and yet, if futures vast we may
divine, white dwarf with diamond core
(that crystallized in ages yore)
will pulsate like a cosmic gong
its tintinnabulary song
(no longer sunbeams to bestow)
in seven billion years or so…;
then Sol might twinkle for the eyes
of distant poets far more wise,
beyond our cares— whoever dares
(if dreamers dwell in heres and theres,
whate’er whene’er where’er they are)
to seek and find our once bright star
(that like us also flames and dies)—
those with the loupe to look with sighs
for long lost Lucys in the skies…
– Harley White
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