Character References
By Mark D. Stucky
If I applied for new employment,
should I write down for my references
my malicious manager who mistreats workers,
my onetime teammate serving prison time,
my drug-dealing cousin crashing in a crack house,
or long-lost relatives living in unknown locations?
If I used such rogue references,
could I honestly expect acceptance?
Yet, Jesus applied for the job
of Redeemer of humanity
and, for references, he is using us,
rogue saints and reformed sinners,
who all too often fail our calling
to love all other people
and pursue righteousness.
With character references
as checkered as Christians are,
can Jesus expect acceptance
by the rest of the world?
(First published in Calla Press, 9 April 2022. See also my poems “Hate Vacuuming?” and “What Would Jesus Tweet?”)
(Image by Van Tay Media on Unsplash.com.)
Softly night music
Soothing the mind and body
Smoothing the heart beat
Calls back the old time
Along the motley life lane
Flowers and thornbushes
Few petals flower
Of the seasons and spaces
Heartened to move on
Stoop to cherish
Some on tiptoe to adore
Diversified scents
Soft music recalls
Flower’s color, shape and scent
Omit all thornbushes
In this onetime life
Just sole soft sound energizes
Along humble lane
Footsteps
Miracle Man
1/16/2022
Those footsteps, onetime thought remotest,
in my past, lie dormant, not interred deep.
From recent memory have gone unnoticed,
they haven’t disappeared, they only sleep.
They have spurred me toward absolute best,
the mistakes I made became a teaching tool.
Footsteps remain dormant but at my behest,
Some recall my days, as a youthful fool.
I
Dora was 82 this year
My onetime neighbor
Three years back
I was new again
From USA, I backtracked
She inspired me about Africa again
II
Jesus, she loved Thee well
We pray, shalom, live to tell
If an ordinary, great South African
Bye Tanie Dora, godspeed
You wanted to care for your needs
But Thatcher Home was there
For a while, you shared your flair
In faith and community spirit
A ONE-TIME HEARTBREAKER:
Singly, they placed before him a bid,
Just to explain himself about what he did.
He took them on a date,
And the relationship was so great.
With their upper wish elate,
Though his proposal was laid on await.
He accepted them as his work mates,
So he had good times with them.
Making him an absolute gem.
He was always ready on any term,
To offer them help when they squirm.
So they beheld him romantically,
As he treated them majestically.
Holidays were their refreshing days,
And their birthdays,their best days.
Gifting them was his tradition,
which always came out of affection.
Later, time went on from days to months,
As there was on and off on their chats.
So he close that chapter,
And besides they were no more working together.
But he sent an invitation to one of them,
Exactly, few days to his wedding.
Precisely through WhatsApp,
Later, he realised the message was pending,
So they didn't get the message to show up.
After two months when he's now a husband,
They singly called him to confirm,
Since they heard about his nuptial from friends.
Honestly, their hearts became infirm,
And now they say it's a great offence.
For soap, he had headed to store,
With Hope, to wash away his yore.
A little bleep was all he needs,
He took hot tea to soothe his sore.
Potter's hands were rebuff, he heeds,
From dealing with such rough clay beads.
He chose to dismiss their skilled palm,
He'd had much of the pain and seeds.
He was the one with the alarm,
Onetime cold and then by love, warm.
Life is held in with tangled thread,
He pull and shook till overwhelm.
Wisdom couldn't follow the pot core,
With fate and death, tied to his cord.
Written: May 09, 2022
The flood never did subside, each person became an ark.
Now the creatures have shrunk,
mixed up until one species carries the genetics of all the species.
Fantastical beasts have arisen in a thimble of water.
The great flood is now a teacup, an ocean of tears,
but who’s tears?
God has long since dried Her eyes, The lamb, and the lion,
(Her onetime time emotional support animals),
have become so intermingled
that their parts are unrecognizable.
When all was said and done, we were all animals together.
The leaping waves toss we arks over the moon and back again,
leaks spring leaks.
We are all looking for a mountaintop somewhere,
so far, only a few have returned with that long expected news.
The rest of us drift on looking still for that special place
to offload our cargo, our menagerie of leftovers
from an ancient truth.
The flood never did subside,
each person became an ark.
Only now
the creatures have shrunk,
mixed up
until one species carries
the genetics of all the species.
Fantastical beasts have arisen,
in a thimble of water.
The great flood is a teacup ocean of tears,
but who’s tears?
God has long since dried Her eyes,
The lamb and the lion,
(Her onetime time
emotional support animals),
have become so intermingled
that their parts are unrecognizable.
The leaping waves toss we arks
over the moon and back again,
leaks spring leaks -
the drowning drink.
We are all looking
for a mountaintop somewhere,
so far, only a few have returned
with that long expected news.
The rest of us drift on
still looking for that place
to offload our cargo,
our menagerie of leftover souls.
Tom Titter Bottom was Tinsel Town’s cat mascot flying ace.
He was a friend of Howard Hughes, for he knew his place.
Realizing that Hughes always had to have the utmost attention.
Tom Titter Bottom was a pilot whose nerves had steel suspensions.
Onetime Hughes asked him for advice on Jane Russell’s new bra.
Tom Titter Bottom did not see any of what Howard Hughes saw.
Human women did not intrigue Tom Titter Bottom in any kind of way.
He knew he would be in and out of several cat beds by the end of day.
666
x 3
====
1998 in 1998 suddom hussen threatend world war 3 tried chemical warefare on his own people
satan santa unscrammble the letters comeback in a human form fool light out of old and young bi standards older bi standards has parkanstants ellztimers disease they trhink santa is real to prove that santa is satan holy bible in spanish means santa biblica at onetime saTAN WAS HOLY REINDEER ACTUAL DEER IN EUROPE ADOlPH (rudoph)hitler gude sleigh new world order.
red laser bar code cant buy or sell without the mark on your forehead ore right palm us inmates are already marked at the mac machines your eyes and forehead is scanned at the grocery store your right palm is scanned can you see invisible code no us inmates are already marked we cannot buy or sell without
a pin#or a id#each has 6 dsigits i will use mine for example pin#211196
my id#db1302 and the words inmate prison haS SIX DIGITS 6666 MARK OF BEAST FOR EVERYOINE
THE KNOWLEDGE BY ADAM M SHAVE
Healing
Could it be possible for love to heal the troubled, the wounded?
All those damaged souls, who’s ghosts haunt their every hour!
Could love bring them back from the brink of emotional extinction?
Give them back some of the innocence they, at onetime, knew?
When one thinks of the genocide of our First Nations People,
Think of the genocide of their spirit, those remaining souls.
Could it be possible for love to heal the troubled, the wounded?
All those damaged souls, who’s ghosts haunt their every hour!
When one thinks of the genocide of a child’s psyche, hers or his.
One has to wonder what part love plays in this destructive game
man plays as he molests, sexually abuses, emotionally, mentally,
verbally strips naked, to the very marrow, the essence of a child?
of Nations, of the first Peoples residing upon this little blue planet,
past, present and future. Will love give them a glimpse of a future?
B. J. “A ” 2
May 9th 2017
Together Forever?
Some words they scar
Which last forever
I know you fail to recall
But I still remember
You go ahead
And say you are overwhelmed
That
We are back together
But one things for certain
I still remember
You left a big scar
And
It will last forever
It will never feel the same
Though it’s all cleared out
I will still just remember
We were once together
Nor scar, nor confused
As light as a feather
But that all changed
And we will never be as near
As once we were together
You will certainly not know what I have enclosed
In my heart
Where it will stay forever
A blizzard so wild
Which I can let out whenever
To terminate you’re ahead
The route you took
You could’ve rehabilitated
Weren’t you the chooser?
Then why did you go
A single sentence wrecked us forever
But can we still try
To be what us onetime were together
Forever?
O' I see the trees have shed their sprout
Down from the gardens n' the darkening there·a·bout
O' I see the leaves of a willow windblown down
Touching its feet at the ground
O' I see the shivering birds b'neath the eaves
Have sheltered for the night under leaves
O' I see red-colored birds athwart the sky
Against the day noon high
O' I see leap of squirrels onetime
On the branches they climb
O' I see all through the day into the night
Many furry n' feathered friends in sight
Many times in search of the rarest delight
Respect you pry with belts and wood
A fact I never understood
Shouting in the morning
Shouting in the night
Always verging on a fight
Don’t talk back
Do whatever I say
Or else there will be hell to pay
The scars on the surface
Should carry my debt
The pain locked inside
You never will get
There isn’t just a onetime fee
I’ll pay for all eternity
You robbed me of my childish glee
Left me to drift the unwanted sea
I’m just a child
You leave me no choice
A little unknown
A whispering voice
Empty smiles pasted
Say please and say thank-you
I’ll do what you wish
I’ll do what I have to
On the surface respect you’ll see
You’ll never have respect from me
A wilted rose still has her thorns,
a ruined home still has its stones.
A mirthless Queen still has her throne,
a sleeping bloom will one day grow.
A fallen star still keeps all hopes,
a frozen stream on spring will flow.
A tired wolf soon more will howl,
a onetime champ will be aye known.
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