Paraphrased Poems

A Judgment Day Dialogue: Matthew 25 for 2025

And the Lord will say to them on Judgment Day,
“I was hungry, and you defunded my food aid programs.
I was thirsty, and you rolled back drinking water protections.
I was a stranger, and you snatched me and deported me.
I was naked, and you gave tax breaks to billionaires.
I was sick, and you cut Medicaid and Medicare.
I was in prison, and you gave me no due process.”

And the self-righteous will ask him,
“Lord, when did we do those things to you?”

The Lord will answer them,
“Whatever you did
to one of the least of these,
brothers and sisters of mine,
you did to me.”


(Paraphrased excerpt from Matthew 25:31-46.)

(First published in Substack, 21 May 2025. See also my poems “Bringing Heaven to Earth” and “Quantum Acts of Kindness.”)

MY FORMS 4 of 5 kuhlmann 2009

KUHLMANN my kisses tristich HAPPENING

From Inspiration:idea,impulse,births:
                                                                  a poem
A BRIAN STRAND FORM 4x5 (2009)

m.youtube.com/watch?v=_dFGYv4sWgY 

for my dynamic paraphrased translation into English of one of the 6227020800 possible variation on this sonnet 41 to illustrate what Kuhlmann intended)

The complete 50 sonnets (in old German script )are available  ISBN 3484160195 .

KUHLMANN SONNET paraphrase

 NOTE:This is my dynamic paraphrased translation into English of one of the 6227020800 possible variation on this sonnet 41 to illustrate what Kuhlmann intended .The complete 50 sonnets (in old German script )are available  ISBN 3484160195 .

           
            HEAVENLY KISSES a sonnet 
                                (a changing life)
At  NIGHT,   fog, frost, Torment&Worry
Next DAY,  snow, lightning,  Fire &Distress
From GRIEF,  angst, sorrow, Disgrace,Ridicule
With JOY, ease, wins, Constant Day
The MOON, smoke, flame,  Ox and Wagon
Love's LIGHT, floods,field,  Knowledge is Sustenancd
Our OBJECTIVE human,travail, Faith and God
PURPOSED, prize,promise, &Thankfulness
What is GOOD,right,positive,do Mention     
CULTIVATE,earth,    floods,    to AVOID
Sans COURAGE, praise, soul, be APART    
With  FEAR, lies,    strife, soon Reigns 
Everything changes:Everyone loves:We, all ,incline to hate;
We ,who meditate these Words,understand the human state

A Poem for Angitia

A POEM FOR ANGITIA: 
a paraphrased of Silius Italicus (c26-191 CE)
 
Angitia the Daughter of Eeta the Sun
And the Sea-nymph Persa 
Was first to use herbs
In magic and wellness.
She is Mistress of Venoms.
She murmurs by the stream
To draw down the Moon.
By her command the river is held back.
The mountains and the forests become still.

Translation the Form

HEAVENLY KISS XL1 by Quirinus Kuhlmann

(a changing life)



            


At  NIGHT,  fog, frost, Torment&Worry

Next DAY,  snow, lightning,  Fire &Distress

From GRIEF,  angst, sorrow, Disgrace,Ridicule

With JOY, ease, wins, Constant Day

The MOON, smoke, flame,  Ox and Wagon

Love's LIGHT, floods,field,  Knowledge is Sustenancd

Our OBJECTIVE human,travail, Faith and God

 PURPOSED, prize,promise, &Thankfulness

What is GOOD,right,positive,do Mention

CULTIVATE,earth,    floods,    to AVOID

Sans COURAGE, praise, soul, be APART


NOTE:This is my dynamic paraphrased translation into English of one of the 6227020800 possible variation on this sonnet 41 to illustrate what Kuhlmann intended .The complete 50 sonnets (in old German script )are available  ISBN 3484160195 .

I Watched the News This Morning

I watched the “news” this morning.
Chicken Little ran around squawking
Two women talked amiably after describing
scenes of horrific violence.
A homeless puppy was found
cared for and now needs a “forever” home.
Thousands called in looking to adopt it.
A homeless veteran was stepped over
in the entrance to a shelter
he/she was not cared for or allowed entrance.
Three kittens sang “Jingle Bells”
Chicken Little squawked a bit more
Climate change, global warming yadayada
The weather persons told me of storms
in the Midwest, floods in the south and
high temps in Arizona….
I had to look out my window
to get the weather report here.
The station manager made a Public Service Announcement.
Paraphrased : “If you’d all just do as you’re told
                               everything would be just fine”.

(the commercials were for Erectile disfunction, tampons, 
birth control and condoms….oh….and childrens breakfast cereal))

John G. Lawless
1/4/2022

A Man Who Talks of Abstraction

colour 
    enlivened concepts 

an inner necessity 
 of      geometrics
 minimalised 
      paraphrased

 visualisations 
 to captivate  
in
sparse curves
              &circles  
of
 emancipated
      abstractions

idyllised

   simplicity  
 
 in sparse
     wonderlands

Ict Helps the Man In Learning English

By George P. Lumayag 

The unconscious speaks against facts,
But the conscious mind reasons out that ICT can guide him.

MS Word reminds him of his misspelled words,
Highlighted by Red wavy underline;

It reminds him of his choppy words,
Highlighted by Green wavy underline.

It also reminds him of his wrong structured phrases,
Highlighted by Blue wavy underline.

Grammarly.com recommends him the suitable words,
Highlighted by a command prompt.

Turnitin reminds him the copied phrases or sentences,
Highlighted by Red-Fill-in color to be paraphrased.

Youtube teaches the blind man to improve his English accent.
And it guides him to improve his speech in public speaking.

But such software or application could not remind him 
On his unconscious impromptu speech.

Beattitudes

One dark and stormy night, when half my life lay behind me ?I wandered from the straight and narrow path too far.
And took my heart for a  ship’s compass
All through the darkness, I followed no course, no path but my own.  ?
With only unlimited darkness before me
Above that darkness, there was no guiding star. ?
That had once guided kings and shepherd alike.  ?

When you are born blind only the darkness can see your way.
While death’s cold hands pluck at one's terrors and fears.?
Gladly the dreads I felt are too dire to retell,
The hopeless, pathless, lightless times forgotten,
I turn my tale to that which next befell,
When the true dawn opened 
and the dark night was no longer my guide.

Paraphrased from the opening to Dante's Inferno.

An Evening of Social Justice

An evening of social justice
paid for by the “alleged” perpetrators
of the grand injustice.
What cads, these bastards
of the billions, usurpers of
our “common” wealth,
cream skimming purveyors
of the entrepreneurial spirit.

“They did not build it alone!”
No, they did not.  They built it –
first in their minds imagination,
fashioned into a dream,
molded into a plan
hammered by determination.
Brick by brick, stick by stick,
thread by thread,
hour by endless hour.

And now the bread is made.
Now they come - the naysayers,
the doubters, the mockers,
in the guise of “social sainthood”,
to tear down the success,
condemn the economics
regarding the slicing of the loaf.

“The laborers may be worthy of their hire”*
but The Little Red Hen* runs the kitchen.


3/29/2018

*paraphrased biblical quotation

**1950’s(?) childrens book (The Little Red Hen)

submitted to – social justice free verse – Poetry Contest
sponsor – John Hamilton

Reading Between the Lines

We've looked at love
enjoyed it all
from both sides now
yours and mine
different love, but still somehow
in our minds
if love's illusion we recall
we'll be fine

do we really know, my love,
fairy tales are
anything at all?
forever


It may seem we're acting strange
fading colors dance with age
as costumes change we falter
our love is like a star
circus acts will rearrange
reaching to infinity
mortality's an altar
this is who we are

do we really know, my love
our love is 
anything at all?
forever



*thanks to singer Joni Mitchell for inspiration from her well-known song, Both Sides Now.
(Full artistic credit to her for all lines paraphrased herein)

A Modern Day Good Samaritan

A certain beautiful little girl was standing
In a Midtown Manhattan CVS store
Where crowds had gathered to shop late in evening
She was of Oriental descent standing there;

I saw her, admired her sweetness and let her be
I just stood near her side such a small child she was;
And likewise there were other people on each side
The eyes fell on her with lack of concern or cause.

But a certain black lady who was on a journey
Came upon her, and when she saw her was alarmed,
“Where is her mother?” “Who is her mother?” she yelled;
The mother came up and took the child in her arms.

I ask, “Which of these three do you think proved to be
A neighbor to the child quietly lost in the store?”
The woman who knew New York City and dangers,
This woman showed concern and mercy toward her;

And our loving Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”
Scores of people pushed forward through the exit door.
I thanked the immaculate black lady who saw
The need that I, a mere stranger in town, ignored                           


Luke 10:30-37
Paraphrased

The Love Drug

 "I've tasted love heroin and will never have that high again"..
    (paraphrased quote one from "Notting Hill")

Love heroin is very potent stuff.
It’s not like other drugs; it is for free.
There is no ban on it, but it is tough
to keep that high. It has no guarantee.

Some folks I know can make it last and last.
With just one hit, they’re good for sometimes years!
For most, this drug’s effects can wear off fast,
and then withdrawal brings them pain and tears.

Love heroin can bring such fevered bliss,
some addicts wreck their lives for it, or worse,
would kill for it, so I can tell you this -
expecting it to last is its great curse.

I’ve heard of people my age finding it.
I sure would like myself just one more hit!


Dec. 8, 2016 for the Three Choices Plus Two Which Equals Five
 Or I Haven't Got a Clue Contest of Sara Kendrick

Shooting Skills

"He would spin one pistol in one hand in one direction,
while spining the other pistol in his other hand in the opposite direction.
He'd have two targets, one in front and one behind him.
When someone yelled "fire!" he'd simultaniously fire both guns,
hitting both targets, the target in front and the target behind him."

 - I am of course paraphrasing,
the words of one of Billy Bonney's close friends,
describing one of the shooting skills of the Kid.
His friend's paraphrased words are still none the less accurate.

Lullaby To a Dead Man

Your feet are cold,
And you lay stilled 
Like a stone in the snow, 
Carved at winter’s bloom.

I see you 
Stilled like that wood we use to sit, 
Between the gates of heaven and hell,
When voices are heard and the scent
 Of the harmattan fresh in the air.

I see you
Speechless in that look,
Not gaunt but gone.
In patches of pancakes on your face
Was the kindness of 
The mortician Paraphrased.

I see you now, 
When your worries are no more,
Your cares married to the earth.
Insipid, yet not aggrieved,
Only a darkening cadaver
Baggage of an ageing undertaker…
I see you

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