Like old paint,
the discarded heart chips away
where it lay
in a hollow chest
not unlike my own breast.
In its prime,
untainted by sin
and made of sheepskin,
its candy apple hue
captivated everyone—especially the likes of you.
However, who now
could admire a color
so mottled by misuse and so drastically duller?
Verily, no unclouded eye could find merit
in such a sorry trinket.
Squirrels are gathering; nuts to bury
Eagerly digging, for warm earth is soft
Painted, a sky in hues that are many
This golden glister is scattered aloft
Even autumnal, as thin sun rides low
Men strut in T-shirts, ignoring the chill
Beauties all bare what they dare… one last show
Enjoying the looks laid upon them still
Ripened and ready are these orchard fruits
Falling for fear of remaining unpicked
An autumn frost cometh, a winter hint
Leaving some lying like leaves to be kicked
Lovers on sheepskin, a stove that burns wood
Soft music playing: September is good
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Joshua 1:9
As falsehood in this world is on the rise,
and even into churches penetrates,
when wolves in sheepskin come in a disguise,
the lying spirit falsehood advocates.
Demonic doctrines find their way,
that promise riches, but from Christ distract,
from focusing on Him they lead astray,
and devastating they leave impact.
The wisdom of this world, alas, implies
that it is good to save our own skin,
but Christians are called to challenge lies,
exposing the wicked deeds of sin.
The others might mock us and disparage,
and threaten us, if we can stand unbent.
The Lord is with us, if we show courage
and to ignore all wrongs do not consent.
8.02.2024
David & Goliath
And it came to pass that Philistia
and Israel waged war between them in
the Valley of Elah, where a compromise
was agreed to (one on one)
with the spoils of war
forfeited to the victorious.
And so, Saul asked, “How many behind me?”
And his general replied,
“With the Lord on our side,
there’s no need to count,
but there is one,
a shepherd willing to sacrifice his life.”
And so stepped forth David
clad in sheepskin, supporting a staff,
and Saul (grasping at straws) said,
“Dress the boy at the Lord’s behest,
and let it be known throughout Israel,
no greater hero is found.”
But David rejected Saul’s armour
and went out with a pouch of stones
and a sling to meet Goliath
and smote the Philistine,
and all Israel rejoiced,
for the Lord was on their side.
***
Reference:
Old Testament: 1 Samuel 17:1-58
Little bluebird where are you?
I want to see you soon
It's when I do that lights come on
You brighten up my room
Like no one else, I love you
Fly away with me
To a paradise we'll go
With you I'll always be
I know I'm a romantic
I know I dream too much
If I could go somewhere with you
...The Pennsylvania Dutch country...
A place I'd like to see
There's something quaint about it
There's charm in simplicity
I think I hear a wind chime
It's ringing out your name
The melody is beautiful
Like you, one and the same
Pastures green and endless
Miles of roads to bike
Pies and apple butter
What's there not to like?
Covered bridges spanning
Rivers not too wide
Mountain meadows looming
On the other side
Let me build a cabin
There for us to live
All these things are for you
All to you I give
From a blanket made from sheepskin
For us to cuddle in
To every kind of bookmark
That you could im-a-gine
Ivy-covered sheepskin, firmly in hand
the confident graduate, square-jawed and tan
Pulled offers from prestigious start-ups all over the land
a year later he played lead guitar, hat in hand
He, ever-grateful to his folks for those music lessons
They, bleary-eyed from all the therapy sessions
Yet Patience will out, and Time always tells
Perhaps by thirty-five he'll own an oil well
It's a place, beneath
dark sky island which
I created just for me.
A piece of eternity far
away from clouds, stars
or land.
To get there all I need is to
meditate, breathe deeply, place on my heart, these poetic hands.
Shaped like a moonstone dome, the home is, and I
am free.
It has a huge window
where I can observe sea
life in awe and in wonder.
There is the fireplace with
its amber glows, which warms
my body and soul.
Here, there is no frantic
search to reach goals.
Candles are lit, I have my
sheepskin cover, to lie down
upon or to get under.
I lie there in awe,and such
fulfilling peace.
There are no electronics there, but I can smell the
sea's refreshing air.
And can go back in time,
and relive moments, fair.
Complete, intact, as they were, with no surcease.
I don't need a movie or
music to reach that space.
It's the healing powers of waves and myriad fish at
the window.
That makes my consciousness rise to
a glistening crescendo.
And touch all those
moments that time can
never erase.
3/10/1
~1~. Edited...
Wishing with all my heart, that I were a big, furry cat.
I'd snooze whenever I chose to, especially in a soft, cozy,velvet hat.
My food would all be served to me in my very own cat-room.
I'd observe my mistress cleaning house, but I would never have to
touch a broom.
Oh, yes, in the warm summer's afternoon, I would gleefully lie.
As the red-orange, autumnal sun, set in the California October sky.
Toys galore and a great scratching post, I most certainly do own.
They keep me happily running about, so I never want to leave home.
I love to sleep, after all, I am truly a beloved cat.
I dream of butterflies and bluebirds, as I sleep on a plush,sheepskin mat.
10/8/2020
Noon PST
The love impossible
The cafe was full, a young woman
was looking for a table, I told her to sit at mine,
she did, she was Irish and, yes, had green eyes
and I fell instantly in love.
We exchanged phone numbers I rang her the next day
her phone was disconnected, she never rang me.
I was devastated felt as fate had robbed me taken my true love away, and the five children we
would have had. ( had given them names)
if I remember right, she wore a sheepskin coat and an emerald ring, and I wonder if she still has the ring?
My secretary-lady just a bought,
Women's Brown Sheepskin Coat.
But what the point a skin to strip,
From one, to put it on to other sheep?
"I have enough fight in me,to devour the world!"
Zorba the Greek Movie
1964
Giving up, caving in, or falling in line,
Never sits well with me.
To me, it's a kind of pathetic, fatal lunacy.
It's up to me to stand up for what I deeply desire.
Or sit seeing my life burn away like a funeral pyre.
Days of pathetic passivity.....
Hoping someone might like my poetry.
Putting up with indignation, being ignored like a slave
on a Southern plantation!
Alas, too many decades doing anything for approval.
Dreaming my college degree, turned into an expensive
sheepskin made of gruel!
I had to find me, to not get bulldozed by humanity.
Not get told what schools my daughter could attend by
politically correct , crackpot insanity.
No, to all so-called authorities that can longer pull me
around like an animal with a ring in their nose!
Nor do I follow any which way the fetid, political wind blows!
A fighter, please do call me that!
Like Zorba, anything but a hapless bat.
~OPA~
April 27, 2020
1:30pm PST
It’s Twine Time!
(to Alvin Cash)
It’s twine time!
ooh, ah, ooh, ah, ooh, ah!
It’s time to twine, baby!
Time to forget about it all!
The latest lollipop disasters,
The catastrophes dressed in nude attire,
The latest bristlecone attacks
Manufactured with iced fear,
Riveted with barbecued bullets.
Lookin’ good, baby; have mercy!
It’s twine time!
Passing grooving styling peeps
Living lives in psychotic bondage
To the ghost children, still
Living fast episodes of ennui with
All the random traumas,
Passing all the purple bruises,
The red-stained tears.
It’s twine time, baby!
The far-out space girls
dressed in sheepskin adornments,
Intense as roadside bombs,
Made of acrimony and glycerin.
Yeah! Them that are wearing
Dancing boots made of twine!
It’s twine time, baby!
Ooh, ah, ooh, ah ooh ah!
You don’t need a log on a fire.
You don’t need a soft sheepskin rug;
Just a comfortable place
That you’ve made your own space
And, if lucky, a smile or a hug.
Forget all those candles and dimmers
Or potpourri wafting above;
When you’re home in your nest
What most people like best
Is to know you’re surrounded by love.
On parchment we can etch a silhouette,
a portrayal of imagination one can’t forget.
Paper of fascination carrying inspiration
for revealing one’s depth of thy creation.
Vellum or sheepskin would work in theory
when you wish to write a problematic query.
A manuscript or blueprints of life to bring
out the vivid color of absolutely everything.
My favorite use for parchment is inviting-
I cherish every piece when delighting in writing.
World Vision Poetry III Contest
September 7, 2018
One Man’s Lofty Dream or "Lalalaloo, lalalaloo, lalalaloo."
In a country across a mysterious, unrelenting sea,
Lived a young man, another tongue had he with lofty dreams,
Fishing on a rushing river, longing for a lovely lady,
On the deck in the moonlight, his resonant voice
Raised up to sing..
“I’m sailing yon across the unpredictable ocean waves,
I’ll sew sheepskin boots and shoes,
The designs on them beautiful to cry for,
Lalalaloo, lalalaloo, lalalaloo."
Then Paddy closed his weary eyes, his lofty dream had he,
He would make shoes and boots in a far new country,
His fantasy grew year after year, and then,
A shipmate told him of his sister, his sister a lass of eighteen.
Under the stars, a quarter moon, and swishing waves,
He whisked her to that new country of his dream, and now
His boys have their mother’s black hair, his girls his red,
And the loveliest designed footwear in his new land.
Living his lofty dream.
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.