Vexations after vexations file on
In this temporal succession here;
And even the best zeal and effort
Meet cold uncertainty and fear.
Petty foes give way to petty foes
In strenuous strivings here below;
And even the soberest of hours
Is fraught with sorrow and woe.
And no new joy that melts here
That’s not with fresh sorrows dealt;
Till the merriest hour in this sojourn
Is as close-punctuated mourning felt.
So now let every minute go
And every new hour emerge;
This soul shall no joys expect
But will silently mime its dirge.
We can rest in our God
who never rests
We can trust in our God
in all life's tests
We rest in His presence
He's by our side
His promise, the essence,
come any tide
Rest in His protection
He will take care
Rest in His provision
He's always there
We rest in His prowess
In Him, we're blest
In His praiseworthiness
Father knows best
In predestination
we rest, we're His
His predomination
provides true bliss
In His proficiency,
strivings will cease
In His sufficiency,
we find true peace.
February 9 Praises to God Bible Meditations Based on Leviticus 24-25
Key Verse – Leviticus 24:4 He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the LORD continually.
PRAISE BE TO GOD WHO LIGHTS US
WITH HIS LAMP CONTINUALLY
Praise be to God for lighting us with His lamp continually to:
Lead us with His might
Liberate us by His mercy
Let us learn from His miracles
Look at us along His magnificence
Listen to us through His ministry
Leviticus 24:12 Praise be to the Lord
Who shows us His mind amidst our:
Sins resulting to guilt
Strivings along iniquities
Struggles brought by discontentment
Shame in hiding transgressions
Sorrows due to misbehaviour
Leviticus 25:17 Praise be to the Saviour
for admonishing us to fear Him toward our:
Rest in His providence
Restoration along His protection
Redemption-rejoicing by His peace
Reaping with His provisions
Reward according to His prize. Amen!
February 9, 2024
Dilapidated by harsh weather.
Ivy growing over it held it together.
Not much more than a shack.
My life ended there in that cul de sac.
~The Poet~
Twisting smiles along the way,
Struggles and strivings of the fray.
Trying to reach an ultimate goal.
Hardship seeps, destroying the soul.
Lest we show remorse for the deeds,
Bestowing ill, on suffering it feeds.
Incantations of hollow pleasure,
Rustic cavorting through our leisure.
Opulence rains in a copious deluge.
Affluence smothers yearning so huge.
Time inaudible, voices escape,
Stand on the precipice with no shape.
Trudging without courage so innate.
Leave all behind to contemplate.
Beyond reason, the battle is all uphill.
Feeling the power, we carry on still.
No stopping, no standing, yet defend,
The last conquest a mighty dead end.
Do we have the ability or the knack,
To conquer in life, fate’s cul-de-sac?
November light and colors stream in
through the window
and I notice it, like in the eye of a storm,
a whirlwind that has included pain and creativity
but always distraction –
of strivings and graspings at
accumulation and accomplishment.
And in a moment – of sun, sound and color –
it all settles to be just this;
Everyone, everywhere burning like so many
points of light
like on a Christmas tree, connected by strings
amid the tinsel and baubles and
homemade ornaments of meaning.
Light that knows no division of inside or out,
me or you,
us or them.
(11/2/2010, from my first collection of poems and stories, THE HEART OF IT, 2015)
We have refused to hearken to her plea,
Our insatiable desires have spurred our spree,
We have jettisoned her cry,
We only look and sigh,
We've been taken over by our cravings,
Pushed overboard by our strivings,
We journey towards a mammoth empire,
Stifling her free course to respire,
We desire a wholesome stress-free lane,
To her detriment and bane,
She stands listless and frail,
As we go on our splurge sail,
She said it is an equal and opposite reaction,
As some have had the premonition,
We're on a lethal cruise,
We're wearing unfit shoes,
A stitch in time saves nine.
February 19, 2023.
Comfortably tucked down into the fold,
there in a pocket down near the crease.
Out of the wind and the rain and the cold,
resting in him, strivings now cease.
Joining with others into the fold;
enmity once, now sisters and brothers.
Oh, to be held! A thing to behold.
Calm and serene at the sound of his voice;
hearing his calling never gets old.
According to plan, all by his choice,
nestled down snug, into the fold.
—————-
Another Fold: 11 lines, odd lines rhyming, with common tail for 1, 5, 11
“Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.”
- Mary Oliver
Poetry is an inner reassuring voice,
It is the ladder that leads out of murky waters,
It is the portrait that depicts the strivings of the soul,
It is the eye to the wonders and intricacies of nature,
It is a pathway through a cluttered and clustered path.
Poetry is a light that guides through a dark alley,
It is a pearl of inestimable worth,
It is the panacea for turbulent waters,
It is the song of our times,
It is the message in the rhythm and melody.
Poetry is the wind that blows on a hot and dry day,
It is the sun that graces a gloomy sky,
It is a chamber of lost treasures,
Poetry is a door that leads to a ceaseless fountain.
Poetry is a world that I'm glad I found.
November 29, 2022.
Poetry is a life-cherishing Force Contest Poetry Contest,
Sotto Poet.
Read my pages,
Rewrite me, please,
Let it go easy on me.
Read my pages,
Feel the world around,
Lighten its weight on me.
Read my pages,
Still the tempest,
Bring perpetual tranquility.
Read my pages,
Go through my door,
Aid my strivings.
Read my pages,
Push away the darkness
that trails and interfere.
Read my pages,
Don’t leave me part way,
Walk with me to the last line.
Read my pages,
Traverse my world,
Glide with me.
Read my pages,
Shield the tumult,
That drenches my day.
Read my pages,
Disperse the gloom,
That infiltrates sunshine.
Read my pages,
Don’t just archive me,
Be pleased to rewrite.
September 30, 2022.
2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 15 Poetry Contest,
Mark Toney.
O child of stone, outcast, alone,
succumbing to desire.
Inside your chest, you’re sorely pressed,
assailed by a liar.
Do not believe the tales it weaves:
the lost, untethered heart.
Though it deceives, it silent grieves
the time it spends apart.
When realized, it bitter cries
for wounds it did impart,
and scarce conceives, much less receives
the grace of a fresh start.
But when it breaks, all of that ache,
like scales, just falls away.
A flood of tears, to be drawn near,
says what no words can say.
Your Father sates, and yet He waits
for you to freely turn.
Climb in his chair, incline your ear,
and hear what your soul yearns.
Child, fall asleep to rhythms deep:
a heart that fiercely burns.
Ah, to be blessed, and find the rest
your strivings never earned!
Now is the time to be asking the night,
under a cloudless sky lit by the moon,
when in the future will all things be right?
Now is the time to be asking how soon
war will be ended, and there will be peace
under a cloudless sky lit by the moon.
Now is the time to ask strivings to cease;
when, like the breeze, so gentle, scarce moving,
war will be ended, and there will be peace?
Now is the time to pray for improving
relations with nations who are at war.
When? Like the breeze, so gentle, scarce moving,
now is the time to want things as before,
value all lives and all men as brothers,
relations with nations who are at war.
Now, for the sake of loved ones and others,
now is the time to be asking the night,
valuing lives and all men as brothers:
when in the future will all things be right?
----------
for AN ORIGINAL TERZANELLE Poetry Contest
sponsored by L Milton Hankins
written 04/05/2022
Lord, I cry unto Thee
In anguish and despair
Who else can I turn to?
Only You truly care
Nothing's too hard for Thee
In You, my strivings cease
In this worry-filled world
Only You give me peace
Loving Lord, You're my hope
My refuge in the storm
In this world of deceit
Only You can transform
Lord, I cry unto Thee
In loneliness and pain
In this world so weary
Only You can sustain
03.30.2021
Nervous flutters, against reaction
Emoting apathy, of mass inaction
Views: judges deemed pernicious
Evasion of truth, is more precious
Reeking, of dumbed-silent perfidy…
Self-satisfied, connoisseurs...
Acceptance of flat contours...
The strivings - perfunctory
Its contrived soul's victory
Startled mute or the astute?
Failed words/candid pursuit?
In thoughts turning caustic
Evasiveness begets a static
Death's when a brain stops…
(1/27/2021 - '85 Sea Ray 340 Sedan Bridge; DMS)
To My Daughter
Daughter mine, heart of hearts
What complex wonders lie within
One sweet soul and mind grown
Strong and righteous in her stance.
If I could but take thy pains and burdens
Upon my shoulders; if I could but straighten every crooked path;
But oh how wondrous thy valiant strivings have made thee
And no mother could ask for more than that.
Ever brighter, ever stronger
Take my torch and carry on.
A mother’s heart is not her own, but lies
Within her daughter’s hand.
(c) 2000
the strivings
of love,
waltz
into my
heart
bringing
contentment:
a
beauty
that thrills
an experience
so novel...
I must
tell
inspired by Grieg Piano Sonata in A
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