Friday, June 30, 2017

Sixty-Three2

July 1, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is the contrast between the holy and the mundane, in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which began on June 26, at the end of the month of Ramadan.

Today’s poem is a number poem about someone who pauses on the brink of holiness.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Sixty-three suspends her animation,
Intending to replenish her reserves.
X marks the sacred center of her being,
The place beyond her appetites and nerves.
Yet still she hears the sirens of sensation.
To be oneself is to be all creation,
Here in ways no instrument observes,
Replenished by the simple act of seeing
Each windrow with the wonder it deserves,
Each remnant in the robes of revelation.
 © by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/63b.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: The Holy and the Mundane
June 29: Alessandra
June 30: Forty-Four
July 1: Sixty-Three

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Forty-Four4

June 30, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is the contrast between the holy and the mundane, in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which began on June 26, at the end of the month of Ramadan.

Today’s poem is a number poem about someone who, living in the mundane world, longs for holiness.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Forty-four looks within and listens,
Open to the whispers of the soul,
Remembering retreats, now long ago,
That gave him intimations of the whole.
Years may pass; the longing never lessens.

For such encounters, there can be no goal.
One stops one’s inner time within time’s flow
Until, now free of purposes and passions,
Returned to bliss, one can resume one’s role.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/44d.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: The Holy and the Mundane
June 29: Alessandra
June 30: Forty-Four

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Alessandra

June 29, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is the contrast between the holy and the mundane, in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which began on June 26, at the end of the month of Ramadan.

Today’s poem is a name poem for a woman who strives for holiness every moment of her life.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Alessandra savors solitude,
Looking for connection to the whole.
Each of us is all, and so includes
Such rapture as resides in every soul,
Selfless self, with neither will nor goal.
Anticipating death, she undoes life,
Needing nothing, wanting, wishing nothing,
Delivered from what would engender strife,
Relinquishing all but simple acts of being,
A conqueror of all that's worth the winning.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/alessa.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: The Holy and the Mundane
June 29: Alessandra

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Evening, and at Last the Fast Is Over

June 28, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is the contrast between the holy and the mundane, in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which began on June 26, at the end of the month of Ramadan.

Today’s poem is a poem for Eid al-Fitr about how Ramadan continues to affect the mundane activities that follow.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Evening, and at last the fast is over!
It remains a gift we celebrate,
Delighting in our prayers as in a lover,
Abstaining with a joy no meal could sate.
Let us gather now with food and drink,
For now we turn again to mortal Earth,
Intended to desire, and love, and think,
To savor what is ours 'twixt death and birth,
Reminded by our faith what things are worth.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/eveni2.html. For more poems for Eid al-Fitr, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/ramadanpoems.html .

This week’s theme: The Holy and the Mundane
June 28: Evening, and at Last the Fast Is Over

Monday, June 26, 2017

Each Moment Is like Sunlight on the Heart

June 27, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is the contrast between the holy and the mundane, in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which began on June 26, at the end of the month of Ramadan.

Today’s poem is a poem for Eid al-Fitr about the transition from Ramadan to more mundane forms of worship.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Each moment is like sunlight on the heart,
Infinity within infinity.
Descend now from the whole back to the part,
As fast gives way to feast, and One to me.
Love is worship, as is pure, chaste pleasure;
Food is worship, music, dance, delight.
Immersed in talk, we savor what we treasure,
The days of fasting fading fast from sight,
Returning, turning, burning through the night.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/eachm2.html. For more poems for Eid al-Fitr, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/ramadanpoems.html .

This week’s theme: The Holy and the Mundane
June 27: Each Moment Is like Sunlight on the Heart

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Every Moment Equally Is Holy

June 26, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is the contrast between the holy and the mundane, in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which begins today, June 26, at the end of the month of Ramadan.

Today’s poem is a poem for Eid al-Fitr about the heightened recognition of holiness during Ramadan.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Every moment equally is holy.
In Ramadan, we recognize it more.
Days of fasting preach throughout the body;
Appetite obeys a higher law.
Let us now return to the mundane
Fortified by what we have enjoyed,
In lives neither prophetic nor profane,
Toiling daily, gainfully employed,
Restored by holiness, our spirits buoyed.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/every5.html. For more poems for Eid al-Fitr, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/ramadanpoems.html .

This week’s theme: The Holy and the Mundane
June 26: Every Moment Equally Is Holy

Saturday, June 24, 2017

We've Been Together Since We Were

June 25, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since many public schools will be having their graduation ceremonies this week, the theme for this week is graduation.

Today’s poem is a graduation poem about graduating from elementary school.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

We've been together since we were
Just barely more than babes,
Holding onto Mommy's hand,
Missing two front teeth.

Some of us now have to wear
A bra and some to shave,
Adults in what our hearts demand,
Still children underneath.

Together we learned how to read,
Together learned to play,
To add and multiply our friends,
To give and to receive.

Our teachers taught us how to lead,
To put our tears away,
To separate our means and ends,
To work and to achieve.

And now we step across a line;
Our childhood is gone.
Soon, just like a morning dream,
The memories will fade.

But if we turn out good and kind,
Rejoicing in the sun,
We'll know to thank these sheltered years
Where our first joys remain.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/wevebe.html. For more graduation poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/graduationpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Graduation
June 25: We’ve Been Together Since We Were

Friday, June 23, 2017

Middle School Is a Time of Yearning

June 24, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since many public schools will be having their graduation ceremonies this week, the theme for this week is graduation.

Today’s poem is a graduation poem about graduating from middle school.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Middle school is a time of yearning
For what's ahead and what is left behind:
Neither child nor adult, but burning
Unrestrained with love and fear combined.
Now that we must leave, we have the pleasure
Of moving one step nearer who we are,
Knowing that we lose the equal treasure,
Bit by bit, of leaving dreams ajar.
How lucky we have been this awkward moment,
Shifting from the shade into the sun,
To have this school as our communal parent,
Guiding us as well as you have done!
More than skills improved or knowledge gained
Are intellects inspired and gifts unchained.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/junior.html. For more graduation poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/graduationpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Graduation
June 24: Middle School Is a Time of Yearning

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Graduations Are like Stepping Through

June 23, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since many public schools will be having their graduation ceremonies this week, the theme for this week is graduation.

Today’s poem is a graduation poem looking forward to bittersweet memories.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Graduations are like stepping through
A veil into another, larger room.
Behind, where we can never go again,
Are memories like a shipwreck full of gold.

Strange, the harmonies of pride and sadness,
The dawn and sunset of the new and old,
The bittersweet good-byes while looking forward
To things unseen beyond the ridge of time.

Numb with too much life we stagger through them,
Time passing in the ordinary way.
Relatives and friends all swarm around us,
Buzzing round the silence of the real.

And once the ceremonies and the parties
Are over, and the sweet days come and go,
All we've lost comes back to us as music
Of love departed, never to return.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/grad3.html. For more graduation poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/graduationpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Graduation
June 23: Graduations Are like Stepping Through

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Goodbye, Dear Friend and Graduate

June 22, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since many public schools will be having their graduation ceremonies this week, the theme for this week is graduation.

Today’s poem is a graduation and goodbye poem to a friend.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Goodbye, dear friend and graduate!
Our golden time is over now,
Our time of nothing more than time,
Days of simply being friends.
But I will always treasure how
Your love for me inspired mine,
Each sharing hopes and dreams and ends.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/goodb2.html. For more graduation poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/graduationpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Graduation
June 22: Goodbye, Dear Friend and Graduate

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Graduating Gradually

June 21, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since many public schools will be having their graduation ceremonies this week, the theme for this week is graduation.

Today’s poem is a graduation poem about graduating from elementary school to middle school and then to high school.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Graduating gradually,
Rising school by school,
As I become what I will be,
Deliberately uncool.
Understanding more and more,
As I continue on,
The calling I’m intended for,
In which I’ll find my home.
Out of learning comes the dream
None but learning can redeem.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/grad14.html. For more graduation poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/graduationpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Graduation
June 21: Graduating Gradually

Goodbye, Adolescence! Hello, Adulthood

June 20, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since many public schools will be having their graduation ceremonies this week, the theme for this week is graduation.

Today’s poem is a graduation poem about graduation as the border of adulthood.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Goodbye, adolescence! Hello, adulthood!
Rest assured, I’m on my merry way!
A boy is crossing over into manhood,
Destined to arrive this very day!
Unveil the future, O Ye Gods of Glory,
And fill me in on what my prospects are!
Take me to the meaning of my story,
In which I hope to be a brilliant star!
One chance is all I get. It’s starting now.
Now let me be all will and fate allow.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/goodb6.html. For more graduation poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/graduationpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Graduation
June 20: Goodbye, Adolescence! Hello, Adulthood!

Monday, June 19, 2017

Here We Have an End and a Beginning

June 19, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since many public schools will be having their graduation ceremonies this week, the theme for this week is graduation.

Today’s poem is a graduation poem about the bittersweet feelings a graduation can evoke.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Here we have an end and a beginning,
A stop-time moment memory will frame,
Placed beside a christening or wedding,
Pieces of a whole one seeks in vain.
Yes, here we have a mind that looks both ways,
Glad to leave and sorry to be leaving,
Recognizing these were precious days,
A joyful liberation laced with grieving.
Does one ever listen to one’s music
Underneath one’s own incessant voice,
A quiet strain, though one ought never lose it,
That moves one to the fortune of one’s choice?
In every moment there’s a melody
One plays to mirror one’s reality,
Needing both to mourn and to rejoice.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/herew4.html. For more graduation poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/graduationpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Graduation
June 19: Here We Have an End and a Beginning

Sunday, June 18, 2017

For You the Symphony Will Never End

June 18, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Father’s Day, which is celebrated today, June 18.

Today’s poem is a Father’s Day poem about the astounding richness of the fabric created by one’s becoming a father.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

For you the symphony will never end,
A trillion voices on a single loom,
Tapestry so rich one can't conceive
How any will could such a wonder weave,
Even as the moments bud and bloom,
Revelations words cannot retrieve,
Senses that no sense can comprehend.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/foryo6.html. For more Father’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fathersdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Father’s Day
June 18: For You the Symphony Will Never End

Friday, June 16, 2017

Hold On to What You Have -- That You're in Love

June 17, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Father’s Day, which falls on June 18.

Today’s poem is a Father’s Day poem for a father dealing with the difficulties of fatherhood.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Hold on to what you know – that you’re in love,
And will be for life, a sentence that’s a joy,
Pleased to have one thing you’re certain of,
Pleased to have one thing time can’t destroy.
Yes, of course, all love must ebb and flow.
Feeling is liquid, moved by winds and tides,
Above, all waves and ripples, while below
The simple, silent, unchanged truth abides.
Have faith in that sweet tie that binds you fast,
Embracing you with elemental need.
Regardless of reverses, it will last,
‘Mid grief and grace the gift of love-sown seed.
So may you cherish well what life has given,
Desiring what you have, though you have striven
Against your own unyielding gods within,
Yearning for a calmer, gentler wind.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/holdon.html. For more Father’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fathersdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Father’s Day
June 17: Hold On to What You Know – That You’re in Love

Father's Day Is Not Meant Just for Fathers

June 16, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Father’s Day, which falls on June 18.

Today’s poem is a Father’s Day poem for an uncle.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Father's Day is not meant just for fathers.
An uncle, too, can claim his just reward.
The child has a need for loving men,
However they may be akin, and when
Each grows into adulthood, has a word
Required to describe a model other,
Singing just the name to hear the chord.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/fath10.html. For more Father’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fathersdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Father’s Day
June 16: Father’s Day Is Not Meant Just for Fathers

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Fathers Vest Themselves in a Relation

June 15, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Father’s Day, which falls on June 18.

Today’s poem is a Father’s Day poem about the pain and beauty of the relation between father and child.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Fathers vest themselves in a relation,
And, as we know, relationships can change.
The hot and cold are often in rotation.
Heartache’s not a place one should find strange.
Each love can be a corridor for pain,
Reopening a door that had been closed.
‘Mid need and fear one loves again, again,
Sacrificing more than one supposed.
Do, then, love not for the joy but for
A gift of self that makes one’s being more,
Yielding grace that none but love sustains.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/fathe9.html. For more Father’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fathersdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Father’s Day
June 15: Fathers Vest Themselves in a Relation

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Forget the Fantasies of Fatherhood

June 14, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Father’s Day, which falls on June 18.

Today’s poem is a Father’s Day poem for a divorced father who does not have custody of his child.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Forget the fantasies of fatherhood
And take a look at what your life has wrought.
The choices you have made, both good and bad,
Have added up to … Well, you can add.
Enduring love will bring what you have sought,
Regardless of the pain the years have brought,
Sustaining what can only end in good.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/forge4.html. For more Father’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fathersdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Father’s Day
June 14: Forget the Fantasies of Fatherhood

Monday, June 12, 2017

Fortune's a Chameleon, Changing Shade

June 13, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Father’s Day, which falls on June 18.

Today’s poem is a Father’s Day poem advising a father to appreciate his good fortune.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Fortune’s a chameleon, changing shade
As one embraces, or does not, one’s fate.
Ties that bind one to an ordered life –
Having children with a loving wife –
Endure, though passions pale and friendships fade.
Remember, then, to hug the life you made,
Singing, singing as you celebrate.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/fortu6.html. For more Father’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fathersdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Father’s Day
June 13: Fortune’s a Chameleon, Changing Shade

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Fathers Are the Giants of Our Lives

June 12, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Father’s Day, which falls on June 18.

Today’s poem is a Father’s Day poem for an expectant father who sees his father as the giant he will soon be.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Fathers are the giants of our lives,
Atlases who once held up our worlds.
They do not shrink as we increase in size,
However handsomely our lives unfurl.
Even when we know them for themselves,
Reducing them to their humanity,
‘Mid myth and memory we are still elves,
Still small beside the giants we still see.
Do, then, both enjoy your coming state
And know you will reprise your father’s fate,
Yearning for the giant you will be.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/fathe8.html. For more Father’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fathersdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Father’s Day
June 12: Fathers Are the Giants of Our Lives

There Is a Love So Certain

June 11, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since June is a popular month for weddings, that is the theme for this week.

Today’s poem is a wedding poem for a couple getting married after a long involuntary separation.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

There is a love so certain
It can underwrite all fears;
A passion so enduring
It abides beneath the years;

A yearning so consuming
It's consumed by its own will
To yearn if need forever
For the one its need might still.

How beautiful the rapture
That sustains those long apart!
The joyful inner union
Of the undivided heart.

How sweet yet sad the music
That conveys such loyalty!
The devastated grace
Of the hope of love to be.

And now the mystic moment
Has arrived, and the reward
For all that time of waiting
Shall be gathered in a word.

And life with utter longing
Shall let down its golden hair
That these long faithful lovers
Find at last their pleasure there.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/loveso.html. For more wedding poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/weddingpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Weddings
June 11: There Is a Love So Certain

Friday, June 9, 2017

To Be a Child at a Parent's Wedding

June 10, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since June is a popular month for weddings, that is the theme for this week.

Today’s poem is a wedding poem from the child of a previous marriage.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

To be a child at a parent's wedding
Is strange, for there's a hint of darkness there.
The past stands just offshore, although we're heading
Inland into cool, fresh mountain air.
The love you two have found is my love also;
Your happiness this day is also mine.
Where your heart leads you, mine will also follow
As more than two lives in this act combine.
So like a sun that burns off morning mist,
Or like a rainbow gracing a blue sky,
Or like the weeping of the newly blessed,
Or like a deep-felt truth that cannot lie,
This moment is far more than we can be,
Joining you to you, and then to me.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/tobeac.html. For more wedding poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/weddingpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Weddings
June 10: To Be a Child at a Parent’s Wedding

They Said We'd Never Make It

June 9, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since June is a popular month for weddings, that is the theme for this week.

Today’s poem is a wedding poem for the renewal of vows.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

They said we'd never make it,
But now we've come this far.
Today we celebrate our love
And honor who we are.

We had a hard beginning,
Adults before our time.
But growing up together made
Our deepest roots entwine.

You are my life, my love, my hope,
My friend, my world, my song,
The mirror of my unseen heart,
The place where I belong.

And as our one life passes,
Through love we live for two:
A cornucopia of joy
That we this day renew.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/theysa.html. For more wedding poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/weddingpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Weddings
June 9: They Said We’d Never Make It

Thursday, June 8, 2017

You Are the Mirror of My Past

June 8, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since June is a popular month for weddings, that is the theme for this week.

Today’s poem is a wedding poem from mother to daughter.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

You are the mirror of my past,
The future of my dreams,
The hope for what in life may last,
The jewel that time redeems.

You are yourself, of course, no less,
But also you are mine,
The light of all my treasured days,
The gift for which I pine.

Long may we this closeness share,
This place where memories play,
And if our friendship needs repair,
May love reveal the way.

And now that you're to be a wife
With loves and passions new,
May you find in your sweet life
The joy I have in you.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/youar6.html. For more wedding poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/weddingpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Weddings
June 8: You Are the Mirror of My Past

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

This Is a Second Marriage for Us Both

June 7, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since June is a popular month for weddings, that is the theme for this week.

Today’s poem is a wedding poem for a second marriage.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

This is a second marriage for us both,
And yet we are the soul mates of our lives.
Sometimes it's a while till love arrives,
Though we may watch it sail along the coast.

Sometimes we fail to understand that pain
Can be a journey to a sunlit shore.
We never know what suffering is for,
Or when we lose, what treasures we might gain.

And so I'm grateful now that I am free
To join my life with yours. I would not change
One moment of my past, or rearrange
The shining chain that brings your love to me.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/2ndmar.html. For more wedding poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/weddingpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Weddings
June 7: This Is a Second Marriage for Us Both

Getting Married Means You'll Have

June 6, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since June is a popular month for weddings, that is the theme for this week.

Today’s poem is a wedding poem from a child’s point of view.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Getting married means you'll have
Someone's hand to hold,
Even when you're feeling sick,
Even when you're old.

It means when you sit down to eat,
Someone will be there,
So you won't have to tell your day
To an empty chair.

It means that you can have some kids
Just like a mom and dad,
And play with them all afternoon,
Except when they are bad.

It means that when you need some help,
Someone will help out,
Someone always near to you
So you won't have to shout.

But best of all is when it's time
To turn out all the lights:
You won't have to be alone
Those long and scary nights.

So even though you don't have toys,
You don't have to care:
Once you're married you can be
Each other's teddy bear!

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/gettin.html. For more wedding poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/weddingpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Weddings
June 6: Getting Married Means You’ll Have

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Childhood Sweethearts Share an Innocence

June 5, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. Since June is a popular month for weddings, that is the theme for this week.

Today’s poem is a wedding poem for childhood sweethearts.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Childhood sweethearts share an innocence
That, if they marry, lasts them all their lives,
An early sacrifice that makes no sense,
Save that something beautiful survives.
There is the sense that angels would do this,
A rightness like a rock before the sea,
A hunger for a symbiotic kiss,
For love as pure as it was meant to be.
And so it is for those who make that choice,
Who dare to love so faithfully and long
That each becomes to each a second voice,
Transforming merest moments into song.
How beautiful first love! Yet better still,
A love for life sustained by wish and will.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/childh.html. For more wedding poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/weddingpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Weddings
June 5: Childhood Sweethearts Share an Innocence

I Miss Your Laughter, Fun, and Gentleness

June 4, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Memorial Day, which was observed on May 29.

Today’s poem is about a mother’s love for her dead child.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

I miss your laughter, fun, and gentleness.
I miss the things I used to do for you.
I miss the time, now filled with emptiness,
When each day was a stage for something new.
I miss your love, though mine for you remains,
A passion with no outlet to the sea,
A teardrop in a desert, that contains
What's left of my maternal ecstasy.
I miss your presence, like a silent chord
That anchored even solitude in grace.
I miss, for my love's labor, the reward
Of seeing some small pleasure in your face.
All these I miss, and yet they are all here
Within my heart, far more than I can bear.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/imiss7.html. For more poems about death, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/deathpoems.html .

This week's theme: Memorial Day
June 4: I Miss Your Laughter, Fun, and Gentleness

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Memories Are All That I Have Left

June 3, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Memorial Day, which was observed on May 29.

Today’s poem is a Memorial Day poem about the inadequacy of memories.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Memories are all that I have left.
Each becomes a well-worn photograph.
Missing is the warmth, the touch, the heft
Of life, the smile, the reassuring laugh.
Real people change, they grow, relate, unfold.
In time we share the adventures of their lives
As they marry, have kids, change jobs, grow old,
Loving us -- their parents, husbands, wives.
Dead people are alive in us, but they
Are not within themselves. No love revives
Your love, which I once cherished day-to-day.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/memor2.html. For more Memorial Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/memorialdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Memorial Day
June 3: Memories Are All That I Have Left

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Maybe There's a Good Excuse for Fighting

June 2, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Memorial Day, which was observed on May 29.

Today’s poem is a Memorial Day poem about the legacy of pain even of righteous wars.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Maybe there's a good excuse for fighting;
Every era has its righteous wars.
Maybe wrongs require bloody righting,
Or self-defense gives warriors just cause.
Remember, though, the legacy of pain,
Intense and passionate, a world of wounds,
Agony unveiled again, again,
Livid in the light of lonely rooms.
Death is a relief, but think of those
Alive with grief, whose loved ones lie in rows,
Youth on youth in neat, well-ordered tombs.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/maybe4.html. For more Memorial Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/memorialdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Memorial Day
June 2: Maybe There’s a Good Excuse for Fighting