Poem of the Week: August 2020

Monday, August 31, 2020

Alexis Is Chock-Full of Hugs and Kisses

August 31, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is women and love.

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

A name poem for an impish woman:

Alexis is chock-full of hugs and kisses.
Light goes through you from her laughing eyes.
Enthusiastic for the lilt of life,
X-raying you again for sheer delight,
Impishly surveying your disguise,
She aims right for the heart, and never misses.

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/alexi2.html. For more name poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/namepoems.html.

This week’s theme: Women and Love
August 31: Alexis Is Chock-Full of Hugs and Kisses

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Fifty-Three Remains an Open Field

August 30, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is psychology.

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

A psychological number poem about a woman who drags her hidden pain out into the healing light:

Fifty-three remains an open field,
Intimate with solitude and sky.
For her the child still lingers in the light,
There being wonder in the wisps of why,
Yielding all of life that life can yield.

There are no memories that must be sealed,
Holding tears too terrible to cry,
Resting places restless in the night.
Each ghost is hung out in the sun to dry,
Each wound recleansed until completely healed.

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/53b.html. For more psychological poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/psychologicalpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Psychology
August 24: To Know Another, One Must Be Insane
August 25: Tonight, There Are No Stars
August 26: Depression Comes with the Territory
August 27: Why Am I the Mirror of Your Heart
August 28: Fearing for My Sanity
August 29: Emptiness Costs a Bit Extra
August 30: Fifty-Three Remains an Open Field

Emptiness Costs a Bit Extra

August 29, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is psychology.

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

A psychological number poem about the need for inner space:

Emptiness costs a bit extra:
In distant horizons there is peace.
Given two windows on a whitewashed world,
How could one not long for the sea?
The soul wings it out to the horizon,
Yet stays contented in a well-ordered room.

Sing to the gauze-covered shallows,
Inlets and coves and the open sea!
Xylophones tingle on porches unseen.

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/empti.html. For more psychological poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/psychologicalpoems.html.

Friday, August 28, 2020

Fearing for My Sanity

August 28, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is psychology.

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

A psychological and philosophical poem about the whys and wherefores of doing as you please:

Fearing for my sanity,
I shed my shirt and tie,
Walked out on my rectitude
And waved myself goodbye.

I did precisely as I pleased,
Said only what was true;
Cared not a whit whom I might hurt
Or what debts might be due;

Chose my orbit on my own
And lived by my own light,
Hurtling through the gravities
That rule the lidless night;

Unknowing in my innocence
The iron laws that be,
And that the more I worked my will,
The less I would be free.

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fearin.html. For more psychological poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/psychologicalpoems.html.

Thursday, August 27, 2020

Why Am I the Mirror of Your Heart

August 27, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is psychology.

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

A psychological poem about the mystery of empathy:

Why am I the mirror of your heart,
Reflecting without depth your deepest pain,
Revisiting your hell again, again,
As though you were a well-wrought work of art?
Why do I vicariously take part
In suffering you barely can sustain,
Witnessing your agony in vain,
Tracing chaos too profound to chart?
Each night obsessively I come to you,
Eager to devour your bitter fruit,
Uneasy through the doldrums of my day.
Watching is, alas, what I can do,
As though my gaze were contribution mute,
Sharing your unease in some small way.

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/whyami.html. For more psychological poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/psychologicalpoems.html.

Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Depression Comes with the Territory

August 26, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is psychology.

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

A psychological poem about a normal dose of depression:

Depression comes with the territory.
Evenings, one savors the fading light.
Perhaps one fears the coming night,
Recoiling from its mystery.
Even so, life still has grace.
Sunlight bursts into the room,
Singing like a thrush in June,
In passionate love with time and place.
One faces illness, pain, and death;
Nor would one leave this house of breath.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/depres.html. For more psychological poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/psychologicalpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Psychology
August 24: To Know Another, One Must Be Insane
August 25: Tonight, There Are No Stars
August 26: Depression Comes with the Territory

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Tonight There Are No Stars

August 25, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is psychology.

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

A psychological number poem about the angst of youth:

Tonight there are no stars. The air seems
Wild with hunger. All night it remains
Evening. Desire seems almost like regret.
Not even ecstasy will calm us. Let
The singers fill the darkness. Our games
Yield only hours. We wait. Time redeems.

To dream's the calling of a youth, yet
Who dares call together all those dreams,
Or touch the ones selected for the flames?

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/tonigh.html. For more psychological poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/psychologicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Psychology
August 24: To Know Another, One Must Be Insane
August 25: Tonight There Are No Stars

Monday, August 24, 2020

To Know Another, One Must Be Insane

August 24, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is psychology.

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

A psychological number poem about how to escape one’s personal black hole:

To know another, one must be insane.
Words whisper songs we've heard a thousand times.
Even silence babbles like the moon.
No light escapes one's personal black hole,
Though in its massive grip all light is bent.
Yet there remains love for these leaves in the wind.

One’s love is like a deep, saltwater pool
No thought will ever bathe in. Come rest with us
Easy in this wordless, selfless sea.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/toknow.html. For more psychological poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/psychologicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Psychology
August 24: To Know Another, One Must Be Insane

Sunday, August 23, 2020

You Live in the World You Choose

August 23, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is free will.

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

A philosophical poem about how one’s choices shape one’s world:

You live in the world you choose.
Each act is a creation.
The evil and the good
Result in just proportion.

The things you see and know,
What you think and feel,
What you are and do --
Your world is by your choice.

Choose love, and you'll be loved.
Choose hate, and you'll be hated.
Everything you choose,
You'll see in others' eyes.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/youliv.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Free Will
August 17: Freedom Isn’t Simply: Do Your Will
August 18: Fortune Is the Child of Will and Chance
August 19: Fortune Comes in Many Shapes and Guises
August 20: Fortune Is a Favor to Be Earned
August 21: Freedom Is Imprisoned in the Flesh
August 22: There Is No Jail for the Soul
August 23: You Live in the World You Choose

Saturday, August 22, 2020

There Is No Jail for the Soul

August 22, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is free will.

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

A philosophical poem about the freedom of the soul:

There is no jail for the soul,
Which everywhere is free.
One might as well secure the sky
Or chain the open sea.

The body may in bondage sit
Or on a golden throne.
It matters little to the soul,
Whose fate is all its own.

The soul is sovereign in the self,
And ever free to choose.
Without, one may be forced to crawl;
Within, one can refuse.

Without, one can be flayed alive,
But none can touch the soul
That willing only what is good
Emerges sane and whole.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/ther21.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

Friday, August 21, 2020

Freedom Is Imprisoned in the Flesh

August 21, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is free will.

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

A philosophical poem about freedom and the courage to listen to one’s inner voice:

Freedom is imprisoned in the flesh,
Restricted in the unrestricted soul.
Each must hearken to the inner voice,
Even when there seems but little choice,
Demanding nothing more than being whole,
Opening each gift of time afresh,
Maintaining through one's courage one's control.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/freedo.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Fortune Is a Favor to Be Earned

August 20, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is free will.

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

A philosophical poem about the hard fact that fortune owes one nothing:

Fortune is a favor to be earned.
One's will is like a wind on weathered stone.
Remnants of one's dreams lie all around,
The leaves that nourish well the fertile ground,
Uniting the imagined with the known.
Neither slave nor free, nor blessed nor spurned,
Each borrows life and must repay the loan.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fortun.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

Wednesday, August 19, 2020

Fortune Comes in Many Shapes and Guises

August 19, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is free will.

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

A philosophical number poem about the oneness of one’s fortune, good and bad:

Fortune comes in many shapes and guises.
It is by choice what one might never choose.
For those who like to limit their surprises,
There's always less to gain and more to lose.
Years bring heartbreak one cannot refuse.

Even so, one's fortune is oneself.
If choice and chance like lovers bring to birth
Good progeny and bad, there is no gulf
Hovering between one's choice and worth.
There is but one ecology, one Earth.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fortu2.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Free Will
August 17: Freedom Isn’t Simply: Do Your Will
August 18: Fortune Is the Child of Will and Chance
August 19: Fortune Comes in Many Shapes and Guises

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Fortune Is the Child of Will and Chance

August 18, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is free will.

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

A philosophical number poem about futility of judging one’s fortune:

Fortune is the child of will and chance.
In seeking cause, one finds a mute regression.
For some, life is an incandescent dance,
Though others tend to look at it askance,
Yearning for what's not in their possession.
Nor can one ever know what might have been.
In judging fortune, there is no reward.
Now is what one has to choose or spin,
Ever of one's will the sovereign lord.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fortu3.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Free Will
August 17: Freedom Isn’t Simply: Do Your Will
August 18: Fortune Is the Child of Will and Chance

Monday, August 17, 2020

Freedom Isn't Simply: Do Your Will

August 17, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is free will.

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

A philosophical number poem about the paradoxical nature of free will:

Freedom isn’t simply: Do your will.
One wills (or not) within some circumstance,
Restricted by (or not) love, longing, chance,
Training, courage, passion, hunger, skill.
Yet one must freely choose, for good or ill.

Nor can one choose with less constraint than plants,
Intentional as cloves, as daffodils.
Nor can one change the steps that one must dance,
Even as one chooses freely still.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/freed6.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Free Will
August 17: Freedom Isn’t Simply: Do Your Will

Sunday, August 16, 2020

May Our Friendship Last Forever

August 16, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is friendship.

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

A friendship poem wishing that a friendship would last forever:

May our friendship last forever;
May I sail upon your sea
. May we go through life together;
May there always be a "we."

May I be your endless sky;
May you breathe my gentle air.
May you never wonder why
Each time you look for me, I'm there.

May we be for each a smile
Like the warm, life-giving sun;
Yet when we're in pain awhile,
May our suffering be one.

May we share our special days,
The happiness of one for two;
And if we must go separate ways,
Let my love remain with you.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/mayour.html. For more poems about friendship, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/friendshippoems.html .

This week’s theme: Friendship
August 10: We’re Never Completely in One Place
August 11: You Have a Smile That Lights the World
August 12: I Would Not Ask You to Forget
August 13: Daryl Rose and Anthony Are Friends
August 14: Your Friendship Is the Sky Above My Home
August 15: Friends Can Share What None Can Have Alone
August 16: May Our Friendship Last Forever

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Friends Can Share What None Can Have Alone

August 15, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is friendship.

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

A number and friendship poem that compares how friends see the world to how lonely people do:

Friends can share what none can have alone.
Old and good friends share an ocean view
Reserved for those whose windows open to
The breezes that from foreign shores have blown,
Yet swiftly through one’s rooms become one’s own.

Though some prefer those tiny slits in stone
Which one might shoot a cross-bow arrow through,
Or peer out of to glimpse the feared unknown.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/frien5.html. For more poems about friendship, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/friendshippoems.html .

Friday, August 14, 2020

Your Friendship Is the Sky Above My Home

August 14, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is friendship.

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

A friendship poem about why we need friends:

Your friendship is the sky above my home,
The crystal air I breathe, through which I see.
I can't believe how much you mean to me.
Without you with me, time would turn to stone.

I don't know why I need you so, or how
I know so absolutely I'll be there
In times your wounded heart can hardly bear.
I only know this truth is with me now.

Why is it in our lives that we need friends
To be awake and fully what we are?
Alone we dream but never cross the bar;
With you I share a grace that never ends.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/yourfr.html. For more poems about friendship, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/friendshippoems.html .

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Daryl Rose and Anthony Are Friends

August 13, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is friendship.

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

A name and friendship poem about a couple that chose friendship over marriage:

Daryl Rose and Anthony are friends.
All their thoughts and feelings are entwined.
Regarding the strong message that this sends:
Yearnings can be shared and not combined.
Lives can go down separate paths, with friends
Reaching separate homes, though intertwined.
One waits upon some fool; the other sends
Such candor as with love can be combined.
Each is bound for other hearts, for friends
Are never quite so desperately entwined,
Needing still the whippoorwill that sends
Them word of greater rapture uncombined.
Heed the happiness of two close friends,
Oak-like in their postures, unentwined,
No doubt who hear the hints the cold wind sends,
Yet choose to love each other uncombined.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/darylr.html. For more poems about friendship, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/friendshippoems.html .

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

I Would Not Ask You to Forget

August 12, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is friendship.

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

A #friendshippoem apologizing to a friend for bad behavior:

I would not ask you to forget
How I've betrayed your trust.
I'm asking, though, that you forgive
Because I feel I must.

I can't just let our friendship go
Nor let this silence last.
I know I can't undo what's done,
But, please, let past be past.

Let my mistake be memory
Where you may keep your pain,
While I annihilate this thing
I'll never do again.

And let us once again renew
A friendship that is real:
Limping, yes, but still alive,
With wounds that time can heal.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/iwoul2.html. For more poems about friendship, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/friendshippoems.html .

This week’s theme: Friendship
August 10: We’re Never Completely in One Place
August 11: You Have a Smile That Lights the World
August 12: I Would Not Ask You to Forget

Monday, August 10, 2020

You Have a Smile That Lights the World

August 11, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is friendship.

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

A friendship poem to a friend whose inner happiness lights the world:

You have a smile that lights the world,
Shining from within,
Breaking out between the clouds
That form the skin of self.

Lucky we, to live nearby
That unpretentious sun,
To share its fire, to feel its love,
To know its warmth so well.

Just as the sun's sweet liquid joy
Is captured in the wine,
So with us your happiness
Is captured in our lives.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/youhav.html. For more poems about friendship, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/friendshippoems.html .

This week’s theme: Friendship
August 10: We’re Never Completely in One Place
August 11: You Have a Smile That Lights the World

Sunday, August 9, 2020

We're Never Completely in One Place

August 10, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is friendship.

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

A friendship poem about remembering friends who are leaving permanently for distant places:

We're never completely in one place. Some part
Of us hangs out on streets we barely remember,
Or converses with faces no longer familiar. Or we start
Lunch in June, and sneak off into December.
Every encounter has a beginning, but never
An ending. Like an exquisite ecosphere,
The mind turns each raindrop into forever,
Nor does it allow one word to disappear.
Some evening, years from now, we'll be driving home,
Talking, I in your car, or you
In mine, driving through rich Iowa loam,
Or flowering Jersey suburbs, or Kalamazoo.
It will not matter, as we speak, whether
Our lives are bitter or sweet. We'll be together.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/wernev.html. For more poems about friendship, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/friendshippoems.html .

This week’s theme: Friendship
August 10: We’re Never Completely in One Place

Saturday, August 8, 2020

I Love You Just as Though You Were My Own

August 9, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is family.

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

A poem to stepchildren about their stepparent’s love:

I love you just as though you were my own,
Though you are not the children of my blood.
Love’s not lodged within one's flesh and bone,
But in one's heart, which goes which way it would.
I married into you, as into wealth,
Or into some bright mansion, just by chance.
You were not why I came, nor what I felt
That made me give my life to this romance.
Yet once we were a family, out of need,
Love came bubbling up from some sweet spring,
Watering the newly planted seed
That it might in the will of sunlight sing.
So may we long remain through love and art:
Stepparent and stepchildren of the heart.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/ilove6.html. For more poems about a variety of family members, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/familypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Family
August 3: We Once Lived in Israel,You and I
August 4: Cousins Are Our Siblings Once Removed
August 5: In-Laws Aren’t Always Good as You Are
August 6: Nieces Are the Children That We Borrow
August 7: To My Grandchild, with Overwhelming Love
August 8: So Close We Have Become in Thirty Years
August 9: I Love You Just as Though You Were My Own

So Close We Have Become in Thirty Years

August 8, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is family.

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

A poem to a sister-in-law about the closeness of their friendship:

So close we have become in thirty years:
Intimate as sisters, thick as friends;
So intermingled in our joys and tears
That each familiar glance a novel sends!
Even sisters sometimes grow apart,
Remembering but dimly days long past.
In us there is a closeness of the heart,
Natural yet loose enough to last.
Life often can with mad indifference cast
A pair together drawn from odds and ends,
While we could not be better matched by art.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/soclos.html. For more poems about a variety of family members, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/familypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Family
August 3: We Once Lived in Israel, You and I
August 4: Cousins Are Our Siblings Once Removed
August 5: In-Laws Aren’t Always Good as You Are
August 6: Nieces Are the Children That We Borrow
August 7: To My Grandchild, with Overwhelming Love
August 8: So Close We Have Become in Thirty Years

Thursday, August 6, 2020

To My Grandchild, with Overwhelming Love

August 7, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is family.

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

A poem to a grandchild full of wishes for his or her future:

To my grandchild, with overwhelming love:
On you may fortune smile with ample blessings.
May your happiness persistent prove.
Yet may you, in your angry inner wrestlings,
Grant others the compassion you'd be given,
Restoring not their sunlight, but your own.
All your life may what you do be driven
Not by others' ends, but yours alone.
Days of awe and wonder may you cherish,
Clarity and mystery the same:
Hymns antiphonal that never perish,
Imitating truths you cannot name.
Let love of life make your life ever new,
Deep and rich as is my love for you.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/tomygr.html. For more poems about a variety of family members, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/familypoems.html .

Nieces Are the Children That We Borrow

August 6, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is family.

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

A poem about relationships with nieces:

Nieces are the children that we borrow,

Intending not to raise but merely love,

Ever watchful from our open window,

Caring deeply at a slight remove.

Everywhere you go, my love will follow,

Still part of you wherever you may live.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/nieces.html. For more poems about a variety of family members, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/familypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Family

August 3: We Once Lived in Israel,You and I

August 4: Cousins Are Our Siblings Once Removed

August 5: In-Laws Aren’t Always Good as You Are

August 6: Nieces Are the Children That We Borrow

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

In-Laws Aren't Always Good as You Are

August 5, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is family.

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

A poem thanking in-laws for their love:

In-laws aren't always good as you are.

They're dragged along, the unasked friends of love,

Just outside the universe that two are,

Unsure of where to stay or when to move.

But you have treated me as if your own;

Quietly, you took your rightful place

As parents of us both, and we have known

The pleasure of a mutual embrace.

Our relationship is like an unplanned child:

The fruit of choices made for other ends.

Yet once the strange, unwanted one has smiled,

Love quickly rushes in to make amends.

Unchosen, you are nonetheless my choice.

So may we have a retroactive voice.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/inlaws.html. For more poems about a variety of family members, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/familypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Family

August 3: We Once Lived in Israel,You and I

August 4: Cousins Are Our Siblings Once Removed

August 5: In-Laws Aren’t Always Good as You Are

Cousins Are Our Siblings Once Removed

August 4, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is family.

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

A poem about the beauty of relationships with cousins:

Cousins are our siblings once removed,

Our relatives without the complications.

Unsatisfying as some friends may prove,

Sweet cousins are the purest of relations.

In cousins there's a friendship of the blood.

No friends can share such deeply shared sensations,

So long-lasting, honest, rich, and good.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/cousin.html. For more poems about a variety of family members, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/familypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Family

August 3: We Once Lived in Israel,You and I

August 4: Cousins Are Our Siblings Once Removed

Monday, August 3, 2020

We Once Lived in Israel, You and I

August 3, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is family.

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

A poem to a grandchild about shared ancestors and descendants:

We once lived in Israel, you and I,

And prayed within the precincts of the temple,

Spoke the holy language every day,

And tilled the soil of the holy land.

We both went into exile, you and I,

Two thousand years of living among strangers,

Came to America, grew up in Brooklyn,

And settled in this gracious golden land.

We share our lives with those before and after.

Our sojourn here is brief, but not alone.

Love and memory bind us together,

Traveling through time from home to home.

I cannot wait to see who you will be

And where your life will take you. I’ll be there,

With you in the sunshine of your morning

And in the sweet air of your starlit night.

And then, where will we go, you and I?

What fields that roll like waves towards distant mountains

Will we cross over with our generations,

Together in a world we’ll never know?

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/weonce.html. For more poems about a variety of family members, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/familypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Family

August 3: We Once Lived in Israel, You and I

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Blessed Are Those Whose Joy Is to Give Joy

August 2, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is service, in honor of Eid al-Adha, the Islamic Festival of Sacrifice, which this year is celebrated on July 31.

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

A psychological poem about the motives of those who would serve others:

Blessed are those whose joy is to give joy,

Who would find pleasure in assuaging pain,

Whose love of life would cloud-bound spirits buoy

And be the gold that would base thoughts alloy,

The music that would silent souls sustain.

Blessed are those whose joy is to give joy,

Who would, in times of need, their hours employ

In cheerful labor for another’s gain,

Whose love of life would cloud-bound spirits buoy

And hearty sun black thunderheads destroy,

Giving flooded fields relief from rain.

Blessed are those whose joy is to give joy.

Yet some would denigrate such souls with coy

Hints of poor self-image and self-blame,

Saying they would cloud-bound spirits buoy

To buy their love. Such goodness is a ploy

To garner the self-love they seek in vain.

But can’t you feel the joy in giving joy

And bless the love of life that spirits buoy?

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/bless9.html. For more psychological poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/psychologicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Service

July 27: Let There Be Joy, Always Joy in Giving

July 28: Alain Is an Absolute Delight

July 29: Nine-Year-Olds Have Dreams That Dance and Sing

July 30: Thirty-Nine Is Often Full of Wonder

July 31: Each of Us Must Sacrifice Our Selves

August 1: For You There Is No Greater Good than Beauty

August 2: Blessed Are Those Whose Joy Is to Give Joy

Saturday, August 1, 2020

For You There Is No Greater Good than Beauty

August 1, 2020

Dear Subscriber:

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

A number poem for a director who has devoted his life to the creation of redemptive beauty:

For you there is no greater good than beauty,

In which you have invested your whole life,

Finding in your ecstasy your duty,

The daily grind for an ethereal booty,

Yielding grace for grit and joy for strife.

For you know well the wisdom of your longing,

Into which you pour your hopes and dreams,

Vested in the most profound belonging,

Each breath of which some sacred soul redeems.

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/fory13.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Service

July 27: Let There Be Joy, Always Joy in Giving

July 28: Alain Is an Absolute Delight

July 29: Nine-Year-Olds Have Dreams That Dance and Sing

July 30: Thirty-Nine Is Often Full of Wonder

July 31: Each of Us Must Sacrifice Our Selves

August 1: For You There Is No Greater Good than Beauty