Poem of the Week

April 14: Perhaps Christ Rose from the Dead; Perhaps HeDidn’t

April 15: Praised Be Those Who Marry Out of Love

April 16: God, if There Is One, Looks Down upon the World

Friday, April 14, 2017

Praised Be Those Who Marry Out of Love

April 15, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is a Passover poem for a non-Jewish spouse.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Praised be those who marry out of love

And care not about class or faith or race.

Such marriages may problematic prove.

Still, the grit is sweetened by the grace.

One lives with what one chooses, by and by,

Vividly becoming what one chose,

Embracing more at first than meets the eye,

Redeemed by love, as every lover knows.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/prais6.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

April 14: Perhaps Christ Rose from the Dead; Perhaps HeDidn’t

April 15: Praised Be Those Who Marry Out of Love

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Perhaps Christ Rose from the Dead; Perhaps He Didn't

April 14, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is a Passover and Easter poem about the need for doubt.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Perhaps Christ rose from the dead; perhaps He didn’t.

And Moses may, or not, have split the sea.

So must faith supply what reason doesn’t,

Singing of how better life could be.

Ought one, can one pick and choose one’s truth,

Vested heavily in being right,

Even tailoring measurements to suit

Revelations seen in ambient light?

Even as one seals one’s certainties,

A bit of doubt should slip into the soul,

Sent to complicate one’s harmonies

That one might hear the richness of the whole.

Each truth’s a light that ought not make one blind:

Radiant, yes, but gentle, shy, and kind.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/perha9.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

April 14: Perhaps Christ Rose from the Dead; Perhaps He Didn’t

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Easter and Passover Go Together

April 13, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is for a child of a mixed Christian/Jewish marriage about the relationship between Easter and Passover.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Easter and Passover go together

Like peas in a pod or birds of a feather.

The Last Supper was an orthodox Seder

(But without the four questions – they came later)

With matzah, not bread, since Jesus kept kosher,

And the story of how we left Egypt with Moshe,

And baruchas and songs and prayers like those you

Now sing as part of being a Jew.

So celebrate both holidays, if you like,

Since both are bright rays of one beautiful light.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/easte3.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Every Religion Has Blood on Its Hands

April 12, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is a poem for both Easter and Passover about what all religions have in common and what they should do about it.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Every religion has blood on its hands

As hatred and greed, dressed in righteous commands,

Sanctify purely demotic demands

To rape, loot, and plunder less virtuous lands.

Every religion has love at its heart,

Radiant love in its wisdom and art,

Permanent love, of the whole for each part,

A grace none can grasp nor theology chart.

So might all faiths sing a common refrain,

Singing together in the much-abused name

Of divinity, singing of blessing and blame,

Verses quite different, the chorus the same.

Every religion should know that its truth

Relies on its goodness and beauty for proof.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/everyr.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

Monday, April 10, 2017

Easter and Pesach, Eternally Linked

April 11, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is a poem for Easter about the link between Easter and Pesach, or Passover.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Easter and Pesach, eternally linked,

Although, year to year, erratically synced.

So might both Christians and Jews celebrate

The bond that unites two long-feuding faiths,

Embracing as family, as all cousins should,

Religions that separately serve the same good.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/easte2.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

Religions Live in a Crowded Neighborhood

April 10, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is about how, in an increasingly crowded world, there is an increased need for tolerance and love.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Religions live in a crowded neighborhood

Called Earth. Time for tolerance and love.

Time to see in each the common good.

Time also to see the uncommon good, the wealth of

Differences that make one’s neighborly chats

A voyage to the harbors of the heart.

The world of faith is like a museum that’s

Full of rich and unfamiliar art.

Time to see it all, to stroll through rooms

Full of treasures else left unseen.

Like rare languages, exotic blooms,

White rhinos, pandas, aye-aye, like green

Islands in the arms of urban sprawl,

Each faith sustains the spirit of us all.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/relig2.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

Sunday, April 9, 2017

There Is Beauty at the Heart of Business

April 9, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

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

Today’s poem is a number poem for someone who is starting a business.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

There is beauty at the heart of business

Having to do with the good that comes from goods.

Investing in high hopes yields rich returns,

Resulting in far more than what is earned –

Treasures, tastes, traditions, livelihoods,

Years of pride, of fruitful busyness.

Each business is a long-held dream come true,

In which the risk and labor join to make

Goods that only love would undertake,

Having at conception something new

That could have come from no one else but you.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/ther40.html. For more poems about professions, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Professions

April 5: Tiffany

April 7: Forty-One

April 8: Fifty-Six

April 9: There Is Beauty at the Heart of Business

Friday, April 7, 2017

Fifty-Six3

April 8, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

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

Today’s poem is a number poem for an actress who knows what it costs to be dedicated to beauty.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Fifty-six has walked the road less traveled,

Intent more on the view than on the end.

For her success is measured in the moment –

To render beauty few can comprehend,

Yet absent which the heart becomes unraveled.

She knows too well what spirit she must spend

In making painted paths seem steep or graveled,

Xeroxes like scrims, alive, transparent.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/56c.html. For more poems about professions, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Professions

April 5: Tiffany

April 7: Forty-One

April 8: Fifty-Six

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Forty-One5

April 7, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

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

Today’s poem is a number poem for a hand surgeon who enjoys the gift of her unusual ability.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Forty-one does well what few can do –

Operate on mangled wrists and hands,

Restoring them to functionality.

That such a gift is rare she understands,

Yet home and office sometimes block her view.

Often, though, amid the day’s demands,

Not really thinking what she knows is true,

Engrossed in work, she’s pleased as she can be.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/41e.html. For more poems about professions, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Professions

April 5: Tiffany

April 7: Forty-One

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Farmers Ought Not Cut Against the Grain

April 6, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

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

Today’s poem is a number poem with advice for farmers.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Farmers ought not cut against the grain

Or take from nature more than it would give.

Reason often goes in a straight line

That would, if curved, require extra time,

Yet would not cause the ecosphere such pain.

To farm is to be patient and to live

With the earth, pursuing mutual gain,

Obeying the commands of sun and rain.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/farmer.html. For more poems about professions, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Professions

April 5: Tiffany

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Tiffany2

April 5, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

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

Today’s poem is a name poem for a woman who wants to be a nurse.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Tiffany intends to be a nurse,

Imagining a lifetime of good deeds.

Finding her best pleasure in relation,

For her, service is the best vocation,

As grace seeks those who tend to others' needs,

Not looking to their losses reimburse,

Yet filling them with love that kindness feeds.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/tiffa2.html. For more poems about professions, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Professions

April 5: Tiffany

Monday, April 3, 2017

Rich Vein of Funky Wisdom, Soulful Art

April 4, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

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

Today’s poem is a name poem for a jazz historian.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Rich vein of funky wisdom, soulful art;

Opulent harmonies in sync with pain;

Bebop rushing madly to the brain;

Elegant tears enveloping the heart:

Rich veins require miners to reveal

The gold that else would be encased in rock;

Gold beneath the gilded grace of pop;

Ore turned into lore, the past made real;

Lingo lit with love and well displayed;

Dug up and cast in meaning that won’t fade.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/richve.html. For more poems about professions, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Professions

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Those Who Can Help Those Who Need It Most

April 3, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

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

Today’s poem is a number poem to a therapist about balancing the desire to serve others with the need to serve oneself.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Those who can help those who need it most,

Having both the expertise and heart,

Intending both to profit and to give,

Retaining self enough amply to live,

Tough enough to play a tender part,

Yet understand the perils of the post.

One is in this life neither guest nor host,

Nor is one's empathy imperative.

Each must give with love and care and art.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/those2.html. For more poems about professions, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Professions