Poem of the Week

4/12: Forty-Nine Is on the Edge of Fifty

4/13: Fractures Rarely Heal Right on Their Own

4/14: As Though I Were Just Flowing, Flowing

Friday, April 12, 2019

Fractures Rarely Heal Right on Their Own

April 13, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A number poem about the healing both of fractured bones and fractured feelings:

Fractures rarely heal right on their own.

One must set them with great care and skill.

Remember that the healing power of bone

Takes over once the site is left alone,

Yielding to some autonomic will.

Feelings fracture on a bed of stone.

One sets them and they heal – just like bone,

Uniting heart to heart as fractures fill,

Restored to happiness by that same will.

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/fractu.html. For more poems about health, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/healthpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Health

4/12: Forty-Nine Is on the Edge of Fifty

4/13: Fractures Rarely Heal Right on Their Own

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Forty-Nine Is on the Edge of Fifty

April 12, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A number poem about handling the aging process:

Forty-nine is on the edge of fifty,

Offering a glimpse of flinty age.

Reason says, of course, he's in his forties,

Too youthful – and too young – to turn the page.

Yet life must amble on from stage to stage.

Now his spirit seems quite hale and hearty --

Infinite, in fact, though it engage

No less in time than his well-tended body,

Each requiring care, sustained and sage.

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/49d.html. For more number poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/numberpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Health

4/12: Forty-Nine Is on the Edge of Fifty

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Grace Comes with a Patina of Pain

April 11, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A get-well-soon poem about the inevitability of pain:

Grace comes with a patina of pain.

Each creature must endure what it desires.

There are days one would not wish again,

When all one is, is wish till pain expires.

Expire it does in time, and will for you,

Lest it seem as though time will not run,

Lounging by the bed though dawn is due,

Sensing savagely you want it gone.

Oh, yes, we know that this is life, and we

Owe life both pain and joy. The will to be

Needs sometimes to rest till pain is done.

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/grace2.html. For more poems about health, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/healthpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Health

When Life Becomes a Sea of Pain

April 10, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A poem about both the isolation and need for companionship of someone in pain:

When life becomes a sea of pain

And every moment agony

I must endure again, again,

It is a curse to have to be.

And every moment agony,

And every longing fixed on death;

It is a curse to have to be

And fight by instinct for each breath.

And every longing fixed on death

Even as I must go on

And fight by instinct for each breath,

Sailing thus, though loved, alone.

Even as I must go on,

You watch me helpless from the shore;

Sailing thus, though loved, alone,

I need you with me all the more.

You watch me helpless from the shore

As I endure again, again;

I need you with me all the more

When life becomes a sea of pain.

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/whenli.html. For more poems about health, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/healthpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Health

Monday, April 8, 2019

Thirty-Eight Is Running for Her Life

April 9, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A number poem about running for one’s health:

Thirty-eight is running for her life.

Health, of course, is her concern, not fear.

It seems that humankind was born to run,

Regardless whether after game or from,

There being early on just axe and spear.

Yet even now, a daily run feels right.

Evolved to use our bodies, we must fight

Illnesses whose provenance is clear,

Grappling with the damage we have done,

Healing ourselves by running, running where

The labor of our longing greets the light.

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/38i.html. For more poems about health, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/healthpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Health

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Give Your Pain a Bit of Gratitude

April 8, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A get-well-soon poem about enduring pain:

Give your pain a bit of gratitude.

Endure it with due deference to its cause.

The healing instruments could not intrude

Without obeying certain natural laws.

Each moment is a step towards getting well,

Light shining past the doorway of your pain.

Let time take you gently through this hell,

Sure that time will heal what wounds remain.

One lives in hope yet suffers in despair,

Often bearing more than one can bear,

Needing time to savor time again.

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/givey2.html. For more poems about health, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/healthpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Health

Even When the Sky Is Stone

April 7, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A philosophical poem about the role of imagination in perception:

Even when the sky is stone

The earth is free to sing;

The best potatoes know the songs

That season every spring.

Even when the wall is dry

The paint is not asleep;

Some foul-mouthed cuckoo keeps it up

With jokes that make us weep.

Even when the frog is free

It may not know the dance;

What good is it to have the right

And leave the choice to chance?

Even when the water's clear

Things aren't what they seem;

To understand the simplest words

There is a need to dream.

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/skysto.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Truth

4/5: Beverly

4/6: Each Moment Is a Word of Glass

4/7: Even When the Sky Is Stone

Saturday, April 6, 2019

Each Moment Is a Word of Glass

April 6, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A philosophical poem about words and the perception of reality:

Each moment is a word of glass;

Each life, within a bubble sealed.

No pleasure save what one has said,

No love save self in glass concealed.

How shall we gaze like fiery stars

Upon this gallery of breath?

One says only what one is;

There is no rostrum beyond death.

Speak, then, of dancing particles

Within the curvature of eyes,

And with equations sow the seeds

Upon which data crystallize;

While in the forests lovers gleam

Like whispers on a moonlit stream.

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/wordgl.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Truth

4/5: Beverly

4/6: Each Moment Is a Word of Glass

Friday, April 5, 2019

Beverly

April 5, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A philosophical name poem about language and perception:

Beverly enjoys a conversation.

Even when alone, she chatters on

Vivaciously, convivial as a bird,

Eager in pursuit of some bright word.

Reality to her is a relation:

Language is the sculptor of sensation

Yielding to the wisdom of the stone.

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/bev.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Truth

4/5: Beverly

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

A Double-Blind Study Is Truly Doubly Blind

April 4, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A philosophical poem about the limitations of double-blind studies:

A double-blind study is truly doubly blind:

First, because it thinks it's in control;

Second, because it's in too much control,

Masking viscera with the face of mind.

Being's neither linear nor lined;

Cause and effect are interactive; the whole

Disintegrates divided into parts; the goal

Must be with more humility defined.

One sees by flashlight; variables unknown

Cannot be controlled; nothing is

Isolable; each moment is unique.

Yes, statistics help, but they are prone

To hide what might be missing. Scientists quiz

The world and get the answers that they seek.

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/adoubl.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Truth

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

What You Think You Know, You Don't

April 3, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A philosophical poem about the need for skepticism, especially when dealing with the truth about oneself:

What you think you know, you don't,

And what you don't, you do,

If you know that you don't know

What you think is true.

From inside out, you're pretty sure

That you are who you are.

But then, from outside in, some comment

Leaves a door ajar.

You cannot help but take a peek

At what your life has been

To someone else, a person whom

You now can glimpse within.

And there you are a stranger to

Yourself, for what you see

Is nothing like the person who

You thought that you would be.

So who are you? What's the truth

Of you? You'll never know.

For there is simply nothing, nothing,

Nothing simply so.

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/whatyo.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Truth

The Truth Is Far Too Truthful

April 2, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A philosophical poem about the need to handle truth with care:

The truth is far too truthful for

The literalness of light.

Best to serve it tastefully

On little pools of night.

Secrets are as natural

As shadows in the sun.

Those who would tell all ought tell

A priest, a god, a stone.

There are parts of everyone

That no one wants to share.

Truth is good, but only when

It's detoxed with great care.

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/thetru.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Truth

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Facts Are Less Reliable than Dreams

April 1, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week, ironically for April Fool’s Day, is truth.

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

A philosophical number poem about facts, dreams, and truths:

Facts are less reliable than dreams,

On which one’s future happiness depends.

Unless the moon of one’s ambitions gleams,

Reason will homogenize one’s ends.

There is no fact that goes beyond the fact,

Embracing all the bliss of what might be.

Each dream creates a truth the truth may lack,

Now sailing with the wind far out to 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/facts2.html. For more philosophical poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Truth

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Become the Person That You Want to Be

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is children’s birthdays.

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

A Bat-Mitzvah poem for a girl’s first Torah reading about the choice of faith:

Become the person that you want to be,

Always faithful to your better self,

The one you must be honest with, or else*

Miss the grace of inner unity.

If you don’t have faith, then that’s your truth,

Though you don’t need faith to be a Jew.

Zealous faith and prayer may not be you.

Values, symbols, memories need no proof.

A Jew is both by birthright and by choice.

Here’s the song – now lend it, or not, your voice.

*For a Bar-Mitzvah poem for a boy: … self./Remember to confide in it or else

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/become.html. For more poems about Judaism, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/jewishpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Children’s Birthdays

3/25: Brenda Is Four

3/26: You’re Five

3/29: Eight Years Old! A Happy Time

3/30: Eleven Is the Very Best Age to Be

3/31: Become the Person That You Want to Be

Friday, March 29, 2019

Eleven Is the Very Best Age to Be

March 30, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is children’s birthdays.

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

An eleventh birthday poem saying that each age is the best age equally:

Eleven is the very best age to be!

Like ten and twelve, thirteen, eight, and seven.

Each age is the best age equally.

Very strange, but true. And so eleven

Enters your life as the best age ever for you.

Now’s always best. Don’t you think so, too?

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/11isth.html. For more birthday poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/birthdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Children’s Birthdays

3/25: Brenda Is Four

3/26: You’re Five

3/29: Eight Years Old! A Happy Time

3/30: Eleven Is the Very Best Age to Be

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Eight Years Old! A Happy Time

March 29, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is children’s birthdays.

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

An eighth birthday poem saying that eight is just the right age for an eight year old:

Eight years old! A happy time!

Is it just right for you?

Good! Because you aren’t nine!

Happiness comes to

Those who love what’s true.

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/8year2.html. For more birthday poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/birthdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Children’s Birthdays

3/25: Brenda Is Four

3/26: You’re Five

3/29: Eight Years Old! A Happy Time

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

You're Seven Years Old

March 28, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is children’s birthdays.

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

A seventh birthday poem about the birthday child as the star of the day:

You're seven years old! Hooray! Hooray!

Now isn't this your lucky day?

You'll get a cake, and presents, too,

And all this hoopla, just for you!

Now aren't you special? Aren't you great?

The person that we celebrate?

Oh, yes! Oh yes! You are! You are!

On your birthday, you're the star!

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/youre7.html. For more birthday poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/birthdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Children’s Birthdays

3/25: Brenda Is Four

3/26: You’re Five

Six Years Old? How Can That Be

March 27, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is children’s birthdays.

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

A sixth birthday poem about how swiftly time goes by:

Six years old? How can that be?

Just weeks ago, you were three!

I remember! Yes, I do!

Just months ago, you were two!

Oh, my! Oh, my! The time goes by!

And now you're six? Please tell me, why?

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/6years.html. For more birthday poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/birthdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Children’s Birthdays

3/25: Brenda Is Four

3/26: You’re Five

Monday, March 25, 2019

You're Five

March 26, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is children’s birthdays.

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

A fifth birthday poem about how long the child has been alive:

You're five! You're five!

So long alive!

So many years

You've had your ears!

And had your nose!

And had your toes!

So Happy Birthday, little one!

We hope you have a lot of fun!

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/yourfi.html. For more birthday poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/birthdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Children’s Birthdays

3/25: Brenda Is Four

3/26: You’re Five

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Brenda Is Four

March 25, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is children’s birthdays.

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

A fourth birthday poem about how fast a child grows:

Brenda is four!

Soon she'll grow more.

Soon she won't fit

Through the front door!

Soon she'll be bigger

Than you ever saw --

Too big for the house!

Too big for the floor!

Ouch! Brenda cried

As she fell through the floor.

And what do you know?

Soon she'll grow more!

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/brenda.html. For more birthday poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/birthdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Children’s Birthdays

3/25: Brenda Is Four

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Joy Is Not a Treasure You Can Lose

March 24, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

An epitaph for a musician:

Joy is not a treasure you can lose.

Unless you will not, you will be consoled.

Linger with me long as you may choose.

In music as in life no joy is cold.

Undo, then, the tight corset of your grief

So that you might enjoy the moment's keening.

Give ear to music, eloquent though brief,

Restoring to the miracle its meaning.

Of all we think and feel and say and do,

So little, really, must be bound by time.

Still palpable, I'm here with all of you,

Musical as ever in this rhyme.

All I was, I am, and yet will be,

No less in love, although in memory.

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/joyisn.html. For more epitaphs, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/epitaphs.html .

This week’s theme: Epitaphs

3/22: All of You Must Know How Much I Loved You

3/23: Do Believe I’ll Never Leave You

3/24: Joy Is Not a Treasure You Can Lose

Friday, March 22, 2019

Do Believe I'll Never Leave You

March 23, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

An epitaph from a father, addressed to his children:

Do believe I'll never leave you:

Always I'll be in your heart.

Don't forget my soul is near you:

Death might take my presence from you,

Yet we'll never be apart.

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/daddy.html. For more epitaphs, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/epitaphs.html .

This week’s theme: Epitaphs

3/22: All of You Must Know How Much I Loved You

3/23: Do Believe I’ll Never Leave You

Thursday, March 21, 2019

All of You Must Know How Much I Loved You

March 22, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

An epitaph for a mother, addressed to her children:

All of you must know how much I loved you.

Never did I stint on saying so.

In death you were the song that let me go

To sleep in beauty, dancing as I sang you.

And though I'm gone, don't think that I'll forget you.

Just think of me as waiting, even though,

Agnostic or believer, you may know

No certainty beyond what love can tell you.

Each of you still lives within my heart.

Though I am not, I am. So is the truth

Opposed to sense, more relevant than thought.

What is, is often what could never be.

Nor need you grieve, though we may seem apart.

Sing with me, as we look back with ruth,

Each the source of what sweet balm we sought,

No mother and children more in touch than we,

Deep within life's unsolved mystery.

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/allofy.html. For more epitaphs, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/epitaphs.html .

This week’s theme: Epitaphs

3/22: All of You Must Know How Much I Loved You

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Clarity Is Something That I Savored

March 21, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

An epitaph for a woman who devoted her life to social change:

Clarity is something that I savored,

Lending reason to a worthy cause.

An uncommitted life is not worth living,

Relinquishing the claims for the rewards,

Embracing the illusions of the favored.

Remember me as one who never wavered,

Obeying stubbornly the highest laws,

Defending what had little chance of winning,

Not caring for the consequence, or giving

Even one brief glance at waiting jaws,

Yet loving well the world for which I labored.

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/clarity.html. For more epitaphs, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/epitaphs.html .

This week’s theme: Epitaphs

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Unlike Some, to Me Death Was a Gift

March 20, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

An epitaph for someone for whom death was a release from pain:

Unlike some, to me death was a gift:

No longer to live pointlessly in pain.

Choosing death, I might have on my own

Let loose the darkness gathered in my heart,

Except that luck has seen the matter through.

How simple, then, to let one's fortunes drift

Away from one, nor care for loss or gain.

Remember me as one who, not alone,

Relinquished well my moorings, to depart

Yet not without a backward glance towards 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/unlike.html. For more epitaphs, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/epitaphs.html .

This week’s theme: Epitaphs

Monday, March 18, 2019

Reason Is a Calling of the Heart

March 19, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

An epitaph for a university professor devoted to reason:

Reason is a calling of the heart.

One rarely reasons deeply but for love.

Best thought is passionate, a well-wrought art

Endeavoring to free as much as prove.

Remember me, then, for the many loves

That with reason I once sought to serve,

And the people that my spirit moved,

Returning far more joy than I deserved.

Eventually, all one gives one gains.

Years and people pass; the love remains.

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/reaso4.html. For more epitaphs, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/epitaphs.html .

This week’s theme: Epitaphs

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Bulldogs Don't Let Go of What They've Got

March 18, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

An epitaph for a construction worker:

Bulldogs don’t let go of what they’ve got.

Enduring love requires tenacity,

Requires strength and dogged loyalty.

No bulldog latches on to what is not.

All I asked of life was what I had.

Reality was rhapsody enough.

Days of tense, hard labor might be tough;

Well worth it to come home and be called Dad.

“Accept” bears no resemblance to “submit.”

Yielding is no match for an embrace.

Maybe life is hard, but one can place

A chair outside the door and simply sit,

Not needing more to be consumed by grace.

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/bulldo.html. For more epitaphs, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/epitaphs.html .

This week’s theme: Epitaphs

So Shall the Singer Serve the Song

March 17, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is St. Patrick’s Day.

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

A St. Patrick’s Day poem about service:

So shall the singer serve the song;

The speaker, the sense; the self, the soul.

Praised be the part that serves the whole,

And the lover, the love that is loyal and long!

To serve is a gift that not all enjoy,

Recounting with relish the lust one might lose,

Imagining pleasures one would not refuse,

Craving a grace that would one’s grace destroy,

Knowing a truth one is too vain to choose.

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/sosha3.html. For more St. Patrick’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/stpatricksdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: St. Patrick’s Day

3/15: St. Patrick’s Day Commemorates the Turning

3/16: So How Long Should England Pay for What It Did

3/17: So Shall the Singer Serve the Song

Saturday, March 16, 2019

So How Long Should England Pay for What It Did

March 16, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is St. Patrick’s Day.

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

A St. Patrick’s Day poem about crime and reconciliation:

So how long should England pay for what it did

To Ireland? Or India? Or Kenya?

Perhaps justice would require a famine,

A few million dead, its stolen wealth

Taken back by those from whom it came.

Remember well the crimes, and on the grid

In history’s ledgers enter in full the terror.

Choose truth and reconciliation, else,

Kind for kind, there is no end to pain.

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/sohowl.html. For more St. Patrick’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/stpatricksdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: St. Patrick’s Day

3/15: St. Patrick’s Day Commemorates the Turning

3/16: So How Long Should England Pay for What It Did

Thursday, March 14, 2019

St. Patrick's Day Celebrates the Turning

March 15, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is St. Patrick’s Day.

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

A St. Patrick’s Day poem about the importance of historical events to all:

St. Patrick's Day commemorates the turning

To Christianity of Irish clans.

Perhaps, if you're not Irish, there's no burning

Ache to march, so you've got other plans.

The day, however, marks a special moment

Regarding the persuasion of us all.

Islands are not islands of the spirit;

Callings come to more than hear the call.

Know that we are one, and Irish monks

'Ere we were born redeemed us with their prayers,

Sang our chants and gave our gracious thanks,

Died our deaths and climbed our golden stairs.

All changed for all after Patrick's day;

Years turn, and yet their winds within us play.

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/stpat2.html. For more St. Patrick’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/stpatricksdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: St. Patrick’s Day

3/15: St. Patrick’s Day Commemorates the Turning

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

St. Patrick Rid the Emerald Isle of Snakes

March 14, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is St. Patrick’s Day.

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

A St. Patrick’s Day poem about both inner and outer saints and inner and outer snakes:

St. Patrick rid the emerald isle of snakes,

Though only those that crawl upon the ground.

Perhaps not even he had what it takes,

Although a puissant saint, and well renowned,

To cast out those whose children still abound.

Remaining in our hearts, as when of old

In Eden green they tempted us to sin,

Cold and lean they grow more passing bold,

Knowing we've cast out the saint within.

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/stpatr.html. For more St. Patrick’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/stpatricksdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: St. Patrick’s Day

Sinners All, We Ask for Your Forgiveness

March 13, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is St. Patrick’s Day.

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

A St. Patrick’s Day poem about the ubiquity of God’s love:

Sinners all, we ask for Your forgiveness

As we await the hour of Your return.

If only grace were something one could earn!

Nor can we hope to imitate Your goodness.

The saints know well the hopelessness of being

Put upon the pedestal of faith

As though we had already gained Your grace.

The heart is naked to Your restless seeking.

Regard us all, then, equally with love:

In saints and vicious pederasts find lovers,

Cherishing not one above the others,

Knowing none has anything to prove.

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/sinner.html. For more St. Patrick’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/stpatricksdaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: St. Patrick’s Day