Poem of the Week

9/4: Life for Most of Us Has Not Improved

9/5: For You, Who Do Such Good, There Should Be Joy

9/6: Just Think About Desire and Circumstance

Thursday, September 5, 2019

For You, Who Do Such Good, There Should Be Joy

September 5, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is work in honor of Labor Day, which was celebrated on September 2.

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

A number poem for a surgeon, wishing her joy commensurate with the good she does:

For you, who do such good, there should be joy.

Only joy, pure joy, should fill your heart.

Rendered rightly, all your days should dance,

Taking pleasure in your well-honed art,

Yielding grace that should your spirits buoy.

For you, who spend your days in love’s employ,

In healing those in pain through age or chance,

Vested in your unforgiving part,

Each longing should find all the joy life grants.

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/foryo9.html. For more poems about professions, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Work

9/4: Life for Most of Us Has Not Improved

9/5: For You, Who Do Such Good, There Should Be Joy

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Life for Most of Us Has Not Improved

September 4, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is work in honor of Labor Day, which was celebrated on September 2.

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

A Labor Day poem about the suffering of billions of people and what might be done about it:

Life for most of us has not improved.

A few billion live in agony.

Beasts live better, and are far more free.

Of course, the rest of us are deeply moved.

Remember, then, though business may be brisk,

Decency demands we buy and sell

At prices that reward the labor well,

Yet yield returns that justify the risk.

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/lifefo.html. For more Labor Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/labordaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Work

9/4: Life for Most of Us Has Not Improved

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Let Unions Bear Some Blame for Their Demise

September 3, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is work in honor of Labor Day, which was celebrated yesterday, September 2.

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

A Labor Day poem about how corruption in unions helped weaken them:

Let unions bear some blame for their demise.

All were not corrupt, but far too many

Blessed the criminals and kissed their rings,

Organized to serve only themselves.

Remember what is lost when something dies

Despite the need for it. There isn't any

Alternative to what true union brings –

Yearning that with shared resolve rebels.

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/letuni.html. For more Labor Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/labordaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Work

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Unions Are a Gift of Our Own Giving

September 2, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is work in honor of Labor Day, which is celebrated today, September 2.

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

A poem about the value of unions:

Unions are a gift of our own giving,

Nor can we stand without a common spine.

Immense together, miniscule alone;

Organized, a mountain; else a stone;

Needing us to get what's yours and mine:

So must all join that each might make a living.

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/unions.html. For more Labor Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/labordaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Work

Perhaps an Angel Told You Once of Love

September 1, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A name poem about love as a name for the winds that move the heart:

Perhaps an angel told you once of love,

A spirit pure, not knowing fear or shame.

Until that whispered word, perhaps, you came

Less willing to the winds that some hearts move,

After which you had for them a name.

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/perha3.html. For more poems about love, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/lovepoems.html .

This week’s theme: Love

8/30: Jeremy Is All I Ever Wanted

8/31: Vic and Jennifer Are Deep in Love

9/1: Perhaps an Angel Told You Once of Love

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Vic and Jennifer Are Deep in Love

August 31, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A poem about the need to like the one you love:

Vic and Jennifer are deep in love.

Quite a couple, people often say.

They also like each other very much,

Which is not, of course, the usual way.

Often people hate the ones they love

Because they feel all tangled in a net

Of needs and expectations they don't want

And know they can't quite get away from--yet.

But Vic and Jennifer are smart enough

To know the need to like the ones they love;

To enjoy what life and love have put before them,

And dance when they don't have the will to move.

Vic has brown hair, Jennifer's a blonde,

But both display the clearest light blue eyes.

Thus they're different, yet they are the same:

A formula familiar to the wise.

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/vicand.html. For more poems about love, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/lovepoems.html .

This week’s theme: Love

8/30: Jeremy Is All I Ever Wanted

8/31: Vic and Jennifer Are Deep in Love

Friday, August 30, 2019

Jeremy Is All I Ever Wanted

August 30, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A name poem about a love that is a yearning for what one has:

Jeremy is all I ever wanted.

Even when my life is going wrong,

Recalling his sweet face brings back my smile,

Escalating all my thoughts to song.

More than I ever dreamed, my heart is haunted,

Yearning for what I have all the while.

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/jeremy.html. For more poems about love, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/lovepoems.html .

This week’s theme: Love

8/30: Jeremy Is All I Ever Wanted

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Norma Likes to Linger in My Heart

August 29, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A name poem about the memory of a past love:

Norma likes to linger in my heart,

Opening memories that sing while weeping.

Remember that the past is in our keeping,

More beautiful than bitter as we part

Again, as though she were awake, then sleeping.

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/norma.html. For more poems about love, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/lovepoems.html .

This week’s theme: Love

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Sing of Lasting Love, the Gift of Eden

August 28, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A number poem about lasting love as the remnant of Eden’s innocence:

Sing of lasting love, the gift of Eden,

Exilic remnant of our innocence,

Valued well by those who know its beauty,

Embraced as both a gift and cherished duty,

No less an income than a large expense.

There is no better fortune to believe in,

Yearning for what each day will dispense.

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/sing14.html. For more poems about love, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/lovepoems.html .

This week’s theme: Love

Monday, August 26, 2019

Sing of Love and Love-Sustaining Passion

August 27, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A number poem about the love of life:

Sing of love and love-sustaining passion,

Intimacy, friendship, lust, and joy,

X-ing out whatever might destroy

The love of life that ought one’s choices fashion,

Yearning for the gifts that spirits buoy.

So might one satisfy the deep desire

Ever burning in the inmost heart,

Vivid source of purpose, faith, and art,

Enduring flame of some eternal fire,

Never whole unless through love a part.

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/sing13.html. For more poems about love, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/lovepoems.html .

This week’s theme: Love

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Fortune Comes and Goes; Love Abides

August 26, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A number poem about how make love last throughout one’s life:

Fortune comes and goes; love abides.

One does the little things that will endure,

Returning like a tide to what is sure:

The garden where one’s innocence resides,

Yet yearning for a world more kind and pure.

Nor ought those longings lose their rich allure.

In riding towards one’s dreams, one ever rides,

Never hoping to one’s hopes secure,

Embracing well the work that love provides.

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/fort11.html. For more poems about love, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/lovepoems.html .

This week’s theme: Love

Bones and Fire

August 25, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

I was away from August 7^th to August 19^th, so for this theme the poems have been divided as follows: The first two poems appeared on August 5^th and 6^th; the last five poems will appear from August 21^st through August 25^th. The theme for this divided week is social issues

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

A poem about the Holocaust:

Bones and fire,

Fire and bones:

We cannot look!

It will sear our eyes!

Even here is beauty,

The ashes of love.

To see you truly

I would have to die.

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/bones.html. For more poems about social issues, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/issuespoems.html .

This week’s theme: Social Issues

8/21: More Pain Cannot Be Wrung from Those Who Wait

8/22: You Did Not Merely Die, but You Were Murdered

8/23: Raping Me Was Fun for Him

8/24: Society Is You and Me

8/25: Bones and Fire

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Society is You and Me

August 24, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

A philosophical number poem about the communal nature of the self:

Society is you and me.

Everyone's a piece of they.

Very much of what we do

Ends up as words that others say.

No I exists except as we,

Though he and she are part of you;

Each pronoun's only partly true,

Each life becomes another's way.

No one alone can simply be.

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/societ.html. For more poems about social issues, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/issuespoems.html .

This week’s theme: Social Issues

8/21: More Pain Cannot Be Wrung from Those Who Wait

8/22: You Did Not Merely Die, but You Were Murdered

8/23: Raping Me Was Fun for Him

8/24: Society Is You and Me

Raping Me Was Fun for Him

August 23, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

A poem about rape:

Raping me was fun for him.

After, he asked me how I liked it.

Perhaps he already lived in a cell,

Ex-communicated, soul-deaf.

I told him and he laughed, stroked me.

So? He was boss. On top.

A woman wanted that, no?

Crying, crying, I said nothing.

Rape was a wound across my sky.

I saw blackness beyond the blue.

My life was twisted, like those girders

Earthquakes throw brutally to the ground.

After such helplessness, what hope?

Going on with my life in blackness,

A black sky, black rage in my heart,

In my mind an endless blackness,

Nothing within me but blackness

Screamed at the boy no longer there,

The screams like walls I took with me,

The walls of screams protecting me,

How could I love without seeing?

Even so, the light pierced me,

Shattering the cell of fury,

Opening my heart again

Under a new sun, once more

Laughing in the chill of fear.

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/raping.html. For more poems about social issues, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/issuespoems.html .

This week’s theme: Social Issues

8/21: More Pain Cannot Be Wrung from Those Who Wait

8/22: You Did Not Merely Die, but You Were Murdered

8/23: Raping Me Was Fun for Him

Friday, August 23, 2019

You Did Not Merely Die, but You Were Murdered

August 22, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

A poem about the emotional aftermath of murder:

You did not merely die, but you were murdered,

And so my anger magnifies my grief.

Love and hate are clean and filthy water

Spilling through my veins like hell unleashed.

I would but mourn, but vengeance clouds my sorrow;

I would but kill, but love finds there no peace;

I would but weep, but weeping is a river

That flows with vast intention to the sea.

I must, I must confess that I have lost you,

And find a place to plant my plucked-out love,

And look to justice, not revenge, to free you

To dance again with joy where you still 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/youdid.html. For more poems about social issues, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/issuespoems.html .

This week’s theme: Social Issues

8/21: More Pain Cannot Be Wrung from Those Who Wait

8/22: You Did Not Merely Die, but You Were Murdered

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

More Pain Cannot Be Wrung from Those Who Wait

August 21, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

A poem about missing persons:

More pain cannot be wrung from those who wait

In fear and hope of both the worst and best.

Some day, perhaps, their hearts might find some rest,

Sure in grief or joy of their clear fate.

In the meantime, time is agony;

No second passes but impatiently,

Given the cruel passions of their state.

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/morepa.html. For more poems about social issues, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/issuespoems.html .

This week’s theme: Social Issues

8/21: More Pain Cannot Be Wrung from Those Who Wait

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Cheating Is a Crime Against Oneself

August 6, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

I will be away from August 7^th to August 19^th, so for this theme the poems will be divided as follows: The first two poems will appear on August 5^th and 6^th; the last five poems will appear from August 21^st through August 25^th. The theme for this divided week is social issues.

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

A poem about cheating:

Cheating is a crime against oneself,

Hardening the insufficient heart.

Each finds in lies an easy path to pleasure,

Abandoning the way that leads to joy.

The choice is ever open, but the gulf

Increases as the actor plays his part.

No one who cheats can cherish long his treasure,

Given what of self-love lies destroy.

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/cheat.html. For more poems about social issues, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/issuespoems.html .

This week’s theme: Social Issues

Monday, August 5, 2019

Bullies Like to Pulverize Their Pain

August 5, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

A poem about bullying:

Bullies like to pulverize their pain,

Unleashing torrents of humiliation,

Lost in a cruel lust they can’t restrain,

Longing for elusive admiration,

In vicarious hells of their creation

Even as they strike again, again,

Stripped of all but fear of isolation.

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/bullie.html. For more poems about social issues, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/issuespoems.html .

This week’s theme: Social Issues

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Somewhere There Are Seraphim

August 4, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A poem locating seraphim in the human heart:

Somewhere there are seraphim

Singing night and day

Ecstatically, eternally,

In their seraphic way.

Somewhere there are seraphim

Singing songs of praise

To God, Who sits upon His throne

In glory as they gaze.

Somewhere there are seraphim,

Trillions, quintillions strong,

A masterful mass madrigal

Arising from the throng.

Somewhere there are seraphim

Singing each its part.

Where? Why here! Can't you hear?

Deep within 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/somewh.html. For more poems about angels, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/angelpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Angels

8/2: Here There Are No Angels of Despair

8/3: Lest Angels Prove Too Poignant in Their Pity

8/4: Somewhere There Are Seraphim

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Lest Angels Prove Too Poignant in Their Pity

August 3, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A name poem imagining angels overwhelmed as they share our pain at the loss of a loved one:

Lest angels prove too poignant in their pity,

Inundated by redundant tears,

Not yet inured to loss that rends and sears,

Dream with them of that celestial city

Ablaze with love not battered by the years.

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/lestan.html. For more poems about angels, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/angelpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Angels

8/2: Here There Are No Angels of Despair

8/3: Lest Angels Prove Too Poignant in Their Pity

Friday, August 2, 2019

Here There Are No Angels of Despair

August 2, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A second anniversary poem about the joy of angels alighting on all who love:

Here there are no angels of despair.

Arrayed in choirs, they sing only of joy.

Performing for the sheer delight of being,

Poised between the act of sight and seeing,

Yet infinite, yet of this earth, they toy

Scholastically with being here nor there,

Eden's hosts, though none the worse for wear,

Come down from that sweet hilltop, anguish fleeing.

On those they light who for another care,

Now filling with their ecstasy the air,

Dear hints of bliss no evil can destroy.

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/heret2.html. For more poems about angels, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/angelpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Angels

8/2: Here There Are No Angels of Despair

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Grateful Angels Sing at Heaven's Gates

August 1, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A name poem contrasting angels’ love of God to ours:

Grateful angels sing at Heaven's gates

In choirs, well, perhaps five trillion strong,

Unleashing love insatiable in song,

Love unknown to those of other fates.

In us, so far removed from such high states,

Alien even to where we belong,

Neither here nor there for very long,

A love like that retreats, and doubts, and waits.

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/gratef.html. For more poems about angels, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/angelpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Angels

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Even Angels Tire of Ecstasy

July 31, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A name poem imagining the boredom of eternal ecstasy:

Even angels tire of ecstasy.

Very few can stare at God with pleasure

Eons upon eons, as the sea

Lies featureless across its teeming treasure.

Yet we have grace to look and then recover.

No joy but fades, to give way to another.

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/evenan.html. For more poems about angels, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/angelpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Angels

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Even Angels Feel the Pangs of Love

July 30, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A name poem about angels' vicarious experience of human love:

Even angels feel the pangs of love.

(Vicariously, of course - their love is pure.)

Each finds a human love to serenade,

Leaving its perfection in the shade,

Yearning for the pain it must endure,

Near ecstasy with what it knows not of.

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/evena2.html. For more poems about angels, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/angelpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Angels

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Angels Are Quite Confident

July 29, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A name poem contrasting the innocent lives of angels with ours:

Angels are quite confident,

Now they are on high.

Given whom they represent,

Each appearing Heaven sent,

Let them serve God innocent

As we live and die.

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/angel4.html. For more poems about angels, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/angelpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Angels