Poem of the Week

October 2, 2008 #502

GREED GRIPS EVERY HEART, NO LESS THAN LUST

Greed grips every heart, no less than lust.
Reason drowns in fantasies of power.
Even though the journey ends in dust,
Each finds ample cravings in the hour,
Destined to dark seeds that root and flower.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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Poem of the Week

September 25, 2008 #501

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a poem for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

You can post a comment on the poem or read other comments on it at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Revelation leads to revolution,
Or isn't much of anything at all.
So must faith evolve into religion,
Having need of hands to break its fall.
Here we have a chance to reconsider,
As we go through rites as brisk as breath,
Salvaging a soul that else were bitter,
Here alone, for nothing else but death.
All our love and wonder needs a Name,
Not least to be the witness of our shame
As we recite our sins again, again,
Hallowed by our passion and our pain.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Poem of the Week

September 18, 2008 #500

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is an anniversary poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

You can post a comment on the poem or read other comments on it at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Happy second anniversary!
A time when marriage seems to settle in,
Perhaps no more remarkable than sunlight,
Perhaps no longer noticed more than trees.
Years lie ahead like roads that go cross country.
Songs of love now nestle safe within.
Even dreams are fast asleep by midnight,
Cradled in the heart like unshelled peas.
On such sweet silence let there now shine moonlight,
Neither shuttered out nor breaking in,
Descending like familiar ecstasy.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Poem of the Week

September 11, 2008 #499

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a poem about 9/11.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

You can post a comment on the poem or read other comments on it at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

So did you die of history,
Each innocent of dogma dead,
Purloined to play in some fool's head
The drama of his destiny.
Even in your hapless herds,
Miracles to men unmoved,
Being loved as you were loved,
Even thus, you were but words.
Reason seeks what reason knows.
Each alone must bridge the gulf,
Loving all as if oneself,
Else blood with reason endless flows.
Vanquished, you must still live on,
Each murdered soul a monument,
Nor what you mean be what you meant,
The private to the public gone,
Held long as letters carved in stone.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Poem of the Week

September 4, 2008 #498

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a philosophical poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

You can post a comment on the poem or read other comments on it at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

The world is one gigantic jam session,
Each instrument improvising madly
On traditional themes. Everything one is,
Or thinks, or says, or does, adds or detracts
From the beauty of the music. Listen:
What you hear is yourself, a solo against
The continuo, or perhaps just a single note
That waters well your desert eyes.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Poem of the Week

July 31, 2008 #497

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a Labor Day poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

You can post a comment on the poem or read other comments on it at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Note: I will be away for the month of August. The next poem of the week will be emailed on Thursday, Sept. 4.

Let the market set the price of labor!
And who would want to vote for such a life?
Because we live in a democracy,
Our policies are shaped by peaceful strife,
Rewarding those who fight for what they favor.

Despite the logic, what fool would agree,
Alerted to his interest, to turn over,
Yielding neck to economic knife?

© by Nicholas Gordon

Poem of the Week

July 24, 2008 #496

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a poem about death.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

You can post a comment on the poem or read other comments on it at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

You were for us not only love, but bread,
Our source of sustenance as well as joy.
Now not grief but hunger mourns the dead.

We must content ourselves with what we beg,
The bitter gifts no kindness can alloy.
You were for us not only love, but bread.

We miss you, but our hearts have turned to lead.
We cannot one sweet pang of pain enjoy.
Now not grief but hunger mourns the dead.

Nor have we any tears that we might shed
For you, nor thoughts that might grief buoy.
You were for us not only love, but bread,

And so there are no dreams of you in bed,
Nor memories with which my mind might toy.
Now not grief but hunger mourns the dead.

No room, no room, but emptiness instead,
A need that does all other need destroy.
You were for us not only love, but bread.
Now not grief but hunger mourns the dead.

© by Nicholas Gordon