Poem of the Week

July 8, 2010 #589
 
Dear Subscriber:
 
This week’s poem of the week is a philosophical number 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

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 or bad, there is no gulf
Hovering between one's wish and worth.
There is but one ecology, one Earth.
   
© by Nicholas Gordon

Poem of the Week

July 1, 2010 #588
 
Dear Subscriber:
 
This week’s poem of the week is an Independence Day (USA) 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
 
Is this the beginning of the end?
Now is when we start to fall?
Debtors to both foe and friend,
Eventually obliged to all?
Perhaps we can pull out of this,
Electing leaders who will lead,
Not stuck in this paralysis,
Dreading most what we most need.
Each must give that all might gain,
Nor ought we shun the sacrifice.
Could we but bear the healing pain
Equally, we'd pay the price.
Dependence on another's will
Assumes that we their coffers fill,
Yielding ever to their advice.
 
© by Nicholas Gordon

Poem of the Week

June 24, 2010 #587
 
Dear Subscriber:
 
This week’s poem of the week is a poem to a teacher on his retirement.
 
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
 
No one juggled time as well as you,
Interweaving literature and law,
Nor served as long and well, nor rendered to
Our students so much life as in your store.
Favors were your pleasure; ease, your grace.
Although you did much, much of what you did
Lay unobserved, so leisurely your pace,
Careful to keep agita well hid.
Over forty years you taught of beauty,
No less for love than conscientious duty,
Embracing with a zest your time and place.
 
© by Nicholas Gordon

Poem of the Week

June17, 2010 #586
 
Dear Subscriber:
 
This week’s poem of the week is a Father's 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
 
Fathers cannot fathers be
Alone, no matter where they are.
There is no mountain range or sea
High or wide enough to bar
Each child from traveling within,
Reuniting oft with him,
Secret sharer from afar.
 
© by Nicholas Gordon

Poem of the Week

June10, 2010 #585
 
Dear Subscriber:
 
This week’s poem of the week is a wedding 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 bells ring not for just these two
Who will be joined in love today.
They also ring for me and you.
 
And not just for the families who
Now celebrate, as well they may.
The bells ring not for just these, too.
 
And not just those who know or knew
These families well, who came their way.
They also ring for me and you.
 
And not just those who came to view
The bride, the gown, the whole array.
The bells ring not for just these, too.
 
And not just those whose love is true,
Or those who would their doubts allay.
They also ring for me and you.
 
For all are joined in love, and do
Rejoice to hear the sweet bells play!
The bells ring not for just these two.
They also ring for me and you.
 
© by Nicholas Gordon

Poem of the Week

June 3, 2010 #584
 
Dear Subscriber:
 
This week’s poem of the week is a graduation 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
 
Give a little thought to what comes next.
Remember: education isn't training.
A person needs to struggle with a text,
Delving into truths beyond explaining.
Understanding means you must go under,
And make your own the ground on which you stand.
The urge to learn comes from a sense of wonder
Ill-served in those who like their knowledge canned.
Open up your mind so that your soul
Not be confined to one small, shallow bowl.
 
© by Nicholas Gordon

Poem of the Week

May 27, 2010 #583
 
Dear Subscriber:
 
This week’s poem of the week is a Memorial 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
 
Memories are all that I have left.
Each becomes a well-worn photograph.
Missing is the warmth, the touch, the heft
Of life, the smile, the reassuring laugh.
Real people change, they grow, relate, unfold.
In time we share the adventures of their lives
As they marry, have kids, change jobs, grow old,
Loving us – their parents, husbands, wives.
Dead people are alive in us, but they
Are not within themselves. No love revives
Your love, which I once cherished day-to-day.
 
© by Nicholas Gordon