Harmony Comes Wholly from Within

October 15, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is an anniversary poem about the music of love.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Harmony comes wholly from within,
Adding voices to life's melodies.
Perhaps at times life sings in minor keys.
Praised be those who find the grace therein.
Yet love's a counter melody to sin,
An inner voice creating harmonies
Now spilling round the roots of ravaged trees.
Now borne like bliss upon a gentle wind.
In us there is a harmony well honed,
Voices that for years have sung in tune,
Each supporting each through passages
Rich with the complexities of life.
Sing, then, of the concert hall, a domed
Atrium on a golden afternoon,
Resonant with musical messages
Yielded by the love of man and wife.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite the poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/week.html . For more anniversary poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/anniversarypoems.html .

Consider All Your Just Considerations

October 8, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a Columbus Day poem about the allure of discovery.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Consider all your just considerations:
One lives for the sweet salience of surprise,
Looking at the world with naked eyes
Unencumbered by routine relations.
Make room for wonders rising from the sea!
Beauty is more beautiful unframed,
Unclassified, unvetted, and unnamed,
Solely what it seems or it might be.
Discovery requires ignorance
As one sets sail beyond one’s common sense,
Yearning to unveil a mystery.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite the poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/week.html. For more Columbus Day poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/columbusdaypoems.html .

Factor In Each Falsehood, Failure, Phantom

October 1, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a poem about the need for friends.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Factor in each falsehood, failure, phantom;
Reckon with each righteous, rash rebellion;
Implicate each ill-conceived intention;
Evoke each eloquent equivocation;
Number well each nugatory notion;
Deplore each driven, desperate deviation;
So you will see the need for having friends.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite the poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/week.html. For more friendship poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/friendshippoems.html .

Each of Us Must Sacrifice Ourselves

September 24, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a poem for Eid al-Adha about self-sacrifice and eternal love.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Each of us must sacrifice our selves
If we would hope to know eternal love.
Deep within the spirit that rebels
Abides a moment time cannot remove.
Leave your self behind in prayer and be
A willing servant in your master’s hands,
Devoted to good deeds and faithfully
Holding to the life Allah commands,
And love will fill your silence like a sea.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite the poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/week.html. For more poems for Eid al Adha, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/eidaladhapoems . For more Islamic poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/muslimpoems.html . For more religious poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

You Wish to Live a Long and Healthy Life

September 17, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a poem for Yom Kippur about the relationship of the individual to the community.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

You wish to live a long and healthy life
On friendly terms with everyone around you,
Married to a lovely, loving wife,
Knee deep in the good causes that surround you.
In truth, however, you’re not in control,
Planted where you are by wind, not will,
Placed where sun and shade might shape your soul,
Ultimately child of the whole,
Repenting for us all, for good or ill.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite the poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/week.html. For more poems for the Jewish High Holy Days, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html . For more philosophical poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html .

Revelation Strikes You as Absurd

September 10, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week a poem for Rosh Hashanah about worshipping a God you don’t really believe in.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Revelation strikes you as absurd,
Out of whack with what you think you know.
Still, you love the beauty of the words,
However much you mind the undertow.
How might you participate in prayer
Absent faith in God? It makes no sense.
Still, the urge to cleanse the soul is there,
However unappealing the pretense.
A world of unsolved mysteries surrounds you,
Nor can you shake the spirit that confounds you,
Aware of truths that cannot be expressed,
Here so beautifully in scripture dressed.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

Let Every Worker Earn a Living Wage

September 3, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is poem for Labor Day about the importance of a living wage.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Let every worker earn a living wage,
And every family have enough to eat.
Better bellies full of bread than rage.
One finds no better peacemaker than wheat.
Really? Can we get around inflation?
Demand increases; what about supply?
Affluence reduces population.
Yet some prefer to see poor people die.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite the poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/week.html. For more Labor Day poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/labordaypoems.html . For more poems about politics, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/politicalpoems.html .