Poem of the Week

June 10: Righteousness Remains the Rock of Faith

June 11: How Might One Untie the Knot

June 12: Rights Are Not Equivalent to Freedom

Saturday, June 11, 2016

How Might One Untie the Knot

June 11, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is faith, in honor of Ramadan, which begins on June 7.

Today’s poem is about how the awareness of God’s love leaves one no alternative to the vicissitudes of faith.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

How might one untie the knot

That binds one to God's love?

For love imposes innocence,

And innocence, remorse.

The tenderness that time forgot

No caustic can remove:

The laws of cause and consequence

Are cut off at the source.

Love comes simply as one is,

Condemning one to hope,

Restoring culpability,

Awakening one's pain.

So loved, one cannot be but His,

Though one be moved to grope

Towards some amoral liberty

That seeks the void in vain.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/howmi6.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Faith.

June 10: Righteousness Remains the Rock of Faith

June 11: How Might One Untie the Knot

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Righteousness Remains the Rock of Faith

June 10, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is faith, in honor of Ramadan, which begins on June 7.

Today’s poem is a Ramadan poem about how good works sustain faith.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Righteousness remains the rock of faith,

As what one does sustains what one believes.

Mere hypocrites might pray, the Prophet saith;

Actions must be words the heart conceives.

Do, then, what acts and rituals are due,

As faith becomes a flame that feeds on you,

No less than as a fire consumes dry leaves.

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

This week’s theme: Faith.

June 10: Righteousness Remains the Rock of Faith

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Read the Holy Book as Though Asleep

June 9, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is faith, in honor of Ramadan, which begins on June 7.

Today’s poem is a Ramadan poem about reading the Holy Book not just for its wisdom but also for its beauty.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Read the Holy Book as though asleep,

And in a dream awaken to its beauty,

Making it the music of your moment

And weaving it like gold throughout your day.

Do not journey through it just to reap,

Avid for the kernels of your duty,

Neglecting the thick flowers in your way.

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

This week’s theme: Faith.

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Reason Is No Cause for Revelation

June 8, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is faith, in honor of Ramadan, which begins on June 7.

Today’s poem is a Ramadan poem about faith and reason.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Reason is no cause for revelation.

A moment comes and goes; a word endures.

More than sense must underlie sensation.

A holy mind and heart such faith secures.

Depend, then, on your fasting to awaken

A love of Allah easily forsaken.

Nor is there mooring where one’s reason moors.

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

This week’s theme: Faith.

Monday, June 6, 2016

Ramadan Reminds Us that the World

June 7, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is faith, in honor of Ramadan, which begins on June 7.

Today’s poem is about the role of Ramadan in reminding us of the primacy of eternal life.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Ramadan reminds us that the world

Around us is a temporary place

Made for an equivocal embrace

As we ride this rock through vastness hurled.

Dance upon the Earth with joy and laughter

As long as you remember what comes after.

Nor will you find your home in time and space.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/ramad2.html. For more Ramadan poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/ramadanpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Faith.

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Rapture Comes Most Easily Within

June 6, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is faith, in honor of Ramadan, which begins on June 7.

Today’s poem is a Ramadan poem about the relationship between discipline and rapture.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Rapture comes most easily within

A discipline that divvies up the day,

Making time for timelessness, and space,

A rolled-up rectangle holy anyplace,

Dear temple of delight where one might pray,

Assigned some sweet-tongued verses to begin

Now hallowing this hollow cask of clay.

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

This week’s theme: Faith.