There Is No Substitute for Lifelong Longing

October 19, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is joy.

Today’s poem is about the relationship between joy and longing.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

There is no substitute for lifelong longing.

One may be happy, but there's always more.

Now might be perfection, but one’s yearning

Is like a wave that seeks the distant shore;

And when it gets there, sweeps across the sand

In ecstasy, relieved of want, at peace;

Then sweeps back again, away from land,

Within a rapture that will never cease.

What perfect love, that cannot reach perfection,

But like the universe, must ever dance,

Singing with the sheer joy of affection,

Savoring the mysteries of chance.

There is a satisfaction in desire

Unsatisfied, that sets the soul on fire.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/ther37.html . For more philosophical poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/philosophicalpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Joy.

October 17: Sing, My Loved One! Sing of All the Glory

October 18: Grace

October 19: There Is No Substitute for LifelongLonging

Grace

October 18, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is joy.

Today’s poem is a name poem for a person who knows how to find joy in the moment.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Grace finds grace in every untouched moment,

Revealing what lies just beyond the will.

As words recede, the silent senses fill,

Cradling the instant without comment,

Embracing what would else be good or ill.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

This week’s theme: Joy.

October 17: Sing, My Loved One! Sing of All the Glory

October 18: Grace

Sing, My Loved One! Sing of All the Glory

October 17, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is joy.

Today’s poem is a 60^th birthday poem wishing a loved one joy in life.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Sing, my loved one! Sing of all the glory

In which for every moment you have lived!

Xylophones accompany your song,

That, played by angels, help us sing along,

Yielding harmony to grace your story.

Years have added luster to your soul,

Each, though not all what you would, a gift.

As now we wish you more – to live in joy,

Rejoicing in a love none can destroy,

Such love of life as makes one strong and whole.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

This week’s theme: Joy.

October 17: Sing, My Loved One! Sing of All theGlory

You Pray to Be Included in the Book

October 16, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is atonement, in honor of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which falls on October 12.

Today’s poem is about the disconnect between an ancient faith and the modern world.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

You pray to be included in the book

Of life before your yearly doom is sealed,

Making sure no sin is left concealed,

Knowing that there'll be no second look.

In words that are sincere, with guilt unfurled,

Perhaps you pray with some uncertainty,

Poised between belief and poetry,

Unwilling now to take it literally,

Remnant of a strange and ancient world.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/youpr2.html . For more poems for Yom Kippur, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Atonement.

October 10: Yearning Is a Function of Atonement

October 11: Ye of Little Faith, You’re Welcome Here

October 12: You Wonder Whether Fate Is Accidental

October 13: Yom Kippur Remains a Day of Morning

October 14: You Cannot Get Away from Being Plural

October 15: You Pray Not for Yourself Alone but All

October 16: You Pray to Be Included in the Book

You Pray Not for Yourself Alone but All

October 15, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is atonement, in honor of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which falls on October 12.

Today’s poem is about the communal nature of personal sin.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

You pray not for yourself alone but all.

One never chooses sin in isolation.

Most evil is not merely personal.

Kindness looks for common inspiration.

In every act there is community.

Perhaps one would prefer it were not so.

Placing each's guilt on all may be

Unfair, but then each righteous soul must see

Reflections of itself in every woe.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

This week’s theme: Atonement.

October 10: Yearning Is a Function of Atonement

October 11: Ye of Little Faith, You’re Welcome Here

October 12: You Wonder Whether Fate Is Accidental

October 13: Yom Kippur Remains a Day of Morning

October 14: You Cannot Get Away from Being Plural

October 15: You Pray Not for Yourself Alone butAll

You Cannot Get Away from Being Plural

October 14, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is atonement, in honor of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which falls on October 12.

Today’s poem is about the relationship between your sins and mine.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

You cannot get away from being plural;

On you must rest the burden of my sin.

Moreover, your self-portrait is a mural,

Kaleidoscope of all you’ve touched within.

In what you say I find my inspiration,

Perhaps unfairly making you my guide.

Penitence presumes that expectation,

Uniting others’ sins with yours inside,

Relating my pretense to your false pride.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/youca2.html . For more poems for Yom Kippur, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Atonement.

October 10: Yearning Is a Function of Atonement

October 11: Ye of Little Faith, You’re Welcome Here

October 12: You Wonder Whether Fate Is Accidental

October 13: Yom Kippur Remains a Day of Morning

October 14: You Cannot Get Away from BeingPlural

Yom Kippur Remains a Day of Morning

October 13, 2016

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is atonement, in honor of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which falls on October 12.

Today’s poem is about Yom Kippur as the hopeful beginning of a joyful, loving year.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Yom Kippur remains a day of morning

On which another year of joy depends.

Most make the most of life by choosing love,

Knowing what they have no knowledge of.

Immersed in means, they leave to God the ends.

Penitence must work its will by evening,

Passionate enough to make amends,

Until the last horn blows, the lovers leaving,

Resolved to grace whichever way life wends.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/yomki2.html . For more poems for Yom Kippur, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/yomkippurpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Atonement.

October 10: Yearning Is a Function of Atonement

October 11: Ye of Little Faith, You’re Welcome Here

October 12: You Wonder Whether Fate Is Accidental

October 13: Yom Kippur Remains a Day of Morning