Every Religion Has Blood on Its Hands

April 12, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is a poem for both Easter and Passover about what all religions have in common and what they should do about it.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Every religion has blood on its hands

As hatred and greed, dressed in righteous commands,

Sanctify purely demotic demands

To rape, loot, and plunder less virtuous lands.

Every religion has love at its heart,

Radiant love in its wisdom and art,

Permanent love, of the whole for each part,

A grace none can grasp nor theology chart.

So might all faiths sing a common refrain,

Singing together in the much-abused name

Of divinity, singing of blessing and blame,

Verses quite different, the chorus the same.

Every religion should know that its truth

Relies on its goodness and beauty for proof.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

April 10: Religions Live in a Crowded Neighborhood

April 11: Easter and Pesach, Eternally Linked

April 12: Every Religion Has Blood on Its Hands

Easter and Pesach, Eternally Linked

April 11, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is a poem for Easter about the link between Easter and Pesach, or Passover.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Easter and Pesach, eternally linked,

Although, year to year, erratically synced.

So might both Christians and Jews celebrate

The bond that unites two long-feuding faiths,

Embracing as family, as all cousins should,

Religions that separately serve the same good.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/easte2.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

April 10: Religions Live in a Crowded Neighborhood

April 11: Easter and Pesach, Eternally Linked

Religions Live in a Crowded Neighborhood

April 10, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is about how, in an increasingly crowded world, there is an increased need for tolerance and love.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Religions live in a crowded neighborhood

Called Earth. Time for tolerance and love.

Time to see in each the common good.

Time also to see the uncommon good, the wealth of

Differences that make one’s neighborly chats

A voyage to the harbors of the heart.

The world of faith is like a museum that’s

Full of rich and unfamiliar art.

Time to see it all, to stroll through rooms

Full of treasures else left unseen.

Like rare languages, exotic blooms,

White rhinos, pandas, aye-aye, like green

Islands in the arms of urban sprawl,

Each faith sustains the spirit of us all.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/relig2.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

April 10: Religions Live in a Crowded Neighborhood

There Is Beauty at the Heart of Business

April 9, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is professions.

Today’s poem is a number poem for someone who is starting a business.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

There is beauty at the heart of business

Having to do with the good that comes from goods.

Investing in high hopes yields rich returns,

Resulting in far more than what is earned –

Treasures, tastes, traditions, livelihoods,

Years of pride, of fruitful busyness.

Each business is a long-held dream come true,

In which the risk and labor join to make

Goods that only love would undertake,

Having at conception something new

That could have come from no one else but you.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/ther40.html. For more poems about professions, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Professions

April 3: Those Who Can Help Those Who Need It Most

April 4: Rich Vein of Funky Wisdom, Soulful Art

April 5: Tiffany

April 6: Farmers Ought Not Cut Against the Grain

April 7: Forty-One

April 8: Fifty-Six

April 9: There Is Beauty at the Heart of Business

Fifty-Six3

April 8, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is professions.

Today’s poem is a number poem for an actress who knows what it costs to be dedicated to beauty.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Fifty-six has walked the road less traveled,

Intent more on the view than on the end.

For her success is measured in the moment –

To render beauty few can comprehend,

Yet absent which the heart becomes unraveled.

She knows too well what spirit she must spend

In making painted paths seem steep or graveled,

Xeroxes like scrims, alive, transparent.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/56c.html. For more poems about professions, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Professions

April 3: Those Who Can Help Those Who Need It Most

April 4: Rich Vein of Funky Wisdom, Soulful Art

April 5: Tiffany

April 6: Farmers Ought Not Cut Against the Grain

April 7: Forty-One

April 8: Fifty-Six

Forty-One5

April 7, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is professions.

Today’s poem is a number poem for a hand surgeon who enjoys the gift of her unusual ability.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Forty-one does well what few can do –

Operate on mangled wrists and hands,

Restoring them to functionality.

That such a gift is rare she understands,

Yet home and office sometimes block her view.

Often, though, amid the day’s demands,

Not really thinking what she knows is true,

Engrossed in work, she’s pleased as she can be.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/41e.html. For more poems about professions, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Professions

April 3: Those Who Can Help Those Who Need It Most

April 4: Rich Vein of Funky Wisdom, Soulful Art

April 5: Tiffany

April 6: Farmers Ought Not Cut Against the Grain

April 7: Forty-One

Farmers Ought Not Cut Against the Grain

April 6, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is professions.

Today’s poem is a number poem with advice for farmers.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Farmers ought not cut against the grain

Or take from nature more than it would give.

Reason often goes in a straight line

That would, if curved, require extra time,

Yet would not cause the ecosphere such pain.

To farm is to be patient and to live

With the earth, pursuing mutual gain,

Obeying the commands of sun and rain.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

This week’s theme: Professions

April 3: Those Who Can Help Those Who Need It Most

April 4: Rich Vein of Funky Wisdom, Soulful Art

April 5: Tiffany

April 6: Farmers Ought Not Cut Against the Grain