Twenty-Five Has Come into Her Own

July 19, 2019 

Dear Subscriber: 

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is being in one’s twenties. 

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

A number poem about reaching maturity: 

Twenty-five has come into her own, 

Wise enough to winnow what she dreams. 

Even in the landscape of her face 

No destination but has found its place, 

Though growing up is harder than it seems. 

Yearnings do not die through will alone. 

For now there is a firmness in her tone 

Indicative of some internal grace 

Vividly attentive in its space, 

Elegant and certain what it means. 

© by Nicholas Gordon 

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/25.html. For more number poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/numberpoems.html . 

This week’s theme: Being in One’s Twenties 

7/15: Twenty Is a Bud That’s Finally Flowered 

7/16: Tough and Lovely 

7/17: Twenty-Two Worries About Earth 

7/18: The Center Stage Is Empty 

7/19: Twenty-Five Has Come into Her Own

The Center Stage Is Empty

July 18, 2019 

Dear Subscriber: 

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is being in one’s twenties. 

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

A number poem about motion on the stage of life and beneath it: 

The center stage is empty. Stage right 

We see THE YOUNG MAN, only partially 

Emerged from shadow, staring at bright 

Nothingness. Stage left, in dimmer light, stand 

THE MOTHER and THE FATHER, separately, 

Yearning for something they no longer feel. 

For us there seems little to understand: 

Ordinary movement through darkness and light. 

Underneath, however, all move vertically, 

Reaching for more than life can reveal. 

© by Nicholas Gordon 

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/censta.html. For more number poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/numberpoems.html . 

This week’s theme: Being in One’s Twenties 

7/15: Twenty Is a Bud That’s Finally Flowered 

7/16: Tough and Lovely 

7/17: Twenty-Two Worries About Earth 

7/18: The Center Stage Is Empty

Twenty-Two Worries About Earth

July 17, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is being in one’s twenties.

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

A number poem about the oneness of all thought and experience:

Twenty-two worries about Earth,

Wondering what one small will might do.

Each inherits everything at birth,

Not able to untangle me from you.

There is a song so sweet that none can hear;

Yet could one hear it, one could never bear.

Take heart, then, for the whistler in Perth

Will serenade the piper in Peru.

One wish, one thought, one word is everywhere.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/22c.html. For more number poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/numberpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Being in One’s Twenties

7/15: Twenty Is a Bud That’s Finally Flowered

7/16: Tough and Lovely

7/17: Twenty-Two Worries About Earth

Tough and Lovely

July 16, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is being in one’s twenties.

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

A number poem about the emotional effect of seeing one’s child grow into an adult:

Tough and lovely, to see my child gain

What personality she will assume,

Each bit and gesture worked on year by year,

No stopping till the character is clear.

Tough and lovely, to see the child remain

Yet underneath the mask that is her doom.

Only slowly does the child disappear,

Not needing me to kiss away all pain,

Entering alone the darkened room.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/toug21.html. For more number poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/numberpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Being in One’s Twenties

7/15: Twenty Is a Bud That’s Finally Flowered

7/16: Tough and Lovely

Twenty Is a Bud That's Finally Flowered

July 15, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is being in one’s twenties.

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

A number poem about the insights of a twenty year old.

Twenty is a bud that's finally flowered,

Wide open to the sunshine and the rain.

Each day's a moment of eternal truth

New rendered through the perfect eyes of youth,

The light by which the blossom is empowered,

Yielding clarities one would sustain.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/20c.html. For more number poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/numberpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Being in One’s Twenties

7/15: Twenty Is a Bud That’s Finally Flowered

Because Injustice Is the Match

July 14, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Bastille Day, which is celebrated today, July 14.

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

A Bastille Day poem about the cycle of injustice, revolution, dictatorship, and restoration that seems to distinguish every modern revolution:

Because injustice is the match,

And revolution is the fire;

Silence, the enabling wind;

Tyranny, the funeral pyre:

In time it ends in restoration;

Less injustice, just a little;

Life returns, just slightly better;

Each Estate is forced to settle.

Does this small mini-step repay

A generation drowned in blood?

Yet so goes progress through the cycle.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/becau3.html For more Bastille Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/bastilledaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Bastille Day

7/8: Brace Yourself for Love, for It Is Coming

7/9: Beware of Power Absolute, Unshared

7/10: Because the Root of Poverty Is Injustice

7/11: Blessed Are Those Who Compromise Their Visions

7/12: Beyond the Reign of Terror

7/13: Good and Honest People Can Do Evil

7/14: Because Injustice Is the Match

Good and Honest People Can Do Evil

July 13, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Bastille Day, which will be celebrated tomorrow, July 14.

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

A Bastille Day poem about how in politics good intentions can lead to evil actions.

Good and honest people can do evil

As just ends can inspire brutal means.

In politics, a saint can be a devil,

Calculating what might be the level

Of suffering the greater good redeems.

Good and honest people can do evil

As well-honed ideologies give ample

Cause to murder others for one’s dreams.

In politics, a saint can be a devil,

Romantic as the idealistic rebel,

Tyrannical as truth splits at the seams.

Good and honest people can do evil,

Reducing life’s complexities to simple

Slogans that are best conveyed by screams.

In politics, a saint can be a devil,

More saint, more devil, a hammer on an anvil

That shapes the willing faithful into fiends..

Good and honest people can do evil.

In politics, a saint can be a devil.

© by Nicholas Gordon

If you enjoyed this poem, please like, comment on, or share it so that it might be seen and enjoyed by others. To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/goodan.html. For more Bastille Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/bastilledaypoems.html .

This week’s theme: Bastille Day

7/8: Brace Yourself for Love, for It Is Coming

7/9: Beware of Power Absolute, Unshared

7/10: Because the Root of Poverty Is Injustice

7/11: Blessed Are Those Who Compromise Their Visions

7/12: Beyond the Reign of Terror

7/13: Good and Honest People Can Do Evil