Because Each One of Us Is Equally

December 26, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Christmas and Hanukkah. The first night of Hanukkah was Dec. 22, and Christmas was celebrated yesterday, Dec. 25.

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

A name and Hanukkah poem about the ground of justice in eternal love:

Because each one of us is equally

Of fuelless flame engendered from the void,

None is less than Hanukkah a miracle.

Nor is one's sense of self empirical.

In one's heart one cannot be destroyed,

Even though one knows one will not be.

Granted that in time one will not be.

A soul is one with One, and equally

Bedight with dust created and destroyed,

Revealed through contemplation of the void

In which one sees that everything empirical

Exists within the context of a miracle.

Let every person be proclaimed a miracle,

A loved one of what brought all things to be,

Needing something unempirical

Demanding all be valued equally.

Knowledge is as knowledge does. The void

Exists beyond what dreams can be destroyed,

Nothingness, which cannot be destroyed,

Necessary setting for a miracle,

A voice commanding justice from the void.

So must the ground of justice ever be

Eternal love for each soul equally,

Too absolute to be empirical.

How could commandments be empirical,

Each in good time ripe to be destroyed?

Life without them lies unequally,

Innocence depending on a miracle,

Zealous to believe in what might be

A lamp lit by the light within the void.

Bless the myth of love within the void,

Enduring although unempirical,

The ground of justice that will ever be,

However much the dream might be destroyed.

Enduring truths are fueled by miracle,

Lest time favor them unequally.

Let them equally, lit by the void,

Each truth a miracle unempirical,

Never be for want of faith destroyed.

© 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/becau5.html. For more Hanukkah poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/chanukahpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Christmas and Hanukkah

12/23: Isn’t It Nice to Celebrate Twice

12/24: Because All Things Are Made of Light

12/25: Merry Christmas to My Wife

12/26: Because Each One of Us Is Equally

Merry Christmas to My Wife

December 25, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Christmas and Hanukkah. The first night of Hanukkah was Dec. 22, and Christmas is celebrated today, Dec. 25.

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

A Christmas and love poem to a wife:

Merry Christmas to my wife!

Enduring partner of my life,

Reigning mistress of my art,

Rightful ruler of my heart,

Yearning for whom there’s no end,

Comrade, lover, fortune, friend,

Here in soul and here in flesh,

Ripe for passion, ripe for rest,

Intellect and interface,

Soulmate, playmate, glint of grace,

Tamer of my instincts wild,

Mother of my inner child,

As I would father be of yours,

Sharing life through open doors.

© 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/merry5.html. For more Christmas poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/xmaschristmaspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Christmas and Hanukkah

12/23: Isn’t It Nice to Celebrate Twice

12/24: Because All Things Are Made of Light

12/25: Merry Christmas to My Wife

Because All Things Are Made of Light

December 24, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Christmas and Hanukkah. The first night of Hanukkah was Dec. 22, and Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25.

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

A name and Hanukkah poem about the beauty of all Creation, in which everything is made of love and light:

Because all things are made of light –

One’s flesh, one’s thoughts, one’s self, one’s sight –

No candle need hold off the night,

Nor faith uncouple wrong from right.

Ill and good are equally bright.

Each being is with love bedight.

Let all things be with love bedight --

Instant oatmeal, Yoplait lite,

Lizards, snakes, sharks, snowflakes, bright

Immensities beyond our sight,

The drawing that one gets just right,

Hanukkah, a sleepless night.

Shall one love both day and night?

Each moment is with love bedight –

Times of wrong and times of right,

Hours of darkness, hours of light,

Ends unseen, an end in sight –

Love makes every moment bright.

In love with life, one’s tears are bright,

Zeal and zest survive the night,

All things grace the gift of sight –

Blessings with bad breath bedight,

Emails, entrails, Facebook lite,

Those who think wrongs make a right,

Hells, hawks, hymns, a holy rite.

Each stain, each star, each stone, each bright

Limpet equally of light,

Loved equally both day and night,

Each miracle with love bedight,

Nothing without love in sight.

Given all the gifts in sight –

A Christian prayer, a Jewish rite,

Bedbugs with one’s blood bedight,

Ecstasy, a brass blare bright,

Kisses in the sheltering night,

Eels, ants, aches, first morning light –

No thing in sight not made of light,

Nor is what’s right more wrong by night.

All things are bright, with love bedight.

© 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/becau4.html. For more Hanukkah poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/chanukahpoems.html .

This week’s theme: Christmas and Hanukkah

12/23: Isn’t It Nice to Celebrate Twice

12/24: Because All Things Are Made of Light

Isn't It Nice to Celebrate Twice

December 23, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Christmas and Hanukkah. The first night of Hanukkah was last night, Dec. 22, and Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25.

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

A combined Christmas and Hanukkah poem for a child of a mixed marriage who celebrates both:

Isn’t it nice to celebrate twice –

Christmas and Hanukkah?

To follow the ways of both holidays,

Lucky to be who you are?

On each of eight nights a candle to light,

Till all of them are aglow,

A moment of love in memory of

A light that was lit long ago.

And then there’s a tree to trim lovingly,

And presents beneath it to leave,

An evergreen tree for a life that will be

Eternal, at least some believe.

So celebrate twice ‘mid the cold rain and ice

Two holidays often apart.

But put together, despite the harsh weather,

They bring twice the warmth to the heart.

© 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/isntit.html. For more poems about Christmas and Hanukkah, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/xmaschristmaspoems.html and https://www.poemsforfree.com/chanukahpoems.html.

This week’s theme: Christmas and Hanukkah

12/23: Isn’t It Nice to Celebrate Twice

To Mrs. Quinn, the Queen of Poetry

December 22, 2019

Dear Subscriber:

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

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

A thank-you poem to an English teacher on her retirement:

To Mrs. Quinn, the Queen of Poetry:

Having held for twenty years your teas

And given to us all the gift of beauty,

Now you may at last enjoy your ease,

Knowing the sweet ending of your duty.

You've walked among the loveliest of trees,

Out gathering the harvest, rich and fruity,

Undying words that feed the will to be.

© 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/tomrsq.html. For more thank-you poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/thankyoupoems.html .

This week’s theme: Saying Thank You

12/16: Maybe There’s No Way That I Can Thank You

12/17: Thank You All for Coming Here

12/18: Thank You for Your Letters, Cards, and Calls

12/19: The Greatest Gifts Are Those That Cost Us Least

12/20: Thank You for the Things You’ve Done for Me

12/21: Thank You for Being the Heart of My Life

12/22: To Mrs. Quinn, the Queen of Poetry