There Is No Substitute for Gratitude

November 26, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a poem for Thanksgiving about the need for gratitude.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

There is no substitute for gratitude.
Here or there, the gift is just the same.
A joyful life depends on attitude,
Nor does one need a giver or a name.
Knowledge is not needed, nor is faith,
So long as one is struck by being’s beauty,
Going humbly, as the preacher saith,
Immersed in the minutiae of one’s duty.
Vast the suffering and fierce the pain.
In life is death; in every moment fear.
Nonetheless, one would one’s life sustain,
Grateful for the gift of being here.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

I Lost My Sight and Found My Son

November 19, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a poem about how a calamity can be a gift.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

I lost my sight and found my son.
I needed you; you came to me.
I thought my joy in life was done.
You showed me what I could not see.

I needed you; you came to me.
How beautiful to have made you!
You showed me what I could not see:
That life and love are ever new.

How beautiful to have made you!
I thought my joy in life was done.
But life and love are ever new.
I lost my sight and found my son.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

Take Me to Your Leader

November 12, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a political science-fiction poem about the arrival of aliens.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Take me to your leader
And tell her I am here
For mutual enrichment.
You have no cause for fear.

Your planet contains minerals
Of which we are in need,
For which we will pay handsomely.
We come not out of greed.

We come for trade and friendship
From the Emperor
Who rules the peaceful universe,
The Pax Galactica.

And since we have an army
Far more advanced than yours,
We offer our assistance
To end your endless wars

And make for our investments
A canopy of peace.
It is in both our interests
That all these conflicts cease.

We offer you the culture
Of worlds beyond your sight
To bring you out of darkness
And lift you into light;

To civilize your values,
Enlighten your beliefs,
Disable your diseases,
Ameliorate your griefs ...

Oh, yes, those are my warships
Circling your sky.
Mere precaution – I don't know
What some of you might try.

Rest assured, we come in peace --
The planet of our birth?
Oh, long ago, so long ago,
It was the planet Earth.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

Veer Off into the Sunset When You're Done

November 5, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a Veterans Day poem about keeping sane after discharge.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Veer off into the sunset when you’re done,
Embracing ordinary life again.
There is no better antidote for pain.
Each normal day’s another battle won.
Remembering is good, reliving bad,
As what one buries tends to haunt the night,
Nor will it rest until it’s bathed in light,
Soaked in tears, and then in clear words clad.
Do not relive the past, but honor it.
As you move on, let go, but don’t forget.
You lay your wreathes to music, sweet but sad.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite the poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/week.html . For more Veterans Day poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/veteransdaypoems.html .

Hollow, Hollow Halloween

October 29, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a Halloween poem about the plight of lost souls.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Hollow, hollow Halloween,
All hollow at the bone
Like a loud but silent scream
Long entombed in stone.
O hollow, hard, unhallowed souls
Wandering the night:
Ever weep on daylight’s shoals
Even as the matin tolls,
Never reaching light.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

Harmony Comes Wholly from Within

October 15, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is an anniversary poem about the music of love.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Harmony comes wholly from within,
Adding voices to life's melodies.
Perhaps at times life sings in minor keys.
Praised be those who find the grace therein.
Yet love's a counter melody to sin,
An inner voice creating harmonies
Now spilling round the roots of ravaged trees.
Now borne like bliss upon a gentle wind.
In us there is a harmony well honed,
Voices that for years have sung in tune,
Each supporting each through passages
Rich with the complexities of life.
Sing, then, of the concert hall, a domed
Atrium on a golden afternoon,
Resonant with musical messages
Yielded by the love of man and wife.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

Consider All Your Just Considerations

October 8, 2015

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a Columbus Day poem about the allure of discovery.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Consider all your just considerations:
One lives for the sweet salience of surprise,
Looking at the world with naked eyes
Unencumbered by routine relations.
Make room for wonders rising from the sea!
Beauty is more beautiful unframed,
Unclassified, unvetted, and unnamed,
Solely what it seems or it might be.
Discovery requires ignorance
As one sets sail beyond one’s common sense,
Yearning to unveil a mystery.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite the poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/week.html. For more Columbus Day poems, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/columbusdaypoems.html .