Poem of the Week

March 13, 2008 #477

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a St. Patrick's Day poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Seriously, nothing would surprise me.
The land we loved is turned into a store,
Prettied up for foreigners, while we
Are salesclerks and waitresses, no more
The warriors of old, the priests of passion,
Royalty of tongue, the banshee dancers.
Instead, we have become the latest fashion,
Cheapened by the sale itself, the prancers
Kindled by a check to do their chore.

Poem of the Week

March 6, 2008 #476

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a number poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Forty has her husband, child, home.
On her rests much, but she is light of heart.
Rewards are filtered through the clouds of stone,
The merciless routine in monotone
Yielding to her patience, will, and art.

Poem of the Week

February 28, 2008 #475

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a poem for Mothering Sunday (British Mother's Day).

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Happy Mother’s Day, dear daughter!
All my love to you!
Praised be those who give themselves,
Poised to part the sea!
Years of loving need no quarter,
Making passion do,
Offering a trove of selves,
Though vicariously.
How beautiful the gift of giving
Each the unspent whole,
Returning, turning, like a tide,
‘Ere the moment wanes!
So beautiful, the act of living
Densely through a soul
Alight with wonder at the ride,
Yet soon to take the reins!

Poem of the Week

February 21, 2008 #474

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a philosophical poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Fortune is a favor to be earned.
One’s will is like a wind on weathered stone.
Remnants of one’s dreams lie all around,
The leaves that nourish well the fertile ground,
Uniting the imagined with the known.
Neither slave nor free, nor loved nor spurned,
Each borrows life and must repay the loan.

Poem of the Week

February 14, 2008 #473

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a Valentine's Day poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Today’s the day I ought to say I love you,
Although I ought to say it every day.
But “ought” can stand directly in the way,
An obstacle to being honest with you.
Why can’t I tell you what I feel for you?
Because a feeling’s too complex to say,
Wrapped in an appropriate cliché,
Offered on the day I “ought” to tell you.
And yet this squeamishness is just a pose
Dissolved into the river of my love,
Which needs no more than one word for its name.
Beneath my wordy sophistry it flows
Like truth that one need neither test nor prove,
A happiness I need but speak to claim.

Poem of the Week

February 6, 2008 #472

Dear Subscriber:

Note: I'm sending out this poem of the week a day earlier than usual because tomorrow I'll be traveling. The next poem of the week will be emailed on February 14^th.

This week’s poem of the week is a poem for the Lunar New Year.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

Yours,

Nick Gordon

There may be some who've wondered why the rat
Happens to be first to have a year
Exclusively devoted to his name.
Yet clever, crafty creatures never fear:
Eventually, they'll win – that's where they're at!
And this is how it came about: The rat,
Racing for the prize, fell towards the rear.
Out of breath, he thought he'd lost the game.
Fast rampaging Bull was drawing near;
The problem was: How to reach his back?
Here came by the lost, high-leaping cat.
Eureka! Up they went, the two friends dear,
Riding on the bull's back towards fame.
At the last, Rat pushes Pussy clear,
Then leaps ahead of Bull – and that was that!

Poem of the Week

January 31, 2008 #471

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a name poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Martin died at twenty-four;
A second transplant failed.
Rest in peace, my darling boy,
The lantern of my life and joy;
In death find life unveiled.
Nor can one hope for more.

Poem of the Week

January 24, 2008 #470

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a birthday poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

Yours,

Nick Gordon

I am four.
I don’t know why.

Perhaps I fell
Out of the sky
Four years ago.

I don’t know.

Or came like jelly
Out of Mommy’s belly.

Oh, my! Oh, my!

Poem of the Week

January 17, 2008 #469

Dear Subscriber

This week’s poem of the week is a poem for Martin Luther King's birthday.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Maybe more than love was needed.
All my love was not enough.
Reason is but rarely heeded.
Talk means little at the trough.
Icons look good on the wall
Nothing changes but the names.
Love is merely protocol.
Undiluted fear remains
The life is fast, the changes slow.
Hope must be its own reward
Eventually, the undertow
Returns, returns towards times untoward.
Kings build castles in the sand.
Infinity awaits the tide.
None can settle on the strand.
Grace must live with fratricide.

Poem of the Week

January 10, 2008 #468

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a philosophical number poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Forget that you are much esteemed and loved
If that is not enough to bring you joy.
Forget that you are healthy and secure,
Though there must always be what will alloy
Your happiness and life’s indifference prove.

So is there nothing, nothing can destroy?
Is there grace no sorrow can remove,
Xerophyte that blooms where most endure?

Poem of the Week

January 3, 2008 #467

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is an animal poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

Yours,

Nick Gordon

The night my heart stopped
I was sleeping with my wife
In a tent at the edge of a wood.

The Earth spun and spun.
Silent, in a cold sweat,
I felt myself going under.

I crawled out of the tent,
Careful not to wake my wife,
And onto a chaise lounge.

Under the spinning stars
My heart started and stopped,
Started and stopped, started . . .

I lay where a path emerged
From the wood, and along the path
Came a large raccoon.

He walked over to me
And raised himself up
Not four feet from my eyes.

We stared at each other
With focused understanding,
Words without words,

Eyes beyond eyes,
A giving and a taking
That stilled my raucous heart.

Satisfied, he lowered
Himself to the ground
And turned toward the wood.

“Thank you, brother,” I said,
“Thank you.” But he was gone,
Slipped back into darkness.