Sunday, September 10, 2017

So Did You Die of History

September 11, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is terrorism in memory of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Today’s poem is a poem for the victims of terrorism on 9/11.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

So did you die of history,
Each innocent of dogma dead,
Purloined to play in some fool's head
The drama of his destiny.
Even in your hapless herds,
Miracles to men unmoved,
Being loved as you were loved,
Even thus, you were but words.
Reason seeks what reason knows.
Each alone must bridge the gulf,
Loving all as if oneself,
Else blood with reason endless flows.
Vanquished, you must still live on,
Each murdered soul a monument,
Nor what you mean be what you meant,
The private to the public gone,
Held long as letters carved in stone.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/sodidy.html. For more poems about terrorism and 911, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/terrorism911poems.html .

This week’s theme: Terrorism
September 11: So Did You Die of History

Librarians Are Those We Trust with Treasures

September 10, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is professions in honor of Labor Day, which was celebrated on September 4.

Today’s poem is about the profession of librarian.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Librarians are those we trust with treasures
Incalculable, for they are of the mind,
Bringing to our leisure greater pleasures,
Read for read, than any other kind.
All our legacy is in their keeping,
Ready to enrich each avid self,
In which one finds some past soul’s subtle meaning
Alive as well-wrought words upon a shelf.
No wealth survives without its guardians.
So must we be thankful for librarians.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

This week’s theme: Professions
September 10: Librarians Are Those We Trust with Treasures

Friday, September 8, 2017

There Is No Greater Passion than for Beauty

January 14, 2018

Dear Subscriber:

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

Today’s poem is for a singer/songwriter.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

There is no greater passion than for beauty --
Ecstasy distilled into a song --
Nor calling more exquisite than the duty
To make our own the truths for which we long.
Here's to you, then! And for what you've done
To be the muse who mirrors well our hearts,
Restoring the lone many to the one
Common love that underlies all arts.
O love of being, bearer of our pain!
Well might we praise the gardeners who bring
Our passions into bloom, that we again
Might hear the sunlit bird within us sing.
Long may you ply what practices you've learned,
Profiting all by artistry you've earned.

© by Nicholas Gordon

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at https://www.poemsforfree.com/ther27.html. For more poems about professions, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/professionspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Performing Arts
January 11: Hrithik
January 12: Charles
January 14: There Is No Greater Passion than for Beauty

You Put Yourself in Harm's Way

September 8, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is professions in honor of Labor Day, which was celebrated on September 4.

Today’s poem is about the profession of first responder (police or firefighters).

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

You put yourself in harm's way,
Though you might die, that we might live,
The Good Samaritan for pay,
Asked often for what few would give.

Though you might die that we might live,
You make a conscious choice to be
Asked often for what few would give,
And to remain while others flee.

You make a conscious choice to be
The calm, well-trained professional,
And to remain while others flee
To face some danger for us all.

The calm, well-trained professional,
The Good Samaritan for pay:
To face some danger for us all,
You put yourself in harm's way.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

This week’s theme: Professions
September 8: You Put Yourself in Harm’s Way

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Pastors Are Supposed to Be the Shepherds

September 7, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is professions in honor of Labor Day, which was celebrated on September 4.

Today’s poem is about the profession of pastor.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Pastors are supposed to be the shepherds
A willing flock has bid to guide their souls.
So must you be yourself a lamb of courage,
The one most lost amid the moral wreckage
Of Adam's sin, whose grief must be the fold's.
Remember we are all but broken potsherds,
Sustained alone by faith in some great whole.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

This week’s theme: Professions
September 7: Pastors Are Supposed to Be the Shepherds

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Nurses Must Be Angels by Profession

September 6, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is professions in honor of Labor Day, which was celebrated on September 4.

Today’s poem is about the profession of nursing.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Nurses must be angels by profession,
Under the direction of their gods.
Restoring peace to those immersed in pain,
Sustaining life in those life can't sustain,
Each nurse each day must elevate the odds,
Skilled in love's most practical expression.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

This week’s theme: Professions
September 6: Nurses Must Be Angels by Profession

Monday, September 4, 2017

Therapists Find Fortune in Misfortune

September 5, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. This week’s theme is professions in honor of Labor Day, which was celebrated on September 4.

Today’s poem is a number poem about the profession of therapist.

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

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Therapists find fortune in misfortune,
Here to help us navigate our pain.
If our existence must precede our essence,
Requiring an extended adolescence,
There is need for those who keep us sane.
Yet some fear nothing more than resurrection.

Sing, then, of therapists, who would find ways,
Even in these times, to ease distress,
Vested in the cause of happiness,
Embracing life through long and brutal days,
Not least because their love demands no less.

© by Nicholas Gordon

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

This week’s theme: Professions
September 5: Therapists Find Fortune in Misfortune