Tempest Tossed
New Year here heralds cares to come, scarce cheer,
In this age of transition where the earth,
New born, is torn protesting at its birth,
Emerging prematurely from the bier
That too well represents the dying year.
Each breath brings death towards us, proves its worth
Eternal yet ephemeral, tears, mirth.
Not in itself, but by an insight clear
Nature gifts bestows on who know dear
Is bought all liberty sought where its dearth
Never seemed so much the rule through wide world's girth.
Enter a clown, whose painted smile masks fear.
The Past is dead. New forces Fate shall steer.
Yet hide-bound minds remain too tied to berth,
Trammelled with ghosts past, whereas the earth
Witness whirlpool, progress drawing near: -
Oh, tempest tossed Tomorrow shall appear!
poem by Jonathan Robin
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As Life is Mirage - Acrostic Sonnet
As dusk to dawn succeeds, so death to birth,
Swift arcs the arrow, with the ark of man,
Lost on Time’s sea, while his allotted span
Is soon forgotten, dry-docked, - narrow berth.
For dust to dust returns, earth turns to earth;
Each sickled moon a sickly herald, wan,
Is witness to impermanence. The plan
Spins to Fate’s farce fast ending. Light and mirth
Must fade or jade before they prove their worth.
In earnest, blazing brightly, nothing can
Remain eternal, beacon Hope can’t scan,
And flame as ‘fixèd mark’ – and so its dearth,
Ghost mirage, mocks love’s life and locks life’s love -
End is in sight, flight spent, expressed above.
poem by Jonathan Robin
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Death And Birth
Death and birth should dwell not near together:
Wealth keeps house not, even for shame, with dearth:
Fate doth ill to link in one brief tether
Death and birth.
Harsh the yoke that binds them, strange the girth
Seems that girds them each with each: yet whether
Death be best, who knows, or life on earth?
Ill the rose-red and the sable feather
Blend in one crown's plume, as grief with mirth:
Ill met still are warm and wintry weather,
Death and birth.
poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne
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One Year In Heaven
One year in heaven,
One year you've been there,
So far away,
Someday I'll see you in the air,
One year in heaven,
I miss you so much,
Smile down upon me,
And show me your love.
One year in heaven,
It seems like so long,
Since the last time I saw you,
And then you were gone,
One year in heaven,
You left earth to soon,
But I know they need you,
More then I do,
One year in heaven,
I'm alone on the earth,
I miss your sweet kisses,
And all that you're worth,
One year in heaven,
Is God really there?
Why did he take you,
As I cried in despair.
One year in heaven,
I still see your face,
The day that you took,
The last breath you would take,
One year in heaven,
Why did you die,
I know God needed you,
But still I cry.
One year in heaven,
Soon I'll be there,
So wait by the gate,
Please, this do swear,
One year in heaven,
To me it is long,
But you have no pain,
From this earth you have gone.
One year in heaven,
It's so hard to move on,
I'll send you a prayer,
And sing you a song,
One year in heaven,
Life's not the same,
Since you left this world,
I'm living in a daze.
One year in heaven,
You watch from above,
Sit there and smile,
And send me your love,
One year in heaven,
You may think it's just a day,
But this world is so different,
Since God took you away
poem by Michele Weston
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Fruit of Earth
The winds that blow about the world
(Said Old George Jones)
See here all hope to ruin hurled,
See there triumphant flags unfurled,
Over chance-favored zones.
And no man's wisdom, no man's might
Foresees, much les controls
Some little breeze born of the night
That brings perchance a sudden blight
Or balm for tortured souls.
But growin' things and sowin' things
And watchin' of 'em grow
Not hastenin' things or slowin' things
Nor seekin' to be knowin' things
That men may never know.
'Tis so the kind earth pays a man
'Tis so content is made.
Not work, but worry slays a man;
I take what tricks Fate plays a man
An' sticks to Adam's trade.
The fears that creep about the earth
Vague fears and short-lived joys
What in reckonin' are they worth?
Too quickly swayed by grief or mirth
We live like foolish boys.
Year in, year out, earth mothers us
And offers livelihood,
This year ill fortune bothers us
Next year her bounty smothers us:
The sum of all is good.
'Tis futile man proposes things;
But Nature goes her ways
And God alone disposes things,
And Time alone discloses things
That rule our future says.
Earth yields me her fertility
And till she takes my bones,
I'll nought of man's futility.
For peace bides in humility
(Said Old George Jones).
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
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Villonaud for This Yule
Towards the Noel that morte saison
(Christ make the shepherds' homage dear!)
Then when the grey wolves everychone
Drink of the winds their chill small-beer
And lap o' the snows food's gueredon
Then makyth my heart his yule-tide cheer
(Skoal! with the dregs if the clear be gone!)
Wineing the ghosts of yester-year.
Ask ye what ghost I dream upon?
(What of the magians' scented gear?)
The ghosts of dead loves everyone
That make the stark winds reek with fear
Lest love return with the foison sun
And slay the memories that me cheer
(Such as I drink to mine fashion)
Wineing the ghosts of yester-year.
Where are the joys my heart had won?
(Saturn and Mars to Zeus drawn near!)
Where are athe lips mine lay upon,
Aye! where are the glances feat and clear
That bade my heart his valor don?
I skoal to the eyes as grey-blown meer
(Who knows whose was that paragon?)
Wineing the ghosts of yester-year.
Prince: ask me not what I have done
Nor what God hath that can me cheer
But ye ask first where the winds are gone
Wineing the ghosts of yester-year.
poem by Ezra Pound
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A Contemplation upon Flowers
BRAVE flowers--that I could gallant it like you,
And be as little vain!
You come abroad, and make a harmless show,
And to your beds of earth again.
You are not proud: you know your birth:
For your embroider'd garments are from earth.
You do obey your months and times, but I
Would have it ever Spring:
My fate would know no Winter, never die,
Nor think of such a thing.
O that I could my bed of earth but view
And smile, and look as cheerfully as you!
O teach me to see Death and not to fear,
But rather to take truce!
How often have I seen you at a bier,
And there look fresh and spruce!
You fragrant flowers! then teach me, that my breath
Like yours may sweeten and perfume my death.
poem by Henry King
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From Weeds' Ground to Seeds Found
As weeds which struggle spite capricious light,
each generation reaches out for space,
each generation fights to mark its place
before the next, forgetful, frets Time’s night.
As weeds we wither when our mortal plight
severs theme's thread, dreams seem too often vain
before most seek beyond pain's wi[n]dow pane
which separates won world from Nature’s bite.
Few glow within, wing free flight holiday,
few fail to compromise, in any case
few dare prolong the moment’s state of grace
when faced with choice – heed winning voice “We may! ”
Where rare exception to fools’ rule is found,
weeds fail to fuel foul play, rot healthy ground.
Where chance encounter contradicts Earth's dearth
of understanding and enlightenment
one rose through smog's pollution spreading scent
is worth wait's weight, may herald hope's rebirth.
Where joy and reciprocity share berth
with touching tenderness, no supplement
should be sought after as entitlement,
enjoy Time's gifts and revel in paired mirth.
Who seeks on land or sea, our wide world's girth
for satisfaction in life's sojourn lent
may well discover to his doorstep's sent
bliss peerless trading restlessness for worth.
Bid welcome earnest stranger at your gate,
maybe [s]he holds gold keys joys conjugate.
poem by Jonathan Robin
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Autumn: A Dirge
The warm sun is falling, the bleak wind is wailing,
The bare boughs are sighing, the pale flowers are dying,
And the Year
On the earth is her death-bed, in a shroud of leaves dead,
Is lying.
Come, Months, come away,
From November to May,
In your saddest array;
Follow the bier
Of the dead cold Year,
And like dim shadows watch by her sepulchre.
The chill rain is falling, the nipped worm is crawling,
The rivers are swelling, the thunder is knelling
For the Year;
The blithe swallows are flown, and the lizards each gone
To his dwelling.
Come, Months, come away;
Put on white, black and gray;
Let your light sisters play--
Ye, follow the bier
Of the dead cold Year,
And make her grave green with tear on tear.
poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley
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Marvin's Beer
queer cheer
dear ear sneer
steer fear
veer tear
we're mere
jeer here freer
air dire pier
all clear
adhere
appear austere
come near
desire draw dear
each year
first gear
great year
frontier
pap smear
life peer
light year
revere sincere
fallow deer
far and near
bashir chusmir
mouse deer
orear one year
appear
it's all clear.
budgeteer
bombardier
a case of beer
exovir cavalier
another case
of marvin's beer
poem by Ric S. Bastasa
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The Autumn Thistles
The morning sky is white with mist, the earth
White with the inspiration of the dew.
The harvest light is on the hills anew,
And cheer in the grave acres' fruitful girth.
Only in this high pasture is there dearth,
Where the gray thistles crowd in ranks austere,
As if the sod, close-cropt for many a year,
Brought only bane and bitterness to birth.
But in the crisp air's amethystine wave
How the harsh stalks are washed with radiance now,
How gleams the harsh turf where the crickets lie
Dew-freshened in their burnished armour brave!
Since earth could not endure nor heaven allow
Aught of unlovely in the morn's clear eye.
poem by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts
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Farewell To The Old Year, 1863
Farewell, old year, 'the bourne' is near,
'Whence traveller ne'er returneth'-
Passing away from time for aye,
Thy life-light faintly burneth.
Farewell, old year, dark shapes of fear,
Grim spectres pale and gory,
Flitting around, with moaning sound,
Tell us thy sad war story.
Farewell, old year, we do not fear
Republic or Imperial-
If war inclined, they both shall find
We're rather tough material.
Farewell, old year, thy past career
Hath given both gloom and gladness;
Thou gave us peace, but no decrease
In human crime and madness.
Farewell, old year, the pall and bier
Thou saw us oft attending,
And heard oft-times the merry chimes
Of birth and wedlock blending.
Farewell, old year, a voice we hear,
How solemnly it falleth-
'All flesh is grass,' prepare to pass,
Ere long the Master calleth!
Farewell, old year, thy knell we hear
Through Time's dark arches sounding;
Wrapt in thy shroud, a dense, dark cloud
Thy solemn bier surrounding.
Farewell, old year, we still have cheer,
Though tinged with doubt and sorrow,
We leave thy urn and gladly turn
To give new year good morrow.
poem by Janet Hamilton
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Eternity Is Looming
Many people just can't see, the looming Truth of Eternity,
An endless time ahead for all, yes indeed, for every soul,
Every soul upon this earth, is here today, by natural birth,
Here for a time all will die; these are truths you can't deny.
Many don't give a thought, to what choices have wrought,
This, in the light of eternity, or even what life after may be;
Some have bought the lie, live merry for tomorrow we die,
Giving after life not a thought, as God's Truth isn't sought.
Only one life's decreed by God, for beings on earth's sod,
As He Decrees our last breath, the time that we see death,
This encounter will then lead, to Judgment, for all decreed,
Appointed to all by our Creator, Who is also man's Savior.
Time on earth God gives us, so we may seek Christ Jesus,
Who paid the judgment for all, charged on us from the fall,
Reconciling God with men, when in Christ we're born again,
Removing the sting of death, while giving us eternal breath.
You may not believe this friend, as all life on earth will end,
Our soul lives on eternally, but in darkness without Calvary,
Which, gave us Eternal Life, through the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Come to Him before the end; eternity with Him you'll spend.
The Christmas Fairy
The fairy on the Christmas tree
Is looking quite forlorn.
Her wand is broken and splinted;
Her wings, all tattered and torn.
Her dress of stiff crepe paper
Was once a bright sky blue,
But time has bleached it all away.
It's now a much paler hue.
But through it all, each Christmas
She sits in pride of place,
Gazing down on the proceedings,
A serene smile on her face.
She sat there when I was growing up,
And when my son was small,
And, somehow, I know she'll still be there
When the grandchildren come to call.
She's become a part of my family life,
Of memories which I hold dear,
And to me, at least, she heralds in
A Christmas filled with cheer.
And I just can't bear to give her up,
To heartlessly throw her away.
To me she represents Christmases Past
And she will to my dying day.
poem by Dawn Ferrett
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HAPPY TWENTY TWELVE! MMXII - ' Make Minds eXtremely Innocent Innate
The Year much awaited has come
New Year brings happiness Home
Amidst fears and predictions
Time for some humble restrictions
Hope the world thrives and prospers
As the new bell chimes and whispers
All thats worth and worthy for Earth
Shall be blooming and smiling after birth
Make Minds eXtremely Innocent Innate
Good sense of humour makes stress abate
World thrives on Faith and Love
Evergreen Bliss needs Everyone to involve
Twenty Twelve is the year to Evolve
GOD is there to Protect and Solve!
poem by Manjeshwari P MYSORE
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The Idle Son
Young Benjamin left school this year
And stepped right in a job;
And he starts in hope of a life career,
Like his eldest brother, Bob.
But Sam, the lad who came between,
Born in the fateful year 'thirteen,
Still vainly seeks a place;
And the mark of his fate, too plainly seen,
Dawns in his listless face.
For Sam was born in a black year,
In the year of the world's black rage
To rob his youth of childish mirth;
And another curse was on the earth
In the year he came of age.
War and depression, this grim twain,
Have clouded life for a bright young brain.
Life smiles for Benjamin and Bob,
Each lucky in his age;
But the count of years falls ill to rob
Same of his heritage:
Too old for a youth's apprenticeship,
Untrained, too young for a man's firm grip,
Tho' a man in stature grown,
He lives to see his chances slip,
Thro' no fault of his own.
For Sam was born in a black year,
In a black year came from school.
But we who know past years of ease
Hold stern responsibilities
Ere his youthful ardours cool.
Ours is the duty, ours the task
To yield what youth has right to ask.
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
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Happy New Year 2012 (a song)
Happy New Year, Two Thousand Twelve!
With hope anew, let us all delve;
Forget the past year’s woes galore;
To each, God opens newer door!
Happy New Year, resolve sans fears;
Pray God should give all lesser tears;
Why waste money going to moon?
Our earth is wealthy, great a boon!
Happy New Year, aim to labour;
To brethren, no hatred harbour;
To share our love, God wants us to;
The rest of things, He’ll surely do!
Happy New Year, give others joy;
Obey your parents, if girl or boy;
Pray God gives leaders, clear minds, hearts;
You give your mite and do your parts!
Happy New Year, live and let live;
Help the poor; to God, glory give;
This earth can turn a Paradise,
If toil can all, becoming wise!
Copyright by Dr John Celes 30-12-11
poem by John Celes
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Why You've Fear When I'm Here?
Why you've fear,
When I'm here?
Why shed a tear,
I'm not clear?
You're every year,
Grown up in fear,
That brings you tear,
When you aren't clear.
Show always a cheer,
In place of a tear,
That will, my dear,
Drive away your fear.
If still you've fear,
When I'm near,
You turn deaf ear,
To my words, dear.
I'm now clear,
That you've no fear,
Nor let a tear,
Down below your ear.
poem by Rajaram Ramachandran
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A Baby's Death
A little soul scarce fledged for earth
Takes wing with heaven again for goal
Even while we hailed as fresh from birth
A little soul.
Our thoughts ring sad as bells that toll,
Not knowing beyond this blind world's girth
What things are writ in heaven's full scroll.
Our fruitfulness is there but dearth,
And all things held in time's control
Seem there, perchance, ill dreams, not worth
A little soul.
The little feet that never trod
Earth, never strayed in field or street,
What hand leads upward back to God
The little feet?
A rose in June's most honied heat,
When life makes keen the kindling sod,
Was not so soft and warm and sweet.
Their pilgrimage's period
A few swift moons have seen complete
Since mother's hands first clasped and shod
The little feet.
The little hands that never sought
Earth's prizes, worthless all as sands,
What gift has death, God's servant, brought
The little hands?
We ask: but love's self silent stands,
Love, that lends eyes and wings to thought
To search where death's dim heaven expands.
Ere this, perchance, though love know nought,
Flowers fill them, grown in lovelier lands,
Where hands of guiding angels caught
The little hands.
The little eyes that never knew
Light other than of dawning skies,
What new life now lights up anew
The little eyes?
Who knows but on their sleep may rise
Such light as never heaven let through
To lighten earth from Paradise?
No storm, we know, may change the blue
Soft heaven that haply death descries
No tears, like these in ours, bedew
The little eyes.
Was life so strange, so sad the sky,
So strait the wide world's range,
He would not stay to wonder why
Was life so strange?
Was earth's fair house a joyless grange
Beside that house on high
Whence Time that bore him failed to estrange?
That here at once his soul put by
All gifts of time and change,
And left us heavier hearts to sigh
'Was life so strange?'
Angel by name love called him, seeing so fair
The sweet small frame;
Meet to be called, if ever man's child were,
Angel by name.
Rose-bright and warm from heaven's own heart he came,
And might not bear
The cloud that covers earth's wan face with shame.
His little light of life was all too rare
And soft a flame:
Heaven yearned for him till angels hailed him there
Angel by name.
The song that smiled upon his birthday here
Weeps on the grave that holds him undefiled
Whose loss makes bitterer than a soundless tear
The song that smiled.
His name crowned once the mightiest ever styled
Sovereign of arts, and angel: fate and fear
Knew then their master, and were reconciled.
But we saw born beneath some tenderer sphere
Michael, an angel and a little child,
Whose loss bows down to weep upon his bier
The song that smiled.
poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne
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A Faithful Witness
To the firstborn of Yahseph,
Of all that is created;
To the secondborn of Yahseph,
Do set set your mind on Mount Zion;
For His name is His glory and,
Of the economic well-being.
Of the year of the rat,
Of the year of the dog,
Of the year of the cow,
Of the year of the bull,
Of the year of the sheep,
Of the year of the dragon,
Of the year of the snake,
Of the year of the pig,
Of the year of the goat,
Of the year of the lizard,
Of the year of the crocodile,
Of the year of the elephant,
Of the year of the scorpion,
Of the year of the turtle,
Of the year of the fish,
Of the year of the earth,
Of the year of the wind,
Of the year of the fire,
Of the year of the water,
And of the year of the bush!
Like the firstborns of slaves.
The hips of romance,
The faithful witness will not lie;
The same day,
The same night,
Of the love shared at where no oxen are;
And the crib was very clean.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
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November
Old November, sere and brown,
Clothes the country, haunts the town,
Sheds its cloak of withered leaves,
Brings its sighing, soughing breeze.
Prophet of the dying year,
Builder of its funeral bier,
Bring your message here to men;
Sound it forth that they may ken
What of Life and what of Death
Linger on your frosty breath.
Let men know to you are given
Days of thanks to God in heaven;
Thanks for things which we deem best,
Thanks, O God, for all the rest
That have taught us--(trouble, strife,
Bring thru Death a larger life)--
Death of our base self and fear--
(Even as the dying year,
Though through cold and frost, shall bring
Forth a new and glorious spring)--
Shall shed over us the sway
Of a new and brighter day,
With Hope, Faith and Love alway.
poem by Joseph Seamon Cotter
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