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National Poetry Month
In March, I was nominated as a Poetry Ambassador for 2006,
and accepted the nomination. During the month of April, I read poetry (my own
and that of others) to residents here in the nursing home where I live.In
honor of National Poetry Month, I committed myself to writing one poem each day
of the month. Unfortunately, I came down sick on Easter from an infection of
the skin on my leg and didn't quite make it. I posted my
poems on a bulletin board here at Evergreen.
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April Fools
It's April First, When April Fools
Will play their tricks in homes and schools.
They'll try to make their friends believe
Some lie or trick, and thus aggrieve.
They think some honor to receive
When such deception they achieve
By making others look like fools
When it's themselves who are the Fools.
April 1, 2006
Daylight Savings Time
Now Daylight Savings Time comes 'round
'Bout this time every year.
First Sunday after March's end
Is when time comes more dear.
For then we set the hands ahead
And lose an hour of night,
So that the sun, when going down,
Stays longer in our sight.
April 2, 2006
Title of Liberty
Amalickiah was a man
Who wanted to be king.
He sought for pow'r, and sought to rule
O'er all and every thing.
He won the hearts of many men
Who thought he'd give them pow'r,
And others, tired of living true,
Apostatized each hour.
Moroni was a hero true,
A captain of the host.
He loved the freedoms that they had,
And God he loved the most.
He saw the danger they were in
Of losing all their right.
So raised a banner on a pole
To urge them to the fight:
In memory of the holy God,
The Faith their fathers had,
To stand against a would-be king,
For Peace that made them glad,
Secure the virture of their wives,
Providing for their need,
Their children hold in innocence;
These were their basic creed.
The first flag in America,
As far as any knows,
Means just the same to me
As our "Old Glory" shows.
I raise our banner to the sky
As Moroni did of old.
And may we all support the cause
With hearts and hands as bold.
April 2, 2006
Breakfast
For hash browned potatoes,
Ham and eggs,
Bran flakes, and orange juice
My heart begs.
Give me my breakfast
Right on time.
With a good breakfast,
Life is sublime.
April 3, 2006
Thank Your Librarian
Today is Thank Your Librarian Day.
Their service to you is unique.
If there is anything you want to know,
They'll have it, if only you seek.
Librarians know the ins and the outs
For locating any old book.
If there's something you need, they are able, you know,
To show you just where you should look.
With a little knowhow, you can do it yourself,
But it's still nice to have them around.
For there's always some case that is harder than most,
And without them it will not be found.
April 4, 2006
Serenity
The quiet waters of my soul
Know no ripples from the shoal,
Unshaken by the world abroad,
Sheltered in the arms of God.
Knowing all is in His care,
Knowing He will get me there,
Knowing He will show me how,
Eternity is here and now.
This is mine when I am fit
His Spirit's presence to admit.
Then His power I can know,
Like the ocean's ebb and flow.
April 5, 2006
Twinkie Jokes
I remember Twinkies, but hadn't
Had one for a while.
I heard there were some Twinkie jokes,
So, looking for a smile,
Embarked upon the Internet
And surfed it for awhile.
I didn't find an awful lot,
And some weren't fit to file.
Some weren't very funny,
And some were rather vile.
If you know any good ones,
Please give my phone a dial.
April 6, 2006
Sin Taxes
I know we need the taxes,
But I think that it's a shame
To take from those who need it most,
But can't pass up a game;
Or those who're trapped by nicotene
And can't pass up a butt;
Or those, who craving alcohol,
Are living in a rut.
Oh, what a shame, if someday we
Should wake up from our naps
To find no one addicted --
And government collapsed!
April 7, 2006
Butterfly
The fragile butterfly has strength
That may not be apparent.
It flutters by on summer winds,
A leaf upon the current.
But picture it. With wings like hers,
You'd never leave the ground.
How long now, could you flap those wings?
Or even walk around?
She gets her strength by struggling
While still in her cocoon.
Our struggles here, give us strength, too;
They are a real boon.
So struggle on, if you'd be strong.
Try all that you can try.
And when you come out in the end,
Be like the butterfly.
April 8, 2006
* submitted to Noble House UK for printing in a book of poetry.
The Word of God
"Man shall not live by bread alone",
But by the word of God.
And this is what the Savior spoke,
But not of tittle and jot.
For He had just communed with God,
His Father, as He's ours.
His Father's word was what He sought,
As dew upon the flowers.
So He received, and so may we,
For we're His children, too.
A loaf of bread and not a stone
He's promised me and you.
The word of God is not the text
That's printed on the page.
But what He whispers in our ears --
'Twas true in any age.
April 9, 2006
Other Worlds
I've watched the planets from my youth,
Mysterious in the sky.
Our studies say that they are dead.
And I keep wondering, "Why?"
Are they what's left of peoples past?
Or waiting for a start?
I know that there must be a cause;
I feel it in my heart.
We once thought Venus covered up
With jungle and/or sea,
A place for dinosaurs perhaps?
Or mermaids swimming free.
But now, they say it's far too hot,
E'en melting lead and such;
Sulphuric acid in the rain?
That really is too much!
And then there's Mars from which we feared
A war might soon be sent;
A place of water-filled canals,
And little green-skinned men.
But no, they say we're wrong again:
A dry and dusty place;
There's hardly any air to breathe,
No water on it's face.
The other planets fare far worse:
Too hot, too cold, and more.
Is Earth the only home to life,
The universe's core?
Preposterous it seems to me,
To think we're all alone,
Mere germs with brains in all the void,
On a revolving stone.
April 10, 2006
The Zoo
I went to the Zoo today
To see what I could see.
I found the polar bears
As lively as could be.
The sun bear ventured out
For me to photograph.
It's small and awkward shape
Made watching children laugh.
I found the warty pigs
Exciting 'cause they're new.
The monkeys were indoors,
But windows spoiled the view.
The Amazon was nice:
A python filled his space;
The caiman laid in wait;
While toucans found their place;
Spry marmoset, at last,
Was caught within my frame.
The rhino lay asleep;
The hippos were the same.
The zebras turned their backs;
Gazelle could graze at ease.
Giraffes were eating high;
The vultures as they please.
The tigers napped in caves;
The leopard on a rock.
I had a pleasant time,
Returning, five o'clock.
April 11, 2006
Murphy's Law?
They say it's "Murphy's Law"
When anything goes wrong.
They say if something can,
It will before too long.
I say that's pessimistic.
Even pessimists might agree.
But I think so much more
Could happen. Don't you see?
I say that we are blessed
To have the trials we see.
How else could we learn patience,
Or faith, or sympathy?
And where were love or hope
If all things went just right?
So many things we learn
By fighting the good fight.
April 12, 2006
* Submitted to a poetry contest with Poetry.com on June 21, 2006
Passover
The Sons of Jacob and their crew
Four hundred years in slavery grew.
Then Moses, found among the reeds,
Was raised a royal child indeed.
When forty, Moses killed a man
And to the desert then he ran,
Spent forty years just watching sheep,
Learning the skills he'd need to keep.
Then God appeared to him and spoke:
Go, free my childen from their yoke.
And Moses went as God had said,
But Aaron spoke for him instead.
When Pharaoh told him ten times No!,
Said Moses to his people, Go,
And sprinkle lamb's blood on your door;
Then wait for God to work once more.
And so God struck the first-born dead,
Preserving those who had obeyed.
For they were covered by the blood
As Death passed over like a flood,
Saving those who lived with care
Beneath the blood-stained doorways there.
And when the tenth plague had been spent,
Then Moses and his people went
To desert lands where they were taught
The things of God, that freedom brought.
April 13, 2006
Easter Eggs
Most Easter eggs are pretty,
Tho' some are rather plain.
They come in every color,
So pleasant to the brain.
They're hidden on a lawn,
Or 'neath a bush or tree,
Or 'round a living room
To set a children's spree.
They come with fancy artwork,
And some with precious stones.
You buy them by the dozen,
Or often, on their own.
You find them made of choc'late,
And sometimes filled with creme.
I have a favorite egg -
To me, it is supreme:
I like the boiled ones best,
For when the hunt is though,
I shell them rudely then,
And eat them. Yes, I do!
April 14, 2006
Everlasting Gospel
God's Plan was known in heaven
Before we came to earth,
Tho' we have since forgot it,
Enduring mortal birth.
Twas later taught to Adam
When he was doomed to die.
He kept the law of sacrifice,
At first, not knowing why,
Then learned that Christ, God's Son,
Would come some future time
For him and all his seed
To shed his blood sublime,
That he and all who heard
With faithful hearts might live
Eternal life like Him,
And them His Spirit give.
This Gospel Enoch had,
And doubtless Noah, too.
Old Abraham sure knew
The Gospel through and through.
He told his own loved son
God would himself provide
The proper sacrifice
Before his hands were tied.
And when his son was set,
For both an offering give,
God did provide a ram
So Isaac still might live.
So Moses knew the Gospel
And taught it, best he could.
The prophets stood as witness
In times both ill and good.
Then when the time was right,
Our Lord and Savior came
To teach to do what's right,
To come and follow Him.
And then He shed His blood,
Atoned for all our sins,
And suffered all our pain;
That's where His love begins.
And then He died, was buried,
And rose up from the grave.
By this redeeming act,
He promises to save.
He taught to His disciples
The Gospel true and pure,
Ordained them, gave them pow'r,
And told them to endure.
He rose into the clouds
Unto our Father's home.
Then sent the Spirit here
To guide them as they roam.
The Church grew quickly then,
Was organized, and spread,
Though persecution rose
And many saints lay dead.
While some grew stronger still,
So many fell away.
They compromised with sin
While claiming to obey.
The faithful soon were gone,
The World controlled the Church.
The Gospel was in truth
No longer on the earth.
Then men created teachings
According to their whim.
And kept the scriptures locked
'Hind walls of stone so grim.
The priests were picked by men,
Not by the pow'r of God.
And so Dark Ages came
And men in ign'rance trod.
Until the Reformation,
Again, men sought God's light,
Resisting putrid pow'r
For scriptural insight.
But much of truth was lost
Through those benighted days
And many questions posed
Led to divided ways.
So many churches rose
Where once was only one,
Until the time appointed,
The time of darkness done.
Joseph Smith was chosen
To usher in the dawn
And when he prayed for answers
The Father and the Son
Appeared at once to him
And gave him what he sought,
And then began to teach him
The Gospel, lot by lot.
He sent the boy His angels
To tutor him by night,
And gave him revelations,
Revealing long lost light.
He organized the Church
Upon the earth again,
According to God's power
Among the sons of men.
We're told this dispensation
Will never go away
'Til Jesus takes His place
As King on that Great Day.
The Gospel is Eternal.
It's writ by God above,
The script of heaven's mercy,
The drama of His Love.
April 14, 2006
Tax Day
I've always hated doing taxes;
Don't mind paying them, you see,
Though I think the system's screwy -
Needs revising seriously.
It gives me such a splitting headache
When I'm filling out a form.
I've never made a lot of money,
Always falling 'neath the norm.
One time, when misfortune fell
(Lost my family and my job)
Then I found I owed more money -
Even though I ain't got bob.
This year, it's a different story:
When I sat down to the work,
Searched through all of the instructions
Like a tired accounting clerk,
Finally found I'd got so little
That I owed not one red cent.
Fact is, I'd need four times more
'Fore they'd tax my small stipend.
May you all be blessed with poorness,
If on Tax Day you'd be free
From filling out those frightful forms.
May you be as free as me.
April 15, 2006
Mind Power
Our minds have wondrous pow'r to see
Impossibilities.
Imagine things like flying free
With strange abilities.
Or floating upon unknown waves
And seeing 'neath the seas.
Some writers have imagined scenes
They had no chance to know.
One did describe the moons of Mars
As if he'd seen their glow.
Another wrote of submarines
And speeding round the world.
He even told a story where
Men to the moon were hurled.
Where do we get this pow'r to see
Such things that yet are not?
Or are they only things that will be
When we've learned a lot?
I myself imagine I could
Walk one day through walls.
I do not know yet how it's done,
But when my Saviour calls -
(I know He knows, for He has done it,
Once, at least, I know)
When time is ripe, and it's my turn,
I know this too, He'll show.
April 15, 2006
Richard and Saladin
King Richard left fair England's shore
Jerusalem to free
From Saladin (the Arab sheik
Who captured it, you see),
Because it was his Christian chore
To pave the way for them
Who thought they'd gain salvation there
In old Jerusalem.
The irony, of course, was this:
That Saladin's men thought
They too salvation could obtain
When they the Christians fought.
Richard came leading the pilgrims' charge,
Slaying left and right;
Saladin's style was more aloof:
He'd supervise the fight.
Richard was valiant, and won respect
From both friend and foe.
With every victory, Saladin's power
Lost some of it's glow.
Saladin held Jerusalem,
But paid a powerful price.
Richard never e'en attacked it,
Though he marched against it twice.
Both Richard and Saladin are honored now,
By Christian and Arab well,
For honor, courage, and chivalry
As both their histories tell.
April 20, 2006
Global Dimming
We've been told that greenhouse gasses
Would cause our earth to grow too warm,
That polar ice caps, melting quickly,
Would cause our coastal regions harm.
But just last night I heard they've found.
O'er maybe just the last ten years,
A counter-warming pollution effect
That might hav put away our fears.
They've come to call it Global Dimming:
The light received by the earth from the sun
Has lessened considerably over the years
As studied for farming or fun.
The catch to our survival is:
The pollution that cools us is poisoning us,
Removing it frees up the greenhouse gasses,
Increasing how quickly the Warming will kill us.
April 21, 2006
VAMPIRES
(Phlebotomists and Other Nurses)
Vampires
live today, it seems,
All
seeking what's within,
Measuring
our glucose counts,
Poking
with a pin,
Impaling
arms with needles,
Requiring
samples now,
Enabling
Docs our state of health, to
Second
guess somehow.
April 28, 2006
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