Poet's Corner

JOYCE

I see thee as a single rose
In the gardens of my mind
Tall and white with a crimson tinge
And sweet petals so defined.
I see thee as the rose of Peace
The rose of unity and love
The symbol of my contentment
My Kismet from above.


I see thee as a beacon
That shines forth a friendly light
I see thee as my own true love
And to thee my troth I plight.
From this day and for ever more
We shall walk, your hand in mine
Through the highway and the byways
Whilst our spirits intertwine.

I see thee as a kindred spirit
Full of love for your fellow man
I see thee considerate in your speech
Whilst doing all you can.
It’s in the garden of my mind
Where I can most clearly hear your voice
The unkempt garden of my mind
Grows a rose that I’ve named JOYCE.

A NEW DAY DAWNING.....


Drink deep the sweet cold mountain air
Feast thine eye upon the new born sun
Watch it rise 'ere its burning glory
Warms the earth for everyone.


Face the tasks that have been allotted
Awake thy bretheren from their sleep
Lead them to those pastures promised
For thou art the shepherd, and they, the sheep.
Be upstanding in thine image
Let not the children see thee cry
Hide the salted tear that formeth
Formeth in thine weary eye.


Hide from them thy daily burden
Allow them all to laugh and play
For soon, too soon, their youth will vanish
That burden will be theirs someday.


Shake the dew from yonder flower,
Watch its unladen head, unbow.
Smell its fragrance at dawn's early hour
Remove thy scowl, light up thy brow.
Pray that the bounty in the land around thee
Will continue for years to flow,
Ask of Him His daily blessing
And may thou in His likeness grow.

WHAT IS THE TRUTH?

Systems of belief and worship
Taught to me in my distant youth
Shows that truth has it's religion
And every religion has its truth.
What is it we are to believe
When science explodes each myth
That a smidgen of the truth remains
In the threads of each tallith?


Does the truth run through the bible?
Is there substance in these tales,
Or have we been brainwashed with religion,
Do we know where truth prevails?
For each truth has it's religion
And each religion has its truth.
I believe in the Spirit that resides within me
I believe in the Spirit of my youth.

Systems of belief or worship
Have been with us since our time began,
Introduced to control the people
Despite man's inhumanity to man.
For without such Spiritual deterrent
Social structure would wilt and die.
So if there's no truth in our religion,
Is all religion, just one big lie?

'Twas the night before Christmas....

(parent's version)

Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house
I searched for the tools to hand to my spouse
Instructions were studied and we were inspired,
In hopes we could manage "Some Assembly Required."

The children were quiet (not asleep) in their beds,
While Dad and I faced the evening with dread:
A kitchen, two bikes, Barbie's town house to boot!
And, thanks to Grandpa, a train with a toot!

We opened the boxes, my heart skipped a beat ...
Let no parts be missing or parts incomplete!
Too late for last-minute returns or replacement;
If we can't get it right, it goes in the basement!

When what to my worrying eyes should appear
But 50 sheets of directions, concise, but not clear,
With each part numbered and every slot named,
So if we failed, only we could be blamed.

More rapid than eagles the parts then fell out,
All over the carpet they were scattered about.
"Now bolt it! Now twist it! Attach it right there!
Slide on the seats, and staple the stair!

Hammer the shelves, and nail to the stand."
"Honey," said hubby, "you just glued my hand."
And then in a twinkling, I knew for a fact
That all the toy dealers had indeed made a pact ...

To keep parents busy all Christmas Eve night
With "assembly required" till morning's first light.
We spoke not a word, but kept bent at our work,
Till our eyes, they went bleary; our fingers all hurt.

The coffee went cold and the night, it wore thin
Before we attached the last rod and last pin.
Then laying the tools away in the chest,
We fell into bed for a well-deserved rest.

But I said to my husband just before I passed out,
"This will be the best Christmas, without any doubt.
Tomorrow we'll cheer, let the holiday ring,
And not have to run to the store for a thing!

We did it! We did it! The toys are all set
For the perfect, most perfect, Christmas, I bet!"
Then off to dreamland and sweet repose
I gratefully went, though I suppose ...

There's something to say for those self-deluded,
I'd forgotten that BATTERIES are never included!


A. P. Arent.

SCATTER CHRISTMAS CHEER

The time has come to us again
To scatter Christmas cheer
To give gifts to our loved ones
This merriest day of the year.
We look around with loving pride
Now what would Billy like?
He has most anything to ride
And toys from tops to kites.

I went to do my shopping
One cold December day
When two ragged little children
Ran past me on their way.
Their faces were so thin and pale
Their mittenless hands were blue
I tho't of my own Billy
And all his clothes so new.

Then suddenly my heart was sad
As I took them by the hands
"Have you seen good old Santa Claus
Isn't he a nice old man?"
He doesn't come to our house
One of them slowly said
"Cause Daddy hasn't any work
And Manma's sick in bed."

That night I never slept a wink
It seemed the whole world was wrong
Why should some people have so much
Their lives be filled with song
When all around on every side
Are some who have naught to eat
Whose children wander aimlessly
Along the busy streets

Whence came this Spirit of giving
Into the world, I say
Was it not God, who gave His Son
On that first Christmas Day?
God sent His Son, He felt our need
Let's follow in His way.
Let not our lives be filled with greed
But to the needy for Christ's sake today

Giving to others in their need
Will return again to you
For you'll find a Joy in giving
Will always follow thru'
Giving you greater pleasure
Than you have ever known
Because to others you have
The Christ-like Spirit shown.


by Elizabeth Calkins
December 10, 1932

I enjoyed reading those lovely poems.
So nice for the Christmas season.

The Spirit of Christmas
Anon


I have a list of people I know
All written in a book
And every year at Christmas time
I go and take a look
And that is when I realise
That those names are a part
Not of the book they're written in
But of my very heart

For each name stands for someone
Who has crossed my path some time
And in that meeting they've become
A treasured friend of mine
And once you've met some people
The years can not erase
The memory of a pleasant word
Or a friendly face

So when I send a Christmas card
That is addressed to you
It's because you're on that list
Of folk I'm indebted to
And you are one of many folk who
In times past I've met
And happen to be one of those
I don't want to forget

And whether I have known you for
Many years or few
In some way you have a part in
Shaping things I do
This, the spirit of Christmas, that
Forever and ever endures
May it leave it richest blessing
In the hearts of you and yours.



MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY READERS

NOSTALGIA


I remember the cheese of my childhood,
And the bread that we cut with a knife.
When children helped with the housework,
And the man went to work- not the wife.



The cheese never needed an ice chest,
And the bread was so crusty and hot.
The children were seldom unhappy,
And the wife was content with her lot.



I remember the milk from the billy,
With the yummy rich cream on the top.
Our dinner came hot from the oven,
And not from a fridge in a shop.



The kids were a lot more contented,
They didn’t need money for “kicks;
Just a game with their mates in a paddock,
And sometimes the Saturday flicks.



I remember the shops on the corner,
Where a pennorth of lollies was sold.
Do you think I’m a bit too nostalgic,
Or is it …..I’m just getting old.
(Anon)

The Old Schoolyard


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Enjoyed the poem Daffyd and the video Wuzfuz.

Thank you!

(The other side of Christmas)



They told me it was Christmas,
that was about a week ago,
but Christmas for the homeless
is just another night spent in the snow.
Another night to get through
until the break of another day,
a day that brings the hope of
a chance of work and pay.

Christmas lights and silver bells
don't keep me warm at night.
I'm glad the snow was light this year,
deep snow exacerbates my plight.
Chicken, turkey, large mince pies
are but memories from my past.
My stomach now lies empty,
I don't know when I ate my last.

They told me it was Christmas time
and of the joy New Year would bring,
I could hear the revellers laughing
and somewhere.... a child began to sing.
My little world receded
as my sight began to fail,
many hands tried to lift me up,
alas my legs were far too frail.

Those hands became so gentle
as they laid me on a bed,
despite the fear of hypothermia
I was not left for dead.
I received sustenance at Christmas
from a nurse in a hospital wing,
she told me to look forward
to the joy New Year would bring.



Daffyd

Christmas

Snowflakes falling to the ground

muffling every little sound.

Sleigh rides, egg nog, Christmas lights

children counting off the nights.

Yuletide logs, some wine, some cake,

carollers keeping Nan awake.

Santa Claus checking off his list

ensuring no one has been missed.

All preparations almost complete,

time now for church, to take your seat.

To celebrate in our time honoured way

'Peace on Earth' this Christmas Day.


Daffyd

Oh...I love both of your poems Daffyd!

Yuletide Greetings to you! :chball:

Awesome Daffyd!

Desiderata Poem


Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater
and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble,
it's a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit
to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive him to be.
And whatever your labours and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.


(Max Ehrmann 1872 - 1945)

A Different Christmas Poem.


The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.


The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.


The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.


Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.


"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts...


To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said, "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.


No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.


I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile."
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.


I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."


"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."


Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."



LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

awesome!

Concepts of Christmas

Old concepts of Christmas
now differ from years ago
When we used to conjure up
bright fairy lights
and sleigh bells in the snow.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire,
yule logs, cut and piled,
Christmas was a magic time
especially for every child.

A wooden soldier, a painted doll
crafted with love, by hand,
A wooden horse which, with imagination
became the fastest in the land.
A pram with rubber tyred wheels
and a hood in case it rained,
For some a little puppy dog
that as yet, was not house-trained.

Simple gifts to be exchanged
with friends on Boxing Day,
Christmas fare to be consumed
and lots of games to play.
Such indeed was Christmas
in those days so long ago,
Carollers carrying lanterns,
sang traditional carols in the snow.

Alas, it is all now memories
those days, those festive times,
Commercialism has killed the spirit
and ruined the pantomimes.
Brand wear, lap-tops, laser toys,
are the demands which now are made,
If one cannot afford the latest fad
one just has not made the grade.

Such are my concepts of Christmas
and this new trend will me outlast,
I think I prefer the good old days,
those days of Christmas Past.

More Turkey on my Plate

Speak ye not of diet
nor yet of overweight
Speak ye only of pleasant things
and pile more turkey on my plate.
Let mine ear be visited
with a cacophony of sound,
Let all those that leave my table
have bellies, big and round.

For this dear friends is the time to feast
to drink and toast the day,
To bend the knee and bow the head
in the tried and trusted way.
To celebrate His birthday,
with gifts, with friends, with love,
And pray He understands our ways
as He watches from above.

For each Christmas is for the children
of which He is so fond,
Through love we strengthen their resolve
and form a Christian bond.
Christmas is for adults
for they are His children too,
So enjoy yourself this Christmas
and to His faith be true.

Speak ye not of diet
nor yet of overweight,
Speak only ye of pleasant things
and pile more turkey on my plate.

I had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh,
and looked across the table where the bills were piled too high.
The laundry wasn't finished and the dinner I had to fix,
The dishwasher wouldn't work, and now it's all in bits
And so with only minutes till my son got home from school,
I gave up on the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool.
The burdens that I carried were about all I could take,
and so I flipped the TV on to catch a little break.

I came upon a desert scene in shades of tan and rust,
No snowflakes hung upon the wind, just clouds of swirling dust.
And where the reindeer should have stood before a laden sleigh,
eight hummers ran a column right behind an M1A.
A group of boys walked past the tank, not one was past his teens,
Their eyes were hard as polished flint, their faces drawn and lean.

They walked the street in armor with their rifles shouldered tight,
their dearest wish for Christmas, just to have a silent night.
Other soldiers gathered, hunkered down against the wind,
To share a scrap of mail and dreams of going home again.
There wasn't much at all to put their lonely hearts at ease,
They had no Christmas turkey, just a pack of MRE's.

They didn't have a garland or a stocking I could see,
They didn't need an ornament-- they lacked a Christmas Tree.
They didn't have a present even though it was tradition,
the only boxes I could see were labeled "ammunition".
I felt a little tug and found my son now by my side,
He asked me what it was I feared, and why it was I cried.
I swept him up into my arms and held him oh so near
and kissed him on the forehead as I whispered in his ear.

There's nothing wrong, my little son, for safe we sleep tonight.
Our heroes stand on foreign land to give us all the right,
to worry about the things in life that really mean nothing at all,
instead of wondering each day if we will be the next to fall.
He looked at me as children do and said it's always right,
to thank the ones who help us and perhaps that we should write.

And so we pushed aside the bills and sat to draft a note,
to thank the many far from home, and this is what we wrote,

"God bless you all and keep you safe, and speed your way back home.
Remember that we love you so, and that you're not alone.
The gift you give, you share with all, a present every day,
You give the gift of liberty and that we can't repay. "

Author Unknown

Wonderful poems Daffyd! Thank you so much for sharing them.

(A Scotish Christmas Poem)

I am a little fairy
On tap o' the Christmas Tree
It's no' a job I fancy
Well how would you like tae be me?

A'm tarted up wi' tinsel
It's enough to mak ye boak
An a couple o' jaggy branches
Rammed up the back o' your froack.
An' wi'a' these lights a'roon me
I canna get my sleep
An' there's the yearly visit
Fae Santa - Big fat creep!

On Christmas Day I'm stuck up here
While you're a a'wirin' in
An' naebody says "Hey you up there,-
Could you go a slug o' gin?
It's nae joke bein' a fairy
The job's beyond belief
Ye go 'roon and 'roon the bairnies beds
An' lift their rotten teeth.

But o' a' the joabs a fairy gets
An' I've mentioned only some,
The very worst is up a tree
Wi' pine needles up yir bum.

When a the fairies meet again
By the light of' the silvery moon,
Ye can tell the Christmas fairies-
They're the wans that canna sit doon.
The Christmas tree's a bonny sight
As the firelight flickers.
But think o' me, - A'm stuck up here
Wi' needles in my knickers!

So soon as Christmas time's right by
An' I stop bein' sae full o' cheer.
I'll get awa back tae Fairyland
an' Ah'll see yous a' next year.

Where have all the poets gone, carol singing everyone, that's where the poets have gone. Street by street and from door to door, frozen to their very core, frost bitten fingers, feet so sore, they won't try that gig no more. Why not settle down in here, a comfy cosy atmosphere, post an ode or two or three whilst sitting around the Christmas tree. Let that ode be of your Christmas past, hurry up or you'll be last, last to post a poem of joy to warm the heart of both girl and boy. Do not neglect this convivial thread, write and post a poem instead.

A Challenge to us all...



There are little eyes upon you

and they are watching night and day,

There are little ears that quickly

take in every word you say.

There are little hands all eager

to do everything you do,

And a little boy who's dreaming

of the day he'll be like you.



You're the little fellow's idol

you are the wisest of the wise,

In his little mind about you

no suspicions ever rise.

He believes in you devoutly,

holds that all you say and do

He will say and do just like his dad

when he is grown- up too.



There's a wide eyed little fellow

who believes you're always right,

And his ears are always open

and he watches day and night.

You are setting an example

every day in all you do

To the little boy who's waiting

to grow up to be like you!
.