"Grandmas"
January 12, 1990
© November 10, 1997 David R. Canter We used to go to grandma's house
To spend Thanksgiving day
We can't do that anymore
She's gone too far away
I still remember the dinners
The turkey, taters and such
The salads, the pies, and other deserts
Of which we ate too much
How every year there seemed to be
More branches on the family tree
And how grandma was always able
To fit them all around the dinner table
That's in the past and long ago
But the memories will always stay
Of going over to grandma's house
To spend Thanksgiving day.
"Christmas Season"
January 12, 1990
© November 10, 1997 David R. Canter
The Christmas lights are all in place
The tree is standing tall
The Christmas lists are in Santa land
The kids are having a ball
Moms planned the Christmas dinner
Dads cut the big Yule log
Everyone's being the best he can
And that includes the dog
The cards keep coming in each day
The ones going out are gone
The radio and television
Are full of yuletide songs
It's that special Yule time season
That comes round this time of year
When folks are happy and giving
And are full of Christmas cheer
"No Room"
January 12, 1990
© November 10, 1997 David R. Canter
A child was born in Bethlehem
So many years ago
Sent from god up above
To us mortals here below
His birthplace was a manger
No room was in the inn
The wisemen traveled from afar
To see his life begin
A gleaming star, the angels songs
The adoration of all men
Were showered on this baby boy
Kings were in awe of Him
He brought them hope, a way of life
Peace for their troubled souls
He gave them love, a helping hand
And a faith to make them grow
His life that ended on the cross
In payment for our sins
Began in that lowly manger
There was no room in the inn
"Circles"
August 11, 1991
© November 10, 1997 David R. Canter
As kids when we played marbles
'Twas a circle there on the ground
Although it seldom was perfect
Be sure it had to be round
In school when we formed a circle
Wasn't perfect for you understand
If a boy was standing next to a girl
He just wouldn't hold to her hand
Later on when we'd all grown older
I guess it was sent from above
We found hugs made perfect circles
Filled inside with pure love
"Come Stay"
August 11, 1991
© November 10, 1997 David R. Canter
Come stay with me but just a little while and
I will be for and to you all those things you have expected to find
but haven't.
The reason for laughter
A shoulder for tears,
The cool breeze of summer,
The warmth and coziness of a fireplace in winter,
The gentleness of a baby's touch,
The beauty of fresh-fallen snow,
The chatter of a brook,
The silence of the night,
The serenity of a church,
The raucousness of a tavern, yes,
Come stay with me and
I will be anything and everything to you
for I am love.
"A Rainbo"
September 15, 1991
© November 10, 1997 David R. Canter
There within the western sky
A rainbo did appear
Its colors O so beautiful
Though no rain or snow was near
It filled the ones who saw it
With wonder and with awe
A rainbo when there was no rain
'Twas a mystery for them all
Then a thought came to me
Will it be the same
A sky that's filled with color
When "His" earth "He" does reclaim
Will "His" return be color filled
When "He" returns to reign
Will the colors be as beautiful
As that rainbo with no rain
"Christmas Yester-year"
September 16, 1991
© November 10, 1997 David R. Canter
Do you remember Christmas
The way it used to be?
We'd spend nights with cranberries
And stringing popcorn for the tree
We didn't have electric lights
We'd light candles for all to see
Although it was quite dangerous
With those flames upon the tree
The moving toys were wind-ups
That were sure to break
We'd feast upon the good things
That Mom would always make
The dolls would never say "Momma"
Nor would they go to sleep
But when the girls received them
They were a treasure that they'd keep
We never forgot the Christ Child
Nor what Christmas ought to be
For Dad and Mom took us to church
And explained the nativity scene
I sometimes wish we all could go
Back to that yester-year
When Christmas was so much christmasier
Than it is in these later years
"A Breaking Heart"
June 11, 1992
What's a breaking heart
But a life seeming in vain
What life but the pain
Broken heart again
Watching silently as tears go by
Watching life going dry
Brittle with the living
Broken hearts now gaining
The shouting useless words
No action apparently right
What's love this life
But a broken heart
The heat shimmers through
The noon day sun to dusk
And the heart aches
As the living grows dim
A breaking heart
So needless
So vain
What's a melancholy life
"Demon Melancholy"
September 20, 1994
Demon melancholy
Breaking the unbroken
Seeming to flash across the skies
And the rains come
Depression so darkly
Fellows into the night
Just a feeling
An abandoned emotion
Blackly into the night
This first try
At the ethereal life
So serene, so cold
Demon melancholy
Seeming to bind so tightly
And the darkness before the dawn
Beckons so brightly
Depression lost and forced
Springs into dawn
Burgeoning with light
And passion so splendid
Luxurious warmth spreading
Spreading wings and drink this sun
Face the sky radiating
And the ending fades again...
Demon melancholy
Where and why, splendidly
Comes and goes, darkly
Only the restless passion remains
"One Lifetime is Never Enough"
September 22, 1994
I've been thinking lately
Memories back and forth
Lifetime so fondly
One lifetime is never enough
Moody as the weather
Never going outside
Only dreaming, never doing
Lifetime slip slipping away
Good songs, good times
But memories made unbroken
Living life
Wasting it away
Cheaply we spend ourselves
Never thinking tomorrow
Might not see the sun
One lifetime is not enough
Skittery memories
Holding tightly
Never letting go
Until it's too late
Where did it all go
All this loving living
Nothing but shadowy memories
O God, one lifetime
Can't be all there is...
"Only the Music"
May 28, 1995
Sometimes all that is left
Is the music
Grand and wonderful
Thank God for this mood
Chasing away the blues
Over and over again
This soft refrain
Notes playing magically
And all we have
Is the music
Soothing this poor soul
Putting stars into these eyes
These eyes full of tears
Seeing, loving, being loved
Chasing that one song
That one verse
Elusive and precious
Chasing away these blues
Wise and old
This music
And then there is
Only the music
Between heaven and hell
The music, all we have left
Linda Whitlow
On a whimsical note:
THIS BENCH
I've sat here before.
Alone sometimes
and with philosophical strangers
but mostly alone.
Alone here
I write
I wander
I dream
Some of my best stuff
was born on this bench.
Twelve cigarette butts
on the ground,
all the same brand;
It must be someone else's bench
too.
Linda Whitlow
On a more nostalgic note:
IMPRESSION
Winter is here
and it's raining.
It's so cold here in the dark;
How I long to crawl
into the security of the impression
you left
in the middle of my bed
(and it may never go away at all).
No matter -
at least I'll have that
to remind me
when you're gone.
Linda Whitlow
Do you like Haiku? I realize the "rules" don't apply the same in English as they do in Japanese, but I do love the simplicity and understatement of nature's quiet beauty. The next six are examples:
Pond of glass
with one small stone
I disturb your calm.
Noisy gray sandpiper
writing with your quiet feet
upon the wet sand.
I scooped up the moon
in my cupped hands
and drank it. Small serious bees
politely caress pink peonies;
a concert in my garden.
Steaming Summer dawn
finds the green river
cooling midnight lovers.
Tossing sleepless night;
crickets and the far stream
beckon.
ONLY YOU
IT'S ONLY YOU, MY HEART DOES CRY,
ONLY YOU CAN MAKE THE SKY
SING HAPPILY IN LOFTY PLACE.
ONLY YOU, IT IS YOUR FACE
THAT I SEE.
ONLY YOU MAKE MY WORLD ABOUND,
YOUR VOICE ALONE MAKES THE SOUND
THAT SETS MY HEART AGLOW.
ONLY YOU, IT IS YOUR FACE
THAT I KNOW.
ONLY YOU BRING ALIVE IN ME
WONDROUS LOVE THAT NOW IS FREE.
ONLY YOU HAVE SUCH GENTLENESS,
WITH ONLY YOU, MY HEART IS BLESSED.
ONLY YOU, IT IS YOUR FACE
THAT I LOVE.
ONLY YOU MAKE THE FLOWERS SING
OF THE JOY THAT EACH NEW DAY BRINGS.
ONLY YOU NOW OWN MY HEART,
ONLY YOU CAN SWEETLY IMPART
GLORIOUS LOVE THAT FILLS THIS LIFE,
IT IS ALWAYS YOUR FACE
THAT I SEE.
By: Tulsabutterfly
MOUNTAINS HIGH
THE MOUNTAINS, HIGH AND DEEP
CALL ME TO A SILENT SLEEP,
WITHIN THE ARMS OF MY LOVE,
WONDROUS ARMS OF MY LOVE.
THE MOUNTAINS, HIGH AND GREEN
BECKON ME TO BE SERENE
IN THE WARMNESS OF MY LOVE,
SOFT CARESSES OF MY LOVE.
THE MOUNTAINS, HIGH AND BLUE
ARE CALLING ME TO BE WITH YOU,
RESTING IN YOUR SWEET EMBRACE,
GAZING INTO YOUR LOVELY FACE.
THE MOUNTAINS, HIGH AND WIDE
DO ENTICE ME TO YOUR SIDE,
HOLDING YOU GENTLY WITH MY LOVE,
SURROUNDING YOU WITH MY LOVE.
THE MOUNTAINS, HIGH AND DEEP
AFFECT ME GREATLY AS I WEEP,
CRAVING THE NEARNESS OF MY LOVE,
DESIRING THE PRESENCE OF MY LOVE.
THE MOUNTAINS, GREEN AND HIGH
SING SOFTLY TO ME AS I SIGH,
FOR THE TENDER LOVE OF MY LOVE,
THE SWEET AND GENTLE KISS OF MY LOVE.
THE MOUNTAINS, DARK BEFORE DAWN,
THEN THEY SING THEIR WONDROUS SONG,
THE SONG ABOUT OUR ENTICING LOVE,
THE WONDROUS WORDS OF OUR LOVE.
THE MOUNTAINS, DEEP AND GREEN,
NEVER PRIVILEGED TO HAVE SEEN
SUCH TENDERNESS FROM MY LOVE,
BESTOWED UPON ME FROM MY LOVE.
THESE MOUNTAINS COMPOSED IN THE WIND
A GLORIOUS SONG TO BEGIN
AS MY LOVE AND I ARE HEART TO HEART
SWEETLY COVERED BY THE ART OF LOVE.
By: Tulsabutterfly
Untitled
I feel like I'm falling away
I'm going down
down to a sway
Loose grip
slipping hold
Big trip
getting old
Nothing to do today
not much of anything to say
Hot embers
I feel like I'm burning
burning bright
My heart scampers
your fading out of my sight
No where to go
nothing to show
My life seems to be faded
yet your still shaded
For the birth of the night
I'll end my fright
By Erica Shaffer
" Love Lamented "
T A Hateley © Jan 31. 1998
Come tomorrow
I’ll remember you
in my dreams you will stay
filled with such sorrow
Will it always be this way
So soft is my pillow
it reminds me
of your flesh
You bent my mind and body
like a willow
Was this all in jest
So long the wait
for our love to bloom
now our love abates
and lingers in our darkened
hearts of gloom
These feelings we shared
and thought would last
Are they becoming a faded memory
of a sad and distant past.
" OUR TIME "
T A Hateley. © Dec.16.1997
My summer breezes
and your winter chills
again,
an ocean apart.
With each of our pleasures
came penalties of pain.
Your voice on the line
distant
in my ears linger.
Sleep haunted by your kiss
remembered.
Your laughter echoes
in days of loneliness
Our time together,
seemed a moment only
Why did it not
forever last.
[Book One Tears from Ao] [Book Two The Mountains of Ao] [Poetry One] [Poetry Two] [Guest Author Palme] [Guest Author Hateley] [Runes of Ao/Kale] [to fly... to be... to love...] [Dragon Embers] [Guest Poet/Author Wilson] [Wilson: Grey Dragon series] [Wilson: Sentinel Dragon series] [Wilson: Thangath the Dreamer]
