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Apr 25 · 225
Ex demon man
Alex Gifford Apr 25
The demons begged to stay in town,
the Lord gave them permission.
But not in him, into the pigs,
commanded the physician.

Herdsmen begged the Lord to leave,
afraid of what they’ve witnessed.
And so returning to his boat,
he left them with their sickness.

Ex demon man did also beg
he asked, could he come with him.
But since the Lord was now to leave,
he left him with a mission.
A poem on Mark 5
Dec 2023 · 445
Net Pleasure
Alex Gifford Dec 2023
To max out gross pleasure, from what I can glean.
Is to do what you want, go learn from Epstein.
But net the destruction and you’ll find instead
That your life’s net pleasure may end in the red.

The highest net pleasure is loving yourself.
So focus on you, take care of your health.
But mothers who pour out themselves for their young.
Despite self neglect, will have their names sung.  

The highest net pleasure is loving your kind,
Your family, your friends, all humans alive.
Although you are close, there's still room to err,
if man is your god, then God’s not your share.

The highest net pleasure then is to love God.
He’ll have you love others and you’ll have his nod.
Now pain will have purpose though may still be grim.
He made you for pleasure, but pleasure in him.
Dec 2023 · 232
Dumped by God
Alex Gifford Dec 2023
Secretly we dated.
I was a ship being moored
And she was the wild sea
that didn’t follow the Lord.

I led her into faith,
she made my God her rudder.
Then reported to me,
God wants her with another.
Unfortunately, a true story
May 2023 · 590
Listen kids
Alex Gifford May 2023
I'll only say it once
and I'll say it really fast.

Why's it matter?
You'll be tested.

Have you used this?
Yes, I teach it.
Written March 2020
May 2023 · 397
It's making you unhappy
Alex Gifford May 2023
There's fear in you that you can't see.
It's why you're numb with apathy.
It's why you never want to try.
It's why you're working 9 to die,

It's why you put yourself in line.
It's why you lie and say you're fine.
It's why you stand when you should dance.
It's why you're waiting for your "chance".
Jun 2022 · 334
Your hurt is mine too
Alex Gifford Jun 2022
It's been seven years
And too many tears.
I pray that we are still friends.

It's hard to word right
To be true yet be light.
Can't tell what I'm trying to mend.

Embarrassed to say
I hate it's this way
that your hurt is my hurt too.

If only I could,
I swear that I would
feel all of your pain for you.
Alex Gifford Jun 2022
What is sometimes hard to take,
hard to ask,
hard to make?

What can sometimes search with breadth,
Or can aim,
Or have depth?

What can sometimes move a pen,
move a nation,
Move it's men?

What can sometimes show you care,
or be loaded,
Or unfair?

What can sometimes take your sleep,
make you happy,
make you weep?
Aug 2021 · 173
16 hours of Mumford
Alex Gifford Aug 2021
I told my friends I hated music,
that it was a waste of time.
And it wasn't till I liked a girl,
she made her music mine.

When things ended; I was moping,
So it hurt to hear her songs.
Yet I craved them since was coping,
and my drive was very long.

Sixteen hours I heard Mumford
and he reassured to me.
Love won't dismay nor will enslave,
But will always set you free.
Sigh No More - Mumford and sons
Aug 2021 · 381
Last Pistachio
Alex Gifford Aug 2021
I have eaten all your brothers;
you're the only one that's left.
The last soldier for the slaughter.
Your last moments before death.

I'm a man made in God's image,
You're a nut born in a field.
And the trick to your undoing
is the ***** inside your shield.

So my hand descends from heaven
and it lifts you to the sky.
Then I pull but you hold steady,
you stand firm although I pry.

You have won oh mighty peanut.
'Gainst this beast survival's bleak.
Not from strength did you prevail
But by having nothing weak.
I couldn't open a pistachio and for whatever reason that failure was stuck in my mind. I knew there was something symbolic about it that I needed to explore so I wrote this.
Dec 2020 · 983
I am Pilot
Alex Gifford Dec 2020
Bound and led the quiet man,
delivered up to me.
"Put him to death, the blasphemer",
was the people's plea.

My wife sent word to wash my hands,
she suffered in a dream.
I tried with water before the mob,
it didn't make me clean.

I put a sign above the cross,
the one I made him bring.
I killed a greater man than I,
he truly was the king.
This is about Pontius Pilots internal conflict when he sent Jesus to be crucified.
Jun 2020 · 288
Defining
Alex Gifford Jun 2020
Every year comes less defining.

Deeper roots and with less pining.

Past decisions, cobblestone.

Better think before you sow.
Mar 2020 · 141
Visionary
Alex Gifford Mar 2020
Hiking makes a man near sighted,
running makes him blind.

Stop and gaze at the horizon,
see with open mind.
Mar 2020 · 130
Shortcuts
Alex Gifford Mar 2020
My shortcut took months longer.

Though not steeper
Much more winding,
And not deeper
Yet more pining.

Take a shot,
And scar your liver.
But the easy way's
Upriver
Mar 2020 · 316
Past Time to Die
Alex Gifford Mar 2020
A retired man returns to work:
he's tired of his freedom.
Watched every show,
Read many books,
The lone-king of his kingdom.

A life of striving, working, waiting,
finally completed.
Now finds it empty,
finds it wasted,
hope has been depleated.

He woke at last before his death,
and let out one last sigh.
Reflections hurt,
Regrets aplenty,
Long past time to die.
It's not uncommon for people at my work to return from retirement because they found being retired too boring.

How sad to spend a lifetime hoping to retire and then find it isn't that great. They could have spent their life doing something that mattered more to them, or pursuing better goals. May it be a reminder for us to be careful with our lives.
Feb 2020 · 147
confession
Alex Gifford Feb 2020
You caught me...

I don't really like poetry,
I just like complaining.
Feb 2020 · 610
Absurd
Alex Gifford Feb 2020
Truth will always win
though the arrogant seem tall.
The man who says there is no cliff
will be the first to fall.
Dec 2019 · 238
the middle way
Alex Gifford Dec 2019
Take the middle way,
But not always.
Dec 2019 · 1.4k
You follower!
Alex Gifford Dec 2019
You follower. Fool follower!

Witch trials have began,
Hang the noose on Gallows Hill
And execute the land.

You follower. Wise follower!

With scales in your hand,
Weigh the truth and walk the path
Some missions must be manned.
It's not bad to be a follower, it's bad to be a foolish follower.
Dec 2019 · 304
Through Darkness
Alex Gifford Dec 2019
I learned lessons in the darkness
  that I couldn't in the light.

First
   that you don't have to shiver
    in the frosty winter bite.

Then
   that shadows are deceiving
    so your faith becomes your sight.

Last
   that flames will shine through boldly,
    you must wait with all your might.
Dec 2019 · 209
From the Depth
Alex Gifford Dec 2019
Half a decade later,
and it surfaces at last.

That coupled with the losing,
Was a partner just as crass.

I must not throw into the sea
what washes up to shore.

That fear that I won't feel again,
the way I felt before.
Sep 2019 · 219
Half-alive
Alex Gifford Sep 2019
I really like you all.
Not sure why we don't jive,
but my best when I'm with you
is only half-alive.
Sep 2019 · 120
eating crap
Alex Gifford Sep 2019
A: This tastes like crap.

B: You've eaten crap?

A: ...

A: Tasted.
Sep 2019 · 2.0k
in the eyes
Alex Gifford Sep 2019
What once was fire in your eyes,
is smoldering,
about to die.

What once was fire in your veins,
is spilling out,
it slowly wanes.

Lost in a fog,
Drained of your blood,
Spine feeling soft,
Face in the mud.

Now fan the embers in your eyes,
consume what's left,
by fire baptize.
Sep 2019 · 1.2k
your snake
Alex Gifford Sep 2019
Move the magnet from your compass
when you want to know the way.
Slay the snake inside your stomach,
it hunts truth, its only prey.

Throw a stone at self-deception
though the mirrors in your hall.
Can you feel it, breathing slowly?
None but pride before the fall.
Sep 2019 · 208
Hero's Heart
Alex Gifford Sep 2019
Planned departer, back-up martyr,
More required, less inspired,
Sparse support 'till last resort,
Strong aversion, faint exertion.

In the waiting 'til you're cornered,
you have foundered at the start.
Since not searching for the needy
shows you lack the hero's heart.
Sep 2019 · 937
Prisoner on Cannibal Island
Alex Gifford Sep 2019
Bruised and ******,
arms restrained
this criminal correctly blamed
for trying to release another.

Who not a friend
nor a brother
but thought it wrong
to just let suffer.
So together
in a cage
held conviction,
suppressed rage,

And whispered words
in hopes to capture
a nudging deep within the captor.
Unconvinced
but dismayed,
their guardian then proclaimed,
"when dogs are slaves,
you've no regrets,
yet misbehave
when men are
pets?"
A bit dark. It was inspired by the realization that many peoples explanation behind human value is completely subjective.
Sep 2019 · 655
If I Die Today
Alex Gifford Sep 2019
If I die today,
Speak nothing more than truth,
I didn't die a hero,
I didn't miss my youth.

My legacy in fire,
Burn away the chaff,
not the greatest man you knew,
But missed the makers wrath.

So say "he's a broken light
that craved to mend himself.
He trusted in the Lord who saves,
considered Him true wealth."
I don't want people to pretend I'm a greater person than I actually am when I die. But to remember me with complete honesty, as a flawed person who felt a need for God.

Thanks for reading.
Aug 2019 · 469
My Greatest Moment
Alex Gifford Aug 2019
"It's okay, you're forgiven."
I wipe her tears while she cries,

And smile, feelings hidden.
I struggle to look in her eyes.

I took as much of her pain as I could.
Then balled up in the shower alone
to tremble and sob and groan.
During this difficult time I was motivated by believing that I was forgiven by Christ who did this exact thing to me in his death.
Aug 2019 · 685
Time is a great healer
Alex Gifford Aug 2019
Watch the distant light,
faint flickers
in the night.

Four years are too far,
cold contrite,
dark as tar.

Look up from the ground,
see the star
come around.

Feel the breeze blow cool,
freedom found
though a fool.

Lost in desert sand.
Time's a tool
in God's hand.
An explanation- The poem connects sitting on the desert ground at night while looking at a star with struggling while believing in a distant hope. The 4 years refers to about how many light years away the closest star is. And the star coming around is the sun rising.

It ends with God being the ultimate healer who gives the gift of healing by using time.

I'm debating changing "four years are too far" to "forty years too far" a reference to the Israelites in the desert.
Aug 2019 · 411
A Rebuke to Poets
Alex Gifford Aug 2019
You're first a miner and collector,
then a thinker and rejector.

Show the beauty with the words,
Not the beauty of the words.

Put the truth on golden platter,
speak with power, it does matter.
Primarily a reminder for me to avoid what I don't like in poems. I hope that whatever I write will follow this criteria.
Aug 2019 · 320
Truly known
Alex Gifford Aug 2019
A lie? You see through it,
and you know the reason why.

An act? Isn't working,
and you won't let it distract.

Pain? Not just sadness
but you feel like you were slain.
If you really know someone you can see through them.
Aug 2019 · 1.0k
Swing Dancing
Alex Gifford Aug 2019
You feel the rhythm of the music,
as it bounces through the floor.
You hear laughter and excitement,
the suspense of what's in store.

Then you walk up to a lady,
and you ask her for a dance.
Don't be nervous most are friendly,
this won't be your only chance.

If you're a leader with a purpose,
and your follower has grace.
You combine into one being
with a smile for each face.

Then trust will turn to tension,
and this tension is a whip.
That cracks loud like the trumpet,
every time momentum flips.

The adrenaline of falling,
the connection of a hug.
Either focus like an artist,
or it takes you like a drug.

Every hour feels like minutes,
you forget the world outside.
There's just motion and the moment,
it's a rollercoaster ride.

When the sun goes up that morning,
and you rise up out of bed.
You keep dreaming of that freedom,
It won't get out of your head.
Try swing dancing it's a complete blast. This is what it feels like. I hope I can motivate someone to go out and give it a shot. Tell me if you do!
Aug 2019 · 15.4k
Epiphany
Alex Gifford Aug 2019
It's that moment
when the pieces
of the puzzle
all combine.

And you see a
glorious picture
that you doubted
that you'd find.

And then after
when the pieces
are inspected
each with care.

You see purpose
and see meaning
each too valuable
to spare.
This came to me all at once. It's an attempt to describe the feeling of your mind being blown when everything lines up and finally makes sense.
Feb 2018 · 324
Naps
Alex Gifford Feb 2018
I'm tired.
My half hour nap
lasts half a day.
Now i'm more tired.

— The End —