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Joe Cole Jun 2015
Wandering the fields and forests
Listening to nature
Would I ever want to be anywhere else
No
In rain, thunderstorms, snow
There's beauty in all those things
Yes, there's beauty in the stained glass window of a church
The money spent on that window
Would have been better spent on saving a life
After all what would your God have chosen?
A fancy window or a childs life?
I'm not asking you to cast aside your beliefs
All I ask is that you respect mine
  Jun 2015 Joe Cole
Phil Lindsey
The keeper of illumination
Aye, the keeper of the light
Safety first, his fascination
Dusk to evening through the night.

Aye, the keeper of the light,
Every season, every day
Dusk to evening, through the night
He tends the beacon, shows the way.

Every season, every day
Climbs thirteen flights of thirteen stairs
He tends the beacon, shows the way
The Fresnel lantern he prepares.

Climbs thirteen flights of thirteen stairs
Skyward, toward the landing high
The Fresnel lantern he prepares
Lighthouse beacon must not die.

Skyward, toward the landing high
Strike the match, produce the spark
Lighthouse beacon must not die.
Guides ships safely through the dark.

Strike the match, produce the spark
Safety first, his fascination
Guides ships safely through the dark
The keeper of illumination.
Phil Lindsey 6/25/15
My first attempt at 'pantoum'.  Please help, criticism welcome!  :-)  We visited a lighthouse on Hunting Island (South Carolina) yesterday.  Great day, fascinating lighthouse!
Joe Cole Jun 2015
In the memory of those who gave their young lives for our freedom

In Flanders fields red poppies grow
To line the graves of boys so young
Who lie in thousands buried in Flanders clay
Boys whom for our tomorrow they gave their today
Now just memories but kept alive
By the blood red poppies of Flanders fields
We must never forget the sacrifice
Joe Cole Jun 2015
You know I got back from my beautiful Maltese holiday about 3 am yesterday
Today I sat and looked at my beautiful garden for the first time in a week
Tiny pastel flowers peer like little faces from dark green foliage
Lavenders vie for space with vibrant California poppies
Hollyhock ready to burst into summer colour
Stand next to shrubs of Rosemary
While sweet peas grow in wild abandon
Through the khaki green yellow branches and twigs
Of my twisted willow trees
The rose bush I planted over the grave of my old cat
Stands in her full glory of weeping red blooms
There is a magical perfume from French and English lavender
Offering their fragrance to bees
Who provide their own unique music to this wondrous panorama
Of wild and cultivated beauty
Yes, there are weeds as you might call them
But they also have there place here and so will be left to grow in peace
To live in harmony with other life
I see my garden as an ever changing work of art
Art that I will never tire of looking at
Natural beauty
Joe Cole Jun 2015
The world's greatest scientists have confirmed that the
World will end tomorrow
We and the world will in an instant
Become trillions of scattered atoms

World leaders have called for an emergency meeting
To be held early next month
To try to find ways to avert this catastrophic event
Joe Cole Jun 2015
The inspiration to re post this came after reading Vagrant by Dave
All to often nations forget those who served and gave their all for their countries

Old bent and broken like some worn out shoe
Why? Where did I go wrong, what did I do?
I served my country and paid all my dues
Now all I have left is this worn threadbare suit
For the next few hours I'll just wander the streets
Find an empty doorway, have a few hours sleep
Food! Well at my age a littles enough
A few discarded chips or a hard stale crust
I think of my comrades who have up their lives
Now I wish I'd died with them, beside them to lie
It's not my fault that I've grown tired and old
But who's going to mourn me as my body grows cold?
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