David R

David R May 2021

A Prayer

i open my mouth but cannot speak,
my soul is weary, the outlook bleak,
i bend my knees in supplication,
weep and cry in desperation,
search for answers, for salvation,
fight 'gainst sighs, 'gainst resignation
my eyes lift upwards, risking damnation,
show me a sign in Your creation,
Your children long for Your liberation,
'stead the deaths and devastation,
L-rd, for Your sake, for Your exultation,
Don't pluck the young 'uns from Your plantation,
Grant us Your favour, show us Your Face,
Show us Your kindness, Your love and Your Grace,
Grant us respite from this madness,
the waves of darkness, the surge of sadness,
kindle a light of joy and of gladness,
somehow transform this world of badness,
if i feel the pain, Your pain must be greater,
as You feel the pain of father and mother,
the cry of the infant, the sister and brother,
resonate in You, unfathomable Creator,
thus I'll be silent, from words desist,
I'll lift up my hand towards the mist,
I'll mouth those words of world acclaim,
Magnified and sanctified be Thy holy Name.

David R May 2021

A Cry in the Darkness

Would that my eyes were a fountain of tears
to mourn those cut off in the prime of their years
the children, young boys, teenagers and men
that will never see the earth or the sky again
crushed underfoot in dearth unrelenting
in crowd unawares, in world unrepenting,
mothers are wailing and fathers are rending,
unable to fathom their child's early ending,
infants are crying and siblings lamenting,
'father', 'brother', their cries tormenting,
who can give voice to the emotions venting,
o'er jewels and gems, sweet men of learning,
the innocent souls never returning,
to parents, to spouses, to houses of learning,
world, take heed, abjure your errors,
say enough to the pain, the fright 'n the terrors,
let the cries go out to heal humanity,
from its stupidity, its ridiculous insanity,
my mind is weary from thinking on this,
thus pen i lay down, from writing desist.

BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge

David R May 2021

The old man from Calcutta

there was an old man from Calcutta
who talked as he ate bread 'n butter
but caused a combustion
when oration waxed fustian
and he started to cough and to splutter

As his cough started getting much worse,
he started to rant and to curse,
his face turned red
'fore he dropped dead
and his bread came up in reverse

then his breath came back all-a-flutter
and he sat up and started to mutter
from now on i declare
in pronouncement and swear
i'll not eat any bread with my butter

So this poor old man from Calcutta
would just eat his butter with butter
till he became overweight
and hit Pearly Gate
that poor fat old man from Calcutta

BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge

David R Apr 2021

The day that turned to night

the night began with revelry
with joy, with song, with dance,
the choir sang sweet melody,
the rabbis in sweet trance,
the flames leapt high towards the sky
as roundabout advanced
the voices of a myriad sighs
soul's spirit-flame enhanced

but lo, a tragedy on the way,
ere long begun the day,
as hundred thousand men would sway
towards enchanted arched gateway
a hundred thousand men o' ardor,
there to bargain and to barter
with heaven's lore and law of order,
squashed against the barrier border

the lights became their funeral lamps
leading groups of mourners
the cave became where death encamps
'stead praying saints in corners
and all about the yell and shout
'stead praise from G-d's adorners
tears and cries from hearts worn out
as carrion for the scorners

David R Apr 2021

Smiling

red-framed moonlight
laughing sun
soft as the eider on the run
as the skin of newborn son
gentle as whispers of my lover
as the breeze of sweetest clover
is your smile to the stranger,
to your son or mountain ranger,
to your daughter, to your wife,
with loving eyes, with human life,
it wipes clean the pain and strife
it ushers in a blessed life.

David R Apr 2021

New World

he shook the sheet o' cotton,
                                               torn beyond repair
and aired the slept-in bed
                                               home and nighttime lair
shooed out the air that's rotten
                                               privy to his despair
and laid the warm bedspread
                                               attenuate, threadbare

he puffed up the pillow
                                           must put on braver face
and laid it down with care
                                          straightening out the lace
opened up the window
                                         looking up to space
and let in cleaner air
                                         with hope for Divine Grace

thus ushered in the new day
                                        his heart in hope and prayer
of new earth, and sunshine ray
                                        with beat of love-affair
as yesterday's forgotten,
                                        his hands carving out the air
as comes a new born day.
                                        as comes the L-rd of care.

BLT's Merriam-Webster Word of The Day Challenge:
#attenuate

David R Apr 2021

Cosmic Sumersault

he tiptoes on the black velvet
leaving silver glitter,
somersaults as long-tailed ***,
as starlings all a-twitter,
and there he leaves, on nighttime sheen
as neon lights on slipper,
a host of shimmering silverene
star, Pisces and Big Dipper