Thank you, Lord, for Christmastime
A season of love and cheer
A time to give and to forgive
And to hold one’s family dear.

Thank you Lord for Christmastime
A lovely time of the year.
A time to sing and to worship
And to cast away all fear.

Thank you Lord for Christmastime
When hope is made so clear.
And faith lights the path anew
With a message for all to hear.

Thank you Lord for Christmastime
And may its truth forever chime.

It seems a fairytale to me
Too beautiful for eyes to see.
Oh, what a dream. Oh, what a song.
Will I awake before too long?

The healer, Christ, who is adored;
A ruler. King. And Lord of lords.
The Prince of peace in whom we trust,
Gone to prepare a place for us.

A palace in a distant land
For each of us. Oh, what a plan.
With gates of pearl and streets of gold
The half of which has not been told.

All joy and peace; no more to weep.
Oh, wake me not, just let me sleep.

Oh, when I get to heaven
That amazing promised land
Spoken of almighty God
An assertion true and grand

There’ll be no war, nor terror;
I will rest my shield and sword.
With eyes lifted, wondrously,
To gaze upon my sweet Lord.

And, there, I shall bow my knees
In grateful worship and praise—
Thanking God for his true love.
Then, perhaps, a song to raise

Ahh. To stroll that wondrous place—
A guide to lead me around.
To absorb His beauteous grace
The breathtaking sights and sounds.

I’ll visit friends and loved ones,
Those who’ve before me gone.
To fellowship with them there,
Where days shall ne’er be done.

In stark silence, the
Ticking sound of the clock made
Me ever aware
Of the fleeting moments of
Time, and its affect ‘pon life.

We do not give You
Turkey, Lord, in honor of
Such day, with all the
Décor and trimmings, but
We give You our hearts instead.

Outside my bedroom
Window a little sparrow
Sings her morning song.
Reminds me of the **** that
Crows. But the sparrow-- she sings.

In troubles, faith seems
To grow deeper, as one is
Compelled by that which
Is seen to rely upon
That which is not seen for strength.

Heavy rain. Wide sheets
Precipitating downward—
Puddles splash upward.

Liquid descending
Upon sweltering surface -
Billowing steam rise.

Dead old seed planted.
Agricultural process -
New life generates.

Bright skies. White pillowed
Clouds. Birds. Luminous sunrays -
Mirrored in grey pond.

Lady Rose blossoms.
Pink petals, bright reflections -
Deep forest-green stems.

Put all man’s failures in a heap,
And then they would exceed the skies.
But God’s great mercy far exceeds
The sum of all man’s sinful pride.

For all the heart can think, or do,
Or dream in its deceptive mode—
He has a plan for me and you:
Forgiveness (a divine code).

It is a mystery divine
How God forgives our failures all
And beckons one with love sublime
Tho’ few dare answer His clear call.

Oh lovely deity Divine
I take thy mercy to be mine.

I must
Remind myself
Constantly—the beauty
Of life outweighs its …. And believe
It’s true.

Sighhh. All
Done. Task finished.
A productive day. To
Bed feeling good. Wake to find… not
Done yet.

Ignore a problem if you would
It will increase as best it could
Until it reaches zenith height
And send you scrambling
With all might.

Age removes landmarks.
Things that once were, are no more -
Time effects great change.

The cawing crow,
Object of strife,
Does have its place
Here in this life.
Its hue is dark
Its numbers rife.
It sounds of caw
And not a fife.
To the farmer
And to his wife,
The crow is but
A fowl most trife.

The answers are there
Look hard enough, and you will
find them. They are there.

New day.
New things.
Night is passed,
Dawn’s now broken.
A new chapter is
Emerging.

Hotdog.
Stickler
To this day.
‘Tis a main stay—
An age-old stapler
That shall be.

Happy butterflies.
Sunflowers. But then, there’s a -
Hidden side to life.

Needed inspiration
To lift my spirits, sooo…
God sent a nightingale
To replace the crow.

Looking
Back on youth spent.
Now aged—barely moving
Forward. What’s the next chapter of
His life?

Each day’s
A press.
But do press.
Never look back.
The road may be long,
But press on.

Tornado churning.
Twirling against peaceful skies -
Destructive touchdown.

Huge, red-clay mountains
Tho’ upward extended—find
Base in deep canyons.

Amazing the beauty
In simple things.
A little wildflower,
A ripple’s rings.

The twinkling of a star.
A bright moonbeam.
The babbling of a brook.
Billowing steam.

Simple touch of a hand.
Smile on a face.
The sound of pure laughter.
Some deed, or grace.

Not the grandest splendor,
Nor the abyss—
But for simplicity.
Blink and you’ll miss.

Mount’n range 'gainst light
Blue sky over sweeping lake -
With shaded bedrocks.

Sun-clad mountains glow.
White-foam currents flowing midst
Dark, damp river rocks.

Tiny yellow toad
Poised on big green foliage—
Beautiful. Deadly.

Money makes folk happy.
Money makes folk sad.
But few would e’er regret
The monies that they’ve had.
Some waste lots of money
Buying lots of things.
Then, suddenly, realize—
Money does have wings.
They find them looking back,
Feeling so annoyed—
Longing for the ton of cash
That they once enjoyed.

Mountains echo,
But brooks chatter.
Days drag
And moments fly.
The moon watches.
The sun scorches.
And earth trembles
As willows cry.

A tottering old man
With fear in his eye
Gripped his metal walker
While shuffling by.
He didn’t seem confused,
But a bit concerned.
Life no longer offered
The joys that he’d learned.
To the many changes
He now must adapt.
How'd life pass him by?
He felt less than apt.
For age greatly changes
The moorings of life.
No longer can we dance
To the tune of its fife.

Only
Yesterday you
Were here. Today you’re gone.
Tomorrow and beyond I’ll think
Of you.

Sunny, blue skies with dark clouds
O’er sunlit surface of the sea,
Where, gently, hugging huge bedrocks
Are white-foam waves—calm and free.

Once I was young
And life was fun,
Always busy
And on the run.
Then I matured
To an adult:
No marathons,
Cartwheels or vaults.
Before I knew
I’d become aged.
My life had turned
Another page.

Hazy moon on a misty night,
Keeping the dim skies clear and bright
Amidst the raindrops—soft and light.
This, somehow, seems to be all right.

Yonder like a chivalrous knight
Hangs the moon at a distant height.
A most serene and gorgeous sight—
Filling the fancy with delight.

All-wise Creator. God aright.
Endow such watchman of the night
To faithfully shine with his might.
And bar the dark, which lords o’er fright.

Lights a blinking
Carols sounding
Shoppers hustling
To and fro.

In the chilly
Air of winter
Expectations
Only grow.

Fond memories
Plow the mind
With Christmases
Of long ago.

A flashback here
A Flashback there
Keeps the Season
All aglow.

Hurricane Maria,
With rancor in her stride,
Swept ‘cross the ****** Isles.
From her, none could hide.

Smashing Puerto Rico
She turned it upside down.
Forced it into crisis mode,
And made it a ghost town.

She struck right quick and hard
To whirl, and twist and toss.
Cut water, food and pow’r
As folks wept for their loss.

Maria spun casualties
Among those near and dear.
But time still trundles on
Tho life is all but clear.

Midst such devastation,
Who knows where to begin?
But the people must rebuild
Regardless the tail spin.

Orange, red and yellow
Against the western skies.
No, it’s not Christmas lights
But California fires.

Hot, like a raging bull
Emerging every bend,
Terrorizing one and all
It soars upon the wind.

‘Tis larger than New York
And Boston states combined.
The third largest Cal fire
Has yet to be confined.

The so-called Thomas fire,
Formidable at will,
Sadly has razed life and land,
And yet it rages still.

Congratulations to those
Fortunate enough
To take the plunge,
Crossing the threshold
Into a new zone,
Once more to brave
Life’s uncharted waters.

May your sunshine be bright
And your coffers be full.
May your storms be few
And your furnaces be less.

May you laugh more than cry
And smile more than frown.
For every blessing to be had,
May good health be your crown.
Happy New Year Everybody.

Life’s pendulum
Swings with time:
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.

Good and bad.
Life and death:
Back and forth,
Back and forth.

Joy and sorrow.
Sunshine and rain:
Back and forth,
Back and forth.

Yes. That’s life.
It never continues
On one course,
But is ever back and forth.

I’ve heard lots ‘bout Bitcoin
But don’t know what it is.
So, I’ve begun a research
To follow up the biz.

Bitcoin must mean something,
Tho’ the term sounds strange.
Does it replace the dollar?
Or maybe it’s just change?

As to what ‘Bitcoin’ is,
I still have not a clue.
But reports here and there
Declares what it can do.

Bitcoin. Bitcoin. Hmmm!
For all the talk that’s made,
According to my theory,
It has to do with trade.

Coffers of the poets seem full
Of things both good and bad.
The things that keep men wake at night
The sadness to be had.

There is so much to write about
As we reflect our world
Of all the things we see and hear
Emotions that unfurl.

To peer about on these dark days…
Not much to laugh about.
But, sometimes, we poets write
Of things that bear no clout.

Such is the nature of our world
Come good or bad. E’en strife.
Everything's not all 'rosy'
In the Seasons of life.

Some folks live for Black Friday,
Camping out for hours on end—
Even in subfreezing temps
Accosting sales ‘fore they end.

Betimes midst violent outbreaks,
Folks grab their most-prized things.
There’s pushing, shoving, clutching:
Toys—clothes—tech tools—bling.

Black Friday has been fashioned
To save the brick and mortars
Technology’s changed the game—
On line is the order.

This plan devised by merchants
Lures shoppers to the stores,
Else all the brick and mortars
Would have to close their doors.

Some people are true dreamers.
They make you dream too,
Simply by considering
The things you see them do.

A burst of inspiration
Such dreamer seems to ooze,
And someday you're wanting
To follow in their shoes.

Some folks are dream stealers.
With nothing else to do,
But to sow discouragement.
Don’t let that thief be you

Bravo to Toys for Tots
For giving Kids a lift:
With smiles and a dream,
They grant the tots a gift.

With hope and a hug,
And whate’er means they could,
We see them reaching out,
As 'compassion' would.

Bravo to Toys for Tots…
Faithfully there each year
Making dreams come true;
Showing that they care.

Artificial Intelligence,
Where is it leading to?
When you think you’ve heard it all,
Men seek much more to do.

Service drones and driverless cars
Micro Chips. And robots.
Will there be jobs for human kind?
Perhaps not as it ought.

Who would trust a driverless car?
I don’t think that I could.
But then if it were all I had,
I’m pretty sure I would.

Oh, the changing face of time
Is like an aging one.
The aged, with landmarks, will be gone,
When all is said and done.

And very soon the times will be
Left to the young and strong.
The aged won't discern the years,
Cause their time will be gone.

The ole flu bug took to the skies
To see what he could do
Making winter miserable
Cold and wet and BLUE.
‘No pity here’ he clearly shows,
Skyrocketing around—
Effectuating his mission
To knock you to the ground.
So be wary everyone.
Be careful in all things,
Because the seasonal flu bug
Is waiting in the wings.