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2016’s failures and wastage
Will be quite a thing of the past
Each battle fought, or vict’ry won,
Will soon be like the setting sun.
Or like water beneath the bridge
Dead, and stagnant, and still.
For all these things we leave behind
Traveling towards higher ground.
The New Year, its failures or success,
The old year can never access.
We’re treading hallowed ground
With angels all around
As grateful hearts are bowed
For blessings so endowed.

Eyes all fixed ‘pon heaven
While ‘Thank-Yous’ are given
For deeds of kindness sown—
Both, the known and unknown.

Remembering the past
While memories still last.
Embracing our loved ones.
Recalling those who’re gone.

The thread of Thanksgiving’s
In everyday living.
Each year a bird
Nested in my eves.
At times, I’d watch her
Through the leaves.
And to her young ones
She did cleave,
Until the time
When they should leave.
Blackbird crafted nest,
Laid its eggs, and hatched its young—
Bright little blackbird.
In every river
There’s a sea.
In every acorn,
There’s a tree
And in every boy,
There’s a man.
Conflicts.
Physical, financial,
Emotional and social.
Life’s battles are many—
Every day, all day.
It’s been for many a decade
Part of the daily diet.
The mold, and mice, and men love it;
The mice eat it in quiet.

The Provolone and Parmesan.
And the Cheddar, mild or sharp,
Can cause food glands to salivate—
Making the taste buds to harp.

The famed macaroni and cheese.
Cheeseburger and grilled cheese too.
Cheese cake, and more recipes
That've all with cheese to do.

Cheez Doodles, Cheese Sticks, and Cheez-It.
Cottage Cheese, and cream cheese too.
A favorite meat substitute—
Mozzarella, or the Bleu.

So much to share. Too much to say
On this ‘National Cheese Day.’
FOOTNOTE: January 19 is annual National Cheese Day.

Some Interesting Facts:
There are many (well over 1,000) kinds of cheeses. Consider the following brands: Acapella, American Blue (Bleu), American Cheese, Baby, Blue Vein Cheese, Brick, Brie, Camembert, Cashel Blue, Cheddar, Cheshire, Colby, Crottin de Chavignol, Farmer's, Feta, Gouda, Gruyere, Manchego, Monterey Jack, Moon, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Provolone, Ricotta, Romano, Sorrento Mozzarella, Stilton, String, Swiss Cheese, and Yogurt Cheese. The list is endless.

Sources for this information includes: cheese.com. It’s the ‘World’s Greatest Cheese Source.’

The cheese.com database includes information on the most famous cheeses such as Cheddar, Camembert, Stilton or Parmesan, as well as rarities, like Crottin de Chavignol, Gouda, Brie, American Cheese, Pecorino Romano, Cheddar, Manchego, Smoked Gouda and Camembert.
© 2017 Walterrean Salley
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.
On this cold, gray-wintry day,
The sun is nowhere to be found.

Listen! I hear the rain:
Pit pat, pit pat—dripppppp, plop.
Pit pat, pit pat—dripppppp, plop.

Like a sad song, its music play
To the melancholy lyric of:
“A Cold, Gray Wintry Day.”
Intoxicated by the inspiration
Of his trade—
With mental powers at work,
A true poet rarely sleeps.
His mind ever churning
With powerful imagery
That produces thought,
Sound, rhythm and gesture.
He molds with metaphor,
Shapes with simile,
And paints with irony—
To produce a beautiful symphony
(Like some great maestro) ,
For himself and all who would enjoy.
Little wonder he rarely sleeps.

© 2009  W. Salley
Ev’ning sun plays ‘mongst
The trees, dazzling the leaves—
Casting light and shadows.
All day,
The gray clouds had
Promised rain, but when the sun
Appeared, they acquiesced. Not
A drop
My friends
Deserve more than
I can possibly give.
And, so, I pray for them as best
I could.

Bless my
Friends, oh God, each
One according to their
Kindness, and their many selfless
Merits.
In life’s cold winter
We’ve all felt the chill
And shivered beneath
Its  sway.

And now and then,
We‘re prone to wonder
How long shall it be
This way.

But how welcoming
The kind words that be.
And often a cup of warm tea
Is as a gentle hug, you see.
The gorgeous evening sky,
With a lovely hue,
Succumbs to the transforming—
E’er to bid adieu.

Slowly, the sky’s conforming,
Though reluctant to.
Taking on another look,
As skies are wont to.

All morphing before the eye,
The clouds rearrange.
With repositioned sunrays,
The colors ever change.
Footnote: E'er is the contraction for ‘ever’.
saw a diamond
In the sky.
There to sparkle
Way up high.
I pulled it down
Into my heart,
Perhaps some wisdom
To impart.

© 2009 WW. Salley
Two thousand sixteen Election,
Will it bridge or breach?
And what is the prognosis—
How far will it reach?

Humm.  Who will be our next leader,
What lurks in the wake?
Will it make for good influence…
For the country’s sake?

In fulfillment of its shadow,
How far is the scope?
Will there be a sunny future?
Or the loss of hope?

The Motherland must ride it out—
This slippery *****.
Shadows
Stretched across the
Field—cast by the evening
Sun’s glowing backdropp against the
Clear skies.

-W. Salley
Meeeow. Meeeow. Meeeow.
Hungry. *****. Emaciated.
One could count its ribs.

Its meeeow’s were faint.
As the longing, green eyes
Stared pleading.
Begging for just a morsel.

There, now—a bowl of milk
And some bread.
And a portion of meat.

Slowly and cautiously,
It approached the spoil
With a few soft meeeows—
As if to say, 'Thank you."
“Thank you very much.”

-Walterrean Salley
(1/2015 rev)
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.
________________________________
Note: Artificial Intelligence (AI), the scope is far beyond my ability to share. Wow, the changing face of time.
© 2018 Walterrean Salley
Mount’n range 'gainst light
Blue sky over sweeping lake -
With shaded bedrocks.
Like long
Shadows stretching
’Cross an autumn field, so
Goes life—stretching the span of time
And space.
Dead old seed planted.
Agricultural process -
New life generates.
In life, you never know
The crosses we must bear.
The things that we suffer—
Sickness, pain, tears.
The heavenly Father’s there
To lend a helping hand.

When life is overwhelming,
The Father understands.
But we must trust Him
In face of every ill.
Even in our brokenness,
We must trust Him still.
For all things work together
To the good of His will.
Peeping from behind
A mulberry tree,
The little wildflower, taciturn,
Seemed quiet and shy,
Nonetheless beautiful.
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.
Early
Morn. Red sunrays
Hug the bare tree trunks in
A mid-winter scene. Thirty-six
Degrees.
Liquid descending
Upon sweltering surface -
Billowing steam rise.
Irradiating
Sky. As morn's dawning welcomes
Light—the darkness flees.
Sound of birdsongs. Sound
Of motors passing by - and
The scream of silence.
Age removes landmarks.
Things that once were, are no more -
Time effects great change.
The waves.
They come and go,
As if they have no clue
Of what to do.
They carry away,
And they bring.  
A dubious song to sing.
Double minded
And ever changing.
But isn’t that the nature
Of waves?
Outside my bedroom
Window a little sparrow
Sings her morning song.
Reminds me of the **** that
Crows. But the sparrow-- she sings.
It’s a new day
With new horizons.
A chance to explore
New frontiers.
New projections.
New directions.
New potentials.
New careers.
A chance to rise up
To the challenge,
And to conquer
All those fears.
It’s a new day
With new horizons.
Another chance.
A brand new year.
Peering out ‘pon the
World thro' life’s broken window-
Seeing mounds of pain.
In the ship of life, sailing o’er the sea of time.
Tempest raging, billows tossing, jolting the brine.
Launching, now, into the deep—from the tranquil shore
Sailing t’ward a promised land—a land forevermore.

A battered ship nears the land of perfect peace and glee,
As midnight furrows heavy brow on tempestuous sea.
So pow’rful a storm—thunder, lightning, ship-toss.
And so intense the gale—might everything be lost?

Sailing until dawn appears against celestial glow.
Thus, a golden day is born—heart could never know.
In harbor there, the ship docks and the anchor’s cast.
Stepping onto heaven’s shore, my soul is safe at last.

Home at last.  Home at last.  Nevermore to roam.
Thank You, oh, my blessed Lord.  I am safely home.
(8/2017 rev)
Visualizing the journey from earth to Heaven.
Dear Lord, as busy
As You must be,
Don’t forget
The elderly.

By Your mighty,
Powerful hand,
Protect seniors
Across the land.

Provide in this
Economic storm—
Food and shelter.
Keep them warm.

And when past-
Echoes chime,
Preserve them
In lonely times.

Quell their fears
Night and day.
Hold their hand,
Guide their way.

Thanks for hearing
This simple plea
And remembering
The elderly.
Of all the bustling that’s a part of life
Help me to focus on You Lord this day
That I might perform that which I should do
That I may relate that which I should say.

Dear Lord, watch over my soul by the hour;
Let me not wander from the path and stray.
Keep me from danger, both, seen and not seen.
Let me not idle, but to watch and pray.

Lord, as I humble my life now ‘fore You,
Please do look upon this *** of pure clay—
Ah! Keep me today. And as well each day.
E’en when in twilight, and I’m old and gray.

Dear Lord, for whate’er in front of me lay,
Grant it that always with You I will stay.
Heavy rain. Wide sheets
Precipitating downward—
Puddles splash upward.
Wide sheets of hard rain,
Now precipitating down—
Softening the ground.
So happy for this mild reprieve
Be it long or short.
The weather has been brutal here
Many a plan abort.

Anticipating the springtime
When life returns to norm.
But then, I guess, we’ll be engaged
With watching for the storms.
Lady Rose blossoms.
Pink petals, bright reflections -
Deep forest-green stems.
Tomorrow all the pundits
Will show up in full view.
Each giving their opinions—
The many and the few.

So many a news station
Will chime in with reports
To bring cross-country polling
The nearby and remote…

As voters cast their ballots,
Nabbing a president
To lead us in the future—
The White House to ascent.

Thy will be done today, Lord,
And help us ‘long the way.
_______________________________
Footnote: Wont (accustomed).
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.
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.
Satellite sent up
Into space – shooting star comes
Down onto the earth.
Somewhere in the far
Distance, a lone dog barks, and
Barks—then sheer silence.
Today you’ve given me a song
A song for times when I am sad.
When nothing seems to be just right
And the world seems to have gone mad.

A song to brighten up the skies
With the presence of a rainbow,
To remind of your gracious love
Protecting from life’s sharpest blow.

A song to sing in the dead of night
The night of life tho’ dark it be.
A song that generates comfort
And sets life’s weary prisoners free.

A song that is so full of hope
It gives me the strength to go on.
A song that is so full of love,
I’ll be singing it till I’m gone.
If I could sing, I'd sing for You
A song that's beautiful and fair.
A song to say how I love You
With lovely words to fill the air.

It matters not the circumstance
Tho' skies be gloomy or be bright.
I'd sing with my ‘final’ breath
To You I'd sing both day and night.

I'd sing when I'm tired and weary.
I'd give You all my heart and soul.
The song I sing when I am young,
I'd sing it still when I am old.

Within my life-song's every hue,
My heart and soul I give to You.
God made a soul,
Called her mother
And gave her a task
Like no other.

According to His
Divine decree
A guardian of life
She should be.

A nurturer, teacher
And a guide
With her lil broods
Right by her side.

He told her to call
When the task is hard.
And He’d see her thro',
For He is God.

And that He’d lead
And guide her too
In all He has given
Her to do.
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