It's difficult to explain.
All that I learned in this 25th year.
Mostly because I don’t understand
The lessons fully myself yet.
But I will try to put it into words for you
And in doing so, put words to it for me.
The first is just how hard it is to forgive.
Sure time helps, as small things are forgotten
Or as one comes to realize their triviality.
Other things however, cannot be forgotten.
It was this year that I felt truly betrayed
For the first time and that betrayal
Awoke something deep and hateful.
It wasn’t until I saw how they could not
Hold my gaze, and how deep the shame went
That I truly forgave and put that thing to bed.
Until that point apologies and promises
Meant less than nothing to me.
It was also in that moment that I learned
How poisonous resentment is for the soul.
To carry that seething anger with you
Everyday and to feel it begin to boil over
Is something I wish to never shoulder again.
The second thing I learned is how difficult
It can be to keep making the choice
To do the right thing even if it is harder,
But also that choosing to walk uphill
Rather than down gets easier every time
You come to those junctions on your path.
Sometimes though it can be vexing
To know for sure which trail goes up
And which goes down and a few times
I took a left when I should’ve taken a right.
So I’ve grown to trust my instincts
And to rely on my notions on wrong and right.
In the end, I realized if I were to lose my sense
Of direction all I need to do is backtrack
And begin anew with the knowledge I gained.
I’m relieved now that my conscience was
Was enough to wake me from complacency.
The third thing l’ve learned is that really
I know very little and I have so much to learn.
I suppose life humbles us in that way
Here and there, and I’m grateful and excited.
I’ve come to see that I know a little about a lot,
A lot about little, and I hope to stop treading
Shallow pools and to have the courage to swim
Where I cannot feel or see the bottom.
Well, I guess it wasn't so difficult after all.
How dark will it be when it dawns on us
That there is no one left who's right?
*
23 POEMS OF BELIEVING
-saiom shriver-
**
ARK OF THE COVENANT
*
The eternal truth
of the Covenant's Ark
... and of the promise
of God's rainbow arc
is that all beings
are always
within God's Ark
Human eyes
.. transmit lies
.. for they fracture
the oneness
into little bits
and cannot see
the higher
frequencies
.. that as bodies
leave
amd many believe
.. others with
certainty know
*
BELLIES OF OCTOPI
*
"My ashes shall occupy
the bellies of octopi.
My aging brings
senility
and its even
more evil
twin sterility.
Declines my body's
utility.
All is futility"
did I moan to my teacher
who to my mind's
intuition replied
"It is a lie from hell
to think yourself
the body's shell"
"Do not cling
to the petals of spring
for that retards
the ripening fruit"
"Each day all spirits
uncover more of
their infinite
love, power, beauty,
peace, miraclemaking."
*
WINDSTAR
*
Whenever winds howled
and whirled
and around homes
curled
he knew that beyond
them shone
the unchanging
evening star
*
FAITH SPRING
*
Faith did upward
from the heartrocks
spring..
and run through ryefields
into rivers of knowing
which
did merge in
the sea's community..
before upward assumed
by God Sun into unity
*
GODORIENTED
*
The God oriented scientist
prays and is given
a revelation..
by the GOD who made all bodies and knows
how they work..
one need not bulldoze the forest
to research the life of a tree
nor torture animals to
find the secrets of GOD
*
(Albert Einstein: I was given the theory of a relativity in a dream... paraphrased from
his autobiography)
*
PIGEON RELIGION
*
The atheist pigeon
faced with rivers Stygian
abruptly saw the light
..suddenly found religion..
and when he came back
from the abyss
began to tell others
of his supernal vision.
(thank you to Tom Lehrer for rhyming pigeon and
religion.. in his satire on govt. cruelty to
animals)
*
EASTER BASKET
*
If it harms none
and in prayer you ask it
God has it for you
in your Easter basket.
And as time and tide
flow on
one sees that
his own heart
is the Easter basket.
*
TABLE TURNING IN THE TEMPLES
*
He overturned
with divine temper
the tables
of the
dovekillers
in the temple
and sheepbutchers
and even now
the killers of
the Dove of Peace
the butchers of God's
animals
need to be removed
from modern temples
*
BLUEPRINTS AND FIGS
*
When the Spirit
conceives blueprints
.. these seeddreams
become trees of quince
And imagination's figments
by sun are woven
into figs
*
FROM MORNRISE TO MOONRISE
*
From mornrise
to moonrise
.. all is contained
.. in God's eyes
*
UNWAVERING WAVES FOR PETER
*
The first time Peter walked upon the water
he sank
because his faith wavered in the waves.
But later his faith become
unwavering
and as Peter became a rock for Christ
.. the sea became for Peter a rock.
One is nonChristian firewalker
another a Christian waterwalker..
both believe
*
KNITTING CLOUDS BRAIDING GOALS
*
He is not nonexistent, nor sleeping
nor cruel, powerless nor on vacation,
things of which he is accused,
the Sun, with His warming SoulFire.
It is we who knit clouds
of false ambition,
We braid clouds of mean
revenge..
We weave sunblocking
clouds of immature desire.
*
PINNIPED
*
More angels dance on
the head of a pinniped
than on the shiny
surface of a pinhead
*
FLY RIGHTS
*
We're more likely to
to fly right
when honoring
animal bird and fly rights
*
THEY BELIEVE IN YOU
*
The photographer
snapped
of the picture straight ahead
so that
one could not see
the sky
but the clouds
reflected in lake water
Those who were not able
to believe in a God
they could not see
were drawn to God
by your love.
*
DOES THE SUN DIP INTO THE SEA?
*
The sun does not bathe in the sea
nor rise in the air..
nor is God confined by our
limited perceptions.
*
THE LIGHT PRESUMES A SOURCE
OF LIGHT
*
James Michael Pratt wrote
of those who see the light
but do not know the lighthouse
keeper. Just so, the lives of
many are saved by anonymous
angels they know not.
*
BELIEVING
*
Yesterday's sudden frost
.. yet please do believe
spring is coming
and with it new leaves
*
THE SEED CONCEIVES
*
In doubt's earth,
rain and the seed
do life conceive
Slowly does faith
unfurl her leaves
and then come branches:
she does now fully believe
and then without a doubt
she knows
that all to God go
who do in release
their bodies leave
*
ADVOCATE
*
If I could represent to my
mind another's opposite
point of view as if I
were an attorney without
emotional involvement,
I would pass a test.
*
FAITH MOVES MOUNTAINS
*
Faith moves mountains
Truth soars over them
at the speed of light.
*
THE GIFT OF BELIEF
*
Lasting as long
as the dewdrop in
the dawn sun or
the snowflake in
the spring stream
was his belief...
so brief..
until he witnessed
how God uncurls
the limehued leaf
*
DOES ICE HATE GOD
*
To ice it may seem
that God does scheme
to destroy his form
in the stream
melting him into water
and then to dawnmist steam.
But he changes his mind
as he sparkles in sunbeams
and begins to merge
with the Supreme.
*
Note: apologies to atheists
and agnostics for
the assertion
-saiom shriver-
ADVOCATE
ARK OF THE COVENANT
BELLIES OF OCTOPI
BELIEVING
BLUEPRINTS AND FIGS
DOES ICE HATE GOD
DOES THE SUN DIP INTO THE SEA
EASTER BASKET
FAITH MOVES MOUNTAINS
FAITH SPRING
FLY RIGHTS
FROM MOONRISE TO MOONRISE
GIFT OF BELIEF
GODORIENTED SCIENTIST
KNITTING CLOUDS BRAIDING GOALS
LIGHT PRESUMES A SOURCE OF LIGHT
PIGEON RELIGION
PINNIPED
THE SEED CONCEIVES
TABLE TURNING IN THE TEMPLES
THEY BELIEVE IN YOU
UNWAVERING WAVES FOR PETER
WINDSTAR
23
There are certain things
That all children know -
Flowers bloom in spring
When all the birds sing
The sun helps things grow
And melts the fresh snow
Rain washes things clean
And helps with gardening
The good times - playing
And bed time for praying
The very best balloons
Big ‘n round as full moons
And without any strings
Moving as the wind blows
Yep - children know things
Like - don’t step on toes
The moon is Swiss cheese
Leprechauns wear green
And all angels have wings
Yep – children know things
I’d love to be able to draw
By jfarrell
There’s a saying…
“We’ve all got a book inside us”….
I’ve a set clawing at the door to be let out.
There’s just one tiny problem.
My writing abilities are good enough to give you
The “Three Billy Goats Gruff” (with pictures - ladybird books)
As a story, but the Tarantino style dialogue,
That’s never gonna get published.
But as a ‘manga’ cartoon, or proper drawing of any sort,
I’d get away with it, maybe even get famous, make money;
Another saying “a picture says a dozen words”
If I could draw the images in my mind, getting them out would be easier.
But! I can’t draw worth a dime.
But! I can write.
I just gotta learn to write better
And one more thing, before I go…
I’d love to write a comedy; few books have made me laugh,
But those that have - I literally hurt myself laughing;
But, I suspect a very bloody, gore-fest of a story wants to be let out first.
Why do I write? Cartharsis - makes me heal, right? Is healthy, get it out.
Knowledge is the Key
By JFarrell
Knowledge is the key to betterment
Whether knowing how to split the atom
Or to open a tin of beans
Without knowing how to do it
You’ll get nowhere.
What we ALL see can be changed
War, famine, homelessness, injustice
But, knowing how to change it
Is the tricky bit
Everyone and no-one has answers
It is our responsibility, all of us
To LEARN, get an education, gain knowledge
And WE CAN ALL learn
And that also involves
Stopping letting people telling you what to think
Your mind is unique and great, as are you
And this is your world too
Please get involved and start making it better
I am making my dreams, a better world, reality
Come and join in, it’s your world too, take some responsibility
EXCEED THRIVE EXERTION MOTIVATION ASTRONOMIC AND IGNITING THE FLAME.DRIVING WITHOUT EXPECTATION WITHIN THE CHALLENGES THAT COME FOR-WROTH AND ARE PRESENTED TO THE BOARD GAME. NEGLECTING OBSTACLE AND DOUBTS TO CHANGE FOR A WORLD THAT IS NOT THE SAME.HOPES AND DREAMS SUSTAIN A BLANCE OF DETERMINATION MUCH NEED TO LOOK BEYOND THE STAR,ONE STEP CLOSE TO THE PLANT WE CALL MARS...TO UNDERSTAND THE IMAGE OF WHO WE ARE.... ENLIGHTEN ME FREEBASE THE MIND BYOND AND FAR
*
*
He who knows it all
Truly knows nothing.
*
My father,
A wise, man of honor,
He always told us
That the reason we were blessed
To live in America,
Is because the higher brother
Was always looking down on us,
And watching over big brother
As big brother fell hardest
During times of egoism.
*
I guess that's why
I believe 911 was staged.
*
It was,
Staged.
*
*
*
As a Satanist I believed
I was a God,
As a Setian I sought
To become a God,
But in the knowledge of
DEITUS I AM A GOD!