Away / George J. Dance

Away

Away again, I'm missing you
And when I'll see you, I don't know.
I really don't know what to do.

I seem to see you for a few
Mere seconds, but then – poof! – you blow
Away again. I'm missing you.

Another night I must get through.
My thoughts meander to and fro.
I really don't know what to do.

I doodle or I write haiku,
Prosaic scraps I have to throw
Away again. I'm missing you.

I could watch "Captain Kangaroo"
Or "Friends" or "Simpsons" or – oh no,
I really don’t know what to do!

I need to stay alive for you,
Come back to you, and never go
Away. Again, I'm missing you;
I really don't know what to do.

~~
George J. Dance, 2007

from Logos, and other logoi, 2021

[All rights reserved - used with permission]

George J. Dance biography

Bert Kaufmann, Loneliness, 2008. CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons.

When the Brow of June / Emily Pfeiffer

When the Brow of June

When the brow of June is crowned by the rose
    And the air is faint and fain with her breath,
Then the Earth hath rest from her long birth-throes.

The Earth hath rest and forgetteth her woes
    As she watcheth the cradle of Love and Death,
When the brow of June is crowned by the rose.

O Love and Death, who are counted for foes,
    She sees you twins of one mind and faith —
The Earth at rest from her long birth-throes.

You are twins to the mother who sees and knows;
    ‘Let them strive and thrive together,’ she saith,—
When the brow of June is crowned by the rose.

They strive, and Love his brother outgrows,
    But for strength and beauty he travaileth
On the Earth at rest from her long birth-throes.

And still when his passionate heart o’erflows
    Death winds about him a bridal wreath,—
As the brow of June is crowned by the rose!

So the bands of Death true lovers enclose,
    For Love and Death are as Sword and Sheath,
When the Earth hath rest from her long birth-throes.

They are Sword and Sheath, they are Life and its Shows
    Which lovers have grace to see beneath,
When the brow of June is crowned by the rose
And the Earth hath rest from her long birth-throes.

~~
Emily Pfeiffer (1827-1890)
from Sonnets and Songs, 1880

[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]

Emily Pfeiffer biography

There Is No Cold in Christ / AE Reiff

There Is No Cold in Christ

There is no cold in Christ nor winter storm

To chill the bone, there is no frost in him,

No freeze there kills the stem, no ice brings harm.

He lives in us to keep his branches warm,

A green tree ever rooted deep within,

There is no cold in Christ nor winter storm.

There where the harvest hills through summer run

to fall, he keeps a barn, a winter bin,

no freeze there kills the stem, no ice brings harm.

He has into them, all his flowers, sown

A seeding of himself, garden within,

There is no cold in Christ nor winter storm.

He there, a gardener in his lovely plants

forms protoplasm and a living mind,

no freeze there kills the stem, no ice brings harm.

The Rose of Nazareth, Lord to flesh was born,

Accept his seed, sons, daughters, women, men,

There is no cold in Christ nor winter storm,

No freeze there kills the stem, no ice brings harm.

~~

AE Reiff, 2021

[All rights reserved by the author - Used with permission]

AE Reiff biography

Andrey Romanenko, Tukums Lutheran church in winter, 2021.

CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Ghosts of Uncertainties / R.S. Mallari

Ghosts of Uncertainties

there are shadows over me
and creeping through my brain
why won’t they let me be?

had enough of these entities
I run, I hide, still they remain
there are shadows over me

a prisoner of uncertainty
they've locked me in chains
why won’t they let me be?

dragged by unseen enemies
tied to a runaway train
there are shadows over me

illusions, perhaps, they may be
I have fought, always in vain
why won’t they let me be?

free me from this misery
somebody, take away the pain
there are shadows over me
why won’t they let me be?

~~
R.S. Mallari
from Poems about Life

[All rights reserved - used with permission]

R.S. Mallari biography