THE WAY THROUGHOUT

By Adam Murray

Credit to  Pam Bell

The Way Through

Walk slowly,

not as one chasing applause,

but as one who knows

where their hope is anchored.

Move with purpose,

but leave space for mercy...

for interruptions that look like people,

for detours that become divine appointments.

Speak only what builds.

Hold back the need

to always be right.

Let your words taste like grace...

seasoned, steady,

never sharp with ego.

Carry light,

not burdens that don’t belong to you.

And when the road grows steep,

lean hard into prayer...

not as a last resort,

but as your first breath.

Forgive often.

Not because it’s easy,

but because it’s freeing.

And love...

not just the ones who love you back,

but the ones who forgot how to receive it.

Stay rooted

when the world rushes past.

Be faithful in small things.

Do the unseen work

like it matters to God...

because it does.

And when the time comes

to speak truth,

do it in love...

not to win,

but to lift.

This is the way through life:

not in spotlight,

but in surrender.

Not by force,

but by faithfulness.

A RIPPLE OF BLESSINGS

By Jeffrey Cejero

12 May 2025

Foreword:

She is not weak. Her strength lies in her softness. She is a ripple of blessings. This poem is a tribute to our pure, beautiful and powerful mothers.

Happy Mother's Day!
 

*****

A Ripple of Blessings

jepoy

Her heart is not stone but water,

cool as a spring,

soft as mist,

flowing in silence,

mistakenly weak yet stronger than anything that breaks.

When the earth is cracked with loneliness,

she brings the gift of rain,

filling hollow places

so you remember you are not alone.

She carries weight like ocean depths,

letting go of pieces...

a warm cup, a gentle gaze,

your sorrow held in her soothing embrace

to make space for you.

She carves beauty with time, quenching thirst,

her touch cool as riverwater,

her presence like dawn's dew

as if it were a gift fallen from heaven.

In her stillness, you see yourself.

Her waves don't crash,

they kiss the shore, your feet, your fears.

She flows to guide and not to flee,

her voice a lullaby of leaves and rain.

She washes away tears, doubts, unspoken fears...

She is what we seek

when hearts run dry,

when our souls are tired,

when hopes and dreams are burned to ashes.

Just a drop of her is a ripple of blessings.

She is like water.

She is mother.

OH CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

Lifted from Bookish Literature 

O Captain! My Captain!

BY WALT WHITMAN

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;

                         But O heart! heart! heart!

                            O the bleeding drops of red,

                               Where on the deck my Captain lies,

                                  Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

                         Here Captain! dear father!

                            This arm beneath your head!

                               It is some dream that on the deck,

                                 You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;

                         Exult O shores, and ring O bells!

                            But I with mournful tread,

                               Walk the deck my Captain lies,

                                  Fallen cold and dead.

_______________________________________________________________

This poem is an elegy for President Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated in 1865, shortly after the end of the American Civil War. The poem uses an extended metaphor of a ship returning to port after a perilous voyage, while the captain lies dead on the deck. 

The speaker, a sailor, mourns the loss of his captain and father figure, while the rest of the nation celebrates the victory and peace.

The poem was first published in 1865 in a collection called Sequel to Drum-Taps, which contained Whitman’s poems inspired by the events of the Civil War.

Later, it was included in the 1867 and subsequent editions of Leaves of Grass, Whitman’s most famous work. The poem is one of Whitman’s most conventional poems, as it follows a regular rhyme scheme and meter, unlike much of his other free verse poetry. 

The poem is also one of Whitman’s most popular and quoted poems, as it captures the mood of a nation in mourning and pays tribute to one of its greatest leaders.

IF TOMORROW STARTS WITHOUT ME

Lifted from English Literature

If Tomorrow Starts Without Me 

(Saddest Poem Ever)

When tomorrow starts without me,

And I'm not there to see,

If the sun should rise and find your eyes

all filled with tears for me,

I wish so much you wouldn't cry

The way you did today,

While thinking of the many things,

We didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me,

As much as I love you,

and each time that you think of me,

I know you'll miss me too.

But when tomorrow starts without me,

Please try to understand,

That an angel came and called my name,

And took me by the hand,

and said my place was ready,

In heaven far above,

And that I'd have to leave behind

All those I dearly love.

But as I turned to walk away,

A tear fell from my eye

For all my life, I'd always thought,

I didn't want to die.

I had so much to live for,

So much left yet to do,

It seemed almost impossible,

That I was leaving you.

I thought of all the yesterdays

The good ones and the bad,

I thought of all the love we shared,

and all the fun we had

If I could re-live yesterday

Just even for a while,

I'd say good-bye and kiss you

And maybe see you smile.

But then I fully realized,

That this could never be,

For emptiness and memories,

would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things,

I might miss come tomorrow,

I thought of you, and when I did,

My heart was filled with sorrow.

But when I walked through heaven's gates,

I felt so much at home

When God looked down and smiled at me,

From His great golden throne.

He said, "This is eternity,

And all I've promised you."

Today your life on earth is past,

But here life starts anew

I promise no tomorrow,

But today will always last,

And since each day's the same way

There's no longing for the past.

You have been so faithful,

So trusting and so true.

Though there were times

You did some things

You knew you shouldn't do.

But you have been forgiven

And now at last you're free.

So won't you come and take my hand

And share my life with me?

So when tomorrow starts without me,

Don't think we're far apart,

For every time you think of me,

I'm right here, in your heart. 

Author believed to be

~ David Romano

{PS}

WHEN I'M GONE

CTTO

CHRISTINA'S ROSETTI

2 May 2025

MISS ME, BUT LET ME GO 

When I come to the end of the road

And the sun has set for me

I want no rites in a gloom filled room

Why cry for a soul set free?

Miss me a little, but not for long

And not with your head bowed low

Remember the love that once we shared

Miss me, but let me go.

For this is a journey we all must take

And each must go alone.

It's all part of the master plan

A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick at heart

Go to the friends we know.

Laugh at all the things we used to do

Miss me, but let me go ..

Christina Rosetti ✨

Artist Credit : Jungsuk Lee

Source: Still Standing Magazine