TILL THE STORM PASSES BY

Till the storm passes over
Till the thunder sounds no more
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky'
Hold me fast, let me stand
In the hollow of Thy hand
Keep me safe till
The storm passes by.

Source: The Journey of Faith

Photo Credit to Elizabeth Martin via Bohemia Rain

MAKE YOUR MOVE

"As you're reading this,
your life's getting shorter.
Its ticking away.

I'm not saying this to frighten you.
Or even scare you. Though it may.
I'm saying this to awaken you.

To inspire you.
To rise you out of your deep slumber.
To really know you wont live forever.
To share your unique gifts.
To ignite your great inner fire.
To ignite your great inner strength.
To ignite your great inner light.
To shine. Brightly shine.
To awaken your great inner beauty.
To motivate. Yourself and others.
To love. Yourself and others.
To paint. To write. To teach.
To innovate. To sing. To dance.
To care. To feel. To listen.
To learn. To laugh.
The clocks ticking.
The world needs you.
Make your move."

~Mike Litman

FAREWELL MY DEAR SISTER RUTH

In memoriam of my younger Sister Ruth
(Interred on this date as written)

Today I am going to release this butterfly
Up into the air, to the highest sky;
I am going to let go all unkind remembrance of you:
The spites, the hurts, the agonies of the scars;
Once you had inflicted in me without closure.
I long have chosen to forgive and forget.
What will stay are memories of you
When life hit you hard on the road
and I couldn't close my eyes over you.
It was hurting us all when you left us
Without leaving a trace or a clue
Of where you were, no words to know
where to find you, as we lost you.
The only occasion you showed up
unannounced, unexpectedly were the times 
when we sent our folks to their resting place.
I had done my part - now you're ready to depart
Forever from our sight, from our life.
I bid you farewell today, as you return home
To the Eternal who gave you the breathe of life.
HE has taken it back so you'll go and rest in peace.
In us who are left behind, we will have our turn;
It maybe soon, it maybe later, we don't know.
I just hope we will all be ready to meet you
Somewhere beyond the blue and be together
Once more in peace, and in harmony.
Where the Land you are going is Bright and Fair,
It's just OVER YONDER!

Leah C. Dancel
Copyright@2019
August 23, 2019
Friday
Australia

HOW CURIOUS IS THE HEART

By Shadowjo

*

*

How Curious Is The Heart?

*

It has the strength to give life

*

It has the power to take it away

*

It can make your world shine 

*

It can make it all so dark

*

It can make you feel the magic

*

It can make you feel the miseries

*

It can place you on top of the world

*

It can drag you down to the abyss 

*

It can make you believe the impossible

*

It can blind you to the truth

*

It can hurt from so much pain

*

It can hurt from so much love

*

Oh this curious heart of mine.

Source: Shadowlands
December 07, 2010

THE GOLDEN YEARS

By Shadowjo

The sun is setting

My youth has vanished

My dreams have passed.

I pass on to you
My lessons learned

My wisdom earned.

Do not see me failed
My dear young child,
My heart is still wild.

Learn from the lessons

My bitter fights taught,

My body blows caught.

Go forth and be better

My disappointments be

My pride, in you I see.

Live long live better
My story, your teacher

My soul, your preacher.

Source: Shadowlands
November 21, 2014

TWILIGHT SKYLIGHT

By Shadowjo

*

Before the daylight

Is subjugated by darkness

There ensures in the sky

A mighty celestial battle.

The forces of light 

Are locked in a pitched struggle

Against the coming dark.


*

Where they meet,

The sky is drenched

In blood red 

And bruised purple. 

But with each victory

Comes a not too distant defeat.


*

The very next day

This recurring theme

Is witnessed again 

And the battle recedes

Into an sempiternal fight

That inspire lovers and poets alike.


*
Source: Shadowlands

January 30, 2015

THE STORY OF TREES

by Rado Gatchalian

inhale exhale breathe the air

that is commensurate

to life, eternal.

follow the wave of its arms
~
see the rays of contemplative gesture ~

touch the earth and feel its roots

where tomorrow’s may

you and the trees are one.

inhale exhale breathe the air

that is more profound

than any truths.

today’s rain and tomorrow’s sunshine:

lift yours hands like praying leaves —

and never doubt

that such glory

is always found in your roots.

believe

and you shall grow...

THE TURMOIL WITHIN

By Shadowjo

*
A strong outward facade

Does not always sustain

A strong inner self.


*

A deep turmoil within

Often over-compensates

With false strength without.


*

Only a healthy inner core 

Can sustain indefinitely 

A flourishing body and mind.


*
Source: Shadowlands 

August 02, 2020

THE PATTERN OF LIFE

We met and married a long time ago.
We worked long hours when wages were low.
No telly, no bath, for times were hard.
Just a cold water tap and a walk in the yard.

No holidays abroad, no carpets on floors,
We'd coal on the fire, and didn't lock doors.
Our children arrived (No Pill in those days).
We brought them up without any state aid.

They were safe going out to play in the park.
And old folk could go for a walk in the dark.
No Valium, drugs and no LSD.
We cured most of our ill with a good cup of tea.

No vandals, no muggings (not much to rob).
We felt we were rich with a couple of bob.
People seemed happier in those far off days.
Kinder and caring in so many ways.

Milkmen and paperboys would whistle and sing.
A night at the pictures was quite a mad fling.
We got our share of troubles and strife.
But we had to face it - the Pattern of Life.

Author Anon

From a paper cutting of anon source under a title heading:
"A poem about life as it was"

INSPIRATION

Within the ancient city walls
Our great cathedral rise,
Towering over time and change
To point us to the skies.

~David Hope~

Source: The Friendship Book of Francis Gay

THE ESTRANGEMENT OF MY DERANGEMENT

*
My soul almost died in those days of shame,
It came close to death on so many occasions
Its survival is a miracle to me
One I never quite comprehended.
*
I was always the stranger in a strange land
The new boy that never stayed long enough
To be humiliated into submission,
Or assimilated into admission.
*
I refused to bend under the weight,
Or to snap under the strain.
But the price for my personal state of isolation
Was the capitulation of my soul.
*
The battles were many and the victories few
Towns, cities, states, and counties,
Like a carousel of hate and humiliation
Came and went and tore at the heart of my soul.
*
As the years passed and the body hardened
My one determined goal never strayed off course.
The body may bleed, the heart may cry,
But my soul will never be lost.
*
I swore allegiance to that battered soul
Took an oath and professed forever on
Whatever this world had in store,
I would not change to save myself from hurt
*
So here I am, battered and bruised.
Among my raddled but still noble anamnesis
With elysian pride and a peaceful heart
I watch at last, the renaissance of my soul.

By Shadowjo
Source: Shadowlands
30 June 2014

A PHOENIX FROM THE ASH

They crushed your spark,
Put off your fire,
Laughed at you,
When you lay there as ash.

Little did they know,
The more they burn you
The more you'll rise
Like a Phoenix from the ash.

~The Luna|

THE HONEY BAR HOTEL

By Shadowjo


*

The air hangs sluggishly in the room

The lights are dim and flickering

Spiders have long ago abandoned 

The stench and the bickering.


*

There once was much love here

Many-a-heart danced and fluttered

Where oaths and promises

Were frequently uttered.


*

But now the color has turned beige

It has lost the magic of its spell

All that lingers are the shadows

At the Honey Bar Hotel.


*

Source: Shadowlands

June 30, 2014

THE SERMON OF THE TREES

by Rado Gatchalian

i see the veins of man flowing

in every branch of a tree,

rushing through from earth

to the sweetest eloquence of air.


beneath the inhale, exhale, of life —

all roots speak of an immutable decree

that every matter shares the same ingredients,

as a leaf enthroned in the sky

so as the genius of a child.


whether you deny its existence

or glorify its infinite power —

a tree looks at you, and you look at the tree:

and a beauty is born in eternity.

ALL GOOD WILL COME BACK TO YOU

Sometimes, you are unsatisfied with your life,
While many people are dreaming of living your life.

A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead
And dreams of flying
But a pilot on the plane sees the farmhouse
And dreams of returning home.

That's life!
Enjoy yours!

If wealth is the secret to happiness,
Then the rich should be dancing on the streets.
But only poor kids do that.

If power ensures security,
Then officials should walk unguarded.
But those who live simply, sleep soundly.

If beauty and fame bring ideal relationships,
Then celebrities should have the best marriages.

Live simply, walk humbly, and love genuinely …
All good will come back to you.

~Anon~

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

By Wendell Berry

When despair for the world
grows in me
and I wake in the night
at the least sound
in fear of what my life and
my children’s lives may be.
I go and lie down
where the wood drake
rests in his beauty
on the water,
and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace
of wild things
who do not tax their lives
with forethought
of grief. I come into the
presence of still water.
And I feel above me the
day-blind stars
waiting with their light.
For a time
I rest in the grace of the world,
and am free.

A MESSAGE FROM HEAVEN

By Robert Clancy

Just because you can't see me,
doesn't mean that I'm not there.
I'm the gentle breeze that kisses your face;
I'm the warmth of the passing air.
I've become every note
of beautiful music you've ever heard,
I'm the songs of love in your heart.
I know how much you miss me
And how hard you've tried to restart.
I'm always right there beside you,
I've become what we're all meant to be.
I'm the essence of every precious flower;
I'm the blossoms on every tree.
If you look to the heavens you might see me;
I just might be that bird passing above,
but the best place to see me
is the place we all call love.


🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊 🕊

A LIFE OF JOURNEYS

*

I have flirted with damnation

I have danced with the damned 

I have cried with the angels

I have laughed with the lost

I have endured with the sufferers

I have fought with the peaceful

I have lost to the rich

I have shared with the poor

I have dreamed of freedom

I have hurt with loved ones

I have learned from the ignorant 

I have taught the uneducated

I have drunk with the thirsty 

I have fed on crumbs

I have loved the loveless 

I have been loved with magic

I have lived a life of journeys

And now I have finally reached

My far horizon.


*

Words © by Shadowjo
April 16 2015

Source: Shadowlands

WHILE THERE IS HOPE THERE IS LIFE

By Wilfred A. Peterson

The well-known maxim, "While there is life there is hope," has a deeper meaning in reverse:
"While there is hope there is life."

Hope comes first, life follows.
Hope gives power to life.
Hope rouses life to continue, to expand,
to grow, to reach out, to go on.
Hope sees a light where there isn't any.
Hope lights candles in millions of despairing hearts.
Hope is the miracle medicine of the mind.
It inspires the will to live.
Hope is the physician's strongest ally.
Hope is our shield and buckler against defeat.

"Hope," wrote Alexander Pope, "springs eternal in the human breast."

And as long as it does we will triumph and move forward.
Hope never sounds retreat.
Hope keeps the banners flying.
Hope revives ideals, renews dreams, revitalizes visions.
Hope scales the peak, wrestles with the impossible,
achieves the highest aim.

"The word which God has written on the brow of every person," wrote Victor Hugo, "is Hope."

As long as we have hope no situation is hopeless.

"KEEP LOOKING UP..."

Source: "In the Garden of Faith, Hope and Love"

HIS JOURNEY'S JUST BEGUN

By Ellen Brenneman

Don't think of him as gone away -
His jorney's just begun,
Life holds so many facets -
This earth is only one.

Just think of him as resting
From the sorrows and the tears
In a place of warmth and comfort
Where there are no days and years.

Think how he must be wishing
That we could know today
How nothing but our sadness
Can really pass away.

And think of him as living
In the hearts of those he touched …
For nothing loved is ever lost -
And he was loved so much.

NB -
A poem contained in a sympathy card sent to Carol Smith of Orange, NSW.
SADLY, Carol too had passed-away.
My sincere condolence to Karen

THE BLINDFOLD

By Surf Reyes

In the brightest of days,
with the sun in our eyes,
we chose
to put on a blindfold,
covering our sight.
Then drowning in darkness,
where fear arose,
we wallow in wailing,
crying in prayer to the Sun
to give us light.

DID YOU EVER IMAGINE HOW HEAVEN WILL BE?

Did you ever imagine how heaven will be, 

what color the sky, the land or the sea?


I wonder if maybe the sky could be gold, 

with flowers too beautiful to behold.


I picture the trees with leaves colored pink,

near waters of crystal for people to drink,


and then in my mind I can see drops of dew,

all sparkling like diamonds, with bright crystal hue.


I am envisioning some soft snow or rain,

as warmly it melts on each window pane.


The birds will be every color and hue. 

They’ll land on your shoulder to cuddle with you!


The animals, able to smile and talk,

though some wild on earth, with you tamely will walk


I feel we might also be able to fly,

above trees and flowers, as we soar through the sky.


The homes and the mansions, breathtaking in sight, 

will thrill us and give us enormous delight!


Envision the gardens and water so clear, 

that of purest crystal to us will appear!


The food will be of such delectable taste, 

that not even a morsel, we will let go to waste.


Our family and friends will all be by our side, 

as in perfect love, we will gladly abide.


God in magnificence will smile and say,

“Welcome my child to eternal day!


Come let Me embrace you and show you the place,

in heaven you’ve earned for completing the race.


Now finally as you pass, through heaven’s door,

we’ll both be together, forevermore.


The things I have shown you just cannot compare, 

with all of the others that soon I will share.


Together in paradise we’ll stroll arm and arm,

eternally safe from life’s every alarm!”

Author: Anon(?)

Source: A Poem For Every Occasion
June 8, 2020

TO A PRECIOUS DAUGHTER

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Noemi!!!

🎂🍸🌹🍾🌺🍨🥂🍰

A day of contrast today
Of what it was thirty-years ago.
It might not be as colourful as Fall
Nevertheless, it was a dreamy spectacle
That your crib days were rocked in Wonderland
Just as how I wished it to be.

My hope, my dream, my wish
Was granted by Mother Earth;
Whose soft nature you gladly inherited,
Sweet like watermelon that I craved.
From un-dimpled smile to a helpless cry,
You're a sweet baby of un-ending bliss.

Winter days do come and go
As life like wheels move to and fro;
Be they dreamy, be they weary;
They come year after year.
To us this season brings good cheers
With Little Zana, your special day is shared.

Joyful greetings and prayers blessed
From whom above that watched your birth;
We are as thankful that you are here
A precious daughter a universe behold:
Ever patient, ever strong, ever tender
A mother of two, her offsprings' dearly beloved.

Leah C. Dancel
Copyright @2020
All rights reserved
Australia
June 25, 2020

SET SAIL TO PARADISE

By @Sandra Dartt

The sails capture the sultry winds
Gliding across the turquoise sea
This is where our adventure begins
Embracing the need to be free
As the crystalline heavens reflect
the oceans aqua blue
Its beauty is for us to inspect
in the skies deep tropical hue
We skim the waves in tranquilly
bound for Key Largo’s enchanted shore
With all of its unspoiled serenity
here you'll open imaginations door
Sandy white beaches are spied
touched by the blazing sun
We go romping through the tide
as children once had done
Time here does not exist
in this idyllic place
Laughter is unable to resist
placing a smile upon your face
The coral reefs are spellbinding
we see fish in a rainbow array
This underwater world is unwinding
in a dazzling delightful display
The sun is setting in the west
Painting the azure sky
Twilight’s the time I love best
As the day bids us good-bye
The full moon now awakens
while night’s mysteries unfold
Love is for the taking
as its wonders we behold.

BE

Be the person who cares.
Be the person who makes an effort,
Who loves without hesitation.
Be the person who makes people feel seen.
There is nothing stronger than someone
Who continues to stay soft in a world
That hasn't always been kind to them.

~Anon~