Improving on a Perfect Day

An impossible burden is bearable,
an obstinate obstacle moved;
a sorrow is shortened and lightened,
a perfect day is improved;

the briefest sweet moment’s eternal,
transient joy multiplied;
you’ll not stay down when you’ve fallen,
you’ll quickly get back in your stride;

a difficult journey’s adventurous,
defeat is not always the end;
mistakes are things you will learn from,
you’ll turn round that negative trend;

an evil is simpler to bring down,
likewise a village defend;
battle scars heal so much cleaner
when all these are shared with a friend.

Fourteen Years a Hero

It is my wedding anniversary today, and this is this year’s poem (my wife actually forgot it was our anniversary until I told her the poem was ready last night, so there are some bonus brownie points for me 🙂 )

Fourteen Years a Hero

Fourteen years a hero, for putting up with me,
And all we do that nearly drives you to insanity:
Noises, fights, and interruptions, not to mention screams;
Sometimes even so bad they’re invading your sweet dreams.

I’d like to think that other times can make your burdens light,
With kindnesses and cuddles and sometimes a such sweet sight
Of learning a new lesson, training a new skill;
Overcoming barriers through pure determined will.

Could I be part of making each day easier for you?
Sharing all your burdens, helping you get through,
Offering my shoulder for those times you need to cry
Or standing by your side as we enjoy a star-filled sky.

Here’s to forty more years of our love and unity,
Through joy and sorrow, times of plenty and of scarcity,
You are the greatest friend I’ve had, we make such a good team,
Together we reflect a glimpse of heaven’s holy gleam.

A Prime Wife

For my wife’s birthday:

A Prime Wife
 
How fitting that a prime number of years you are today;
For a prime wife and mother you have been in every way.
Sister, too, and daughter, all these many roles you bless;
Without you here all of our lives would be worth so much less.
 
My words fall short of all I owe you for your kindness shown
Your love and grace to see my flaws, yet take me as your own,
Far more than that, to give yourself to me and me alone,
My horizons broadened, and how my heart has grown.
 
Let us shower you today with joys both earned and given
In some small part to repay all the good for which you’ve striven
May baby grins and giggles add to this enchanted day
As we try to create a time when things will go your way.
 
So revel in your well-earned rest and heartfelt wishes, too;
Soak in the love that reflects all that you have shown so true.
We’re blessed to all have known you, and more than that it seems
You’re so much more and better than the woman of my dreams.

Not Forgotten

Not long ago, Sir Nicholas George Winton passed away. Since the heroics for which he is most famous took place less than 20km from where I live, I thought it appropriate that I write a poem about him:

 

Not Forgotten

The accolade of hero is oftentimes bestowed
Quite carelessly and flippantly, and not where it is owed;
The above cannot be said of those who chose to praise
A certain late Sir Nicholas, who did in bygone days
Observe the signs of his own times, the shadows that unfurled
Of an evil threatening to swallow up the world.

Primarily he saw a throng of innocents no doubt
Marked for extermination, and all with no way out.
All they could do was send their treasured children far away,
In the hope that they might live to see a better day.
But who would take them in, and would the Nazis let them go?
They’d need official invitations to present and show.

For unsuspecting thousands, time was growing short,
With no-one there to help them flee, for fear of getting caught.
That quiet English stockbroker then went where others quailed,
To save so many lives that would have ended had he failed.
Mountainous bureaucracy had to be waded through,
In London and in Prague he built himself a loyal crew.

Together they worked day and night to free all those they could.
Funds were raised, papers obtained, they were doing good;
But war loomed ever closer, and papers came too slow.
Some documents they had to forge and hope it wouldn’t show.
Train after train departed, and many lives were spared
In all six hundred and sixty nine with families were paired

And yet two hundred and fifty more sat waiting on a train,
But war broke out, the borders closed, their hopes were all in vain.
Mr. Winton travelled home and did not tell a soul
Of all he’d done to rescue many from a deadly hole.
Not even his beloved wife; he clearly sought no praise
For all of his heroics back in those disastrous days.

It was by chance that in their attic his wife found a book
In which were written all he’d done and all the work it took.
She shared his secret with the world, and honours poured on in
Admiration well deserved, not just from next of kin
For the six hundred and sixty nine he’d saved at great expense
Had grown to fifteen thousand in the generations hence.

Great accolades and titles, and medals he received;
When heaven’s final call came for him, many millions grieved.
Six years past a whole century he had graced this earth,
Now we remember his great heart and life so full of worth.
Let his example inspire crowds to choose the higher way
To heal and help and rescue from the evils of today.

 

This and other poems on heroism, beauty, wisdom and folly can be found in Selected Verse, Heroes and Wonders, available on kindle and in paperback.

Selected Verse - Heroes and Wonders

Click on this image to preview the book at amazon

Increased discount on paperbacks of Selected Verse: Faith and Family

I have arranged a new discount code for my first poetry collection.

If you visit the createspace estore for the book, add it to your cart and then enter the code:

4BLQ7CZX

The sale price will be lowered to only $3.99, plus delivery. The price from Amazon.com is unfortunately still $5.99, but is eligible for free delivery if part of a larger order, so work out whichever deal is best for you and get yourself a copy.

Happy Rhonda Day

Today the faceless machine masters that run facebook informed me that the first person to become a fan of my writing without knowing me personally has her birthday today. I thought I could do a little more than my usual facebook birthday wish, but then I got a little carried away, so for that I apologize, Rhonda.

Happy Rhonda Day

With a name like Rhonda, you really have to wonder:
If a grandma, tall and proud, can dare to mention right out loud
How much she loves her country, kin, no matter what their shade of skin;
How much more the young and strong (showing that they do belong

To that great spirit, good and free, loving independently)
Can rebuild a nation’s hopes, free it from the snaring ropes
Of soothing lies and crony theft, philosophy that’s so bereft
Of all that’s good and healthy for a soul that stands alone before

The great decisions that life brings: mere pleasure or far higher things?
Integrity or fleeting fame? Noble fight or crooked game?
Public scorn for choosing life? Faithful spouse or trophy wife?
So now I bring a birthday wish, for cake and other tasty dish,

But most of all from Him above, source of all life, joy and love,
And faithfulness and unity, wisdom and community,
Health and strength and family, the best in all humanity;
Blessings like an April rain, that overflow your cup again,

This and every other day, in this and every other way,
That all will know that you are His, so full of life and buzz and fizz,
And all will want to know Him too, follow His trail high and true,
Until such time as we all see Him face to face eternally.

Door

What does this small door open to?
Where does this entrance lead?
To a secret staircase,
Or a mighty noble steed?

Perhaps an endless field of stars,
Or alien terrain;
Great waves of mighty vehicles
To charge across the plain;

An honour guard of shining knights
Or swarms of countless foes;
A dark trench-coated private eye
To tell you what he knows;

The tomb of a great warrior,
His body lain in state;
A dark priest’s inner chamber
With its altar of pure hate;

A fleet of anchored warships,
All ready to depart;
The final set of traps that guard
The holy mountain’s heart;

A glistening laboratory
Of wonders to behold;
Mighty curving walls of ice
That gleam with burning cold;

A superhero costume
To unleash your inner strength;
Your wise and wizened mentor,
Who desires to talk at length;

A legendary training room
Where you can hone your skill;
A cold white room where your beloved
Lies so deathly ill;

A briefing room where you find out
How you can save the day;
An awesome craft to take you to
A place so far away;

Millions of universes
Linked to this one point;
A crowd of surly faces,
A disreputable joint;

A cupboard full of power tools
We’ll use for our escape;
Our most valued captive
Who can change his very shape;

Shifting clouds and atmosphere
Above a barren land;
The fabled artifact that we
Defend with our last stand;

A world that’s full of magic,
Where souls are forged and grown;
The frightening power so many
Have been trying to disown;

A thousand atmospheres of pressure
Waiting to rush in;
A poor neglected victim
Who’s now so weak and thin;

The king’s forbidden siren
And her enticing web;
The fragile source of life that’s reached
It’s very lowest ebb;

A host of those that stalk the night,
Who we must now destroy;
A team of special forces
Preparing to deploy;

The secret project our elites
Have hidden all these years;
The documents that will confirm
Our deepest gnawing fears;

The unsuspecting target
Of a dark assassin’s blade;
A refuge from the desert heat,
Providing welcome shade;

A passage to another time
When life was simpler, yet
Dirtier, more difficult,
And often under threat;

Rolling hills and meadows
On which to play and roam;
A vault of glistening treasure,
Or better yet, a home?

When Seventy Has Called Upon

I am currently in England at my parents’ house, where on Friday we flew in to surprise my mum for her 70th birthday, with further surprises including a massive party in a beautiful walled garden with more than 60 guests. I gave my mum a copy of my poetry collection, together with some Czech crystal imitation flowers that my boys bought for her. My dad privately joked to me that he should have hired me to write a poem for the main event. These sorts of jokes are dangerous, because it got me thinking and I didn’t sleep well, with lines occurring to me in between the bouts of sleep. For the first time in my life, I gave in to the muse completely and got up in the middle of the night, sneaking into the lounge to scribble down those lines and add to them, then filled out the rest and polished it in the morning.

This is the result, which I recited as the finale of the event, after at least twenty people had stood up to talk about the wonderful ways in which my mum had helped them and been there for them in their hour of need. It went down very well, lots of people asked for a copy of the poem and a number told me they were going to buy a copy of Selected Verse: Friends and Family later. I hope you all like it just as much.

When Seventy Has Called Upon

When seventy has called upon us to commemorate,
Lie in wait with piled-high plate, surprise and celebrate
A life that’s given so much more than it can ever know;
So many wounds she’s helped to heal, so many lives to grow.

When seventy has called upon our minds to be revised,
We see so many of life’s treasures to be grasped and prized;
So many moments of pure fun, so many lessons learned,
And many talks and punishments that we so sorely earned.

When seventy has called upon our bones to be denied,
Will we still have such energy when we get in our stride?
So many projects worked on, gardens dug and sown,
And so much bounty harvested when all those plants have grown.

When seventy has called upon our eyes to be admired,
We see so much to emulate, so much to be desired;
So many lonely stomachs filled and broken hearts made whole
Through simple acts of kindness from this ever-loving soul.

When seventy has called upon our souls to be inspired,
How will our eyes be opened, our imaginations fired?
We’ll see the needs around us that we ourselves can meet,
Sadness we can turn to joy when broken souls we treat.

When heaven’s glee has called upon our souls to be revived,
Will we have won so many over to the angel’s side?
Will our wakes abound with those so full of gratitude
For a life so generous with such great attitude?
Will the Good Shepherd welcome us and shout aloud, “Well done!”
As heartily as he will do for my amazing mum?

Selected Verse: Faith and Family Paperback Price Reductions!

Selected Verse: Faith and Family gets the red carpet treatment

Selected Verse: Faith and Family gets the red carpet treatment

I recently received a shipment of paperback versions of Selected Verse: Faith and Family, so can make those available to people in the Czech Republic for 125 crowns plus postage (where applicable), which is much less than the 6 dollars plus postage for ordering from the createspace estore or US amazon.

For those of you in the UK, I have managed to reduce the price of the paperback on UK amazon to only £2.99, and eligible for super saver delivery (free shipping when forming part of an order over £10)

The price in the other european amazon territories is €3.99, and also eligible for free delivery when part of an order that exceeds the required threshold.

I was unable to reduce the US amazon price, however I was able to introduce a discount code for the createspace estore, so that by placing the book in your cart and then quoting the discount code:

36AUPWCS

You get a dollar discount, lowering the unit price to only $4.99.

Risk

Due to some family troubles (both youngest children being sick and not sleeping well at night) I managed to forget about the anniversary of first contacting my wife, so here is this year’s belated poem:

Risk

What chances will a young man take when love seems on the line?
Write to a complete stranger, take on a risky climb,
Share all his deepest secrets with a girl he’s got to know,
And hope she won’t run screaming from his inner horror show.

Swear utter lifelong faithfulness, til death they both do part;
Before God, friends and family, declare with all his heart,
That nothing can now come between their souls now bound as one,
‘Til all life’s tasks have been achieved and heaven’s wreath is won.’

Share all his faults and failings, all he has and hopes to be,
And all the fruit that grows on their new-planted family tree
Work to be a better man, nurture her growth too,
And always work towards all that is healthy, pure, and true.