Today is the second Sunday of Advent, here is the English and Czech of the Second Sunday poem
Bronze Sunday
Bronze shields and spears arranged in ranks
To form the fearsome Greek phalanx
Conquered nations far and wide;
Now there’s a new source of Greek pride:
Bold theories and insightful thoughts
That they debate in marble courts.
“Whose wisdom can outshine our own
Or that of our great pantheon?”
Twixt oracles and temples grand
In Athens a small altar stands
Placed there as a reverent nod
To an as yet unknown god.
But soon That Day will come.
Bronzová neděle
Bronzové štíty a v zákrytu kopí
falangy Řeků když moci se chopí.
Kdo může odolat moci a síle,
přichází Řekové a jejich chvíle.
Nádvoří dlážděné mramorem skvělým
debatám naslouchá, myšlenkám smělým.
“Před naší moudrostí každý se sklání,
vznešený pantheon – bez srovnání!”
V zajetí chrámů, kde lid bohy vzývá,
v Aténách oltář prostý se skrývá
Prostý a vážný uprostřed všeho
k uctění boha neznámého.
This is a hymn I wrote. If I can ever find the proper musical accompaniment, I will record it for you.
There is a Place
There is a place where innocents rejoice;
There is a place where meek souls lift their voice,
There is a place where truth has its full gleam,
There is a place where sinners are washed clean.
There is a place where all will be explained;
There is a place where life abounds again,
A place where fear and death have no more power,
A place where healing flows from every flower,
There is a place where justice has been done;
There is a place where good has fought and won,
Where pain and sickness have been swept away
And beauty basks in bright eternal day.
The hope of glory lifts us from the grime;
A hope that saves us from a life of crime,
That we could gaze upon that holy face,
Who has prepared for us a special place.
The hope that lifted great souls long ago,
When through the vale of death they had to go
Their heads held high, no longer cursed to roam,
Safe in the knowledge they were going home.
Observe the grasses’ greeting as they wave within the wind;
They bless the ground beneath our feet as if we’d never sinned.
The quiet kindness of the trees feeds rivers in the sky;
They offer up their strength to every creature passing by.
Streams bear precious nutrients that they themselves don’t need,
Reviving weary souls of every nation, tribe and creed.
Birdsong adorns the fragrant air and sunset’s amber hues
Give otherworldly warmth to those who haven’t paid their dues.
This fount of generosity is but the faintest glimpse
Of all the Father does for us and many others, since
Eternally He gives all that He is to His own Son,
Who gave Himself to pay for all the awful things we’ve done.
His Spirit pleads on our behalf and gives gifts on our way
Of life in full abundance towards eternal day.
(I composed the above while walking around our village to give my eyes some rest from looking at computer screens, since a recurring eye problem (malfunctioning tear duct causing severe eye dryness and headaches) has flared up again. Prayers for me would be appreciated).
It’s my wedding anniversary today, here is this year’s poem/song. This one was a bit of a rush job to produce after coming back from DragonCon, so is a little less polished than I would like.
There’s no Force upon the Earth
There’s no force upon the earth
That will make me doubt your worth;
There’s no place on earth that I would rather be
Than beside you every day, united on our way
To claim the prize that shines eternally.
‘Cause your love is true, and it’s seen me through
So many times of darkness and despair;
You give me strength to stand with your loving hand
And all the signs that you so deeply care.
More than silver, more than gold,
I hope that I grow old
Surrounded by the fruits of our great love;
When bound to you I’m free, you are the one for me,
The girl in the whole world I’m most proud of.
Listening to music can be therapeutic, soothing, invigorating, inspiring, heartbreaking, or depressing, much like reading or listening to a story. In fact Hans Zimmer once said that in all the music he composes his primary purpose is to tell a story, despite using no words. Listening to one of his most famous pieces (that accompanies one of the great movie endings of all time) inspired this little effort of mine below. In Zimmer’s piece, and the film, the hero is faced with a situation where all seems lost. He did everything he could, but all he has worked for has crumbled to dust before his eyes. He sees the situation for what it is, absorbs this devastating news, and yet he still finds the strength to keep going, even to sacrifice himself and his reputation to save people he will never meet, who will almost certainly never even know, let alone appreciate, what he did for them. He is able to do it quickly this time, because he’s done it before. In these respects, these few minutes are a microcosm of his entire heroic journey.
As the piece played I was struck by the ways in which it mirrored some of my own experiences (except it took me far longer to gather up the strength to keep going, and my behaviour has been far less heroic). It encourages me to keep going, to do better, to come closer to the good example set.
This is the power of story, of archetypes, of strong heroic characters, of good examples. Let us make more of them.
My piece set to Zimmer’s music can be found here, with the lyrics below that
I have known…
I have known despair, and I will not promote it.
I have known pain, and I will not glorify it.
I have known false hope, and I will not encourage it.
I have known cowardice, and I will understand, but not praise it.
I have known self-loathing, and I will not romanticize it.
I have known brokenness, defeat, lostness, and yet emerged on the other side, not unscathed, but grown.
I have known failure, and I will learn from it.
I will defend the truth.
I will not abandon my allies.
I will keep learning, and admit when I am wrong.
I will advocate for genuine hope.
I will praise and strive to create beauty.
I will call for courage in matters great and small.
I will seek to repair the damage I have caused.
I will seek to restore friendships.
I will console those who suffer.
I will encourage those who feel they can’t go on, for I have walked that path.
As we approach the end of an eventful year, and the start of a new that promises a number of big things in the near future, I could make the standard wish to you all of success, health and comfort, but I thought I’d post a little reminder of what is most important of all:
The Greatest of These
There is no force upon the earth
That can outweigh the gift of love;
No wealth or situation
That can outbid its worth;
No jewel in all its glory
No title, honour, place
That can outshine the smile that spreads
Across your loved one’s face.
While victories are powerful joys
And justice plays its part
None can match devotion
From an honest human heart.
So dance and laugh and celebrate,
Savour and appreciate,
Stand, salute, commemorate
Console and commiserate
With those you choose to love.
On this day of days, we reach the culmination of our Advent Series, with the day that all Advent Sundays look towards, what could be better than Gold Sunday?
Priceless Sunday
Beyond all hopes, beyond all dreams,
Beyond all human plots and schemes
To cure the ills that plague mankind,
The bonds that hold the weak unbind,
The wisdom of the world surpass,
To show the lost the way at last.
To shame the mighty and the strong
And show the proud where they went wrong.
To open up the narrow door
That leads to love for evermore;
All this through a baby’s birth
To reclaim corrupted Earth.
The fullness of divinity
Combined with full humanity
To be the Way, the price to pay
With unforeseen humility.
No eye had seen, no ear had heard
The mighty and incarnate Word
That cried our tears, that felt our pain,
So we could all be whole again.
The greatest enemy of all
Saw this would lead to his great fall;
He tried to tempt, to spoil, destroy,
But could not taint our source of joy.
At last That Day had come.
For more of my poetry, there are two of my collections available on Amazon:
The Zwyckyverse 