The Modern Work Place

Stronger
Faster
Better
Smarter

Greater
Further
Clever
Quicker

Work
Work
Work
Work
Work some more
Work some more

Higher
Larger
Dapper
Deeper

Longer
Wider
Finer
Fitter

Profit
Profit
Profit
Profit
Do some more
Produce some more

Faster
Finer
Better
Stronger

Bigger
Larger
Smarter
Quicker

OK!
I’m out of here!

I Need Another Drink

Too tired to write
Too tired to think
Too tired to eat
But not to drink

Rum or beer
Bourbon or wine
Mixed drinks or straight
Any would be fine

To take the pain
Far away
To say good night
Or even good day

Decisions I Have Made

I can’t help but cry
Silently to myself
It is all so sad

Winter’s Orphans

A chilling air,
As winter comes.
Children shiver,
In the slums.

Little food,
And little heat,
They go forgotten,
In the street.

Mother is gone,
Father is gone,
Sister, aunt and,
Brother is gone.

Will you help them?
Even one?
Help these children
And watch them run

Paul on the way to Jerusalem

A torrent of tears,
A torrent of fears,
I hide alone to cry.

I don’t want to go,
I will, though I know,
In the end I probably will die.

The Great Lie

Bottles and jars
Line the wall
Potions of beauty
Available for all

Creams for your face
Lotions for your skin
It’s all how you look
Not about what’s within

Beautiful body
Beautiful face
Don’t worry about your soul
It’s such a waste

If you are beautiful
You’ll have friends galore
Everyone will like you
And no one will be sore

You can do what you want
And live a fun filled life
Beauty means happiness
A life without strife

Beauty means everything
Not the spirit within
So try to become beautiful
And let your life begin

The Tester

Constant subtle testing
To see if you measure up
All this constant testing
Makes me want to throw up

My nerves on edge
My brain is fried
I seem to keep failing
No matter how hard I tried

I no longer know what to do
Stuck in this deep morass
I guess I’ll keep on trying
And hope it’ll eventually pass

Traffic

Miles of cars
In a row
All of them moving
So very slow
I sit and wait
Stop and go
Our modern world
With this to show

Home

I dream of home
Away from strife
I dream of home
And my loving wife

Children happy
That I am home
To the backyard or park
We shall roam

At night we huddle
Together and warm
Reading a book
Away from the storm

Then off to bed
With a hug and a kiss
My wonderful family
I sure do miss….

My Beautiful Wife

My beautiful wife
How fair is she
A most glorious vision
A wonder to see!

With beautiful eyes
And a warm happy smile
All that she does
She does with style.

John

A happy face to greet you with,
No matter what his day,
Building you up with kind advice,
In his kind and happy way.

He always has time, in all he does,
To spend a moment with you.
Though his day is busy and often frantic,
His kindness always shows through.

The Long Day

Sleepless nights
And tireless days
I seem to be living
In a haze

Of for a nap
Just a bit of rest
But it’s time to go back
To this grueling test

Dear Lord

Dear Lord,

Please help me,
In all that I do,
And help me to see,
The wonders of you,

Your humble servant,
For as long as I live,
No matter what happens,
My life I give.

Tell me where to go,
And what I should do,
So that I can live a life,
That brings honor to you.

Love,
Me

So Many Questions

So many questions I have for you Lord,
But they’re not important right now.
All that’s important is that you’re here with me now,
And I’m here with you.

Talking to God

Millions of stars
Dot the sky
As I spend my time with God

We sit and talk
About many a thing
Though some might think it odd

Dancing Leaves

Golden leaves
Dancing at my feet
And more come to play

No one grieves
This winsome treat
It brightens up our day

The Bay

The bay sits
As smooth as glass
Birds quietly swim along

In the fading light
And the salty air
I feel like I belong

Praying

I like to pray
Every day
I like to pray
In every way

When I eat
And when I drink
Upside down
And when I think

When I work
And when I play
Even in dreams
I like to pray

Why don’t you try it,
Praying all day long.
If you do you will find
It really makes you strong

Love and Support One Another

Protect the church from those
Who say what isn’t true
Remember those who sacrificed
To bring the lord they knew

Encourage one another
And help each other grow
In his word and in his works
With love and mercy show

The kinds of things we ought to do
The way we ought to live
How to love and what to say
And what and how to give

Remember all the love
That Christ has shown to you
And remember to love him back
In everything you do

Love and support one another.

What Matters

What matters most to you?
Another football game?
Money and possessions?
Power or fame?

These things seem so small,
At least they do to me,
I’d rather serve my lord,
And live with humility.

I really like to walk with him
Every single day
And when he asks me to do something
I happily obey

And someday I will be with him,
In heaven I’ll be,
And all the things I’ve left behind,
Will no longer matter to me.

Set your mind on higher things.

What Matters

What matters most to you?
Another football game?
Money and possessions?
Power or fame?

These things seem so small,
At least they do to me,
I’d rather serve my lord,
And live with humility.

I really like to walk with him
Every single day
And when he asks me to do something
I happily obey

And someday I will be with him,
In heaven I’ll be,
And all the things I’ve left behind,
Will no longer matter to me.

Set your mind on higher things.

Bob

Wondering the world
Holding his cane by the knob
Goes my imaginary friend
A cow named Bob

Wearing an old tuxedo
And a top hat on his head
A monocle in one eye
And shoes that are red

He travels the places
That I can not go
Sending me postcards
That I can not show

From Paris to Cairo
Berlin and Moscow
Shanghai and Tokyo
London and Oslo

He travels the world
And likes to hob-knob
With princes and peasants
My imaginary friend Bob

Chicken

Chicken pecking
On the ground,
Chicken getting
Big and round.

Laying eggs,
For not you’ll do,
But soon you’ll be
Chicken stew.

Serenity

The setting sun
Over tree lined hills
Mirrored in the lake below

A simple beauty
A simple peace
The serenity overcome

Saturday

How I love to be at home
Just sitting in bed
Next to my wife
Nothing important to do
Just spending time to relax
And be with one another
Sometimes we walk to the beach
Hand in hand
Along the shore
But we always come back
To our comfortable
Warm little home
An island on an island
In a hard and troubled world

Where Did You Go?

First you’re here,
But now you’re gone.
So now I have to
Sing this song:

Wheeeeeerrrrrrrre Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrre Yooooooouuuuuuuuu……

Working Stiff

Like a lifeless shell
He does his job
Quietly listening
Keeping to himself

Tired of tasks
That lay ahead
Worried of the boss
He might offend

So treading lightly
He goes through his day
Little work elsewhere
So he hopes he can stay

Memories of Happier Times

Whatever happened to compassion
And those who care
Where is the love
We used to share

I left them behind
To those who were kind

Their love I shall miss
My memories of bliss

The Manager

Sharp as a razor
And critical too
Pointing out problems
Pointed but true

Assuming knowledge
That just isn't there
With the tact of a bull
Your ego he'll tear

Crumpled Thoughts

Crumpled papers,
Thrown to the side,
Of thoughts and iterations,
I just can't decide

Some seem warm,
But most seem cold,
Not what I'm looking for,
Nothing so bold.

So I pen my thoughts,
Though dreary they seem,
I keep trying to say,
What I really mean....

Perhaps I should be more plain....

The Ride Home

A long day
A long ride
Tired and hungry
I look to the side

Where I admire fields
Of ripening food
Hoping that somehow
It will improve my mood

But to my distress
I hear a rumble
With sorrow and pain
I start to grumble

How long till dinner?

My Poor Dying Car

Lovely car of gray,
Will you run today?
You lurch and wiggle,
You’d think I’d giggle,
But it’s a very important day.

Hidden Truths

1. The truth is always hard to seek.
2. Yet the whole day long,
3. While grassy forest quakes surprise,
4. The rainbow arches in the sky.
5. I sleep in such a bed.

1. Monica Shannon
2. Juliana Hiatia Ewing
3. John Clark
4. David McCord
5. Elimore Wylie

Home for the Winter

Long days in my house
Snow falls gently outside
I sit by the fire

Brown Leaves Blowing Down the Street

Grey sky covering
A chill breeze blows down the street
Brown leaves fly past me

Autumn

A torrent of wind
Golden leaves fall to the ground
Amongst the tall trees

Priorities

What are your priorities?
What do you want to do?
What are your priorities?
What is important to you?

Choose your priorities,
Set them with care,
For they will determine,
How you will fare.

If you don’t prioritize your life,
Then you’ll live a life of strife.

Where is Christ in your priorities?
Is he really there?

Sociatial Celerity

Sociatial celerity
Demands ever more
Taxing us until
We fall on the floor

They pick us back up
And set us to run
Back on the treadmill
We can’t be outdone

For if we dare fail
And can’t seem to go
They find a replacement
And the exit they show

Sitting and Watching People at the Book Store

Sitting
Reading
Writing
Drinking
The people at the local book store

Watching
Wondering
Thinking
Dreaming
I silently observe some more

I’ll Miss You

The party’s over
And now I’m gone
It’s sad to think
I had to move on

Away from friends
Who truly care
Into the unknown
How will I fair?

Know that I will miss you
Every one
The times we had
Sure were fun

Oscar

Deep down under
The seven seas
Gathered a group
A Jubilee

And who was there
For all to see
None other than Oscar
The movie Marques

He swam there and greeted
Most everyone
From mother to daughter
From father to son

And when he had finished
His greetings that day
They all sat and watched
The most marvelous play

They all say awe
A wonderful suspense
This high production play
That teased every sense

And when it was over
And the final curtain closed
He awarded them an Oscar
And with them he posed

The Room

Fading away
Into the night
Darkness comes and overtakes me

Locked in this room
Wishing for flight
Or someone to set me free

A handful of pills
A couple more shots
And someone comes with restraints

Please, I’m so sorry
I really didn’t mean it
But no one will hear my complaints

Roads to Travel

1. A road might lead to anywhere
2. Roads go ever on and on
3. And there are always – your own two feet
4. For the wonder-thirst is on me
5. Lonesome miles of travel


1. Rachel Field
2. J.R.R. Tolken
3. Leslie Thompson
4. Richard Hovey
5. James S. Tippett

The Shallow Sea

A thin layer of water
As far as you can see
The wonders of
The shallow sea

Blue skinned pigmies
Who skate across
Turing freemen into slaves
Their gain, your loss

And at the edge
Falls so grand
And off in the mists
A cursed land

The Ghost Hag

Deep down under
A ruined tower
Died a lady
Of great power

And her spirit
Still roams those halls
Weaving her sorcery
Upon the walls

Yet trapped is she
Until some fool
Decides to come
In search of a jewel

And he’s drained away
As food for the day

Pack Rat

Boxes boxes
Piled up high
Filled with crap
I can not lie

But buried within
One of them
Is something I’m sure I’ll need

The Flirt

Flirting eyes
Flirting lips
A flirting mouth
And flirting hips

She walks along
A throng of men
Catches a glance
Smiles and then
Flirtingly walks away

Sick at Work

The world is swimming
Round and round
Your lips are moving
Incoherent sound

Why am I here
And not in bed
I should have listened
To what my doctor said

Finding God

Little by little
We live out our lives
Trying to do good
Until our day arrives

But sometimes we mess up
Sometimes we fall
Sometimes we seem
To hit a brick wall

And when we do
We seem to find God
To give us his help
With a smile and a nod

But I think it quite strange
That we only look
When things are bad
As if we need the hook

But when things are good
And problems are few
We don’t look to God
And say “Thank you.”

How much better
Our lives would be
If in our happiness
God’s face we would see

It’s there, you just need to look.

Life

Life is wonderful and good.
Is life good to you?
Are you good?

Poetic Styles

Poetic styles
Bring smiles
Of many a type and form

Some rhyme
Some don’t
Some try to break the norm

Zairen

Zairen Barton
Is a ton of fun
He likes to fly
High in the sky

Aaron

Aaron Clark
Plays in the park
He thinks its fun
To shoot his a gun

The Wonderful World of Computers

Apple,
BIOS, Computer,
DOS, EPROM, Floppy Drive,
Gigabyte, Hard Drive, IRQ, Joy Stick,
Keyboard, Linux, Mouse, Network, Open Source,
Printer, Quantum Computing, RAID 10, Storage Area Network,
Transport Layer, UPS, Virtual Memory, Windows 2003, eXabyte, Y2K,
Zoning.

A Happy Thought

Your beaming smile
A happy thought
Your love and kindness
They mean a lot

You brighten my day
When I’m distraught
And have taught me well
That our problems are naught

Midnight Snack

Delicious peaches
Golden and light
In the morning
A breakfast delight

But morning is over
And I crave you still
So as a nighttime snack
My craving you fill

The Spider

She weaved her plots
With expert care
Surrounded by men
Who were unaware

Of her venomous plans
To corrupt and destroy
The spider of Manhattan
Exploited with joy

She never gives mercy
To those in her path
And those who would stop her
She’d take on with wrath

So she was terribly confused
When she found herself alone
With no one to help her
And she could not atone

A Plethora of Problems

A plethora of problems
Fall in my lap
I would rather ignore them
And go take a nap

But if I ignore them
Those problems will grow bigger
So I might as well fix them
And do it with vigor

Then I'll go take a nap!

I Love You

I love you in the morning
When the day is new

I love you in the evening
When the day is through

I love you when it’s late at night
When the sky is dark

I love you whether we’re home in bed
Or walking in the park

I love you no matter where we are
At home or far away

I love you now and forever more
No matter the time of day

Mr. Serendipity

Mr. Serendipity
You live your life by chance
You’ve seemed to do quite well
I can tell that at a glance

Your luck so far
Has all been good
To have such luck as yours
If I only could

Tell me, Mr. Serendipity
What is your secret true?
Hard work and constant learning
And seeing everything through

Lady Procrastinator

Lady Procrastinator
With four kids in tow
What will you do with yourself
Where shall you go

Your life is in the balance
Your career is on hold
You need to make a decision
You need to be bold

Your tomorrows are now yesterdays
And it’s starting to get late
But you still sit there dreaming
You still procrastinate

Run

Faster
Faster!
Run run run!

Patients to see
Work to do
And we do it, not for the fun

Though your day has just begun
You know it’s time to run

You’ve got patients you’ve got to heal
And one wants his meal

An IV that’s come undone
So now you’ve got to run

Run nurse run!

What Became of the Fez

It’s despicable
That’s what Daffy says
It’s despicable
As he looks at his old fez

It used to be
So nice and clean
Who ever did this
Is surely mean

It’s despicable
Despicable
Despicable!

Taz did you do this
Did you mess up my old fez?
Yes I did and I’m sorry
The Tasmanian devil says

It looked so bright
And tasted good
I tried to eat it
Because I though I should
Then I burped it up
Because I misunderstood

I’m sorry
So sorry
So very, BURP!
Sorry!

Bothersome Buzzing Flies

Buzzing flies
Buzzing all around
Hear them flies’
Buzzing sound

Hunt them
Kill them
Smash them
Bash them
Make them go away

-Oh-

No more flies
Buzzing all around
I turned them into
A big fly mound

-I-

Hunt them
Kill them
Smash them
Bash them
I made them go away

Coffee Break

A cup on the counter
Left there half full
People standing around
Just shooting the bull

The Mire

Confusion rains
Like a cold autumn day
Lost in procedures
In this mire we’ll stay

Another change of direction
Another way to go
So in the mire we start again
With nothing more to show

City of Contrast

Bright golden lights in a sea of darkness
A city of opulence and spender surrounded by degradation and poverty
Artwork is strewn around in their little glass boxes like candy before rich and spoiled children who’ve tired of their mundanity.
The allies stink of urine and too much waste
Along the streets live the poor and homeless, smoking their cigarettes, staring off into nowhere.
They look stricken. You wonder if they even know they are there
Decadence unsurpassed, except by the poverty that lives beside it
Beautiful women, beautiful men, dressed for a night on the town
Destitute women, destitute men, dressed in what they have found
People rushing to and fro, busy on their way
Light and dark, rich and poor
This is a city of great contrast

Squire Lake

High in the hills
There was this lake
That the children and I would walk around

We would go up there
To take a break
And listen to every sound

The birds in the air
The squirrels in the trees
A fish that jumped
The rustling breeze

And I’d sit and think
Of all that was dear
Like the sound of my children
Drawing near

Stress!!!!

Stress
An affliction of apprehensiveness

Stress
I’m curled up in a ball
Stress
I try to start but stall

Stress
Oppression, overextension
Stress
I move with intense trepidation

Stress
Muscles all in knots
Stress
It’s worst than getting shots

A Day at the Beach

Seashells and seaweed
On a sandy shore
Seagulls are circling
Always looking for more

Children and old men
Swim in the waves
Playing in the sand
And digging small caves

A picnic basket
Out on the dune
Under the umbrella
A fun afternoon

Journey by the Sea

I long to be
At the sea
With each wave’s crest and fall

The salty air
I sit and stair
The waters for me enthrall

I sit and dream
Of the ocean’s gleam
And me upon a ship

With tall sail
Fair winds prevail
For our ocean going trip

Indubitably

Indubitably said the inspector
Indubitably said his wife
Indubitably said his little boy
And it seemed to cause much strife

None of them knew what it meant
And that knew that quite for sure
So it really was very odd
That is caused them such a stir

Inconceivable Love

Inconceivable love
Is what he gives
Our lord and God
For he forgives

Not through trite
And lowly affairs
But through his son
He showed he cares

Upon that cross
He bore all sins
So that in the end
It’s us who wins

The Rhythms of the Tide Pool

Crashing waves
On a pebble strewn shore
Gulls cry in the distance
Shells glitter amongst clumps of seaweed
Before me, the small world of a tide pool
A crab skitters under a rock
Sea anemone stretch out their long tentacles
Searching, reaching out for food
A small fish darts by and hides again in the shadows
Soon this world will return to the sea
Such are the rhythms of the tide pool

At the Beach

Pebbles and clam shells
The treasures we found
Strewn amongst seaweed
All on the ground

Sea foam and wave
Tickle our toes
As we walk on the beach
Thinking up prose

Castles in the Sand

Castles in the sand
We built by the bay
When the tide was low

The tide is now high
And they’ve all gone away
And we’ve nothing left to show

The End of Barron Miltovitche

The moon and hills
Were silver grey
The night sky was pitch black

We hid in tree
And ditch and hay
Waiting for our attack

They came along
One by one
They didn’t suspect a thing

The baron’s song
We heard him come
He always liked to sing

With blood curdling cries
Ourselves we threw
Upon his guards and men

With pitchfork and scythes
The guards we slew
They numbered over ten

The baron we grabbed
And tied him up
And we took him straight away

He struggled and jabbed
Like a young pup
He threatened to make us pay

The baron’s evil
Was without any remorse
He spread it through the land

Like a burrowing weevil
There was no recourse
We had to take a stand

He burned down a village
And taxed all the rest
Enslaving those who couldn’t pay

He plundered and pillaged
Keeping all of the best
And he always got his way

Fourteen wives
He killed them all
As soon as began to tire

For all of those lives
He had to fall
At least no child he’d sire

And now we had him
Gagged and tied
He soon came to his end

Though our task was grim
We made sure he died
And now we could begin to mend

The Seasons of the Forest

The seasons of the forest
Are magical things
Showing us Gods love
In all that they bring

They also show us
How to live
From young to old
And how to give

The seasons of the forest
Like the seasons of your life
Are full of colors
Happiness and strife




Spring

New buds
On old trees
Birds begin to sing

Leaves sprout
In falling rain
A quiet day in spring




Summer

Green leaves
Blue sky
A walk amongst the trees

God’s majesty
By a quiet stream
With a warm and gentle breeze




Fall

Gold and red
Upon the ground
From trees so straight and tall

Treasured colors
All around
God’s gift to us in fall




Winter

Trees all white
Covered in snow
The air, it has that chill

Icicle treats
And sleds that go
Winter is such a thrill

Snow in the Trees

Snow falls
Gently, softly
Among tall trees
Green under a blanket of white

The Silence of Winter

Silence fills
Where birds once sang
From their lofty height

Now it’s quiet
To the falling snow
A silence that glistens bright

Trees sleep
Under a sky
Of gently falling snow

Hushed silence
Of a sleeping world
God’s peace to bestow

Paths Less Followed

A bird sings
High in a tree
The forest sounds
Come to me

I like to listen
Every day
And take a walk
And sometimes stray

Through paths less followed
And hidden trail
When in my wonderings
I seem to prevail

A secret grove
With a quiet spring
I sit and think
Bout many a-thing

And in my thought
I realize
That God is with me
And there is no higher prize

The Secret

Mossy Logs
And great big ferns
Live under a deepening shade

Great big trees
With bright green leaves
Stand tall because they’re not afraid

In a secret hole
In a grand-father tree
Lives two squirrels and their children five

Not too far
And way up high
Lives the queen with her entire hive

All of them know
The ways of the land
And the secrets that it hides

And all of them know
Not to tell
And no one dare confides