"The Eyes of the Lord" : The King James Bible

THE EYES OF THE LORD
From the Bible: Proverbs 15:3 (King James Version)

The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
Beholding the evil and the good.

"The Final Say: The Church's Open Doors" by Monty Gilmer

THE FINAL SAY: THE CHURCH'S OPEN DOORS

by Monty Gilmer

Here is a church, here is the steeple,
Open the doors, and see all the people.
     --Child's rhyme recited while playing a hand game

To all who are weary and seek rest,
To all who mourn and long for comfort,
To all who struggle and desire victory,
To all who sin and need a Savior,
To all who are strangers and want fellowship,
To all who hunger and thirst after righteousness,
And to whosoever will come --
The church opens wide her doors and offers her welcome in the name of Jesus Christ her Lord.
     --"Invitation" (Anonymous)

"Autobiography (Polish It Like a Piece of Silver)" by Richard Brautigan

American writer Richard Brautigan was born on this day in 1935 in Tacoma, Washington. Read this poem of his: "Autobiography (Polish It Like a Piece of Silver)"

Richard Brautigan (1935-1984)

Richard Brautigan (born on this day in 1935) : The Poetry Foundation

Read a biography of American writer Richard Brautigan : The Poetry Foundation: "Terence Malley observed in his Richard Brautigan: Writers for the Seventies, [ . . . ]"

Richard Brautigan (1935-1984)

"Spider Crystal Ascension" by Charles Wright : The Poetry Foundation

Read the poem Spider Crystal Ascension by Charles Wright : The Poetry Foundation: The spider, juiced crystal and Milky Way, drifts on his web through the night sky / And looks down, waiting for us to ascend ...

Psalm 131:1-3 ♪♩ KJV Scripture Song, Full Chapter Verbatim

The Final Say: Cocoa

THE FINAL SAY: COCOA
by Monty Gilmer

Tea, although an Oriental,
Is a gentleman at least;
Cocoa is a cad and coward,
Cocoa is a vulgar beast.
     -- G. K. Chesterton

The business of words keeps me awake.
I am drinking cocoa,
that warm brown mama.
     -- Anne Sexton

The Final Say

Quotations I have paired up for comparison

"A Barred Owl" by Richard Wilbur : The Poetry Foundation

Read the poem A Barred Owl by Richard Wilbur : The Poetry Foundation

Richard Wilbur

American poet and translator;

poet laureate (1987-88)

"Paraphrase of the First Psalm" by Robert Burns : Bartleby.com

Read Psalm 1: "The Righteous and the Ungodly" in The Holy Bible: King James Version, and then read the following poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns, who was born on this day in 1759: "Paraphrase of the First Psalm"

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

Robert Burns (born on this day in 1759) : The Poetry Foundation

Read a biography of Robert Burns : The Poetry Foundation: "Born on 25 January 1759 in Alloway, Scotland, to William and Agnes Brown Burnes, Robert Burns followed his father's example by becoming a tenant farmer. Unlike William Burnes, however, Burns [ . . . ]"

Robert Burns (1759-1796)

"In California: Morning, Evening, Late January" by Denise Levertov : The Poetry Foundation

Read the poem In California: Morning, Evening, Late January by Denise Levertov : The Poetry Foundation: "Pale, then enkindled, / light / advancing, / emblazoning [ . . . ]"

Biography of Derek Walcott

West Indian poet and playwright Derek Walcott, a winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, was born on this day in 1930. Read this biography of him: Derek Walcott : The Poetry Foundation

Derek Walcott (1930-2017)

"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost : The Poetry Foundation

Happiness is having memorized a poem. Read -- and memorize -- this classic poem: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost : The Poetry Foundation. The poem, which I myself have memorized, begins, "Whose woods these are I think I know. / His house is in the village though; / He will not see me stopping here / To watch his woods fill up with snow. [ . . . ]"

Robert Frost (1874-1963)

American poet

"January 22nd, Missolonghi" by Lord Byron (George Gordon) : The Poetry Foundation

English poet Lord Byron was born on this day in 1788. Read this birthday poem of his: January 22nd, Missolonghi by Lord Byron (George Gordon) : The Poetry Foundation: 'Tis time this heart should be unmoved, / Since others it hath ceased to move: / Yet though I cannot be beloved, / Still let me love! [ . . . ]

Lord Byron (George Gordon), (1788-1824)

"Blizzard" by William Carlos Williams : The Poetry Foundation

Read the poem Blizzard by William Carlos Williams : The Poetry Foundation: "Snow: / years of anger following / hours that float idly down — / the blizzard [ . . . ]"

 William Carlos Williams (1883-1963)

American poet and physician

. . .

An untitled poem by Emily Dickinson

An untitled poem by Emily Dickinson
on help to the distressed:

If I can stop one Heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain
If I can ease one Life the Aching
Or cool one Pain

Or help one fainting Robin
Unto his Nest again
I shall not live in Vain.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Biography of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)

On this day in 1809 American writer Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

Read a biography of Edgar Allan Poe >>

Edgar Allan Poe

"I, Too" by Langston Hughes : The Poetry Foundation

Read this poem, which is good for children: I, Too by Langston Hughes : The Poetry Foundation: "I, too, sing America. / I am the darker brother. / They send me to eat in the kitchen"

 . . .Langston Hughes

(Source of photo: The Poetry Foundation)

Quotations for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day : The Quote Garden

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Read Quotations for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

"The Operation" by Anne Sexton : The Poetry Foundation

Read the poem The Operation by Anne Sexton : The Poetry Foundation: "1. / After the sweet promise, / the summer’s mild retreat" . . .

Also listen to a recording of Anne Sexton reading her poem "The Operation."

Anne Sexton

(Source of photo: The Poetry Foundation)

Biography: William E. Stafford : The Poetry Foundation

Read a biography of this American poet, who was born on this day in 1914: William E. Stafford : The Poetry Foundation

William E. Stafford (1914-1993)

"The Suicide" by Joyce Carol Oates : The Poetry Foundation

Read the poem The Suicide by Joyce Carol Oates : The Poetry Foundation: "didn't thank / didn't wave goodbye / didn't flutter the air with kisses / a mound of gifts unwrapped" So begins Joyce Carol Oates's poem "The Suicide."

Joyce Carol Oates,

American writer, in 2014

From "Words of Comfort to Zion" (Isaiah 51) : The King James Bible

From WORDS OF COMFORT TO ZION

from the Bible: Isaiah 51:4-8 (King James Version)

Hearken unto me, my people;

And give ear unto me, O my nation:

For a law shall proceed from me,

And I will make my judgment to rest

For a light of the people.

My righteousness is near;

My salvation is gone forth,

And mine arms shall judge the people;

The isles shall wait upon me,

And on mine arm shall they trust.

Lift up your eyes to the heavens,

And look upon the earth beneath:

For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke,

And the earth shall wax old like a garment,

And they that dwell therein shall die in like manner:

But my salvation shall be for ever,

And my righteousness shall not be abolished.

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness,

The people in whose heart is my law;

Fear ye not the reproach of men,

Neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

For the moth shall eat them up like a garment,

And the worm shall eat them like wool:

But my righteousness shall be for ever,

And my salvation from generation to generation.

"Lake Echo, Dear" by C. D. Wright : The Poetry Foundation

Read the poem "Lake Echo, Dear" by C. D. Wright.

American writer Annie Dillard (born 1945)

Read about American writer Annie Dillard at her official website.

Annie Dillard

Portrait by Phyllis Rose

Biography: C. D. Wright (1949-2016) : The Poetry Foundation

Read a biography of the late American poet C. D. Wright : The Poetry Foundation: "C.D. Wright was born in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, the daughter of a judge and a court reporter. She published over a dozen books, including ShallCross (2016); One ... "

"January" by William Carlos Williams, 1883-1963 : Poets.org

Read the poem "January" by William Carlos Williams, 1883-1963

William Carlos Williams.

"The Hundred-thirty-first Psalm" by P. Hately Waddell

Read Psalm 131: "Childlike Repose in the Lord" in The Holy Bible: King James Version, and then read the poem below, a poem written in Scots by Peter Hately Waddell.


THE HUNDRED-THIRTY-FIRST PSALM
by P. Hately Waddell (1817-1891)

My heart, O Lord, was-na haughty; nor my een, they hae-na been heigh:
   Nor no, wi' sic ferlies afore me, but I gaen govan skeigh.
O gin I hae-na been quaiet! an gin I hae-na whush'd my thought;
   Like a wean, that's been spean'd fare his mother, my life on mylane it's been wrought.
Till Jehovah, lat Israel lippen; frae the now, till o' time that's nought.


Source: The Poets' Book of Psalms (1995), edited by Laurance Wieder

"Linens" by Kay Ryan : Poetry Magazine

Read Linens by Kay Ryan : Poetry Magazine. That poem's opening lines read: "There are charms / that forestall harm. / The house bristles / with opportunities . . . "

Kay Ryan

American poet

"Cheerios" by Billy Collins : Poetry Magazine

I'm ten years younger than Cheerios. The following is a poem about that American brand of breakfast cereals, a poem about age and perspective: Cheerios by Billy Collins : Poetry Magazine

Billy Collins

American poet; Poet Laureate

of the United States (2001-2003)
Photo by Steven Kovich

Great Expectations

My father's family name being Pirrip, and my christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So I called myself Pip, and came to be called Pip.

So begins Charles Dickens's classic novel Great Expectations (1860-1861). You can read the novel in its entirety online at Wikisource, the free library.

Title page of Vol. 1 of first edition,

July 1861

'Poetry rejoices...' by Håkan Sandell : Poetry Magazine

Read this poem translated by Bill Coyle: 'Poetry rejoices...' by Håkan Sandell : Poetry Magazine

Hakan Sandell
Swedish poet

"The Journey of the Magi" by T. S. Eliot

Today is traditional Epiphany. Read this poem for Epiphany and a New Year: "The Journey of the Magi" by T. S. Eliot

T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)

American-born British poet and critic

"The Darkling Thrush" by Thomas Hardy : The Poetry Foundation

Read this poem for the New Year: The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy : The Poetry Foundation

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

English novelist and poet

"Handspun" by Floyd Skloot : The Poetry Foundation

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." So reads Ecclesiastes 9:10 in the Bible (King James Version). Read this poem about the work of just one pair of our hands: Handspun by Floyd Skloot : The Poetry Foundation

Jesus and the Woman at the Well

Read "Jesus and the Woman of Samaria" (John 4:1-42) in The Holy Bible: King James Version, and then read the poem "Woman at the Well: John, Chapter 4" by Josephine Collett.

"The Ants and the Grasshopper": A Fable Adapted from Aesop

THE ANTS AND THE GRASSHOPPER
A fable adapted by William Ellery Leonard
from "The Ant and the Grasshopper" by Aesop

The Ants one winter day were drying grain,
Collected in the summer not in vain.
A famished Grasshopper desired to take,
He said, a little for his stomach's sake.
The Ants inquired: "Why didst thou nothing store
On those warm days in bounteous months of yore?"
The Grasshopper: "I had no leisure then;
I sang, and having sung, I sang again."

"Who sings in summer," thus an old Ant said,
"In winter dances supperless to bed."


Source: Aesop and Hyssop (1912) by William Ellery Leonard

 

"Amazing Grace" by John Newton

Read Amazing Grace by John Newton : PoemHunter.com

Read about this Christian hymn by John Newton: Amazing Grace