"God Is Light": A found poem from the Bible

GOD IS LIGHT
A found poem from the Bible:
1 John 1:5-7 (King James Version)

This then is the message which we have heard of him,
And declare unto you,
That God is light,
And in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him,
And walk in darkness,
We lie, and do not the truth:
But if we walk in the light,
As he is in the light,
We have fellowship one with another,
And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
Cleanseth us from all sin.

"Cinquain on Love: Touch" by Monty Gilmer | Best Poems

In the lyrics of his song "Love" John Lennon wrote, "Love is touch, touch is love." Read this found poem of mine on love and touch: Cinquain on Love: Touch, poem - Monty Gilmer poems | Best Poems

This found poem of mine was first published under the title "Cinquain on Love" in the January 1999 issue of The Sow's Ear Poetry Review (sowsearpoetry.org).

Quotation: A Haiku by Mizuta Masahide

Mizuta Masahide Quote

Since my house burned down

I now own a better view

of the rising moon.

-- Mizuta Masahide (1657-1723)

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:73-80)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:73-80 (King James Version)

Thy hands have made me and fashioned me:
Give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
They that fear thee will be glad when they see me;
Because I have hoped in thy word.
I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right,
And that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort,
According to thy word unto thy servant.
Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live:
For thy law is my delight.
Let the proud be ashamed;
For they dealt perversely with me without a cause:
But I will meditate in thy precepts.
Let those that fear thee turn unto me,
And those that have known thy testimonies.
Let my heart be sound in thy statutes;
That I be not ashamed.

Quotation: F. Scott Fitzgerald on reputation

REPUTATION

     The easiest way to get a reputation is go outside the fold, shout around for a few years as a violent atheist or a dangerous radical, and then crawl back to the shelter.

     F. SCOTT FITZGERALD (1896-1940)

     American writer

     Quoted in the Associated Press

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Born on this day in 1896

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:65-72)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:65-72 (King James Version)

Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord,
According unto thy word.
Teach me good judgment and knowledge:
For I have believed thy commandments.
Before I was afflicted I went astray:
But now have I kept thy word.
Thou art good, and doest good:
Teach me thy statutes.
The proud have forged a lie against me:
But I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
Their heart is as fat as grease:
But I delight in thy law.
It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
That I might learn thy statutes.
The law of thy mouth is better unto me
Than thousands of gold and silver.

"September Tomatoes" by Karina Borowicz : The Poetry Foundation

Read this poem by American poet Karina Borowicz: September Tomatoes

Chrysanthemum: An Anthology

Poetry

Is Jack Frost Painting the Leaves?

1. Excelsior: Jack Frost is Painting the Leaves: "The first song I remember from my childhood was sung by my mother. I remember, it seemed like some miraculous transformation -- my mother..."

2. FIRST FROST

     First frost often comes in late September. If light, it does no harm to the color of the trees. Hard frost kills the color before it really comes. The old myth of Jack Frost painting the leaves is all wrong, contrary to fact. We have our best color in a mild, dry Autumn.

     HAL BORLAND

     in his "Handbook to the Country" Beyond Your Doorstep (1962)

Biography: Leonard Cohen : Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist Leonard Cohen was born on this day in 1934. To read a biography of him, click here.

Leonard Cohen

From the Poetry Center Archive: Leonard Cohen in 1966

Jeff Buckley sings Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" (Official Video)

Two Poems about the Chip on the Shoulder

A CHIP ON HIS SHOULDER
by Anonymous

He always has something to grumble about,
   Has the man with a chip on his shoulder;
The world to the dogs is going, no doubt,
   To the man with a chip on his shoulder;
The clouds are too dark, the sun is too bright.
No matter what happens, it is never right;
When peace is prevailing he is spoiling to fight,
   The man with a chip on his shoulder.


THE CHIP ON THE SHOULDER
by Arthur Guiterman (1871-1943)

To read this poem, click here.

"To Autumn" by John Keats : The Poetry Foundation

Listen to a recording of a man reading this classic poem, this classic ode, by John Keats: To Autumn - Poem of the Day - Poetry Foundation

John Keats (1795-1821)

English poet

"The Sobbing of the Bells" by Walt Whitman

On this day in 1881, according to the Associated Press, "the 20th president of the United States, James A. Garfield, died [two and a half] months after being shot by Charles Guiteau; Chester Alan Arthur became president." Here is a poem that Walt Whitman wrote about Garfield's death.


THE SOBBING OF THE BELLS

[Midnight, Sept. 19-20, 1881]

The sobbing of the bells, the sudden death-news everywhere,
The slumbers rouse, the rapport of the People,
(Full well they know that message in the darkness,
Full well return, respond within their breasts, their brains, the sad reverberations,)
The passionate toll and clang -- city to city, joining, sounding, passing,
Those heart-beats of a Nation in the night.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Two Quotations on Wilderness

WILDERNESS

Cherish your wilderness.

     -- Maxine Kumin

Earth has lost 10 percent of its wilderness since the early 1990s -- an area twice the size of Alaska, according to a new study in Current Biology. In all, we've lost roughly 1.2 million square miles of wilderness in recent decades, leaving 12 million square miles still intact.

     -- Vox.com, quoted in THE WEEK Magazine (September 23, 2016)

The Final Say

Quotations I have paired up for comparison

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:57-64)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:57-64 (King James Version)

Thou art my portion, O Lord:
I have said that I would keep thy words.
I entreated thy favor with my whole heart:
Be merciful unto me according to thy word.
I thought on my ways,
And turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
I made haste, and delayed not
To keep thy commandments.
The bands of the wicked have robbed me:
But I have not forgotten thy law.
At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee
Because of thy righteous judgments.
I am a companion of all them that fear thee,
And of them that keep thy precepts.
The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy:
Teach me thy statutes.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:49-56)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:49-56 (King James Version)

Remember the word unto thy servant,
Upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
This is my comfort in my affliction:
For thy word hath quickened me.
The proud have had me greatly in derision:
Yet have I not declined from thy law.
I remembered thy judgments of old, O Lord;
And have comforted myself.
Horror hath taken hold upon me
Because of the wicked that forsake thy law.
Thy statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
I have remembered thy name, O Lord, in the night,
And have kept thy law.
This I had,
Because I kept thy precepts.

"Haiku: September" by Monty Gilmer

The air is white with

thistledown. The sky is red

with the Harvest Moon.

~ ~ ~

Copyright 2013 Haiku Journal and Monty Gilmer.

First appeared online in Issue 19 of Haiku Journal,

edited by Glenn Lyvers.

Republished here with the express permission of the author.

Hymn by James Rowe: "If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again," sung by His Image Singers ~ (To the memory of my mother Evelyn M. Gilmer, 1923-2016)

"The Ostrich" from the Bible

THE OSTRICH
from the Bible: Job 39:13-18 (Revised Standard Version)

The wings of the ostrich wave proudly;
But are they the pinions and plumage of love?
For she leaves her eggs to the earth,
And lets them be warmed on the ground,
Forgetting that a foot may crush them,
And that the wild beasts may trample them.
She deals cruelly with her young, as if they were not hers;
Though her labor be in vain, yet she has no fear;
Because God has made her forget wisdom,
And given her no share in understanding.
When she rouses herself to flee,
She laughs at the horse and his rider.

Poetry: a quotation from William Wordsworth on God

One of my mother's favorite poets was English poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850). Here is a quotation from his poem "Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, on Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour, July 13, 1798." It is a quotation about God. I dedicate this bit of poetry to the memory of my mother Evelyn M. Gilmer (1923-2016), because it was one of her favorite quotations.

                                             And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.

William Wordsworth

The Final Say: Life Is What You Make It

THE FINAL SAY: LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT

by Monty Gilmer

     I look back on my life like a good day's work; it was done and I am satisfied with it. I was happy and contented . . . knew nothing better and made the best out of what life offered. And life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.

     GRANDMA MOSES

     Anna Mary Robertson Moses (1860-1961)

     American painter

     in My Life's Story (1951)

     I believe that life is what you make it, and there is no point in sitting around complaining about your lack of good fortune.

     AUTHOR UNKNOWN

     in The Facts On File Dictionary of Proverbs (Second Edition, 2007),

     edited by Martin H. Manser

According to Martin H. Manser, "The proverb [in the photo above] was first recorded in 1897 in the writings of the American philosopher and psychologist William James."

     

"In the Marble Quarry" by James L. Dickey : The Poetry Foundation

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." So said Michelangelo (1475-1564) of his Angel.

Angel by Michelangelo

Read the poem "In the Marble Quarry" by American poet, novelist and critic James L. Dickey (1923-1997). In that poem of his he mentions Michelangelo.

Hymn sung by Chris Rice: "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (written by Martin Luther)

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:41-48)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:41-48 (King James Version)

Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord,
Even thy salvation, according to thy word.
So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me:
For I trust in thy word.
And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth;
For I have hoped in thy judgments.
So shall I keep thy law continually
For ever and ever.
And I will walk at liberty:
For I seek thy precepts.
I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings,
And will not be ashamed.
And I will delight myself in thy commandments,
Which I have loved.
My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments,
Which I have loved;
And I will meditate in thy statutes.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:33-40)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:33-40 (King James Version)

Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes;
And I shall keep it unto the end.
Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law;
Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Make me to go in the path of thy commandments;
For therein do I delight.
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,
And not to covetousness.
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity;
And quicken thou me in thy way.
Stablish thy word unto thy servant,
Who is devoted to thy fear.
Turn away my reproach which I fear:
For thy judgments are good.
Behold, I have longed after thy precepts:
Quicken me in thy righteousness.

"Selfishness" by Harold Cornelius Sandall

As Erich Fromm once wrote, "Selfish persons are incapable of loving others, but they are not capable of loving themselves either." My mother often said, "All you have is what you give away." I dedicate the poem below to the memory of my mother Evelyn M. Gilmer (1923-2016). It was one of her favorite poems.


SELFISHNESS
by Harold Cornelius Sandall

Love that is hoarded, moulds at last
   Until we know some day
The only thing we ever have
   Is what we give away.

And kindness that is never used
   But hidden all alone
Will slowly harden till it is
   As hard as any stone.

It is the things we always hold
   That we will lose some day;
The only things we ever keep
   Are what we give away.


Source: Lines to Live By (1972), edited by Clinton T. Howell

Chrysanthemum: An Anthology

Poetry

Quotation: Michael Logan on Michelangelo's David

MICHELANGELO'S DAVID

     Michelangelo, it is said, did not believe that he created his famous statue of David but, rather, that he'd chipped away needless stone to release a masterpiece that was already there.

     MICHAEL LOGAN

     in TV Guide (August 10-16, 2002)

David by Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Quotation: Karen Blixen on work

A GREAT AND DIFFICULT TASK

     When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself.

     KAREN BLIXEN (1885-1962)

     Danish author

     (Quoted in the Associated Press)

Karen Blixen in 1957

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:25-32)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:25-32 (King James Version)

My soul cleaveth unto the dust:
Quicken thou me according to thy word.
I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me:
Teach me thy statutes.
Make me to understand the way of thy precepts:
So shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
My soul melteth for heaviness:
Strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
Remove from me the way of lying:
And grant me thy law graciously.
I have chosen the way of truth:
Thy judgments have I laid before me.
I have stuck unto thy testimonies:
O Lord, put me not to shame.
I will run the way of thy commandments,
When thou shalt enlarge my heart.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:17-24)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:17-24 (King James Version)

Deal bountifully with thy servant,
That I may live, and keep thy word.
Open thou mine eyes,
That I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
I am a stranger in the earth:
Hide not thy commandments from me.
My soul breaketh for the longing
That it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed,
Which do err from thy commandments.
Remove from me reproach and contempt;
For I have kept thy testimonies.
Princes also did sit and speak against me:
But thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
Thy testimonies also are my delight,
And my counselors.

Biography: Eugene Field (1850-1895)

According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, "Eugene Field, Sr. [who was born on this day in 1850] was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. He was known as the 'poet of childhood.'" To read more about him, click here.

Eugene Field, Sr.

From "Calendar of Haiku" by Jane Merchant

From CALENDAR OF HAIKU
by Jane Merchant

SEPTEMBER

Storms wreck the old bridge;
Today we adjust the past
To fit the future.


Source: Together Magazine (January 1972)

Jane Merchant (1919-1972)

at her typewriter

(Photo by Gerald Fisher)

Quotation: R. H. J. Steuart on the perfect gift

THE PERFECT GIFT

     To love is to want to give and above all give oneself. A perfect love is the perfect gift of oneself without thought of reward or return.

     R. H. J. STEUART

     Quoted in Words of Life (1966), edited by Charles L. Wallis

Chrysanthemum: An Anthology

Quotations

"No Other Acres" by Jane Merchant

Read the poem "No Other Acres" by American poet Jane Merchant (1919-1972).

Jane Merchant

at her typewriter

(Photo by Gerald Fisher)