Foolish Woman, the Dead Are Thine

THE FOOLISH WOMAN

from the Bible: Proverbs 9:13-18

(King James Version)

A foolish woman is clamorous:

she is simple, and knoweth nothing.

For she sitteth at the door of her house,

on a seat in the high places of the city,

to call passengers

who go right on their ways:

"Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither":

and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,

"Stolen waters are sweet,

and bread eaten in secret is pleasant."

But he knoweth not that the dead are there;

and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

"HE KNOWETH NOT THAT THE DEAD ARE THINE"

by Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861-1907)

The weapon that you fought with was a word,

And with that word you stabbed me to the heart.

Not once but twice you did it, for the sword

       Made no blood start.

They have not tried you for your life. You go

Strong in such innocence as men will boast.

They have not buried me. They do not know

       Life from its ghost.

Lotus

"Lotus" is a found poem of mine in which the first sentence is a Chinese proverb, the second sentence is a Japanese proverb and the third sentence is a Zen proverb. I dedicate this poem to my maternal grandmother, whose first name was Lotus.

The lotus springs from

The mud. The lotus flower

Blooms in the mud. May

I live like the lotus, at

Ease in the muddy water.

--------------------------------

Hugh's Views: The Old Elway Reader is a free email newsletter about life in general and especially about Christian life in bits of poetry and in other things. To subscribe to this newsletter and support the work of its author click here.

A Pair of Christmas Poems: January 4 and 5

Here is a pair of Christmas poems that I wrote for January 4 and 5. The first poem is a tanka, and the second is a haiku. The final two lines of the tanka are quoted from an anonymous nursery rhyme.

Eleventh day of

Christmas. Among eleven

pipers piping was

Tom, Tom, the piper's son. He

learned to play when he was young.

Twelfth day of Christmas.

Among twelve drummers drumming

was one little boy.

To read about the Twelve Days of Christmas click here.