Poems Winter 2023 – 2024 – Second Edition

1. Homily to Fortune

Fortune, I succor you to understand
As an entity thrown by divine lot...
The LORD causes the die to fall
Yet no miraculous vision.
For if you call to God,
And God does not answer the lot
O fortune He does, but it is a silly thing.

For I throw the die, "God, give me fortune,"
And God continually makes said lot fail...
It is not that God is not in control over thee
O Mammon, it is that you have a will of thy own.
For you fall, regardless of the prayer.
You fall, regardless of the desire.
You fall, and some men are made destitute
While others are made into kings.

God controls thy Lot, oh Fortuna,
But thou art mystical...
For you wander here, there,
Bestowing ruin on one man through treasure
And ruin on another man through poverty.
You bestow the apple tree to the poet;
And you bestow the fig tree to the fabler;
And you bestow the mulberry tree to the scholar.
For the fabler, scholar and poet,
You bestow the orchard of grace
Which is riches enough for a lifetime,
For as Pythagoras said,
"Covet nothing in this life
"Which a mean man can take away."

Yet, I know this, and am blessed by fortune
In God's timing,
Yet let me not be so rich that I forget the LORD,
Or so poor that I become a haggard thief.
Or, so rich by theft that I think myself divinely in the right
For the evil I do... as are some men these days. But not I.

Fortune, thou art a lot...
Prayer, thou art a gamble...
Time and chance, thou are the warriors of patience
And through enough effort, the lock shall be smithed
The keyhole found, the chest opened,
And the treasure there unearthed.

For fortune smiles kindly on consistency
And that is her safest bestowal of the providential gift.

2. Notes on Caesar

Without water
And surrounded by Ptolemy's
Army, Caesar dug himself wells.

Caesar came to Asia
Saw his foe Pharnaces' Army
Climbing the bank, so Caesar conquered.

When all Rome was in
Rebellion, Caesar faced his
Foes of Rebelling Legions, whom he won.

When faced in Africa with
Scipio's Elephants, Caesar turned
Them to stampede his routing foes.

When in Spain
Caesar fought toe to toe
At the front lines, ready to die.

3. Lorem Ipsum

Welcome He Himself,
He Who is thy destiny
Or perish in the waste.
Thou Romans, who stand in His
Way, you shall be weighed as dust.

4. The Churches I Saw

First, I am raised to save the world from
Global Warming and Masculinity.
I cling to my Bible, and say "'tis not".

Second, I sit with my friend who, genuine,
Believes a cult's lies, and by Works of Law Strive.
I cling to my Bible, and say "'tis not".

Third I go to a Baptist church, and then
Receive perfect exegesis. But not love.
I cling to my Bible, and say "'tis not".

First begun, Sunday School taught me thou, Christ;
I heard that simple Gospel's charity,
So clung to my Bible, and said "'tis so."

In Pentecostal land, I grew insane
Being taught false miracles and the like.
So clung to my Bible, and said, "'tis not."

In Pentecostal land, I grew selfish,
Being taught ecstasies and then self help.
So clung to my Bible, and said, "'tis not."

Then I watched a thousand Journeymen preach
On Line and Streets; few knew that ancient faith.
So clung to my Bible, and said, "'tis not."

The ugliest thing I saw, was Bibles
Thumped, and taught wrongly. How'd I keep the faith?
I was taught right from the beginning, so
I could cling to the book, and say, "'tis so."

5. Jesus Won

The smiling Baseball Player sits,
Claiming "Jesus Won".
My team made a good run at it
This year... So, if they hadn't won
Then Jesus wouldn't have won?
Let no one doubt my faith,
Not even my brother
Or worst enemy.
Was God angry with me
So He made the Phillies lose?
Was Bryce Harper not supposed to win?
So, the Texas Rangers winning
Was because Jesus won?
As opposed to the thirty other teams in baseball?
Do you see how hollow you make faith seem?
I, with faith, wanted my team to win;
Did Jesus get angry with me, so He caused my team to lose?
So Jesus won the victory over me?
His beloved child? So have it, Jesus must win.
I confess, Jesus won. The same way He wins
Every time I flip a coin or shuffle a deck of cards;
Or a Black Jack Player makes bet.

6. The Day Democracy Failed

I was a lover of America's Best Dance Crew.
I watched the first season, and could predict
Like Clockwork, who would win.
The judgment was terrific.
The next season, I think it was,
There was a team on there called Footworkingz.
It was elite, and had some of the best dancing I'd ever seen.
They were eliminated in the third week of competition.
At that moment, that precise moment,
I sensed a shift in America.
It was profound.
No longer was there sound judgment among the people.
And I've been proven right ever since.

7. Ode to the LORD, His heavenly Muse and Genius

Ode to the LORD, His heavenly Muse and Genius!
For by the pot upon the stove, the spices meld
While the roasted beef is seared to its perfection;
Bestowed upon it is the heavenly gift of providence.
O! the poem, though no other mortal hands but mine have touched it,
Comes out perfectly moulded several years anon;
I know not how the blessed song is fitted to perfect lyre and harp.
The artist, while he paints his lines, miraculous
Lines appear, which he hadn't painted, though they there
Appear through whatever means they do.
Is it the Heavenly muse of Jehovah-Jyra
Muse and Genius of us all--for by my hand alone,
No song could ever prosper, nor the painter
Nor the chef, nor the genius of any kind?
All must be done in its divine order?

8. The State of Modern Day

Oh, thou fawn, lay there and never grow,
The park ranger shall shoot you dead.

Oh thou state, once great and mighty, now cold,
The Judge shall throw down the gavel and annul thy liberty.

Oh thou policeman, once noble and fine, now hated
The protest shall change laws and abolish you.

Oh thou politician, once great and well respected, now low
Thy strange greed for power has brought ruin to us all.

9. Birds of a Feather

Instinct, duly said, is what brings the Robin
Cross her country migration, and back to her nest.
Or it brings said Youthful Robin back to the place where it was born.
Is it instinct? Or a bestowal of some strange providence?
For, at the State Park, what I find unimaginable,
Is the Cardinal in his brilliant, red plumage
And the Goldfinch in his winter black
And the golden sliver upon his tailfin,
And I look upon these beautiful specimens.
Strangely enough, I recall such people
Who are similar always at the park the same hour;
I walk through the park, and see birds of a feather
Flocking together, and I like the Blue Heron
Stand on my perch, observing them and their strange
Mein, making its impression on me.

10. Boys and Girls at 30

The men play with plastic toys;
The women still complain of cooties.
The feminist's heart is no different
Than the man's who still plays make-believe.
It's a mark of immaturity.

11. The Mystery of Lawlessness

The child, borne in a world without danger,
When she grows to adulthood, does not know
When she puts her fellow daughter in danger.
So, the Fruitree must be in the garden.

So also, by some strange force of providence
There will be those grown in such a way
To understand this, and wear it close to their heart,
And then those who cannot, who are already damned.

12. The Laws of Power

What you learn from Robert Greene
Is only this:
"How to become the world's biggest jerk."