Mirror laid reflecting the sky through fog
Mirror hung reflecting  what's beneath it
The surface of the lake divides the realms
The surface of the lake bounds sky and depth

Water builds from bottom to the surface
Water stands on shoulders of its own kind
The lake is built of shoulders unnumbered
The lake spreads out on shoulders overflowed

Sun on water painting glowing pictures
Sun on water filtered by rising fog
The glow builds intensely ever brighter
The glow collapses into cloudless sky

The snow is talking underneath my feet
It groans and growls protesting each foot step
That leaves imprints in its flawless white sheet
And causes silent snow to shout a threap

The cold converts soft snowflakes into sand
Wind blows the snow-sand forming drifts so high
Passing through them requires a helping hand
From stalwart friends on which one can rely

The damage done traversing field and road
The slugging of the first one makes a trail
That others following may pull their load
And reach their destination without fail

The trek through snow may be so difficult
But friends can help complete it without fault

1. 7 Quatrain Stanzas.

2. Last word need not rhyme.

3. Pentameter lines with loose Iambic rhythm.

4. Each stanza is a quatrain.

5. Each line of the fists 5 stanzas begin with the same first word.

6. The first word is different for each of the first 5 stanzas.

7. The second word of each quatrain line, follows an a-b-c-a pattern those words are common to all the first 4 stanzas.

8. The fifth stanza uses the second words but out of position.

9. The sixth stanza is made up of the first lines of the first 4 stanzas.

10. The seventh stanza uses the same first word as the fifth.

11. The second word of the first 4 stanzas can be in any non first position.
    
    What do you think? Any suggestions? Here’s a challenge to write something similar.

REJOICE

The life you’ve dreamed, you’re already living.
The dreams you’ve dreamed, you have already lived.
The goals you’ve made, you have already met them.
The life you’ve lived, you have already spent.

For life projects into the dream fragments.
For dreams connect to life’s separate parts.
For goals are but life’s thoughts for tomorrow.
For life is now, between two forevers

Then life divides the past from the future.
Then dreams paint pictures of lives so well lived.
Then goals are mileposts ‘tween earth and heaven.
Then life is the record of dreams and goals met.

From life comes great ugliness and beauty.
From dreams come intentions both good and not.
From goals come direction for gain or loss.
From life comes heritage passed on and on.

Rejoice for your life has been a blessing.
Rejoice for your dreams have soared up so high.
Rejoice for your goals come to fruition.
Rejoice for your life it is not in vain.

The life you’ve dreamed, you’re already living.
For dreams connect to life’s separate parts.
Then goals are mileposts ‘tween earth and heaven.
From life comes heritage passed on and on.

Rejoice, life’s, dreams and goals are a blessing.
Rejoice for your dreams connect every part.
Rejoice in your goals, never repeating.
Rejoice that your life is still going on.

Come see this garden I've begun
Come see this banquet so finely dished
Come see these children a fine brood
With every visit was something new.

Now come and look what she has done.
Did you see what he has accomplished.
Oh, you should see what she can do.
With every visit was something new.

An herb a flower in the sun,
A club of steel or wood so polished,
A pool so crystal clear and blue,
With every visit was something new.

A wife two daughters and two sons,
He gave them more than they should have wished.
His love for them was ever true.
With every visit was something new.

The joy he lived was hard fought won.
With prunes and bends the hedge is finished,
And from these branches they all flew.
With every visit was something new.

To eat or swim, when having fun,
A gentlemanly hand wave flourished;
Oh, I will follow, after you.
With every visit was something new 

I leave the house in evening, Tink tingle tink pht tink
I leave the warmth behind me, Pht tingle tink tink tink
I leave the noise behind me, Tink pht tink tingle tink
I leave the world behind me, Tink tingle pht tink tink

I sit and listen quietly, Tink tingle tink pht tink
I sit and wait for music, Pht tingle tink tink tink
I sit and pray for comfort, Tink pht tink tingle tink
I sit and find assurance, Tink tingle pht tink tink

In the dark you can barely see them, Tink tingle tink pht tink
In the dark the moon silhouettes them, Pht tingle tink tink tink
In the dark you can clearly hear them, Tink pht tink tingle tink
In the dark a song near’re repeating, Tink tingle pht tink tink

The snowflakes ring so softly, Tink tingle tink pht tink
The snowflakes ring on kissing, Pht tingle tink tink tink
The snowflakes ring so brightly, Tink pht tink tingle tink
The snowflakes ring so lightly, Tink tingle pht tink tink

You do not need a castle. A rustic camp will do.
You need not tread on streets of gold. A woodland trail will do.

To stand in living water, With line and fly in flight
As mists of prayer ascend to God, through drills of morning light.

To walk in autumn leaves of gold, to seek the hunter's prize,
Remembering with every step grand-children's sparkling eyes.

Ere on the hunt or in the stream, The Lord will be with you.
With perfect aim to fish or game the prize will not elude.

Sons and daughters three times on now miss your glowing face
That beamed to them a father's love and never ending grace.

You taught them life and joy and love, with strength beyond all measure
Our memories of all you did we will forever treasure.

I am thankful for the privilege of calling you a friend,
And for the things you did for me, and the stories you shared.

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One, two, three, four, five. Time stops .......................

At every instant for an instant time does cease to move

But then in obeyance to its appointed scheme,

As the next instant approaches, it continues on.

Pronouncing doom on the present and stalking the future

Step by step Instant by Instant

The love of loves rescued my long lost soul
From darkest sin my soul was saved that day
Oh glorious grace that pulled me from that shoal
And brought me safe into my Father's way

My earthly path may often bring me down
And block my sight from that which I should do
And hurt my heart and force my face to frown
Until my mind directs me back to you

I'm thankful that God does not turn from me
His steadfast love will always bring me back
My Savior loves and intercedes for me
And God forgives, forgets the things I lack

My name is in his book and so I'll fly
To be with him forever in the sky

	This poem was written way back when I was searching for community.

If you ask me if I am here, I will say, "No."
And if you ask me where I am, I will reply,
"Do you really want to know?"
And if you answer, "Yes.", and then wait to listen
I will say,

"Let me show you to a place so crowded, there are no people
Where questions and answers of galactic scope focus on a point
A point outside my mind, but still within sight
A point that sits just beyond the rules of human logic."

When we reach this point, I will ask, "Do you understand?
Then if You say, "Yes I do", I will continue to give you explanation
But if you say, "No.", Then you are incapable of understanding
And I will say, "Forget it." And only I will know my reason

There are words that for some reason
I have never said
Oh the sounds and meanings of these words
Have flown bout in my head

But as the bluebird trapped and caged
That flaps to gain its freedom
Will knock the contents of its cage
To clear, opaque oblivion

These words do not escape my mind
But rather flap around
And through my mouth, my white barred mouth
They knock the dismal sounds

Of poems of death and sour lament
And quotes of Edgar Poe
I wonder if the bluebird's death
Does bring his captors woe

Why must my bluebird thoughts be caged
Until they die of fear
Why can't I speak the words I feel
To love I hold so dear

The ones I owe the words I feel
They always seem to go
The tether line to hold them near
Reals out to slow and so

They break the line and go their way
And as they go I say
I will not let my thoughts be caged
Another single day.

I wrote this years ago during my first experience with a person on the autism spectrum. I was taking summer classes at The University of Pittsburgh. There was a group of us that meant at the cafeteria for our meals. A beautiful young lady came in almost every day and sat by herself, constantly reacting in shock to every sound. Most of the members of our group took notice of her and decided to invite her to join us. I was the first to approach her and after a week or so, developing a friendly relationship she agreed to join the group. One meal together and she disappeared. At that time 1970s Autism wasn’t a thing that people knew about.

My Encounter With An Enigma

Today I am confused
With things that cannot confuse
I am lost in familiar territory
For well I know
The darkness of despair and loneliness
I have seen the forest of the forgotten

I know the torture if being different
The torture of being recognized
As the person with problems
By people who could not care less about me

By the people I know are laughing and whispering
Behind my back and around the corner
I have been in this place before
I have left, and I have returned

I would leave again, if I wanted to
I know the way out of this depressing place
A very long time ago someone was kind enough
To show me the way out.

Praise be to that person
And the God, My Lord that created her
But what am I to do now
My soul is very troubled

For I have seen another person
Lost in the same place I once was.
I cannot leave them here
And return myself to the beauty of people

Without denying an obligation to
The person that once helped me up
And asked only that I remember
That when I was in the depths of depression

Someone helped me up
And in that I had received from them
I should also give to others in need

But I do not know how to communicate
With the person I have found
Every attempt brings simultaneous
Loving response and withdrawal

I do not want to frighten her
And her fractured self that retreats
Ever deeper into the maze of solitude
Her cries of anguish call out to me

Oh God

In the name of Jesus Christ my Lord
Give me strength to stay and help this person
Give me the wisdom to know what to do
Increase my faith that I might give you glory

And if I am only to be a
A lighthouse along the way
Let my light shine to help
This beauty loose a little fear

Amen
Thank You

This poem was originally written as a free verse song.  I only remember the tune for
the first stanza, so the first recording is a straight reading and second is of my COVID

My reading of “Fallen Willows”.

The first verse of “Fallen Willows”  (The only verse I remember) in its musical skin.

 Sorry, but is is sung by my Covid destroyed singing voice attempting to sing the eerie verse, as I remember it.

The day of the oak tree, growing downward
Sinking snarled roots into fertile sky
Immovable and solid as a crumpled brown leaf
Thrown skyward on a snowy March wind that blows
Swaying, straining, breaking over and down
Blowing, blooming willows on a sunny April day

They say a broken tree has failed in life
For having broken from its purpose
And fallen from its stated goals and expectations
It will not again reach upward and stand
Providing the shade and shelter that make it of use
Which is, after all, the reason for its birth
From the seed its parent fed

They say the fallen hulk deserves to
Break, rot, crumble, - die - , be fed upon by termites
A fallen tree is not good for anything
You can not depend upon it to be there
Standing, holding, shading, holding,
A world of creatures who rely upon it
For food, shelter and insight, Yes who rely upon it.

They say the willow failed when it fell
But if you look carefully, you will realize how wrong they are
Remember the thousand severed branches of furry kittens
Shoved into and drowned in a hundred slimy jars
For each spring's mother and teacher and favorite acquaintance?
Shoved into a jar to be forgotten on the window seal
Until the kittens are dead and their pleasant furry warmth is gone?
Gone and replaced by the stench of green slimy water
Green slimy water in an old stinky jar, reeking of death

Remember the thousand severed branches of furry kittens
They lost their beautiful fur and died, forgotten in the jar
But wait - Didn't they refuse to die? Don't you remember?
When they threw away the dead brown sticks
That once gray kittens played upon
When they pulled the sticks from the black putrid water
There were roots. Roots had grown from each brown stick
Each stinking jar tried and did kill the exuberant youthful kittens
But did not succeed to kill the branch, to kill the tree
To kill the willow, refusing to die, clinging to life

They say the willow failed but they are wrong
For anyone can see that they are blind and can not see
The fallen willow grasping and hugging the earth
And then next spring bursting forth in victory
With an army of new willows with kittens
Claiming victory and continued life in its rightful place
Which is but to continue being a willow
Without pretense of being something else
Of being a pine, of being a maple, of being an oak

They said the willow should have been like the oak
But wasn't the oak tree growing upside down?
Turned top over to meet the world's standards
Can you see that they are wrong?
The day of the oak tree, growing downward
Is gone and overcome by a better day
A day of love for life and willows being themselves

A smile in the crowd
Searches the room for a friend
And finds another

Both smiles see
On the other side
New days of
Hope
Fulfillment
Love

Tomorrow shall never be
Except as today
When Yesterday is gone

And Sorrow shall never be
Except as happiness
That has passed away

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