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My Own Book of Poetry, Volume 1

Page 1

by Mary Esther Wacaster


My Own Book Of Poetry

  By Mary Esther Smith Wacaster

  Copyright 2013 Mary E. Wacaster

  Table Of Contents

  A Brother Remembered

  A Christmas Blessing

  A Cupped Hand

  America’s Wool Gatheringl

  A Soldier’s Vow

  A Time To Be Born

  Autumn Song

  Be A Friend Today

  Beatitudes

  Beholden There The Shame

  Behold! He Walks With Them

  The Breath Of Winter

  Children Lost And Found

  Christmas Essence

  Crown Of Thorns

  Dark Times Of The Thorns

  Empty Words

  Existential

  Feed The Lambs

  Fields Of Heather

  Fishing Hopes

  Following The Wind On A Wing

  Fountains Of Rome

  God Says

  Healing Wings

  I Must Walk

  It Is Done!

  Joy Fulfilled

  Lament

  Laying Up Treasures

  Learning Took A Holiday

  Limitations

  Lo, the Rose – Fashioned by God’s Hand

  Love Finds Its Way

  Migration

  Mountains To Climb

  My Best Friend

  Nature's Way With Winter

  New Hopes

  Once Known

  Our Thankfulness

  Passing Times

  Pure Water

  Running The Race

  Seasons and Season

  Slowly Child

  Spring

  The Captain Of My Ship

  The Cry

  The Drifter

  The Eagle Flies

  The Flag

  The Grace Of The Cross

  The Growing Rod

  The Heart That Is Forever

  The Light Of The World

  The Pilgrim

  The Quiet Years

  The Seasons Of Our Lives

  The Turning Of The World Around

  The Winds Of Time’s Song

  Time Swiftly Passes

  Together

  To War My Son

  Wandering Lambs

  Wanderlust

  What I wanted

  Whisper of Love

  White Darkness

  Who Are You?

  Wings For Flight

  You Are There

  Preface

  I began writing poems when I was 17 or 18. Many of my poems were inspired by my own experiences, but many were also inspired by what I saw and heard from others and from studies from the Bible. I didn’t consider them seriously until I was about 30 and then decided to compile them and keep them as a collection for myself. As I wrote and collected, I began to see attitudes changing from selfishness more to selflessness, and growth as a Christian. Many of my later poems have double meaning; thoughts from a physical standpoint, and thoughts from a spiritual standpoint. I sincerely hope that as the reader goes through this small collection of my poems, that he can draw comfort both physically and spiritually, as I did.

  I have other poems and small verses for good morning thoughts, which I hope to put into a collection for further publishing.

  Dedication

  To the honor and Glory of Jehovah God my strength and my redeemer

  And to those who have shown interest in my poems, I humbly dedicate this volume. God has been good to me, and I return His graciousness by writing words of love and encouragement for those who read this volume, in hopes that it will give them strength and comfort when needed.

  Fields Of Heather

  In the spring’s pleasant weather

  Life seems young and free

  As we trip along beside the sea,

  Laughing and singing joyfully;

  Through the fields of Heather.

  And where the flowers grow

  Fragrant in the summer's glow,

  Hand in hand we go.

  Slowly onward each step we take,

  When seasons turn to Fall

  We hear the geese's high call

  As they flee from winter's pall.

  Lying still in winter's wake

  Memory wakens dreams within

  While the cocoon of life we spin,

  Waiting for new spring again.

  Return to Table of Contents

  The Grace Of The Cross

  Write on a stone, cold and grey,

  When comes the time of the grave,

  The hope that can therein lay,

  Of the joy for all He gave;

  He makes still an anxious heart.

  So heavy does our sorrow

  As a cloud hang o’er us now,

  As one by one we falter

  From the burden on our brow;

  He comforts and stills a dying heart.

  To give the heart of a Son

  That on an alter lay,

  Where peace is to be won,

  And there His Glory stay;

  He uplifts and stills a broken heart.

  The Bread of Life is raised,

  His atoning blood is spilled.

  This cup of shame He suffered

  To atone as God has willed;

  He heals and stills a bleeding heart.

  What is this Cross to me?

  His love by blood outpoured.

  Beneath its shadow there to be

  From sin and shame restored;

  He subdues and stills as hopeless heart.

  Return to Table of Contents

  Lo! The Rose Fashioned By God's Hand

  Grow a rose and watch it bloom.

  Let its beauty fill your room.

  Pick its petals when it dies,

  And place in a basket ‘til it dries.

  Spray with perfume and let it stand,

  After mixing well with your hand.

  Place in a closed container and then

  Mix it up now and again.

  At least ten days, or more; what a smell!

  Costs much less and lasts as well.

  Return to Table of Contents

  The Heart That Is Forever

  What is Love?

  The blooming of the rose

  In the heart that knows

  How to give the most tender care

  And with greatest understanding there

  Makes every petal glow

  And every leaf show

  That every breath with soft caress

  Opens the rose with gentleness.

  What is God's love?

  The blooming of the heart

  Like the rose of God's art,

  Given beneath the Master's care

  The understanding that we share,

  Can make every life glow;

  His breath of love is a soft caress

  That opens the heart with gentleness.

  Return to Table of Contents

  A Brother Remembered

  Why do you weep over that low grave?

  Why? For our country's honor he died!

  But other countries do not honor us;

  Your tears are for the dead in vain.

  Honor we sought they never gave.

  We only carry our flag by our side

  That through the years it gains impetus

  To wipe our tears for all our dead again.

  To arms! To arms! Our honor save!

  Yet fighting feet now make their stride!

  With fists clenched and mouths that cuss

  Over ground where the dead has lain.

  This is freedom! You cannot enslave!

  Give us honor! Give us pride!

  We won't stand w
ith blunderbuss!

  Still, Tears are for the dead in vain.

  "We, the people" our lives gave.

  “Gettysburg and Flanders’s Fields, side by side”.

  Repeat and repeat all omnibus,

  And wipe our tears for all our dead again.

  Return to Table of Contents

  A Time To Be Born

  We believe

  that everything must have its reason.

  Solomon tells us

  for every time there is a season.

  A time to be born;

  A time to die;

  A time to laugh;

  A time to cry.

  And as we walk through sagely days,

  We see the reasons for God's ways.

  His Love in our time to be born

  His Peace in our time to die;

  His Joy in our days of laughter

  His Comfort in our times we cry.

  May you be blessed in His Love,

  Wrapped in His Comfort

  And covered by His Peace.

  Return to Table of Contents

  Winds Of Time's Song

  The son through the eyes of a father;

  The learning of the centuries gone;

  The harvest of a lifetime

  in the winds of time's song.

  The beating of hearts bound together

  as the rhythmic beat of the drum,

  find father and son tied to nature,

  the song of all as one.

  The father through the eyes of a son;

  Remembrance of the centuries past;

  the gathering of the harvest

  on the winds of time's song.

  Return to Table of Contents

  Be A Friend Today

  Put your hand in mine

  And let me call you friend.

  Walk along with me

  Unto the very end.

  For the time grows dark

  And dim grows the eye

  But together joy is ours

  As the time passes by.

  For sweet is your song

  And sunny is your smile.

  Close together then we’ll walk

  To strengthen every weary mile.

  As we laugh and sing together

  Hand in hand along the way,

  Inspired with all God’s glory

  We will spend the waning day.

  If our footsteps fall together

  Making our pathway bright,

  We will find the dew of happiness

  Together, in God’s morning light.

  Return to Table of Contents

  A Soldier's Vow

  Rice paddies are steaming,

  (Lord, what am I doing here?)

  The jungle is so hot!

  I crawl upon my belly with scorpions,

  Snakes, and the jungle rot.

  The days are without end.

  Another flash of gun fire.

  I swear I will neither bend

  Nor burn upon the enemy's pyre.

  I count bodies scattered right and left

  Wounded and dead.

  I sicken deep, to the depth of my soul,

  From the deadly lead.

  I look deep into each eye

  That with life still glows,

  Listening for the breathless sigh

  As life slowly goes.

  This giving is the blood, life,

  And soul of my country unblemished;

  We serve, as one, with all striving

  Not to leave unfinished

  This heritage our fathers raised.

  Because our heritage is free

  I'll neither leave it unpraised

  Nor soiled freedom see.

  This land upon which my blood does flow

  Will weep as I wept as my blood was shed.

  This land will then forever know

  Theirs will die, as mine are dead.

  Return to Table of Contents

  Together

  Hand in hand together

  We'll walk along today.

  We'll laugh and sing together

  On the path of God's way.

  And if tomorrow will be ours,

  We will walk along the same,

  As we spend those happy hours

  Singing praises to His name.

  But if tomorrow is not ours,

  And God's promises we claim,

  We will walk along with angels,

  Singing praises to His name

  Return to Table of Contents

  A Christmas Blessing

  I send you the Spirit of Love,

  To warm the Yuletide days.

  I wish you ever-growing Faith,

  To light un-walked pathways.

  I ask for you simple Joy,

  That your year might be filled.

  I seek for you the Strength of Peace,

  That your fears might be stilled.

  I pray for you the Touch of Hope,

  That within Him doth abide.

  May God grant you Grace of Life,

  That He might be glorified.

  Return to Table of Contents

  You Are There

  In my memories, shadows grow

  to be the pleasant shades of life,

  And friendships are the canopies

  that filter out the strife,

  From the slender twigs that bend

  when storms began to blow,

  To the peaceful shade of love

  in the evening sun's warm glow.

  For it is there stands the mighty oaks

  where memories have been sown,

  Together forming the deepest roots

  whereby we never stand alone.

  Return to Table of Contents

  Wings For Flight

  How do you reach to the depth of the soul

  While cultivating the sod of life?

  How do you sift time's sands for your goal

  While the seas wash it back with strife?

  Lashing out, each wave, soft or wild,

  Hides the footprints of effort set deep,

  Washing them away as the castle of the child.

  And the walk is laborious, yet not steep.

  Then, as the fingers of the sun reach over the day

  I become sun-attached, and I hear a soft thud.

  Beat then soft rains of Spring at your play

  And warm my soul to life's green bud.

  For more to be desired is the breaking

  Of the last silken threads that bind

  The butterfly to winter's cocoon, and as shaking

  Free the wings for flight, I free the mind.

  Return to Table of Contents

  Who Are You?

  Who are you Job?

  Did I hear you complain?

  But God called you His faithful servant.

  He called you out by name!

  He let you be tested,

  Like the sifting of the sand.

  Then He patiently waited,

  Before taking you by the hand.

  He taught you through your questions

  While silently your head you bowed

  To hear what was forbidden

  And what had been allowed.

  But when He was finished

  What blessings He gave to you!

  May I sit beside you in silence,

  While God teaches me, too?

  Who are you Abraham?

  Are you a friend indeed?

  Did you seek to serve your God

  In every word and deed?

  Did you follow where God would lead

  As the years passed you by,

  Waiting for that promised son

  Without a question of why?

  Did you weep because He asked you

  To give your only son,

  To prove your love to Him,

  When obedience was done?

  May I walk along beside you

  In quiet attitude, to learn

  How to
be such a friend as you

  In obedient concern?

  Did you say you couldn’t speak?

  But didn’t God offer you His strength

  When, fearful, you were weak?

  Did you really walk with God,

  And talked with Him face to face,

  When He gave you His commandments

  To teach the Hebrew race?

  And through the years your walk with Him

  Brought courage to your soul,

  Yet anger caused your striking out,

  And you failed to win your goal?

  But gently, then, God buried you Himself,

  Completely in His rest.

  May I stand with you in awe

  Of God upon this earthly quest?

  Who are you Queen Esther?

  For the Jews, didn’t you intercede?

  And your uncle told you not to fear,

  For God would guide indeed?

  In wisdom Mordicai questioned you

  "Is it not that you should be

  Here for such a time as this,

  To set our people free?"

  In courage didn’t you approach the King

  To seek favor for the Jews?

  And the King’s anger softened

  As he listened to your news?

  May I follow close behind you

  As before your God you bow,

  To serve in His divine purpose

  In a time such as now?

  Who are you King David?

  Are you the slender youth,

  That slew the fearsome giant

  With a stone and slung-shot, forsooth?

  Did you weep upon your pillow

  In sorrow for your shame?

  Did you go to God with broken spirit,

  As you called upon His name?

  And did He not call you a man

  After His own heart?

  For in spite of all your failings

  In faith you did not depart.

  And was it not from your loins

  Arose the King of Kings?

  May I search your abiding love

  For the faith that it brings?

  Who are you Mary?

  A quiet Spirit of Love,

  Blessed of the Holy Father

  For a Son from above?

  Did you watch this Son grow strong

  In faith, and obedience to our God?

  Did He hold the scepter of King David,

  Because He walked upon Israel’s sod?

  Did you watch Him grow, and tremble

  As you beheld what His fate would be?

  Did your heart quiver for His honor

  As He bled upon the tree?

  Such a love as a mother

  In the songs of angels does abide.

  May I weep with tears of sorrow

  And stand as a mother at your side?

 

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