Poetry

The Answer To All My Prayers

I asked God for strength that I might achieve
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey…

I asked for health that I might do greater things
I was given infirmity that I might do better things…

I asked for riches that I might be happy
I was given poverty that I might be wise…

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life
I was given life that I might enjoy all things…

I got nothing I asked for
I got all things I hoped for…

Despite myself my prayers were answered
I among all people are most richly blessed…

Prayer of an unknown Civil War soldier

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The Battle (Satan vs. Christ)

When Jesus was taken down from the cross,
Satan called his counselors in.
He called the meeting to order and looked own at the three,

And the first that he called on was Sin.
“Oh Sin, you’ve let me down this time.
Why couldn’t you pull Him away?
For thirty-three years you tried, and you failed.
Not once did He falter or stray.
Then He picked you up like a little whipped pup
And took you to Calvary with Him.
Then He knocked you down with one single punch
And paid for the sins of all men.”

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The Poet’s Sonnet (A Withered Leaf)

A withered leaf upon a bough
Held fast against the wind,
Doctors passed and learned men,
But none had time to spend.

Yet someone stands with pen in hand
To write the things he sees,
That all the world might see the leaf
And feel the Autumn breeze.

I cannot take a dying child
And help her find relief,
But I can see the hand of God
Upon a withered leaf.

The world beholds what greatness brings,
But poets see the little things.

Copyright 2000, Bob H. Cook.
All rights reserved.
Used by Permission

Used by permission.

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We Must Have Grown Up In Our Sleep (reflection on Wisdom & Aging)

It seemed to mark the end of summer,
The school bell rang and it was gone.
So many friends to share the moment,
How the days drug oil and on!
     We didn’t know that we were changing.
     We thought today was ours to keep.
     Lord, what happened to tomorrow.
     We must have grown up in our sleep.

Mary smiled, and my heart fluttered,
So many things I never said.
But the kisses that I dreamed of
Were for someone else instead.
     Puppy love may be for children,
     But the hurt goes just as deep.

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Diamonds, Horses & Grass (poem about Marriage Renewal)

If you find yourself losing the joy in your life
And your blessing is more like a curse
And you wonder what’s wrong with that sweet little girl
That you’ve taken for better or worse,

You look at her now and hear yourself say,
“A11 she does is gripe and complain.”
But maybe if you took a look at yourself,
You would find what exactly has changed.

Now, you didn’t used to call on that girl
With chicken hanging out of your teeth,
Your pants undone and your hair not combed
With whiskers you’ve had for a week.

You’d take three baths and put on cologne,
Shine your shoes and wax your car.
Then, you’d stand at a mirror and work on your hair
Till you looked like a Hollywood star.

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Remnants

I’ve destroyed everything that was good in my life.
I’ve broken each vow that I made.
I’ve disgraced my two children, my friends, and my wife
For this mindless, relentless charade.

Think of the worst person you’ve ever known,
And I’ll wager he’s better than me.
Hell is a place I would hate to call home,
And yet it’s where I ought to be.

As a youth, I was favored, a virgin to sin,
A light to the wavering soul.
My thoughts were perverted and wrong now and then,
But I kept them in constant control.

In bad times, they’d soothe me and take me away
Like a Heroin dose to my brain.
I’d yield to their lure more and more everyday,
And my heart grew more selfish and vain.

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Dealing with Disappointment in Self

Disappointment in self
Who hasn’t felt it?
Chatter of internal communication
Falls silent
Image of parent past
Comes to life
Bigger than life
Immovable
…and angry.
Visceral dread
Spreads.
Tightness in throat
Shallowness of breathing
Bowing of head
Awareness narrows
Awaiting arrows
Certainly deserved…

SURPRISE!!
It’s a FEELING!!

Deep breath
Expanded focus
Gaze lifts
Shoulders relax
Honest reflection sorts wheat from chaff
Chatter begins
Balance restored
Everything flows
Decisions made
Self released…

Forgiveness is such a gift.

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An Old Man

89 years old
decrepit
sores
cantankerous

looked on by society as worthless
an outcast
a burden

and yet absolutely loved by You

in Your eyes, a mere child
a soul in need of Love
just like the rest of us

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The Sun Seemed Quite Blocked

The sun seemed quite blocked
By cloud of unknowing,
In anguish I’m locked
Miles apart from God’s glowing,
In sorrow I sit
Adrift and decaying,
I turn on the spit,
I’m split, God’s filleting.

If tincture of time
Could evict my inversion,
I’d wait for sublime
And unblemished conversion,
But something inside,
Unsettled, is gnawing,
Where visions collide
An insistence is pawing.

Alert to the call
I rotate an ear,
From under the pall
A snippet I hear,
The tiniest clue,
No more than a tinkling,
Light as the dew,
A fairy dust sprinkling.

God in His subtle,
Mysterious way,
Had deigned a rebuttal

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A Prayer

“Thy will be done”
A prayer
A repositioning
Suppositioning
Divine concern

“On earth”
Our dust
Ether’s thickening
Gravely turned

“As it is”
As it was
As it always
Will be

“In heaven”
Our leaven
May we rise
With Thee.

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