Michael E. Chaplin- Three Poems

Communion

Oh violent bloody death

Emblem of the grace

Given to those who

Are chosen to embrace

 

All we hold in hand

His own divinity

Fully god, fully man

Who died to set us free

The Shape of Love

I saw the shape of love

A gentle helping hand

When I had fallen down

Strength to help me stand

 

I saw the shape of love

Two arms to hold me tight

When I felt all alone

And frightened by the night

 

I saw the shape of love

A smile on a face

When sadness battered me

A needed touch of grace

 

I saw the shape of love

It looked a lot like you

I saw the shape of love

It looked a lot like you

Michael E. Chaplin, Esq. earned his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame Law School and a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from The University of Washington, Foster School of Business. Michael practiced law from 2000 to 2007.  Michael began teaching in 2007, and has approximately eight years experience teaching various legal subjects at the undergraduate and graduate school level.  In addition to teaching, Michael has published widely in numerous academic journals.

Romona Thompson- Three Poems

Born In Poverty

Born in poverty
I never had much
But somehow I always had enough
Blessed by him
To never go without
What was foremost and necessary
For me to survive
And so I learned
To accept
Sometimes the richest things in life are not
Mansions nor gold
Simply having enough
Instead of too much plenty

Born on the streets
I grew up tough
I grew up wise
Yet somehow I never lost my faith
Even in the worst of times
He was always
At my side
Through the drugs and the drinking
Through all my many mistakes
Praise a forgiving lord
He never left or forgot me

Born unwanted by my mother
Raised up never knowing my daddy
I still had a father
Guiding me
Teaching me
Molding me
Making sure
No matter what life in the gangs did to me
I was never forsaken
And when I had my own son
He would grow up different
He would have a future
Cause his daddy let himself be saved
Just in the nick of time

Born in the ghetto
Never mattered to me
I didn't need no heavy green
No mansion
For my reward was never here on earth
To be found
And now as I breath my last
In this gutter
I am still grateful
For I know just where I'm going
Up to those Heavenly gates
I am his
I may have lived
Born in poverty
But I'll die here tonight
Raising up to be
Reborn in his riches

2015 Ramona Thompson


 
Is God Anti-Gay?

In this life and beyond
It's all about love, peace and understanding
Or at least it should be
So why do we judge so harsh?
Why are we so jealous of the love between others?
It brings to mind
So many questions

We're all a part of him
The almighty creator
So who are we to say
What he made is wrong
How do we know what's in his mind?
Maybe we shouldn't be so quick
So rash in our human judgements

Together
Instead of apart
Isn't that how this story should play out?
MLK had a dream
Am I native to believe
Our God has one too
One of peace, harmony and acceptance
For all
No matter who they love

Maybe it's a bit out there to say
Maybe I'll be damned
But I can not hold back any longer
This thought burning within
Is God anti-gay?
Or are we so harsh?
So cruel sometimes
Are we anti-God?
Pushing aside the most wonderful of all emotions made
True and lasting love

2015 Ramona Thompson

 
God Poem

Our God is now
Our God is today
So live it to the fullest
For it is true
No matter how we may long for it to be so
Tomorrow is not promised
Try your best not to sin now
For tomorrow if you stray
Too far today
Hell not Heaven
Could be thy
Eternal reward

2015 Ramona Thompson

 

 

 

Ramona Thompson has been a writer for more then 20 years with such publishing credits to her name as Fifth Di ezine and This Ain't No Rodeo.

Fans/readers may contact her anytime on facebook or e-mail-reddstar111@gmail.com

Ron Riekki- Three Poems

Sometimes I Wish I Was Martin Luther

or Martin Luther King

or a king

or a perfect Lutheran

instead of all this struggling with faith I seem to do everyday

where I’m filled with

or

and

I wish I could tack up a 95 Theses

to my own life,

excommunicate myself

from myself

and leave me

with the comforts of the wildest of wildest blisses of grace

or even just

the soft peace of knowing.

The Craving of Friendship

It’s terrible, this wish

that the darkness

of loneliness

would leave me with-

in the hour,

that I could pour

God into all which

I interact,

my sadness cracked

along the width

of my soul,

leaving me with the whole-

ness in which

the sky

occupies.

If You’re Reading This, Please Pray for Me

Sometimes it’s like I have a ghost in my chest.

I want it to be Holy.

Sometimes my thoughts get cold as winter,

as if there is no infinity.

This poem is a begging bowl.  Each of your prayers

is the clink of a penny.



Bio: Ron Riekki's books include U.P.: a novel, The Way North (2014 Michigan Notable Book), and Here: Women Writing on Michigan's Upper Peninsula (Michigan State University Press, http://msupress.org/books/book/?id=50-1D0-3479#.VKZ4kmTF-PU), which features writing by authors Gloria Whelan, Sharon Dilworth, Echoe Deibert, Beverly Matherne, Judith Minty, and many incredible Upper Peninsula authors.
 

Donal Mahoney- A Poem

Space Program

I understand  

the next spaceship 

goes to Mars.

The Moon’s old hat.

We went there long ago.

Our flag is planted.

I’d rather go 

where old monks go

on wings of prayer.

Donal Mahoney lives in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

Ramona Thompson- Two Poems

A Mirror For The Glory

Lord above
Let me be
A reflection of you
And all that you can do
In your name most holy
I pray
Give me
The strength and the wisdom
I need
To be your shining example
To turn others
As you have turned me
From that path of ruin and utter disgrace
Help me to be
The righteous one
Made in your image
Let me be free
From the devil's temptations
Far from a clouded and flirty mind
Give to me a soul
Pure and clean
As close to perfect
As you deem me to be
My God
My God
In your tender footsteps
I vow will follow
If you but make of me
A mirror for your glory

2015 Ramona Thompson



What Faith Is

Stronger then strong
If only you knew
If only you would believe
All the good and wonderful things
You could have
You could hold
In the palm of your own human hand

It moves
Swift and sure
It knocks away
Every unholy devil placed in its path
It hears and answers
The earthly call
For Heavenly justice
Putting right
All for the righteous

No man
No flesh can overcome
The power
The glory
Neverending
Eternal in its might
Rising up
The ultimate sword
Against a world gone mad
If you let it
If you believe
It'll be here
Every step of the way
To fight for you

Trust is bold
Truth is sure
Forever a part of you and me
Beside us
It is tall
It is firm
None shall take you
From his hand of glory
Heaven sent
Holy, holy, holy
A savior for real, my friend
Oh yes
That's what faith is

2015 Ramona Thompson


 
Ramona Thompson has been a writer for more then 20 years with such publishing credits to her name as Fifth Di ezine and This Ain't No Rodeo.

Fans/readers may contact her anytime on facebook or e-mail-reddstar111@gmail.com

Lela Marie De La Garza- A Poem

ORDER

A rock does not become a hill,
Nor hills grow into mountains;
Streams have no wish to be seas,
Nor sprays gush into fountains.

Sprays give out refreshing mist,
And streams flow as earth wills;
A mountain’s height is needed,
And lesser one of hills.

Nature has a plan to match
Each object with a place,
Just as earth was set into
Its necessary space.

Ron Riekki- Three Poems

Cathedrals, France

There is a moment

when you walk

into the cathedrals

of northern France

that you realize

some buildings pray

with every brick,

that the walls

have all within them,

that the echoes

of your footsteps

are exhalations

of God’s breath.

To the Girl Who Left Me for Jesus

I hope

you find

orchards

wherever

it is

you climb.

Walking with Amélie by the River, Lille

You say the clouds

are the color of angels

today, that the obvious

storm minutes away

is meant to clean

all the spit on the side-

walks, that there is

nothing more beautiful

than the sound of rain

when it complains.

Bio: Ron Riekki's books include U.P.: a novel, The Way North (Wayne State University Press, chosen by the Library of Michigan as a 2014 Michigan Notable Book), and Here: Women Writing on Michigan's Upper Peninsula (Michigan State University Press, May 2015, http://msupress.org/books/book/?id=50-1D0-3479#.VKZ4kmTF-PU).

Jay Frankston- A Poem

                  THE QUESTION

When I was a child and I had a question
I asked my parents "Why?"
And whatever their answer happened to be
I kept on asking "Why?"
And they thought me a nuisance
and they thought it a game
and they told me to go out and play.
And though I insisted till they scolded me well
my question was here to stay.

So I took it out into the street
and asked my cronies the question
but they were too busy playing games
and just laughed at my obsession.
There was too much to do and too little time
for the question with which I was born
and I lost all my friends for the question I had
and found myself forlorn.

From question to answer from answer to question
I asked my teachers "Why?"
and they taught me to reason and made me to think
but they gave me no reply.
They sent me out into the world with nothing but a blob
of multiple choices and angry voices
shouting at me "GET A JOB!"

And I do as they say and I do as they did
get a job, get married, have kids.
And I squeeze my life into a box
just to make sure that it fits.
But the voice within me whispers
and there's something I feel that it knows.
And just as a think I've forgotten the question
it sits like a fly on my nose.

And the question is mine and mine is the question
and I cannot help but see
that it eggs me on and it lets me down
but it never lets me be.
So I feel my roots and I stretch my branches
and watch the leaves multiply.
And I water my life with the question each day
and keep on asking "Why?"