A Blaze of Light

Like solar flares, our thoughts, they zap and flit

And make us want to slot and clip

And organize to tale or song.

Then the through line, 

The red line, 

The bottom line, 

They box us in, 

And keep us rough,

And mean, 

And quick.

Until we float above, and look, 

And comprehend

The things we couldn't see, 

The flares of others,

Bright, 

And sharp. 

Against the edge,

Occluded by our satellite,

Our blind spot, 

But not all. 

Their corona streams around

And slides and twists

To our perceiving eyes. 

But only if we watch,

And wait,

Are still enough to see,

To act aright,

And love.

Ways of Blindness

We want hard 

And feel fast

and overlook 

the others' grief

others' sorrow 

We can't see 

Because we look

and want to look

above the rest

actively miss him

or mishear her 

Where would we

Get calm and reflect? 

is not the other

real too?

What about inside?

Where does the look go

that we miss

actively lie

by misseeing

When life is short

And hearing takes long

And what we miss

Will not repeat 

Every sight

Every together

Every one

Counts

Oneita

he told his mom, I think she might... be the one

she told him... go and buy a ring

she drove past when he was getting home

before he knew her friends would come 

they met, they saw, they joined as one

but then he saw the writing on the wall and signed

she went with and welcomed little Jim

then back home where Steph came in

he saw and welcomed her ambitious words

she'd wait again, when he wasn't home

they wanted more, but then they came another way

two red heads, first John, then Phil

and growing up they brought their light

and shone and burned, she loved them right

but then he could not drive himself back home

it broke her heart when Phil was gone

but she still had Jim, and John

they'd call, invite and hold so many little ones 

who all grew up, and left to live their own

then off to England, to help them write

evr'y name and date and place of 1881,

and back again, and to Nauvoo to count, and write, and do

but crack, it didn't hold, and Jim was gone 

way before his due

when Milton came she welcomed him

they lived and loved a wave of little ones 

the heart that loved then beat no more

and quiet then, and lonely too

and slower then, and slower too

she loved and cared and started to review

and count and tell and hold all them

all those who wandered through 

then two angels came to care and live and watch

they stayed, she lingered there

then softly and quietly, in the night, she too was gone

she'd taken flight, and hoped that Jim would hug her tight 

Another Poem, With You

With You

Piece of pie
Clear blue sky
Mountain lakes
Leaves, and rakes

And when I am with you,
Two hearts filled with joy.
Our time passes softly,
Two hearts, one girl, one boy.

Teach me love
Teach me caring
I'll teach you happiness
I'll teach you daring

And when I am with you,
Two hearts filled with joy.
Our time passes softly,
Two hearts, one girl, one boy.

Another Poem, Longer With You

Longer With You

It took a little bit of time
for me to see and make them rhyme,
and when beneath the pen, the words, they stuck,
it took a bit more time to see, and pluck
them out for you, to read,
and us to hear, and laugh,
and spend a day, a year
together, and whether you want to
or need to depart, the mem'ry
of this time together
might smart,
but mem'ry is short
and time will start to pull
and stretch and fill our heart
with new times together
when never we part.

Another Poem, Knowing Where

Knowing Where

Came home this evening
  at quarter to six.
Met with the Bishop
  who told us to fix
sev'ral mistakes
  on forms one, five, and six.

We're going on a mission to
  serve our dear Lord.

Where will He send us?
  Where will we go?
Over the oceans,
  or closer to home?
Who will we serve with?
  How long to be gone?

We're going on a mission to
  Serve our dear Lord.

Fam'ly will miss us;
  we'll miss them too.
Places we've lived in will
  see someone new.
Trust in our Savior, and
  live in His care.

We're going on a mission, and
  He'll meet us there.

Another Poem, Riff Off 1 Cor 13

Perfect?

Completeness:
What I sought
when I was small.

Clarity:
What I thought
that I could call.

Calm:
What was not
were I to fall.

But if it fails,
or vanishes away,
or if I'm blind,
or mostly so today.

There is a promised tomorrow,
when that completeness will come
when I will see face to face
and know as I am known.

Another Poem, Finding Encouragement

Here is another poem, born out of a desire to help my daughter get through the last few weeks of high school.


Born Again

Say your piece.
Toot your horn!
Do your thing.
Sing your song!

Then look and see
If it was what
You meant to say or do
Then cut.

And if you meant to do it different,
Or if you notice something new,
Then aren't you glad you started out,
With confidence to see the world,
To learn and do?


Sometimes it takes a lot of confidence to overcome the resistance you feel to take the next step in life.

Another Poem, Hymn Text

Here is a poem that came out when I couldn't sleep and was thinking about an earlier attempt at writing a hymn for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which I am a member.


Learning and Growing

Learning and growing are part of life's purpose,
Even when happiness seems far away.
Peace in this life comes from completely accepting
The plan of our Savior, beginning His way.

Jesus desires to teach us and guide us,
He will protect us as we find our way.

When evil conquers it cannot remain long,
If faced with commitment and faith in the Lord.
Confidence, trust in our saving Companion,
Is what will enable our learning His Word.

Jesus desires to teach us and guide us,
He will protect us as we find our way.


We are making another hymnbook, and I think I'll submit it.  See https://www.lds.org/church/news/church-announces-plans-for-new-hymnbook-and-childrens-songbook?lang=eng.

Poem for Grandma

I wrote a poem for my Grandma for Mother's Day.

Years

For when along
the road you've come,
you pause,
to see the race,
how it was run.

The mornings when imaginations sang
The afternoons when, interrupting
work and sun, the lightning cracked.
Then came the rain.
The evenings when all work was done.

Some goals were met.
Some riches won.
Some people left.
And not just one.

And then you stood.
Alone.
Dismayed.

But through
this turn and
that meander,
we kept,
we stayed,
we held each other.

Heralds of Life

My sister, Ann Sumsion wrote the following poem on Thursday, and I asked her if I could post it here. She said yes, so here it is:

Heralds of Life

Daffodils, the Trumpets of the Lord,
Speak peace and courage, love and faith,
To souls cold in world's winter.

Their warm and yellow blooms
Are testament of His enduring Grace
And Tender Mercies.

They cry, "The Lord is my Light,
And my Strength, and my Song.
He is my Salvation."

Heads bowed in strong Humility,
They nod in gentle breeze and bend in mighty tempest.
As leaves of grass, they die and fade,
In heat of summer's day.

But the memory of their bright nodding heads
Brought back in dark of night, and chill of frost,
Recalls Life, death overcome.

Their clarion trumpets echo their Master,
And cry, "Spring forth,
And Rise again."

I'm grateful for Ann's friendship and love for me. Her love for and confidence in her Savior are also qualities that I admire in her and want to emulate.