A Frozen Prayer

A prayer hidden and silent
Stones submerged by winter’s blanket
Covered and cold beneath the grip of frost

If they could but speak of the wishes, the hopes,
Desires and fears uttered here
Frozen in the gossamer of time

Wishes written on the footfalls and on the breezes
Of another moment, another season
Hearts open in the stillness of the walking
The mix of stones and soil, moss and grass under foot

Reverent periods of reflection
Between man and God
Cries heard in the silence beyond the field
Through the frozen prayers
In the ground.


1/4/06 11:00
Written about the prayer labyrinth behind Bow Mills United Methodist Church, covered by two storms of snow. Not all of the stones are covered; but there are no footprints, only a set of snowshoes tracks around the field in which the labyrinth lies when I checked this morning.

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 29,950+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Nine Poems for the New Year

The 9 poems that appear below this message were written sequentially yesterday afternoon and evening.

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 18,760+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

New Snow

Showers of New Snow
Light powder of confectionary sugar
Filtered down through the night air
On forest and field
Oak and pine
branch and blade
Cleansing the world
anew this New Year’s

Starting afresh
Flake and grains
clinging on needle and leaf
rocks and ledges
saplings and grasses
or joining the skin
of the living river


1/1/06 14:08
the drive from Manchester to Concord that morning about 9:00
edited 1/2/06 9:17


All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 18,760+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

A Journey of Treasure

Like the Magi,

We are each on the journey

a quest for the king

Ourselves the treasure,

the metal, the myrrh, the offering

Following a star, a hope

A search for epiphany,

life changing meaning,

through loving adoption

by the living God.

==========================

edited January 13, 2015

A Journey of Treasure – v4

http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2015/01/a-journey-of-treasure-v4.html

(editing original again)

Edited January 5, 2013

“A Journey of Treasure – v3”

http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-journey-of-treasure-v3.html

edited September 1, 2011

“A Journey of Treasure – v2”

http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2011/09/journey-of-treasure-v2.html

1/1/06 14:38

“A Journey of Treasure”

https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2006/01/journey-of-treasure.html

Matthew 2:1-12 and the sermon “Time Passages”

by Pastor Lori Eldredge

http://www.facebook.com/lori.eldredge

Wesley United Methodist Church

www.concordwumc.org

Concord, NH

&

see others who have used this poem  of mine/ analysis, etc.:

https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-journey-of-treasure/

https://chrislaucollegewriting.wordpress.com/a-journey-of-treasure-by-raymond-a-foss/

College Writing Portfolio - Poem Analysis – “A Journey of Treasure”

https://sharonkwancollegewriting.wordpress.com/semester-2/poem-analysis-a-journey-of-treasure/

https://josephbruceryan.wordpress.com/a-journey-of-treasure-analysis/

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/raymond_a__foss/poems/21375.html

Graduation poems - http://www.theholidayspot.com/graduation/poems.htm

calling, Christ, community, disciples, Faith, gifts, God, God’s purpose, Methodist, Raymond A. Foss, United Methodist, Matthew 2, Advent, Magi, Poetry Where You Live, love, grace, journey, Epiphany,

#calling #Christ #community #disciples #Faith #gifts #God #purpose #Methodist #Matthew2 #Advent #Magi #Poetry #love #grace #journey #Epiphany

All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 45,520 of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

River Ice

High above the reach of the sea,
where the brackish water
is almost clear,
Tectonic plates of ice
released by the shore
and their brethren upstream
flow to the ocean,
calf and stack
careen and crash
melt and meld

White, blue, grey and green
Irregular shapes
Inexorably drawn to solution
from whence they came.


1/1/06 14:52


All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 18,740+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Barefoot on Holy Ground

Can you picture the scene –
a bush with living fire
dancing on the skin of the leaves
A fire without loss
Part of the miraculous,
the possible for the eternal I am.

A trembling servant
following the call from the flames
to shed his sandals
to touch holy ground.

A precious act of reverence and awe
seeing the presence of God
in power and authority
Knowing the chasm between us
Acting Accordingly.


Exodus 3:1-6
Command of God, the I am, to Moses to remove his sandals before the burning bush. See also Joshua 5:15.


1/1/06 16:55


All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 18,740+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Weir

A fence of wattles
Placed just so in the mud
shaped in labyrinth
out in the current
by the landing, in the channel

An old fashioned tool
Spring to Winter
Sentinels in the water
Tended by the lone fisher

Anachronistic in modern times
a fish weir in the river
named for an eel.


1/1/06 17:10
From my memory of the weir in the Lamprey River, in downtown Newmarket, NH in 1982/1983. All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 18,740+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Masks of Necessity

Grown child, where is your laughter?
Do you laugh, smile, cheer
in the song of the wind, the leap of the sun
the squeal of your little girl?

Seeing with her eyes the moments of life,
lost too often in adult ways
behind masks of necessity.
Reckless abandon and
absolute resolute mirth
Joy for the taking
from the true vine,
for there is a liberation
in him for us all
Grab hold for your life!


---------------------

edited March 7, 2018

Masks of Necessity – v2

http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2018/03/masks-of-necessity-v2.html

1/1/06 17:22

Masks of Necessity

http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2006/01/masks-of-necessity_02.html

All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com)  for usage. See all 46,450 of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

child, creator, daughter, eyes, Faith, faith poetry, God, grow, hope, joy, life, Methodist, New Hampshire, Poetry Where You Live, senses, sight, son, sun, vine, wind,

#child #creator #daughter #eyes #faith #poetry #God #grow #hope #joy #life #Methodist #NewHampshire #PoetryWhereYouLive #senses #sight #son #sun #vine #wind #adult #childhood #memory  #concerns #struggle #adulthood

Spawned Salmon

Lost past exhaustion
she floated, lapping the shore with the wind and tide
Completed, her journey done, spent
Returning to dust, as we all must
A lonely solitary shell
caught in the shallows upstream
where she was born
Many years before
And where she was called back to
closing the circle of her life
fulfilling here destiny,
her place in the universe.


1/1/06 17:27 All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 18,740+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

A Field of Scat

Late January, in the cold clear wood
Boots crunch through layers of snow and ice
Breath catches in beard and scarf
Freezing in the air before me
Leaves clatter in the wind between the otherwise still forest

A clearing, by man or fire,
out in an opening where the sun bursts through
signs of the denizens of the glen
in turned soil, crushed tracks of all sizes
and a field of scat, of the white-tailed deer

Saturating myself in the senses awoken
away from all but these sights and sounds
in the smell of the balsam and pine,
the taste of ice

Following the footfalls first of deer
then of vole and chipmunk
Watching the shape of stem and vine
of leaf and tree
the changed impressions of the land
under snow’s blanket

Losing time behind the lens
Luxuriating in the quiet
the simplicity, the peace
of that time and place


1/1/06 17:45
North Conway, NH, at least 6 years earlier
Photo by Ray Foss

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 26,510+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Discernment

Listening for that still quiet voice
that inner calm, a certainty
A welling up of a thought, an idea
the manifestation of a dream
unspoken but heard in the
whispered places in the heart

Seeking the divine will
when there is no burning bush,
no herald angels
No bright star in the east
only panoply of choices
different paths to tread
only one of which is the maker’s
Other roads merely man’s folly
The dross of free will.


1/1/06 23:10


All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 18,720+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.