Saturday, July 01, 2006

The Beginning of Wisdom

In the beginning, we were afraid
we knew our nakedness
biting into the flesh of the fruit
of the forbidden tree

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
the psalmist wrote, oh so long ago
We forget so often
forget He is a jealous God
forget our weakness without him
walk in our own paths
for a separate false idol
graven images and temporal pleasures
Opportunities of epiphany lost
in our self-reliance

Cleave to the Lord
follow his commands
love one another
share in the Good News
Hear His still voice
burning within you now


July 1, 2006 7:50am
Psalm 111:10
Genesis 2
Genesis 3



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 27,410+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

A Prayer for Wisdom

Wisdom, discernment
precious gifts, a heritage, a grounding
a life worth living
when these are the callings of the heart
a prayer of the king
in the quiet of a dream.
How amply rewarded
are the selfless pleadings
of the faithful



July 1, 2006 7:56
1 Kings 3:3-14, especially verses 9 & 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 18,760+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Friday, June 30, 2006

Hey Mountain

Are you deaf?
Don’t go ignoring me
Don’t give me no ‘tude!

I said, Hey Mountain,
move your rocky butt
a little to the left,
it would really make this painting
I am painting
Better.
Thank you.

Think of the possibilities
- okay, so set your sense of reality by the door
suspend your disbelief for a moment
- the “issues” that would be avoided
if we had but faith
in our God
His ability to move mountains
if we but asked.
What a world it would be.



June 30, 2006 13:08
Matthew 17:20 - ‘He said to them, … "For most certainly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.’


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 27,930+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

First Day

First day jitters
now gone
after the hearing
wasn’t;
preparing for battle
but an
agreement reached


============
edited March 8, 2018
First Day – v2
June 29, 2006 15:17, edited 21:55
First Day

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 46,460 of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Concord NH, family law, God, hearing, Law, New Hampshire, Poetry Where You Live, Raymond A. Foss,

#First #Day #Concord #NH #familylaw #God #hearing #compassion #justice #Law #NewHampshire #PoetryWhereYouLive #RaymondAFoss #attorney #lawyer #mercy

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Two Supreme Court Opinions

The poems below are commentaries on the two US Supreme Court opinions in this term that relate to the due process rights of parents under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In the case Schaffer v. Weast, the court held that the party bringing the matter to due process has the burden of persuasion (even though school district generally has better data, expertise, etc.). The second case, just decided on 6/26/06, Arlington Central School Dist. Bd. of Ed. v. Murphy, held that parents could recover attorneys fees but not the fees of experts. Taken together, they reduce the rights of parents to enforce the rights of their children.


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.

Costs not Expenses

A fine line in the sand
of import
to find balance of equities
costs yes, expenses no
parsing subtleties of word and meaning
A claim to need
“unambiguous” language
with clear notice
when the words are there, already
just under the surface,
the letter of the law
breathed with life
by the words they wrote
that weren’t given weight
gravitas
by the new court, new believers
seeing a piece of stare decisis
where feeling for the burden
of the defenders of the rights
the purpose of the law
is lost in parsed words


June 28, 2006 19:36
Arlington Central School Dist. Bd. of Ed. v. Murphy,
548 U.S. ___ (June 26, 2006)
(http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/05-18.pdf )

I fear Justice Breyer has it dead right, in the conclusion of his dissent –

"Nothing in the Constitution forbids us from giving significant weight to legislative history. By disregarding a clear statement in a legislative report adopted without opposition in both Houses of Congress, the majority has reached a result no Member of Congress expected or overtly desired. It has adopted an interpretation that undercuts, rather than furthers, the statute's purpose, a "free" and "appropriate" public education for "all" children with disabilities. See Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams, 532 U. S. 105, 133 (2001) (Stevens, J., joined by Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ., dissenting) ("A method of statutory interpretation that is deliberately uninformed, and hence unconstrained, may produce a result that is consistent with a court's own views of how things should be, but it may also defeat the very purpose for which a provision was enacted"). And it has adopted an approach that, I fear, divorces law from life. See Duncan, supra, at 193 (Breyer, J., joined by Ginsburg, J., dissenting)."

This decision bars the recovery of fees for experts in IDEA cases. It will have huge effects on advocates, educational consultants, evaluators, and other individuals who assist parents during special education due process hearings.


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.

Evidentiary Equipoise

What was she saying,
“evidentiary equipoise”?
Oh, it means balanced…
{“A stable state characterized by the cancellation
of all forces by equal opposing forces”}.

Can we ever truly be at
evidentiary equipoise
where it is equally likely x and y,
the two opposing arguments
of the parties, the combatants
where a learned judge
won’t see
the better argument?
How does it fit
to see the facts
in balance
when a child
is in the balance


June 28, 2006
Schaffer v. Weast, 546 US ______ (2005) (http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/04-698.pdf)


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 20,820+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Lizards - on a tree and a pant's leg - rainforest





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.

Coming and Going - January 2000




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.

Wonderful site - Famous Poets and Poems

I received a very nice email yesterday from Diana Collins who stumbled on this blog. She is one of the people behind the site:

www.famouspoetsandpoems.com

It has over 20,000 poems of over 500 of the world's most famous poets, along with biographical information and a wealth of other treasures. Check it out.


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.