Poetry Where You Live

Monday, August 22, 2005

Robert Burns' window

All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 53,000+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Swimmers - all underwater - January 21, 1999

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.

Swasey Pool - Fisheye - January 21, 1999

Fiddleheads - May 15, 1999

Sunkist - November 1, 1998

Fall colors - October 5, 1999

Sean Matile - March 6, 1999 - at moment UNH won Hockey East Regular Season Championship

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.

UNH Library - Fisheye - November 1, 1998

Salamander - June 10, 1999

Ants - June 10, 1999

Lilacs - May 19, 1999 - Hepler Arboretum, Durham, NH

Lily of the Valley - 1999

Thompson Hall - December 1984

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 20,870+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Pictures from church flower garden

There is a large circular flower garden in front of the church. Here are some images within the last couple of weeks.

Cropped

Cropped and centered
edited and packaged
digital perfection
made easy

8/21/05 15:12

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.

Saturated Believing

Our bodies,
like cloth dolls,
immersed in the living waters
of your holy word,
living sacrifices
each week
given for your pleasure

August 21, 2005 11:00, based on Romans 12:1-8 and the sermon by the Reverend Joel Guillemette, "For God’s Pleasure".

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 47,740 of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Saturday, August 20, 2005

Bad Boy Google

Bully of the playground
Terror of the tank
To them it is no fun at all
to him it is a prank

You'd think he was playing
of that there is no doubt

Pushing round the other fish
the sharers of his space
driving them here and there
in an endless race

August 20, 2005 11:12

Friday, August 19, 2005

May Pole

They made of me a May Pole
Last night in the narthex, the entry
Of our church,
Free of chairs and clutter
For late summer cleaning

Skipping, laughing, reeling,
They danced around me
While fitfully sharing
The apple Ruth brought me for my dinner
All that was missing
Was the ribbon wrapped round me
Ever tighter as the dancers danced

August 19, 2005 14:59

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 20,870+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Ancient Flyer

Oh they got the name right when they named these
Ancient flyers of the sun
tail like an alligator's flesh
skeletal cellophane wings
multi-celled eyes that a sci-fi writer could only dream

Hands on my hand
grabbing with barb and weightless grace
ready for the closeup, the glossy
made for publicity

well here it is...

8/18/05 21:15 (photo by Ruth Foss, cropped by Ray)

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 20,640+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Cards

A cluster of assorted bicycles
Strewn in a yard yesterday afternoon
Trigger of a memory, a moment
A time in my life with simpler concerns

Summer bike parades, races
With streamers out the handles
Specially chosen baseball cards
Clothespinned to the spokes
Of the one-speed bikes
We all had

Noisier, happier August days
Flap, clatter, laugh, shouts
Frozen in brain cells now
To be unearthed
When serendipity strikes,
Breaking a knowing smile ‘cross my face
As I drive home

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

edited March 7, 2018

Cards – v2

August 18, 2005 12:30

Cards

http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2005/08/cards.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.

creator, cross, earth, faith poetry, God, hands, home, life, memories, New Hampshire, poem, poetry, Poetry Where You Live, Raymond A. Foss, summer, yard, baseball cards,

#creator #cross #earth #faithpoetry #God #hands #home #life #memories #NewHampshire #poem #poetry #summer #yard #baseball cards #baseballcards #bicycles

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Seductive Invader

She was beautiful
elegant, sly, alluring
In her rich color
long supple body
full flowering
envy of others
less able
to spread

August 17, 2005 19:27 – about Purple Loosestrife, invading all of New England’s wet places

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.

Weathered

Weathered and worn
But oh so proudly
The old barn preened in the summer
Mid-day sun

He had seen her earlier,
Noticed her shape, angles
On the drive to his desk and cube

But now she shown
The aged wood, elephant skin
Or maybe the skin of a Burmese elder
Lit at the edge of the cut field

Tawny, creosote, browns in varied hues
Tingled his fancy, his synapses
Starkness of the vertical and horizontal lines
Breaking the field and forests
Softer edges

Ready for a picture or two
To catch the eye, the imagination
Of the traveler of the byway
Proud in its skin
In the light

August 17, 2005 16:02

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 20,870+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Sand Castles

Molded and shaped
Specks of the rocks they once were
Packed and organized in the buckets
Like the seconds of our lives
Held together,
The stories of us

On the beach, in the sun
Working with the girls to create
A mighty fortress, regal and expansive
A myth
Thanks to Shanequa’s
Errant bucketful of destruction

Giggle and shriek
Splash, spill, dribble
Squander, linger
In the mote we created

Breached walls
A mirage of strength
Our handiwork flowing
Back to the water

August 17, 2005 9:03

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.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Sooner

The passing of every minute of the workday
brings me ever closer to you once more.
I long for the ending of the day,
for the passing of the hours, the minutes,
ever faster

for the meeting of our lips, our hearts,
our lives once more
at the end of the day,
the passing of the time

between now and then...

August 16, 2005 13:35

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.

Berries

Like a thick cluster of ripe Concord grapes
The blueberries hung on the bush
Eager for my grasp, their liberation from the stalk
Drop, the fall into the can,
Hung like a horse’s feed bag around my neck

Sticky lush flesh clutched, grasped
Gingerly between my fingers
Don’t want to lose one

Smell the warm August air ‘round me
Drink the quiet of the farm
Forget time, other urgencies of life

Hunt for each bit of fruit
Hidden by branch and leaf
Treasures to be savored later

Monarch and dragonfly join my reverie
Break the stillness of the haze
Eager for the sweet harvest too

August 16, 2005 13:29

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.

Monday, August 15, 2005

To Tag

To tag, or not to tag: that is the problem:
Whether 'tis nobler in the whole to endure
The slings and arrows of disgruntled faculty,
Or to take steps against a claim of ownership,
And by refuting quell them? To dispose: to surplus;
No more; and by a disposal to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That equipment is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To dispose, to surplus;
To surplus: perchance to profit: ay, there's the rub;
For in that disposal process of purchase what revenue may come
When we have left Property Control,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of longevity;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The department's wrong, the faculty's contumely,
The pangs of despised control, the law's delay,
The insolence of staff and the spurns
That patient merit of the campus takes,
When they themselves might his quietus make
With a rusty key? who would workstudys bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after tagging,
The academic buildings from whose bourn
No tagging student returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than complain to management that we know not of?
Thus the inventory does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action. - Soft you now!
Be all my property remember'd.

August 15, 2005 16:00 (with a whole lot of apologies to William Shakespeare… This is no Hamlet…)

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.

Thinking Cog

Why she asked
Innocent, or was it?
Cringe of every curmudgeon
Fear of every manager

Like Charlie in Modern Times
Wanting to know, to deduce, to grasp
Her role, the steps to complete

Consternation of Ford and Deming
Wondering, asking why
To find the rhyme, the season
Or was it the reason
The raison d'être
For the task,
Or at least to show up for work

8/15/2005 13:45

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 20,870+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

The Narrow Gate

Free will isn’t free
We don’t see

That the way is clear
To get from here

The way is straight
Through the narrow gate
Defining our fate
Ours to contemplate

We must choose to go
Where He told us so

Heaven waits for us
If we but follow Jesus

August 15, 2005 13:31

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 20,870+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

In the Bramble

In the bramble at the edge of the lawn
Before the woods,
Where pillows of snow perched in winter

Green upon green played
Meshed and netted together
Blocking all view
Of the trees behind

The wooded lot
A distant land
Behind the bramble,
The vines and wild living thatch
At the edge of the tamed place
We claim whilst we tend it.

8/15/05 12:22

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.

Evolution

A mat of green, burgundy, and brown
Covered the skin of the once open water
Of the marsh, cut off by the black thread
The highway I travel so often

Lily pads, bent edges exposed by the bloom
The burst of their growth
Between the rushes and ribbon of water
Down from the woods

How recently it was different
Ducks paddling where the blanket is now
Untrammeled by foreign plants,
Runoff of fertilizers of the farms around

Choked water of brown not blue
Murk and smell
Off the road that sealed its doom
Away from the fresh lake
On the other side forevermore

Soon it will be colored by fall hues
Fragile weakened trees shedding leaves earlier
Sooner than nearby in heartier soils

Truly it can be said,
Mournful are the harbingers,
The prodigy
Of development

August 15, 2005 11:46

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, 2015. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 37,080+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

The Final Word

Oh it will be wonderful
At the end of the age
For those who believe
To see that heavenly place

The next to the last word is judgment
But the last word is grace

The faith that saved us,
Not our doing
But His own
A gift from Calvary
And the way

When we are collected
The wheat from the weeds
The good fruit
Cared for by the gardener
All along.

8/15/05 11:25. A poem inspired by the sermon, "The Last Word", preached by the Rev. Joel B. Guillemette from Romans 11:1-2a, 29-36 on the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, August 14, 2005, at Wesley United Methodist Church in Concord, NH.

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 30,120+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Cost Accounting Haiku's

Monday morning, included as the trailer to a posting on the National Conference on College Cost Accounting list serve (a very informative place, but one where the arts don't often hold sway), there were two wonderful university cost accounting based haiku's. Having toiled in those fields since 1985, they really spoke to me.

I asked the author via email if I can post them to this site. Later this morning Caroline wrote back...

"I am not a poet, but the stresses of F&A work squeezed these two haiku out of me. I actually had help from my co-worker, Sara on the Cost Analyst's haiku."

So, here are the two poems...

A Revenue Distribution Specialist's Haiku

Revenue flows in.
Distribute to everyone.
Complexity Reigns!

************************************************************
A Cost Analyst's Haiku

Direct costs in Pools
allocated to Bases --
Unending journey.

*************************************************************
Caroline M. Beeman, Director of Cost Analysis
University of Virginia, Financial Analysis
P.O. Box 400194
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4194
*************************************************************

How right she/they is/are... And by this posting, she is a poet too... Thanks Caroline!

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.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

Running on the Razor’s Edge

His eyes tell the story
Captured in the ephemeral emulsion
Of the digital image

Silently, knowingly
Speaking
Of the things he cannot discuss
Will not share

Of a life in frenetic motion
Pushing down unuttered demons
Mystery and intrigue
Of a life on the razor’s edge

8/4/05 10:13am – Musings on a just departed friend, caught in suspended animation.

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.

Saturday, July 30, 2005

Missing You

I miss you
it is instant
as when I leave your lips

7/30/05 15:30

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.

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Simple Lessons

Pure distillation
Living words
informing our understanding
Human existence

Reclaiming the relationship
lost at the fall and each failing of fealty
Purity of faith
Agape love

Living the law
as Jesus fulfilled
One God
Abiding love.

July 3, 2005 14:50

Notes - June 27, 2005 -
Jesus's words on the 1st and greatest commandment and his new one to love one another in Mark 12:28b-33 and then Paul's summation in 1 Corinthians 13:13. Taken together, they alone explain and guide our interactions with God and others. They speak to both God's faith and our faith, to His hope and ours, and to His ability to love, and how we should act toward one another. If we truly understood and lived only these passages of the Bible, heaven would be on earth.

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.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Repeat Performances

One Word
ancient yet living
deeper meanings
in the telling

The same scripture
packaged and primped
for different lessons
each with power and truth
in the listening

June 27, 2005 10:18am - I scratched onto page as I walked back from a meeting these lines. About the use of the same scripture Ecclesiastes 13:1-8 and 1 Cor. 13:13. Timeworn text made alive again by the skillful theologian...

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.

Joyful Tears

Tears of joy
welled up
in his heart
spilled down his cheeks
in the pew again

Frozen Yankee stoicism
melted by the telling
the knowing
of Your Word

Safe telling of
ancient stories
of faith, or hope
of love

Understood better
by study
and communion
Learning together
deeper meanings
in His times
and our own.

June 26-2005 - Reflections on Pastor We Hyun Chang's final sermon and the meaning of 1 Cor. 13:13, enhanced by participation in the Disciple I bible study.

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 28,750+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Periodic Haiku

I heard an NPR story about this a couple of weeks ago. There is a periodic table with linked Haikus. Thought I would share the link

http://www.iscifistory.com/scifaku/elements/periodichaiku.asp

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.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Healing Hands

Hands joined in humble, reverent prayer
around the tables of our meeting
praying for comfort and release
for our friend and sister

A pastor's healing hands
joined our own
and raised his voice
offering up our faith
in you Lord
and your endless love
for each of us

By your bedside too
He was there
Touching you, holding you
with his healing hands.
Knowing you were ready
for your journey home.

6/21/05 7:08am

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.

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Cut

Where is your hair?
It's not There!
Double takes
and head fakes
Dude with
a new attitude

6/11/06 16:00
Elliott Marshall Nott - cut his hair

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.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

The Beach

Ocean so blue
Waves crashing
Sky so fresh
Water so yucky
Water on me

Erica Berberena, age 8 (almost 9), copyright 2005, printed 6/6/05 but written earlier

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Explained Parables - V2

Wheat and the Weeds
explained metaphors
of good and evil
now and then
at the end

Too important, too precious
for ambiguity, uncertainty
written out tools for teaching

His interpretation added
to tell the tale
in words
Timid followers
could follow.

6/4/05 17:40

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.

Pool Soup - V2

Grass and needles and weeds
stirred by arms and sticks
in the pink pool in the yard
The giggle twins
working together again.

Pitch of this
and a pound of that
balance just right,
clear by the sound
of the singing.

Shake the dirt from
the roots, discard the rest
dead bodies on the walk

Dirt Soup now.
Mmm, just right

6/4/05 17:30

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.

Pool Soup

Grass and needles and weeds
stirred by arms and sticks
in the pool in the yar.
The giggle twins
working together again.

1st draft 6/4/05 17:15

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.

Explained Parables

Wheat and the weeds
explained metaphors
of good and evil
now and the end

Too important, precious
for ambiguity, uncertainty
written toods for teaching

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

1st draft 6/4/05 17:00

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.

Friday, June 03, 2005

Lady Bird's Legacy

Democratic medians
between the black gray
Ribbons of Republican highways
Ike got it done but She
made it work

Bright wild color
in the wild space left
Between the ordered broad lanes
Evens west and Odds north

6/3/05
See: http://www.wildflower.org/

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.

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Jacob's Ladder

A ladder, a bridge, a portal
connecting us, as the song says,
with the company of saints and angels
who went before us.

How wonderful we too
are among the covenant people
by the words of the God
of the creation, of Abraham,
of Moses and of David,
the God who died and rose
so we could be free.

Genesis 28:12-14

5/30/05 21:58

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.

Yard Salad

With an old newspaper
for a plate and
water from the hose
for dressing

Four junior chefs,
three to ten,
yanked and threshed a yard salad
from the rain drenched
and shower fed
field beside our in-town home

Clover, dandelion, plantain
and grasses of varying length,
with dirt included bodily,
heaped on the makeshift platter,
stirred with pine and oak,
until they were ready
for the presentation

----------------
Edited March 15, 2024
Yard Salad – v2

5/30/05 21:49, edited 5/31/05 12:22
Yard Salad
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2005/05/yard-salad.html

All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 53,000+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Poetry, love, rain, shower, yard, flowers, praise poems, praise poetry, clover, water, faith poetry, home, grass, Shanequa, Family, Shyanne, God,

#Poetry #love #rain #shower #yard #flowers #praisepoems #praisepoetry #clover #water #faithpoetry #home #grass #Shanequa #Family #Shyanne #God

Tired

I could see her tired
even under the closed lids
of her sleeping face

Body hugged under the covers
Her face toward mine
as I jot these lines

Peace rising with the
rise and fall of the comforter
covering her body
falling into deepening sleep

5/30/05 21:39

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.

Finger Shower

Our little helper,
all of three,
upset I was washing the broiler pan -
without her

Move over Dad!,
She commanded,
as she pushed me aside,
so her stepstool
could plant in the middle
of the space before the sink

Craning on tiptoes
hands and arms cresting the countertop
just enough so she could help

Scrubbing the greasy pan,
fresh from the barbecue
the night before,
with a sponge that
swirled the sudsy water
mostly.

After, her little hands,
cupped in my left,
giggled under the finger rain
of the sprayer in my right

edited April 10, 2015

Finger Shower – v2

5/30/05 21:34

Finger Shower

http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2005/05/finger-shower.html

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, 2015. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 37,010+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Parting

I will always feel the ache of our parting
and the balm of our joining

DRAFT 12/13/05 18:05, written in response to her line, "the day I start not missing you in some way is the day I start worrying"

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 19,730+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Musings

Touching your cool
Bronze skin
Coursing my fingers
Like a reader of Braille,
Silently in the dark
In our sanctuary
Behind locked door,
Over friendly, familiar territory

Picturing what other senses perceive
Smooth and coarse,
Muscle rippling under my hands,
Warm where I travel,
Linger, twirl

DRAFT - Started 2/8/05 16:30

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 19,730+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Disciple

Disciplined study
And worship
Immersed in the Word
Week upon Week

Words and meaning
Beautiful in the learning
and the language

Growing together
Closer to God,
And His plan,
For each of us

To serve and work
To make more Disciples

May 22, 2005 17:43

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.

I Will

Not the fleeting, fashionable
cute and cuddly – I Do.
No, this isn’t the thing we’re talking about

I Will.
Power of God, commitment continuing
Covenant people responding in-kind.

The God of Creation offered Himself
in sacrifice and in Communion
A perpetual relationship,
Loving, nurturing

All we have to do
Is answer His –
I Will –
with our own –
I will.

It is an invitation of grace
first held out for Abraham
now open to all nations
through Jesus Christ,
our Lord and Savior

I will;
Will you?

May 22, 2005 7:16

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 28,600+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Torrent

White knuckles on the wheel
holding fast to my lane
between the wiper strokes
and blur of reckless drivers
on left and right

Hurtling down the highway
pushing aside the curtain of rain
pulled closed behind me

Rest off the divided lanes;
city roads and slower pace
Marked by puddle lakes
and river streets

5/23/05 21:53

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.

Wire

The rusted old barbed wire oozed into
the flesh of the young pine
becoming one with the living skin
lost in the tissue of the trunk
fused with the tree

5/23/05 21:47

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.

Paul's Mistaken

Oooh, what was he thinkin?
Tellin the womenfolk to be quiet,
demur, deferring to their husbands...
Not on this watch, Apostle Paul
We're in the New World here
where they can speak, hold court,
and they do.

Keeping Rome in a comfortable place is all well and good;
but, was he on drugs?
Don't you remember Paul, you were living
working off the goodwill, the largess,
of many women?

1 Corinthians 14:33b-36; but See Romans 16:1-4 & Philippians 4:2-3
(of course, as my pastor reminded me, there is a good deal of scholarly debate as to whether or not Paul wrote the lines in 1 Corinthians, or whether they were added later by others...)

5/23/05 21:30

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.

End of Wall

Broken lines,
walls in need of mending
What would Frost say,
or his good neighbor,
behind mended walls?

New England stone walls,
handmade and irregular
severed by highways,
black/gray ribbons/scars on the land

Leaving unfinished, abandoned, cluttered
forgotten boundaries in the woods,
moss covered and leaf obscured
with blunt ends
exposed at the edge, the clearing, the light
by the road
more often taken
--------------
edited November 19, 2023
End of Wall – v2

5/23/05 21:02
End of Wall
https://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2005/05/end-of-wall.html

All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 53,000+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Nature, creator, forest, Faith, neighbor, poetry, colors, stone, poem, light, Robert Frost, New Hampshire, America, Poetry Where You Live, Family, God

#Nature #forest #Faith #neighbor #poetry #stone #poem #light #Robert Frost #New Hampshire #America #Poetry Where You Live #Family #God

Monday, May 23, 2005

Covenant

A people,
And individuals
With His covenant
Beating now,
Under the words
Written on each of our hearts
To follow only Him
And to love one another
As we love ourselves.

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Matthew 22:36-39

May 22, 2005 17:48

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.

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Little John

He's there, Little John
to the other's Robin
Buds enjoying the vibe

The stalwart second
to Marian's call
and Robin's schemes
Drumming and strumming
Tall tales of the wood

5/6/05 22:50

Little John

http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2005/05/little-john.html?m=0

inspired in part by Electric Praise and

Rejuvenation worship service

Jason Buck

Elliott Nott

Diane Harrises

Wesley United Methodist Church

www.concordwumc.org

Concord, NH

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, 2015. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 37,140+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.