Friday, September 21, 2007

Falling Light

The glow of the sunlight
outside my office window,
warming the backsides
of the still-green oak leaves
warmer falling light
not like summer rays
whiter color then
now warming toward orange
in late afternoon, almost night
a warmer hue


September 21, 2007 17:33


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 19,800+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Shades of Purple

We stopped to see her work,
the stuff of kindergarten
And there you were,
reflected in the drawings,
the colors she chose,
to call her favorites,
to color her world,
her fingers this morning
Shades of purple,
your favorite color too
Worn with pride, with love
to honor you,
infused in her tribute as well



September 21, 2007 15:29
About the colors Shanequa called
her favorite, seen at her school's Open House
last night. The color purple
was the favorite color of her
grandmother, her Ya-Ya, Elaine A. Kosta-Smith,
whose visiting hours were on 9/17.
We all wore purple in her memory
then and on 9/18 at her funeral

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 19,800+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Tending the Garden

For God’s love raised Christ
from the depths of death,
for the forgiveness of our sins,
and we must work, not to earn the gifts;
but to show the reverent praise
so richly deserved for such a gift as this
Within creation, we alone, understand
are called to the Father
through the gift of the Son,
out in the fields, in the garden,
spreading the good news
the reconciliation of ourselves
to God, fulfilling the commission
in our own ways, with our own gifts


September 21, 2007
Tending the Garden
Inspired by the sermon by,
“Regenerating the Human Spirit”,
Rev. Lori Eldredge, August 26, 2007
Wesley United Methodist Church
Concord, NH
Colossians 1:9-20
&
Earlier poem on same sermon:
Stewards of the Garden

We are called to maintain,
to protect, to tend
the garden, to weed, to water,
to prune, to care, to plant,
to harvest, to till, to feed
to respect the garden,
to leave the garden
for others to enjoy

August 26, 2007 13:26
Stewards of the Garden


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 39,180+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Arctic Ice

These words, “arctic ice”
in the search string on my computer
track the telling, epiphany above the circle
the telling news by the pole
of a planet changing,
is it inexorably yet? How many
inches of water lapping on the streets
will be needed, to tell the rest of the story
to awaken the world to the realities
we have wrought, set lose
on the face of the globe,
as surely as Pandora did
when she opened that damn box
What can we do now,
to stem the tides
that will be rising
Where will this battle be waged
and won?


September 20, 2007 18:04
http://nsidc.org/news/press/2007_seaiceminimum/20070810_index.html


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 19,800+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Frost Friendly

Oh for a bill
to steel the heart of the poet,
or his neighbor at least
A law to protect
walls in need of mending
to remedy the falling,
of the stones, to right the walls
in need of mending


September 19, 2007 22:31
House Bill 42, passed in the 2007 New Hampshire
legislative session, signed by the Governor,
and effective July 20, 2007
“STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT relative to resource protection sections of local master plans.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
40:1 Master Plan; Optional Sections; Resource Protection; Stone Walls. Amend RSA 674:2, III(h) to read as follows:
(h) A section which identifies cultural and historic resources and protects them for rehabilitation or preservation from the impact of other land use tools such as land use regulations, housing, or transportation. Such section may encourage the preservation or restoration of stone walls, provided agricultural practices, as defined in RSA 21:34-a, are not impeded.”


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 19,800+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Covenant - acrostic

Contract
One
Virtue
Everlasting
Nation
Almighty
Nurturing
Theocracy

================
edited August 22, 2019
Covenant – acrostic – v2

September 19, 2007 22:26
Covenant – acrostic

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, and 2019. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com)  for usage. See all 51,570+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.


acrostic, poem, poetry, covenant, creator, Faith, God, hope, Law, Poetry Where You Live, Christ, Spirit


#acrostic #poem #poetry #covenant #creator #Faith #God #hope #Law #Christ #Spirit

Circling over Me

Above the highway, just to the right
of my line on the road
four raptors, circling over me
I wonder if any of them,
or their kin, have ever thought
one of us, driving along
was lunch, worthy of that dive
to try to catch us
in their talons and fly off
What would their friends say
for such a story
of the one that got away


September 19, 2007 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 21,400+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

A Slate of Gray

The familiar black
of the board
became whiter,
over time, layer on layer
of the chalk,
making the pores fill
eraser or sponge
ineffective against the
aging of the board,
becoming a slate of gray


September 19, 2007 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 21,400+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Marsh Grasses

The flats, tidal,
far from shore,
reeds, grasses, rushes
morphing from green
golden tan, brown
the week before
autumn officially begins
Riding by, caught
peripherally, fleetingly
the world as we whizz by
glimpses of nature
following the call of the seasons
oblivious to human influences
our busy lives
Fed by the rising,
falling tides, the
alluvial, rich soil, guided
by the cycle of the calendar,
the pull of the moon,
swaying in the cooling air
as night blurs
shafts of light filtering through
the woods beyond the marsh


September 19, 2007 16:20

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 19,800+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Suddenness

If I could only explain
what the suddenness
of the news means to me
To learn, of the certainty
the finality of your death
passing from life, falling
into the pit, to the earth
inexorably, instantly,
cut by the scythe, the reaper
seeing you in court
earlier, minutes really
before you were gathered in
Hearing, at a client’s table,
in my own moving
from task to task,
frenetically, you were gone
suddenly. That was a slap,
a centering moment
clarion call and epiphany
words reverberating in my ears
Shock and stunned revelation
frozen in the suddenness



September 19, 2007 16:11


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 19,780+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Feeling the Loss of Him

Standing, walking, coming through the line
greeting you, for a moment, sharing
but a snapshot, a burst, of what I was feeling,
so small compared to the enormity
the reality of your loss.
Feeling so small, standing in the line,
before I approached you.
Thinking of what his loss
means to me, to so many,
as written in the paper
Murmured in the court, on the phone
with out practitioners.
Reading so many stories,
so many telling words,
the lives he touched, changed
for the better, truly.
Of his help to me,
guidance and rebuttal,
chastised and cajoled
Feeling the loss of him
so acutely, still.


September 19, 2007 13:13


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 19,780+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

A Sudden Loss

A fateful call
out of the blue
of your passing
without warning,
no thought of chance
a fleeting light
we are only that
cast into the dark
at the end of our days
brief candle burning bright
flicker and die
so sudden a loss
faith in the grace
your place in heaven
waiting now for us
when our time is done


September 19, 2007 10:58


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 19,770+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Time for the Fair

The cold in the air
reminds me of the country fair
the candied apple,
the hot burnt sausage sub
the smell of wet hay,
the warm touch of a cow’s side
the shriek of the roosters,
the squeal of the pigs,
Men with canes urging the oxen
to drag the sled farther
weight added as the stakes rise
kids running from ride to ride,
teens sneaking off
the races after twilight
the craft booths,
the giant pumpkin, squash,
the pies and paintings,
with sash and ribbon
pride of the makers
for all to see


September 16, 2007 16:01


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 19,640+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Stretch Run

Summer giving way
to the cold of autumn
breath visible in the morning air
boys of summer
holding sway a little longer
the stretch run
is well under way
Schedules and records
brought into focus
injuries and strategies
on each tongue and mind
the Sox can clinch it
oh so soon,
If the Yankees
would just get
out of the way


September 16, 2007 15:39


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 19,640+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

September Corn

Slimmer pickings at the farm stand
smaller, more immature
lighter kernels on the cob
late corn, from the gleanings
before the stalks are harvested
for decorations of the houses
productive still; but not much longer
snap of fall in the air
on the breeze,
haggling over the price
in reverse.
A half dozen ears, please.
“no, have two more,
I’ve been having trouble
selling the smaller ones.”
Cider and chrysanthemums
soon to join the selections,
with gourds and pumpkins
later sales before the closing
for the season


September 16, 2007 15:34

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 19,770+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Final Fruits

The last ripe berries
from our own little vine
woven into the rhododendron
hidden from the birds,
other interested parties
left to darken for a few days more
the last of the rich strong fruit
before the cooling of the days
the readying for the winter
fall in full bloom in the air
tart berries, tangy fruit
the final fruits of the season
as brief as it was


September 16, 2007 14:54






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.

Faith Writers

I have now started a page on Faith Writers with my faith based poetry. They are at:
http://www.faithwriters.com/

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.

“Have You Seen My…” - Sermon by Ruth L. Foss, September 16, 2007, given at Sanbornville United Methodist Church, Sanbornville, NH

How many of you have ever lost anything of great worth to you…or even something that has no real value but…you feel you need it?...I know I have…at times I have put things away for “Safe Keeping” and forgot where I put it…boy I hate when that happens! What do you do? Do you just forget about it…or do you search until it is found? I know with me…I will search high and low…I might even say to myself…well I just give up…I can’t find it. But…I find myself…after awhile…going back to the “search”…to the “hunt”…until I find it. I am so happy when I find it…I even have to share my story of how it was lost and how it is now found.

In the two parables we read from the Gospel of Luke today…something was lost. The main character in the parables searched until they found what they were looking for…to the point of leaving what they had to find their lost object. When they found it…they went to their neighbors and rejoiced with them…what was lost was now found. These lost articles are a lot like we are when we are not in a right relationship with God…when we haven’t accepted His invitation of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. We even say to ourselves that we are not worth it…we are not worthy of Redemption. We even think we have sinned too much to be forgiven.

But…the Good News of the Gospel is that each of us…as a child of God…is “worth it.”Even if we never do anything major in life…like inventing a cure for disease…or bring world peace…WE ARE WORTH T! In this week’s Gospel lesson…Jesus responds to the people who were grumbling because He ate with sinners and tax collectors. He tells the story of a shepherd who has lost one of his sheep and a woman who has lost a coin. They both search until what is lost is found.

It is easy to think of the lost as only those in dire trouble or don’t know the saving Grace of Christ…but…a part within each of us is lost in some way or another. God seeks the smallest lost parts within each of us and seeks to return us to wholeness. When one of us…one of God’s creations…is lost…when even the smallest part of ourselves is lost…God drops everything and begins the search. The lost is found; the rejoicing begins; and we witness an opening to God’s love and grace.

In verses 7 and 10 of Luke’s Gospel…it tells us what happens n heaven when one of the “lost” is found. There is joy when just one person…just one lost soul…is found. I can just hear the Alleluia chorus now… (Sing it).

This reminds me of our daughter…Shanequa…she has a pink blanket she has had since she was born. She sleeps with it every night. There have been times when she has “misplaced” her cherished treasure and does she ever react to that. There are tears and crying…she exclaims she has looked everywhere and cannot find it anywhere. She is distraught…there is no consoling her. Well…now mom and dad join in the search…if we don’t there will be no sleeping in the house that night…when her blanket is found she is over joyed…she goes around hugging her blanket telling it that it has been found…how much she missed it…and…if it is Ray or myself has found it…the parent becomes the “Super hero” of the moment. Her precious love…her blanket…has been found.

THERE IS REJOICING IN HEAVEN!!!

God seeks out the lost to return them back to the fold. God created us to be in fellowship with him. But…because of sin…because of the “fall” from grace…the world has gone astray. It is no longer like it was in the Garden of Eden when the Creator “walked in the cool of the evening” with His creation. But God still wants a relationship with us.

I have been teaching the Purpose Driven Life bible study by Rick Warren at the Goffstown Correctional Facility in Goffstown, NH. It states that one of our purposes in life…purpose #2…is that we were formed for God’s family. Just think about that for a moment…you and I were formed for God’s family. God wants a family…not that he really needs it, He is God after all…and He created you and I to be part of it. Ephesians 1:5 tells us that “His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave Him great…pleasure.” Let me repeat that…this gave Him great…pleasure. Every human being was created by God but…not every human being is a “Child of God.” The only way to get into God’s family is by being born again.

This reminds me of a picture I saw this week. It was in my Church History class and it was a picture of a Baptismal Font. It had a picture of Adam and Eve on one end and a picture of Jesus with a lamb on His shoulders at the other. It reminded me that because of Adam and Eve’s sin of disobedience…we are all lost sheep looking for our shepherd to lead us back to the meadow and that it is only through the blood of Jesus that we can return to the sheep fold…to that meadow…that pasture of forgiveness…of redemption and peace.

God is reaching out to His creation…wanting to bring them back to the flock…looking to find that valuable treasure that was lost…yes, we are that valuable treasure to God…we are precious in His sight. The Bible is full of evidence of this truth. Jesus wasn’t sent to earth to be with the righteous…Jesus came to be with the least…the lost…the forgotten…the sinner…to bring them home…back into a right relationship with God. The Pharisee’s and the Sadducees just didn’t get it. They didn’t understand that we are all worthy of grace…not just the so called “righteous”. Through the blood of Jesus…we can all stand righteous before God…if we would only accept His invitation to a new life only found through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now…you might be asking yourself…what can I do to help in the search? Are we even called to help at all? (I’m glad you asked that question)Well…Matthew 28:19-20 gives us the answer to those questions…it is the Great Commission to Jesus’ disciples…and we…as Children of God…redeemed and forgiven by the Blood of the Lamb…are disciples of Christ. It reads...”Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (let me read that again) make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, to the close of age.” We are to be out there…in search of the lost sheep…that lost soul. This is our Commission from Jesus…IT S NOT AN OPTION! We are commissioned…each of us…to be part of God’s grand design of bringing His children…His Creation…back home. We are to be a light…a beacon…a road map…to the world we live in showing the way home.

Another one of our purposes…according to the Purpose Driven Life…is that we were made for a Mission (which the study tells us it is our 5th purpose). It states that “God is at work in the world, and He wants you to join Him. This assignment is called your mission. God wants you to have both a Ministry, in the Body of Christ, and a Mission in the world…Your ministry is your service to believers and your mission is your service to non-believers.” We are to be in the world not of the world. We are to search out the lost and bring them into the fold…into the love and protection of the “Good Shepherd.”

We have choices to make in the world…in our lives. We can either choose to sit back and be joyous in our own salvation…content with the fact that we are saved and that’s all that matters or…we can be out in the world looking for our lost brothers and sisters and showing them the way home…Being able to celebrate with the heavenly host in that Alleluia Chorus because one that was lost is now found. Think about it for a moment…really think about it…if someone hadn’t taken the time to talk to you about our Risen Lord Jesus Christ…where would you be now?

I would like to end my sermon with a poem by one of my favorite Poets of our times…OK so I am a little bias…it is a poem by my husband Ray. It is called “One Lost Sheep” and it embodies the preciousness of each lost soul. It reads:

We are each a precious member
The flock of the shepherd,
One who knows the Master’s voice
Who comes when called
When we are lost, the Shepherd
Seeks us out, finds us, as we are
Carries us, lovingly, back into the fold
Back to the flock, to the safety
The nurturing, the growing
Within the community
Fellow members, fellow followers
At great cost, the shepherd
Leaves the flock
To save one lost sheep


May we ever be in search of that lost sheep waiting to be found.
AMEN

by Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog

“God’s Whisper” blog
Suncook United Methodist Church
Suncook, NH


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 21,400+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.