Best Sparely Poems
Pondering Castle Ruins At Dusk
I came upon you near to dusk
watching on the final hill
as modern sculpture, graced stone
calm, slumbering, still.
I wandered through the ghostly rooms
sparely traced by tumbled walls
seeking echoes from soft souls
who coloured life into your walls.
I touched your stone with tender hand
seeking signs of yesterday
a remnant of another time
rains had washed your tales away
Yet something of those times remain
within the spaces of your keep
the wind it sped a reedy tune
and voices murmured slow and deep.
Tiffany roses circle in séance,
cut crystal vase in a sparely lit room,
round antique table opal in nuance,
ivory candles with saffron in bloom.
Raven shadows deepen the ambiance.
Ashes of roses in draperies loom.
Onyx spinet plays deceptive cadence.
Sequined masquerade masks heighten the gloom,
reflecting with vermillion radiance
the flickering flames of marigold plumes.
Masks on the wall traipse in amaranth dance
as a pale evening breeze enters the room,
the petals and flames a-flutter in trance
as past flower spirits rise from their tombs.
To a Louse
by Robert Burns
translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Hey! Where're you going, you crawling hair-fly?
Your impudence protects you, barely;
I can only say that you swagger rarely
Over gauze and lace.
Though faith! I fear you dine but sparely
In such a place.
You ugly, creeping, blasted wonder,
Detested, shunned by both saint and sinner,
How dare you set your feet upon her—
So fine a lady!
Go somewhere else to seek your dinner
On some poor body.
Off! around some beggar's temple shamble:
There you may creep, and sprawl, and scramble,
With other kindred, jumping cattle,
In shoals and nations;
Where horn nor bone never dare unsettle
Your thick plantations.
Now hold you there! You're out of sight,
Below the folderols, snug and tight;
No, faith just yet! You'll not be right,
Till you've got on it:
The very topmost, towering height
Of miss's bonnet.
My word! right bold you root, contrary,
As plump and gray as any gooseberry.
Oh, for some rank, mercurial resin,
Or dread red poison;
I'd give you such a hearty dose, flea,
It'd dress your noggin!
I wouldn't be surprised to spy
You on some housewife's flannel tie:
Or maybe on some ragged boy's
Pale undervest;
But Miss's finest bonnet! Fie!
How dare you jest?
Oh Jenny, do not toss your head,
And lash your lovely braids abroad!
You hardly know what cursed speed
The creature's making!
Those winks and finger-ends, I dread,
Are notice-taking!
O would some Power with vision teach us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notions:
What airs in dress and carriage would leave us,
And even devotion!
One Sunday while sitting behind a young lady in church, Robert Burns noticed a louse roaming through the bows and ribbons of her bonnet. The poem "To a Louse" resulted from his observations. The poor woman had no idea that she would be the subject of one of Burns' best poems about how we see ourselves, compared to how other people see us at our worst moments. Keywords/Tags: Robert Burns, louse, church, bonnet, lace, lady, insect, insects, animal, clothes, clothing, hair, body, society, funny, Scotland, Scots, dialect, translation
Beloved:
Are we Sowers are we harvesting seeds.
We go planting. Jesus
often compared to the
FATHER COME TOUCH AND SOFTEN THE HEARTS-
Kingdom of God with good soil.
Here in this world,
we spoil phenomenally.
God touches the heart
hardened man's part
He plowed He softens the land
mass of harden hearts.
if we be His good stewards we apply Himself
FATHER COME TOUCH AND SOFTEN THE HEARTS-
in ourselves, be His hands and feet.
The point is this:
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparely, and whoever's Souls bountifully will also bountifully"
~
"Those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap Harvest of righteousness"
God's word leads us to Jesus
~So Sowing and Reaping~
FATHER COME TOUCH AND SOFTEN THE HEARTS-
11/2/2023
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2023©
2Corinthians 9:6
James 3:18