What Would I Feel? I – Palm Sunday

What would I feel

If I walked into Jerusalem with Him?

Walking beside the donkey

That carried my King and Lord

Walking over cloaks and palm leaves

Laid before His feet

With crowds of thousands

Cheering Him and proclaiming Him king

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna!

Would it be joy or pride that I was one

Whom He considered a friend?

Would it be excitement or apprehension

As He was about to claim His crown?

Would I understand what He was doing

Riding the donkey and what the week foretold?

6th April 2007, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.

-Richard

The Airport

Here I go again

Stuck in a line

“Take your shoes off

Laptop out

Boarding pass please

And don’t forget your ID.”

Sitting down waiting

For my number to be called

Not the magic powerball

Just to enter the plane.

“Board through gate B

Move quickly please!”

Finally finding the seat

People blocking the aisles

Their bags too big to fit

“Sit down so we can leave”

The steward yells

“And fasten your seat belts please.”

Time to watch the video

Oxygen masks and exits.

Time to pull back

It all merges into one

Until the sudden acceleration

And we’re up and away.

1st April 2007, Houston, Texas, United States of America.

-Richard

Fragile

One event can shock

One event can shatter

One event can change

All perspective

All dreams

All functionality

Life so vibrant

Life so hopeful

Life so fragile

We feel like gods

We feel so smart

We feel indestructible

One event shows we’re only finite

One event shows how weak we are

One event shows we are not God!!

13th February 2007, Boston, Massachusetts, Unites States of America.

-Richard

Waiting!

Sitting here waiting

It’s Christmas Eve

And I’m sitting here waiting.

For what?

For Santa to arrive on his sleigh?

For the girl I love to be in my arms?

For the game to kick off?

For dinner?

For the movie?

For the Christ child?

No!!

I’m waiting for the ring of a telephone

Waiting for another customer to call

Waiting for someone else who doesn’t have a clue

Waiting for the clock to reach five

Waiting to go home!

24th December 2003, Cary, North Carolina, United States of America.

-Richard

Another Christmas

Tired and stressed

So much to do

With so little time

It only seemed yesterday

That the sun was warm

And the trees green.

Now it’s dark and cold

Christmas Eve is upon us

Dreams of peace, 

Hope and love

Disappear amidst crazy crowds

Is there a baby crying?

According to those in power

The baby isn’t heard

As the reason for the season

Is banned across the world

And I wonder why

Peace on earth seems only a dream.

24th December 2003, Cary, North Carolina, United States of America.

-Richard

What Can We Say?

What can we say?

Just say “yes sir!!”

To comply

With what the Government 

And media want.

Dare I criticize

Have an opposite view

Or state what I believe

And defend those

Who can’t speak for themselves?

As Paul McCartney sings

Banned Beatles in Red Square

Political songs censored

In the land of the free

Where have I gone?

Religious right, blind and ignorant

Liberal left hypocritical and two-faced

Democracy where has it gone?

Those who died for it

Must wonder why they did! 

27th September 2003, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.

-Richard

Varian

I’m sure the sun must be shining

But what the blue sky,

White clouds and warm rays

Look and feel like

I can only imagine

Or try and remember

What was real or my memory playing tricks.

I am stuck in a box

No way out

Just a way in

Where I must do the bidding

Of those on the other side.

I must do it well

Can’t make a mistake

Perfection is impossible

Yet, this is what they demand.

The hope of freedom.

The fear is the trapdoor beneath

That opens when one fails.

But, is this the real fear?

No, it’s trapped in the box

For all of my days.

I’m sure the sun must be shining.

I can only imagine!!

24th June 2003, Cary, North Carolina, Unites States of America.

-Richard

I am Blessed

I am blessed

To know that I am forgiven

I am blessed 

For all He’s given me

I am blessed

For everything I know

I am blessed

For a wonderful wife

I am blessed

To know the living God

I am blessed!!

19th January 2003, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.

-Richard

Passion 6 – The End

“God so loved the world

That He gave His only begotten Son.”

Words so common

That the meaning has long since gone.

The one great passion of all

God’s Son hanging

While the world stands and laughs.

Nothing compares

As this brings to an end

All the pain and suffering.

If these words were

Brought back to life

Taken within

And the greatest passion

Even a small passion

Within every living soul

A light would shine

A new day would dawn

A new passionate world

A deep, happy, pure, joyful 

Passion will reign

Whilst left on The Cross

He uttered with love, 

A passion we can’t comprehend

Just for us to acknowledge

And take to our heart.

“It is” He cried

“It is finished!”

3rd January 2003, Cary, North Carolina, United States of America.

-Richard

Passion 5 – Love

I love you!

Such easy words to say

But, can create 

Hurt and Pain

If said in a way

That can use and destroy.

But, when I say these words

To the girl I love,

My beautiful bride,

They come from the heart

From deep with in

A passion I can’t express.

But, all I know

Is what wells up inside

So warm and exciting

That I think I will burst

So I know the passion is real

The passion for her

So deep and true

That when I say 

That magical phrase

It is all of me

An everything I have.

I love you!!

3rd January 2003, Cary, North Carolina, United States of America.

-Richard

Passion 4 – Country

It could be the root of all evil

Or a sign of your pride

As the flag flies aloft

Bringing a tear to one’s eyes.

Someone may affront you

Then to war you will march

Leaving hundreds of innocents

Dead in your wake.

Is it for honour?

Or for glory?

Their lives were at stake.

For some it is duty

For others a necessity

But, above all it is passion

For the land you call home!

3rd January 2003, Cary, North Carolina, United States of America.

-Richard

Passion 3 – Music

Everywhere I turn

I hear notes and sounds and chords

Echoing through my being

Making me who I am

Ringing with every turn

Sounding in every thought

A screaming violin,

A rumbling bass

It creates a passion within

It creates a passion without

Reflecting the whole world

From the beauty of nature’s song

To the evil of hate filled lyrics

From Bach to Schoenberg,

From Holly to Ozzy

Creates a world all of its own

So people can escape and retreat

Into sound.

Out of the world

A life mundane

Now becomes a passionate dream.

3rd January 2003, Cary, North Carolina, United States of America.

-Richard

Passion 2 – Football

The crowds gather

A faceless throng

Of colours, hats and scarfs

Singing and chanting

Their only desire and hope

Is what will take place

In the stadium they’re entering

As their team goes to battle

As gladiators of old

Representing the masses

As well as every individual present

Nothing else matters

Except to win and die

On what happens on the pitch below.

The passion rises to a feverish level

The passion is strong

The rich and poor,

Black and white,

Male and female

Come together in one voice

Their lives beyond the game,

Their team

Is nothing.

This is life!!

2nd January 2003, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.

-Richard

Passion 1 – The Beginning

“In the beginning God created the world”

For one brief moment

Man’s passion was Him

That had brought life into being

Then a look away that passion was changed

To evil and sin and not to Him

Man was passionate in lust,

In greed and power.

It makes me think about our world today,

A modern, sophisticated and self-centered time.

What are my passions?

What make my soul rock?

God created my passion

So where is it now?

Does it focus in Him

Or the world we live in?

Questions are answered

But, where does it lead?

I guess we need to go 

All the way to the end

To find what is encapsulated 

In the one little work

That can be so evil

And yet so pure

The word I’m talking about

Is the word PASSION.

-Richard

2nd January 2003, Cary, North Carolina, United States of America.

Beaten Down

I feel like a nail

Constantly being hit

Knocking me down

Into the ground

Blow after blow

Pushes me further

Until I disappear completely

Or the force causes me

To snap in two.

2nd January 2003, Cary, North Carolina, United States of America.

Disappearance

Where did you go?

I miss you!

Six months

Changed

Fun has gone

Mind has 

Become a clone

I don’t know

Who you are

Or what you were.

All I do

And say, 

Believe

To you and

In you

Has gone

Has disappeared.

I miss you!

Who are you?

3rd August 2002, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America

-Richard

It’s Friday

It’s Friday night,

Home from work

Two days off

Spent at home with you.

Going to McDonalds

Or Burger King

And seeing you excited

For your Friday present.

Tomorrow is soccer Saturday

Staying in bed late

Precious moments together

That can’t be beat.

It’s Friday night,

Home from work

Two whole days 

To be spent with you.

12th July 2002, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.

-Richard