Poetic Prescriptions for Plaguing Problems

Last month I finished the manuscript for my 1st book in the series of 12 dealing with Various types of problems we go thru in life. Each book will contain 33 poems.

Here is the titles of the poems that I intend to have in this book (unless the publisher veto's me of course)

1. Drug of Choice




2. Masterpiece




3. Trying to Please




4. How Will They Know I Care




5. Goodbye My Love




6. A Boy Named Jack




7. Whatever Measure




8. Forgive Yourself




9. A Flea Upon Your Back




10. Red Flags and Fires




11. God Sees In Your Heart




12. Meanwhile...On Earth




13. Self Control




14. Who's Flying the Kite?




15. Thanks and Praise




16. Keep An Eternal Perspective




17. Struggling Against Myself




18. He Shall Sustain You




19. Fifteen Minutes




20. Eternal Youth




21. P.U.S.H.




22. Fasting




23. When I Let Go...




24. God Has A Job For You




25. No Weapon Formed




26. God's Burden Is Light




27. We Could Rise Higher




28. Insomnia




29. A Talk With the Cardiologist




30. Problems Solved




31. Spiritual Love




32. Healing Power




33. I Will Prevail

NO MATTER

This Poem "No Matter" is going into my little booklet "Pocket Prescriptions" the book is complete, I am looking for a publisher for my next few books.

Even the worst enemy you have

is close to God's heart;

So if you're ever planning revenge,

it's not very smart.

Vehemently feeling their crime

warrants counter attack;

Don't expect God to stand with you

in that vindictive pact.

No matter how right you feel you are,

He won't take your side;

If pitting yourself against

someone for whom He has died.

Care to join me for TEA?

This is a couple of verses from my poem "TEA"




Thank you kindly for inviting me to your pessimist's tea,


But I'll have to decline, my optimism won't permit me


To be present at your party, no matter who may attend.


I want to keep my dreams safe, so I will not amend


Them to suit your guests and party topic


You imagine snow, I visualize the tropics....

... I apologize for the inconvenience as per my decline,

But I'm also having a tea, would you like to come to mine?


I'm serving a tea that will never make you thirst;


And truly sweet fruit, nothing tart, your lips may come unpursed!


I'm serving raisin cakes, honey optional, on the bread of life;


There's no need for you to bring your pitcher of strife....






... So come on over, no need for you to R.S.V.P.


We'll be waiting for you at my optimist's tea!

I auditioned for this showcase a couple of weeks ago, and got the phone call the next day after the audition that they wanted me to participate and only chose 10 people. I am one of them. So if you are in the Culver City CA this Sunday afternoon, I'd love you to come out and support me and the other talented artists.

REELECTED

REELECTED

The campaign that I have for you always runs in your favor;
Because I am your biggest contributor, not just your Savior.
I don't only save you, and then shove you out on your own;
I support you, not waiting to punish you for what I don't condone.

I hear your prayers everyday, I walk with you along the way;
I've give you the votes to a landslide in your favor today.
I help you write the speeches, give you the answers when you ask;
I give you the strength and wisdom to conquer each task.

Amidst the stress I give you rest, when work doesn't cease;
When the enemy's terrorists surround you, I give you peace.
The best way to serve your people is to serve Me in all you do;
Then you will surely be reelected, because they see Me in you.

IT'S YOUR HEART NOT YOUR ACTIONS

An Excerpt from IT'S YOUR HEART NOT YOUR ACTION



Discipline is important, but it doesn't mean doing thing rote;

Like a robot with no feeling, someone just pushed the remote...



...I could have told you what to do today, you'd have the best outcome;

Tho' racing to your tasks, to the spirit promptings you've become numb.

Could have shown you how to avoid heartache, if you'd listen you wouldn't get lost;

Would've saved you two hours of work, shown you how to get that for a cheaper cost.



But you don't care to have Me all the time to help you in life to avoid each fall;
Though you act like you do occasionally, I see hearts, not actions, you don't care at all.

HIGHER

Excerpt from the poem HIGHER

Arise, O' daughter of destiny; get up from your chair. What has made you bound before is now loosed...

Mount my back so we can take flight and soar far above your problems and circumstance...

Falling is an impossibility, unless you take your arms from around My neck and look down...

Mount wings of faithfulness, flap with perserverance, a higher destination is attainable

Photo by RT Norland

N.I.C.U Poetry Book... Shot Down

I wrote a book based on the Roller Coaster of Emotions I went through while trying to save this little guy's life called "The N.I.C.U. Roller Coaster: Poems and Prayers for the Parents of Preemies" I turned in a sample of 3 of the poems and 3 pix to a publisher...and just based on those 3 poems I got a 2 page letter nit-picky letter from the editor detailing every little thing that was wrong with it... right down to the semi colon use! Yikes... when you're fighting for someones life, I guess you're not that conscious of the difference between commas and semi-colons... funny thing my editor didn't catch it. Oh well, I just have to remind myself this is one person's opinion. I know there is much in the book that people need to hear to get them through the tough time of having a premature child. Now one in every eight babies are now born early. The audience is there, just need to find the right publisher who can see past the minor things to see the deeper message.

INWARD CONTENT

Would you cross to the other side of the street

so as not to pass a brown house?

Shaking on the inside trying to go unnoticed,

like a cat-fearing mouse?

The color of one's house makes no determination

of who dwells inside;

Why do you think the beige or peach house better,

could it be your pride?

Could not the same Lord you serve

be content to dwell in there?

Or do you think He discriminates too,

tending to better the fair?

If we are but a spirit and when we die

we fly out of this tent,

Why consider what will be left behind,

rather than the inward content?

Photo by RT Norland

GIVING FOR LIVING

Excerpt from the poem: Giving for Living

...When you do good, you can't help to get good back,

When you give sacrificially you won't experience lack.

If there is something you really want or especially need,

Then that is the very thing you should be planting as a seed....

....When you give, it is not wrong to expect a return

You put money in the bank so interest can be earned.

There are biblical examples, here is the best one:

God wanted a family, so He gave us His Son....

I WAS...BUT GOD

I read my Poem "I Was But God" at this even above in the flyer last Saturday. Here is an excerpt from that poem.

... I was so far down, I would question why;

But it was so that God could lift me high.

I was barely hanging on, at the end of my rope,

Until I realized He gave me a future and a hope.

I tried to overcome by vain grasping at air,

But God told me He'd take every single care.

I was at my last penny in debt and broke,

But as I went to work, God took half my yoke.

I was wondering around in indecision,

But God led me on a path with laser precision.

I was hopeless and believed satan's lies,

But God gave me the Word, now I am wise.

I was standing on the ledge, toying with jumping,

But now the Living Water through my veins is pumping.

I thought there was no way I could clean up my mess,

But I hadn't consulted with the One who knew best...

DO IT FOR JESUS

Excerpt from the Poem: DO IT FOR JESUS

...Loved by few, hated by many

Died for all, mercy in plenty

Puts up with insults from ungrateful dust

Has expectations for us to do more than trust

Wants us to spread His message throughout the land

Even in areas where the gospel is banned.

Now recruiting brave souls to sacrifice

Who believe in excellence not what'll suffice....

Photo by RT Norland, pix of Jim Barile

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

I feel like complaining today, like all is depressingly sad;

Questioning God, counting and recounting all that's bad.

Beat down and tired, I feel I just can't shake the funk;

How do I lay down my load and drop this heavy junk?

God's been good to me, but I quickly seem to forget;

Why does it seem like my eyes are perpetually wet?

But when I force myself to clap and push out a praise;

My countenance lifts and I see, there is no longer a haze.

When I count my blessings, they seem to start stacking;

Then I realize that thankfulness is what I was lacking.

CONTENT OF THE HEART

1st half of the poem "CONTENT OF THE HEART"

What you see in front of you is only what you perceive;

It's not the truth, but based on what you 've received.

What you've received in this life changes your sight;

It determines what you think is wrong or right.

What you've done or what has been done to you,

Changes your perspective of what you think others do.

Do not be deceived, you cannot judge by that,

What you feel about that person may not be fact.

What you see others doing may not be appalling;

You try to help them, but they may not be falling....

6 POUNDS

Excerpt from the poem: 6 POUNDS



One will kill another based on the color of his skin, the color of his clothes or the pendant dangling from his chain and yet, we all bleed red. If you remove 6 pounds, we are indistinguishable from one another. 6 pounds is roughly the weight of the skin – remove it from all of us and then tell me who doesn’t deserved to be treated fairly, who doesn’t deserved a job, and who should go back to where they came from?

Are we not all from the same place? In Genesis 1:27 when God “Created man in His (own) image, in the image of God … male and female…” Do you really think that meant everyone but your neighbor?

MORE

Excerpt from the Poem: MORE

Constant yearning for more,

trying to up the score.

Craving satisfaction just a game,

in materialism, in fame.

Stories all had the same ending-

a hole gouged, no hope of mending.

Nothing, no-thing can fill that hole,

even when you've achieved your goal.

It isn't enough, you keep on striving,

the brakes are shot but you keep driving.

With this inertia and speed,

you can't stop, you crash and bleed

KEEP AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE

Excerpt from KEEP AN ETERNAL PERSPECTIVE

"... Why do I think the world's way and seek out their opinion;

When the Owner and Maker of all has given me dominion?

Why don't I believe Him when He tells me what I'm worth;

Think of myself as lower than some, we're all made of earth.

The 'grass is greener syndrome is spreading, but it's only a facade;

Thinking they were born with great grass, not knowing they bought sod.

Concerning myself wit things that will eventually pass away,

Serves to rob me of the present gift You've given me today...."

Circumcised for Battle

Excerpt from CIRCUMCISED FOR BATTLE

"You cannot win the battle while laying down;

You've got to get up and fight for your crown.

I know you're tied and need rest, so you protest;

Let me carry you htrough so you can pass this test.

Don't give up the whole battle right when it's raging;

Nor run from the siege that you should be waging.

Rise adn fight the enemy, don't ever back off;

Until he's burned by yourlight like a flaming moth..."

DO IT AFRAID

Excerpt from "DO IT AFRAID"

"....

I don't have the space, the time or the means

To live out a fraction of these lofty dreams...

...My human brain will not quit trying to rationalize;

Many times I feel I'm spiraling down to my demise....

...It seems to me now that all my excuses are petty;

Though I shake, I know You know when I'm ready.

I could've run many times, but faithfully I've stayed;

So I'm going to do it, even if I have to do it afraid."

TRIBUTE

Excerpt from the poem "TRIBUTE"

"...

Your love never subsides,

Even when I'm full of pride,

Though it may cause me to fall,

You're there through it all....

You give me everything I need and even more on top of that;

You love me just as I am, but to much to let me stay where I'm at...."

Photo by RT Norland

TEARS of RAIN

Excerpt from TEARS of RAIN

Water drips into a receptacle from yesterday's rain

The pool moves, sun reflects, it dances on the window pane.

It's telling me there is hope as it sashays cheerfully

Though dark clouds produce rain that come down tearfully

I not only did the Lord's work, I watered my dreams with tears

But only for a short season did I stay mourning with my peers

For how can one be a pillar of strength to help others through their pain

If they never leave that place covered in dark clouds and tears of rain?

Photo by RT Norland

PERSECUTION

Excerpt from "PERSECUTION"

"All My ones will suffer persecution;

Some even being led to the execution;

But don't plan a vengful retribution;

For that is not the best solution.

Keep showing them love like I've called you to;

Ceaselessly incerceed if you don't know what to do.

Suffering lasts but for a season, but each morning is new;

Those hateful captors, though they torture are looking at you...."

Photo by RT Norland