Love Is Abandonment

Love is complete abandonment:

I give myself to you.

and  lose that old contaminant

which spawns a selfish view.

A massive disentanglement,

embracing all things new.

Love the sacred sacrament

that ever rings so true.

 

I must enlarge my living space

and make room for your beauty,

while placing self proper place

which is so small and snooty,

and yield to God’s amazing grace,

my solemn daily duty.

The answer for the human race

is love most absolutely.

 

 

 

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Happy 50th Birthday

 

Coming home from far away,

it was a cold and snowy day

 

But what a joyful bright surprise

as if the sun began rise

 

A brand new bouncing baby girl,

would open up a brand new world.

 

She soon would walk before she talked

and on the hobbyhorse she rocked.

 

A member of a Scottish Clan,

she slipped outside and off she ran.

 

So sweet and nice and cheerful too,

that’s why we called her Lynnie Pooh.

 

Before I knew it – Towson High,

Growing so fast, I had to sigh!

 

Cameras, dark room, learning stick,

Just another easy trick.

 

Driving farm trucks to DC,

busy as a bumblebee!

 

Soon she was all college bound,

her studies on such solid ground

 

It was so hard to say goodbye,

I tried to smile but had to cry.

 

You’ve oh so many St. Mary’s friends,

That’s just the way a Pooh Bear tends.

 

Soon off to England, Oxford Town,

then touring landmarks all around.

 

Getting hooked on mountain bikes,

that expert classmate, uh-oh, yikes!

 

Back to St, Mary’s one more time,

A beautiful wedding so sublime!

 

Raising creative girls so smart,

their beauty flowing from the heart.

 

They each have brightened up our world,

just like their Mom, our precious girl.

 

Congrats on these girls you’ve reared

but kudos also to The Beard.

 

We long to drive to Richmond town,

and see our girls of such renown.

 

Happy Birthday our own Pooh Bear,

and thank you for your kind Pooh care.

 

Fifty years is not so old.

One is still young or so I’m told.

 

They say it makes one sweet and wise,

but oh how fast the time just flies!

A Most Happy Birthday

The moon was full and on the rise.

Twas a very pleasant surprise

when daylight dawned with brand new skies.

 

Such great joy around us swirls

Cause out came two delightful girls

who quickly change our ordered worlds.

 

What a birthday celebration,

simply beyond imagination,

to see God’s wonderful creation.

 

Two lovely girls to celebrate

on such a most momentous date

They are the twins –  each one first-rate!

 

Septuagenarian Sonnet

A man exceeds his four score years and ten

with flooding memories from the distant past,

reflects upon his life and starts again,

while hoping there are lessons that will last.

 

He sees the ebbs and flows along the way,

the twists and turns that never should have been,

but hopes and dreams were there for each new day.

Mistakes were made, there’s no need to pretend.

 

He is a fallen man that is for sure.

The blood of Christ does cover all his sin.

With Jesus at his side he can endure.

God’s mercy, love, and grace do underpin.

 

Now this is true for ev’ry new beginner.

Have mercy on me Lord I am a sinner.

A Foodie

The comfort of some macaroni

is just the food to hit the spot,

but then that tasty rigatoni

is food I really like a lot.

 

It’s hard to choose just what is best

on any given day or week,

cause see I like just all the rest.

I’m going to pause and take a peek.

 

I’ll sneak in now and have a look.

Such rude intrusion she dismisses.

My wife is just a gourmet cook.

On every dish she never misses.

 

Do not come in before the time

the food is ready to be served.

Just drink this with a twist of lime

your dinner table is now reserved.

 

Now please allow me to explain

I am so much a full-fledged foodie.

I do not want to be a pain,

but can become a little moody.

 

While staring at an empty plate

with oh so much anticipation.

I do not really like to wait

when filling every expectation

 

Could this just be a Bryant thing?

Nah, I’m sure you feel this way.

Did I just hear the dinner bell ring?

Hey, the food is on the table, yah!

 

 

Ode to a Rappahannoc Oyster

So plum and so juicy, not salty just sweet,

allow me to share a most excellent treat.

Now here is how it all came about

It was divinely inspired there’s certainly no doubt.

For flowing out to the rolling Atlantic,

those nurturing waters of the calm Rappahannock,

form a most beautiful, glorious river

and produces a gem only she can deliver –

a bivalve so succulent and wonderfully tender

just lying around in such glorious splendor.

For hidden away as if in a cloister,

that curiously wonderful, magical oyster

will steal your heart and grab your own soul.

Just place it on top of a little charcoal.

It slides right on down and tickles the throat

but eating too many may cause you to bloat

So there I have warned you to limit your slurping.

avoiding any of that uncontrollable burping.

Seventeen

I recall when she was seven

and acting like she were eleven.

But now she’s all of seventeen,

though more like she is in between

the current age and twenty one.

For I am simply on the run

to stay astride this super girl

as she takes on a brand new world.

So far she’s had a rousing run

but super girl has just begun.

I’m strapping in for quite a ride,

though Rubes will take it all in stride.

My Very Own Car

 

How truly exciting – my very own car!

It far surpasses a steel stringed guitar!

It gives me the freedom to seek and explore

except on those days when I cannot ignore

when Mom sees me as her own handy gopher;

and Lily thinks I’m her personal chauffeur.

What good is a car when it’s always on call

when I could be out having a ball?

OK,  got the iTunes playlist installed

I’m driving my friends and they’re very enthralled.

I’ll just keep my feet held firm to the ground

but I’m ready to go out and do up town.

Now I must find the cheapest gas station

and try to avoid any speeding citation.

What could be possibly better by far

than driving a fully air-conditioned car?

Hey Rubes, we are proud of your great driving skill

and piloting your own car must be a thrill.

Still we remember your days in a stroller

and now you are driving a Toyota Corolla.

 

Strength and Balance

Twirling, swirling upside down

her body spinning round and round,

I’m watching such a graceful girl

about to do just one more swirl.

But now she stops high in midair,

a striking pose with such great flare.

Such strength and balance turned to art

just makes me want to be a part.

But sitting here I clutch my chair

knowing full well I should dare

stir up my wretched vertigo.

I’ll just stay here down below.

and watch our lovely Lily’s show.

With imagination set to fly,

my ancient body not so spry.

My soaring thoughts are free to roam,

But please do not try this at home.

Memorial Day 2018

Is there no greater love than this

to give one’s life to save a friend?

A man betrayed with just a kiss

was not defeated in the end.

 

His life was offered from above.

A time of hope had been unfurled.

Can we see such boundless love?

poured out upon a fallen world.

 

Can we see our nation’s flag

waving there against the sky?

Let’s gaze upon this war-torn rag

and raise our banner up on high.

 

Let us recall the men who died

in service to a noble cause?

And unlike those who would divide

shall we observe a sacred pause?

 

Thanking those who gave their all,

let this be our last refrain:

You answered to a higher call.

You did not give your life in vain.

 

The Years Ahead

 Fifty years of cheers and tears,

alas so fast the time does pass.

Streams of dreams and bright sunbeams

delight our days with rays ablaze.

Oh so sublime our time has been.

Around the bend, is that the end,

as day gives way to skies of grey?

The answer lies up in those skies

where spirits rise and falsehood dies.

To spring eternal let us cling,

The Lord will grant a brand new thing.

 

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Celebration Sonnet

The fiftieth year just seemed so far away.

But when I asked my love to come along

we shared this glorious celebration day.

Those fifty years have proven we belong.

 

Time can be a fast and fleeting thing,

 while planting seed into a day unknown.

And who can really know what life will bring?

 Yet time will tell just how our seed was sewn.

 

At times you think you’re groping in the dark

through ups and downs  and many lows and highs.

But then you know you may just hit the mark;

with God on board to help you win the prize.

 

I’m so grateful that He was our guide

 while pairing me with such a loving bride.

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Cyrus

Even though things were disjointed,

to carry out what God appointed,

Cyrus stood as God’s  anointed.

 

He might not have known the golden rule,

nor did he teach in Sunday School,

but  surely Cyrus was no fool.

 

King Cyrus made a firm decree

that fateful day in history

that soon the world would clearly see.

 

A sovereign nation be reclaimed,

as one could ponder unashamed

a government that God had framed.

 

 Even though things seemed erratic,

and some might even say schismatic,

the rank and file were so ecstatic.

 

Despite some troubling aggravation

while standing on a firm foundation,

they vowed to stay the full duration.

 

But what a strange phenomenon

when all the upper echelon

chose to stay in Babylon!

A Sonnet to Old Yorktown

Who among us now can e’er forget

when cannons filled the air of old Yorktown

as Washington swept in with Lafayette

and laid a siege against the British crown.

 

 

Tom Nelson fired upon his stately hall

headquartered by the British high command.

With cannon ball still lodged within its wall

a symbol of his own courageous stand.

 

 

Commanded by French Admiral comte de Grasse

his fleet closed traffic up the Chesapeake.

Since English warships could no longer pass,

 the planned escape was looking very bleak.

 

 

On a day that turned the whole world upside down

Our liberty was sealed in old Yorktown.

Freedom

How do we breathe free

when lying spirits choke us?

Return to the truth.