music
On and on and on
through thescenes of places moving
Running down a mountain
a stream races so fast
a beautiful young maiden, barefoot,
feet pattering a message
Stop!
Breathe deeply.
The mood is serenity
soothing the soul deeply
warm tears flow
feelings pour with them
blessing the spirit so finely
Bring on the Russian!
Power! Majesty! Exalting!
Passion floods from wall to wall
as the sounds stretch to reach
deep throated, challenging
full and rich and oh so beautiful
the master shares his skill
and practice every day
make the man, the instrument, the music
one
And we are blessed!
A thousand people focused
on the man, the instrument, the music
enthralled
captured
held
Then set free to applaud
and we did
receiving five extra gifts!
Selah, Lin 3/10 Itzhak Perlman
Panoply
in life, that is always moving
For those I know
and know quite well
the photo also shows our limits
Skilled photographers expand the shot
bringing in more than usual
but still, are so limited
because life is writ so large
So we have good things
bad things
and things in between
all going on at once
and we are left to sift and sort
and try to understand
and be positive
but be realistic
In it all
through it all
comfort comes from friends and family
and comfort comes from above
Shared burdens are still burdens
but the carrying welcomes company
Indeed life is a panoply
moving oh so quickly
sometimes we just hang on
to ride something through
learning, sharing, sustained
still here
in so many ways
yet earth is beautiful, too
Then, there’s a place called heaven
where earthly challenges, nastiness,
are not just subdued, but beaten
wiped clean
pure and enduring
like nothing on earth can be
It’s a place for humankind
only we can think it
begin, somehow,
to sense it
Laced in the panoply
are glimpses that give us clues
then there’s the amazing love
“And can it be?”
that is a bridge
leading to a home
eternal
Savor
the panoply here
Stop
for just a moment
to put your arms around that love
and give a hug today
Selah, LIn 5/10
Oops!
can sure be a bother!
My coffee maker pot just off
a fraction of an inch
can sure make a mess on the counter…
the floor!
A slight miscalculation
going down the stairs
or down a ladder
or off a curb
or or or
can jerk us with pain
or even fracture
Life sure has its ‘oops’!
a built in part
living makes them happen
Nah! Not an evil plot
of some devil sneaking
just an oops we’ve got
New Year’s Day is a time
to back off
think about a lot
“Recalculating”
GPS voices say
choosing some better road
better path somehow
The Right Way?
Where do we want to go”
Helps us set our sails anew
Oh, to hear the snap of sails
catching the wind just so
and the surge of ship going forward
crashing through the waves
Just like the sailing ship
we’re made to forward go
“Where to?” Is really the question…
No reverse for sailing ships
nor for us either….
Sail on, my friend,
though the water’s high
and the weather blows
there is a harbor somewhere, out there
but for now,
Sail on!
Lin, January 1, 1011
Winter’s Hold
strong and sure and certain
to grip us all
our whole world
frozen soil, ice and snow
and winds that blow from the arctic
Fences sink in snow
with ice and frost lacing
caking cars and windshields
no yielding
Trees stand ridged
sometimes frosted
(see hoarfrost)
sometimes plastered
with blowing snow
Comes a day
when weeds spike through
icy roads are melted
and water begins to gurgle
roofs are dripping
streams are rippling
The sun is pouring it on
Those days are bright
hurts our eyes
Sunglasses are in order
We can feel the sun
surely most welcome
and sense the sun is winning
it always has
and with it comes the robins
who beat the bugs
beat the worms
but somehow do survive
they bet on warmth
they always win
for that we are most thankful!
Winter’s hold is failing
it makes one stop and think
Our lives seem short
and speeding past
indeed our hold is failing
But, there is a place
that grows every stronger
able to hold us forever
Think about it
as you watch the winter fold
Come in
Come in…from the cold
and be welcomed by the Son.
Lin 2/10
Mixing Bowl Weather
and find out more and more
about what moves our weather
Sun spots have an impact
to start our study far away
Big shifts away out there
push and pull our climate
Moving closer, jet streams,
pathways of air way up high
‘carry the mail’ this way and that,
a giant snake of persuasion
shifting cold and hot
cool and warm
The midwest is a mixing bowl
parked betwixt the arctic and the gulf
a given day can see them both
wide swings what’s displayed
might be balmy, sort of,
fog like near the gulf
a little taste of Mexico
but short lived, for, you see,
the other way is arctic cold
blasting across the prairie
ice and snow can blow so strong
we wonder why we’re here
we’re killing bugs in billions!
Yup! The cold kills their eggs
It also whips some nasty diseases
that attack our plants for food
Good! Brrrrr!
I’m still cold.
And the gulf weather brings us rain
natural
sweet
precious
that makes our bowl a greenhouse
breadbasket to the world
helped by river transport
So we live in a mixing bowl!
What a great adventure!
What a ride we have
living in
this mixing bowl… of weather!
Lin, wind chill sub zero, 12/10
Machines at Rest
iron and steel and rubber
engineered to tasks
now, just sitting
parked
Days and nights they thundered
through the fields of black
lifting, turning, stroking
the soils that yielded plenty
chisel plows, men call them
they scratch nature’s back
opening her skin
to air and water
microbes breathe
earthworms relax
stalks and leaves asunder
ready for winter’s freeze and thaw
bugs and weeds disturbed
springtime will find fields waiting
to receive the seeds again
Cold, the metal sits
awaiting repairs, replacement parts
final shots of grease
all done
rest
now still man, but beast is motor
and hoe has grown and grown
so one man’s labor
is multiplied, again and again and again
One hundred fifty two
the current number speaks
one farmer, American,
feeds himself
and another hundred fifty two
Food, fiber, fuel
the soil, the seed, the labor
sun and heaven sent rain
combine with design
engineering, science, factories
education, capital, government
…peace
All come together
to make a machine
Parked
til next season
But not the farmer, no,
he’ll sit at desk and figure
go to meetings
ponder ‘ever better’
on he goes
to make it so
Lin 11/07