Thorns on Roses

A moment in time
Reflect just a while
T’will make you smile
A sweet paradigm

Consider the rose
Its petals are red
In this thorny bed
Beauty and love grows

Good needs defending
For rebels do claim
All is theirs to gain
But Truth is winning

Here is the reason
Thorns exist in life
To cause mental strife
Dissuading treason

Character growing
Overcoming sin
Will soon result in
Hearts overflowing

With much gratitude
Joy in God’s mercy
For thorns that hurt me
Blessed sanctitude

City Dweller’s Desire

Great mountain of splendor and majesty,
Of lofty height that reaches for the sky;
Forested slopes that welcome peace and tranquility;
A refuge for wildlife and man alike;
I yearn for your isolated terrain,
Free from polluted flatlands oh so populated.
You make me envy the grizzlies and moose,
That transgress across your rugged slopes,
Sniffing out berries, greens, or fine dainties.
If only I could climb your craggy cliffs;
Live off the land, eating wild fruits and fresh plants.
Yet I fear you too, elevated land mass,
For your dangerous precipices, cold temperatures, and storms
Are sure to test me to the limit of my intuition!
Could I really conquer and subdue you?
Alas, this want-to-be hillbilly is just too busy. . . .

The Moon

Have you ever seen
Anything
In your life
More wonderful

Than the way the moon,
Every night,
Unhurried and peaceful,
Strolls across the sky

And into the mist or the mountains,
Or the widespread forest,
And disappears—
And how it shines again

Out of the darkness,
Every dawn,
On the other side of the globe,
Like a white marble

Rolling gently on its nightly track,
Say, on a night in late winter,
At its ideal queenly distance—
And have you ever felt for anything

Such joyful adoration—
Do you think there is anywhere, in any tongue
A word expansive enough
For the happiness

That completes you
As the moon
Shines out
As it amazes you

As you rest there
Aimlessly,
Or have you too
Abandoned this world?

Perhaps you too have
Gone senseless
For popularity,
For possessions?

Hermit Crab

Hiding
Eyestalks
Rambling
Masticating
Idle
Timid

Crustacean
Red
Adventuresome
Browsing

An Abecedarian:

An ant that was
Bored out of it’s mind,
Came across a
Duck, doodling an
Emu sitting in a
Field on a farm,
Gawking at the
Harvester that was coming
Increasingly closer,
Jolting up and down, but the
Klutzy bird did nothing. “What a
Lazy animal!” the ant said, “I’ll have to take a painful but
Merciful action now.”
Nipping the
On-looking beast on the
Plumage, it jumped up, and the
Quirky creature
Raced toward the duck,
Scaring the poor
Thunderstruck waterfowl
Until it
Vaulted into the air, landing in a
Wreck with as many colors as a
Xylophone. In the end, the
Youthful creatures became good friends in the
Zoological Park of America.

The Proud Turtle

Well, hello there, creature! If you have the time, I’ve a story to tell you. It was like any other day on the peaceful brook, and as I was sunbathing myself on my favorite rock that jutted out of the water, I was restless for some reason. I thought and thought about why I felt the way I did, until it finally occurred to me- I wanted to fly! I was tired of sitting all day long on a rock, and I was bored, wishing for something new to do. I should have forgotten all about the crazy notion and gone back to swimming around, instead, I hung on to the idea. Soon, it was all I could think about. Lucky for me, it just so happened that a few mallards came paddling toward where I sat, and I decided to ask them if they could teach me to fly, for I had a grand idea forming in my head.
“Good ducks, teach me to fly,” I asked in my most nonchalant voice.
“What? Oh no, we cannot teach you to fly,” said the ducks. “You have no wings! You must stay in the brook.”
I had expected this response, smart as I am. So I replied, “Yes, you can teach me to fly. Here’s what you do: let two ducks take this stick in their bills. I will hold fast to the middle of it, and you can carry me between you.” The ducks were game to try, so they took the stick in their bills, and I held it fast in my mouth.
“Don’t open your mouth or you will fall to the ground,” warned the ducks.
“I will not open my mouth,” I said. Then, with a few flaps of their wings I was carried high into the air. I didn’t know what to think, I had never been so high! We flew away from the brook, over trees I had thought reached into the sky, and over a town filled with creatures that look like you.

I held on tightly, as we dove for a closer look. Suddenly one of them looked up, and seeing us, said, “Who was so wise to think of that?” I beamed with pride, for it was my idea; I replied at the top of my lungs, “I was!”

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
–Proverbs 16:18

A Lonesome Friend

Do you feel alone?
(Like you need a phone),

When life becomes tough,
And you’re in the rough,

Just yell to your friends,
“I’m in the deep-end!”

And jumping right in,
They’ll give you some fins,

So you can swim out,
Relieving your doubt,

You’ll make it to shore,
Even if you’re sore.

So from up above,
In all His great love,

The Comforter comes,
Frees you from the slums,

So that you can do,
Away with the blues.

An Elephant Cinquain:

elephants
long nostrils
slurping, holding, spraying
trunks have many uses
nose

The Tree and the Dog

Tree: “Bark!”
Dog: “Wood!”
Tree: “You would?”
Dog: “Leaf me alone.”
Tree: “You enjoy my shade yet despise the shade-giver?”
Dog: “Your needles are sharp.”
Tree: “I’m not splitting hairs when I say you’re ungrateful.”
Dog: “Since when does a tree refuse to shade?”
Tree: “When our energy is sapped.”
Dog: “Sap? I love sap! Esp. Maple!
Tree: (sigh)
Dog: Starts scratching off the bark of the tree… SCRATCH, SCRATCH, SCRATCH
Tree: “Ow, ow, OWWW!”
A Voice from Heaven: “Respect My tree dog! For without the sunshine no life can grow, no branches spread to make shade below, no photosynthesis to make sugar flow. Despise my gifts and you will know, the very things I created to bless can curse as well!”
Then a sudden gust snapped off a bough and falling on the prideful dog the branches entangled it in their throes.
Dog: “Whelp! Whelp! Oh WHELP MEEE!”
Tree: “Poor baby, you appear to be quite stuck now.”
Dog: “Oh my, the sun is getting hot! Can you not shade me tree?”
Tree: “Have you still not learned your lesson? I cannot shade you now, for the bough that would have shaded you has fallen on you now!”
Dog: “Oh woe is me, I long to be free!”
Tree: “I’m afraid consequences are your only company.”
Dog: “The sun is burning me!”
Tree: “Must you be blinded before you see?”
Dog: “Some company you are in my misery!”
Night came, then the dawn. The sun shined the same on earth’s green lawn. The poor dog seemed to go insane by the looks of everything he’d gnawn, until he finally slept when the yellow flame went to bed again with a yawn. As the next day came with its aim to tame, the dog finally gave up the blame game, and with a countenance full of shame cried:
Dog: “Cursed are my days, for I am undone! One always loses when he plays with the sun. At last, I realize my selfish ways have only delayed my fun.”
A Voice from Heaven: “I’m sorry you had to learn the hard way, dear one. Now you know that a prideful, greedy heart helps none. I’m happy to tell you though your punishment is done. For in this game, by surrendering victory is won!”
Just then, a biologist stumbled across the scene, freed the dog, and he was no more seen.

Diamante: Lion –> Mouse

Lion
Strong, Stalwart
Stalking, Visualizing, Anticipating
Power, Force, Flaccidity, Vulnerability
Faltering, Trembling, Languishing
Weak, Timid
Mouse

All poetry by Cedric L Clendenon. All Rights Reserved.