The Touch of the Master’s Hand (poem by Myra Brook Welch)
‘Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile.
poetry by others
That’s Entertainment! (poem by Madora McKensie Kibbe)
Why entertain fear and doubt
when angels wait without?
Whistling Swans (poem by Mary Oliver)
Do you bow your head when you pray or do you look
up into that blue space?
A Poem by Wistawa Szymborska
On this third planet of the sun
among the signs of bestiality
a clear conscience is Number One.
Dedications (Poem by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg)
This is for us: this moment of knowing how alive we are, and how this life is rising in us and raising us up together from this moment on.
Freedom Comes with Responsibility (poem by Jena Schwartz)
Freedom comes with responsibility.
My life is bound up with your life.
My heart is bound up with your heart.
My “my” is tethered to your “yours.”
Poem by Mary Oliver: Invitation
Believe us, they say, it is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in the broken world.
Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson: The Best Things in Life
The best things in life are nearest: breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet…
New Year’s Blessing
In the coming year, may you live
with an ever deepening sense of abundance and ease.
May you see clearly and welcome with open arms
the wealth of love and support that surrounds you.
Best Poetry Books for Children and Young Adults
It is a fortunate child who shares these poems with an adult that cares– firelight, fuzzy blankets, cookies, and hot chocolate, are optional additions for added ambiance…
Advent is the Name of That Moment
The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens.
Poem by Ruhiyyih Khanum: This is Faith
To walk where there is no path,
To breathe where there is no air,
To see where there is no light-
This is Faith.
Night Prayer of a New Zealand Prayer Book
The night is for stillness. Let us be still in the presence of God.
Poem by Rudyard Kipling: If
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Hymn 258
Oft to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with falsehood,
For the good or evil side.
Poem by Lisa Schwartz: Our Long Sad Brief Season
If this is our season then doom is our fate;
Our politics are treason and we are its freight.