Why actions speak louder than words

“The Artist” is a silent film
with hopes for Oscar gold.*
It is a brand new movie
even tho it seems quite old.

There’s music, but no dialog.
The actions are the key
to making sense of what goes on
as we can plainly see.

The same applies if we feel called
to share what we believe.
To preach and quote the Bible
just might make our listeners leave.

Our actions matter more than talk.
Our doing trumps our words.
The former is received with joy.
The latter’s least preferred.

I’d rather see a sermon
than just hear one any day.**
The artist who can act out love
won’t need that much to say.

* “The Artist” is nominated for several Academy Awards this year. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655442/

** This phrase was borrowed from a line in a poem by Edgar Guest.

Remembering what we’re prone to forget

There is a movie called “The Vow”
that helps you understand the how
of making love stand up to loss
when life comes crashing down.

When you’ve forgotten what you pledged
(and once-felt feelings can’t be dredged),
you have a choice of what to do
and what you choose is key.

Amnesia is a dreaded curse
but it (with time) can be reversed
if day-by-day you reenact
what won the other’s heart.

And if you do, you will recall
the blessed wonder of it all
Two people joined as one for good
no matter if life’s bad.

* Actually, the plot of “The Vow” deals with the true-life events of the Kim and Krickett Carpenter and the resulting dementia that Krickett experienced after a car accident. What I am attempting to address in this poem is the tendency many couples have to forget what they promised their mate at the front of a church on their wedding day. Admittedly, that’s a different kind of memory loss, but a damanging kind of forgetfulness nonetheless. Gratefully, marriages that experience “dementia by inattention” can be restored through reprogramming daily behavior and choosing to act lovingly (even when romantic feelings are dormant).

** The plot of the movie is best explained by going to the following website:
http://blogcritics.org/books/article/interview-with-kim-and-krickitt-carpenter3/

A Valentine’s Day requiem;
Remembering Whitney Houston

Because Your Love is Gone
A Valentine’s Day requiem

Your Valentine has passed away
and come that very special day
there are no flowers or a card
because your love is gone.

That day when Cupid shoots his darts
while taking aim at couples’ hearts,
your breaking heart just aches and bleeds
because your love is gone.

Those picnics in the park are past.
And bedtime chats you thought would last
are only longed-for memories
because your love is gone.

No box of chocolates anymore
or walks at dusk along the shore.
This day for lovers leaves you flat
because your love is gone.

That’s why I said a prayer for you
and told the Lord you’re feeling blue
and need the warmth of His embrace
because your love is gone.

And then I think I heard Him say
on Valentine’s (and every day),
“I hold the grieving in my heart
because their love is gone.”

* This poem it dedicated to all those who are facing their first Valentine’s Day after losing their mate to death. It was inspired by my mother’s grief, Even though she was married to my dad just shy of fifty-eight years when he died three years ago, she continues to pine for her handsome prince.

Remembering Whitney Houston
A tribute to “The Preacher’s Wife”

A gifted girl who had it all.
A winsome beauty standing tall.
A giant voice that dwarfed the rest
while teaching rock to roll.

We knew her as “The Preacher’s Wife.”
But Whitney’s life was marked by strife
and riddled by the wrath of drugs
and demons she denied.

So on this day “The Grammys” reign
(as we recall the singer’s pain),
let’s pray that Whitney left this world
while clinging to God’s grace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcjP4LgW0Rw