Month: August 2013

Still Rhyming After Ten Years

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Celebrating a decade of Rhymes and Reasons

For ten years I have read the news
and rhymed the reasons for my views
to give my readers subtle clues
of how faith intersects.

I’ve scanned the headlines with an eye
for what has people asking why
and then I do my best to try
and make some sense of it.

I’ve analyzed what’s on TV,
the movies that are sure to please
and even sports celebrities
who disappoint their fans.

Like Dr. Seuss I’ve tried to sound
nonsensical but still profound
while planting seeds in holy ground
that hopefully will grow.

And so for ten years every week
I’ve let my readers have a peek
into a heart that tries to seek
what God would have me say.

http://mercerisland.patch.com/groups/arts-and-entertainment/p/covenant-shores-pastor-commemorates-mlk-decade-of-blogging

The book mentioned in this article is on the BOOKS menu.

A King’s Speech

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Reflecting on Martin’s dream fifty years later

A half a century ago
the White House residents
observed a black man mount a make-shift stage.
And a quarter of a million
braved that August afternoon
to find themselves typeset on history’s page.

As Lincoln’s marble eyes looked on,
that preacher voiced a dream
that cast a vision few (at first) could see.
His focus was on equal rights,
on color blindness, too.
He called for inter-racial unity.

This prophet quoted Scripture
with emotional resolve
as he exorcized the demons of his day.
A King, clothed like a cleric,
without scepter, crown or throne,
gave a speech that blew the masses clean away.

And now fifty long years later
that short speech can still be heard
in the consciousness of we who share his dream.
It’s a dream that’s still in process
as we pray “Thy Kingdom come”
and resist the racists’ manifested schemes.

* On August 28, 1963 (three months before President Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas) The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech to a crowd of some 250,000 people on the steps on the Lincoln Memorial.

Climbing the Family Tree

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

In celebration of family reunions

A family reunion
is a portrait of a clan.
You see your relatives with warts and all.
But you also see their beauty
and what makes each one unique.
The young and old, the pudgy, short and tall.

A family reunion
is a shimmy up a tree.
It’s quite fun to see how limbs and branches grow.
And you feel just like a child
as you flit from here to there
‘mid the laughter, tears and things you tell and show.

A family reunion
is a history book of life.
It’s a volume of God’s faithfulness and love.
On each page are found the stories
that are told time and again
’bout our relatives both here and those above.

A family reunion
is a chance to make amends
or to verbalize affection one last time.
It”s that time and place where cousins
can attest how thick is blood
and observe (first-hand) the reason for this rhyme.

All That Jazz

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Recalling Katrina eight years later

Eight years ago Katrina raged!
In history’s book she claimed a page!
Her temper tantrum terrorized
that city by the Gulf.

Old Man River’s mouth was sore.
It bled for half a year (or more).
The hemorrhaging of New Orleans
resisted tourniquets.

As thousands fled from flooded homes,
they camped out in the Super Dome.
Deprived of worth and dignity,
they grieved for what they’d lost.

But the Big Easy refused to die.
When life got hard and grownups cried,
their will to rise above the storm
was music to our ears!

Yes, all that jazz can still be heard.
It drowns out memories time has blurred
and if you listen carefully
you may hear flutists play.

They’ve gathered down in New Orleans
in hot pursuit of lifelong dreams
and if that “Cajun will” rubs off
who knows how far they’ll go?

* As the nation prepares to recall the devastation caused by Katrina eight years ago, the National Flute Convention is taking place in New Orleans. The poet’s daughter is performing there this weekend.

When the Candidate’s a Real Hot Dog

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Candid thoughts about Anthony Weiner

An Oscar Meyer weiner
and a Weiner’s bid for mayor.
The former is best known for its good taste.
The latter is a hot dog’s dream
that’s lacking dignity.
His lewd behavior really is quite base.

And while his wife’s forgiving,
New York voters can’t forget.
His flaw in character is front page news.
It’s revealing, most disgusting
and disqualifying too.
But when asked to quit, he simply just refused.

Call it arrogance and ego.
Call it disillusioned pride.
Call it comical and altogether sad.
When a guy who runs for office
is an exhibitionist,
he deserves to be identified as bad.