Year: 2022

Marking a Monarch’s Platinum Jubilee

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Your Majesty, your Jubilee
now calls to mind your reign
that’s showered countless Brits with more than tea.
Your subjects curtsy and they bow
with homage in their hearts.
You represent their love of royalty.

“God, Save the Queen”
they proudly sing as palace guards stand tall.
The lyrics of this anthem voice their prayer,
that God would guide your every step
and give to you long life,
that you might sense God’s presence everywhere.

Elizabeth, the world-at-large
now celebrates your rule.
Beyond your realm we recognize your face.
We are not blind to griefs you’ve known
or critics of The Crown.
But through it all, we marvel at your grace.

Your Majesty, we mark your reign
(three-score-and-ten grand years)
as flags fly high and banners are unfurled.
Your Jubilee provides a peek
at that for which we long…
real peace and oneness in our war-torn world.

An Ongoing Gaze

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos
The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated on May 30, 1922

Enthroned upon a marble chair,
Abe gazes east with somber stare
toward a dome where laws are made
and freedom is defined.

One nation under God remains
divided, bruised by hate and blame
as white headstones in Arlington
remind us what we know…

That freedom never has been free.
That what means most to you and me
was purchased with the blood of those
who died that we might live.

That Lincoln’s dream of unity
 of human rights and dignity
will in God’s time be realized
when peace on earth will reign.

  • Next week marks the centennial of the Lincoln Memorial. Gratefully, Robert Todd Lincoln, the only surviving child of the sixteenth President, was in attendance.

Robbed of Life

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos
Another mass shooting finds us hugging our kids and looking to God

Uvalde grieves.
We all grieve
for children robbed of life
at Robb Elementary.

Children who came to school in a bus
and left in a hearse.
Could anything be worse?

It’s hard to imagine.
It’s hard to comprehend.
It’s hardly elementary.
It’s complicated.
It’s evil.

It’s a duplicate snapshot
of our wounded nation
that continues to hemorrhage from the inside out.

It’s a faded photograph
of a broken hearted country
still unable to breathe
on this second anniversary
of another
senseless act of violence.

It’s an image
that violates the value
with which those
made in the Creator’s image
were born.

Imago dei.
You and me.
In Uvalde and everywhere.
A human being
one with another.
A human being
enraged by violence.
A human being
open to the voice of God.

Speak, Lord, Your people are listening!

Hipp, hipp, hurra!

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos
A statue of Leif Erikson graces Shilshole Bay in Seattle

A statue in our city stands
in honor of the past.
It seems to stand a bit more tall today.
This son of Erik (Leif by name)
recalls my heritage
as well as those whose kin came from Norway.

The Viking spirit prompted those
to seek a better life.
Courageously (with strength) they persevered.
Though homesick, they embraced their dreams
of making a new start.
These Nordic pilgrims challenged what they feared.

Hipp, hipp, hurra!

On this Syttende Mai (17th of May) I’m honoring the legacy of my grandfather (Gunder Birkeland) and his brothers who left Norway for America, settling in the Seattle area beginning in 1902.

When Your Dog Dies

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos
The pain of losing a family pet is indescribable

When you lose a pet a safety net
hangs helplessly below.
That stretched-out rope can’t offer hope
or stop death’s well-aimed blow.

When you lose a pet a safety net
can’t stop your falling tears.
On the day they die, you’re sure to cry
while wishing they were near.

When you lose a pet a safety net
can’t catch your broken heart.
The pain you feel can only heal
as time plays out its part.

But…

When you lose a pet a safety net
can capture memories
of walks and runs and family fun
while romping by the sea.

When you lose a pet you can’t forget
those special times you had.
What once was true will comfort you
on days you’re feeling sad.