Partial Observer

Celebrating a Great Marriage

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

What it takes to go the distance

So many years ago it was
you gave each other rings.
You promised love. You honeymooned.
The world was on your string.

But with life’s pressure and its stress
your string got frayed at times.
The shine of romance lost its gleam
like poems that don’t rhyme.

And yet when you lived out your vows
and put the other first,
the glow of love returned again.
With joy you were immersed.

That joy still marks your lives today
as you two celebrate.
Its more than just a marriage bed
that makes a marriage great!

Commitment and companionship,
forgiveness and some fun
are what have brought you to this day.
Two lives still meshed as one.

* This poem is dedicated to all the couples at Covenant Shores Retirement Community who have been married for more than sixty years. I am especially grateful for the example of commitment and companionship that Wilson and Ruth Eckels modeled. The Eckels celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary on June 5, 2013 (Wilson’s 95th birthday). He passed away five days later.

In God We (Still) Trust

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

A prayer on this 12th anniversary of 9/11

A dozen years ago we woke
to chilling news that left us broke.
The peace of mind on which we’d banked
was stolen in a day.

Four hijacked jets like flying bombs
destroyed our apathetic calm
as we collapsed in corporate fear
unsure of terror’s plans.

We fled to church and joined in prayer.
And though such piety seemed rare,
the slogan on our currency
called us to trust in God.

And as we think back to that day
when friendly skies turned ashen gray,
Lord, we remember those who died
and those who saved far more.

Now once again we wring our hands
as we try hard to understand
what’s happening in Syria
and how we should respond.

When crisis rears its ugly head
and hope dissolves to haunting dread,
the most agnostic finds his knees
and verbalizes faith.

When terror knocks at freedom’s door
and we despair at what’s in store,
the posture most appropriate
is that reserved for prayer.

Lord, as our leaders seek to lead,
on their behalf we intercede
requesting that their minds be bathed
with wisdom birthed by You.

May moral courage guide their hearts
as they make choices sure to start
a chain-reaction far from home
whose outcome is unclear.

O God, our help in ages past,
when votes in Congress have been cast,
remind us You are still in charge
and long for worldwide peace.

The Syria Dilemma

/ Greg Asimakoupoulos

Contemplating a moral response; And God Created Grandparents

The Syria Dilemma
Contemplating a moral response

Can crimes against humanity
be witnessed and ignored
when innocent young victims are abused?
Are we not obligated
by a moral sense of right
to retaliate by paying judgments dues?

Can monsters be permitted
to annihilate and maim
without fear of being weighed by Justice’s scales?
Are we not our brother’s keeper
or sister’s advocate
when they lack a voice to speak up for themselves?

Yes, the war on terror continues
as incarnate evil seeks
anyone or anything within its way.
But its ploys must be resisted
anywhere at any time
so to rescue those at risk who are its prey!

And God Created Grandparents
A poem for Grandparents Day (September 8)

Grandparents are what God designed
to underscore His grace.
Their love is unconditional
as shown by their embrace.

Their hugs convey how much they care.
Their words describe their pride.
A grandma and a grandpa
make you feel so good inside.

Grandparents tend to bend the rules
and grant what you request.
They’ve learned that life says no too much
and so they’re prone to yes.

A grandma and a grandpa know
to give their brood a break
for looking back they both recall
how much their hearts would ache.

Grandparents are the means by which
the Lord helps children see
how faith that’s tested through the years
withstands adversity.

They silently draw kids to Christ
without much need for words.
Their actions speak up for themselves
as what is lived is heard.

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.