The dangerous diet of late night news

Impeachment talk. The White House race.
A Congressman resigns
acknowledging she made a big mistake.
So, too, McDonald’s burger king
who caved to an affair
and left a fast-food frenzy in his wake.

The headlines of the late night news
are fodder for bad dreams.
Our nightmares eat their fill on what we see.
I guess it’s little wonder why
we wake up feeling pooped.
We’re tired of the way life seems to be.

Dear God, our nation’s in a mess.
Divided we are doomed.
We’ve lost our bearings victimized by hate.
If left alone to go our way,
who knows where it will lead?
No candidate can make our nation great.

Pledging allegiance to our Veterans

On Honor Flights old veterans find
a trove of memories left behind
reminding them of freedom’s cost
and friends who paid the price.

It’s a pilgrimage to holy ground,
a sacred trip from Puget Sound
to where our heroes rest in peace
in Washington D.C.

Each veteran and his guardian
retrace rich memories one by one
and contemplate the part Vets played
defending liberty.

An All-Saints Day Reminder

A lonely candle lacks a flame.
What flickered finally died.
The light that lit our family now is gone.
And yet I know the dark won’t last.
That flame will blaze again.
Our midnight grief will turn to joy by dawn.

A flameless candle pictures death.
It calls to mind our grief.
It is a stark reminder of our loss.
A half-burned taper tells the tale
of one so loved who’s missed
and what is owed to pay death’s greedy cost.

Our unlit candle’s not alone.
I know of many more
that symbolize a loved-one’s final breath.
And yet these flameless tapers point
to what (by faith) awaits.
Rekindled candles can’t be quenched by death.

In Heaven, tapers stand quite tall.
The flames they boast are bright.
There is no cause to think they’ll be snuffed out.
Without concern each candle beams
with light and warmth to spare.
Wicks re-ignited know what they’re about.

A tribute to pastors for Clergy Appreciation Month

Sharing love and giving hope.
That’s what we’re called to do.
We have a common mission. We’re a team.
The task of serving those we love
requires you and me.
And that from the beginning was God’s dream.

We share God’s love through what we do.
We’re conduits of grace.
There is no cause for jealousy. We’re one.
And giving hope is how we care.
It’s what our world most needs.
We’re pastors, chaplains, deacons, priests and nuns.

• this was written for the 7th annual clergy appreciation luncheon celebrated at Covenant Living at the Shores where the poet is the fulltime chaplain

Celebrating Sesame Street’s 50th birthday

There is Lombard Street and Wall Street.
There is Hollywood and Vine.
There’s 5th Avenue and Broadway.
There’s your favorite. There is mine.

Mine is where Big Bird is roosting.
Where a grouch lives in a can.
It’s where Bert and Ernie squabble.
One likes oatmeal. One likes bran.

It’s where monsters thrive on cookies
and Count Dracula loves math.
It’s a street where rubber duckies
help a puppet take a bath.

It’s a street that leads to memories
back to when my kids were small.
Sesame Street and all its muppets
outrank Lombard Street and Wall.

And this year this Street turns fifty.
What Jim Henson dreamed survives.
It’s a road that leads to learning
entertaining fours and fives.

Happy birthday, Mr. Hooper!
Snuffy, Elmo, Kermit, too.
Thanks for all you have accomplished
and for what you still will do.