Poems
Shared Grief
Oh, you, who mourn!
Know that you are not alone.
The grief you sorrowfully bear
Is shared everywhere.
Death that took your love away
Did not stop at your door only,
It swooped here, yon and beyond
Spawning grief hereto unknown.
With every drip of the sands of time
Death claims the ones we love;
Be they young, or old, or sick,
Or be they healthy and in their prime.
Gone! Our love is gone,
Gone from our time of life,
Leaving us empty, forsaken,
And ever forlorn.
“Ashes to ashes,”
Prayers intone
Yet Death is not the end.
Our beloved is reborn.
Dust we are,
To dust we return.
And our dust is the stuff of life
Quickened by the eternal breath of God himself.
Oh, may the soul that fled
With its last breath
Find eternity
In God’s abode.
One day, death will come
To us, who now mourn,
And we, too, will be home
In God’s eternal realm.
And the love we shared
In our earthly life
Will live forever
In God’s pure shining light.
Mary Doan
Tears
Tears!
I know them well …
They come from the place
Heart and soul dwell.
Salty tears.
Bitter tears.
Heartbreak tears.
Soul-burning tears.
I give them sway,
Then wipe them away.
Must go on, else drown
In my tears.
Sorrows!
I’ve had my share.
Dying pets I could not save,
Dear to me, yet taken away.
An unfaithful love
Broke my heart,
Then asked my heart
To forgive and forget.
Sorrows!
My children in pain
From disappointments
I could not fix for them.
Death! Death took
Dad, Mother, Brother, Sister,
Then my first-born, last-born Daughters;
So much of me now achingly missing.
Yet pain and sorrow
Are not mine alone.
They come to all willing
To give love, seek its joys.
Tears!
I know them well,
They live in the loving place
Where heart and soul dwell.
Mary Doan
Happiness
Look around you,
Happiness abounds.
It’s in the babe’s “hello world” cry,
The child’s smile and trusting eyes.
Happiness is in the morning sunrise,
In the rain that falls like
Diamonds from the sky
And turns our Earth clean and green.
Happiness is in the laughter of children
In the innocence of their games.
It’s found in family gatherings
In celebration of special days.
Happiness dances among
Blue skies and billowing clouds;
Its music is heard in gentle waves
That softly kiss sandy shores.
Happiness
Is in our furry friends
That purr and prance
And nudge our hands.
Happiness
Abounds all around;
We need only to seek
And with determination find.
Yet … some will not see
The happiness within their reach.
Happiness, they believe
Is something they must achieve.
Some seek happiness
In a life of pleasure.
Others look to power
Or wealth beyond compare.
Some seek happiness
In the eyes of others;
Craving the applause
Of cheering crowds.
Some think
Themselves
Unworthy
Of happiness.
Unable to love themselves,
They sentence their
Troubled souls
To a deep and dark hole.
How, you might ask
Do we learn
To love ourselves,
To find happiness?
Sometimes, we must peel
The layers of our life.
Reflect on all,
Both good and bad.
Find the good.
Hold on to it.
Treasure it,
Let it grow.
Find the shame.
Look at its roots
Learn from it.
Then let it go.
Seek God’s help,
Ask for forgiveness,
Step out of the darkness
Into God’s light.
Seek His truth
And do what is right,
For this is key
To our soul’s delight.
When our immortal soul
Is filled with true love,
We receive God’s gift:
Peace for our souls; happiness to our life!
Mary Doan
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