Lessons from the Dead
Excerpts From Poems
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Ghosts Cats
I ventured to the far North Woods, very late last fall,
To see deer dance and hear first hand, the wild wolf’s plaintive call.
But it rained most days of my retreat, so the best that I could do,
Was find some outdoor interests indoors, my nature to pursue.
I came upon a taxidermy temple deep within the wood,
Where all the animals of the world, in their native settings stood.
The skins were stuffed so perfectly, their poses looked so real,
A strange sensation seized me; I was captive in their field.
A large leopard loomed above my head, mounted in a tree,
And I thought I saw a muscle move and his eye affix on me.

Alien Encounters
I was studying the heavens one dark and starry night,
When I felt an alien presence, just beyond my sight.
It had no solid body, just a pale and eerie glow.
It used no words and yet, its thoughts to me did flow.
I tried to disregard it, and shrink inside my telescope,
But its persistence was appalling, and left me little hope.

Winter Winds
Winter white shrouds the ground with a silky sheet of frozen dust.
Tufts of tired grass reach through like dying fingers to grasp
The last rays of warmth in a world suddenly gone dead with cold.
Thick gray clouds congest the sky, sending gasps of snow formed flies
Swirling earthward, in frenzied flight, hoping hapless creatures to torment.
Their wind-born voices chorus to angry howls as they whip ‘round
Corners, and whistle through lifeless limbs of leafless trees.

Sea Monsters

In from the ocean, waves rolling and crashing,
On to the shore, they relentlessly pound,
Swept back to sea they return to their thrashing,
But surge back again with an angrier sound.

In from the ocean, a wild angry animal,
Pounding the beach to vent all its rage,
Frothing and foaming, a fury insatiable,
Charges the beach to escape from its cage.

Essay Excerpts

An Enduring Art

But the best gift God granted in those dark times was an insight into the power of poems. Creating and recalling them calmed my mind in life’s difficult circumstances. It provided a perfect world where right is always rewarded. Their lessons, repeated over and over, reinforced my faith that God loved me and would see me through my trials.

Now from the secure peak of retirement, looking back over the lowlands of that depressing lifescape, I see that the technical ideas I prized so highly then were just mirages to draw me forward. As I read my publications and patents where such ideas are entombed, they give me scant pleasure. Their words don’t sing, just dryly describe. They contain no universal truths, just partial solutions to limited technical problems. Their importance seems to fade as the years pass.

But the poems God led me to are like trusty friends who fought beside me in heroic battles. Their voices ring out with a rich resonance espousing the most important aspects of existence. If anything, they’ve become more powerful over the years as I have witnessed their transforming effects at work in my own life. Truly, God’s gift of poetry eased the burden of those soul unsettling years, and helped lead me out of my valley of shadows into the sunshine of a new day.