I Don’t Have a Penny
I don’t have a penny
I don’t have a dime
I don’t have a great big house
The marble floored kind
I don’t own designer labels
I don’t have anything Chanel
I don’t own a pair of Louboutin’s
Although I’m sure they’d rock my world
I don’t drive a brand new car
I don’t drive a Merc
In fact I don’t drive a car at all
Unless it’s already had a lot of work
I don’t take expensive vacations
I don’t stay in five star hotels
I don’t travel very often
Although I’d love to see the whole world
I didn’t go to Uni
I didn’t get a P. H. D.
I didn’t aim for lots of money
Or to be secure financially
I don’t want fame
I don’t want prestige
I don’t want a spotlight
I’m very content wearing beige
I don’t need approval
I don’t need applause
I don’t need recognition
To hold and stay true to my cause
For I have something solid
I have something real
I have something that’s forever
That no one can destroy or steal
I own a rare Treasure
I own a priceless Pearl
I own a wealth of Talents
Worth more than the whole entire world
I know a shining truth
I know the thoughts of God
I know the news that must be spread
And so with that my feet are shod
This world is an awful mess
This world is on fire
This world is ruled by a betrayer
A killer, and a liar
He offers shiny things
He offers things that appear to be fun
He offers things soon to perish
Things that fade, disappear and run
You can see his mind in the air
You can see the propaganda
You can see the all-pervasive filth
The fake, and the slander
This world is a testimony to his rule
This world has nothing of lasting gain
This world offers naught but heartache
Hard-heartedness and pain
But I know something important
I know the truth
I know this world will soon disappear
There’s a mountain of proof
Soon all the pain will be gone
And all hurts will be healed
All people will live as one
With all their dearest desires filled
The earth will be transformed
The earth will recover
The earth will be populated
With people that truly love one another
Meantime we must endure
We must find a way
We must keep seeking
Keep striving, to listen and obey
There is a secure anchor
There is a trusted guide
There is a guaranteed promise
He will always provide
Jehovah is my confidence
Jehovah is my friend
Jehovah is my shining hope
My towering refuge to the end
Now is the time to focus on the Kingdom’s work
Time to keep a simple eye
Now is the time to support our friends
As shoulder to shoulder we strive
We are proud to be his Witnesses
We are proud to sing his praise
We are proud to bear his name
As we proclaim his loving ways
This is his work
This is his creation
This is his will
To gather together people from every nation
So as we endure
As we obey
As we do the work
We must not listen to anything the world has to say
We listen to Jehovah
Listen to his faithful slave
Listen to his words
His words light the way
So we do our part
We do our best
We do our utmost
Always trusting that Jehovah will do the rest
Just wait
You will see
Just test him out
Jehovah will provide super-abundantly
You don’t need a penny
You don’t need a dime
You don’t need to worry
Jehovah will never, ever, leave you behind!
Rach
2014
“Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and his Righteousness,
and all these other things will be added to you.”
– Matthew 6:33
“May people know that you,
whose name is Jehovah,
You alone are the Most High
over all the earth.”
– Psalm 83:18
JW.org
http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/meaning-of-life/
“Live simply that others might simply live.” – Elizabeth Ann Seton
“It’s not that successful people are givers; it is that givers are successful people.” – Patti Thor
“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history”. – Mahatma Gandhi
“Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile.” – Wilfred Grenfell
“Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” – Joseph Addison
“Love the earth and sun and animals,
Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
Stand up for the stupid and crazy,
Devote your income and labor to others.
And your very flesh shall be a great poem.”
– Walt Whitman
“We ought to change the legend on our money from “In God We Trust” to “In Money We Trust.” Because, as a nation, we’ve got far more faith in money these days than we do in God.”
– Arthur Hoppe, 1963
“Adornment is never anything except a reflection of the heart.” – Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel
“Ordinary riches can be stolen; real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” – Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism, 1891
“Waste your money and you’re only out of money, but waste your time and you’ve lost a part of your life.” – Michael Leboeuf
“Your money, or your life.” We know what to do when a burglar makes this demand of us, but not when God does. – Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic’s Notebook, 1966
“There are people who have money and people who are rich.” – Coco Chanel
“Money may be the husk of many things but not the kernel. It brings you food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintance, but not friends; servants, but not loyalty; days of joy, but not peace or happiness. – Henrik Ibsen
Forbear
Forbear
Come
Stand in my shoes
Come walk where I have been
Come see through my eyes
Come see all that I have seen
If you could wear my skin
If you could feel all I have felt
If you could feel the words spoken in my ears
If you could feel all the pain my hearts been dealt
Take all I have experienced
Take my memories and make them yours
Take all the cuts
All the bruises
Take all the wounds from my private unseen wars
Let my tears fill your eyes
Let them overflow and fall
Let the hard floor be your comfort
Let no one hear
Let no one come
No one at all
Love will be elusive
Love will not be for you
No matter how hard you work
No matter how sincere
How loyal
How true
You will be the one at fault
You will be the one who is wrong
You will need to turn the other cheek
You will be forced to be strong
You will see others rise with ease
You will see them look on uncaring as you fall
You will see them float by on gilt edged clouds
While you beg
While you crawl
When you need it most
You will find no shade and shelter
Only barren desert
Cutting rocks and scorching sun
You will be left to bleed
To thirst
To swelter
All the fruitless struggles
All the desperate prayers
All the bitter midnight tears
All the times you took the blame to keep the peace
All the pain
All those years
Run where I have run
Where I went searching for relief
Sleep where I have slept
Where I lay immobilised with grief
Stumble over the questions
The unanswerable mysteries of my life
Some things will never be understood
Some memories will always cut through like a knife
If you could stand in my shoes
If you could wear my skin
If you could see through my eyes
If you could be where I have been
Then
You would understand
Then you could empathise
Then you would forbear your judgement
Then you would feel more keenly the need to wipe tears from others eyes
You would laugh loud, and as often as you can
You would hug
And love
And hold dear
You would accept only what is real
What is given without pretence
Without hesitation
Without fear
For love has no fear
Love is honest, it does not fake
Love listens, it is sincere
It heals and protects
Love lets itself be nailed to a stake
Love lifts up, holds and carries
Love deals in reason, truth and fact
Love will not turn a back to those in need
Love will not hesitate to act
Experience is a great teacher
In the loving it produces still more love
It causes buds of patience to flower in humble hearts
It opens discerning eyes to see the wisdom from above
So forbear
Forbear to judge
Forbear to criticise
Forbear until you’ve stood in their shoes
Until you’ve worn their skin
Until you’ve listened with their ears
Until you’ve seen their world
Through their eyes
Rach
2014
“But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you also look down on your brother? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God… Therefore, let us not judge one another any longer but, rather, be determined not to put a stumbling block or an obstacle before a brother.”
– Romans 14:10, 13
“If only I may grow: firmer, simpler, quieter, warmer.”
– Dag Hammarskjold
“It’s not enough to have a dream,
Unless you’re willing to pursue it.
It’s not enough to know what’s right,
Unless you’re strong enough to do it.
It’s not enough to learn the truth,
Unless you also learn to live it.
It’s not enough to reach for love,
Unless you care enough to give it.”
– Anon
Drop a Word (aka: Mean Girls)
Drop a Word
(Aka: Mean Girls)
I drop a word in your ear
About that person, the one I secretly loathe
Something ‘they say’, plucked from the grapevine
(A fact? A fiction? Really, who’s to know?)
I didn’t hear it from the horse’s mouth
It is you see, a shocking thing
But apparently, (although I can’t say one hundred percent for sure)
It has a totally truthful ring
Of course I didn’t ask the ‘horse’, (the person)
For their side of the story
That would require talking, which could be awkward
And I’m really not up for that, (so sorry!)
Though I wasn’t there, and I didn’t see it
I swear it has been verified
(By all my friends, my family,
And by everyone else who’s on my side)
A friend of a friend did ask the ‘horse’, (the person), you know
And although they explained this and that
The friend of a friend reported that what was said was open to interpretation
(The truth is fluid – and that’s a factual fact!)
I know I really shouldn’t gossip
Gossip leaves such a nasty taste!
But, I’m really concerned about this person
(Concerned that they should be put firmly back in their place!)
So as much as it pains me
I must tell you all about it – just you, just in case
(In case that person thought they could share
My friends, my spotlight – in general – my space!)
I won’t say much, just a word, just a look
(I know you’ll be begging me for more!
Once a word is dropped, it gains momentum,
It springs to life with a roar!)
So I drop a word in your ear
(Hoping it travels to your tongue)
I smile at your ‘No! Really?’ in that disapproving tone. You lean forward, a hushed question on your lips
Yep. My work here is done
Rach
2014
“A slanderer goes about revealing confidential talk;
Do not associate with one who loves to gossip.”
– Proverbs 20:19, The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures
“A cruel story runs on wheels, and every hand oils the wheels as they run.”
– Ouida
“Gossip needn’t be false to be evil — there’s a lot of truth that shouldn’t be passed around.”
– Frank A. Clark
“Trying to squash a rumour is like trying to unring a bell.”
– Shana Alexander
“The biggest liar in the world is They Say.”
– Douglas Malloch
“There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it hardly becomes any of us
To talk about the rest of us.”
– Edward Wallis Hoch
Trust
Trust
Much more observant than I seem
I see all the in between
I know what lies behind the words
I see the nouns in the verbs
I’ve seen the signs and heard the tales
I know how the wind can fill those sails
When gossip blows no anchor can hold and stay
And a reputation is simply blown away
Critical tongues cut and rake
As their pound of flesh they take
They don’t regard the pain they cause
As salt they pour on still festering sores
Trying to prove superior by critical talk
Is like trying to carve a stone with chalk
It’s pointless and useless and it doesn’t work
All it ever achieves is hurt
Jealousy is a devouring beast
When it finds a target, it finds a feast
It picks and pokes and whips, until it draws blood
And what begins as a trickle, all too soon becomes a flood
So I look and listen and I take note
And I don’t jump on just any boat
I don’t give my trust to those without heart
If I see them coming, I depart
For I’m not as young as you might think
I’ve stood upon hell’s fiery brink
I’ve been to the war and seen the slain
I’ve seen how lies kill and maim
Deep as a well inside this skin
The clown facade is light and thin
Serious lurks just beneath
A vigilant warrior against any fickle thief
The vague is just a disguise I wear
A shield against what I cannot bear
Knowledge burns behind tired eyes
Experience has left them worldly wise
Seeing things that most would miss
Always expecting the Judas kiss
Hoping over and over to be wrong
Even as sound the first notes of that familiar song
Trust is given at great risk and cost
And trust is never ever simply lost
It departs like fireworks on a new years day
It bursts without warning and then fades away
As wreaths of sorrow for innocence we lay
It takes an odyssey to regain something still in decay
Born from the ashes of loss and grief
A shrewd phoenix rises from the fire with new belief
When the price of gaining wisdom has been betrayal
Born from life’s stinging hail
It’s difficult to let another in
It takes time to learn how to believe again
All too clearly you can see the coming pain
So you withdraw early from the game
You hide, you run, you disappear
You cloak yourself with a fake veneer
Sometimes you wish you didn’t know
You couldn’t see how things will go
That you were stupid and thick and dumb
That you hadn’t had to learn to run
That experience hadn’t given you new eyes
That you still believed all the lies
That you hadn’t lost those rose coloured glasses
That you still saw over every fence, greener grasses
Because although you have learnt to let go and forgive
To simply live and let live
You don’t expect anything from anyone anymore
Self sufficiency keeps the cold from the door
But when amongst the rocks you do find a gem
You treasure it for always, just as you did back then
The diamonds in your life are brighter than before
Because they’ve been through the fire and the war
The most beautiful diamond sparkling bright
Is the one you found on the deepest, darkest night
It’s the most valuable treasure of your life
Made indestructible through all the strife
A shiny new trust that will never fade
Born from standing beneath the blade
Faith and trust in your Father above
Hope, strong and solid in the God of all love
He’s there to carry you where you can’t walk
All the things He says are more than just talk
He’s shown you over and over, He will always be there
He will always come through, He will always care
Someday soon He will bring an end
To all the sorrow and grief, and the need to pretend
His world will bring a paradise of truth
Where you will be able to trust without proof
Where friends are real in word and deed
Where words are meant and can be believed
Where you never need fear to let yourself be known
For genuine people will be where ever you roam
Walls will come apart brick by brick
No matter how long they’ve been up, no matter how thick
A healing of souls long torn to shreds
As flowers bloom in what were once thorny beds
Tired eyes will smile on that day
I’ll open the doors and let the vigilance blow away
The clown will dance for real and not for fake
A heart free to love, without fearing to break
Trust will be reborn never to fade
No more wreaths will need ever more be laid
Jehovah will see and smile down from up above
As like mirrors we reflect his trust and indestructible love
Rach
2010
“Do not put your trust in princes. Nor in a son of man, who cannot bring salvation.”
– Ps 146:3
“Trust in Jehovah forever.”
– Isaiah 26:4
“Those knowing your name will trust in you; You will never abandon those seeking you, O Jehovah.”
– Ps 9:10
“The last thing we expect others to do, it’s the last thing they do before we learn we cannot trust them.”
― Lauren Kate, Teardrop
“Ultimately, there can be no complete healing until we have restored our primal trust in life.”
― Georg Feuerstein
“Once she had loved Prince Joffrey with all her heart, and admired and trusted her his mother, the queen. They had repaid that love and trust with her father’s head. Sansa would never make that mistake again.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings
“Few delights can equal the mere presence of one whom we trust utterly.”
― George MacDonald
“In God we trust, all others we virus scan.”
– Anon
“For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.”
― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
“A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. I am arrived at last in the presence of a man so real and equal, that I may drop even those undermost garments of dissimulation, courtesy, and second thought, which men never put off, and may deal with him with the simplicity and wholeness with which one chemical atom meets another.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: First Series
“Be silent and safe — silence never betrays you;
Be true to your word and your work and your friend;
Put least trust in him who is foremost to praise you,
Nor judge of a road till it draw to the end.”
― John Boyle O’Reilly, Life of John Boyle O’Reilly
“We’re paying the highest tribute you can pay a man. We trust him to do right. It’s that simple.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
“Trust starts with truth and ends with truth.”
― Santosh Kalwar, Quote Me Everyday
“But it does not seem that I can trust anyone,’ said Frodo.
Sam looked at him unhappily. ‘It all depends on what you want,’ put in Merry. ‘You can trust us to stick with you through thick and thin–to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours–closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
“The shifts of fortune test the reliability of friends.”
― Cicero, De Senectute De Amicitia
“Trusting that you will some time or other do me greater justice than you can do now.”
― Jane Austen, Emma
“In those days we did not trust anyone who had not been in the war, but we did not
completely trust anyone.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
“I lost my sense of trust, honesty and compassion. I crashed down and became what I consider an emotional mess. I’ve never been so miserable in my whole life. I just wanted to go to bed and never get up.”
― Shania Twain
“Never trust a man with a lunatic wife in an attic,” Richard told me. “And anyone named Heathcliff should make you suspicious.”
― John Irving, In One Person
“Kids are trusting and wise and I cannot think of a less useful combination to be born with. The wisdom lets children know who they are. And then the trust lets everyone else take that knowledge away.”
― Sean Wilsey, Oh the Glory of it All
“I resolved to tell my guardian that I doubted Orlick being the right sort of man to fill a post of trust at Miss Havisham’s. ‘Why of course he is not the right sort of man, Pip,’ said my guardian, comfortably satisfied beforehand on the general head, ‘because the man who fills the post of trust never is the right sort of man.”
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
“We should trust people to be exactly what they have proven themselves to be, no more and no less.”
― Ryan Winfield, South of Bixby Bridge
“Me, I’m dishonest, and you can always trust a dishonest man to be dishonest. Honestly, it’s the honest ones you have to watch out for.”
― Johnny Depp
“Never trust a computer you can’t throw out a window.”
― Steve Wozniak
“I go to movies expecting to have a whole experience. If I want a movie that doesn’t end, I’ll go to a French movie. That’s a betrayal of trust to me. A movie has to be complete within itself; it can’t just build off the first one or play variations.”
― Joss Whedon
“Never trust a man, who when left alone with a tea cosy… doesn’t try it on.”
― Billy Connolly
“I’ve always very earnestly tried to do my best, so I just have to trust that and forgive myself for being fallible.”
― Claire Danes
(Yep. Went a bit nuts with the quotes on this poem – 😛 There are just so many great ones. I guess trust is a common issue – making it a reoccurring theme through out history. ~ R )
Liberated
Liberated
Free to fly
Free to live
Liberated to finally
Just forgive
Nothing to think
Nothing left to tell
No more need
To sit and dwell
No more heart ache
No more fears
None of those bitter
Midnight tears
Allowed to forget
Allowed to move on
Permitted to let
What is past just be gone
What I almost forgot
What is plain to see
Is that He was always right there
Alone with me
Others turned away
Others didn’t want to know
But he never ever
Let me go
It was down to the end
It was down to the wire
And it was then
He plucked me from the fire
He was there
He held on tight
Slaying all my demons
Without a fight
I learnt a lesson
I learnt something I already knew
Give over your burden
And He’ll carry it for you
You’ve done what you can
You’ve done all you could
Tried to do your best
To do what you should
But if you still don’t know
But if you still can’t see
Then it’s time to just
Let it be
Time to stand still
Time to wait without doubt
Because He is listening
He hears your shout
Wait and be patient
Wait and be calm
Even the toughest, fiercest enemy
He can disarm
There is an answer
There is a way
But you can’t see it
When you’re in the fray
Can’t see the puzzle
Can’t see the pieces coming together
You don’t know when or how
Or even whether
But He can
He does
So you just have to hold on
And trust
Trust He hears
Trust He does care
Don’t let those demons
Drive you from Him in despair
You’ll see Him act
You’ll feel it in your soul
When He holds out His hand
And pulls you from that deep, dark, black hole
He pulled me out
He set me free
And now I can finally
Just be me
I feel warmth again
I feel alive
I know now there’s nothing
I can’t survive
It’s a new sun that’s rising
It’s a brand new day
And as I stand to greet it
The shackles slip away
Tomorrow is clear
Tomorrow is light
The sky tomorrow
Is wide and bright
A cloud with a silvery lining
A rainbow appears
My eyes are washed
With happy tears
My eyes see
My heart sings
And I can feel the wind
Under new found wings
Lifted off my feet
Lifted into the blue
I’ve never seen
A more beautiful view
Soaring into tomorrow
Soaring into the free
Liberated to never forget
What He did for me
Rach
2008
“For I, Jehovah your God, am grasping your right hand,
The one saying to you: ‘Do not be afraid. I myself will help you.’”
– Isaiah 41:13
“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
– Jesus Christ, Matthew 19:26
“My very heart is in severe pain within me
and the frights of death itself have fallen upon me.
Fear, yes, trembling itself enters into me
And shuddering covers me
And I kept saying: O that I had wings as a dove has!
I would fly away and reside
Look! I would go far away in flight
I would lodge in the Wilderness.
I would hasten to a place of escape for me
From the rushing wind
From the tempest…
For it was not an enemy that proceeded to reproach me
Otherwise I could put up with it…
But it was you, a mortal man who was my equal
One familiar to me and my acquaintance
Because we used to enjoy sweet intimacy together
Into the house of God we used to walk with the throng…
As for me, to God I shall call out
And Jehovah himself will save me
Evening and morning and noontime I cannot but show concern and I moan
And he hears my voice.
He will certainly redeem my soul in peace from the fight that is against me…
Throw your burden upon Jehovah himself
And he himself will sustain you.
Never will he allow the righteous one to totter…
As for me – I shall trust you.”
– David Son of Jesse, Psalms Chapter 55
When you’ve seen a miracle performed in a very personal way in your own life – something impossible, something that meant everything to you – you never forget. And you find ways to say ‘thank you’ every single day afterwards. ~ Rach
Secluded Corner
Secluded Corner
Do you ever think of me,
In some secluded corner of your mind?
Or do you avoid going there,
Not wanting to examine what you’ll find?
Do you wonder about my life these days?
Do you wonder what I’m doing now?
Or is the shadow of me,
Not something you can allow?
Do you ever wonder why?
Wonder what could’ve been?
If things hadn’t happened?
If we could’ve seen?
Do you ever hear the notes of a song,
Something familiar that begins to play,
And instantly memories of me flood in,
Memories from back in the day?
Do you ever regret the things you did?
The things you didn’t say?
Do you ever regret,
That you let me walk away?
Do you ever think of me and smile?
And someone catches it and asks why?
But you just shrug and change the subject
Or make up some lie?
Are you really happy?
Is your life everything you thought it would be?
Or at the end of every day dream,
Do you still come drifting back to me?
Do you ever see my picture,
And wish you could hear my voice?
Do you ever think about what happened?
Do you regret your choice?
Do you ever see someone,
And you think for an instant that it’s me?
Does your heart skip a beat?
Do you find it hard to breathe?
Do you recall my scent?
The softness of my hair?
Do you still see the light in my eyes,
As I laid my heart bare?
Do you have me tucked away?
In that secluded corner of your mind?
The place no one else lives.
The place no one else can find.
Do you still dream of me?
Every dark, moonless, stormy night?
Do you ever wish you could take it back?
Do you ever wish you could make it right?
Do you think of the things we did together,
And wish we could have those times again?
That this time round it wouldn’t be for nothing?
That it wouldn’t be in vain?
Do you feel it now?
Somewhere way down deep?
That you should’ve done things differently?
Or do you just let sleeping dogs sleep?
Do you regret that you listened?
That you let others have such a big say?
Do you wish now you’d carried on?
Do you wish you’d carried me away?
Do you wonder if I think of you?
If I drift to you once in a while?
Do you wonder if I remember?
And if the memory makes me smile?
Do you picture me looking out some window somewhere?
Not really seeing the view.
Because in my mind I’m adrift,
Drifting in memories of you
Do you wonder if I have regrets?
Or if I’d do it all over again?
Of would I do things differently?
Would I take safety over pain?
Do you wish you could ask me?
Do you wonder if I’d understand?
Do you wonder if you lost the best version of your life?
The version that for a moment you held in your hand?
But I guess you’ll never know.
And I guess neither will I.
So we’ll always wonder,
We’ll always have a ‘why’?
There will always be that secluded corner,
That locked place in your mind.
The place you’ll always visit.
The place I’ll always find.
Rach
2008
“One need not be a chamber to be haunted;
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place.”
– Emily Dickinson, “Time and Eternity”
“We do not remember days; we remember moments.”
– Cesare Pavese, “The Burning Brand”
“Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. “
– The Wonder Years
Sleepy Monday
Sleepy Monday
I want my pillow
I want my bed
I want to lay down
My tired head
It’s too hard to work
On Monday morning
With these heavy eyes
And this sleepy yawning
So here I sit
Slumped at my desk
Dreaming of a great big cushion
On which to rest
Or a hammock somewhere
Swaying in the breeze
Where I can relax
Under shady trees
Snoozing under gentle sun
Everything all warm and calm
Nothing to rush to
Nothing to cause alarm
Listening to the song of birds
And the rolling sea
Lost in hazy dreams
Of you and me
Yes it’s just too hard
On a sleepy morning
To work when I’m dreamy
And still yawning
So I want my pillow
And I want my bed
I want to lay down
My tired head
Rach
2007
“The feeling of sleepiness when you are not in bed, and can’t get there, is the meanest feeling in the world”
– Edgar Watson Howe
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time”
– J. Lubbock
When The Cock Crows
When The Cock Crows
Those words he spoke still ring in my ears
Echoing my innermost still festering fears
“If you leave me you’ll be alone without friends
Because the ones you look up to
Won’t care once all this ends
They’ll turn their backs and walk away
They’re not the kind who’ll stay
They won’t want to make any sacrifice to see it through
So they’ll all turn their backs on you.”
I didn’t believe him, told him he was wrong
I believed I still had a place to belong
But sadly, it turns out the snake was right
And just like him, reality has a nasty bite
I never would have believed what I’d been told
Didn’t think anyone’s heart could really be that cold
But it seems some people fake it so well
You just can’t see
They aren’t the way they pretend to be
Their hearts are hard
Though they politely say all the right things
Not seeming to comprehend
The hurt their callousness brings
Too worried about how they look to others
Their appearance
Being about all their small heart covers
That they can ignore the broken hearted in their need
Betrays their hearts are too empty even to bleed
They expect kindness, understanding and care
But when it comes to giving it
Their shallow hearts are bare
I never would have believed that I’d see the day
Years of kindness and friendship
Could be so quickly tossed away
I stood by them through thick and thin
Put myself out and took them in
I didn’t listen when the gossips my ear would bend
I defended them, determined to be a friend
I cried with them, played the clown to make them laugh
But it seems it just wasn’t enough
Not enough to make them care
Not enough to have them want to be there
Instead malicious gossip was adopted as truth
Fiery feathers scattered, without thought or proof
A jealous, spiteful, witch hunt
An unfair war without a front
So I’m still living this nightmare not of my making
I’m still giving, while the vultures are taking
Just can’t understand what I did
To make them so hardened
Because any sin they could’ve committed
I would’ve pardoned
Hurt more than I know how to express
They obviously were not
‘A brother born for the time of distress’
Still, there are one or two
Who have been uniquely loyal, loving and true
But as for all the fickle, the popular, the rest
They just didn’t pass test
Although I can’t even tell you when they turned to go
I’ve certainly heard that Cock crow
But I refuse to let them change me
I refuse to accept this is how it’s always going to be
I hope one day those frozen hearts will thaw
And melting, begin to bleed
Those closed minds will open to see and feel another’s need
That scales will fall from blind eyes, and finally they will see
How true friends should really be.
Rach
2007
“Truly I say to you…
This night before a cock crows twice
Even you will disown me three times.”
– Jesus Christ, Mark 4:30
“Never explain.
Your friends do not need it
And your enemies will not believe it anyway”
– Elbert Hubbard
“People don’t ever seem to relate
That doing what’s right
Is no guarantee against misfortune”
– William McFee
Snow Storm
Snow Storm
The snow is falling down,
there’s a whistle in the air,
I was looking for the sun
though I know it isn’t there.
I tried to bundle up,
but the coat just wouldn’t help.
I’m so hurt that when I walked,
my knees buckled and I fell.
When you left my heart in pieces,
I could only wonder why,
because I would not go tumbling to the ground
just to cry.
So I struggled to my feet,
though my body’s getting stiff,
and I’m walking on an incline,
less afraid I’m going to trip.
My mind clearly couldn’t focus
despite just how hard I tried,
and this blizzard just got stronger.
It would take a while to die.
Still I pressed on through this snowstorm,
just as sure I would survive,
and I’m here telling this story
because I got out alive.
by Anon
(a contributed piece)
Nights End
Nights End
A sunny day comes to an end and then
Creeping comes the night
But at nights end
There will come again brand new light
So when fear murmurs that it’s all over
Look inside your tattered heart
You’ll discover there a flame still smoulders
In the cold and the dark
For the richest prizes are the ones
For which we have to wait
And when forever is your hope
Happiness can never come too late
On the winds of night there wafts the sound
Of singing in soft undertone
And suddenly you look up and realise
You’re not so all alone
Time whispers of a place not far
so very different from now
A place that’s warm and bright and free
Although it can’t say when or where or how
But once there you’ll see a life to cherish
Through patient eyes born of wisdom
And you’ll have advice to pass on
To your children should they choose to listen
Hope has been painted warm and bright
For those with faith it’s real and true
Because there is one who never lies
Promising to see you through
He is always there beside us
Our friend there, up above
He won’t ever leave or desert us
We live forever in the warmth of his love
So believe the word and take my hand
And to them both hold on
And with his help we will wake at nights end
To hear dawn birds sing their happy song
Rach
2007
~ written for the best vriend
& nicest person a girl never met ~
“Jehovah is giving support to all who are falling,
And is raising up all who are bowed down…
You are opening your hand
And satisfying the desire of every living thing.
Jehovah is righteous in all his ways
And loyal in all his works.
Jehovah is near to all those calling upon him,
To all those who call upon him in trueness.
The desire of those fearing him he will perform,
And their cry for help he will hear,
and he will save them.”
– Psalm 145:14-19
You Can’t See
You Can’t See
You look at me
But you can’t see
Who I really am
You got your life
All mapped out
You got your master plan
You think I’m tough
That I can take it
That I’m your biggest fan
But you can’t see
The tears I’ve cried
Or the places where I ran
You hide yourself
Scared of the truth
And so you live a sham
You look in the mirror
But you can’t see
The boy for the man
This world revolves
Around the sun
Not you and your big plan
This girl’s circling
Far above
Looking for a place to land
I’m telling you now
I’m done with it
I won’t take less than
But you can’t see
I won’t be crying
No not ever again
I won’t be crushed
Or cast away or
Changed from what I am
But you can’t see
My only want
Is to be loved for who I am
Why should I accept
Second best
And castles built on sand?
But you can’t see
Whoever has this heart
Has the world in his hand
I won’t be here forever
Waiting for you
To finally make a stand
Because you can’t see
I’m worth the fight
I really truly am
I deserve a guy
Who can look me in the eye
As he takes my hand
So I won’t be sitting
Pining and wishing
That you were that man
You may not be
What I thought
And to face that I can
So get it on
Or leave me be
Or whatever your big plan
For you can’t see
I’m happy to live
Exactly as I am
The future beckons
But you will see
I’m taking it by the hand
Rach
2006
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are”
– E. E . Cummings
CoNfuSEd
Confused
I’m lost in this weird place
With nowhere to go
Do you like me or hate me
Cos I really don’t know
I’ve never been so confused
So very frustrated
You got me pulling my hair out
So much tension created
One day we’re talking
The next you avoid me
On minute you’re a friend
The next you ignore me
I just don’t get it
Don’t understand why
Was it something I said?
Or did you tell the lie?
Are you listening to others
Instead of talking to me?
Do you think you know
When you don’t really see?
You seem to have these rules
I know nothing about
So why not talk to me
And take away all the doubt?
The way you’re acting
Was making me feel sad
But now when I think of it
It just makes me mad
It’s like you made a decision
Without telling me
Pulled the plug on our friendship
Decided it just couldn’t be
I thought you understood
That you really got me
That we were close
And would continue to be
I don’t know what’s changed
Cos I’m still the same
I’m just being myself
Not playing any game
So are you my friend?
Can we get back on track?
Can we go back to easy?
Can we go back?
Cos I miss your laugh
And I miss your smile
So come on over
And lets talk for a while
Lets remember this
Lets laugh about that
Lets be friends again
Lets get it back
Rach
2006
“I never knew
until that moment
how bad it could hurt
to lose something
you never really had”
– The Wonder Years
I Wonder Why
I Wonder Why
I wonder why the days are empty
And drag on and on
I wonder why the nights are lonely
And all the stars are gone
I wonder why birds no longer fly
Or sing with lilting song
I wonder why I just can’t seem to find
A place where I belong.
I wonder why I gaze longingly
Up at the moon so bright
I wonder why I can see you
Looking up at that same silvery light
I wonder why I still dream of you
When I lay down and close my eyes
I wonder why heart strings
Are the strongest of all ties
I wonder why you had to go
Why you had to leave
I wonder why though you’ve gone
I still feel you and believe
I wonder why I can’t forget
No matter what they say
I wonder why thoughts of you
Just won’t go away
I wonder why I feel alone
Though I’m in a crowded room
I wonder why this house feels empty
Lonelier than an ancient tomb
I wonder how I can still be breathing
When I don’t even feel alive
I wonder how much heartbreak
One crushed soul can survive
I wonder why I miss all the things
That didn’t seem to matter much before
I wonder why though I banish them
Memories keep knocking at my door
I wonder why on a warm summer day
All I feel is winters chill
I wonder why though my heart is stone
Pain throbs there still
I wonder why my sun has set
And colours fade away
I wonder why my head implores
But my heart just won’t obey
I wonder why you won’t let me go
You won’t let me start again
I wonder why I’m waiting
When I wait – and wait in vain
1992
Rach
The Gift
The Gift
A window to the soul
Eyes are said to be
And the real truth in that
Even a blind man can see
It’s a joy to behold
A child’s innocent gaze
Full of hopes and dreams
A lovely rose-coloured haze
Eyes that are blue
Like a cool and cloudless sky
They seem to have a higher view
Always asking the world ‘why?’
Full of mischief
Are sea-green elfin eyes
Seeming to see through everything
Perceiving, mystical and wise
Friendly warm teddy bear eyes
Just begging to be trusted
Full of kindness and care
The colour of tin so rusted
Almost black, violet dark eyes
Like the pitch colour of midnight
They seem bottomless pits
Where there enters no light
Eyes can shine and gleam
They can laugh and can plead
They can cry and can scheme
Or beg forgiveness for some misdeed
But the real gift we are given
Is the colourful world our eyes show
Lovely, awesome and magnificent
And without our eyes we’d not know
So admire beautiful orange gold sunsets
Or roaring tumbling waterfalls
As well as playful funny kittens
And big red roses climbing over walls
But don’t forget that talented one
Who gave us the gift of our eyes
Our maker and our friend
Jehovah the creator always prize
Rach
1991
“We are thankful for goodwill rather than for
services, for the motive than the quantum
of favour received.”
– William Hazlitt
Breathe & Burn 
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