Weekly Poems from Poems for Free: A Yom Kippur Poem and More

YOU PRAY NOT FOR YOURSELF ALONE BUT ALL

You pray not for yourself alone but all.
One never chooses sin in isolation.
Most evil is not merely personal.
Kindness looks for common inspiration.
In every act there is community.
Perhaps one would prefer it were not so.
Placing each's guilt on all may be
Unfair, but then each righteous soul must see
Reflections of itself in every woe.

ONCE I'M IN MY BUBBLE BATH

Once I'm in my bubble bath
I like to stir up more.
Half the suds go in my eyes
And half go on the floor.

The fun is in the bubbles 'cause
They giggle on my skin,
And when I stick them on my face
They dangle from my chin.

And when I splash them hard enough
They pop and disappear,
And then my bath time's over 'cause
I've made the water clear.

THE GREATEST SATISFACTION COMES

The greatest satisfaction comes
From wanting what is ours.
Desire is a gift, turning
Sentences to song.

There is a liberation in
The loveliness of flowers.
The miracles most commonplace
Are those for which we long.

How beautiful such longing is!
The vivid heart of life,
The hunger for what cannot be,
But is and must be true.

How wonderful I cannot stop,
Even as your wife,
From wanting, needing, yearning for
The love I have from you.

ED WAS A BLACK AND WHITE PAINT QUARTER HORSE

Ed was a black and white paint quarter horse.
He died around the age of fifteen years.
We cannot share his inner world, of course:
Such loveliness lies far beyond our tears.
He came to us beaten and afraid,
But in about a year he chose to love,
Never questioning the choice he made,
Nor from that passion did he ever move.
It wasn't mere acceptance or compulsion
That made him such a gentle, loving friend.
Some innocence of which we have no notion
Gave him a depth we cannot comprehend.
He loved us with a dignity and grace
We cannot hope to answer or replace.

YOU WONDER WHETHER FATE IS ACCIDENTAL

You wonder whether fate is accidental,
Or whether this one day a harrowed heart
Might make some difference to a willing God,
Knowing well that faith is more than mental.
In fact, you know quite well that you don't know
Precisely why you're here, or why today,
Perhaps most out of loyalty, you pray,
Unwilling to let long-loved labors go,
Reciting with true grace the ancient part.

HOW SWIFTLY MARRIAGE TURNS TO SIMPLE FACT

How swiftly marriage turns to simple fact!
All the nascent strangeness fades away.
Passion is routine and pleasure plain,
Perhaps because assured. The peaceful kingdom
Yearns for what it has, and life goes on.
The love that brought you here survives intact,
Home-within-a-home where you can stay
In harmony with what you cannot name,
Resplendent as the moment you left Eden,
Destined for the wind but not alone.

THANK YOU FOR THE FAVOR OF YOUR SEED

Thank you for the favor of your seed,
Half my child, who will be mine alone,
A part of you dispassionately sown,
Nor have I of you any other need.
Kindness is your only motivation,
Yet in this act you're being more than kind,
Opening a window to the wind,
Unloosing to my heart half your creation.

» left by Jennifer Stewart

1 year 237 days ago.
152 fans.

Thanks for sharing these wonderful poems. I love the one about Ed...

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