Memorial Tablet

War is a terrible thing. I think this poem brings out the tragedy and irony of war. It is very moving.
On another note, I know that I have been posting almost exclusively poetry for the last month or so. I will try to get some other things on here soon!

Squire nagged and bullied till I went to fight,
(Under Lord Derby’s Scheme). I died in hell –
(They called it Passchendaele). My wound was slight,
And I was hobbling back; and then a shell
Burst slick upon the duck-boards: so I fell
Into the bottomless mud, and lost the light.

At sermon-time, while Squire is in his pew,
He gives my gilded name a thoughtful stare:
For, though low down upon the list, I’m there;
‘In proud and glorious memory’ . . . that’s my due.
Two bleeding years I fought in France, for Squire:
I suffered anguish that he’s never guessed.
Once I came home on leave: and then went west . . .
What greater glory could a man desire?

-Siegfried Sassoon

Night Sky

This poem I wrote came to mind the other night as I was sitting under the stars. At the time this poem was written, I was just discovering poetry and dabbling in writing. Shortly afterward, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel annouced that for national poetry month they would be publishing the poems of local teens. I sent mine in and it got published. While this poem is not the one I am most proud of, it does have special meaning to me as it is my first (and only) “published” work. Read on.

The darkness is palpable
Where I am
All is black and beautiful
Nature is asleep -
Silent
I look to the nocturnal sky -
A surreal contrast to the terrestrial darkness
It has become transparent
Reavealing a myriad of hidden lights
A window to the ever moving universe
More stars than I can comprehend
Glow faintly
Adding their silvery lustre to the black canvas
They seem close enough to touch
Like shining grains of sand
Yet they are unfathomably distant
As distant as I feel now from the noxious fumes
Of where I was -
As the pale light of sunrise begins
To mingle with the sidereal
I feel as if I have a front row
Seat at an orchestral matinee -
Of sight

- Sam Guzman, 16, Heritage Christian School

This is the link to an archive of the original article.

I Thank You

It is a beautiful day: the sky is blue and the sun is rejoicing. God’s creation is incredible. It is for this reason that I would like to post a poem that comes to my mind on every beautiful day. Enjoy.

i  thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginably You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

-e.e. cummings