Jacob

Lied Jacob to his dear old dad.

Said “venison,” when goat he had.

But soon he was lied to,

Sorrows he oft knew.

Sinful oats “multiply like mad.” –eab, – 3/3/05,  Gen 27.19

 

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Away

Creatures of time for a moment,

Creatures of eternity for aye,

Living once and so briefly,

Then passing forever away.

 

But away to what? Is the question,

To freeze the very soul;

Away to the place where one had

Planned to make his final goal?

 

Or away to the unexpected? 

Away to the undesired?

Where the sky is never blessed

With a morning sun, newly fired.

 

Away to the region of sorrows and griefs,

Here-to-fore unknown,

Away to reap the abundant harvest

Of “wild oats” carelessly sown.

 

Away to a place without babies,

To divert from the problem at hand.

Away to a scene, worse by far,

Than Alamo, or Custer’s Last Stand.

 

Away to separation – Separation  

– How sad that word, how sad!

Separation from a praying Mother,

Separation from a faithful Dad.

 

O God, may I die as the righteous,

Peaceful, Calm, Prepared.

And come to the brink of the river,

Knowing I have not spared.   -eab, 11/1973

 

Written in Nevada, Ohio

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Man Is a Spirit

I’ve noticed one thing as I traverse the earth,

With its tears, and smiles, sorrows, and mirth,

That the steps we leave in snow and sand,

When reviewed at a stop, help us understand

The wanderings and achievements of man.

That man’s acts, though small and erased by time,

For a moment and mile appear sublime;

But wind and wave leave the print no more,

For man is a spirit, on eternity’s shore.   -eab, 11/27/70 

 

Written after being somewhat surprised at seeing my on footsteps in the snow in the West Rushville, Ohio cemetery.  I had visited the grave of my only brother, Keith R. Bryan, who was killed in boot camp (Ft. Lewis, Washington) in 1954.

 

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