Wish the Fish 02 (chores) 2-27-15

ONCE upon a splashing time

a little fish wished he could rhyme.

But 'Wish the Fish' lived in the sea

and brought so much calamity.

---

One day mom said, "Now do your chores.

I've done all mine.  Now you do yours.

Go make your bed, then get your broom

and sweep the seashells from your room."

Well, this made Wish the Fish quite sad.

He wondered if his friends all had.

And then he thought, "Hmm, could I take

a little swim, a little break?"

So careful not to stir the sand,

Wish swam right out his window and

off to his friend's, he took a look,

then saw a juicy worm on hook...

It dangled down in front of him.

It seemed so small and awfully slim.

But Wish was hungry.  He would eat

and took a bite which was so sweet...

But oh, the yank that pulled him out!

The hook had hurt!  Wish tried to shout.

"What happened here?" himself, he asked.

It all had happened very fast.

Wish flopped around there on the sand

before he knew what happened and

his gills were hurting from the air.

Wish flopped some more.  Did no one care?

And there he lay to his dismay.

Wish wished he hadn't swam away.

Oh, how he wished he had obeyed -

so on the sand, at last, he prayed...

Now Wish the Fish, could not be found.

His mom had searched and searched.  She frowned.

She was perplexed.  She was afraid.

And then, at last, she also prayed...

Oh, Wish the Fish would soon be dead

if hadn't been for this instead:

He heard a lower bass voice call,

"Just throw it back!  It's way too small!"

No longer bound by ugly sin,

our Wish the Fish could swim again!

He swam straight home - despite so weak -

hugged tight his mom and kissed her cheek.

---

The moral of this poem's great,

if this whole world would love, not hate

their chores!

©2015 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Wish the Fish (introduced in story 01)

Wish the Fish 01 (mom's advice) 2-26-15

ONCE upon a splashing time

a little fish wished he could rhyme.

But 'Wish the Fish' lived in the sea

and brought so much calamity.

---

Now Wish was just a little fish,

Blue, red, yellow - oh, and greenish.

He loved his mom 'cause she was nice

but sometimes gave too much advice.

Wish thought, so crude, the meals she stewed.

They tasted more like people food.

But mom said, "Eat.  Eat ev'ry bean."

Just eat until your plate is clean."

Now mom's advice to clean his plate

was wrong, Wish thought.  He seldom ate.

(He'd take his fork, scrape off her cookin' -

then hid it when she wasn't lookin').

So no, Wish didn't eat too much

until his hunger pangs were such

he gobbled down his candy bars

and emptied all mom's cookie jars.

The next day, ohhh, the stomach ache!

And then mom offered cream and cake.

Wish turned her down, not once, but twice

and wished he'd taken her advice.

---

The moral of this poem's great,

if this whole world would love, not hate:

mom's advice!

©2015 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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God's Sparrow 2-23-15

My mother? I miss her. You don't know how much

with hugs, warm and loving, with her gentle touch.

And father, not perfect, had sure done his best.

Together, in Heaven, they in His arms rest.

---

Interpreting thoughts that were mine with my weeping,

on wee branch up high, a young sparrow was keeping.

With sharp and loud chirping, I felt ever small.

It ripped me to pieces when I heard it all.

Then, when it had finished, it flew out of sight -

and it left a message, quite brutal, but right -

when I heard, "You're fake - a great imitator,

forgiven by God, your Maker, Creator."

My eyes had welled up with tears of repentance -

with close fam'ly ties and those times of remembrance.

Though precious, the mem'ries I wouldn't exchange,

those days were but hist'ry that I couldn't change.

It sure got me thinking. Oh, how could it be,

I thought not of others - but only of me?

Those years have all passed and are not coming back.

They shook up my heart like a massive attack.

I now see the world and sparrow in tree -

and even myself now so dif-fer-ent-ly.

Priorities changed now that I've been set straight

by that little, lone sparrow I started to hate.

But I thank God's sparrow that perched in the tree,

which brutally, honestly uncovered me -

exposing my selfishness, failures and sin.

Repentant, forgiven, I'll see them again.

©2015 louis gander - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Tulips and Roses 2-19-15

Right under our noses

are tulips and roses.

There's no place that I'd rather be.

And if you come hither

you'll find they won't wither

for God surely loves you and me.

A rainbow of colors

are splattered on flowers

that all of creation can see.

And when they're a-blooming,

exquisite perfuming

enhances His paintings for me.

The world won't believe Him,

far out on their tree limb.

Opinions are having their say.

They make me so dizzy

because they're so busy

and can't find eternity's way.

I know you would rather

join with me and gather

up armfuls of rainbow's bouquets -

and inside His painting

enjoy His creating

the rest of eternity's days.

So join me and jump in

to painting, born again,

where flowering landscapes are true.

Here living with respect

is Heavenly perfect

in vibrant and colorful hue.

Right under our noses

are tulips and roses.

There's no place that I'd rather be.

And if you come hither

you'll find they won't wither

for God really loves you and me,

for God really loves you and me.

©2015 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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I Corinthians 13:13 (NASB)

"...but the greatest of these is love."

As Darkness Falls 2-16-15

The sun's at rest

upon the west -

as lighted pathway fades.

Today I'm lost, so what's the cost for all my sick charades?

The bottom line:

Decisions?  Mine,

though future couldn't see.

I ventured off the straight and narrow pathway meant for me.

I can''t embark.

It's awful dark.

Time spurns to take me back.

Oh, how had I been led astray by winding pathways black?

Some say that no

one's perfect so,

"it doesn't matter much".

But that's not what the Savior said with cross and thorns and such.

He suffered there

in anguish where

His love could cover men -

and faithfully had paid my debt upon that cross of sin.

On grieving face

was matchless grace

so I could be set free -

but stubbornly I trod my long and winding path... for me.

Now here I stand

as owls land.

Life skates along its way.

I'm lonely, very lonely here a-midst my final day.

So what's the cost?
Today, I'm lost.

I've had so many fears.

The darkness falls.  'Forever' calls as pathway disappears.

©2015 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Matthew 24: 10-13 (NASB)
10 At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
12 Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.
13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

Intentionally Left Blank 2-13-15

I look through all my papers.

I search but cannot find.

Exploring notes and all my files,

I hunt my absent mind.

But I can't find them anywhere.

I seek throughout the day.

I cannot sleep as stars come out

Have I something to say?

I'd like to write of God above
and all His majesty.
Unless I take the time to pray,
those words will never be.

But I can't find the words to use.

Thoughts pierce me like a knife.

My life could be much better if

pure words rhymed with my life.

Escapes me, too, the letters

that float away on streams,

winding through the rapids fast,

that disappear with dreams.

Oh, how can rhyming phrases flow

and sentences galore -

when I can't find mere letters here?

My phrases come no more.

If only I could find them...

the words, so you could know 'em,

then I could write the stanzas down

in one breathtaking poem.

Instead, I search inside myself.

With absent prayers, my words -

just float away on rivers or

are carried off with birds...

So here I sit with naught to say,

so let me just be frank.

Who'd care to read another line?

(intentionally left blank)

©2015 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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Find the Butterfly (song lyrics) 2-1-15

I wanted to be different,
I wanted to be free,
I wanted something special but
I simply couldn't see.
For I was blind to peace of mind -
through clouds it'd never be.
How could I find the butterfly in me?
How could I find the butterfly in me?

On beach, so sad, I lonely was.
A large, dark storm cloud said,
"Your shore is very empty and
your soul is all but dead."
The waves crashed and - soaked in the sand
but truth soaked not in head,
and blackness washed my beauty out instead,
and blackness washed my beauty out instead.

My footprints weren't forever and
they didn't last long-term.
I sought to be so happy but
the sand just wasn't firm.
The hint I saw had dropped my jaw
but sun could not confirm.
My life was like a lowly, ugly worm.
My life was like a lowly, ugly worm.

I wanted to be happy and
be satisfied by noon.
I wanted to be joyous too
and laugh that afternoon.
I tried to fly high in the sky,
like colorful balloon -
and not confined to my dark, dead cocoon,
and not confined to my dark, dead cocoon.

Reality descended then
down to a weathered dock.
It's usefulness was gone and all -
its boards were stumb'ling blocks.
I couldn't halt nor could I fault
the waves upon heart's rock -
and time flew by with ticking of the clock,
and time flew by with ticking of the clock.

The angry sky had thundered then.
I heard the ocean's din.
I couldn't see creation or
the higher tide begin.
I searched my mind but couldn't find -
for nothing had sunk in -
while ocean's truth still splashed upon my sin,
while ocean's truth still splashed upon my sin.

Then lost and wand'ring aimlessly,
along some pine and birch,
my pride had died in front of an
abandoned country church.
I walked inside, but couldn't hide.
My soul was in the lurch -
but that had ended my long journey's search,
but that had ended my long journey's search.

My tears flowed as a river there.
I dropped down to my knees.
T'was then I saw some color like
the autumn's rainbow leaves.
My God above sent ocean's love,
His grace was as the seas -
and now this butterfly floats on the breeze,
and now this butterfly floats on the breeze.

If you confess that you're a worm,
repent in your cocoon,
then God has promised all His grace
and you'll become immune.
And by and by, your butterfly
will spread its wings and soon -
will glide on rainbow leaves to sunset's moon,
will glide on rainbow leaves to sunset's moon.

So if you find the butterfly
that's born again in you,
then you, my friend, have Jesus and
shall fly to Heaven too.
Agape love from God above
bares rainbow's brilliant hue -
and brings eternal joy to pull you through,
and brings eternal joy to pull you through.

©2015 louis gander ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

http://www.ganderpoems.org/

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1 John 1:9 (NASB)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Acts 2:38 (NASB)
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.