Anthony DiMichele, 11 december 2013
as soon as I heard Obama did a puppet show
at the funeral of Mandela
I suspected the hero of being a sociopath
a man out of time
murderous rage
doomed
to celebrity with blood on his hands
that washes off easily
after each torture session
his 2nd wedded wife necklacing kids
laughing as their heads exploded in the
ring of fire made with gas in a tire
shoved over their shoulders
which are wrapped in barbed wire
and ignited with a match
lovely
but somehow his evil was less evil than the evil
he blamed for making him resort to evil which is
righteous
so he posed with the spice girls like a sweet
ole daddy and probably
recalled all the rapes he condoned in the name of freedom
called the ANC
each could point to the truth of the others' terrorism
I hope when he died he remembered the horror
in slow motion
so it takes a lot longer than 27 years of free housing
*
Gert Strydom, 11 december 2013
Maybe I will forever seek to find
a few words that speak right through humanity,
for something that is not written in any poem or dictionary
that blows away like leaves in the wind
when eternity lies in a drop of dew,
when I hold onto the transience of a flower,
the breathtaking of the rising sun
and at times when you do hold my hand.
For all of these things I do not have the right words
and to another they may seen mere purposelessness
but the meaning of existence keeps on beaconing
like the white morning star twinkling in the distance
Maybe I will forever seek to find
a few words that speak right through humanity.
Bob Gotti, 11 december 2013
One day at a time in Jesus, so that all others shall know,
Just how He does guide us, in and through all will we go,
As God helps in our weakness, that His Grace Can show,
As He strengthens each of us, in ways only He can know.
God helps me through today, as tomorrow I’ve yet to see,
Sustaining me in every way, with strength afforded to me,
Knowing I am made from clay, I focus at times on eternity,
Knowing what God does say, He alone knows what will be.
I am given strength and power, as I walk with Jesus Christ,
Helping me every day and hour, in the darker times of life,
Grace on me, God will shower, in that day filled with strife,
Leaning on sustaining power, I am calmed by Jesus Christ.
Christ fills every day with grace, even in that darkest night,
As He leads me place to place, He guides me in His Light,
Walking every day by faith, relying upon Him not my sight,
Sustained not only by Grace, but, held up by God’s Might.
I know that in my weakness, I’ll be sustained wherever I go,
So I continue on day by day, knowing God is here with me,
Granting His grace and power, by the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
God is with me in every place, guiding me fully in His Light.
(Copyright ©12/2013 Bob Gotti)
Bob Gotti, 11 december 2013
I simply choose to understand, I am just a vessel in God’s Hand,
An empty vessel that He uses, as He desires, where He chooses,
Led by God’s Holy Spirit within, this, as all the glory goes to Him,
While The Lord above uses my life, as a witness for Jesus Christ.
I’m a vessel which God fills, for God’s purpose and as God wills;
But first I was cleansed by Christ, to be used for God, in this life,
Cleansed, by The Word within, through His Spirit, from all my sin,
His fit vessel that will be poured, all for His purpose, by my Lord.
Filled with the Truth of His Word, used by Him until all have heard,
In God’s time and by His choice, to be for Christ, one small voice,
Now given that voice to proclaim, God’s Salvation and The Name,
Of God’s Only Son, Jesus Christ, so others can have Eternal Life.
Friend it’s not me, but God’s Hand, that helps men to understand,
The Eternal Truths of His Word, as the hearts of others are stirred,
By God’s Holy Spirit my friend, as The Spirit works for God’s end,
Bringing men to God’s salvation, through God’s written Revelation.
It’s The Lord God above who fills, while drawing others as He wills,
Changing the very hearts of men, in order that they be Born Again;
This as His Spirit prepares a heart, for His Truths, which we impart,
While God uses vessels like us, the Ambassadors of Christ Jesus.
(Copyright ©12/2013 Bob Gotti)
Bob Gotti, 11 december 2013
Is Heaven just a place to go, when through with this life we know?
Is Heaven that place for everyone, when life on this earth is done?
Is Heaven, not a placed called Hell, where after life, all shall dwell?
A final place to rest in peace, in blissful comfort that won’t cease?
Or, is Heaven to you much more, than rest beyond a golden door?
Do you desire to be in Heaven, beyond earth’s twenty-four seven?
Heaven is that true home above, for all who embraced God’s Love.
That love He showed on Calvary, where Christ died for you and me.
Do you know Christ, yourself, Who provides us with eternal wealth?
Providing believers an eternal home, granted from Heaven’s Throne;
But not all will accept God’s Son, although Christ died for everyone,
And they will not secure a place, in a home that’s supplied by Grace.
For Christ spoke of Heaven and Hell, when to His hearers He did tell,
About two very opposing destinies, while both shall still be eternities,
One for those who would believe, who, The Father above will receive,
And one for rejecters of The Lord, who, by our Father will be ignored.
Both being choices, which we make, when God we accept or forsake,
Heaven for all who accept Christ, through who God offers eternal life,
Hell for after one’s final breath, rejecting Christ, to enter eternal death.
Eternal places ahead for everyone, for their choice, about God’s Son.
(Copyright ©01/2012 Bob Gotti)
Bob Gotti, 11 december 2013
Though the cancer has returned, so much from God I’ve learned,
Not from the reading of His Truth, but, my life is His living proof,
Of my Lord’s Power and Grace, granting strength place to place,
Going through every trial and test, in the Lord Jesus I found rest,
Rest which only God could give, as through that trial I would live.
I learned, in God, just how I can, put my trust In God, even when,
Life situations turn for the worst, when I look to Christ Jesus first,
Especially when days were dark, God’s Grace always left a mark,
Sustaining me in grace and power, even through the darkest hour,
This as God proved in my life, a sustaining power of Jesus Christ.
In spite of cancer I’ve had health, which provides a greater wealth,
Far exceeding temporal prosperity, with gain acquired for eternity,
As His Grace is more than rife, working out His Purpose in my life,
Using my life just as God wills, while His Purpose The Lord fulfills,
And my cancer isn’t the story, but, God’s Grace, Power and Glory.
So, as my path again has turned, I will lean upon what I’ve learned,
My total health may not be restored, but, I’ll always have The Lord,
Who, as He helps me understand, guides me with His gentle Hand,
In things I cannot comprehend, as my present life draws to an end,
With ahead a glorious destiny, when with Christ, I step into Eternity.
(Copyright ©12/2011 Bob Gotti)
Bob Gotti, 11 december 2013
Give The Lord time and space, to fill a heart with His Grace,
To calm a heart filled with fear, knowing God is always near,
Knowing no matter what the tide, in your heart He will abide,
Knowing truly within your heart, that The Lord will not depart.
At Christmas time we often sing, about tidings He will bring,
Good tidings of joy to all men, especially those Born Again,
For that is why Christ came, so all could embrace His Name,
To accept His great Salvation, that He offers to every nation.
The tides of this life, we know, here upon earth ebb and flow,
As those tides change for me, changeless is God of Eternity,
The Lord God and Creator, Who came down to be my Savior,
My Lord is my provider too, and all tides He sees me through.
Whether tides are rough or calm, I am securely in God’s Palm,
Nothing takes me from His Hand, as my Lord helps me stand,
Amidst the shifting sands of life, I’ll stand firm in Jesus Christ,
While on The Rock of Eternity, The Lord God provides for me.
Friend, at any time any place, The Lord will provide His Grace,
With tidings of joy and peace, within a heart, that won’t cease,
Throughout this life I’m assured, in all times by Christ my Lord,
Whether in need or prosperity, my Lord is The God of Eternity.
(Copyright ©12/2011 Bob Gotti)
Gert Strydom, 10 december 2013
(after S. Ign. Mocke)
Much further than man’s science can see and reach
systems of stars and planets pay honour to You
and much deeper than our conception can ever understand
is the ways that Your omnipotent thoughts constantly dwell
and on Your command star-systems and planets do appear
and the last elements of others are burned out
where in immortality You see everything beyond the bonds of time,
vigilantly keep Your hands over the undetermined space
and let Your laws, constraints, righteousness and love occur everywhere
and to me a mortal man bring salvation as a child of the King.
The thunder that flashes blue-white
when rain falls from your storage rooms
continually tells about your care and omnipotence,
in the smallest things your love and mercy is present
and when flowers bloom everywhere in spring,
when the sun rises in the hot summer
and stars gleam like torches in your heaven,
when the sun rises and disappears beyond the far horizon
I do realize that between everything there is a relationship,
that Your light penetrates through every kind of darkness
and then I do know that your heart beat pulses in all living things,
that in wisdom You do give life and let it stop,
that the names of those that follow you are etched in the marks of Your hands
and that You listen like a father to each one that asks,
that a will to serve You is hard-wired from the age-old beginning
and that a life without You is stripped from all meaning and sense,
that You also hold Your hands protecting over the cells of everyone that does exist,
that you walk ahead to pave the way for everyone
and when the winds of destiny do blow wild
I do know that our lives still do revolve in Your great plan.
[Reference: “Verwantskap” (relationship) by S. Ign. Mocke.]
Gert Strydom, 9 december 2013
When the force of strong conviction
is overwhelming and oppressing
as if others in their own interests
want to drive you away,
from this place, from this country
which you hold high and holy
when you are only seeking an own place in the sun
and do also grant others such a place
its as if you are protected,
as if God folds His hand around you.
When a human being is for many almost a god
and they are convinced that he brings a kind of peace
with his rainbow nation
but job opportunities are denied
for every one that is white,
on his command the Church Street bomb explodes
and innocent children, women and men
pay the price for that decision
then a person realises
that even the time of Nelson Mandela is determined
by the God and judge of the universe.
[References: In his book “long walk to freedom” Nelson Mandela admits to giving the command to explode the bomb in Church Street. “The Church Street bombing was a car bomb attack on 20 May 1983 by Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC), in Pretoria. The bomb exploded on Church Street at 4:30pm on a Friday. The bombing killed 19 people and wounded 217. The Church Street bombing attack was commanded by Aboobaker Ismail, authorized under the leadership of Oliver Tambo and Joe Slovo, with the knowledge and approval of Nelson Mandela. The Church Street bombing murdered both black and white people, and far more civilians than police or military.”]
Satish Verma, 9 december 2013
When hope returns, will you be in
alternative mind?
Like a praying mantis brooding for a prey
in a bowl of momentum while I have a
sense of alienation collecting a cloud of
Memories ripping open the gates of tears
and blood for the human cost of dementia;
the disorientation was not complete in
Orthomolecular state, a suicidal visit will also
not bring the diagnosis of pain and iridium hole
of perception in a concentration camp for
searching a bomber base, whether milk thistle
Drags the fears out of the bodies and heals.
I would not come back to hemiplegic wisdom
of the land that was lost centuries back to
occuping, omnipresent knowledge, the eagle
had burned his wings in holy fire!
Satish Verma