Sonnet 62 – Death Perches Near by Dennis Allen Lange

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Since life is but a mist that burns away,
A blossom that delights a day, then goes.
And since the barn’s ablaze and we are hay,
The condor e’er awaits because it knows.

We’re helpless ‘fore the ever watching eyes;
Each is exposed as in the noonday sun
One’s shadow clings no matter how he tries –
Appointment in Samarra – none can run.

Death perches near to pluck our bodies bare,
Bereft of life as idols are of gods.
The sword of Damocles hangs by a hair;
Grim Reaper, with his scythe, fore’er marauds.

Death’s always hanging over each of us;
Its touch before is slight, then ponderous.

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photo by Elvis Santana at
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/oosvh1O/california+condor+2

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© Dennis Allen Lange, 2019.

 

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The Democratic Party by Dennis Lange

You carry Sodom’s purse; you hold Gomorrah’s hand.
You say your prayers to God and court the idols of the land.
You’re double-minded like old evil Israel
And God destroyed the wicked with a Babylonian hell.
You are for women’s rights, but murder’s always wrong.
Abortion takes a human’s life; the weak killed by the strong.
Your demon lies are legion but your hardened hearts are seared;
No change, you double-down the daily slant you’ve engineered.
Our national debt is such that we can never pay –
Your spending and your promises have ruined us in that way.
You train as slaves the poor in barrio and slum
To lean and laze on government, addicted, always dumb.
Your tips are served with fear, your hands upon their throat.
Then, harlots in their misery, they spread their legs and vote,
While you, the pimp, moan o’er their pain as if you care,
When all you want is scepter, throne, and jeweled crown to wear.
You’re blind from power’s thirst so that you cannot see
That you rule from Titanic’s decks as she sinks rapidly.

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2016.

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Three Miscellaneous Haiku by Dennis Lange

Thick And Low To The Ground 

Good green grass
Makes a good life, and
Stocky stock.

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Zebras

Their pictures
Even in color,
Black and white.

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Impotent

An idol,
In the midst of life,
But has none.

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Thick – photo by Darryl Smith, freelance photographer at http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/ofBgvpE/mammal

Zebras – photo by Sias van Schalkwyk at http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/oxNfSzM/Zebras+in+Black+and+White

Impotent – photo by melodi2 (Lee) at http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mjYGFAw/Statue+in+the+pansies+1

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* The haiku I write are lines of 3-5-3 syllables instead of 5-7-5.

See Haiku article here for explanation, if needed: https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/haiku/

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2015.

 

 

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The Unknown God by Dennis Lange

…….The Unknown God

In Athens, Paul on Mars Hill stood,
.   An ocean stirred by storm
That raged within his righteous soul
.   To call for their reform.

For he had walked the city streets,
.   And seen an army there,
As mute as wood and stone can be –
.   Their idols ev’ry where.

Religious men, the Grecians were;
.   They grew gods like the grain
That fills a golden field with heads
.   Till numb’ring them is vain.

They had gods of both love and war,
.   And gods of fire and light,
A god of travel, god of home,
.   A god for help at night.

But what struck Paul strikes me as well –
.   An altar all alone,
As if it were a diff’rent thing,
.  One to a god unknown.

Since Paul knew Him they did not know,
.   He told them of the Christ,
And how He conquered death and grave
.   Post being sacrificed.

They sneered in scorn when they heard that –
.   A man raised from the dead!
Their minds were stuck on wood and stone
.   That can’t rise from a bed.

But He was there, among their gods,
.   A god of “just in case”,
A token, just an afterthought
.   They granted bit of space.

Not much has changed upon the earth,
.   Though gone are gods of stone.
The faith of Christ drove them away –
.   Jehovah stands alone.

But in the lives of most of men
.   Who grant that He is God
They fill their city with all else,
.   And give Him just a nod.

He’s still an amulet, a charm
.   As idols have the throne
That sits within the hearts of men,
.   And He? He’s still unknown.

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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2014

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Idols – haiku by Dennis Lange

 

Idols

Gods worshiped
Vertical parade –
Look like men.

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Don’t have sense,
Or might to escape
Sun or rain.

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Help needed?
Which one will come down
And aid you?

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The answer –
Not a single one.
Known, deep down.

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photo by Adrian van Leen at http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mPJ7NEW/temple+deities+looking+down

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* The haiku I write are lines of 3-5-3 syllables instead of 5-7-5.

See Haiku article here for explanation, if needed: https://thebardonthehill.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/haiku/
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© Dennis Lange and thebardonthehill.wordpress.com, 2014.

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