Author: stevehaarman

I am happy to know Jesus

And his willingness to die

For us to give us redemption

When I wake up I say, “Jesus,

Jesus, Jesus, stay close to me

This day.  Bring opportunity

To me to help others and to

Utter kind words regardless

Of the situation.  I want you

For my brother and friend

Never forgetting that it would

Be you lowering yourself as I

Could never on my own rise

Up to your level of being.  I

Can try to imitate you and

Walk cobble roads greeting

People and teaching them

The good news.  This and the

Knowing that you approve and

Even promoted the idea of

Going to the fringes to serve

Those in need and when I

Think that solutions are

Impossible I rejoice because

I have you holding my hand

And then I move forward

Turning wasted time into

Fruitful accomplishments

I rejoice and find the quiet

Joy of knowing that I tried

Found some success and

Will hopefully wake up

Tomorrow and repeat what

Is becoming my regular

Routine.  How many ways

Are there to rejoice; I think

That every success through

You is reason to rejoice.  I

Will keep coming to you, my

Brother with gratitude and

Thanksgiving.  The gift of life

Is precious and I rejoice.

Stanski

September 12, 2022, ^

We see them all the time

Their vision needs to be

Only thirteen inches

Beyond that is not necessary

They walk down the street

Communicating with each other

Not with words from their mouths

But messaging each other on

I-phones.  5G or whatever.

Potentially harmful but life is short

Well, here is where I live

See you later, OK?

I’ll message you tonight

See you then

Hi, Mrs. Jones.  Doing fine.

You look good.  I half to run

A call is coming in

Stanski

September 11, 2022, ^

SELF IMPORTANCE

Importance is good

It should be earned

Not purchased,

Just because I can

Write some pretty good

Poetry doesn’t mean it will

Be published because

There are many poets,

Some much better than me

Who are never published

I have a lovely family

They love art but do

Not trumpet their work

They do not walk waving flags

Laudations come their way

But they take it in stride.  If they

Became noted I would be

Very happy for them

I would never compete

With them for the most

Honors and I would never

Self-publish and include them

In the process to show how

Generous I am.  I have a lot

Of poems, muses and

Meditations and could publish

Hundreds of books, but why?

I have nothing to prove

I seek goodness, my goodness

To others to help lift them

To their potential.  I am

Observant and helping those

In need is one of the most

Euphoric things I can do.

I love to sing, but have

No recordings.  “Over the

Rainbow” is one of my favorites              

And if I have offended anyone

Then “Sorry seems to be

the hardest word”

By Ray Charles and Elton John  

Does it for me. 

Stanski

September 8, 2022, ^                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

It was due to rain

But then it cleared

My phone rang with news

Men would come and work

Overgrown shrubs would

Finally be removed

The benefactor wanted change

Something much simpler

Requiring less upkeep and care

An elevated garden featuring

Hydrangeas and Hollyhocks

Supported with perennials

Ground cover and rocks

A few sprinkles came

The work went on

No thunder or lightning

Would put asunder

What we had waited for

Clear days are useful

Especially when

The sun is there to lift you

But the gray and cloudy

Have their own beauty

And much is accomplished

No place would you rather be

This work completed

Complimented landscape

That still remained

Trucks and heavy equipment

Can be a very good thing

All the mess was removed

And the planted garden was

Ready to prosper with

The now falling rain

Stanski

September 5, 2022, ^

The house was empty

Except for me

What had been merriment

Only a week ago

Was now almost a grim silence

The weather, too, had taken

A turn.  Whatever tilts in the

Heavens tilted toward winter

The morning is cold and quiet

The lake has a glaze of smooth

It has been an awkward year

Spring had to fight to show up

And then was rainy and cold

Summer was gray with only

A few days of sunshine

The lake water was not often

Warm for swimming.  When the

Sun was right the kayaks had

To fight the waves.  There were

No complaints though; everyone

Was having fun.  We ate well; had

Our fires and the week went by

Like the snap of fingers and then

The packing and trip to the airport

All of the anticipation and now

The goodbyes.  Tears and sadness

The hard-to-swallow process

The talk of moving here became

A dream again.  There are hopes

But doubts prevail.  We have

Ways to find contentment

I have to wait for my body

To heal.  I has been almost

Seven months since I fell

And tore my quadriceps and

Three months since I fell again

Delaying the healing process

Time heals all wounds

I hope so

Stanski

September 1, 2022, ^

The storm was over

The rain had vanished and

Was replaced by the sun

A beautiful day to say

Goodbye to my children

They had been visiting

For over a week.  The

Flight was to Sacramento

So they would be occupied

On the trip for most of

The day. We had a good

Gathering and many laughs

Were had.  Memories

Surfaced, happy and sad

We would not trade our

Time together for anything

The years go by quickly, it

Seems, so we will see them

Sooner than we can know

Some are talking about

Moving here, but talking

Is easier than doing.  I

Hope they do make the move

I tell them that when they

Move here I will move to

Santa Fe.  They do not

Believe me, so they will

Have to move here to

Find out.  Adventures are

Awesome and New Mexico

Lake Michigan has a lot to

Offer.  The house is quiet

Except for the Television.

It is like going from day to

Night; from summer to winter

And you ask the proverbial

Question:  Where did all the

Time go?  I will get used to

The quiet, but will surely

Miss them.

Stanski

September 1, 2022

TODAY’S HAPPENINGS

Last night a peal of thunder and

The lightning storm stirred our

Inner kid and put on a

Remarkable show.  Today

Started with rain but then

We had beautiful sunshine

I had physical therapy and

Then acupuncture in the morning

We stopped for coffee and such

Then came home.  My aching body

Felt better, but I know that I

Have a long road ahead to

Recovery. It is frustrating but

The dude shall abide.  I have

Many cheerleaders. But no

Pom-poms which is good

Yesterday I received a prayer

Shaw from my church.  I am

Thankful for it and for the

Kind thoughts

I am grateful for the many

People in our community

Who I know and care for

Life is a funny in the way it

Throws curve balls.  I would

Like to hit this one out of the

Park but I have to learn to

Walk on ice first.  I sang

“Blue Moon”.  It made me

Think that I am still waiting

For the only one my arms

Could ever hold.  I prayed

Please adore me and when

I looked the moon had

Turned to gold.  I wish.

But someone will come along.

Stanski

August 29, 2022,^

Oh how easy to blame someone

For your own stupidity and your

Willingness to go along just because

Everyone else is and now three of

My best friends are pregnant but to

My shame I got away with it and

There was no joy about that but

Regret for my friends who were

Lost in the moment and found out

Later that nothing was worth the

Few seconds of ecstasy and the

Many hours a regret will never make

Up for the moments, we thought we

Were on top of the world.  We had

Been warned but evil overtook goodness

And now we hope that the light will

Overcome the darkness which prevails

Oh we’re not the only ones does little

To overcome the misery we find

Ourselves in. the friendships break up

And the blame game begins and soon

We are alone to think things over

By ourselves.  We are on a diet of

Despair wondering how we could be

So foolish and now have consequences

To pay.  Maybe we were lucky; maybe they

Were unlucky, but soon the world will

Be blessed with three miracles and feelings

Will change and light will overcome

All the depression.  People will no longer

Look at me as if I were the guilty one

And I can jump back on the Merry-go-round

Of life remembering not to roll the dice

Stanski

August 28, 2022,^

It was raining cats and dogs

The sky had white, gray and

Black clouds hanging over us

It reminded me of John Ball Park

A nice zoo for the size of its town

We went there once for

Theater in the Round.  We had

A great time especially when

They let us dance on the stage

It was crowded but no injuries

It has been a while since we

Have danced.  You in my arms

Telling me how handsome i

Looked in my black outfit that

Had a tie I couldn’t tie right

We danced and then drove away

You looked at as many clouds as

You could, even naming them

I could only smile.  When you

Ran out of flowers you switched

To animals and even made up

Some because it would be a shame

To waste a good cloud. 

We arrived home and got inside

Just before the downpour

Oh how lucky we were

I told you so because we were dry

And also because I had you and

You had me and I got the best

Of that tradeoff

We listened to our records

For a while and sipped on

The good cognac I had saved

For special occasions

The lightning, thunder, and music

Went well together and after a

While we didn’t care

We went to bed on the old

Feather mattress

A wonderful night for dreams

Stanski

August 26, 2022, ^

I called the number

Given on the reorder form

It was a computer link

I followed along as instructed

A few struggles but I made it

Then they asked for

Shipping address

They wouldn’t accept

My post office box, so

I gave them my new

Physical address, which

They wouldn’t accept

I had moved since my last order

They told me to take it to

My bank to process

The bank struggled because

I use three checks to a page

And not one like most

People do.  They had switched

To a new company because of

Costs and the new company

Did not offer three to a page

So it was back to the old company

They did not go to five digits

On the checks numbers so i

Agreed to start again at 1000

They still had the shipping

Address problem and would not

Send to my post office box

But would rather drop off

The package on my porch

Where the weather could

Have a chance of damaging them

They also cost about six times

More than the new company

I had been about an hour

Getting the over-priced order

Right, so not it is over and

I wait patiently.

Stanski

August 25, 2022, ^