It is not my birthday Not even close But if it was I’ll tell you what I’d do Go to the mountains blue Or the big lakes blue Or the horizon blue And then just listen To the rhythms of the place The sounds of earth’s grace From where do they come And how can I hear? My heart is already gold I have nothing to fear, Except God, Himself I know He is near Look at the flowers The birds and trees The butterflies How grand This land I am filled with joy Do not always understand Are there distant lands on Other planets In universes unknown What is impossible? I am one who believes In all possibilities Just look at the bees An army working for their queen Making honey as a gift A reality Right before our eyes How can we disbelieve anything? And why are we not working for our King? He is complete without us, but Wouldn’t that just be just the thing? Stanski February 2, 2020 ^
SUNDAY THOUGHTS
Get out the guitar Play a little song Listen to the tambourine It is funky jive Just to keep you alive Now for some rap Listen to me man I’m the preacher boy This ain’t no ploy I have a lot to say On this very day Jesus died on the cross Don’t deny He’s the boss Know what I’m saying I’m just saying It ain’t easy being Lord Watching my sinners boast I could turn them into toast That’s why I’m King Look at my golden ring Doesn’t mean a thing Could be a piece of string A reminder too Of all of you Sinners out there Do you really care? Like you say you do I can drop the other shoe But I won’t My love is too great Do not hesitate I don’t exaggerate When I say to thee Just follow me My fingers are sore There is no more No more time to play Put the music away Work now is the jive If you want to stay alive Stanski February 2, 2020 ^
FUNKY INTERLUDES
Hey, Chuck Baby You think you're eye candy Don’t be fooled This is just a block party Everyone is sweet Never mind your thoughts I know Chicago is a big city You call yourself a peace maker Why is your river green? Don’t give me that Saint Patrick’s jazz Jock it in my boy You’re feeling good Want a peacemaker interlude Don’t hold your breath We came to your party If you had to pick one interlude I hope it would be the time you spent with me When I explained how things were going to be Every day I have the blues You know what I am saying I have the funky get down You want love nationwide Too bad you don’t have a magic wand Take the party roll Make a sound for the town interlude They should call Chicago, "Chuck Town" Then would come the Chuck Town Intro Claim you love the theme from “The Godfather” People will believe you Call for a Latin interlude Jingle jangle man This is all for you Don’t mess with me now I’m just getting wound up You call me your man, but It don’t mean a thing Watch out Harlem Chuck is coming for an interlude Be careful Chuck Look out for that river Stanski February 1, 2020 ^
OLD BARNS AND SILOS
Hard to explain emotions The city, (that would be Grand Rapids) Has expanded way beyond its borders Its entities, like Spectrum Health Has satellites in all directions Schools in several cities This is called advancement Makes one proud as condition improves At the same time Just beyond the last influence I witness old farm buildings and silos Which have not functioned for eons A red painted barn with a green roof Appears to be used by a gentleman farmer One building, sun-faded gray with Weather darkened roof is still standing Nothing has been going on there for a while Birth and death on the same road A sign of the times No crystal ball available But isn’t that the way we like it A lot like brain storming Some ideas work, others don’t Good ideas expand for everyone’s apparent good Other ideas, once good, are now out of vogue I can be happy and sad at the same time We learn from the past and then bury it We anticipate the new, filled with hope It is not a merry-go-round, but I would love to grab a golden ring Be part of something bigger than myself There is so much to do in our “world” So many people unaware of possibilities Addiction, abuse, and depression Bad habits chewing up income Many problems to solve This is still today as we witness birth and death We are people of character and sensitivities There are many ways of getting involved Who, I say, if not us; when, if not now We will soon be the old barns and silos What will our record be? Who will miss us as new solutions come along? Stanski February 1, 2020 ^
A WINTER TRIP
Up at six o’clock Shower, dress, leave Daughter is with me Rely on water for fluids Head to St. Ignace Cross the Mighty Mac Continue to Traverse City Daughter picks up repaired auto We each head back I need to make three stops For fuel and de-fueling My last stop is in Gulliver I am turning right as She signals a left turn Follows me home Eight hours and fifteen minutes Staggering but beautiful Flying by on Highway 75 Trees are painted with snow Many look like Birch but are not Evergreens have branches Heavy with snow Golden leaves still on oaks Everything is as it should be This is winter Precipitation begins to fall Rain drops turning to snow flakes Roads get slushy Extra care taken Fifteen minutes and it is over Dry roads and the bridge near Cross bridge; enter God’s country You could smell it in the breeze But too cold to lower window We just know Another hour or so we are home Then our day will begin Stanski February 1, 2020 ^
WORK WILL WAIT
The day starts gray and cold Few deer along my path I make it into town Attend the morning adoration and mass Return home Cross railroad tracks Men working to install warning lights Arrive home safely Still gray and cloudy Think of work to do Not overly excited Listen to Ray Price’s “Final Sessions” He fills me up with his singing The sun comes through the clouds Snow covered ground lightens I feel inspired Decide to write So easy The decision So difficult The writing I wish to uplift people Spiritually and intellectually All things are not easy Everyone reacts differently Then the question Who am I To strive to implore improvement? Just a follower, Who is aware of the Word I know my pledge Am aware of my duty So I may say Life, easy or difficult, has its purpose We will never know for sure what it is We do know what goodness and kindness are These are great starting points, and There is nothing wrong with Hope, love, and understanding I remember the warning lights I know what they mean Life is full of them Stanski January 31, 2020 ^
WE ARE CALLED
Life is great A precious gift We succeed Propel ourselves forward We are ready when Opportunity comes our way Mostly surround ourselves With like thinking individuals Are content and make progress Time passes and we flow Then comes a change A new environment New people to work with Those who cannot comprehend Our past means nothing to them A war-chest of medals meaningless All of our facade useless Naked, as could be said, and Back to square one A new trial A challenge that overwhelms We think of the Cross The One who fell Had to get up and continue Bearing the heavy load He was carrying us, our sins Now we must rise Understand our mission Reacquaint with our true selves Know our strengths Our weakness and energy We must not linger This is life, we remember A precious gift This thought stays with us We have work to do There will be no bravos The measure of success Will be ours We draw up our game plan We begin This is truly our life, our gift Stanski January 31, 2020 ^
RED SKIES AND SUNSETS
We love the color red It comes in many shades I think tomato, fire truck Lighthouse and suspenders There are many more examples But those came to mind quickly My mind does not filter out The non-essential but Comes to grip with reality The flag red could be thrown in Respectfully, or course Fire hydrants or fire trucks Both touch us the same Red buffalo plaid conjures Up bygone days Red sails in the sunset Really are a canvas white My mind spins Little Red Riding Hood Wasn’t a hood, but Wore a red garment Many flowers are red Many shades just like Fifty shades of gray Santa Claus just came to town His outfit is red With trim of assorted colors Now he is for sale Fifty percent off Valentine’s Day is close Red, heart shaped boxes of candy Will be looked for and sought after Red is an interesting color Many things to be considered My favorite of all is Red skies and sunsets How about you? Stanski January 30, 2020 ^
WAY UP NORTH
Winter will surprise Way up north It may be mild In a relative way The sun rises late Casts long shadows Tall trees cooperate The visuals provoke thinking Do we cast shadows? How long and for how long? Something to think about When the sun goes down The shadows disappear When we go Our shadows remain If we made any in the first place Did we impact in some way? Were we aware? Is ignorance a viable excuse? We must participate If life is to have value The uphill path is lonely Not many are willing to travel Too difficult Downhill is popular It leads to nowhere, but You arrive quickly Patterns in life are common Shadows will vary as The sun rises higher Efforts bring mixed results Many factors involved Beauty is consistent When the sun Lights up the forest When clouds create cover The temperature drops Beauty remains Shadows change Will the darkness remember? Stanski January 30, 2020 ^
BEWARE OF FALSE GODS
The uninformed Pass on their gossip Feel good about themselves Like finding blame Never look in the mirror Fact checking is a strange phenomena Keep regurgitating Truth be damned Their claim looks good Even sounds good But most often Remains a lie Point only to the ones hated Neglect the obvious Praise the oppressors The midnight stars Are outnumbered By the lies told No shame exists For they are right In their own minds Which are left Offer no valid solutions Ignore obvious problems Even add to them They are heroes To their followers If wishes come true Their house of cards Will come tumbling down Stanski January 30, 2020 ^
Steve Haarman 