Little Baby

Little baby, who are you,

Born in poverty?

We are looking for a savior

Who, one day, will set us free.

We need someone to show us

That we are not alone.

We need some one to guide us on a

Path that leads us home.

Little baby, little child,

In your mother’s arms asleep.

One with God and one with man

Born among the sheep.

You let us know we all may come    

Into your presence here,

And see in yours the face of God—

You show us God is near.

Little baby, precious one,

Like us, you seem so frail.

Yet, we place our hope in you

To lift us when we fail.

The power of the universe,

You sustain with love,

Touching us with grace and peace that

Lifts our hearts above.

Little baby, in the night

Of your quiet birth,

You show us the face of God—

God in flesh on earth.

Still we do not comprehend

This holy mystery

We come to bow before you now

In quiet reverie.

Little baby, little child,

In your mother’s arms asleep.

One with God and one with man

Born among the sheep.

You let us know we all may come    

Into your presence here,

And see in yours the face of God—

You show us God is near.

 We see in yours the face of God—

You show us God is near.

©Stan Sanford

Christmas 2005

Mamma’s Christmas Present

All that Momma wanted for Christmas
Was a little something made of fur;
And Daddy is so in love with Momma
He would do most anything for her.

It broke Daddy's heart when he heard it,
'Cause he was laid off last week at the plant;
But he swore that he would make her happy.
He said, with him, there's no such word as "can't."

He did not know how he was going to do it,
Since this Christmas money was so tight.
When he suddenly hit upon the answer,
Driving home from town last Friday night.

Now, Momma wears a fur coat made from road-kill.
Daddy picked it up last Friday night.
Most women that I know would never wear it;
But as for Momma, she thinks it's alright.

He was dirving home along the swamp road,
When a furry critter ran in front of him.
He killed it outright when he hit it,
But it did not even hurt the skin.

At first Daddy was just disappointed,
When it comes to critters he's a man who cares.
Then like a flash it suddenly came to him:
This road-kill was the answers to his prayers.

So, he started driving 'round the county,
Running down anything with fur,
Dreaming of a Christmas coat for Momma,
And by morinig had enough for her.

Now, Momma wears a fur coat made from road-kill.
Daddy picked it up last Friday night.
Most women that I know would never wear it;
But as for Momma, she thinks it's alright.

Momma's happy with her Christmas present.
She says she'll wear it everywhere with pride.
But she admits that she's a little saddened,
'Cause for her gift, so many creatures died.

Now, Momma is most proud of all of Daddy.
You can't beat him by push or by shove;
And getting Momma that fur coat for Christmas,
Momma says reminds her of his love.

It really doesn't matter what the gift is.
It can be something big or something small.
If the heart is true, the gift is precious,
'Cause giving love's the greatest gift of all.

Now, Momma wears a fur coat made from road-kill.
Daddy picked it up last Friday night.
Most women that I know would never wear it;
But as for Momma, she thinks it's alright.

Copyright: Stan Sanford
December 17, 2001

Where Have All the Poets Gone

(Apologies to Pete Seeger)

Where have all the poets gone?
Nowhere, I’m guessing!
Where have all the poets gone?
I’d like to know!
Where have all the poets gone?
Gone to hiding everyone!
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

Where have all the hiders gone?

Seeking a blessing!

Where have all the hiders gone?

Gone with the flow!

Where have all the hiders gone?

Gone to dreaming everyone!

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

Where have all the dreamers gone

With their hopes pressing!

Where have all the dreamers gone?

Who saw them go?

Where have all the dreamers gone?

Gone to Muses everyone!

When will we ever learn?

When will we ever learn?

Where have all the Muses gone?

While we were stressing!

Where have all the Muses gone?

Does anyone know?

Where have all the Muses gone?

Gone to poets everyone!

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

©Stan Sanford
December 14, 2011

Dreams

I have never dreamed
Of every thing life can be
All reality

©Stan Sanford
Decembe 8, 2011

Fun with Descartes

          Being

Rene Descartes said

That cogito ergo sum

I think so I am

If I do not think

Would Rene Descartes then say

Therefore I am not

Am I here or there

In time I am never there

I am always here

If I think I think

If I think I do not think

What is it I think

          Co-ordinate Plane

Fly on the ceiling

Its location can be fixed

With just two numbers

          Dualism

Descartes’ dualism

The mind the essence of thought

Distinct from body

      

©Stan Sanford

December 4, 2011

Is God (Pascal’s Gambit)

 

Pascal, many years ago,

A scientist himself,

Saw how people using science

Put “God” upon a shelf:

“If you bet God does not exist,

Of what winnings can you sing?

You may be right, but if you are,

You have not won a thing!

But if on the other hand

That is the bet you call;

And it turns out that God exists,

Then you have lost it all.

Now, let’s say the other way,

The wager that you bring:

You bet God is, and you are wrong;

You have not lost a thing.

If by that bet, you live your life

And rise above the fall;

If God is, and you are right;

Then you have won it all.”

©Stan Sanford

December 1, 2011

In the Dance

In the Dance

Movement of the dance

All my senses fill

Wrapped around each other

Enraptured by the thrill

Of passion and of fire

Caught up to paradise

Love upon your face

Love within your eyes

Magic of the dance

Sensual delights

Flights of ecstasy

Blending sound and light

An eternal moment

No beginning and no end

Love upon your breath

Love upon your skin

Miracle of dance

Of a gift divine

All of mine is yours

All of yours is mine

Everything from God

Perfume in the air

Love within your touch

Love upon you hair

Marvel of the dance

Emotions minds amaze

Dancing through the nights

Dancing through the days

Souls in harmony

Move in creative style

Love within your voice

Love within your smile

--Stan Sanford

©2011

We Come to This Moment

We come to this moment

With all our hopes and dreams

To form a living river

From two flowing vibrant streams.

In this sacred moment

New creation is begun--

God takes our individual lives

And molds them into one.

We come to this moment--

We come to seek God’s face

With open lives before Him--

His mercy and His grace:

Mercy and forgiveness

For mistakes that we have made;

His grace and restoration

In His Love for this day.

We bring to this moment

The lives that we have lived

Redeemed through God’s salvation—

The eternal life He gives.

All we are, all we have been,

He recreates in love--

Transforms us through His power

With wisdom from above.

We offer now before His throne

The gifts that we’ve received

To claim as Gift each other

In the Promise we’ve believed:

The Promise of His Presence—

That He would always be

The eternal bond of love

Uniting you with me.

We come now to this moment

To pledge our love and life—

Each one to the other,

As husband and as wife.

©Stan Sanford

January 24, 2000

The Spiritual and Physical

The spiritual and physical,

So intricately entwined,

Hold delicately the mysteries

Of matter and of mind.

The spiritual and physical—

We cannot separate.

They must be held in harmony

And somehow they relate.

The greatest of all human minds

Have done their best to think

Of how they are connected—

Somehow explain the link.

The link remains illusive, though.

That cannot be denied

And cannot be identified,

Though many often tried.

What happens in the physical

Affects the spirit, too.

We diminish spirit

With harmful things we do.

But if we’re spiritually alive,

Our minds and bodies rise

To a higher plain of life

Made one with earth and skies.

©Stan Sanford

September 5, 2002

Naked in the Light

My soul stripped bare,

I’m standing there

Naked in the light.

Only a song

Echoes the wrong

Of what I planned for right.

I’m standing naked in the light

Nothing can I hide

Every wrong I ever did

Every lie I lied

Are now exposed

And heaven knows

The love I crucified.

How could it be

I did not see

The danger in the lurch?

No help I find

For heart or mind

From State or from the Church.

Now powerless

I only guess

At how the wind will blow

And sweep away

The words I say—

To where I do not know.

More drastic still

My strength of will

Has gone as I had feared.

With no control

Of flesh or soul

Will, too, has disappeared.

And worse of all,

As with the “Fall,”

A chasm has been cast

That separates

Where love awaits

The first one from the last.

My soul stripped bare,

I’m standing there

Naked in the light.

Only a song

Echoes the wrong

Of what I planned for right.

I’m standing naked in the light

Nothing can I hide

Every wrong I ever did

Every lie I lied

Are now exposed

And heaven knows

The love I crucified

©Stan Sanford

March 1, 2002

Homeless

When the night comes down upon you

And you have no place to rest,

When the light of day deserts you

And in the darkness you’re distressed,

When you feel like you are wasted

In the shadows all alone,

And when you can’t remember why

You’re there without a home,

When you have no one to turn to,

When you have no one to care,

You only have to call my name,

I promise I’ll be there.

When no one recognizes you

And the world is passing by,

When people do not look your way

Or care if you live or die,

When hunger will not leave you

And the morning finds you cold,

When you have nothing worth stealing

But they’re out to take your soul,

When you think you’ve reached the end

And do not have a prayer,

You only have to call my name,

I promise I’ll be there.

When regret walks in the darkness

Of the shadows of your mind,           

And you struggle with your mem’ries

But you cannot seem to find

A trace of friendly faces there

Of those who shared your life—

You no longer know your children;

You can’t recall your wife—

When you heart becomes so heavy

That it’s more than you can bear,

You only have to call my name,

I promise I’ll be there.

I'll be there with you in darkness.

I’ll be there with you in pain.

And when you have no shelter

I’ll be with you in the rain,

I will be your sanctuary—

Your dispossession I will share.

And when you think you are most alone,

I promise I’ll be there.

©Stan Sanford

October 1, 2011

Earth Water Wind and Fire

Flames flare all around us

Inferno heat intense

Prepare now for the battle

Take up the defense

Defense becomes offensive

Friend becomes enemy

Fire works destruction

Breaking unity

Floods flash from above us

The tempest rushes on

Grasping at the flotsam

Terra firma gone

Each man looks out for himself

Room enough for one

Solitary castaway

When the storm is done

Foundations fall beneath us

Earthquake nothing stands

Houses built upon the rock

Houses built on sand

We cannot run for shelter

We just run away

All the bonds are breaking

This is judgment day

Fury forces down the walls

For protection built

Scatters the protected

Jetsam in the silt

Caught up in the whirlwind

Blinded by debris

Fragment batters fragment

Eyes no longer see

It is the test it’s judgment day

I seem to always fail

In earthquake storm and fire

Faith and courage quail

Failure needs forgiveness

Free and unearned grace

Favor without merit

To hold the parts in place

Wholeness or destruction

Crises are at hand

We will fall if torn apart

Together we may stand

Wedges only separate

What will admit the wedge

We can only stand at all

Together on the ledge

Earth water wind and fire

Destroyers seem to be

But the essence of existence

In some philosophy

Let not the elements destroy

That which they compose

What creates life causes death

In solitude disposed

©Stan Sanford 

January 30, 2001

She Touches Me

 (Written as song lyrics)

My body’s tired and worn.

The day’s been hard on me.

I’m like a child, new-born

When she quietly

Touches me.

She touches me.

She has the healing touch.

She takes away my pain,

And I need her so much

To make me whole again.

She has the healing touch.

The magic in her skin

Has loving power’s such

That I am healed again

When she touches me.

She touches me.

I’m troubled and confused.

The world has bent my brain;

But then my mind’s renewed

When she once again

Touches me.

She touches me.

I ache deep in my soul—

My failure and my sin.

I am again made whole,

When my closest friend

Touches me.

She touches me.

©Stan Sanford

July 23, 2001

Daffodil

A daffodil in bloom

Foretells the coming spring.

It dances softly on the breeze.

I think I hear it sing—

A song of its Creator,

The Power of Life who gives

Existence to the universe

And everything that lives.

A daffodil in bloom—

Profound simplicity—

In quiet yellow elegance

Sings of God to me.

©Stan Sanford

March 4, 2004

The Memory of Your Kiss

I hit the road at five o’clock.

An early morning haze

Settles on my windshield and

Then quickly runs away;

And I recall how swiftly, too,

Time passes like the mist

And leaves behind a memory

Of things time can’t resist.

That memory, a chain of gold,

Will bind your heart to mine,

Will warm my soul, and ride with me,

And stand outside of time;

Of all the things I take with me

That I will reminisce

Nothing is more treasured than

The memory of your kiss.

Only half an hour ago

You whispered in my ear

A soft “Good-bye” and, “I love you;”

And, “I will miss you, Dear.”

That memory will leave a trace

Running through my mind

Reminding me of all I have

That I must leave behind.

More than a memory, your kiss

Somehow still lingers there.

It brightens up the dark of night

And warms the chilly air.

Nothing in this world I know

Could make me more remiss

Than if I did not take with me

The memory of your kiss.

©Stan Sanford

February 18, 2002

Boundaries

At times boundaries

Clearly defined in my mind

Hint reality

Take the old coast road

You will find a memory

Childhood created

Where different worlds meet

Perhaps you will find me there

Reconciling minds

Into the abyss

I fall in expectation

Of greater beauty

I find peace in strength

Of worlds so far beyond me

I know not their names

Mountains merge with sea

Loosing self in the abyss

There creating both

©Stan Sanford

October 25, 2011

The Maze

Through the maze of human thought,

Art and philosophy

Of science and religion,

Of prose and poetry,

He seeks an understanding

Of all reality.

Still he cannot find his way

To where he wants to be;

The real remains elusive--

Beyond all he can see

By faith, by sense, by logic—

An unsolved mystery!

Though he may not find his way out,

The maze may be what it’s about.

©Stan Sanford

October 24, 2011