Remember Your First Kiss

 

In the mountains in the summer

Catching fireflies

Children growing up so fast

In the morning of their lives

In the dark their hands touch

Electrical display

In innocence their lips meet

And night breaks into day

The magic of a summer night

Stars dance around the moon

Fireflies forgotten

The evening ends too soon

Hidden in a memory

Through the passing years

Your first kiss lies sleeping

Safe from all pain and fears

The magic of your first kiss

May vanish in the night

And fade into a memory

With the morning light

In the coastal plains in winter

Miserable and cold

A memory forgotten

Stirs within your souls

On the carousel of life

The boredom and the dance

Meet someone you’ve met before

Chance meetings aren’t by chance

Emotions are awakened

The memory lies asleep

Your first kiss is calling you

As into love you leap

Slowly the memory awakes

Like opening a door

And now you are united

With one you’ve known before

The memory of your first kiss

May come to life again

And awaken life in you

True love without an end

© 2012, Stan Sanford



A Gentle Breeze

A gentle breeze walks through the night

Without disturbing sleep.

It whispers at the window—

Deep that calls to deep.

Out of the night there comes a light

The eyes of day can’t see.

The light forms sound in words profound:

The love you have for me.

(Chorus)

Into the darkness of the night

A light I never knew:

The love you have for me;

The love I have for you.

I no longer fear the shadows

Of the dangers lurking there

For I’ve found peace and safety

In the love that we two share.

A silver star walks through the night

Across a silent sky.

A moment and infinity

Together in it fly.

Freedom’s call to one and all

With strength to follow through:

Peace in strife the whole of life,

The love I have for you.

A gleaming moon walks through the night

And slips into the room.

It brings soft light to darkness

Dispelling cold and gloom.

In it I see you come to me--

An angel moving there.

You hold me near and melt my fear:

The love that we two share.

©2012, Stan Sanford

Picture Credit: Lyle Huisken, http://stuffredsaid.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/gentle-breeze/

To Nora

 

We all exist as lights in the world—

All the same, yet, each distinct and unique.

Some of us have a softer, gentler glow

And more effectively penetrate the darkness.

And you shine:

A warm welcome light,

Drawing energy from the Light of the World.

Your light quietly dispels shadows

And warms the gloom.

Your light brightens the path for weary travelers,

Reassures those who hesitate,

And reveals a comforting Presence to the lonely.

You share your joy with those who rejoice

Making the good even better.

You connect with the sorrow of those who mourn

Making the heavy load lighter.

You follow the words that said,

“Let there be light,” and

“Let your light shine,”

And the beauty of creation increases.

 

©2004, Stan Sanford 



Looking to the Horizon With Ambivalence

Having traversed the continent

From the east coast to the west,

I stand above the shoreline now--

An aching, longing in my chest.

I long to leave this life behind

And sail the heavens’ endless sea;

An aching in my heart says, “Turn;”

I see a child who follows me.

Something calls to me, “Press on.

There’s much to see beyond the stars.”

But then a whisper comes to me,

“I have not traveled with you far”

My journey’s drawing near its end

While your trek here has just begun

Yet I will stay long as I may

To show the way to you, my son.

© 2012 Stan Sanford



Liberation

         

I am a slave to time and space

Break the bonds and set me free

To soar through the unfolding worlds

Only the mind can see

To break the bonds of time and space

That cannot mean I cease to be

My mind cries out to know the Mind

Who gave the gift of thought to me

Being transcends life and death

As air above the land and sea

Rises yet is bound to earth

By the force of gravity

So my mind set free in yours

Soars beyond infinity

Beyond the scope of time and space

The when and where of life for me

© 2012 Stan Sanford



United Here We Stand

We are many different people.

Our fathers came from different lands.

We all share a dream of freedom;

Now, united here we stand.

United here we stand:

We have answered freedom’s call.

Here we stand in truth and justice;

Even if our back’s against the wall.

United here we stand:

United in equality,

We are all Americans,

United here in liberty.

You may try to divide us

By ethnicity or creed.

You may try to terrorize us.

You may even make us bleed;

But you will never separate us.

We’re growing stronger ‘cross this land.

Instead of fear you create courage,

‘Cause united here we stand.

United here we stand:

We have answered freedom’s call.

Here we stand in truth and justice;

And you will never make us fall.

United here we stand,

United in equality,

We are all Americans,

United here in liberty.

We are many different colors:

Red, and yellow, black and white.

We don’t claim that we are perfect.

We don’t say we’re always right.

But we’re in this thing together—

Every woman, child, and man—

And the strongest helps the weakest,

‘Cause united here we stand.

United here we stand:

We have answered freedom’s call.

Here we stand in truth and justice;

We’re together, one and all.

United here we stand:

United in equality,

We are all Americans,

United here in liberty.

We are many different colors.

Our fathers came from different lands.

We all share a dream of freedom;

Now, united here we stand.

©Stan Sanford

December 3, 2001



One Good Man

One Good Man

They said they needed “a few good men.”

He wanted to answer the call;

He was less than five foot four;

But very few have stood so tall.

At first they would not take him in:

His height did not fit their plan;

When the war came, the standard changed,

And the Corps got one good man.

You can say he wasn’t perfect;

Many faults he had

You can say that I am biased,

Because I called him, “Dad.”

But just ask me about him,

I’ll tell you what I can--

I will not hesitate to say,

“He was one good man.”

In summer he took me fishing,

Hunting in the fall;

He loved God and nature, too;

And he wanted me to know it all.

Anger never raised his voice—

A quiet man with peaceful ways—

Standing tall as one good man

Throughout his earthly days.

If you needed what he had

Or just a helping hand,

He was there to meet that need;

If you fell, he’d help you stand.

He took care of his family ties;

Taught me how to love the land;

Now, I’m trying to walk that road—

My Dad was one good man.

©Stan Sanford

June 14, 1996

Crucifixion

Crucifixion

Must I be here a tortured soul

If I’m to reach the destined goal

That you have set for me?

Must I lie awake in the night

To win the war but lose the fight

For what I am to be?

Must I bear this endless pain—

Endure the fire and the rain

To bring my words to life?

And why can’t I vicariously

Know virtual reality

And circumvent  the strife?

This cup I do not want to drink!

But from my calling can I shrink

And be what I must be?

Why can’t you find another way

To let me see another day—

Let this cup pass from me.

If to give life, I’m bound to die;

If I must crawl before I fly,

Then I’ll pick up this cross.

If must face today the grave

And lose my life my life to save,

I count my life as loss.

©Stan Sanford

January 24, 2002

Words

Words

Words run around inside my head

While I’m lying in my bed

When I cannot sleep at night;

So, I get up and try to write

Down the things I want to say

But fine the words have run away.

I look up at the planting moon,

And in my head I hear a tune.

I start to move and feel by chance

My feet have begun to dance;

I look for words that I might sing

But can’t recall a single thing.

Somewhere there’re words that I can use

In my responses to the Muse

When she whispers in my ear

The song of life, simple and clear;

So, I will search until I find

Elusive words and make them mine.

© Stan Sanford 2012

Waiting For the Morning

Waiting for the Morning

She sits beside her window

And stares into the night

She’s waiting for the morning

She’s longing for the light

The night finds her so lonely

Intensifies the pain

She’s praying for the sunrise

To warm her face again

Waiting for the morning

Through the dark of night

For light to give you meaning

When day restores your sight

Waiting for the morning

It is more than you can bear

For you are lost in darkness

And no one seems to care

He’s waiting there on death row

All his appeals are gone

He awaits the consequences

For all the things he’s done

He had a talk with Jesus

He's tried to make it right

He sits there in the darkness

Just waiting for the light

Drowning in my loneliness

I live with constant pain

I’m crying for connections

To heal my soul again

But I have burned my bridges

No advance and no retreat

I’m waiting for the morning

Where need and resource meet

©Stan Sanford

December 03, 2007

Any Friend of Jesus

Any Friend of Jesus

He was a ragged man.

He was living on the street.

He wore a frown and dirty clothes.

He had no food to eat.

Jesus said he was his friend

And would be for all time.

Any friend of Jesus

Must be a friend of mine.

(Chorus)

If you’re a friend of Jesus

You are a friend of mine—

No matter what your circumstance,

No matter what your sign.

I’m not here to judge you

Or criticize you kind.

If you’re a friend of Jesus,

You are a friend of mine.

He lived in a prison cell.

He did not look like me.

We had one thing in common:

We both wanted to be free.

Jesus came and called him friend;

So, freedom he could find.

Any friend of Jesus

Must be a friend of mine.

He was crippled with disease—

An outcast in the land.

His flesh and bone were wasted.

He could not even stand.

Jesus said he was his friend.

He’d not leave him behind.

Any friend of Jesus

Must be a friend of mine.

She made her home under a bridge.

Our worlds were far apart.

She had every thing she owned

In a shopping cart.

She, too, is a child of God;

And Jesus is her sign.

Any friend of Jesus

Must be a friend of mine.

(Final Chorus)

If you’re a friend of Jesus, friend,

You are a friend of mine—

No matter what you’re looking for,

No matter what you find.

I’m not here to change you

Or say you’re out of line.

If you’re a friend of Jesus, friend,

You are a friend of mine.

©Stan Sanford, 2012

Old Too Soon

Life for him has not turned out

The way he thought it’d be

The pictures he used to have

Today, he cannot see

Years ago the world was bright

His mind was filled with dreams

The colors have now faded

And so his hopes it seems

What stole the brightness of the day

Where did the future go

His dreams have turned to ashes

And why he does not know

His life is like the waning moon

For he’s grown old too soon

©Stan Sanford

May 1, 2012