Poet of the Month: January 2008, Tom Watson

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Poet of the Month: January 2008, Tom Watson

Post by heinzs » Mon Dec 31, 2007 10:26 pm

Congratulations to our very own spiritual forum moderator, Tom Watson... Poetry Pages Poet of the Month for January, 2008!!

:thewave: :thewave: :thewave:
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Re: Poet of the Month: January 2008, Tom Watson

Post by heinzs » Mon Dec 31, 2007 10:26 pm

Here are a few of Tom's unique works:

Christmas Promise

How wondrous it must have been
To hear the carols of angels then…
To have heard the hope and joy in their songs…
Announcing the birth of the corrector of our wrongs.

The arrival of a babe, under a bright star’s light.
Of our Lord, our King, our Savior who would lead us from night.
Oh to have been a shepherd with sheep under his care,
When the heavenly chorus erupted in songs, in the night’s cold air.

A child of light…a man of love…an infant in hay.
Man and God, born to turn our night into day…
To offer salvation from sin’s iniquity,
To bring our souls home, clean and free.

Promised by prophets, heralded by angels on high,
Every head will bow and angels will cry,
“Glory, glory, glory to our Lord on earth,
May all humanity receive the gift of His birth!”

Arriving in a manger of hay and wood,
Dieing on a hill of dirt and clay where the cross stood,
His gift fully unwrapped, He took our sins,
And gave us a way to return to God again.

His gift was one of love and grace,
A way to enter His prepared heavenly place…
How does one receive such a wonderful thing?
In humility, with a heart fully accepting!

Confess your sins, which is part of all of us,
Ask Him to remove them from your soul as dust,
Give Him your life and your heart!
Praise Him for the chance to make a new start.

As you finally give Him your life and love,
Much as He did for you when He came down from above,
Know that you need to show no concern for pride…
Remember, the babe in swaddling clothes, in a manger abides.


Merry Christmas,
Tom Watson
__________________________________

Giving Glory to God

First, in all things I give God all glory.
For the gift He brings in eternal peace;
For the release from pain through faith;
For the freedom from His wrath through my surrender;
For eternity’s gift of forever living in the light of His grace…
For all these and more, I place myself at the feet of Christ.

My path has been worn smooth by the gift of Christ.
For that and all His gifts, I give God all glory…
The sky, sometimes stormy, sometimes bright, given by His grace;
The sight of a new baby’s face, fresh with His loving peace;
Standing in a fresh spring breeze brings me to my knees in surrender
In His name I will not waiver or hide my enduring faith.

Though the world may tremble and shake, never will my faith
For the Child of Bethlehem’s star, my Lord Jesus Christ…
The Babe, whose life for us, He would surrender,
For Him and all things I give God all glory…
And though the world spreads its fury, my soul is at peace,
For I know, and am put at ease by, His loving grace.

I am blessed by His gift of grace.
Shining from my Lord’s face, brightened in my faith,
And in wonder I stay, waiting for His eternity of peace,
Built by the reaching hand of my savior, The Christ,
And as my tears mist, I give God all glory
For His Son’s gift of forgiveness at the cost of His life’s surrender.

Each moment of my life I give in complete surrender,
Knowing You are always near, seeing Your gifts of grace,
And for this life, this place, I give my Lord God all glory…
The dew of the early morning and the bird songs build my faith
As, in the garden eternally fresh, I will be met by Christ
And as the sun rises, moving the mist, I will find true peace…

Though storms of lightning and thunder rage about…I know peace…
Though temptations urge me to fall, I will never surrender…
For I have already given myself, my soul, to my Lord Jesus Christ…
And even though I may stumble, I will be held through His loving grace,
For He has placed me in His temple where I am protected by my faith,
And for all these things, and my Lord, I give God all glory.

By giving my Lord God all glory, He gives me strength to not surrender
And I will carry within, His peace, and know, His loving grace…
Because of my faith and His love, I will for eternity praise Jesus Christ.

Tom Watson
__________________________________

Promise Keeper

I made a promise today
As I knelt down to pray.
I told my Lord, with all love in my heart,
That changes are being made, today I start.

No more harshness
No more cruel words
No more hatefulness.
My soul is now my Lord’s.

I made a promise today
As the Spirit entered me.
I will honor and respect my wife
As she is, through God, of my life.

No more commands, demands.
No more shaming and absent nights.
No more violence, closed or open handed.
My soul is saved within His Light.

I made a promise today,
As Jesus became my Savior in all ways,
The good I do, in all type and manner,
Will be, for all of my days, to His honor.

Forever saved with the Blood of the Lamb
Forever working for my home in heaven
Forever giving praise for the place I am.
I rest in the Father and Son’s Holy Light. Amen
_________________________________________

Sleeping Sickness

A soft warm breeze
Blowing through the trees;
The hushed hum of bees;
Encourage a disease.

The lazy buzz of a fly;
Floating clouds across the sky;
Nature's splendor before my eye...
I feel that I will die.

The sweetness of an angel's song;
Stars in heaven eternally hung;
Pureness of air from a heavenly lung...
I know I'm not wrong.

There is a peaceful sleep
When all is hushed;
When ashes return to ashes
And dust settles on dust...


Dr. Watson
_________________________________

This Poem was selected as a Community Favorite on Jan 13, 2004

"Farmer's Tale"

In traveling down these country roads, I could write a book.
Rolling over these sway back hills, I could tell of a town
Where the seasons are painted in a field of pumpkins
Where progress is not known, at least not by hands on a watch
Progress is measured by field hours, the amount of picked potatoes.
And news comes from backyard fences, and gossip they sling.

I could write of a farmer in debt, plowing with arm in a sling,
Mothers up at dawn, before preparing meals, praying from the Book
Tell tales of teen girls, working, serving hash of meat and potatoes;
While dreaming their dreams of life and love outside the small town.
And mention young boys, putting up scarecrows for their eternal watch,
And Silly contests, to lighten the hearts, of who has the largest pumpkin.

While the children run in groups, searching for the Great Pumpkin,
Young men, strapping and strong, measuring how far they sling
Tree trunks, cleared from needed land, under government watch;
Private land, yet owned by government stipend in the debtors book.
Tales of poverty, families forced away from the growing ghost town
By seasons of drought and holidays celebrated by bread and potatoes.

Stories of misery, pain; of hope no larger than the eye of a potato;
Stories of family, love; faith and courage; carved in holiday pumpkins;
Stories of Nativity scenes and colored lights across a small country town;
Stories of worshipers, in a church where a ceiling cross was slung;
Stories of broken hearts; backs and lives, but always the held Book.
Stories of worn ruts; dust and diseased soil that can only be watched

A story, to be sure, of day to day things you may watch
On the news or read about while pealing your breakfast potato.
Seeing a dusty family, in a dusty pickup, when returning a library book.
You may have seen headlines, when picking up a Halloween pumpkin;
Maybe on the internet, a news item about a new found ghost town;
Or a sad report of murder / suicide in a barn by hanging from a noose sling.

Oh I could painfully write this story and you could live it in a book,
As I lived it amid pumpkins and potatoes, and sat in dust storms to watch
My parents slowly die, and then move into the newly found ghost town.
My head bent down, pulled by the dust cloth of a guilt bearing sling;
For I walked away as my father continued plowing up rock potatoes
And mother, ever tired eyes, with loving heart, made her pies of pumpkin.

You will see in my book, destiny return me to again watch,
As beyond the barn holding guilt fresh in molded potato bags slung
On rafters, tumbling weeds and dry pumpkin seeds blow through town.
____________________________________________________________

Mother! Oh Mother!

Mother! Oh mother of Light!
You bore His Son
You raised the One
Who would bring us from the night!

Mother! Oh mother of Love,
You accepted the burden,
Took the blessing given,
Out of love for our God above.

Father! Oh Father of Glory and Power
You gave of Your Holiness;
Virgin Mary You blessed
With Your Son, from Your heavenly tower.

Father! Oh Father of peace and Grace,
Of You was born the Lamb of Man;
A gift, born of Your loving plan,
To die, to live, then return to His rightful place.

Mother! Oh mother of Joy and Tears
Giver of life, witness to death
Messenger of angels and words of faith;
Deliverer of a Babe who would remove our fears.

Thank you, oh mother of destiny,
For your faith, strength and loving courage;
For raising the One, who, upon coming of age,
Would die, only to return and remove all sin from me.

Tom
__________________________________

Whisper to Me

Whisper to me..
Call me to your distant shore;
Speak softly of where I need to be
Pull my soul to where it was once before……

On the side of the road I watch
Your messenger slowly retreat
From its nightly incursion to this spot
Where your power stretches to reach.

I hear your call and drive away to follow
Out of town, passing mist covered lake;
Where morning mist hovers in the valley hollow,
And peace is given for mated swans to partake

Whisper to me
With your salted scent
Invade my mind, gently
Wrap me with your beauty’s hint……

Passing more picnic grounds where
Only a deer and fawn graze peacefully
Their own picnic on dewy grass, unaware
Of the power and beauty that awaits me.

While the messenger fog backs away still
I wind around hills and valleys, velvet brown
Tendrils of grey beckoning with secrets to tell
Till on my final climb I view the surrendered ground...

Whisper to me now
In your softly muted roar
Of power and beauty endowed
And crashing crescendo of your shore....

Majestic blue and green white foam flecks
Stretch mightily to the fading grey sky
Then fall forward upon the long sandy neck
Caressing it gently, molding it as time goes by.

To see such power and gentleness in turn
I marvel as the whispering surrounds my soul,
Entwining me in magic, making my heart forever to yearn
For sights, sounds and wind blown spray, on this sandy knoll.

Whisper to me..
Call me to your distant shore;
Speak softly of where I need to be
Pull my soul to where it was once before……
____________________________________________
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An' it harm none, do what ye will. Blessed Be.
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nekot
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Re: Poet of the Month: January 2008, Tom Watson

Post by nekot » Tue Jan 01, 2008 9:24 am

:thewave: :thewave:

Well deserved....

Congrats Tom!

:hello:
Carol
~eloquently scattered~
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Re: Poet of the Month: January 2008, Tom Watson

Post by Tom Watson » Thu Jan 03, 2008 2:41 pm

:shock:

Wow!! I can find no words to express how honored I feel to receive this recognition. Thank you so very much! I must say I feel a little ashamed for not being online with all of you more often these past few months...a minor physical problem drew my mind away from writing much, let alone communicating what I wrote.
Things are looking up now though, and I hope ( and have faith) that I will soon be able to contribute more to the best poetry site on the internet.

Thanks again. :hearts:

Tom
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"Whispers of Love" a book of poetry expressing love of the heart and spirit is released worldwide on August 11, 2009. Visit my home page at
Books From Grace for more information or Amazon.com

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Re: Poet of the Month: January 2008, Tom Watson

Post by moonflower » Thu Jan 03, 2008 3:36 pm

CONGRATULATIONS TOM!!..A WELL DESERVED HONOR!! :bow: :grin:
inside each soul there is music...let the music play..

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