Amy's Place ... Poetry and Potpourri ... June, 2008

June 1, 2008 | JustAmy; St.Louie1; MamaBear; Billie

[JustAmy]

Welcome To....


'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets
and those who enjoy poetry.
'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.
Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepers
your thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*.

Enjoy! :)











Never Forget!





Bad Penny



Amy's personal guardian ~
the ever charming, lovable, huggable,
LouieWolf




Many thanks for stopping by. : )

[The Mayor]

Freep mail me to be on or off the Daily Bread ping list

June 14, 2008

For Those Who Serve

ODB RADIO: Listen Now |  Download
READ: Romans 13:1-7

Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the Word and doctrine! —1 Timothy 5:17

When my son Steve walks into a room, he often gets immediate respect. People want to shake his hand. They smile. They congratulate him. They thank him.

It happens at church. It happens in restaurants. It happens wherever he goes—as long as he is wearing his uniform of the United States Navy.

While in uniform, Steve gets instant respect because everyone knows that he is serving. He has given up many personal freedoms and desires so that he can serve his country.

People respect service. We honor police officers who serve. We pay homage to military personnel who serve. But do we give the same honor and respect to those who are in an even greater service—service to God? Do we show respect to our pastors, missionaries, Sunday school teachers?

Scripture tells us to give honor to whom honor is due (Rom. 13:7). Specifically, it tells us that double honor goes to those who direct the affairs of the church through teaching and preaching (1 Tim. 5:17).

Instead of criticizing your pastor, teacher, or spiritual leader, let others hear your words of gratitude and praise for their service. Hold them up in prayer. God’s servants deserve our respect and honor.

Putting It Into Practice
• Send a card or note of appreciation to your pastor.
• Thank your teacher for a lesson that helped you.
• Ask your leaders how you can pray for them.

We honor God when we honor our leaders.

Bible in One Year: Romans 9–12; Proverbs 26:1-16

[NicknamedBob]

My Tears Obscure

My tears obscure the vision,
Our flag out on display.
Another hero will come home,
And rest here on this day.

I need to clean my glasses,
They fog up now and then.
It seems to happen often,
And here it is again.

It should always rain for funerals,
It helps to hide our tears,
The dignity, and somberness,
Allay our many fears.

Will I be brave when my turn comes,
Or has it been, and passed?
I know that I could stand to cry,
When He comes home at last.

NicknamedBob . . . March 20, 2006


From here.

[MEG33]

I did not want this one to be over! Lovely, Cardhu.

[DollyCali]

I Am the Flag
Of the United States Of America

My name is Old Glory.
I fly atop the world's tallest buildings.
I stand watch in America's halls of justice.
I fly majestically over institutions of learning.
I stand guard with power in the world.
Look up and see me.

I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice.
I stand for freedom.
I am confident.
I am arrogant.
I am proud.

When I am flown with my fellow banners,
My head is a little higher,
My colors a little truer.
I bow to no one!

I am recognized all over the world.
I am worshipped - I am saluted.
I am loved - I am revered.
I am respected - and I am feared.

I have fought in every battle of every war for more then 200 years.
I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Shiloh and Appomattox.
I was there at San Juan Hill, the trenches of France, .
in the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome and the beaches of Normandy.
Guam, Okinawa, Korea and KheSan, Saigon, Vietnam know me. .
I'm presently in the mountains of Afganistan
and the hot and dusty deserts of Iraq .
and wherever freedom is needed.

I led my troops, I was dirty, battleworn and tired,
But my soldiers cheered me and I was proud.
I have been burned, torn and trampled .
on the streets of countries I have helped set free.
It does not hurt for I am invincible.
I have been soiled upon, burned, torn and trampled
in the streets of my country.
And when it's done by those Whom I've served in battle -
It HURTS!.

But I shall overcome - for I am strong.
I have slipped the bonds of Earth and stood watch over.
the uncharted frontiers of space from my vantage point on the moon.
I have borne silent witness to all of America's finest hours.
But my finest hours are yet to come.
When I am torn into strips and used .
as bandages for my wounded comrades on the battlefield,
When I am flown at half-mast to honor my soldier,
Or when I lie in the trembling arms of a grieving parent
at the grave of their fallen son or daughter,

I am proud

[DollyCali]

Neat Pix Dita.. and read you took it yourself ! good going!

I like Gmail too...and do also use Tiny Pic but did get Dominia a couple years ago when I just started doing pix.. I did not know there were free opportunities at that point

[DollyCali]

This past month I read that the woman in the End of WW2 kiss had died. Showed here then & current pix (just prior to death).

that is probably one of the more famous kiss pix in the world, wouldn’t you say?

[NicknamedBob]

I’m Rising

Early in the morning, when the day is cool,
I get unkinked from sleeping as I do.
It’s time to rise and shine of course,
It’s time to put some color in your view.

I like to see the faces,
In turning up to see,
In morning light that shines so bright,
Just what I’ve made of me.

I went out on my journey.
I saw the world my way.
And now I have returned to watch,
My people every day.

I know I did my work out there,
I’m satisfied with that,
Still it really means a lot,
When someone doffs a hat.

They honor me around here,
Can’t tell you what that means,
I only went with other men,
Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines.

I wanted to be with them,
I think they wanted me.
You see, I think I feel like them,
I know what it is to be free.

For when the day has ended,
It’s time to go back in,
I’ve plainly gotten tuckered out,
And need to be tucked in.

Another day is coming,
And I’ll be there to rise,
There’s really nothing I prefer,
To living in the skies.

If you come by and see me,
Remember that I care,
But I’ve a job to do up here,
Just waving in the air.

NicknamedBob . . . July 24, 2006


From here.

[pollywog]

Good Morning. I really am enjoying this thread. I don’t get a lot of time to spend here as we are raising (adopted) our 9year old grandson, plus adopted a 17 year old foster daughter, and we are seniors! lol..Just wanted you to know how much I am enjoying it Amy et all!! Especially loved this graphic Amy.
Polly

[DollyCali]

I love your fairies graphic (and stole it)

Made me go back & look at the fairies thread ...

[DollyCali]

Morning! well you & Amy can compare notes.. having this in common with raising little ones in your “golden” years..

hard enough when you are young!

good luck pollly!

off to get some Advantage flea products for dogs & some straw at the feed mill.

got tomato plants yesterday. I wanted some of the el cheapo sell packs (usually 6 plants for about 2.00) but out .. so I got 2 plants at 3.00 each.. one is a grape variety & another is called Park’s Warrior!. Got them at Loews

I grow them in containers & normally have 10 or more pots. This year will have less & will pamper them more ! I really like tomatos & had none recently at the Winking Lizard on my veggie burger & no Tomato salsa at Chipolte’s yesterday. Both restaurants are not using any fresh tomatoes until the current situation is gone.

[La Enchiladita]

Long may she wave, FRiends, long may she wave. Great musical selection, MEG. Outstanding collage, Dolly. It is always stirring to see a Color Guard, Amy, Billie and Bob.

[La Enchiladita]

Indeed, Rus, I had a thought to send a note to my pastor today. Thanks!

[jaycee]

Thank you for the lovely lesson today, Mr. Mayor! We should praise our pastors...but seems we do criticize them some!

The ladies are treating the fathers tomorrow for Father’s Day breakfast. The men did that for the ladies on Mother’s Day. NICE!

[jaycee]

Lovely poetry, NNBob! Enjoy your poetry very much.

[jaycee]

Your Pledge is very beautiful, Dita....

[WVNan]

Hi Friend. I have an assignment for you. I need a good “Father” poem to read to my congregation in the morning. I’m preaching on the necessity of fathers to hold the moral fabric of society together.

[luvie]

Flag Day-June 14, 2008

[click picture for song]
RAGGED OLD FLAG
By John R. Cash, © 1974 House of Cash, Inc.

I walked through a county courthouse square,
On a park bench an old man was sitting there.
I said, "Your old courthouse is kinda run down."
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town."
I said, "Your old flagpole has leaned a little bit,
And that's a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging on it."

He said, "Have a seat," and I sat down.
"Is this the first time you've been to our little town?"
I said, "I think it is." He said, "I don't like to brag,
But we're kinda proud of that Ragged Old Flag.

"You see, we got a little hole in that flag there when
Washington took it across the Delaware.
And it got powder-burned the night Francis Scott Key
Sat watching it writing Say Can You See.
And it got a bad rip in New Orleans
With Packingham and Jackson tuggin' at its seems.

"And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on though.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag.

"On Flanders Field in World War I
She got a big hole from a Bertha gun.
She turned blood red in World War II.
She hung limp and low by the time it was through.
She was in Korea and Vietnam.
She was sent where she was by her Uncle Sam.

"She waved from our ships upon the briny foam,
And now they've about quit waving her
back here at home.
In her own good land here she's been abused --
She's been burned, dishonored, denied, and refused.

"And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land.
And she's getting threadbare and wearing thin,
But she's in good shape for the shape she's in.
'Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more.

"So we raise her up every morning,
take her down every night.
We don't let her touch the ground
and we fold her up right.
On second thought, I do like to brag,
'Cause I'm mighty proud of the
Ragged Old Flag."
~~~~~~~~~
GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS
GOD BLESS AMERICA
~~~~~~~~~

[jan in Colorado]

I am the Flag

I am the flag of the United States of America.

I was born on June 14, 1777, in Philadelphia.

There the Continental Congress adopted my stars and stripes as the national flag.

My thirteen stripes alternating red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars in a field of blue, represented a new constellation, a new nation dedicated to the personal and religious liberty of mankind.

Today fifty stars signal from my union, one for each of the fifty sovereign states in the greatest constitutional republic the world has ever known.

My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of the citizens of my country.

My red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and integrity of American men and boys and the self-sacrifice and devotion of American mothers and daughters.

My white stripes stand for liberty and equality for all.

My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.

I represent these eternal principles: liberty, justice, and humanity.

I embody American freedom: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the press, and the sanctity of the home.

I typify that indomitable spirit of determination brought to my land by Christopher Columbus and by all my forefathers - the Pilgrims, Puritans, settlers at James town and Plymouth.

I am as old as my nation.

I am a living symbol of my nation's law: the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

I voice Abraham Lincoln's philosophy: "A government of the people, by the people,for the people."

I stand guard over my nation's schools, the seedbed of good citizenship and true patriotism.

I am displayed in every schoolroom throughout my nation; every schoolyard has a flag pole for my display.

Daily thousands upon thousands of boys and girls pledge their allegiance to me and my country.

I have my own law—Public Law 829, "The Flag Code" - which definitely states my correct use and display for all occasions and situations.

I have my special day, Flag Day. June 14 is set aside to honor my birth.

Americans, I am the sacred emblem of your country. I symbolize your birthright, your heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.

I am your title deed of freedom, which is yours to enjoy and hold in trust for posterity.

If you fail to keep this sacred trust inviolate, if I am nullified and destroyed, you and your children will become slaves to dictators and despots.

Eternal vigilance is your price of freedom.

As you see me silhouetted against the peaceful skies of my country, remind yourself that I am the flag of your country, that I stand for what you are - no more, no less.

Guard me well, lest your freedom perish from the earth.

Dedicate your lives to those principles for which I stand: "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

I was created in freedom. I made my first appearance in a battle for human liberty.

God grant that I may spend eternity in my "land of the free and the home of the brave" and that I shall ever be known as "Old Glory," the flag of the United States of America.

--by Ruth Apperson Rous

[NicknamedBob]

"Hi Friend. I have an assignment for you. I need a good “Father” poem to read to my congregation in the morning. I’m preaching on the necessity of fathers to hold the moral fabric of society together."

Funny you should mention this. I was looking at the sidebar earlier, and saw reference to a poem. Naturally, I looked it over, but I was displeased with it.

I wrote the scathing report below in response to it. Then I noticed that the thread dated from November of last year, and had already faded to obscurity.

What to do? I filed the poem away ... Created on = Saturday, June 14, 2008 4:05:19 PM

And your request was written Saturday, June 14, 2008 4:41:52 PM by WVNan

Curious, no? Anyway, herewith my scathing retort:

What I Wanted To Be

What I wanted to be as a grownup,
Was a man, like my dad had once been,
He was faced with the challenge of living,
In a world where no thing was a sin.

He could have lolled in the barroom,
Getting drunk on the money he’d earned,
Instead of supporting a family.
He’d a choice, and the tempting was spurned.

In the rough circumstance of his township,
It was normal to act like a brute,
When your world is descending to chaos,
It’s great fun to jump into the chute.

Instead, he scrabbled and struggled,
Against all the odds so arrayed,
Pushing all of us higher and higher,
While others just sat there and stayed.

They stayed where their fate had propelled them,
Like weeds growing up in a crack.
But Dad had a loftier goal for himself,
And the rest of us stuck on his back.

So, sure, it would have brought comfort,
And ease from the day’s hurtful blows,
But a man like my Dad didn’t care for that,
So he lifted his burden and rose.

With confidence in his ability,
And faith that the Lord would provide,
He clambered aloft from the place he’d been tossed,
With a woman as good by his side.

So these are the ones that I emulate,
You others may do as you choose,
I will climb till I’ve gotten above all the fray,
And I’ve shed all the things I can’t use.

I’ve no room in my journey for hatred,
Or for jealousy making me weak.
I’m saving some room in my heart for the things,
That my trust in the Lord says to seek.

And strangely, the climbing gets easier,
As higher and higher we rise,
Somehow the goal seems much closer,
As its light finds its way to our eyes.

NicknamedBob . . . . . . June 14, 2008

[jaycee]

Truly beautiful “Ragged Old Flag”.