The kingdom tarries long,
We’re not in one accord…
Time to find our common song
Before the Days of the Lord!
–
Some things aren’t worth the fight,
Why do we clutch so hard?…
Let go of treasures in His Light
Why should witness be marred?
–
Approve what other saints do,*
If effort is the Lord’s…
Compliment you brothers, sisters to
Act on His living Word!
–
–Jonathan Caswell
“Approve…God’s work done by other saints…”*…like Barnabas: See Acts, chapters 13 and 14!
A NON-SLOUCHY…”COWL” NECK?
–
The Poet’s learning fashion
To write more poetry,
(Fashion posts more often
Than others tend to be)…
He’s learning terms like “cowl neck”
And over-sized–baggy,
When he sees something that he likes
He’ll write it out with glee!!!
–
A cute young thing named Amy
Who works in Accounts,
A lavender cowl-neck–
In it worth every ounce–
Her cowl neck neatly hung
And her wardrobe neatly styled,
It brightened in a pastel way
When at the Guard she smiled!
–Jonathan Caswell
HANDS-ON…MY HISTORY
–
I took a fabled RS-1* into the living room
On a tray to try doing some work…
I wanted to replace that body shell with one bought new,
Then progress was caught up with a jerk.
–
It was the Two-Fourteen I had in my hands,
Numbered for our first letter exchange…
February Second completed the first round
As our relationship grew strong and aged.
–
The “214” is painted silver with red-white-and blue
Stripe around both hoods (old AMTRAK stock)…
Maybe I’ll just finish changing this one’s couplers’
Putting one of three “NEW HAVENs” on the body shell changing block!
–Jonathan Caswell
*NOTE:
All of these locomotives are N scale models of the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) model RS-1…in the author’s collection. Some of his units are lettered and numbered for important life events….like when he and his wife exchanged their first letters (#214) or the date they were engaged (#5388…for the date 5/3/1988).
COMMUNITY CONVERSATION
–
Overheard in our lobby,
Two residents being “sobby”…
This is the place
One’s fears to face,
A matter of life-long hobby.
–
Not everyone gets along,
Surprising, though, who sings a song…
Charming each other,
Husband, grandmother,
Supporting each other’s “be sgtrong.”
–
Laugh and separate,
Laundry calls, lunch ate–
We all decide
To here abide,
And each other we appreciate.
–Jonathan Caswell
FEELING LONELY
–
My wife is away
For a day or two…
Resting in a hospital bed
After an operation was through.
–
It’s just a minor thing.
Returning control
To a part of her life
That had too big a hole.
–
But I am left alone..
Poetry my nightcap,
We haven’t done it for years
But I yearn someone’s lap.
–
Somewhere this man can lay his head
For some consolation…
But if the wife hears about it
There will be consternation!
–
The little boy or young man
Within me wants a hug…
Long and lingering, but
He will risk a verbal slug.
–
So he’ll say “good night my love,”
To his wife towns away…
Maybe tomorrow she’ll return,
Oh that will be a day!
–Jonathan Caswell
H.M.S. ULYSSES
–
H.M.S. ULYSSES,
A book by Allistair MacLean…
Made that fiction author’s
Subsequent writing fame.
–
He based it on experience
He had in World War Two…
In the Royal Navy
Upon the ocean blue.
–
After THE GUNS OF NAVARONE,
ICE STATION ZEBRA and the like…
I had to read his very first yarn
My interest had spiked.
–
Although the man is probably gone
His works remain…
So many characters he made up,
I’ll never be the same!
–Jonathan Caswell
CHARACTERS IN THE LOBBY
–
Coming out to see parades
Of people to get mail…
Catching up with characters
Who live along this trail.
–
Community Room tables are
Plastic-covered for the mess…
Of a Painting Party
With pizza to access.
–
Characters–some with legs–
Inhabit this hotel…
May they come or may they go,
I wish them all real well!
–
–Jonathan Caswell
AFTER BAKING SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE…
–
The apartment was already hot,
We decided to clean the oven….
Fumes were what we got
Which got smoke detectors alarming!
–
We opened all the windows–
It was eighty degrees outside–
I fanned the detectors with a dirty T-shirt
And hoped the noise would subside.
–
We woke to the TV going,
At least I did from sleep…
That self-cleaning oven was slowing
And I had appointments to keep!
–
–Jonathan Caswell
(The sausage, by the way, was a little overcooked…but edible.)
TANKA YOU–MOTHER’S DAY
–
Mother, the red head,
Satisfied Dad with cooking
Organized the home
As I moved further away,
She never left me alone.
–
Her “baby” lives now
Because she made it her task
To value my life
All obstacles were bulldozed,
Hugs were rare, but life precious!
–
Arranging music,
Teaching angels how to sing…
Following my Dad:
These are what we think she does
When not praising her Lord God.
–
Her preaching licence
Set aside when she married
Two in ministry
He did the sermonizing,
She was his right and left hand.
–
I found a spray can
Of contraceptive bedside
Lovers late in life
Shock and awe at my parents,
Mom and Dad deserved some fun!
–Jonathan Caswell
THE STORY…OF TOBERMORY
–
I see a smiling kitty and I think of Tobermory,
Dad and Mom’s cat in later life…
They picked him from a shelter to take him to their home,
Saving him from further caged life.
–
Dad took him to the vet. for his shots,
The vet thought Toby’s life the life of Riley…
His cat face formed just so,
The vet nick-named him “Smiley”.
–
Tobermory stayed til my parents were both gone,
Then my brother took him home…
He and their animals seemed to get along
And from that loving house he’ll never roam.
–
Jonathan Caswell
By the Mighty Mumford 