Poems for Pam

I've been thinking about poetry lately, mostly because I've been teaching Shakespeare lately and because Pam recently asked me who my favorite poet was.  The first poem started out as an example, I didn't get far with it before needing to drive Pam to Flagstaff.  I honestly only had about two to four lines composed and then I had to redo them because someone decided to close Microsoft Word and not save anything.  I decided to finish it today.

Pamela' Sonnet

Oh that I could sing to you as an angel
That the sweet music of my lips might soothe thee
Melodies could lift your burdens as easily as they fell
And to your heart my voice could turn the key
Rich and deep my song would reach down into your soul
The song would bring harmony to you and me
On the inner demons it would take its toll
Bringing peace and healing wounds so calmly
The notes of love and hope bursting from my spirit
Would envelop your heart in sweet caress
To compose such heavenly tunes I would be a zealot
Offering to you such deserved bliss
But woe, I am just a man
And can only do that which I can

The next one I started composing in my head on the way back from Flagstaff today.  I have a hard time coming up with rhymes and such so I prefer free verse.  Particularly when I can use it to tell a story.

Destiny's Seamstress

There are few who know of the old woman
Blinded with age and much care
But never ceasing in never ending toil
Her features contain no beauty
It is in her work that she has her glory

Gently she feels the fabric
In the cloth she feels happiness or pain
She senses both the triumphs and defeats
Her hands on the cloth tell her the whole life story
The rips from hard times, the holes that have been worn from labor

The smooth edges from good care, the cleanliness well maintained
Carefully she selects its mate, with great attention she finds its compliment
To the seeing eye it may at first look distasteful to mix such colors
To the understanding of those whose eyes are not dimmed it can seem wrong
Those fabrics do not belong together just yet; it's not quite in style

Fools and those without wisdom question her
She knows what is best, for she has felt the fabric
She knows which souls belong sewed together
Whose hearts are meant to beat as one
For she is Destiny's Seamstress and she has sewed my life to yours.

I decided to write one more.  Even though we won't be married by any church bells, nor did I think that I ever would be, the imagery of the bells ringing at a wedding has always been romantic for me.  There is nothing timid or unsure about a massive bell or the sound that it makes, it is a sure and a powerful declaration.

Can you Hear Them?

Can you hear them?
Listen to them ringing out to all the world
Can you hear them?
Sounding out the message sweet
Can you hear them?
Echoing their proclamation
Can you hear them?
They are the bells that ring for you and me

They chime
That I love you
They ding
That I belong to you forever
They clang
That the wedding day soon shall arrive
They declare
That I thee wed