And God Made the Rhinos

Could it possible be,
Far out in the universe deep,
In some obscure unknown corner
Of the depths of space unseen;
Could there be a star out there
In some unknown far galaxy,
With a planet going around said star
In an orbital distance mean,
That upon said planet's surface
A Rhino species could be?

And intelligent creatures they,
In their own peculiar way,
With civilization and trade
And cities and towns arrayed.

Bipeds they would be,
Standing upright on two feet,
With horn upon the forehead
Between the eyes with which they see.

What stories they would tell
Of Rhino wars and dangerous deeds,
Of Rhino loves lost and won,
What epic tales they would weave.

Could it be in that deep vastness
Beyond the outer space we see,
In some small corner of the Universe
The Rhinos live and love and dream?

(Copyright © October, 2010. All rights reserved.)

Well May the Heavens Weep

Well may the heavens weep
On such a day as this.
When such a one we loved so well
Is laid in the ground's abyss.

Well may the sky with tears drip down
For the one we so adored.
Oh death will not be so proud
On the resurrection morn.

(Copyright © October, 2010. All rights reserved.)

Christus Apollo (Excerpt)

In some far universal Deep
Did He tred Space
And visit worlds beyond our blood-warm dreaming?
Did He come down on lonely shore by sea
Not unlike Galilee
And are there Mangers on far worlds that know His light?
And Virgins?
Sweet pronouncements?
Annumciations? Visitations from angelic hosts?
nd, shivring vast light among ten billion lights,
Was there some Star much like the star at Bethlehem
That struck the sight with awe and revelation
Upon a cold and most strange morn?

On worlds gone wandering and lost from this
Did Wise Men gather in the dawn
In cloudy steams of Beast
Within a place of straw now quickened to a Shrine
To look upon a stranger Child than ours?

How many stars of Bethlehem burnt bright
Beyond Orion or Centauri's arc?
How many miracles of birth all innocent
Have blessed those worlds?

Excerpt from "Christus Apollo", I Sing The Body Electric by Ray Bradbury (1969)

Babylon

THE CHILD alone a poet is:
Spring and Fairyland are his.
Truth and Reason show but dim,
And all’s poetry with him.
Rhyme and music flow in plenty
For the lad of one-and-twenty,
But Spring for him is no more now
Than daisies to a munching cow;
Just a cheery pleasant season,
Daisy buds to live at ease on.
He’s forgotten how he smiled
And shrieked at snowdrops when a child,
Or wept one evening secretly
For April’s glorious misery.
Wisdom made him old and wary
Banishing the Lords of Faery.
Wisdom made a breach and battered
Babylon to bits: she scattered
To the hedges and ditches
All our nursery gnomes and witches.
Lob and Puck, poor frantic elves,
Drag their treasures from the shelves.
Jack the Giant-killer’s gone,
Mother Goose and Oberon,
Bluebeard and King Solomon.
Robin, and Red Riding Hood
Take together to the wood,
And Sir Galahad lies hid
In a cave with Captain Kidd.
None of all the magic hosts,
None remain but a few ghosts
Of timorous heart, to linger on
Weeping for lost Babylon.

(Robert Graves (1895–1985). "Fairies and Fusiliers". 1918)

Summer

The apex of its ascent now reached,
The sun begins its slow retreat.
Days slightly shorter start to be.
Summer flowers in riotous color we see.

An uncertain expectancy in the air,
While we enjoy the summer so fair.
Change the seasons must, they say,
But for now we enjoy this summer day.


(Copyright © July 1, 2010. All rights reserved.)

Another Little Boy

To my 3 year old Grandson Jorgen William Eggebroten,

Another little boy
Has come into our lives.
To watch him growing up
Gives us real delight.

A bundle of energy
He brings into our day.
With a torrent flood of words
To accompany his play.

He chases his big brother,
Both roaring with delight,
Tumbling and wrestling,
As they pretend to fight.

A delight it really is
To have another little boy.
May he in years ahead
Always bring us joy.

(J. William Newcomer © May 7, 2010. All rights reserved.)

Grandpa’s Little Boy

To my 1 and a half-year-old Grandson Tyrel Albert Eggebroten.

I finally got my little boy
I’d waited for so long.
With curly hair and happy face,
And in his heart a song.

So much he tries to tell us.
So much he has to do.
So lively and so pert
Is the smile he gives to you.

I finally got my little boy,
And thankful I will be.
My heart is filled with joy
For the boy God gave to me.

(J. William Newcomer © February 11, 2003. All rights reserved.)