Monday, February 18, 2019

Your Dying Spouse 582 - Read To Live

The following sonnet was written in response to Bob Hostetler's question 'Do you plan your reading?', posted on the Steve Laube Agency blog on December 19, 2018

My reading is today informed
by fell circumstance, despair,
and by the demons that have swarmed
my life; they’re everywhere.
I read to keep my pecker up;
I read to save my soul;
I read so I may daily sup
on the dreams that keep me whole.
My pancreas and lungs are full
of dire malignancy;
but my heart will ride the wild maned-bull
and when the bell rings, I’ll be free.
So in the bloody dawn, my friends, watch this flag unfurl;
pancreatic cancer, on hearing my name, will cry like a little girl.
(And yes, to the British-educated, ‘pecker’ shall always be a colloquialism for ‘courage’.)

Over to Queen, with We Are The Champions.





Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.


Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.






14 comments:

  1. Beautiful poetry from the depth of your soul. Thank you so much for sharing with all of us. You and your wife are in my prayers so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bettie, thank you! We truly appreciate your prayers; you are in ours.

      Delete
  2. New subject. Update. I'm trying my hand at something new, I'm writing inspirations of truth without story or extras for the purpose of sharing basic elements of the faith journey with people who may not know about God. Keeping me out of it, opinions limited, and advice scarce, is very different for me. I try not to waste words and to speak directly. I'm doing these daily at my old blog at meridianwoman.blogspot.com.
    Want you to know I pray for you often and believe in God's mercy. Have you experienced any miracles lately?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My dear Norma, how cool! I'll be heading over there presently.

      I sure appreciate the prayers; the past few days have been far worse than I would have thought they could be.

      But miracles? Yes. The Son rises every day of my life, and in His Rising pulls me back to life.

      Delete
    2. Andrew, I felt bad that I asked about any miracles. It could have seemed cruel. But I have been asking God to shrink your tumors, to lessen your pain, ... and to give you a break. I've also been so bold as to ask Him to prepare you for your healing. But He does cause the sun to rise every morning, how meaningful that can be. There were days when the sun rising met my despair and gave me hope and the courage I needed. Bless you. Courage, my friend, whenever it is needed.

      Delete
    3. My dear Norma, no worries! It would be nice to have the tumours shrink...but I live in the light of a miracle every single day, and perhaps the second miracle is that my eyes are open to see it.

      Blesse with this, and with loving friends like you, I would not change my life for anything.

      Delete
  3. (((Andrew)))
    (((Barbara)))
    Praying!

    Annie in Texas

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ((((((Annie!))))))

      Thank you so much for your prayers. They're needed. I'm in rough shape.

      Delete
  4. Andrew, your poems speak so poignantly of life truths. I am so thankful that, no matter how dire life circumstances are, they do not have the final word on the message of our lives. Your life speaks of victory and overcoming, my friend. Death, cancer, may have what looks like a temporary win, but you've already won because of where your heart and mind are set.

    Praying for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jeanne, thank you so much for this...and you're right. I won't give up, and thus in death I will have won.

      It's not going well today, but I am undismayed, and in good spirits.

      Thank you somuch for the prayers!

      Delete
  5. Andrew, I was delighted to hear that your wife plans to publish your inspiring poetry.
    Of course I'll keep praying for both of you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan, I'm just so honoured that people like it!

      And we thank you so much for your prayers.

      Delete
  6. Courage, my friend. I find it here in great abundance ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linda, thank you! It's not my courage, though; this is something God supplies freely.

      Delete