Storm Shelter Poems for the Children of God
Christian Poetry for all Occasions
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Two sample poems: (1) CALLED TO BE A MOTHER She has too many children She has at least ten over there In that old run-down shack It just don’t seem fair She don’t have a decent job She rumbles through the trash Recycling glass and plastic That’s what she does for cash Her children are very dirty They seldom go to school Range from infants to teens She’s breaking the city rules She has too many children And I’m gonna turn her in Look like they have different fathers She is the epitome of sin The county locked her up Took her children away Put them in an orphanage I’m gonna ask my church to pray The truth at last is finally told She wasn’t their mother at all She found each one at different times In the dumpster behind the mall (2) BORN TO SURVIVE Angels and demons watched you Demons cheered when you fell Angels cheered when you stood Your light flickered to a dim glow You tussled tirelessly to illuminate Badly battered nonetheless you tussled Even when emotionally doused Left to succumb to ashes as a cremated charcoal after a cookout But beneath the surface of the ash, within the belly of the charcoal A quiet fire sleeps waiting shaken by the cool air of necessity As the quiet fire burns inside your bones The nitrogen and oxygen of survival ignites your dim glow to a flame That turns pain into fuel Pain is something you know well Most that has sizzled on your grill of life Succumbed by the very potion That caused you to forge onward You empathize with the emotionally wounded The charred beyond use The innocent victims of cruel perverted hands You’ve been there Fought toe to toe with death, went fifteen rounds with insanity And still standing… You don’t waddle along the trail of hopelessness You don’t distrust or seek retaliation against the world Gloriously, you reach out to rescue others From the mental hell that you escaped There is power in your testimony An assurance sandblasts the tarnished spirit Of others when your experiences are shared It’s tenderizer to the past and softens the rough spots Hell could not hold you because you were born to survive Pain, torment, abuse, sorrow, loneliness and struggle To tell the story of how God brought you through
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
This book was especially written for spiritual people on a spiritual journey that are receptive to a little poetic philosophy along the way. People that are drowning in a sea of false accusations, riding high in the saddle but can't stand the horse, have big money but low self esteem, living in sin and enjoying every moment, or living right but feeling bad can personally relate to many of the poems in this book. People that are in the throes of affliction but refuse to surrender, this book will become your amen corner while provoking reflection and deep thought. When the big party is over and all your fair-weather guests are gone - this book helps clean up the aftermath. The scrapes, scratches, and healed wounds of life inspired the author to poetically encourage and guide readers through the emotional swampland of tomorrow and fear no evil. These poems do not imply that the road is not rocky and the sky is not cloudy nor will the sun brighten your every day. This book is not intended to eradicate your storms but only to become your umbrella... with only a couple microscopic leaks.
About the Author
I, Richard O. Jones, am a self-published poet, author, and clean comedian. As a performer most of my engagements are at churches and/or church affairs where I recite spiritual and humorous poetry. I started performing poetry professionally in 1990 in Southern California. My early experience with writing poetry started when I was a freshman in high school, during the 1960s, when I composed Mother's Day poems for a few classmates to present to their mothers. After that first Mother's Day experience, my poetic talents were in demand on special occasions for special friends for the next ten years. Poetry, especially when written, is my way of communicating social messages, reprimands, spirituality, and instruction without finding myself in a tit-for-tat verbal exchange. During the entire 90s, I submitted and had published at least three poems per month to a weekly Baptist church newspaper called The A.C.C. Church and Community News in Los Angeles. This publication was a regular expectation to over 700 Baptist Churches in Southern California and parts of Arizona and Nevada. Eventually, I wrote my first book of poetry in 1992 and since that time, I've self-published seven books of poems, this book, "Storm Shelter Poems for the Children of God," being the seventh. Two of my other books of poetry are (1) "The Liberation of Aunt Jemima," and (2) "Poetry for Laughing Out Loud."