Poetry from the Pen of Jette
Storm
The quiet in the discontent of the damp cool sunrise,
Rays of the sun have eluded us once again.
Leaves on the near-bye maple flicker,
reminding that another isn’t far away.
Four thousand miles to the West
Land in desperate need
of an overabundance pelted on us.
Why can’t you deliver where you are most needed?
Not just the soil, but the soul you affect,
casting one into a dreary slumber.
Too much of anything can damage,
like destruction from a weighty love,
innocently becoming the dreaded burden.
Yes, you can stop anytime now…
July, 2015
McDonald Farm
The quiet in the discontent of the damp cool sunrise,
Rays of the sun have eluded us once again.
Leaves on the near-bye maple flicker,
reminding that another isn’t far away.
Four thousand miles to the West
Land in desperate need
of an overabundance pelted on us.
Why can’t you deliver where you are most needed?
Not just the soil, but the soul you affect,
casting one into a dreary slumber.
Too much of anything can damage,
like destruction from a weighty love,
innocently becoming the dreaded burden.
Yes, you can stop anytime now…
July, 2015
McDonald Farm
Heart and eyes wide open
Two faces pressed innocently against
The blue truck window,
As my car approaches theirs.
They throw their attention in my direction.
I catch their unconditional affection,
Two little faces of about four and seven,
One a masculine, and one a feminine.
She waves to me with eyes wide open
In complete mode of anticipation.
She must wonder, will I wave back?
Will I look away, Will I pretend I’ve not seen
Her, and ignore her gift of the wave.
Perhaps they have tried this with other cars
As they travel to their destinations.
Perhaps others have dismissed their Presence.
As I lift my hand from the stirring wheel
To return a gift of the wave
I notice my eyes too are wide open,
Unexpectedly I have remembered to smile
With a daring Childlike innocence, that she has rekindled in me.
And yet, I wonder, will she smile back? Will
She stick her tongue out at me.
Will she think I’m just another ignoring adult?
Will she dismiss me?
Our glance to each other lasts a split second,
And then it happens.
She smiles back with a dancing sparkle
That God reserves for only
The eyes of Children.
She has lifted my spirit.
and given breath to my soul.
We rest at a stop light and again
Exchange a smile and wave.
We are completely and intimately connected with each other
And in a sense we are total strangers,
Not knowing anything about each other,
With one exception--we both honored each other’s presence.
We drive off in different directions to move on with our lives
By tomorrow she will probably have forgotten me.
But I—I am eternally grateful and will remember,
That little one who gave the wave with her heart and eyes wide open.
J.E. McDonald
May 2001
Barlow, Ohio
One day in the life
Today one day in the life of someone we say
Life is a gift with a price we cannot pay,
Woefully even suddenly our last hurray is just one breath away.
Some given fortune, security and fame,
While others ridden with darkness, fear, and shame
The mystery of this wild game.
Today my friend runs with the bulls in Pamplona,
He and three thousand lunge into their own loneliness
And in a tame mid-western land I hold a dying woman’s hand
Attempting to ease her worried heart’s plan
Her emotions frozen, does anyone give a damn?
Its absurdity surely reveals a sham.
Far way an over-crowded ferry capsized off a Bangladesh coast
Sending hundreds to their unsuspecting Host.
The absurdity and mystery of it all.
Life’s unrelenting beckoned call.
How can it be this absurdity in just one day?
Aridity and beauty companions in play,
One day in the life?
J. E. McDonald
Bexley, OH
USA
Life is a gift with a price we cannot pay,
Woefully even suddenly our last hurray is just one breath away.
Some given fortune, security and fame,
While others ridden with darkness, fear, and shame
The mystery of this wild game.
Today my friend runs with the bulls in Pamplona,
He and three thousand lunge into their own loneliness
And in a tame mid-western land I hold a dying woman’s hand
Attempting to ease her worried heart’s plan
Her emotions frozen, does anyone give a damn?
Its absurdity surely reveals a sham.
Far way an over-crowded ferry capsized off a Bangladesh coast
Sending hundreds to their unsuspecting Host.
The absurdity and mystery of it all.
Life’s unrelenting beckoned call.
How can it be this absurdity in just one day?
Aridity and beauty companions in play,
One day in the life?
J. E. McDonald
Bexley, OH
USA
for One refined and rare
God on High, Almighty One,
Oh Great Spirit, Holy One,
From all directions of the sun;
Hear a humble prayer,
For one refined and rare.
Extend her supreme devotion,
To mirror the ocean’s emotion,
With swells of eternal motion.
Bless and caress her with mercy and Light.
Bestow upon her by day and night,
Heavenly divineness with elegant might.
May truth and love befittingly become her holy glove,
Like reverence of the purest peace dove.
Cover her in wisdom and serene majesty.
Hover over her a perfect veracity.
Hold her with all the world’s chastity.
Remember her benisons, from others distinguish.
Protect her flame of innocence, n’re let it extinguish,
Her selflessness to not diminish.
And when she faces mystery, darkness, and fear,
Envelop her an artistry of brightness, so clear.
God on High, Almighty One, Oh Great Spirit, Holy One,
Hear this humble prayer, for one refined and rare.
Bring forth honor and mightily lance
Any doubt of hope, any doubt of dance.
For surely she catches heaven’s fine glance.
Allow her courage to accept your privilege
To walk your sacred mileage with a steady footage.
Embrace her always in your beneficent arm.
Keep her far from destruction, far from harm.
Please dear Lord,
God on High, Holy One,
Hear that humble prayer, for One so refined and rare.
J.E. McDonald
Toledo, Ohio, October 1996
Peacemaker
Moon in the night, cast your silvery light
On one whose reason and sight
Rest on dreams of justice, freedom, and right,
For a season of peace and non-violence,
Where war at last is silenced.
Song of the day, majestically with music play.
Rhythm, synchronicity carry away,
Yesterday’s perils on heaven’s ray,
So greed, apathy, bloodshed, and pain--
Replaced by those who no longer blame.
Morn with a mist, sprinkle your hallowed intellect,
In a soul’s somber shift. Unsoiled spirit lift
The killings that afflicted, the shadowed and conflicted,
As enchanted dew falls on a place of solace,
Cleansing simple voices call, no fears exist.
Powers of your whisper, quiet the quivers
Of forgiven forgivers. Their trembling remembers
The hidden survivors, of love solemn reminders.
Our depth of destiny reposes tyranny.
Your breath and harmony implodes eternally.
Moon in the night, cast your silvery light
On one whose seasons and sight,
Rest on dreams of justice, freedom, and right,
For reasons of peace and non-violence,
Where wars at last are silenced.
J.E. McDonald
Washington DC, May 1997
Flight to Milan
You speak to me and to another,
A language silent, no words to utter.
Your massive peaks of beauty cover
An ancient land where knowing hovers
Dreams and clouds through which I see,
Your mountain tops rise impressively.
Their whitest white that white can be
Brings back to me an aged memory.
Where school and truth were one’s pursuit,
And life, a pool of hope, plenty with fruit.
Sharing pity for those, poor and destitute
Remembering Hannibal, refined and resolute.
Your morning sun ripples then quietly sinks,
Rendering hues purple and distant pink.
As your slopes sleep to peacefully link,
Your mystery and history I fondly think.
Far from above will I see you again?
Noble and just your immaculate horizon.
I’m thankful and trust what you have begun--
A quest dared to begin my imagination.
J.E. McDonald
February, 1999
Regello, Italy
GOOD NIGHT
Go softly; go gently into the night,
Go peacefully.
No sorrow or sadness will greet you
where you now go, Go certainly.
Only grace and beauty surround you
in your new beginning and ending.
So let go and go into that good night,
Go eternally.
Your pain, your suffering follows you no more.
You have served them willfully,
So let go and go into the night.
Each new sun will dance justly upon your face,
Go reverently.
As the moon’s glow caresses and soothes your tears and mine,
Go truthfully.
Give thanks for the earthly appetite you enjoyed,
and bid farewell to sins of the flesh.
Mercy and honor, your heavenly
fruits of this hollowed place.
Go humbly, go lovingly, go honestly.
Let go and go, Faithfully into the night.
J.E. McDonald
Washington, DC
May 1999
God on High, Almighty One,
Oh Great Spirit, Holy One,
From all directions of the sun;
Hear a humble prayer,
For one refined and rare.
Extend her supreme devotion,
To mirror the ocean’s emotion,
With swells of eternal motion.
Bless and caress her with mercy and Light.
Bestow upon her by day and night,
Heavenly divineness with elegant might.
May truth and love befittingly become her holy glove,
Like reverence of the purest peace dove.
Cover her in wisdom and serene majesty.
Hover over her a perfect veracity.
Hold her with all the world’s chastity.
Remember her benisons, from others distinguish.
Protect her flame of innocence, n’re let it extinguish,
Her selflessness to not diminish.
And when she faces mystery, darkness, and fear,
Envelop her an artistry of brightness, so clear.
God on High, Almighty One, Oh Great Spirit, Holy One,
Hear this humble prayer, for one refined and rare.
Bring forth honor and mightily lance
Any doubt of hope, any doubt of dance.
For surely she catches heaven’s fine glance.
Allow her courage to accept your privilege
To walk your sacred mileage with a steady footage.
Embrace her always in your beneficent arm.
Keep her far from destruction, far from harm.
Please dear Lord,
God on High, Holy One,
Hear that humble prayer, for One so refined and rare.
J.E. McDonald
Toledo, Ohio, October 1996
Peacemaker
Moon in the night, cast your silvery light
On one whose reason and sight
Rest on dreams of justice, freedom, and right,
For a season of peace and non-violence,
Where war at last is silenced.
Song of the day, majestically with music play.
Rhythm, synchronicity carry away,
Yesterday’s perils on heaven’s ray,
So greed, apathy, bloodshed, and pain--
Replaced by those who no longer blame.
Morn with a mist, sprinkle your hallowed intellect,
In a soul’s somber shift. Unsoiled spirit lift
The killings that afflicted, the shadowed and conflicted,
As enchanted dew falls on a place of solace,
Cleansing simple voices call, no fears exist.
Powers of your whisper, quiet the quivers
Of forgiven forgivers. Their trembling remembers
The hidden survivors, of love solemn reminders.
Our depth of destiny reposes tyranny.
Your breath and harmony implodes eternally.
Moon in the night, cast your silvery light
On one whose seasons and sight,
Rest on dreams of justice, freedom, and right,
For reasons of peace and non-violence,
Where wars at last are silenced.
J.E. McDonald
Washington DC, May 1997
Flight to Milan
You speak to me and to another,
A language silent, no words to utter.
Your massive peaks of beauty cover
An ancient land where knowing hovers
Dreams and clouds through which I see,
Your mountain tops rise impressively.
Their whitest white that white can be
Brings back to me an aged memory.
Where school and truth were one’s pursuit,
And life, a pool of hope, plenty with fruit.
Sharing pity for those, poor and destitute
Remembering Hannibal, refined and resolute.
Your morning sun ripples then quietly sinks,
Rendering hues purple and distant pink.
As your slopes sleep to peacefully link,
Your mystery and history I fondly think.
Far from above will I see you again?
Noble and just your immaculate horizon.
I’m thankful and trust what you have begun--
A quest dared to begin my imagination.
J.E. McDonald
February, 1999
Regello, Italy
GOOD NIGHT
Go softly; go gently into the night,
Go peacefully.
No sorrow or sadness will greet you
where you now go, Go certainly.
Only grace and beauty surround you
in your new beginning and ending.
So let go and go into that good night,
Go eternally.
Your pain, your suffering follows you no more.
You have served them willfully,
So let go and go into the night.
Each new sun will dance justly upon your face,
Go reverently.
As the moon’s glow caresses and soothes your tears and mine,
Go truthfully.
Give thanks for the earthly appetite you enjoyed,
and bid farewell to sins of the flesh.
Mercy and honor, your heavenly
fruits of this hollowed place.
Go humbly, go lovingly, go honestly.
Let go and go, Faithfully into the night.
J.E. McDonald
Washington, DC
May 1999