Sense and Sound presents a new collection of more than five hundred poems exploring more than one hundred and fifty subjects, including aging, love, war, religion, and beauty. This inspiring collection of verse addresses the fundamental concerns of the hu
Sense and Sound
PoetryBy DONALD PATRICK REDHEFFERiUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2012 Donald Patrick Redheffer
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4759-0087-3Contents
Acknowledgments.............................xiiiSense and Sound.............................xvPreface.....................................xviiPrologue....................................xixAdversity...................................1Aging.......................................1Alone.......................................5America.....................................5Argument....................................8Art.........................................10Beauty......................................10Belief......................................11Biography...................................18Books.......................................18Causality...................................19Chance......................................20Character...................................20Civilization................................21Confession..................................21Conformity..................................22Consistency.................................22Convictions.................................23Cosmos......................................23Creative Writing............................25Creativity..................................26Crime and Punishment........................26Criticism...................................27Death.......................................29Definition..................................31Democracy...................................31Destiny.....................................33Doctors.....................................34Doubt.......................................35Education...................................36Elegy.......................................37Endeavor....................................38Ends........................................39Envy........................................40Equality....................................40Eternity....................................41Excess......................................41Experience..................................42Exploitation................................43Facts.......................................43Faith.......................................44Fame........................................47Famous People...............................48Fate........................................54Faults......................................57Fear........................................57Fidelity....................................58Flattery....................................58Followers...................................59Forgiveness.................................60Free Speech.................................61Freedom.....................................62Friendship..................................64Future......................................65Gambling....................................66Genius......................................67Gestures....................................69Giving......................................70Goals.......................................70Good Examples...............................73Government..................................74Greatness...................................76Guns........................................77Habit.......................................78Happiness...................................78Heaven and Hell.............................81Hope........................................82Humanity....................................83Humor.......................................94Hypocrisy...................................94Iconoclasm..................................95Idealism....................................96Identity....................................97If..........................................97Ignorance...................................98Illusions...................................99Injury......................................102Innocence...................................102Judgment....................................103Justice.....................................103Kisses......................................104Knowledge...................................105Laughter....................................107Leisure.....................................108Liberty.....................................109Lies........................................109Life........................................110Literature..................................115Loss........................................115Love........................................116Man and Machine.............................126Manners.....................................127Marriage....................................127Masks.......................................129Mathematics.................................130Mediocrity..................................131Memory......................................131Mercy.......................................133Metaphysics.................................134Miser.......................................134Misfortune..................................135Moderation..................................135Modesty.....................................136Moral Relativity............................137Morality....................................138Mystery.....................................147Nature......................................150Necessity...................................151Novels......................................152Originality.................................153Pacifism....................................154Paradox.....................................155Parting.....................................156Partisan....................................156Patriotism..................................157Pedantry....................................159Philosophy..................................160Plans.......................................161Pleasure....................................161Poetry......................................162Politics....................................167Possessions.................................167Postulates..................................168Power.......................................169Praise......................................169Prayer......................................170Pride.......................................171Principles and Practice.....................171Prisons.....................................172Professions.................................172Proverbs....................................173Punishment..................................173Purpose.....................................173Questions and Answers.......................175Quips.......................................176Quotations..................................176Reality.....................................178Reason......................................179Regret......................................179Religion....................................180Remembrance.................................189Saints and Sinners..........................190Science.....................................190Science and Morality........................192Security....................................192Self........................................193Self-Interest...............................194Self-Knowledge..............................194Self-Reproach...............................194Sentimentality..............................195Sorrow......................................195Stoicism....................................196Success.....................................196Sympathy....................................197Taboos......................................197Talent......................................198Teaching....................................198Temptation..................................200Thought.....................................201Time........................................202Tranquility.................................205Travel......................................206Truth.......................................209War.........................................211War and Peace...............................219Wealth......................................219Wisdom......................................220Wit.........................................221Wonder......................................222Words.......................................222Words and Action............................223Writing.....................................223Epilogue....................................231About the Author............................233
Chapter One
Adversity
1. Precious Prey The lessons of adversity
Cannot be washed away;
Branded for life,
We become their precious prey.
2.
Only Known to Grief Adversity breeds allegiance
That tranquility never knows,
For pain is an acid rain,
Deeper than quid pro quo.
The sharing of such agony
Is a bond greater than belief,
Reaching a place deep within
Which is only known to grief.
Aging 3.
Time's Teaching Free time is best used with age,
When passions are subdued;
May find a way to engage
A real thought or two.
Probe deeply into the heart,
Let time's teaching find a way
To bring a depth to our art
That youth cannot convey.
Some say with passing years
They doubt age makes us wise;
But surely life's flood of tears
Wash away the lies.
4.
Age and Virtue Some see balance in growing old—
Loss of power and growth of soul.
Somehow goodness makes amends
For our lack of self-control.
Virtue not found in youth
Rarely becomes the stuff of age
We like to think goodness grows
In an old and lovely sage.
No harm in this tender view
Of those in steep decline.
Kindness at any age
Is a touch of the divine.
5.
Ebb Tide Those who die in little ways
Through stages of decline;
Become a fraction of the one
Who once was superfine.
It may seem a blessing
When death finally comes;
But life clings to every breath,
Unwilling to succumb.
The years can bring a passion
Never felt before;
Time touches every moment
With the need to do more.
For me, there's only writing
Songs from deep inside,
Words that ring with wonder
Before life's ebb tide.
6.
Lost Youth The pursuit of a younger mate
May be beauty sought and found;
More likely this chosen state
Is lost youth rebound.
7. Perhaps respect conferred in age
Is justified on moral grounds;
Sins that once dared to rage
Have proved to be unsound.
8. The temperance that comes with age
Seems the tyranny of time;
Free of desire that once engaged
Brings a taste of the sublime.
9.
Golden Years The golden years were once seen
As wisdom's native ground;
Now the old are often told
Their thinking is unsound.
Science and technology
Move at the speed of light;
They say age cannot engage
A world so recondite.
The insights of maturity
Are rudely cast aside;
There is no grace in a race
When wisdom is decried.
10. Those who are advanced in years
And bitterly complain of life
May find solace through the tears,
For time will soon end their strife.
Alone 11. Aloneness is polarity
Full of joy and grief.
Solitude brings ecstasy;
Loneliness is a thief.
America 12.
Land of Plenty In the land of plenty,
Food everywhere abounds.
Few find restraint
When dinner comes around.
Restraint is known to all
For life full and long,
But pleasure heaped on pleasure
Can't be so very wrong.
Values turn to more and more
Of whatever is desired.
Life's measure is taken
By the things we acquire.
The great power of the nation
Is seen in endless war.
Our wild heritage prevails
Though 'tis God we adore.
Contradictions are many
In the land of the free.
Human nature is found
In our many deities.
13.
Rejection Deserved No draft is needed
In the red, white, and blue.
Mercenaries are marching
When soldiers won't do.
No disturbing the citizens,
Untouched by the wars.
They live peaceful lives
And God they adore.
The leaders don't dare
Force the many to serve.
For war would fall victim
To rejection deserved.
14.
No One to Vote For No one to vote for
When it comes to war;
All candidates agree
On settling the score.
15.
Birthright? Rich soldiers are few and far between
When no draft demands we fight;
How many rich Americans
See war as their birthright?
16.
Land of the Humdrum America worships youth;
Actors and athletes are revered;
Looking young is the only truth
To which many will adhere.
The old quietly set aside
By ageless moderns in the sun,
The wisdom of age denied
In the land of the humdrum.
17.
The Oath The courts require you and I
To tell the truth when on the stand;
While those who practice law contrive
To twist the truth to take command.
Argument 18.
Winning an Argument Winning an argument
Seems right in every way;
Showing off what we know,
Thrilled to win the day.
Teaching while winning
Seems too good to be true,
Or is the real goal
Simply to subdue?
Thinking over the matter
We are startled to find
That losing an argument
Can improve one's mind.
19.
Losing an Argument When losing an argument
Some say they were burned.
Such losses are welcome
For to lose is to learn.
20.
When Belief Is Strong All arguments are weak
When belief is strong.
No point in dispute
With the headstrong.
21.
When Anger Is Provoked Arguments are won by default
When anger is provoked.
Rage reveals who we are,
And can be a yoke.
An admission of defeat
Is seen in the grimace.
No need to reply
To anger's ugly face.
22.
Logic's Rules Great arguments fail
While beliefs are shared.
Machines follow logic's rules;
People forbear.
Art 23. Art transforms our world,
Marks it with a mind.
Sees beyond what appears
With vision yet confined.
Art is after all
Humanity revealed.
No escape from ourselves
In search of the real.
Beauty 24.
Beauty Beatifies Beauty is more than symmetry
That merely draws the eye.
The heart must be captured;
Beauty beatifies.
25.
Memory of the Race Goodness is transcendent beauty,
For the ravages of time
Only serve to make it better
Like the aging of fine wine.
It is remembered long after
We have vanished with no trace,
A most lovely hereafter
In the memory of the race.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Sense and Soundby DONALD PATRICK REDHEFFER Copyright © 2012 by Donald Patrick Redheffer. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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