unknown author

copied this down from a Lewis Smedes book a few years ago. Dont know who the author is..

Within my earthly temple theres a crowd;
Theres one thats humble, one thats proud
Theres one thats broken hearted fro his sins
And one that unrepentant, sits and grins
Theres one that loves his neighbor as himself
And one that cares for naught but fame and self
From such perplexity and care I would be free
if I could once determine which is me

A Tolerated Pet

It followed you through life
Like a mangy dog
Down an empty street
Head lowered
Ribs exposed
Hip bone protruding
Through mottled coat
Like a blunt instrument
Following at a safe distance
Sniffing the air
For a whiff of hope

GIDOUDAVITT!

It drops behind a corner
Scampers away behind some bin
Tail between sinewy legs
And cowers a while longer
Circling itself in fear
While you turn and stride away
When you turn
You see hungry eyes
Head begin to lift
It wont stop following
So, you think
He might as well become to you
Like a kind of friend
Like a tolerated pet.

Tears, Idle Tears.

I knew there was a reason I collected stuff and left it sitting in a folder on the bookshelf for months and months..

So i could be refreshed by it later.

I found this last night among my collected papers, by Lord Alfred Tennyson.

TEARS, IDLE TEARS

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,
Tears from the depth of some divine despair
Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes,
In looking on the happy autumn fields,
And thinking of the days that are no more

Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail,
That brings our friends up from ther underworld,
Sad as the last which reddens over one
That sinks with all we love below the verge;
So sad, so fresh, the days that are no more

Ah, sad and strange as in dark summer dawns
the earliest pipe of half awakened birds
to dying ears, when unto dying eyes
the casement slowly grows a glimmering square;
So sad, so strange, the days that are no more.

Dear as remembered kisses after death,
And sweet as those by hopeless fancy feigned
On lips that are for others; deep as love,
Deep as first love, and wild with all regret;
O death in Life, the days that are no more!