AuthorA.J. Amos

Poems of hope, 2024 Hope is a hollow word a breath into the void; does it end with the beginning of peace? Sure and certain hope… My sure and certain hope is not to be reconstituted bone to bone and flesh restored; but to be sustained by that  great love that never perishes, to know once again the ground of my confidence in God; to enter the great adventure. Beyond death lies hope; Beyond death lies hope; how can this be ? Only if the passage to eternity can liberate me from myself and set me free; grace me with wings I never used before, from finite to infinity to soar to hear the blissful music of the spheres that sweetly breaks upon my dying fears. Hope is hope is an anchor hope is a rope twisted and strong hope is a ladder hope is a hand outstretched hope is a wayside sign hope is a child hope is a pope hope is a wing and a prayer hope is a window open in time hope is a breath first and last hope is a deed a rebel against fate hope is a spring in the desert of the heart life...

Death comes once in a while
And leaves a terminal smile
What can I do to greet,
What can I do to meet
My visitor when she comes ?
Give all freely,
Live life fully,
Leave your body as prey
All else,  make away.

We live in a comfortable and uncomfortable world;
we know good living,  and yet are of uneasy conscience;
somehow we know that God suffers still among us;
among those who are destitute, fleeing from war.
We know that the voice of the prophets has yet to
find a response;
still the unrighteous take their ease,
and the poor are trodden under foot.
Send out your light,  Lord,  that it may lead us,
to your holy place,  and to your tabernacle;
shine for us,  bright morning star proclaimed
in the last words of our scriptures;
Let everyone who is thirsty come,  says Jesus;
Then,  Lord,  help us to be ready for your coming,
as we hear your words “surely I am coming soon.”
Amen,  come Lord Jesus !

Don’t despair God is here, and there both near and far within the heart and cradling furthest star How to discern, how to learn how to say “your will be done” in all things near and far; that is my prayer. Hymn to the Logos Divine Word,   uttered in silence Descending from on high Cleaving the darkness with light Finding a resting place In human form Divine Word,   shaper of all things Bringer of life into being Reasoner with humankind Healer of  infirmities Divine Word, known alone To those who listen Heard by those who lend an ear To the Spirit’s voice Move among us with your power Move among us with your grace In this place among all places be known to us in a thousand faces. Divine Word, verb of life Juggler of joy Creator of harmony In music and in mind Stiller of conflict Herald of peace Move among us with your grace Divine Word, made flesh for us Born for us, alive for us Reigning from the Cross for us Known to us by human touch Seen by human eyes and looked upon Proclaimed...

A church is a poem in stone
someone conceived it
others breathed it
into being
others made it
through labour
of rough hands
while others remade it through prayer
and offered there
sorrows and despair
in hope of turning
in hope of hearing
in their hearts
just a word.

There are worse gods than no god

Dear Master,  much have I been moved and troubled by thy care of me, thy humble servant,  when I know most keenly of my silly uselessness…. How tenderly thou bendest thyself to minister to me a leaf of lettuce – muttering under thy breath the while, imprecations against thine enemies ! Let it be said that I provide thee with a slight diversion; for of late,  thine enemies be many. “Tuck thy head in, dear Master ! ” is my plea,  not just the once but on our several happenings. And yet thou wouldest not. For soothly thou persistest in thy ways as pedagogue,   reproving this man for want of surplice, that clerk for an undressed altar.   I live in fright for thee, dear Master ! Dost thou not see, sometime to halt, consider and retire, is yet better than to advance i’the fray ? For such is the secret of my longevity,  which I much fear will surely exceed thine own, unless thou turnest from thy way. . Such turns are not in harmony with thy nature;   slight of stature thou mayest be but most...

Love is the bridge that links two worlds:
This world in which we mourn and suffer loss
And the fair world of eternity’s dawn.
Love is the bridge which helps us cross
And love itself our crossing,
for in the love with which we hold our dear ones still
we find the promise of a bond without a losing.
Nothing is stronger than the force of death but love;
Love is the eternal gift that knows no end –
It springs up in our hearts we know not how,
Its music through our lives befriends
And in its requiem there is hope,
For God is love.
God is love, and so our loves are held most safe
In his eternal arms
Where all things are made new, made perfect
Healed, and whole.
Holy is the One who heals and perfects us through love
And to this loving there is never ending.

Some volunteer to be martyrs Others steal martyrdom with the blood of their victims you became a martyr through your pen Which issued forth blood And wrote: “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Now you are proving that death  made you stronger not weaker Now you are showing that freedom costs; you paid the price. And the pen is mightier than the sword Without hands You handle the news Without sight You illuminate the fields of hatred Silenced Your voice is broadcast everywhere And the pen is mightier than the sword You fell upon the thorns of life they pierced you and you bleed; Jamal,   your beauty has been trashed to dust And yet… The pen is mightier than the sword. Spirit of the universe, drive his dead thoughts until like withered leaves they hasten a new birth ! And, by the incantation of this verse, Scatter, as from an unextinguish’d hearth Ashes and sparks, his words upon our kind; Be through his lips to unawaken’d earth The trumpet of a prophecy ! So we may hope; If Winter...

I am now not anywhere
I do not exist.
My enemies are satisfied ….
but they do not know
that I am no longer somewhere
in order that I can be everywhere,
for example…..
neatly stationed under the bed
of Prince Muhammad Salman; …
wherever ……