On Sydney's Streets

I was walking down the street tonight
And stopped a man who appeared to be
Wandering in the maze of City life
And who knew no way to change the existence
He'd been in for so many years.

I felt of the loneliness of this friend of mine
And desired to free him from his world of chains.

His chains were wrapped around him as tight as
Steel fetters but were only the things
He'd never wanted to be or do when he
Made plans for his dream.

So here he was after a long day working
To have left the pub early to get home
To his empty room.

With no wife or
Children to lend a hand and no happiness
To enjoy or any idea that it was what he was looking for.

He did say he believed in God but didn't
Know why or what He was.

I stood so close to him on that cold
City street and could barely hear his groanings
For a better way or help.
Cars and lights
And people and noise were making our
Meeting so personal and private

Because all we knew was that he was there
And I was talking to him; seeing the product
Of the world's best man.

Of a truth I cried out to him but he couldn't understand.

So plain to me now is the truth that is, and I
Wondered if he was touched or moved or if he had heard a single
Word I said.

If he is so typical of modern day man
Even more precious is this Seed we have and Our Father's
Plan.

Scott L. Vanatter, 8 May 1975 (Poem written while serving in the mission office, and frequently spending downtown many evenings chatting with people on Sydney's streets.)

Comments

Maggie said…

those scriptures you left are exactly how i feel - how did you know? and while i don't hate him -even after everything he put me thru b/c i guess i've just learned that i'm not that type of person, nor do i want to be - i don't ever want to go thru that again. his family expects me to bring him back from brazil and make everything all right again - but i don't want that. does that make me a bad person? i don't want to fix it. mainly b/c i've spent the past 4.5 years trying and i can't do it anymore. i want something better than that - for me and vanni.

October 01, 2007

The Steward, By Carol Lynn Pearson

http://www.amazon.com/Beginnings-Beyond-Carol-Lynn-Pearson/dp/1599558602 The Steward ~ a poem by Carol Lynn Pearson, from her book, Beginnings and Beyond Heber looked at his lands And he was pleased. He’d be leaving them, tomorrow, and his hands Hurt with anticipated idleness. But he knew there was no other way When a man is seventy-eight and has to make Two rest stops with a full bucket of milk Between the barn and the kitchen. Condominiums-do they have gardens? He wondered. His son had arranged the place for them in town And he was ready. He sat down On the rock that knew his body Better than the front room chair. Could it really be fifty-five years ago That sitting right there They had talked? His father’s voice had never left him: “Heber, I’m trusting to you The most precious thing I’ve got. I worked hard for this land. You know all about The crickets and the Indians and the drought, And the buckets of sweat it took To make what you see

Still, Terry

By Scott L Vanatter Poem written August 8, 2011 about my friend Terry Tenove (1954-1978) Still, I think of him -- and often. (Happily and with affinity.) Sometimes, still, my heart aches then is softened (Subtly, I see.) His time with us, though shortened, still is not forgotten. (Not by me.) What he could have created here, is foregone. (But one day still may be.) Who he was here, doesn’t alone determine who he shall one day become. (Eternally.) Smiling inside, I know he’s happy even now. (And free.) In our future reunion all will be compensated, corrected, and perfected. (Boldly.) No longer in our time, he is forever in God’s. (Nobly. Still, Terry.)

Discoveries in Chiasmus now available at Deseret Book in addition to Amazon.com

Our recent book, Discoveries in Chiasmus: A Pattern in All Things, is now available at Deseret Book in addition to Amazon.com. See links here: http://deseretbook.com/Discoveries-Chiasmus-2nd-Edition-Yvonne-Bent/i/5098976. And here: http://www.amazon.com/Discoveries-Chiasmus-Pattern-Things-Edition/dp/1937735109 A couple of years ago Yvonne Bent invited me, among others, to be one of the speakers at a conference she organized on chiasmus . She and I have subsequently edited the proceedings into this new Second Edition. We added a Bio on each author, an Index, and improved the formatting for ease of reading. "This book is a compilation or anthology of the some of the best and most current research on Chiasmus. Each of these author/presenters includes a powerful and unique perspective comprising the separate chapters of the book. "Chiasmus, once assumed to be only an ancient Hebraic literary pattern, can be shown to provide a pattern in all things. It has been identifie

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