Poems by Richard Gold

ON TURNING 90 (Aunt May)

Many years have passed
Many memories you have
The precious moments past
The joy that these give

Remember when as a child
You wondered what you'd be
Life was so long and full
You could hardly wait to see

Then you went to school
You wondered why all the stuff
Sometimes you felt like you'd drown
There were times you said "enough"

Then you graduated from school
You discovered that the world was strife
All the stuff you had to learn
Was what prepared you for life

Then you met the one you loved
The one you wanted for life
It was fun to be around him
Then you knew there'd be no strife

The wedding day, the wedding day
That you looked forward to
You entered a new life
So much different to do

Then came the kids
It seemed that life really changed
Diapers and formula and 2 a.m. feedings
Your world was rearranged

But the kids grew up
Made you so proud
But sometimes their music
Did it have to be so loud

Then they left home
One by one by one
You could settle down
And life was more fun

But you missed them
The house seemed so still
With no one about
Their visit was a thrill

It seemed the years flew by
You could not make them stop
So much happened
Made you so tired you thought you'd drop

Now you have the memories
Memories of yesterday
You wish that you had youth again
But there is no other way

Memories, memories, memories
It is so good to have
The future is coming down the road
Yet you have so much yet to give

MY LAST DAY (Uncle Dee)

Soon I shall be going
My soul will leave this earth
I've had a long and good life
From when my mother gave me birth

I hope that I will be missed
By those for whom I care and love
But do not grieve for me
My soul will be with God above

I've done many things
Have memories both bad and good
Sorry for some things I've done
Wish I had done others that I could

Now this world of worry and pain
Will be a thing I have had
I will be here no more
For this I shall be glad

Soon I shall leave you
My body will be beneath the sod
And through the grace of His son
I will see the face of God

 

SWEET 70 (Many of us)

When we're young
There's something about turning sixteen
We feel we're almost grown
No matter the years between

We call this sweet sixteen
We like to celebrate
Our parents and friends
Think this is really great

When we turn 21
We realize that we're really grown
We find responsibilities
We never had known

Then it's 30, 40, 50, and 60
Life really goes by so fast
Suddenly it seems old age
We feel lucky we're here at last

Sweet 70, sweet 70, sweet 70
Many years that we've known
How many years have passed
How many relatives have gone

It's good to be here
To have known the past
To really be alive
The future comes so fast

 

MORE BLESSED

It is more blessed to give than to receive
Says the word of God
It is when disaster hits
That all people give us the nod

But we truly know as we go out to others
Their disasters to relieve
It is far better to be able to give
Than to have to receive

THE GIFT OF NATURE

In the corridors of time
The body of nature has come to be
Come either by direction or chance
It is here for us to see

We, people of the earth
Have inherited many things
To use or to abuse or to destroy
This is the choice the future brings

But once the bridge of time is crossed
Once we've taken a thing out
There can be no return
No matter what effort we mount

So tread lightly my friend
For we, the rulers of the earth
Once all is gone
There can be no rebirth

THERE WERE 12 MEN

There were 12 men
Who spread the word
Through the work of these
The world has heard

The word of truth
The word of love
Was given by the Son
From the God above

If we follow His teachings
If we live and love Him
We will find the way of peace
We shall live to be His kin

 

THE GOOD TEACHER

A good teacher is well prepared
But a good teacher doesn't teach a thing
They inspire the students to learn
To use the intelligence they bring

Though students cannot know
The reason for what they learn
In the future they will need to know
If they do not, money they will not earn

A teacher must give the test
To find what the students know
Have they comprehended what was said
Can the teacher make it so

It is hard to kick start some
Into the knowledge, into the way
For if the student can but does not try
In the future they will have to pay

But the greatest thing that can happen
For the student to say in years to come
It was you who inspired me
My education had just begun

 

RETIREMENT LIFE

Retirement is the time of life
When you think your work is done
There is nothing else to do
Now you think you'll have some fun

But before you know it
There's so much to do
"How did I have time to work?"
Is a saying you find true

Now you have all the free time
So others seem to think
Now they ask you to volunteer
Free time has become a blank

People are always busy
Always much to do
Do not sit and vegetate
Or your spirit will get blue

 

GETTING OLD

Some say I'm getting old
My hair is turning white
Has turned lose on the top
But I don't think that's right

My mind is young and spry
My hope is for tomorrow
Where I will live my life
And not have to borrow

Some wish to shuttle me away
To put me in a home
Would you wish it done to you
I like freedom to roam

I want the respect that comes with age
Because I believe I know
Through painful experiences
The path in life you should go

As long as my body is whole
As long as I have my mind
Years do not make me old
I will be in my prime

My mind says "I'm young
I can be whatever I want to be"
My body sits and looks in the mirror
And says, "He, he, he"

GOD'S AGENDA

God has an agenda
Just like you and me
We must find His agenda
If His face we would see

God has an agenda
For people both great and small
If we ignore His agenda
We're in for an eternal fall

God has an eternal agenda
Changing not through time and space
God has the eternal power
And eternal grace

 

ODE TO A TEENAGER

O you who are young
But old in many ways
You think you are wise
But in hope, not in days

You were but a child
When yesterday dawned
But now your think you know all
The past, present, future drawn

Wisdom comes from knowledge
Knowledge from those who lived before
Although they lived so long ago
Their knowledge is not a bore

It's true that things have changed
New inventions are the rage
But some things remain the same
From age to age

The human wants and needs
Are always the same
The human spirit is wild
Impossible to tame

We must deal with others
As through life we go
So listen to your elders
Who the solutions to the problems know

 

HOW DOES THE MAN OF GOD

How does the man of God
Improve his daily life
To worship to the end
In life's ongoing strife

The way, plain may be
For everyone to go
But t'is the holy one
Who the way does truly know

We lift up our hands
To our holy God
For when life's end does come
We'll meet beneath the sod

But while we're here on earth
In this world of toil
Do not from any good deed
Your very being recoil

I HAVE A LITTLE CAT

I have a little cat
Who knows that she
The center of the world
And wants obedience from me

I have a little cat
So soft and so serene
Whenever she gets on the table
She thinks I am mean

I have a little cat
Her fur is soft as silk
She expects from me
Her food and milk

I have a little cat
She sleeps all day
Except when she's awake
Then she wants to play

I have a little cat
Her fur is black as night
Whenever I yell at her
She runs away in fright

I have a little cat
Since she's come to live with me
How I lived before
I cannot now seem to see

                   

 FAITH AND WORKS

Salvation is by the grace of God
Faith with a foundation in love
The hope that Christians hold
For the eternal home above

But faith in the grace of God
Must be something we show
That by our words and by our deeds
We let the sinful world know

For by grace we are saved
Through God's holy Son
That in the end and in the now
Life's race we must run

For faith is our rock, our hope
Works of goodness we must do
For by these two, not by one
We show our faith is true

 

FOR NEVER AND A DAY

The Son of God came down to earth
God's will to impart
That by His teachings and by His life
Gives salvation for every heart

It was not before
It'll never be done again
For God gave His Son but once
To woo the hearts of men

It is but for us to believe
We can do naught else in faith
But live our life that by His will
He sets for us the pace

So we must live from day to day
Walk in God's holy path
That when the end of life doth come
We shall not know his wrath




SOME BELIEVE

Some believe to cheat is wrong
Some believe that it is right
Some believe that what we do
Is governed by our own insight

For we follow what we know
What is within our mind
Be it either bad or good
Either cruel or kind

So does it matter what a man believes
Or yet a woman too
It does not change the facts
But changes what we do




WHO IS GOD

Who is God
What is His name
His name is YAHWEH
From age to age the same

By His holy love
He sent His Son to earth
So that all who believe
Can have the second birth

Today in the world He works
Through the Holy Spirit's desire
That all may know His comfort
And gives the Church His power

These three are one
In purpose, in love, in power
Their eternal will for mankind
Is God's eternal desire

 
THE FINAL FOE

There is one final foe
That all of us must face
The grave will swallow whole
All the human race

But one has passed beyond
Was raised by God's own hand
It is Jesus our Lord
The One, the holy Man

By His life and by His death
And that He was raised to live
We may, by faith, walk
Through this world of strife

Remember to the end
Remember God's holy word
An abode of praise
Promised by our Lord

So let us so live here and now
That when the end doth come
We will pass from life to life eternal
When our race we've run