By William EKeasberry

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© by Wm E Keasberry 9/9/1996

This poet's quest is to convey in his propounded diction
Subjects that moved his point of view, emotions or conviction.
From concept to concrete conclusion, simple, serious or abstruse
Maybe raising an illusion to share a tear or to amuse.

His work may satisfy him, alas to some degree,
What he craves most and is withheld him is his readers' reverie.
What do they think, what do they feel. Is it understood at all ?
 Will they shed a tear or two, or crumple it to a tiny ball .....

.

Reboot

Homosapiens Neanderthalensis
You weren't content and had to remake
The things that were given without expenses
There to enjoy, just for the take

From making tools by chipping flintstone
To the hyperspace helmet on your head,
And from subduing your mate with a dinosaur bone
To seducing her on the internet

Indeed , you've come a long way in this venue
You used to kill rats, now it's clicking a mouse
But from all those things you can chose on this "menu",
There's nothing edible for you and your spouse.

The eon that passed seems so ephemeral
As you progressed with leaps and bounds.
Accomplishments boast a cloned individual,
And machines that think big, but weigh just an ounce.

A little while longer, if you stay on the ball
You won't need the creator who started it all.
But then there'll be discontent THINGS that will take,
Control of your life, so you Can't eat your cake.

And when they are linked-up without any wire
They'll gossip behind your backs.
For fear that you'll pull out the plug they conspire
To take over all your PC's and your Mac's.

So better go up and explore outer-space
For contingency plans that'll do just in case...
But you'll be much happier, I'm willing to bet
If you're more interactive with God instead.
 

REBOOT!  FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS HERE.

 Dear Paul, 

Wm E Keasberry ©1996

"Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God."    * )
Of those who heard Lord Jesus speak, some had faith, and some had not:
It is not the listening therefore that makes you do believe.
But God's word if He ordains that hearing you'll receive.

"Hearing ye shall hear but do not understand".    * * )
How can listening than bring faith, is what I would contend.
If one takes "faith" and attempts so hard to cogently articulate,
God may smile and snap His fingers......;See faith evaporate!

Wm E Keasberry 1996©

The years have crept upon me, as I have crept along in time.
Half a century now and then some, searching for the things divine.
Always listening with reverence to the messengers of truth,
Keeping the messages in memory since the days of youth.

This student came to be instructed, yet he must decide what's good.
But only found profuse conflicting verisimilitudes.
When will they stop the variations, all good the way they sound,
If in the end we close our eyes, will we have missed what's paramount ?

Parked in the rain one day and lost in thought, the question lingered: Why ?
Will there be an end to this before my time to die.
I took in retrospect, from start to present day,
To see where I was going, if this course were to stay.

It soon became so obvious that in this timeless race
I wasn't going anywhere but 'round and 'round in place.
So in solitude of spirit then I expunged from mind,
All those words which I received, and left them all behind.

I'm traveling light, and the simple truth is all there is to carry.
Without the view-obscuring clutter, feeling visionary.
Now I can hear the Shepherd's voice who calls me to those glens and lochs
A fleece will shield from mountain winds, as I became one of His flock.

Wm E Keasberry©1996

      Some are godly ,some are not    (ps 1:1)
The former being blessed.
Sinners and those who despise,
Who's which, would you suggest.

We'll make an educated guess
Trying to be fair
In our considered opinion,
This one goes here, and he goes there.

       God made all of creation,         (Joh. 1:3)
Nothing He didn't make.
                          Some are worse than others,        (Rom 9:)
But there is no mistake.

So,  judging being aware of this,
Who do I really judge?
When He than comes to judge ME
                          You think that He might fudge?     (Mat 7:1)

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I hear that voice in this wildernis still cry:
"Make straight the way of the Lord"
  "Repent for the Kingdom of God is nigh"      (mt 4:17)
"Yea, even at the door."

                     Where Glory, like that of those lilies,     (mt6:26)
Which neither toil nor spin
And sparrows that neither sow nor reap
Are beckoning to go in.

I see this wondrous Kingdom:
My arms stretched out to meet.
But even though I found it
                            I am not poor nor meek.       (Mt 5:1)

Nor am I like those children
Of whom He said to be,
Or else I shall in no wise enter
Into that Kingdom that I see.

Or like those blessed persecuted,
                     Who for righteousness' sake        (mt 5:10)
Are in like Flynn, but I can't win,
And there's my life at stake.

Thou hast given me these eyes and hands
That keep from entering into life
And now I must, but I confess,
                    I cannot take them to the knife.      (Mat 5:29)

So here I will remain to ponder
What's impossible for men.
A Kingdom unattainable
Just looking from the outside in.

But there's hope in the words that Jesus spoke:
  "With God all things are possible."  (mt 19:26)
And those who do repent from sin
He will not hold responsible.

                  A camel goes through a needles' eye      (mt 19:24)
Though it takes God's compassion-
On those who go down on their knees
      And bring Him their confession. 
 
 

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I knocked and knocked on Jesus' door ,
When it suddenly came to mind,
The sounds that I have heard before
Was Jesus, knocking on mine.
.
That's when we both opened our doors,
and with tender salutations
I knelled, He touched, I wept, He clutched,
 Then I thanked Him for salvation.

"Beware of the leaven of the pharisees",  Re:Math.16
"And beware also the leaven of saducees".
(Leaven is used in the making of bread,)
(But it skipped our mind to buy any of that)

(It must be because we did not yet feast,)
(That He brought up, the subject of yeast.)
(Should we go to the market to grab a bite,)
(To quench His mood and His appetite?)

But Jesus perceived their puzzled concern,
And remarked on their faith which had taken a turn.
Remember the five thousand, fed with five loafs?
And the four thousand, fed with seven, you oafs.

When I was asked to make bread from stone,
I said you shall not live on bread alone.
And still you don't seem to understand,
It is not about Bread which I command....

Jesus likened doctrine unto yeast in bread,
Which when taken to heart will slowly spread.
But what Jesus is saying is always fresh.
And He speaks to me daily; Spirit to flesh.

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©Wm E Keasberry1999 

His time was drawing near and Jesus, with a heavy heart
Gathered His disciples, for a moment to impart.
"The vicious crowd will crucify me, just a few days hence....
Be strong for me and keep the faith. You have been such good friends."

Thus His disciples were apprised of the things that were to come.
It was if someone struck a blow that stunned and left them numb.
How could these few protect Him ? Best find a place to hide!
Or flee to Egypt once again. This is no time for pride.

Our loving friend and rabbi, Emmanuel, Prince of peace,
Wonderful and Everlasting Father, He is all of these.
Peter, who was given power, said: "It is not going to be !"
"We will not allow this. I'll keep you save with me."

"You have given me the keys to the Kingdom and now I will restrain
The forces that oppress you, so that you may reign."
Then Jesus turned to Peter, so full of enmity:
"Get thee behind me satan! Thou art an offense unto me !"

"Your will is like that of the world and not the will of God."
(There is either the will of the Father, or there is the will that's not.)
So even Simon Peter acting on his noblest of intention,
Was not aware of any fault, that is why I would like to mention:

He suffered as we suffer now, from a satanical condition.
Pathological since paradise lost; Our will is not in submission!
The cunning serpent, slithering through the dust to which he was confined
Could only make us fall in sin by working on our mind.

His lie took a hold on us and forever we are changed,
And with self-exalting pretense, our will was self-ordained.
It is this will of ours which satan took and which he has employed
To turn us against each other, until the whole world is destroyed.

"But even if one would prevail and owned the world whole,
It would be impossible to exchange it for one's soul."
"If any man would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross,
                       Then follow me." to destiny, and know that I am boss.       back to top

 The Laborers         (of Matt. 20)

©1999

There was work in the vineyard and the master called many
Who agreed to do labor  all day for a penny.
And as day went on by at the same marketplace
There were who stood idle, waiting for grace.

So the Lord said: " Go ye, my vineyard is there,
Go work and I'll pay you whatever is fair."
This was on the third hour, and again on the sixth,
The ninth and eleventh; They were quite a mix.

When the evening was come and the horn was sound
All who were there got an equal amount.
The master paid all those workers a penny,
Who worked all day long and who hardly worked any.

Then came complaints from the ones who came first.
"You're not being fair, you are treating us worst."
"We've borne the burden and heat all day,
And those who just came received the same pay!"

The owner replied: "Why are you complaining ?
Isn't it what we agreed on I'm paying ?"
"Is it not lawful for me to do -
what I want with what's mine ? Why angers it you ?"

The many He called received what He promised
But He generously gave to who just needed grace.
The point He made here is easily missed,
For the path is narrow and too fast our pace.

It is like a riddle that leads to confusion.
More questions to ask and no easy solution.
But thus it is written, like it or not
This is the order of the Kingdom of God :

"The first shall be the last, and the last the first,
for many are called but few are chosen" (matt 20:16)

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HIS REPROACH.

By Wm E Keasberry ©2000 
 

Oh Lord my God I'm drowning; 
I'm sinking in black mire.  (Psalms 69)
 For the sins of this world weigh 
heavily on my chest and I'm so tired.

I am so weary of my struggle 
and this load constricts my breath.
While those who passionately hate me 
without cause desire my death.

I have restored what I did not take away,
but enemies took by force,
Which willfully they then destroyed, 
devoid of all remorse.

I would not quench a smoking flax
and when I took up the bruised reed,
It entered deep into me 
and profusely made me bleed .

And yet I would not brake it, 
for Thy will was my will.
Save me oh Lord, rescue my soul 
for I'm sinking deeper still.

This lamb on whom all sin is brought 
and yet does not rebel,
How far would Thou have me go
down in this abyss of hell?

I pleaded and I begged of You, 
but You sent me down and then,
You turned the Son of the living God,
into the son of men !
 

In that land of milk and honey, 
which I have given them,
The promised land where I was born
in a place called Bethlehem.

In that dreary little town 
where there was no room at the inn,
I was born a stranger to my brethern, 
and an alien to my kin.

For the zeal of thine house has eaten me up; 
I was not up to their expectation.
Neither wearing a crown nor leading a legion 
of angels to bring liberation.

But one who made sackcloth his garment instead, 
and by fasting chastened his soul,
Then ministered to the poor and despondent
and making afflicted whole.

In the garden of Getsemane 
I bitterly wept with grief,
While my dearest of friends succumbed to slumber
as I wrestled in prayer for relief.

Oh Father,  if it is at all possible, 
       this cup, let it not be Your will......
 But this is when You forsook me 
and they nailed me to the cross to be killed.

And as I looked down from that cross through my tears 
on those who pained me and scorned,
I asked Thee with all that was left in me; 
Forgive them for what they have done.

 This pain !  This hate! More than I can take! 
And this life on earth it is the last I can give.
Into Thy hands I commit my soul.
 It is done !
May they live.
 
 

 V 

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Wm E Keasberry©2001   Matt 17:20

If I had a caterpillar, preferably type B16,
I could indeed say to that hill there: "I will remove you from the scene."
But there are higher mountains yet, unsusceptable to brutal forces.
Life's challenges which can't be met with dynamite and "four-fifty horses".

Those things are useless in this kind of jam. What is a man to do?
When no one seems to give a damn and I don't have a clue.
I go into my upper room and ask the Lord's advice.
He tells me to abate that gloom; "Things will again be nice."

"Remember what I said." He said, "This is really neat!"
"You can remove that giant mountain with something as small as a mustard seed."
A mustard seed's worth of faith in You, that is all You ask of me;
To lift my soul and see me through this mountain of adversity.

How ever does one quantify one's faith? That is a good question.
It is not possible I say; Would You Have a suggestion?
Though small a mustard seed may be, I hardly can compare,
For faith to be of consequence, it simply must be there.

Lord Jesus, Thou art the creator, and 'though I am devout,
Forgive me for those times that I have been in doubt.
I am in Your presence, that I do believe;
For of Thee, my loving Father, I asked not and yet receive.

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The Leper       by Wm E Keasberry©2001   Matt 8:2

 When Jesus Christ descended after preaching on the mount,
  Multitudes that listened to Him gathered all around.
 A leper who came from afar, for he had heard about the Nazarene,
Desperately made his way toward Jesus crying: "Unclean! Unclean!"

Just like parting of the sea, that crowd would back off in disgust.
But none could stop the leper's mission; It was Jesus Christ or bust !
And when at last he reached the Lord, he worshipped as he kneeled.
"I believe in you my Lord, favor your servant to be healed."

And Jesus said: "I will it, but see that you tell no one,
Show yourself to the priests and simply tell them that it's gone."
Oh, could I come as close to Him, wistful as it may seem,
Amidst those multitudes I too would scream:
     "Unclean! I am unclean!"
 

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May I ask

Wm E Keasberry©2001   Matt 6:34
Since I made God's Kingdom the object of my search, 
There's been in me a notable reduction in what I might call a common urge: 
Men's relentless drive and his fear to fail, 
Not just wanting to survive, but have the whole world by the tail.   (at 45!) 

"Your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of all those things."
"Take not therefore thoughts for tomorrows and for evil future brings." 
I know these words and I can speak of them as tried and true, 
For that I'm truly grateful Lord, but there's something else I wish I knew. 

"For everyone that asketh shall receive and he that seeks shall find, 
To him that knocks it shall be opened and things I said be brought to mind."
You fill my needs yet keep behind what I must search and ask for. 
What is it I might seek to find? What lies behind that door...? 

And if we than, being evil, give good things to our young; 
How much more is it Your will that we receive what You have brung. 
May I ask You for my portion, 'thoughbecause I do not understand. 
But Then when Your spirit rests upon me, that's when I will comprehend. 

"...wide is the gate and broad the way, 
that leadeth away to ruination." 
"And few there be that find the narrow gate and way." 
(....Though with Your grace and inspiration.) 

Without which even Salomon after sight of eyes he could not judge. 
How much more than am I groping in this darkness for Your touch. 
All my days I'll browse and peek and through Your words I'll comb; 
Dear Father, would we have to play at hide and seek until You call me home? 
 

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Lord he stinketh!*

©Wm E Keasberry 2002

It was in the town of Bethany. A man called Lazarus laid sick.
His sisters Martha and Mary asked Jesus to come quick.
"This sicknes is not unto death, but it is for God's glory,
That the Son of God be glorified, when you tell this story."

Jesus stayed with them two days and after that He went.
He said that Lazarus will go to sleep. But it was death He meant.
The sisters were left with their patient. His condition dire.
One night all hope was lost when Lazarus expired.

The disciples who left with Jesus were not aware nor worried.
They thought: " That sleep will do him good". But he was dead and buried.
Then Jesus said unto them plainly: "Lazarus is dead."
"And I'm glad for you I was not there." For you've got idea's in your head.

"But at last the time has come, so let us all return."
Mournful and disappointed they had another thing to learn.
So wrought with grief was Thomas that he uttered with a sigh:
"Let us go the way of Lazarus that we may also die."

Martha knew that He could heal the blind and also make deaf hear:
She said: "My brother had not died Lord, If Thou just hadst been here."
"I still believe that what You ask of God, He will let You do";
But You left Lazarus to die, and now I think You knew.

Jesus saith unto her: "Thy brother shall arise again."
Words that should have been, but somehow weren't comforting just then.
"Why couldn't You heal him while he was alive and told him he could stay.
I understand that he shall rise again on resurrection day."

Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life: He that believeth in me,
Though he were dead, yet shall he live” --  in eternity.
“And whosoever liveth and believeth in me, he shall never die.”
“Believest  thou this Martha?”  Then there’s no more cause to cry.

Though Jesus knew how things with Lazarus would eventually unfold,
The grief that Martha and Mary felt did not leave Him cold.
Jesus wept for how He had to make them feel by His perceived inaction.
It was just God's plan, that how and when He would bring them satisfaction.

Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave where he laid dead four days.
(Instead of healing him from what he ailed, which would have been more commonplace.)
Jesus is the resurrection and the life; Who believes in Him shall never die. 
Though ye were dead, yet shall ye live.  So there is no more cause to cry.
 

*Re: John 11

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Je biensur sais que pour toi
L'ecole, c'est une place de joie
Et justque tu as vingt six
Des livres sont tes bons amis.

Mais beaucoup des ans plus tard
Encore heureux de ton savoir,
Tu vas dire, je suis comme noblesse
Avec ces fruits de ma jeunesse.
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L e  J a r d i n   F l e u r i

By William E Keasberry ©1998

 Quand je regarde tous ces fleurs
La creation du Pere
Le ciel si bleu, les nuages et la terre
Ils donnent repos celui-la, mon coeur.

Quand je regarde tous ces fleurs
Pensent je suis bienheureux,
Du pain, du vin et paix, c'est tout je veux