Poems Rising to the Occasion: Volume 7

By Ronald L. Faust

The thread that runs through these poems is a prophetic function of rising to the occasion in bubbling up truth hidden below the surface and at times questioning the status quo. Poetry that can do this serves an important role in facing evil intent and putting us on higher ground to do what is right and courageous and honest. I think poetry should be slightly dissident and have language to move us. Here is a springtime occasion to think and feel these provocative poems.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669829744

Ronald L. Faust

Ron is a poet and peace activist, who wrote the fiction GAPS and Prophetic Poetry: Holy Agitation for Peace, Justice, and Passion. He received his Doctorate from DREW University in Madison NJ and his ministry and counseling degrees from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis and Northwest Christian University in Eugene Oregon. He enjoys supporting peace and justice issues, water gardening and sailing Sabbatical II. Toni received her Masters in Early Childhood from the University of Illinois and teaching degree from Eureka College. Recognized by her Excellence in Education Award, she taught children at all levels and trained as a Montessori teacher. Her secrets for raising children unfold inside these pages and her grandparenting insights can nurture and transform the social landscape.

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Copyright © 2022 by Ronald L Faust.

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Rev. date: 06/13/2022

Xlibris

844-714-8691

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CONTENTS

Introduction to Vol. 7

Meditating into Night

Campaign for Nuclear Freedom

Black History Month

Two thoughts for this day

Imagine Bomb Prevention

Meanwhile, Reminders

Aftermath of Impeachment

Marvelous Mars

Escape

Peace on the Far Trail

March Forth

Coming out of the Pandemic

Royalty Exposed

Relief

The Thread Between Us

Complicity

SoulCare

Spring Has Sprung

Guns

Time Out

Shoot Outs

Presidential Comparisons

Ode to Jonne

Deception

Ode to Ramsey

Surge

Music of Sadness

Immigrants

Spring Snow

To Be Peace

Racial Justice

The GOP Way

The Demo Alternative

A Prayer for Healthy Thinking

Transformational

Genocide Patterns

Inconceivable

Their Identity Crisis

Massacres

Et Tu Brute

Scars of Auschwitz

Four Forty Four

Second To None

Why Racism?

Do Nothing Birthday

Vacation At Last

Not Everyone

The Wonder of a Poem

Solace

Double Trouble

Happy Talk

The Grind

Ignorance and Violence

Contradictions

War and Peace

Twenty Years Grieving

Pebbles In the Pool

Learning Peace

Peace Walk

Mean

Ali

Planting a Tree

So Much

Interconnected

Dangerous Blahs

Alone

A Ride Into Outer Space

Drawn Out Coup

The Gaps in Passwords

Poetic Justice

Canoe Ride

A Sip on Life

Build a Big Deal

Sweep

Chinese Checkers

Mistaken Priorities

Racial Redemption

Priceless

Two or Three

Eco-anxiety

Winds of Change

Distraction

Cosmic Love

Dilemma

Presents

Tutu

Shame

Undone

Coo Coup

Gaps

No Sneezing

Death Wish

Two Birds

Olympic Snowflakes

The Silence of Truth

Peace Questions

Gun Eruptions

Different Vibes

Peace Pleas

Nuclear Elephant

The Lull of Spring

Journey to New Life

Ketanji

Walk Away

The Dive

Love You

Unrestrained

In You

A Radical Jesus of Justice and Peace

Rainy Daffodils

The Great Divide

Trespassing

On Earth Day

Let Me Live

Disarm Drones of Death

Abortion’s Mess

Arrested Development

Final Destination

May Day Massacre

Time to Change

Acknowledgements

Books by the Author

Introduction to Vol. 7

I guess what bothers me most is the news of mass extermination around a Covid world. I noted this angst in an autobiography A Room Full of Shadows in which I followed an ant around my study. I started to form thoughts about a search for values in a raucous novel GAPS under the pen name Mac Keyes in which I wrestled with scriptural background to discover core values in a drama of romance, religion and death.

The first three volumes of Prophetic Poetry identified six significant values: Peace, Justice, and Ecology in Volume Two and Openness, Authenticity, and Love in Volume Three. The collection of stories can be seen as reflecting these six themes, developed by the prophets, such as Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr. and today’s poets. Primarily, it was focusing on the theme of Peace as a way to refer and talk about God. Then came Volume Four Poems For Lonely Prophets, demonstrating the difficult task that unpopular prophets endure discerning the destructiveness of some mainstream thinking. I documented the tenure of the 145th President of Chaos in the poetry UNPRECEDENTED. This was extended in Volume Six Percolating Poetry, admitting there are greater poets out there but this is what bubbles up in my free verse. Now I humbly offer Volume Seven Poems Rising to the Occasion in a sweep into the tumultuous Covid period of unraveling the coup of January 6, 2021 to the Senate Hearings on June 9, 2022.

The thread that runs through these poems is a prophetic function of rising to the occasion in bubbling up truth hidden below the surface and at times questioning the status quo. Poetry that can do this serves an important role in facing evil intent and putting us on higher ground to do what is right and courageous and honest. I think poetry should be slightly dissident and have language to move us. Here is a springtime occasion to think and feel these provocative poems.

Meditating into Night

I step into death

Death steps into me

After reading Night

by Elie Wiesel

The silence is deafening

With no echoes for answers

On how cruel humans can be

It snows on and on

On the first of the New Year

And I drink a cup of coffee

Not knowing what line

I will cross over next

Starting out, I believe

It will become better

Until I can do no other

I breathe in deeply and softly

And breathe out several times

Letting go of the night

Focusing my attention

On the present moment

That life is real and energizing

I follow this feeling

On a new day a new year.

1/1/21 (On occasion of starting a New Year

in letting go the trauma of death and a difficult year)

Campaign for Nuclear Freedom

We’ve heard the clarion calls before

Lest we forget

Martin Luther King Jr. gave his speech

Beyond Vietnam a year before

Going to the Biblical Mountain top

On April 4, 1968

    Shots heard around the world

    Assassinating our prophets

    To make them silent for that

    Which makes us uncomfortable

Reminding us

That hate will consume us through violence

But it’s not even that, violence vs nonviolence

It has to do with our extinction as a human race

Black Lives Matter filled our streets with protests

That overzealous