Magazine Posts

A good friends Mother,
left the World today.
She lived in a Country,
so far away.
a foreign country,
on the Mediterranean Sea.
A beautiful country,
she will no longer see.
Rest in peace, where
you will surely be.

When the World crumbles,
like castles of sand
and the life you know
is not yours to command,
it is the time to stand,
raising your voices up high
and protest. You must,
so, all will know why.
This is your fight.
Do you live or just die?

Run fast
into the wind,
on your
outward bound,
training path.
Run faster
with the
wind on
your back,
as you
return home.

Strap tight the light,
wait until Dawn.
Keeping your composure
for tomorrow and beyond

Rain splatters,
bouncing into
a fine spray.
Freshening air,
night and day.
Liking the Sun,
as I do,
the ground
is dry and
I am
missing you.

Broad were the views,
a natural exhibit
of colors of Spring.
Much beauty to see,
as Nature's bling.

Multi-hued skies
reflecting in water, fast.
Rolling colors sparkled,
as the river flowed past.
A rainbow of colors
now on display.
A viewing of Nature's
most dazzling array.

For all I ask,
for all I see,
for all I want,
is a mystery.

The light,
the shadows,
meld into grey,
A colorless spot,
in a once colorful array.

To serve my country day by day
At any humble post I may;
To honor and respect her Flag,
To live the traits of which I brag;
To be American in deed
As well as in my printed creed.

To stand for truth and honest toil,
To till my little patch of soil
And keep in mind the debt I owe
To them who died that I might know
My country, prosperous and free,
And passed this heritage to me.

I must always in trouble’s hour
Be guided by the men in power;
For God and country I must live,
My best for God and country give;
No act of mine that men may scan
Must shame the name American.

To do my best and play my part,
American in mind and heart;
To serve the flag and bravely stand
To guard the glory of my land;
To be American in deed,
God grant me strength to keep this creed.

Edgar Albert Guest (1881 – 1959) was a British-born American poet who became known as the People's Poet. His family moved from England to Detroit, Michigan when he was ten years old and he lived there the rest of his life. He worked for the Detroit Free Press for 64 years. He published more than twenty volumes of poetry and was thought to have written over 12,000 poems. His poems often had an inspirational and optimistic view of everyday life. Of his poems he said, "I take simple everyday things that happen to me and I figure it happens to a lot of other people and I make simple rhymes out of them. "His popularity led NBC to produce a weekly 15-minute radio program, “Guest in Your Home,” which ran from 1931 to 1942.
The Globe editorialized his passing by quoting Philip Coldren, the late editorial page editor who wrote that the key to Guest’s greatness was “that among the thousands of Guest poems, ‘there has not been a single one that has promoted wickedness or meanness or anything else but kindness and gentleness and peace and hope" 

Because the love of another
drove you away from me.
I hope you'll be happy,
happier than me.

(Excerpt from Ae Hee Lee's  "A Study through Homes")

Ae Hee Lee was born in South Korea, raised in Peru, and now resides in the U.S.  She is the author of poetry chapbooks: Bedtime, Riverbed , Dear bear and Connotary. Most recently, her full-length poetry collection Asterism has been awarded the 2022 Dorset Prize by John Murillo and will be published by Tupelo Press in 2024. See more