My poetry is the music of my soul.  It reflects my emotions, my faith, my happiness and my sadness.  I hope you will enjoy reading some old, some new and the ones I am forever inspired to write ♫ 
   This first very long post is comprised of poems I have typed into my documents and I will be adding more as new posts one or two at a time. 

All poetry and photos or graphics are the sole property of the Author:

©Kerrie O'Hearn Marquart 2011 and cannot be copied or used without my permission for any reason.  Thank you.

Thank you for visiting and please leave comments.

                             
                              
Southern Summer

Darning Needles, as Mama called them,

are darting everywhere.

Fish are jumpin’ in the little lake out there.

Water level’s down, we could use a good rain.

Cucumber vine is climbing,

Arthritis’ givin’ me pain!

Heard thunder in the afternoon,

But the raindrops were gone too soon.

To wet the dry earth or the bird’s feathers.

Everything is sticky,

Sun burns the skin

And I’m most uncomfortable

In the moist skin I’m in!

‘Less I stay inside in the shade

Drinkin’ ice tea or lemonade

Made from little packets.

But I love the hum of Summer

And the winter’s are so long,

So I’m not really complainin’

Just grousing’ as I walk along.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ponderings….

  ©Kerrie O’Hearn Marquart

Do frogs sleep?

When a Rose dies, does the Willow weep?

Where do owls roost in light of day?

And where are Raccoons in light of day?

How far can a ground squirrel leap?

What makes the sound when peepers peep?

What a miracle that birds can fly.

When their song is sweeter than a lullaby.

*********************

Dreaming

Where am I when I dream of that favorite place,
Within my mind that I embrace
And hold the memory when I awake
So I can return again when I sleep.

The sun is always shining there
No one is old but just stay the same as they were.
And I smile just remembering in my mind
What a lovely place while dreaming I find…

Morning thoughts……
           ©KOM

Early morning I awoke
Old memories evoked
Of losing loved ones long ago
And how I still miss them so.

Once again pen and paper call
For me to write for one and all
The thoughts within my head and heart
Just to show a small part…
    Of what and who I am.

As dawn is breaking through the blind,
A new blank page I find
That needs a poem, a thought and more
As I take up my pen once more
   To write upon the pages…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Listen…

Shh! Listen, God is speaking
In a holy whisper seeking
To fill the ear and heart
And every single part…
        Of our being.

Shh! Listen, to hear His blessing
As our cares he is lessening.
In sin we were aching from
The world we were partaking.
Then He gave His only Son
So that we could all be one
        ...in his grace.

Shh! Listen, God is speaking of His glories
He will take away your worries
If you lean up the everlasting arms
He will keep you from all harms
       And pick you up when e’er you fall.

*************************************

10/27/10
God is so good!

God is so good,
He takes my fears
Sends His love
And dries my tears
When earthly things
Steal my joy!

If I listen with my heart
I hear His whisper and I start
To calm my troubled mind…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spring Things…
        ©Kerrie O’Hearn Marquart

There’s a Robin in the bush
Chucking down the berries
Wishing Spring would hurry
Just like the bunnies that scurry
    And just like I do!

Come on Spring you are leading in the race
But winter’s keeping up the pace
And he doesn’t want Spring to win the race.

But I am sure you are picking up speed
As the tree buds are in the lead
And about to burst with life!

Ahh Spring, you will be a welcome sight!

The Cancer Journey July 8, 2010

When I was young I used to dream of
Castles in the sky
Well, maybe not all that,
But a good home and Apple pie.

In old age, I just need a life without cancer mean,
A place where Bill is free again
From the pain and disease obscene.

Asking why is never answered
Nor wishing it all away
We have to trust in God, we must
And in His name we pray.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
SHARED PAIN

I raise my eyes to the sky and
ask the Great One ~why?
He afflicts you with a cancer.
It is not for us to know the reason
But still I ask from season to season,
~Why?

The life we had as you and me
Is lost forever in a sea
Of pills and patches
Pain and snatches
Of what life used to be…

No longer rapt in lovers grasp
We turn our minds away from the past
When our bodies twined
In rapture, ours divine
and is now an unknown thing.

But I would be happy just to walk
Holding your hand and talk
Without the fatigue that grips you so
That no farther walk can we go
Than the street we barely live on.

I mourn for what was taken from us
And nothing was given in its place
But sadness and a heavy heart.
So I lift my eyes to each
New morning’s sky
And ask the Great One again ~why?

And pray again for a miracle…

7/18/2010 Evening

Sunday Morning July 18, 2010

Tea in bed, while clearing sleep
From my drowsy head
I dream of times past
When we were free
Of cancer’s ugly rearing head.

When in canoe we paddled the marsh
Enjoying the Egrets, Pelicans and such
As now we are bound to shore…
I miss the “other” us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ISABELLA
   ©Kerrie O’Hearn Marquart

Isabella, the rag doll cat,
Rules the house, the den
And all of that.

While gracing us with her regal airs
She lies on her back and stares
‘Til someone comes to brush her.

THE SUMMER

I love the sunlight dancing in the trees
As their leaves sway in the summer breeze.
I heard the Locust’s song today
The sound of summer heat and play.

The scent of Crepe Myrtle
Fill the air
And dragon flies are darting
Here and there.

There’s a frog who lives in the lily pond
Even though the lake is just beyond
And only a leap away…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MY GARDEN

My garden grows more than veggies and blooms
It grows love with birds and hummingbird zooms
It brings bunnies and frogs and all of nature
If I am quick I can snap a picture
   Of all the love growing there.

The little lake brings Egrets, Mallards and Swans
While the feeder attracts Bluebirds, Cardinals and wrens
That I can see right from my window.

I lift the blind each morning anew
So I can enjoy a new day’s view,Of the richest Kingdom I can find,
My own backyard, here in my mind.

A MIRACLE

I pray that with the morning light
A miracle would have happened overnight~
That made Bill whole again.
That he would stand again so tall
No pains or bending over at all

Just a lovely, aging man.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I LOVE YOU
7/18/10

I love the thickness of your hair
Now with silver shining there
I love your chin, I always have
I love the funny toes you have
I love the soft warmth of your kiss
I love your strong hands holding mine
I love your neck and ears so dear
I love you more each passing year
And beg for God to give you more…

7/18/10 ©KOM

THOUGHTS OF YOU

Moonbeams dance on water’s edge
And to the moon I make a pledge
To love you now and forever.
I could never do without your smile
You wonderful voice, please talk awhile…

About the things we two can do
When cancer no longer badgers you
And you are whole again.

We never know when a miracle will occur
Meantime we wait and you endure…
All the pain of cancer.

And I hurt because I cannot take from you
The very thing that hurts you!
Lord show us what you would have us do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7/18/10
BEFORE…

What did we do before TV?
Video games and computer’s keys?
We read the treasured Classic books
Took walks beside the shady brooks,
Sang songs together now and then
And talked about where we had been
    At evening by the fire.

We danced in the kitchen where
No one could see,
Ate cookies you baked with a cup of tea
….Back when…

The sun was always shining in my mind.
**************************************
PAIN…

I am crying Lord, can’t you see
And send the Spirit to comfort me.
I am hurting in my heart because
The one I love is ill and never was.

But now he suffers way too much
And our quality of life is such~
That we cannot recover.

Lord, I am in a terrible place
I cannot pray ‘cause I cannot face~
That I might lose my loved one.

It would be more than I could bear
Wish you could take me and leave him here.
As he is so afraid of dying.

If I could take his pain, I would!
I really feel that I should,
As he is so undeserving of this plight
He’s giving it the good fight

   To wait long enough for a miracle.

PRIDE

Pride goeth before the fall
Pride is many the root of all
Our failures before Lord Jesus.
Pride comes every day to steal
My Praise of God.

And if I listen to my pride
I will never make the grade.
I will not pray for money
For God knows all my needs.

How foolish and how wasteful
When for material things we plead.
Egotists by nature, we are born.
Put aside the “I” and “me”, treat them
With scorn!

So you can hear “you, others, the poor,
The hungry, and forlorn.”
For only then will your heart grow
To be so full of giving, Jesus will know,
How well his student has learned.

Lord I pray that others might see
Only Christ that dwells in me
And nothing more or less…

5/2005

GOD’S GRACE AND GUIDANCE

God’s love is so abounding
His works, the more astounding
His grace beyond words astounding
We are saved by Grace alone.
No matter how we may atone
For any errors in our journey.

On my way to Jesus, I stumbled many times
But He reached down to pull me up
Just at the sound of my desperate whines.
I can never do or be enough
To merit all the love God gives.

But may I ever aspire to
The perfect life by following Him.
I pray that I can be selfless,
Only thinking of others and Him.

And always turn my eyes up to Him
Whenever life is dark and grim
For darkness never, ever comes from HIM.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Out of the Darkness into the Light

“Out of the Darkness Into the Light”
A line from a poem I wrote one night
After a dream, where God bid me come,
To the light near a window,
to the bright Holy one!

I love the way the Lord works and
Speaks unexpectedly.
I wake each morn,
Just waiting to see
What He has in store for me
     ...To do this great new day.

***********************************
THE PEN

At times the words flow from my pen
As though it knows beginning to end
Just where my thought are flowing.

The creativity burns within
To put to paper all that I am
To express my feeling for God and man.

What is my place and task upon this earth?
I look forward to God’s guidance to show my worth.
As a servant of the Lord.

Every day I have a quest
To see what God thinks will suit me best
And where best I can serve him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Singing Praises

Singing praises to my Lord
I love to sing among the crowd
I pray not to think of only me
But only of others, then I am free.

For in giving, I shall get
In loving, I will be loved
In suffering, I will be comforted
In going without, God will dwell within,
   Filling my growing heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bill

There he naps on the little spool bed
The love of my life, even with his gray head.
How precious is each breath he takes
How happy my own heart he makes.

Still he loves me as ever before
Still love grows more and more
~beyond our wildest expectations!

“Grow old along with me”
Robert Browning, you wrote so eloquently.
I use your words, as though my own
To tell Bill, as the years have flown
How much I still love him
~and him alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JESUS LOVES ME

“Jesus loves me, this I know”
Many times He has told me so.
Lifts me up when I am down
Makes a smile from my frown.

Blesses me from day to day
He wouldn’t have it any other way.
Asks for nothing in return
Except our love and desire to learn

About His Father, Lord of all
Loving Him we heed His call.
Jesus Loves me, children sing
Hope, love and light to us,
...He will bring

Listen with a child’s ear
Then Christ, Jesus, you will hear
Softly speaking of His love
For every creature here and above

Guiding us through every day
In God’s love and light
We will always stay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OUR BABIES

Two tiny stones mark the place
Where little babies rest in peace.
The first ones born to a happy pair
Who wept and had to place them there
But a few short months apart.

Never forgotten,
They have lived within our hearts
For 44 and 45 years.
Beth Anne was first, so hard for us to bear
They had combed a part into her curly hair.

William Joseph hardly took a breath,
And though we did not see him,
His loss was no less.

I wonder where their lives would have led?
College, careers, children, would they have wed?
I count their birthdays every one
Marking the calendar with a heart
On February 24 and April 9,
Our daughter, our son.

And death for me is not a fear
When I dream of heaven and see them there.
My greatest joy, I’ve yet to hear:
“This is your daughter Beth Anne and
Your son, William Joseph, my dear.”

Meantime, Fran our earthly Angel dear,
Places pink and blue flowers
On their graves lest we fear,
Our babies were forgotten
Through another year.

Thank you Fran, for being you
For showing love in all you do
For inspiring all to carry on
In spite of the sorrows you,
Yourself have known.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MEMORIAL DAY 2005

(It rained and it rained…)

We shouldn’t have to lose a life
To make a nation free.
We shouldn’t have to send our youth
To protect you and me.

What sadness that men cannot live in peace
But, must fight forever more
To win the right to keep us free
From shore to sandy shore.

A Mother should not have to lose
Her only son to “friendly fire.”
Or put a gun in her daughter’s hand
Instead of playing with her children by a fire.

Surely God did not intend
For war to be a way of life.
Except as Christian soldiers
Marching to eternal life.

We pray for peace and freedom to be free
Instead of paying the highest cost
Of our loved ones, forever lost.
Only gravestones do we see.

God bless and thank you America’s children
We can never repay you for your sacrifice.

5/30/2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A SOUTHERN FOGGY MORN

11/4/10

I woke to a misty fog this morn
An air of mystery was born
Birds flew quietly to and fro
Squirrels about their work still go.

But all are softly going about
Without the sun they do not shout,
...Their Joy.

Then slowly lifting like a window shade
The mist is rising from the glade
The gray turns to colors gay

And cheers the dreary, misty day.

A Carolina Wren upon the shed
Now sings and flits through the flower bed
The mallard couple go floating past
Reveling in the sun, at last.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunflowers

Sunflowers bloom even on rainy days
Their yellow no less brighter.
Their straight stems standing brave.

Sunflowers never stop giving
Even when their lives are spent.
They merely nod their heads

And for the birds, leave their seeds.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good Night Sun
   ©Kerrie O'Hearn Marquart
I dislike to have to say good night
To God's beautiful fading light
That by day warms all the hearts and fields
Then every eve it always yields,
To the darkness...

Rich warm colors cheer my soul
I scamper here and there, as is my goal
To catch each passionate last ray
Of the beautiful Sun God gave this day,
Before it fades from view.

The words to "Taps" come to mind
as shadows grow long,
"Day is done, gone the sun,
From the earth, from the sea, from the sky,

All is well, safely rest, God is nigh..."
September 2011 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Good Bye To My Old Friend...
      (Kathy Scott Tenity September 2011)

I remember your kindness, your wonderful smile
Our loving friendship was but a while~
Too short to lose you, sweet friend.

Remember walking to Seward School,
And both running for Princess in High School?
And Later you taught my own children at East!
And just last year we celebrated our
50th high school reunion with a feast!

I still have the little picture of us at age thirteen,
That we had taken at the store's picture booth.
What fun we had in our carefree youth!
And now you will be forever young~
As you walk among the Angels....

Love, Kerrie