Category Archives: Poet Laureate

Sally Strachan’s Garden – Ilse Kramer

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Sally Strachan’s Garden

By Ilse Kramer

2015-07-23 12.30.24There is a field of daisies,
So white, so without stain,
So flawless,
Nothing torn, all petals present.

Only the centers are blond,
Almost the color
Of Princess
Diana’s hair.

I see clematis in various colors,
They dance in the wind
And make me think
Of my long-ago prom.

Do the black-eyed susans
Want to be picked?
I look into their deep dark eyes
And I kiss them instead.

In the corner, in the mysterious shadows,
A touch of sweet wilderness.
I gather some nettles,
I hear they make wonderful tea.… [Read More]

Haiku on Love – George Delany

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Haiku on Love

By George Delany

So I’m just a set
Of data points – tho’ heart and
Soul belong to God

 

George Delany is an artist, designer and co-instigator behind many special projects at Central Church – including this website.

God’s Voice – May Grant

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God’s Voice

By May Grant
Green now trending aqua, jade, skyblue.
Fashion arches overhead, and sun creeps thru.

Bare wine bottles recycled by the door,
Sunday morning silence after rain.

Listen! God’s answer to young morning’s prayer:
Leaves’ slight rustle in our care.

Did you listen? Rain whispered, wreathed the streetlights.
Listen yet again, watch droplets glisten overhead.

Listen! They fall a second time, insistent.
God’s breath rustles our sunrisen leaves.

Sun hits wakeup temperature
for one cricket on the bough:
Listen up, your time is now!

Listen! The nasal monotone spins
his long latesummer lovesong,
God’s voice rising with the warmth.… [Read More]

The Trinity – Ilse Kramer

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The Trinity

By Ilse Kramer

God speaks to me
In my mother tongue
When I am far far
Away from home

Jesus my shepherd
Will find me
When I have lost my way
And am crying bah – bah

Jesus my Lord
Lifts me up
And I fly on the wings
Of the Holy Dove
Flying straight
Into Eden

You Father You Son
And you Holy Ghost
Don’t let me forget
To thank You

Ilse wrote her first verse, a sentimental jingle, in Germany in first grade. She eventually progressed to sonnets, hexameter, haiku, and acrostics.… [Read More]

Miss Ilse – Rose Dunlap

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Miss Ilse

By Rose Dunlap

She writes poems like birds who sing
She is sweet and kind.
I love how she copies my words
For my poems.

She is the best
Of the grownups
I’ve met in church.
She’s the bestest
Friend I
Ever could have.

Love,
Rose

Rose Dunlap, our youngest poet, wrote this special poem to commemorate the birthday of Central’s Poet Laureate Ilse Kramer.

My Love Poem – Martha Nielsen

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My Love Poem

By Martha Nielsen

Love

Opens us up to the

Virtues in

Each other

Martha is a singer, a reader, a speaker, an avid theater goer/usher/supporter, and a proud mother and grandmother.

Love – Ilse Kramer

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Love

By Ilse Kramer

Your name is tattooed
On my heart

A sea full of starfish
A sky brimming with rising moons
I can hear them
Singing

And I sing a song of my own
This slender and simple song
Is all that I know
Listen

God of the empty sarcophagus
I love you

Ilse wrote her first verse, a sentimental jingle, in Germany in first grade. She eventually progressed to sonnets, hexameter, haiku, and acrostics. Her first English poem, “Interpretation,” 1963, won second prize in a poetry exhibition. Some of her poetry has been published in a literary magazine, the Providence Journal, Central News, and in anthologies.… [Read More]

Love’s Completion – May Grant

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Love’s Completion

by May Grant

He was short.
Two boys looked up from their game.
“Graybeard” floated up as he passed by.

But that long-ago day hovered just above his gaze.
He was no hero – just looking for a way out.
But there it was in front of him,
the break in every battle.

Homecoming:  There she was, smaller than he remembered,
dainty beside his new limp.
“An angel told me,” she tried to explain.
Her small hands fluttered.
“The light was so bright.”

So he took her home.
Light rays expanded to shelter a new being.… [Read More]

Amor Vincit Timorem – Ilse Kramer

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Amor Vincit Timorem

By Ilse Kramer
(Inspired by Gail Glanville)

I am inside an icy block of fear
Which all my poor
And feeble love
Can never melt

If I were wise and had
The key to every mystery
But had no love
I would forever be afraid

Judas the Traitor with his bag of coins
Was born and died devoid of love
And in the end he was afraid of life
And knew he could not be redeemed

God you are Love
But I am without hope for mercy —
And suddenly there is a fearless hand in mine
My helpless love turns into Love Divine

Ilse wrote her first verse, a sentimental jingle, in Germany in first grade.… [Read More]

Love – Rose Dunlap

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Love

by Rose Dunlap

I love my mom, of course,
And my grammy,
And Bizmark, my dog.
I love them, but they loved me first.

I love to climb
And do somersaults.
The people don’t have to be pretty
For me to love them.

I love the bear
That Miss Ilse gave me.
When I love somebody
I always feel happy.

I love to hold the hand of a friend.
I love to run,
And I don’t feel tired
At all.

Rose Dunlap is now ten years old. She spent part of “Christmas at Central” writing her poem.