I Watched You Today

I watched you today 

From a respectable distance 

I watched your joy and sorrow 

I watched you struggle and abound 

I saw the harmony and discord of life 

Mirrored in the lines of your face 

Revealing a life abundantly well-lived 

With practiced faith and determination 

The briefest of moments

Where one could think 

Intervention might be necessary 

Arrived and departed unfulfilled 

I saw how you stood alone 

When you stood in a crowd 

I saw your strength 

Where you saw weakness 

I saw your light 

Where you saw the darkness 

I saw your joy 

Where you saw sorrow 

I saw your love 

Where you saw hatred 

I saw 

How you refused 

To reflect what you faced 

But rather, countered it 

I saw how you were needed 

Where you felt unnecessary 

I saw your comfort 

Where you saw pain 

I saw your gentleness 

Where you saw the hardness 

I watched you today 

And there I found 

Strength, Light, Joy, Happiness 

And most importantly

There, I found 

Love

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

November 3, 2022 

Different

Somewhere 

Someone 

Convinced you 

Being different 

Is a bad thing 

We are indoctrinated 

Very early in life 

To see the differences 

Unconsciously 

Making subtle judgments 

You look different 

Your skin is another color 

Your hair is different 

Your eyes aren’t like mine 

Your body is different 

“Verschieden”

Before we even meet 

You’ve made assessments 

Based not on the person I am 

But rather, my worth to you 

What can I, being 

Different 

Offer to one such as you 

“Distinto”

When I speak 

You hear my different accent 

About the value of my words 

Over the value of my experiences 

How can I, being 

Different 

Understand your situation 

“แตกต่าง”

I come from a different country 

I believe in a different God 

I follow/worship them 

In an alternative manner 

“不同的”

We have differences 

But this is not the bad thing 

When these become a wall 

It has become a bad thing 

We are diverse 

In some points, even distinct 

Various origin stories 

Unique paths to arrive 

Yet, we are alike, you and I 

United by a common beginning 

(Regardless of how you believe 

This beginning occurred) 

We are the same 

“Lapp”

“Stesso”

“เหมือนกัน”

“拉普语”

This is a good thing 

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

November 3, 2022 

Katique

 

Coursey

 

Audrianna

 

Pastor Moore

Pastor Moore 

Tender Grapes

 Song of Solomon 2:15 

“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” KJV

Tender Grapes 

In their season, our old vines 

Bring forth tender grapes 

These vines have seen the harsh seasons 

Surviving times of drought and deluge 

Today, in yet another new season 

These veteran vines carry tender buds 

Before these buds come to maturation 

The foxes, specifically the young foxes 

Come to steal and destroy 

Before our tender grapes can grow 

The writer implores his beloved 

“Seize the foxes, the young foxes”

Today, we find ourselves in a new season 

New challenges, new issues, new horizons 

There is joy in our old vines 

As new blossoms emerge 

There is new faith 

There is sufficient grace 

There are tender grapes 

Yet, the foxes, oh, the foxes 

They come to steal and destroy 

They come for your budding faith 

These old vines carried your past belief 

But this is brand new faith 

For a new hill, a new mountain 

Trust the old vines 

Trust the dressers of the vineyard 

Trust the keeper and the giver 

Believe with new faith 

Believe with sufficient grace 

Believe with tender grapes 

For Barb 

In her hour 

With tender grapes 

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

October 20, 2022 

Indomitable

There was a gentle stubbornness about them 

In an infuriatingly nice manner 

 

They were the type of person

Who rose to meet each day 

With every reason to complain 

They gathered and rose anyway  

While life gave great and plentiful blessings 

She took a great deal from them as well 

 

Stubbornness served them well 

On both sides of the fence 

In times of blessing 

Holding them tightly 

In times of trouble 

Refusing to give up

 

Their body

Began the process of dying 

Long before the spirit

Would even acknowledge it

And even in those days 

This gentle stubbornness 

Refused to give way 

 

I cannot begin to fathom

The battles betwixt 

The spirit and the body 

One refusing to yield 

The other refusing to hold on 

 

In the end 

(An ironic turn of phrase)

Strength decayed

And the body

The house of their indomitability 

Held the spirit no more

 

I will not visit

In this writing

The place beyond this life

You are welcome there

If you so wish

 

My concern

My words

My eyes

Are looking 

At this plane of existence 

 

I have seen others  

Living in defeat

The eyes

Devoid of life’s sparkle

The actions 

Listless and lifeless 

 

Such was not the case

For my friend 

They never lost the sparkle

Even as the flame flickered

It could still be seen 

Through the haze of pain 

 

Their will outlasted their strength

Indomitability gave way to inevitability

The survivor survives no more

Immeasurably great is our loss

 

However,

They left us so much

Not of gold or silver

But of their stubbornness

Their refusal to yield

Their indomitability

 

I hope

In whatever time

I have remaining

On this plane

I am able to honor

The memory of my friend

In a matching refusal to lose

 

In honor of friends and family

I have lost throughout the years

May your positive impact

Be in every wave 

Crashing upon my shore

 

I hope 

I may be

Indomitable

 

© Ron Simpson Jr.

October 20, 2022

Hear Me

We are all clamoring 

To be heard 

In some way 

Above the noise 

Of daily living 

Sometimes we yell 

Sometimes we cry 

Other times a soft sigh 

Or in a poem 

Or in a melody 

We have 

Something to say 

A message to be heard

A word fitly spoken 

So easily drowned 

By the sound of haste 

The hubbub of hurry 

Hear me 

Hear

The beatings of my heart 

The rushing waves of my soul 

The gentle rustlings of my thoughts 

Hear me 

Hear the smallness of my voice 

Belying the volume of my words 

Hear the rhythm of my libretto 

As they gently ease into your mind

Words 

Soft and slow

Hard and fast 

Loud and demanding 

HEAR ME 

Hear me 

Hear you 

Hear me softly

Hear me loudly 

Hear me

Know me 

Amongst the noise 

Above the tumult 

From the midst 

Of the pandemonium 

Incline your ear 

Hear me 

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

October 19, 2022