Fishing alone

A man fishing alone

For miles and miles

In a cold river

Before he goes back home

To his warm room.

God made us

The spirit of God hath made us,

And the breath of the ALL-mighty 

Has given us life! --

When gazing up at the stars 

On a moonless night--

No brooding over passing years!

For Divine Love fills our time

With joy of heart ❤️!

Does not Love know the way we take?

When Love tries us

We shall come forth as gold! ---

Our feet have held each step,

For Love's way have we kept---

Of one Mind we are, and who can turn us? 

And what goodness desires, even that is done,

For it performs the thing that is appointed for us:

And many such things are with us---

There is a path which no fowl knows, 

And which the vulture's eye hath not seen:

The lion's whelps have not trodden it,

And the fierce lion passed by,--

Goodness puts forth its hand upon the rock; 

And overturns the mountain by the roots.  

Goodness carves out a river among the rocks; 

And sees every precious thing. 

It binds the floods from overflowing;  

The thing that is hidden brings it forth to light. 

But where shall wisdom be found? 

And where is the place of understanding? 

The depth says, "It is not in me!" 

And the  sea says, "It is not with me!"--

For God speaks once, yea twice, yet man perceives it not. 

That which has been is now; 

And that which is to be hath always been;

Truth requires burdens to fall away,

Eternity knows no past nor future --

Behold, we are according to Thy wish in Your likeness,

 And thus Your might and ours are one,

We're innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt in Your sight!

How sweet are Thy words unto our taste,

Sweeter than honey!

Through Thy precepts we gain understanding; 

Therefore we hate every false way.

Order our steps in Thy way--

Rivers of tears run down the eyes,

I cry unto Thee, "Let your loving kindness

Be with us and plead our cause--"

Harmony of heart and mind consoled, yea

The understanding that is a wellspring of life!

Peace pursued leads us to still waters

Where we wait--

Until Love comes and stays with us,

And we shall live!

A last rose of autumn

A last rose of autumn

Opens her face
To the moon's light--
Softly she smiles
Within herself 
On her thorny bed,
And stretches--
Rose fragrance spread


Emh 2017

landscape in the snow

landscape brooding

In the distant dark, 

Trees heavy laden with snow,

Tall foreboding and still, there is no wind

They appear as if waiting.

Near by a hut at the edge of forest,

A man lightly dressed walks along--

Steadily holding an umbrella high above his head

Moves towards a snow-covered dwelling.

All is silent ... hauntingly!

Nothing, nothing echoes in the solitude

Except the sound of wet snow,

Aching under his quick-moving feet. 

He--a wanderer humming 

A light tune in the night.

Eva-Maria Hogrefe 2017

Walking in the snow

Walking toward a snow-covered dwelling.

All is silent ... hauntingly!

Nothing, nothing echoes in the solitude,

Except the sound of wet snow 

Aching under quick-moving feet. 

He--a wanderer humming 

A light tune in the night.

Emh 2017

Thre Prairie--where I once lived

Midwest, the Plains, short and tall grasses
Where the winds insistently blow and blow,
With a sound whistling high as the sun hanging low
Shining a high-altitude light on the prairie,
Where the buffaloes once roamed, and still are at home,

And the wheat and 🌽 corn sprout and grow

While sunflowers bloom,
Here or there above the grass we see
A lonely bush or tree--
And far to the West
Carved out of the mountainside 
Faces of times past:
Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt,
And Lincoln--four presidents
Look forever over a sun-colored land;
Once it belonged to someone else,
Native, American, livelihood for whom
Meant rivers and forest and grassland in between--
Also the badlands--now a stunning
National Park--all rich in history, theirs and ours.
After harvest the autumn colors
Give the fields and grass a golden hue,
Pheasants frightened by the hunters, hide; 
Large birds, whether hawk or eagle rule the sky--  
The wolf staked out his own space.
Rain occasional keeps the dark soil fertile,

Tornadoes can suddenly appear,
And winter--well, winter brings its fearsome squalls,
And snow drifting on snow, buries all.
The inhabitants, they are a solitary people
But always ready to give
A helping hand to neighbor or stranger--
This is called the land of the wide prairie!

The prairie

Midwest, the Plains, short and tall grasses
Where the winds insistently blow and blow,
WIth a sound whistling high as the sun hanging low
Shining a high-altitude light on the prairie,
Where the buffaloes once roamed, and still are at home,
And the wheat and 🌽 corn sprout and grow
While sunflowers bloom,
Here or there above the grass we see
A lonely bush or tree--
And far to the West
Carved out of the mountainside 
Faces of times past:
Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt,
And Lincoln--four presidents
Look forever over a sun-colored land;
Once it belonged to someone else,
Native, American, livelihood for whom
Meant rivers and forest and grassland in between--
Also the badlands--now a stunning
National Park--all rich in history, theirs and ours.
After harvest the autumn colors
Give the fields and grass a golden hue,
Pheasants frightened by the hunters, hide; 
Large birds, whether hawk or eagle rule the sky--  
The wolf staked out his own space.
Rain occasional keeps the dark soil fertile,
Tornadoes can suddenly appear,
And winter--well, winter brings its fearsome squalls,
And snow drifting on snow, buries all.
The inhabitants, they are a solitary people
But always ready to give
A helping hand to neighbor or stranger--
This is called the land of the wide prairie!