(All original works by R. Samuel Braden)

Linger Here a Moment

Linger here a moment, let us gaze into the East,
Linger here a moment, let us see,
How the morning breaks the darkness and upon the shadows feasts,
Linger here a moment next to me.

Linger here a moment, let us gaze into the sky,
Linger here a moment, let us see,
How the sun upon its zenith shines down from its throne on high,
Linger here a moment next to me.

Linger here a moment, let us gaze into the West,
Linger here a moment, let us see,
How the sun turns red like crimson, and then sinks into its nest,
Linger here a moment next to me.

Stillness and Silence

In stillness we travel
In silence we sing
The mind ever agile
Calls us to take wing

But our bodies unmoving
Our feet resting high
In stillness unending
In silence we sigh

A world full of wonder
By pictures we see
Content in our plunder
Docile and free

In stillness we view it
In silence we show
The wonders of nature
That we barely know

But our bodies complacent
Our feet resting high
In stillness subsistent
In silence we cry

Enthralled to our comfort
For granted we take
Give up at the effort
Half-hearted we make

In stillness we ponder
In silence we plan
The desire to wander
Comes on us again

But our bodies are aging
Our feet resting high
In stillness we’re raging
In silence we die

Poems from Proverbs

Timeless virtue, born of old,
Held of God, its worth untold.
Heed the warning given bold,
And seek for wisdom more than gold!
– 8:10, 22, 23

You will bear the credit or the shame
Of all you are alone.
Whether wise or scoffing vain
You’ll live with what you’ve sown.
– 9:12

Hold your peace
Or reap the cost.
When words don’t cease
Then wisdom’s lost.
– 10:19

Grace and honor,
Beauty and sense,
A lady of glamour
Should give no offense.
– 11:16, 22

Compassion shown
To lesser life
Shows one who’s known
Apart from strife.
– 12:10

Words as weapons falsely used
Displease the Lord above.
But truthful tongues who hate refused
Delight the Lord of love.
– 12:18, 19, 20, 22

Where life springs forth like waters clear
And understanding shines,
There wisdom spreads to those who hear
And death no longer binds.
– 13:14-15

Hidden pain that mars the heart
An outward smile veils.
When laughter never dares depart
An inward pain regales.
– 14:10, 13

Contentment for the things you have
With reverence for the Lord
Is to greed a healing salve,
And peace is your reward.
– 15:16

Honest business, truthful tongues,
Find delight as God’s own sons.
In the end the road of life
Takes the wise away from strife.
– 16:2, 7, 8, 11, 13, 17

How sweet the words of one who knows
The cares of all his friends and foes!
His heart with wisdom gives him voice
To guide with prudence every choice.
– 16:21, 23, 24

Far beyond the circle’s end
Lies the treasure fools would seek.
But if he would deign to bend,
He’d find true wisdom at his feet.
– 17:24

Lamentations of Edacity

Efficiency! Yes that’s the need. Efficiency!

The erring nation seeks in greed more energy.
The eager miners drill indeed more earnestly.
The ever-growing human seed gives eulogy
To Earth, entombed by their decreed edacity.

Efficiency! That was the need. Efficiency!

The empty nation failed to heed the entropy.
The ego-driven claimed a creed of equity.
The erstwhile saviors tried to plead equivocally,
But avarice did yet exceed their empathy.

Efficiency! Will you take heed? Efficiency!

The Arena

1.   It towers high above the city like a mountain tall,
With stone-cut arches in its face that beckon unto all.
The great Arena, it is said’s like no place else on earth,
For here the greatest legends all compete to show their worth.

2.   Anticipation builds as people stream in from all sides,
With eagerness to see the place where life and death collide.
The whispers of the crowd are like the wind upon the trees,
As Hades waits with sharpened scythe, their hunger to appease.

3.   Then down below the creak of doors is heard and voices hush,
As out there roam a pack of boars that seem not in a rush.
They wander off across the ring and paw the ground to see,
That if, perchance, within this place a morsel there might be.

4.   Then suddenly the stillness is erupted by the roars,
As lions leap from cages and fall on the hapless boars.
But ‘ere they can enjoy their bloody meal upon the sand,
There springs forth yet another troop of Jackals o’er the land.

5.   The fighting reaches fervor as the beasts are set upon,
Half-starved they fight and mangle as to claim a meal they’d won.
And as the sands run red with blood, the crowd is going wild,
For these great beasts have given all, in spectacle beguiled.

6.   Then deathly howls rise up from among the beasts of prey,
Where claws have torn and teeth have shorn their life blood all away.
It is a far more gruesome sight than I have seen before,
But th’crowds are not yet sated, and they bellow out for more.

7.   Attendants clear the field of fallen carcasses and bone,
The last of nature’s pride and fury whimpering alone.
And as the conch horn sounds the intermission from the fray,
The final battle is prepared to end this bloody day.

8.   Now hither to the ring of strife where clamored all awry,
We come unto the spectacle of men ‘twere sent to die.
An ending of a hideous task, a bath of crimson stains,
Where those left standing at the last shall claim their brutal gains.

9.   The metal cages open at the ends on either side,
And horn calls bellow out across to hark the coming tide.
Where blood will flow and people show support for land and king,
The great Arena echoes back the savage cheers they bring.

10. Now one steps forth with sword held high, a zeal burns in his eyes,
For he will stand and fight this day amid the battle cries.
His sun-baked skin is dark and scarred with countless marks of pain,
A life that’s marked in service to the sword whence comes his gain.

11. Across the field another comes with axe and whip held tight,
He screams a pagan curse aloud and charges to the fight.
The whip he lashes at his foe as if an ox to drive,
While with the axe a mighty swing, the man’s head to deprive.

12. But with a swiftness like the wind the scarred one makes his move,
He throws himself beneath the swing, his quarry to reprove.
Then spinning ‘round he thrusts with blade and runs the axe-man through,
And as his lifeblood drains the crowd is jostling for a view.

13. Then more pour forth from all around with weapons of all kinds,
A massacre for pleasure as the glut for empty minds.
The cheering of the crowd reaches a fervor at the sight,
As clash of steel and screams of men their senses do delight.

14. Then at the last the horn call sounds as one remains alone,
The scarred man turns his eyes to gaze up at the royal throne.
If he has been found worthy a full pardon he could win,
For it would mean the gods have shown their mercy o’er his sin.

15. A hush now falls again as every eye turns to the king,
How will he judge the man who’s fought and given everything?
Then to his feet the monarch stands and holds his scepter high,
And ‘midst the cheering of the crowd the fighter starts to cry.

16. His chest is gleaming with the sweat and blood of victory,
With streaks of red and marks that said: here was a man made free.
And in the gath’ring darkness of a fading sun that day,
A man has come, a fight was won, and some are gone away.

Soulfire

Long ago we lived in shadow, seeking not the day,
Living life as saw fit to, come whatever may,
Selfish in our hidden ways, in darkness spurning light,
Shying far away from hope and hiding in the night.

Soulfire atrum umbra, all is dark with sin.
Soulfire igneus crimen, fiery guilt within.

Lordless beings of the darkness, was all that we were,
Loveless creatures of the fallen, in need of a cure,
Running far and wide as if we sought a remedy,
Running through the night as from ourselves we tried to flee.

Soulfire vacuus Deus, we did not know God.
Soulfire haud pietas, love was a facade.

Light then shown down round about us, suddenly we saw,
Life was given God’s own standard in His holy law.
Quite a shock it was to see the mark that we had missed,
Quickly leading to despair that we could not resist.

Soulfire Deus verum, we learned of God’s truth.
Soulfire eram tardus, too late for our youth.

Languid cries arose within us, anguish in the dark,
Living torment at the knowledge, that we missed the mark.
Pounding tumult rose up from us, as we sought to find,
Prayer for reassurance that our chains would not long bind.

Soulfire cruciatus, we lived in torment.
Soulfire intorqueo, we were by sin bent.

Love then manifested itself in the strangest way:
Little baby born in Bethlehem upon the hay.
Omni-potent Son of God in human form was he,
Offering his life to live and die to make us free.

Soulfire victus spero, living hope was won.
Soulfire sanctus genus, in God’s holy son.

Lasting peace was set before us, now within our reach,
Lessons of life given for us, that Jesus did teach.
No more should we fear the standard as we try to live,
Now we understand that salvation was God’s to give.

Soulfire pax donatus, we were given peace.
Soulfire salus Deus, salvation’s release.