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“If I Could Love You for a Day” copyright 2013 John J. Rigo, upcoming poetry book, “Passion Amidst Apathy”

April 21, 2013 by John J. Rigo, Texas' Poet and Commentator

 
 
Courtesy of relate.com

Courtesy of relate.com

        
 
          Human physical passions are but dying embers
          on the fires of human love.
         The smoking embers become hazy memories.
 
If I could pick any day to freeze in the corridors of eternity
it would be just this one day with you.
 
In this day I could not love you any greater or more
as I love you at this moment.

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“About Wisdom” copyright 2013 John J. Rigo, upcoming poetry book, “Passion Amidst Apathy”

April 21, 2013 by John J. Rigo, Texas' Poet and Commentator

Boop behind bars!

Boop behind bars! (Photo credit: Avedon Sideshow)

Facebook logo

Facebook logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a super senior surveying my landscape
I observed the educated ones feel that
a sheepskin replaces Wisdom
as a quality not to be coveted.
 
The young people who are in my life
feel the world owes them a pain-free life.
Respect for others
Ethics
hard work
are qualities
rarely found
these days. 
 
Obesity is a sign of this disease of the mind.
Reality is lived out in the Boop tube
iphone, the ipad and Facebook.
 
Dreams are wonderful
according to these young people
as long as they do not involve
blood, sweat and tears.
 
I thank my Lord this day.
I thank him for the life
He has given me.
I especially thank Him
for the Wisdom
He has rendered me.
 

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“Remembering Cooperstown” (Revised) copyright 2010 John J. Rigo,Upcoming poetry book, “Passion Amidst Apathy”

April 18, 2013 by John J. Rigo, Texas' Poet and Commentator

A Winter Scene from Cooperstown, N. Y.

Last year was a visit to the Carrol Clinic in Dallas.
My back and hip had been hurting me for some time.
The findings were not good.
 
A Class Four hip.
A crack in my spine bone.
Two disks in my spine fused together.
 
I knew when it happened.
A fall over ten years ago while attempting to trim a tree
in our front yard.
 
The fall at that time resulted in nine staples in my head
and eventual surgery on my knee.
The other injuries laid in wait.
My future in enjoying the rest of my life was in doubt
with the activities I enjoyed so much in my past.
 
My mind went back to Cooperstown in upstate New York.
I was sixteen and working the summer on a dairy farm.
It was part of the “Fresh Air Program” of New York City for young men.
 
I remembered the rolling hay wagon.
Throwing ninety pound bales of hay
eight tiers high on the wagon.
 
I remembered the muscles in my arms
my strong thin waist
with a tan equal to a black man.
 
We worked hard that Summer.
It was the “Haying Season.”
The work went fourteen hours a day
seven days a week for two and half months.
 
Looking back now
I now realize how really happy I was
each of those summer days in Cooperstown.  

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"Her Eyes Were Also Brown" copyright 2009 John J. Rigo, upcoming book, "Passion Amidst Apathy"

April 18, 2013 by John J. Rigo, Texas' Poet and Commentator

 
 

Courtesy of vi.sualize.us

It was an open house of a new resident in the community.
I sat on point near a corner of the room
a kind of observation post of those coming into the room.
 
There you stood looking at me from afar.
There was a blackberry in your hand texting someone.
You came and sat next to me.
 
You asked me if the room seemed warm.
You told me your hands were sweating.
I explained that I got a kind of butterflies when I met new people.
 
I learned through disciple long ago to overcome being uncomfortable.
Forty years in sales changes many things about an individual.
You could not be more than eighteen
brown hair and the deepest of brown eyes.
 
You kept looking a me strangely
like you had always knew me.
A memory came to my mind.
It was my childhood bride of eighteen.
 
You looked very much like her.
Her eyes were also Brown. 
I remembered how I felt about her.
 
I loved her in a special deep way.
There is something about a first love
that always makes it special in memories through life.
 
I saw her in you
the hair
the eyes
the way you smiled at me.
 
We talked of college and your first year.
The difficulties you were having with some of your studies.
You said goodby in a formal way and left.
 
It was like you leaving again.
I think of you often and those early days
in my life that we shared as two lost children together.
 
There always will be something special about you
and those days in my mind
many years ago.
 
Take care my love
wherever you may be this day.
Remember that I still think of you
and yes in my way
I still love you.
 
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"The Question," The Master Series, copyright 2005 John J. Rigo "Rainbows Amidst Storms"

April 14, 2013 by John J. Rigo, Texas' Poet and Commentator

Courtesy of Google search

 
 
A beautiful day beckoned.
The sides of the hills were golden
with fields of grain. 
 
The Cypress trees were green
among great expanses of gleaming flat rocks.
An ideal day born for the enjoyment of the sun
and the wondrous words of the Master.
 
The crowd began to thin toward the afternoon sunset.
The Master was weary.
Many were the questions of the day.
The answers required much of His strength to loudly speak
the words of wisdom to the crowd. 
 
As the Master prepared to depart
a young man in the crowd shouted a question
in His direction.
  
The Master’s followers tried to quiet the man
to preserve their Lord‘s voice.
They knew He was exhausted from the
long day of preaching.
 
The young man shouted again,
“Master, what can I do in my life that would be
pleasing to my Lord and God?”
In hearing this question
the crowd stopped movement
in their departure.
 
The crowd turned as one toward
where the Master stood.
Raising up to His full height
the Master looked over the crowd
with the kindest of smiles and He said,
 
“The mirrors of your own souls are within the eyes of
your brothers and sisters.
If you see hunger in those eyes around you
break the bread and share it.
 
If you see sorrow
share your tears with your brethren.
If fear overcomes your neighbors
stand with them
for numbers overcome fear.
 
Above all of these
love your neighbor
as you love your children.
My love protects your brethren
as it protects you.
 
This sharing of your love in my Father’s name
will be pleasing to your Lord and God.
In this sharing of your love without reserve
without reward
without a counting
will you be given
the glories of eternity.”
These words were spoken this day 
by the Master of my life.

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"If I Could Speak the Right Words" copyright 2009 John J. Rigo, upcoming book, "Passion Amidst Apathy"

April 12, 2013 by John J. Rigo, Texas' Poet and Commentator

 
 

Courtesy of cthru.com

If I could speak the right words of endearment
would you rush to be at my side?
 
Have we not been seeking the same dream
a dream yet unfounded in our time
upon this world?
 
If I could speak the right words
I would tell you how long I have been seeking you.
 
The space in my heart was never filled by others
for they were not you
my love.
 
If I could speak the right words
they would tell you that I will immediately know
it is you
when you are before me.
 
The moment that our eyes will meet
we will know
we finally found each other.
 
If I could speak the right words of endearment
they would tell you of the eternity that I have spent
in seeking you.
 
A half soul
a lost wanderer
a knight without a grail
have I been.
 
Complete my being.
Awaken at my side
make us one.
 
Never to be alone again
for the eternity
that is still before us.

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"The Old McKinney Square Is Gone" copyright 2008 (Revised) John J. Rigo, upcoming book, "Passion Amidst Apathy"

April 10, 2013 by John J. Rigo, Texas' Poet and Commentator

1927 Collin County Courthouse, McKinney Texas ...

1927 Collin County Courthouse, McKinney Texas Historical Marker (Photo credit: fables98)

 
 
The Old McKinney Square is gone.
The place of adventure and discovery
that I found as a young man in 1970.
 
My background was of one born in New York City.
I had no trinkets or heirlooms from my past.
Old decaying Brownstones in Harlem had no such things
especially from the poor family of an iron and steel worker.
 
I discovered the joy of collecting antiques
on the Old McKinney Square in those days.
The collecting became a passion for me
as I called each antique a precious find.
 
There was a magic in those crowded
dusty shelves
packed with hidden mystery.
 
Each shop owner
each dealer
became first name friends
with a smile and greeting
as I searched
a part of each day. 
 
It was about 2001
that my quests were no more
for you see
I ran out of space
for those treasures. 
 
Today in another April in 2013
added to my life.
I decided to again
visit my Old McKinney Square.
 
The warm friendly faces
that I once knew
where gone into the dusty trail of time.
 
The crowded shelves of discovery were no more.
The store fronts were new.
Their new chic names in Gold letters on them.
 
The antiques were new
made to look old.
They lacked a certain warmth
and history in their shiny new look.
 
My heart filled with sadness
for I then realized
I too would soon be gone.
 
The Old McKinney Square is gone
never remembered
but forgotten.
 
All my sweet memories
of joys past
will also be gone
into the eternal sunset.

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“The One Change in Our Laws: That Would Change the Future of the United States” copyright 2013 John J. Rigo, Texas’ Commentator

April 8, 2013 by John J. Rigo, Texas' Poet and Commentator

Courtesy of birthtourism.wordpress.com

Today the United States of America is on a dangerous path in its future.  On our current course we now have a nation where the average ethics, approach to excellence, average intelligence of our citizens is falling to new lows within U.S. society.  By the very nature of our immigration programs, have we brought the strength of our country to a new low. 

A country that allows its borders open to any illegal immigrant looking to drop their child on U.S. soil speaks volumes of the changes that need to be made to our immigration laws.  Defining what makes a true U.S. citizen should go beyond dropping a baby on our soil. 

Each child that is born on our shores by an illegal in this country represents hundreds of thousands of dollars in “Freebies” in community services, education and food stamps over the lifetime of now, what is now a “Legal, U.S. Citizen Child.”  This is a burden that the middle class U.S. Citizen of our country can no longer afford. 

We, as a country need to redefine what constitutes a legal U.S. Citizen.  A child born of a mother who is not a U.S. citizen should not automatically become a U.S. Citizen.  In fact the requirement should be for a child to have the status of a U.S. citizen should be that both parents be U.S. citizens at the time of the birth of that child.

By Line:  John Rigo is a first generation Italian.  Mr. Rigo’s Father came to the U. S. at age 16 thru Ellis Island from Northern Italy in 1926.  Mr. Rigo fondly remembers that his Father had two main goals in life.  One, was to become an American citizen, and Two, to speak excellent English to where no one would know he was a foreigner, he achieved both goals.

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“Running From Ourselves” copyright 2013 John J. Rigo, upcoming poetry book, “Passion Amidst Apathy”

April 7, 2013 by John J. Rigo, Texas' Poet and Commentator

 
English: Icon of Jesus Christ

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We often run from ourselves.
We seek change from where we were.
We then find that our lives became a circle.
 
A new love
is the image
of the old love.
 
The new neighborhood
has the same uncaring neighbors
of the old neighborhood.
 
It is then we discover
we have only been running 
from ourselves.
 
True change in life
in finding happiness begins
when we find Christ.
 
 

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"The Journey" copyright 2005 John J. Rigo "Roses Amidst Thorns"

April 6, 2013 by John J. Rigo, Texas' Poet and Commentator

.....is never lost. Picture courtesy of John J. Rigo copyrighted 2013

…..is never lost. Picture courtesy of John J. Rigo copyrighted 2013

 
A ship in the sea of life
riding each wave of life
seeking the warm sun of each day.
 
The beauty of each dream as night falls
is never lost as it heads
toward the curve of each horizon.
 
Storms will blow
onward do we flow
in love and courage
by His hand.
 
Tomorrow brings the knowing in His love
the vastness of the ocean
is not so alone.
 
As long as we believe
we will never be alone.
 
For His love
surpasses all of this.
 
This and time beyond
this brief sea of life.          
                                                                                      

 

                                                                                                                                

Posted in A christmas journey, Selection from "Roses Amidst Thorns" published in 2005 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

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