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“As Death Comes Closer to My Door” A Christmas Thought, copyright 2005 John J. Rigo, poem from “Rainbows Amidst Storms” Revised

Posted in "Rainbows Amidst Storms" Second Published Book, A Christmas Thought by John J. Rigo, A Posted Christmas Poem in 2014 by award winning Texas' Poet, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 15, 2014| 1 Comment »

lightofheavenAs death comes closer to my door

my eyes, though weak, seem to become clearer

about what I see about me.

Something about the look of God’s creations

that I did not notice before now

In seeing this creation

a wonderment stops my breath.

 

Is it the sound of wind singing

that I had not noticed before now?

Is it the vastness of the night skies filled with a beauty

beyond words that I cannot describe?

 

I find myself noticing beauty in people

a beauty that before

I did not see.

I see beauty in the old, the sick

the visions that I used to turn away from seeing

but no longer do.

 I feel the pain and joy of other people

I used to not feel such things.

The laughter of a child

ringing like a heavenly bell,

pealing in a meadow

sounds in my ears.

Is this God’s way of saying

“Look at what you have missed earlier in your life?”

I am not sure

but I do know

now I have become more thankful.

More thankful each day

for the gifts God has given to me.

 

I seem to be getting closer to heaven each day.

I now know, what I see, hear and Feel

are all but a small part of what will be in God’s world.

 

I can only hope

that in this twilight of my life

I might become worthy

in the areas that I have been unworthy.

May I be worthy of the love and blessings

He has given me in this life.

Thank you God

for this day.

 

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"Friends of a Lifetime" copyright 2005 John J. Rigo "Rainbows Amidst Storms"

Posted in "Rainbows Amidst Storms" Second Published Book, A Poet and Commentator remembers his departed friends, Friends of a Lifetime by John J. Rigo, Passed away friends are never replaced, Real Friends only come once in a Lifetime, Remembering Lost Friends at Christmas time from a Texas' Poet, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

 
 
 
It is the Christmas Season of 2014 here at Cedar Creek Lake in East Texas.  Today, I recall my long gone friends of many years.  Wherever you may both be this day,  remember this is one of your friends that misses you both terribly.
 
 
With the passing of time
I have come to realize that there are truly
spaces that are never filled
by the loss of friends who were very personal
to my mind and heart.
 
Through the years
do the memories of Cliff and Tom
constantly come to my mind.
Never are they dead in my heart.
 
I see each of them
special in their concern for me
as the friends they were to me
and yes the love they rendered to me.
 
Have they been replaced in the void left by their absence?
No one has accomplished that.
Cliff was the short, large man from the deep South
always with a tale of lesson and advice not wanted
but when given
seemed well placed.
 
He spoke of home and craw-fish
his Mother and his victories in life
never of his losses.
 
You knew he was special
a special person to know.
The same stories he related never got old
just deeper in meaning.
 
The straight-laced
IBM type of guy was Tom.
He seemed to have found victories too early in his life
burning, dying as a shooting star.
 
An anger was present about him that could never be explained.
Tom loved a good meal and good drinks.
Save the waiter or waitress who spoke too much while serving!
He was there to savor the moment
should it be his last.
 
As Tom’s life was coming to an end
he maintained his pride to the last minute in a VA hospital
wearing a blue blazer that no longer fit;
no one cared about his past.
 
I miss Tom’s advice to me,
his laughter at my watch
that he thought was such a great sales job
because I had to push a button
to tell time.
 
His loud laughter rang in the night
raising high his special drink
to wish me and all
the best of life.
 
I miss both of these men.
They were the special friends of a lifetime
never to be replaced.
 
They are in my heart each day
with the warmest of love to my dearest friends
Cliff and Tom.
 
Whenever you both may be
in the great wonder of it all
I am one person
who misses you both
oh……….. ever so much.
 

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"A Christmas Memory From Long Ago" copyright 2008 John J. Rigo, upcoming "Passion Amidst Apathy"

Posted in A Christmas Memory from the Past from a Texas' Poet, A Lesson About Love, upcoming book "Passion Amidst Apathy", tagged , , , , , , , , on December 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Courtesy of free-christmas-deskstop-wallpaper.blogspot.com

 
 
 
This poem comes from a true story in my life…..I think it is timeless in its message.   The lesson is that when two people share love, as I and my childhood bride did then, it truly was all the processions we needed.  
 
 
It was our first Christmas together.
We both were eighteen
with barely more
than the clothes on our backs.
 
I was just out of basic training
in the U.S. Air Force.
She had just graduated from high school
and then wrote a bus to Savannah, Georgia,
to join me
the love of her life.
 
We had rented a several room apartment
on the second floor of an old Savannah home.
It was in a falling-down condition.
 
The gifts we shared were inexpensive
but meant the world in their value
and meaning to each of us.
 
She gave me a St. Christopher‘s medal of Silver
while I gave her a Catholic missal.
She wanted to become a Catholic like me
prior to us getting married.
 
I took a picture of her opening her present.
The smile upon her face was beautiful.
It was a Christmas in 1960.
 
It will always be a Christmas
I will always remember.
The lesson I learned
that day was
the love between us
was truly
the greatest gift
we could have shared
that Christmas. 
 

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“They Don’t Make Men Like Joe Anymore” copyright 2010 John J. Rigo, selection from upcoming poetry book, “Passion Amidst Apathy”

Posted in Poetry, Texas' Poetry, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 6, 2014| Leave a Comment »

 
 
"Seasons" in Mabank, Texas

“Seasons” in Mabank, Texas

Commentary from December 2nd, 2013:  To me, the Christmas Season is the time of year for me to remember those who have passed on that were important to my life.  Following is another poem about another of those special individuals in my own life.

 
 
Joe passed away on February 12th, 2010.
It was after the record snow storm of February 2010.
The power went out in their home.
 
He and is wife, Christine were moving into temporary
quarters in the New Comfort Inn of Mabank, Texas
when he quietly passed on.
Joe would have been 81.
 
Joe was a sweet, loving and very kind man.
He loved McKinney, Texas.
Whenever he spoke of McKinney
his face took on a glow of peace,
his childhood, his friends, his memories
were many of those days in McKinney.
 
There was a deep longing in his voice
for some of those memories.
Some of those memories were with extreme joy,
while others seemed to carry regret.
 
As with all of us,
one could not have lived a full life
without a certain amount of regret.
 
I will miss Joe
and our talks,
when he sat down with us to visit
at the “Seasons” restaurant in Mabank, Texas.
 
Joe was proud of his wife Christine.
Joe loved Christine
with the deepest of love.
 
I myself, only have one regret
that I did not have more time
to know Joe Burton even more.
 
People like Joe are very special humans.
Sadly in this day and age
there are not enough
special people
to go around
for us all. 
 
 

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"By His Manger" copyright 2005 John J. Rigo "Rainbows Amidst Storms"

Posted in "By His Manager" A Christmas Poem by John J. RIgo, "Rainbows Amidst Storms" Second Published Book, A Christmas Poem to Share with my WordPress Followers, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 5, 2014| Leave a Comment »

 
 
Courtesy of backwoodsmama.com

Courtesy of backwoodsmama.com

Set aside your burden at my manger.
I have come to give My Love to you.
Side aside your fears
put away your tears.
 
Have I not promised by my arrival
eternal, everlasting joy to you.
Light beyond sight
sound in tune with angels’ voices
singing in My Love for you.
 
Come closer and bathe in my light.
Look into my eyes and see the innocence
in the truth of My Love
and care for you
now and forever. 

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“A Christmas Message to my WordPress Family” copyright 2014, John J. Rigo, Texas’ Commentator and Published Poet

Posted in 45000 hits as of Christmas Day on Texas' Poetry Site, A 2014 Christmas Message from a Texas' Poet, A Christmas Message to WordPress Family from John and Linda Stewart-Rigo, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 4, 2014| 3 Comments »

Silver Star Winery of Texas Silver Star Farm and Ranch of Texas

Silver Star Winery of Texas
Silver Star Farm and Ranch of Texas

It is here before us, Christmas Day, another counting of our lives on this earth.  Over the last year my WordPress family of now a little over 449 followers, and now at 63,000 plus hits as of today, November 4th, 2014, have become more important in my life, than ever.  Within that select group is another special group of individuals, that I wish where with me this day, sitting at our dining room table this Christmas season. 

To each of you I render a special hug, and a heartfelt thanks for the many sharings via comments on my poetry work and personal view comments.  When the quality of your friends become many steps above the folks that you call you friend that are your reality friends, one truly knows then, they found the right place to be.  That place for me in my heart, is with my WordPress Family.  Blessings and peace to each of you in your future and our eternal lives together, with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

John J. Rigo and Linda Stewart-Rigo
Stewart-Rigo Winery formerly Silver Star Winery of Texas
Silver Star Farm and Ranch of Texas
12551 FM 2709
Eustace, Texas 75124

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"The Magic Christmas Bells of Florence Street" copyright 2008 John J. Rigo, upcoming book, "Passion Amidst Apathy"

Posted in Christmas Poems by John J. Rigo in 2014, upcoming book "Passion Amidst Apathy", tagged , , , , , , , , , , on December 2, 2014| Leave a Comment »

 
 
 
 
Courtesy of telegraph.co.uk

Courtesy of telegraph.co.uk

This is a magical Christmas story from my past.
It was a new beginning for my life in 71′
a new marriage and becoming the Step-Father
of three children was my accomplishment.
 
It was Christmas eve 
just a few minutes before midnight.
We just got home from a trip to a family
gathering in Dallas.
 
It was cold with clear night skies
as we began to hear the sound of sleigh bells
over our home.
 
We all stood outside the front door
of our home in amazement,
as we hear the bells from far away
come closer overhead
then pass over our house
then on to the distance in sound.
 
We could not see anything overhead
but we all knew that evening
truly  St. Nick and his sleigh
had passed
somehow
over our home.
 
 

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

Posted in "Rainbows Amidst Storms" Second Published Book, A christmas journey, A Poem in Honor of Valentine Day for My Wife, A Poem telling of the Journey of Life by John J. Rigo, A Published and Award Winning Poet in Henderson County Texas, encrypted_divison_doj9640, Moving thru life in a poem by John J. Rigo, Selection from "Roses Amidst Thorns" published in 2005, Texas' Poetry, The eternal journey of our lives, What is in the Journey of our Lives?, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on November 18, 2014| 1 Comment »

.....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.          
                                                                                      

 

                                                                                                                                

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“Honoring My Fellow Veterans This Veterans Day for 2014” copyright 2014 John J. Rigo, Texas Commentator

Posted in Honor to My Fellow Veterans this Day of November 11th 2014, Post your "Like" link to show Support for Our Veterans, Supporting and Honoring our Veterans for the Christmas Season, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Basic Training and Adminstrative School, U.S. Air Force 1959, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas

A Veteran's Memorial in Mabank Texas (In the Cedar Creek Lake area) noting my military service.

A Veteran’s Memorial in Mabank Texas (In the Cedar Creek Lake area) noting my military service.

Administrator, Cosmic Top Secret Control Registry for Headquaters ICEDEFOR under NATO Command, 1962-1963, John J. Rigo Airman First Class, Age 21

This blog posting is an opportunity to honor both fallen soldiers and living veterans across our nation. Only us former veterans who served can understand the bond we share, in the Love and Honor that we render to our country.  This blog posting is to honor those veterans who have served our country this Veterans Day of November 11th, 2014. John J. Rigo Served honorably from 1959 to 1963 in the U.S. Air Force in both SAC and the NATO Commands.  My fellow veterans, families who have lost loved ones in service for their country, and those of you who Love America this honored day, feel free to post your “Like” link to show your support for our veterans.

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