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You can never learn enough my friends,
It’s the one thing that you do learn
In the last of your golden days;
When the Summer wine hath been bottled and sold
And the leaves hath fallen from the trees
And buried the youth that was inside thee.
You can never learn enough I’ve found,
In the closing chapters of my book,
When I start to say goodbye to certain places
In the knowledge my eyes shall never view again
Their rich tapestory that makes this planet of God
Such a wonderful place to live one’s life.
And as I stand on this pulpit my friends,
I would like you to share this reflection with me,
We are all unique, He hath made us so,
And yet we all walk through the same passage of life
The beginning, the end, and all else between;
So lets us now pray in the light of this church
And thank the Lord for both thy and thee.
Amen.
—
The Reverend Tobias Trontby. +
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I had hardly any sleep again last night
It’s driving me bonkers.
How can I run a pub like this?
I hope I’ll sleep tonight,
I bet I won’t.
It’s getting me forgetful,
It looks like I am drunk
As I prop my tits upon the bar
And stare at infinity.
I hope I’ll sleep tonight,
I bet I won’t.
I nearly fell asleep at the wheel yesterday,
On a stretch of the M50.
I hope I’ll sleep tonight,
I bet I won’t.
“What’s the matter Taff?”
A customer asks
“Dreaming about the valleys again, look you?”
I hope I’ll sleep tonight,
I bet I won’t.
“Perhaps she’s in love”
Mabel shouts from her pint mug.
I hope I’ll sleep tonight,
I bet I won’t.
The rain beats on the windows,
The pub sign creaks in the wind,
The chime-clock ticks on and on…
Oh where have I sinned?
I hope I’ll sleep tonight,
I bet I won’t.
“HEY-LOW!!!”
“She’s in love, Fish.”
“Sorry” I mutter
“What did you ask for?”
I hope I’ll sleep tonight,
I bet I won’t.
—
Tiffy Witherington.
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(pic=Rev Toby’s Church.)
Comments (46)
It is a beautiful! We all have the same begining and the same end because we all come from the same great god and go back to him in the end.
enjoyed the wisdom I found in the Reverend’s prayer especially how one will never learn enough in the closing chapters of your book.
Dig it. =)
you know how sometimes you forget things?
and it’s no big woop to you because it’s only trivia … but then when you remember it’s like really significant and you feel like you learned something new? …well sometimes reading poems is like that to me and yours almost always are.
Terry, such truths you tell through the Rev and Tiffy. -Margot
Rev Tobias and his prayers do humble this ole monk so, more then that his church looks silently magical.
oh i feel tiffy’s longing for a pillow to swept us away, god i need some sleep =)
this blog.. it touches me somewhere!
two really great pieces here.
Agree….you can never learn enough. Why though are the lessons so hard to learn???
Beautiful entry…great choices!!!
Wow! You write really awesome stuff! (That was articulate, wasn’t it?) I never know what to expect next! Can’t wait for more, then.
These two poems were really good. Wow. I loved them both. Sometimes I daydream like Tiffy did in that poem. Not of not getting sleep but other things.
The reverand’s poem was sad but also full of wisdom. I always feel so naive and young when I read his poetry.
I don’t know how you keep track of all the personas. Do you ever have to refer to other poetry under a particular persona to get a feel for them again? Do you have character studies of them? I think I would have to do that…
I feel I am part of each of the voices in each of these poems. I’ve been a pastor in a pulpit, for real. I’ve been self-employed like the pubkeeper over half my life…yes, even ministers are considered self-employed, even though many of us report to bishops. So, being self-employed promotes many sleepless nights. We are responsible, we feel, for everything…even though we know we don’t really own anything. It all belongs to God! Blessings, Claudia
That first one says so much, I love it. Beautiful!! Thanks for that Lord P!
I am without words… well, except for the words I just wrote…. so I guess I should say, I am without more words. Yes. That’s what I meant.
The Reverend is a wise man.
Life reduced to two dates , birth and death.
Tiffy is anxious about something, probably that wretched husband of hers trying to be more obnoxious than usual. Going without good sleep sure can mess up a work day, Tiffy
Thanking the Lord for thee as well Rev Toby. Thee has it well in hand knowing what is and what is not important.
I hope I’ll sleep tonight,
I bet I won’t.
this repeat sounds like she’s sleeping on her feet….
in the first poem where ‘we can never learn enough’
and this is a beautiful planet…
and we all do ‘walk in this same passage’….and ‘rich tapestry’ we were born into..
I wish everyone born were given a chance and start to not have their own beautiful lives put in jeapordy at the hands of others or misfortune- illnesses, etc…….
irt~ i read it your way and it does sound better, i was just being rather lazy about rereading, being awake 30 or more hours does not help lol. also i’ve never read any updike’s books before but i’ll go have a look now. see you around lord P
{-.-}/
What you wrote on my site made me so sad… I am so sorry you lost your daughter
No words i could say could convey this… And i also agree that how they look seems to be more on peoples minds than how they are looked after
Here’s to tits on a bar and being in love!!!!! Now, Lord P, you thoroughly lost me on your comment about Uranus and Pluto and whutnot. But blessings be upon you anyway.
,Dear Lord she hopes she dont i bet she might say & i will say amen to the Revs beautiful observation thank you ur poetry holds a lot of meanning these days Lord & ya don’t seem so crabby thank u magi & bless u too from the angel that watches over you angel beckon call
ps nice church ! ! ! magi
Lord Pineapple!
I’ve been refreshing the page just to see that pic change!
What a beautiful church!
I actually stayed in St. Hugh’s college. It was a women’s college originally. You can imagine that it was founded long after the others.
The old rev Toby, seems to have it all down pat. You do have a lot of visitors ,they seem to like your writing .Cheers marj
I loved that first poem here…
We can never learn enough
“We are all unique, He hath made us so”
this is beautiful Terry!
Random props nice xanga
I wrote a poem!
I actually wrote one!
I am so proud of myself I could–could–Dance around randomly!
Wait..I did that already…I wrote a poem! I can write!
You are my one of my inspirations!
<3 Katt <3
… i told a friend earlier today that there is a hole inside of me i am trying to fill … i’m not sure what is causing this hole, but it’s eating at me deep inside … perhaps remnants of a past best forgotten … and your writing seems to calm the need to hide … thank you for that …
~ the angel
Good for you, personally I think poetry sucks, so I guess we’ll always have that, won’t we?
:finger:
Sleep comes only with relaxation. The lady needs to take her mind off whatever is causing her to say she won’t sleep. Not a positive sign for night rest.
The British have pub songs?
In America we have college football team fight songs.
british pub songs…that’s funny because our national anthem is written to the tune of an english drinking song. jack
hi LORD stopped in 2 check with the REV iam goin to church myself angel/magi
Again… two excellent poems. The perspective of life that you give the Rev is always interesting to read.
Peace.
simply profound. i love them both.
*kisses*
i went to a circus in moldova which was crazy and a couple of the animals were out of control. but yeah, for the most part, i agree.
My dear Terry;
I loved that sample of your words…
I smile
for now I feel like an empty vessel here
I am consumed with all these words and no form
to construct any kind of poem..I think too much celebration and not enough sleep
damn!
Thanks for all the poems and comments. A new title was all I needed. I changed it, thanks to you, and now I don’t have to make it protected. I guess I didn’t have to anyway, but it probably would have stepped on a few toes. Of course I know you wear steel-toe shoes and the others on my protected list are pretty quick on their feet. I’ve been reading and thinking about poetry a lot more than writing it lately.
Sorry to confuse…but communication only works if the other knows what the speaker is speaking about to wit to woo!!!!!. We have 4 shops in the Aquarium that sells all sorts of wonders. The usual stuff for children, some tastefull jewelry, art works, bowls, shirts and all that stuff. So we have 2 very large shops that has a lot of traffic and revenue…We have two tiny shops that are tedious and boring..except when they have a crowd of gratis school groups…so I have tried to make it more gratifiyin to those who have to work in the boring shops. If you would like to see where I work…check out the web site montereybayaquarium.org. Love hearing from you Terry…
The Reverend is my favorite of your characters.
From Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of Time”: “There are no beginnings or endings in the Wheel of Time. But this is a beginning…” You are the one of the most poignant writers on all of Xanga. It is an honour to have made your acquaintance. Thank you for taking interest in me. I hope you can read things better on OneDarkKnight, now. God be wi’ ye.
see! that ‘s why I like Tiffy so much.
just wish I had tits like hers…always been envious of that. i kid you not…when i was 14 years young, my baby brother left this poem on a piece of notebook paper, on my bed;
roses are red, violets are blue,
sissa has tits like Nancy Drew.
the family still gets a kick out of it and I am 40. daft prick.
and by the way…let me just say this…
YOU ARE THE MOST TALENTED WRITER ON XANGA …
i think you should get one of those lifetime achievement golden globes or peoples choice awards. i am sure somewhere in America we have a gold statue of a naked male model for that. but in all seriousness, i do so appreciate you, your humor, creativity and thruthfulness. last of which is hard to come by these days. but i just think that is one of the best qualities of AS. Adam is the same. when all of his peers were watching teenage mutant ninja turtle cartoons…and jumping off of picnic tables screaming “batman!” … he was inside watching monty python videos. i do not kid about this. and he is brutally honest too. i thank God for him.