Almost Worn

Tattered leaves of life___

Still ageless

Through eternity

Wrapped in the leather

That breathes__

Page upon page

The history of Christianity                    

Chosen by his own 

As a guide

Through the Garden

To Golgotha

Past the Gospels

And finally Revelation                          

Where transport

Of the Living            

Experience Rapture

Beyond

Our wildest Hopes.

Jfrancis

10.31.2011

The Battle

(a Statement of Faith)

HolyGround

Is HolyLand___

Even to the dust

On the feet

Of G-d’s people.

Let the world

Turn its face from Him

And rage in fury

As He brings time

To an end

And eternity

To a beginning___

The battle is His

And His people.

Jfrancis

11.9.2011

Light and Darkness

Hating Jews___,

A way of life for many.

Reason seldom knows why

Beyond usury.

Israel’s enduring legacy

And marriage___

Wrapped in poetic expression

Gives Jewish life and family

Success beyond mere chance

And most of humanity

Live and die

In ignorance born

Of a G-dless nature.

Jfrancis

11.21.2011  

I Love You

In truth___

Words hold magic

Far beyond

The heart’s understanding.

Power

To move blood

Through the body

At breakneck speed

While trembling

In wonderment,

Not believing

The breadth of feelings

For one person

Who holds your heart

In their hands,

Is both beautiful

And G-d given___.

Who can explain

Why Love

Comes and goes.

Jfrancis         

Love’s Endearment

Real Love

Shows itself

Far above

The value of diamonds

And gold___

When these

Turn to dust

And memories of them

No longer fire the imagination,

Love will last___

Past the edges

Of His universe

Which expands forever,

Beyond frail feelings

Of man’s understanding

And the human heart.

True Love

Will die with G-d

Somewhere

beyond the stars.

Jfrancis

11.30.2011

Touring Auschwitz     

The evil within

Is not the heart___

But the soul

Where the Spirit of G-d

Does not inhabit.

Jfrancis  1.29.2012

Crying Out

Mortal and lost

And hopeful of mercy

To the saving

Of their soul

As many today

Who wander

About its cobbled streets

Seeking a G-d

Who has forever

Sought them.

Jfrancis

2.14.2012

The Dead of Winter

Refers

Not to life and death

On a human scale

But to a view

Of life

From your living room

When winter

Is almost gone

And one’s patience

Is way past gone,

Almost dead.

Jfrancis

2.26.2012

No Peace for Sale

Peace comes

With breathlessness 

For the years coming___

When nights were long

And suns rise slowly

And death punctuates both.

Now

No peace is still

Not for sale.

Interested parties . . . .

Negotiations open

Contact realtor

Divine Properties

Jerusalem.

Jfrancis

3.3.2012

Israel and American Pie

(trusting the u.s.a.)

The blood that binds

Jew and American

Flows unabridged

From heartland

To Jerusalem

Over the broken road

Of American politics.

Our strength

Is in G-d___,

Friends come and go,

Their footsteps guided

By One

Greater than they.

Jfrancis

3.8.2012

Christ @ the Checkpoint

(freedom replaces Islam)

Choose now

Choose Christ

Your only barrier

To eternal life

Is rejection

Of the one

Who died

That you may live

Forever___

Black, white, yellow, red

And all shades between

The colors

Of our rainbow___

You can live,

So why wait for death?

Jfrancis

3.17.2012

Gilding the Interloper

The dusty Bedouin

Of wandering ways

Through wadis___

Parched and barren

Comes forth

A “Palestinian" 

Molded

Of desert grass,

Sand . . . . .

And

The Eden deception:

Craftiness,

The magic

Of his holy word,

Gold leaf

Hammered to fineness

Covering

A history of blood.

Jfrancis

3.27.2012

Coming

(the new Jerusalem)

When cares

Weight a nation

And shadowy fear

Surrounds the heart___,

Time summons

‘the New Jerusalem’.

On a warrior plain

Armies stand

Damascus lies behind

In consumption’s ruin,

Ahead___ Jerusalem,

The world’s prize

For destruction’s hope.

Soon the horse’s bridle

And blood

For the measuring 

As they sweep

To a holy city

Where lies their calling.

There the people wait

As long before___,

In silence and despair,

Of memories

When Rome came.

Now___

The holy roman empire

Arrives with vengeance

For sacking of the city,

Jewel of G-d’s creation.

Can disaster

come on the wind?

Can death pass over

Once again

Or Messiah

Save his kin?

Jfrancis

4.18.2012

How Love Glows

Love for another

Does not hide itself

In the heart

But kindles a light

In the eyes

As it flickers

To flames

In the chambers

Of a loving heart.

Jfrancis

4.26.2012

While Heaven and Earth Watched

Who knew

Hell

Would come to earth

In 1942__ 

And claim the Jew

For death and destruction,

While the world too long

Stood and watched

As Satan’s henchmen

Gather millions

For the camps and ovens

And the smoke ascended

With the souls

Of G-d’s children.

Jfrancis

5.12.2012

The Last Love Poem

Love

Is a never ending poem 

Written

With a cachet scent

Of her warmth

On a humid

Starlight night

Where

Two hearts 

Are tied together

In a never ending Love

Jfrancis

5.20.2012

Peace in Jerusalem

Peace in Jerusalem

Is a dream___,

A valley of dreams 

Full of dry bones

Rattling about

By His Spirit___

Out in the desert

Where Israel

Keeps its dry

Rattling dreams

And you Lord

Are showing the world

Each day

This valley of dreams

And the bones

And breath

Your enemies fear.

Jfrancis

5.25.2012

Leave Me in Mystery

A pale writer

Enjoys paleness 

And writes

The better for it.

He works the ridges 

And ravines

Where cover

Satisfies his plot___

And the enemy

Hunts a phantom

Skilled in warfare

Who hunts them

With a mighty pen

And words that live

On both edges

Of his sword___

Come Armageddon.

Jfrancis

5.25.2012

Death for Sodom

The days of Lot

Spill out over us

Like a liberal rain

Of storm clouds before us

As Satan awaits

The meltdown

Of Endtime.

His orchestra plays

A hurry up tune

Of madness

And wretched days,

Of death

In a pillar of salt.

Jfrancis

6.10.2012

Israel

(Blood for Land)

Why was I given blood

But to enrich a land

Whose heart,

Jerusalem,

Has poured out her life

For centuries

Among the rocks and rills

Where lies the DNA

Of Heaven itself. 

Jfrancis

6.14.2012

Blood

(on ammunition hill)

Death comes

In the night

Among trenches 

Where Jewish blood

Soaked Holy Ground

And sons of Israel

Rose and fell 

As the sea

Meets the beach

And deposits there

The remains

Of those

Who lived and died___,

So walk the shore

And look with care

Of what reminds

Of ages gone by

When Israel was young

And blood was precious

Among the sands of time.

Jfrancis

7.6.2012

Arafat

(ramallah’s prince)

Death takes the man___,

Regarding blame

The footprints left

A checkered path

Through time

Of his choosing___,

So his destination.

Jfrancis

7.13.2012

Love for the Land

As if she were a woman 

Who has captured your heart,

Only worse___,

Her love glows 

And flickers

To flames

In the chambers 

Of all Israeli hearts

And cannot be hidden___,

It shows in the eyes,

A love for the land

That embraces

When you least expect 

When you turn

She is in your arms

Wrapped about you

Even at the waist___,

All nine miles,

Where we dare not go.

Jfrancis 

7.22.2012

~Unfinished Poem~

In the pale of morn

When time stands still

And light persuades dark

To release the day . . . .

Jfrancis

8.16.2012

Addressing Europe

(800 Gilo)

This odd world,

So perfectly made

With imperfections, 

Owes no answer

To Britain,

France,

E.U.

Jerusalem belongs

To Israel___

Who belongs to G-d

Who rules with perfection

While others rule

With imperfections.

Jfrancis

10.21.2012

G-d in San Francisco

We know___

He is no respecter

Of human thought.

All have favor

Through Faith and Blood

And obedience

To His Word___,

But giants???

Yes,

For Giants

His Love

Was made that large.

Jfrancis

10.23.2012

Watching the Grass Grow

Requires patience. . . . . . . . . .
Bunnies and their foodstuff
a real quilt
the sun with shade
and a vacant heart
to be filled
with the song
of God's quietness.

jfrancis
6.26.8

Kissing Promises Goodbye

The world has gained

And deception lost

Its favorite son___

No more to be

With us longer___

The die is cast

Even now__

Tumbling,

Falling silent

Against the plush__

End!

Jfrancis

11.5.2012

The Changing Face of Time

(a simple tale)

People move and vote___

The color of their skin,

Move into your neighborhood 

Marry your child

Make you a grandparent

Sometimes leave

Without saying goodbye___

Or thank you.

In all this

We must remain

Children of G_d

Hoping they learned

Something

In the process__

Along 

With what I learned.

Jfrancis 

11.8.2012

Stealth

In the pale of morn

When time stands still 

And light persuades dark

To release the day___,

Reluctantly

The deed is done, 

Light

peels away

Dark’s

Invisible shadow

Slowly 

Letting life creep in___

As joy slips past, 

Unnoticed.

Jfrancis

11.23.2012

Cracks in the Armor 

never(shattered crosses)ever

You speak of cracks___

And you know nothing

Of victory___,

The power

Of its raw sweetness.

You long for

What G-d denies you___

Yet you may have it

In one moment___

On your knees

Before the cross

He died on

And His carpentry

Fashioned for you.

Now

Is that moment

Faith built.

Jfrancis

11.28.2012

Christ*mas

(and its star)

Day one___

In a manger

In Bethlehem

He arrives

With wisemen

Carollers angelic

Lowly shepherd people

And a mission___

To save the world

From itself.

Jfrancis

12.08.2012

Sandy Hook

(12.14.2012)

Freewill

G-d’s great gift___,

Brings freedom

Along with

Savagery,

To quiet villages

Where lives play out

On scenic streets

And replay

Other horrors

From millennia past

Where freewill

Slaughtered

G-d’s own son

Because they could.

Jfrancis

12.15.2012

*Memories Never Say Goodbye*

(twenty little ones)

(went away)

(in one day)

And we have

Nothing to say

For all the laws

In all the books

Passed to prevent

A single death

On that day___,

A Holocaust

For Newtown

Where tears rain

On all the pain, 

Where disbelief  

And grief

Tears the blood

From our hearts,

Knowing

There will be more

Despite___

All the laws

In all the books 

Passed to prevent

Well meaning 

But useless laws 

Truth is easy

But often fails

To tell the truth.

Twenty loving children

Is a very large hole 

In oh so many hearts___,

and memories never say goodbye.

Jfrancis

12.17.2012

GrandParents

Aging 

Is the time 

G-d gives back

For making

This world

A better place

To live in.

Jfrancis

12.21.2012