3 results for author: Carl J. Nelson
THOUGH SUNS COLLIDE
Endlessly parading,
the centuries are marching on review
before the timeless present;
and endlessly they will continue marching, marching,
marching on into the future.
Yet of this awesome endlessness
a precious portion falls to me.
Space stretches far beyond horizons
in a vastness dwarfing the imagination.
yet of this expanse,
a bit of dust that answers to my name
is mine exclusively.
No one else can fill this time and space.
It is potential for a newness,
a uniqueness,
a never-happened-before-and-never-to-happen-again-ness.
And if I fail
it will vanish in the limbo of oblivionâ€...
FREE FOR ALL
Truth stands revealed to all.
I may cover up my eyes,
turn my back, stamp my feet:
but truth is what it is.
Or I may hide it from others,
steer them along another road, impose a censorship;
but they will find truth somewhere,
and their discovery will uncover my deception.
And then again, I may declare that only I have truth
But truth will out.
it cannot be suppressed, or hidden;
it has no favorites.
Let me, then, have confidence in freedom
for truth cannot be over-thrown by error.
Let me have confidence in growth
for truth must be discovered piece by ...
SEPTEMBER INTERLUDE
(Editor’s Note: The family of Carl J. Nelson (1915-2015) has given permission to Middle Wisconsin to reprint his poetry here. Carl Nelson was a farmer, logger, producer of strawberries and raspberries, philosopher, Quaker, a poet and a pastor.)
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These are golden days,
Summer has spent its intensity of purpose,
and September brings a welcome release.
Goldenrod warm the fallow fields and road sides,
Trees appear disheveled and worn
with leaves beginning to mellow.
Even the relentless blue of the sky
is softened with haze.
Smoke obscures
the outline of the hills.
The sun has tempered the heat of ...