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Arthur A Peacemaker Chapter-5

Poems Written in South Africa

The South of Africa
Grips me…
Where did the world go…!!

The fast
mixes with
The slow…
I look back to where I’ve been,
Glance ahead to where I may go,.
and ‘wonder’—
And feel the glory—
And the ‘pain’
And smile through the tears,
of joy and sadness!
But you can only
cry
If you’ve loved a lot.
I have a steady flow
Even if you can’t see them
And my riches I carry
Not in my pocket
Or put in a bank
But carry my riches in my heart
And I smile,
Well, time moves on
And so does many strange things
We grow older
The rains come – the clouds float away
Dawn comes – the day
and then
the night
The tide comes in as it always has
Snow falls in the high mountains
And human cruelty is as modern
as it is ancient
What have we learned in the past 5,000 years?
Are we less murderous?
Have we laid down the instruments of war?
Or developed faster ways of killing?
Are we more Forgiving?
Loving?
Moral?
Godly?
Has time developed the better nature of humanity?
I look at Jesus and dream.
By lamp light –
Under a star filled sky — I write
And smile,
After a hot day and now a cool night
I sit,
Feet burn, body needs massage –
and it seems
a
long way
from every place
but
Here!
The cross! the cross!
Dust flies up from hundreds of feet
The heat bears down
I sweat
I preach
My throat is dry
We pray
Heaven and people rejoice
Questions are asked
Stickers about Jesus and gospel papers are given
The cross moves on
Borne on weary shoulders and feet

But a smile
“Oh I love you Lord
Thanks for letting me bear thy cross and good news to the world”
A truck passes and dust chokes me
Then it settles and I see a crowd waiting
The scene changes again and again:
But the rhythm is the same
And I press on–
To that next village
That next auto to stop

That next face–
Till I see– ‘His’ –face
face to face

South Africa
The answer is so simple
The solution is easy
Love
But the pride is so binding.
There are many choices…
But
Only one – PRIORITY!
‘The Father’s business’
I lay here with so many feelings
Thoughts race
And emotions flash over me
Sadness and joy become one
I want to express…and to hide
To be known and unknown
I am Godly
Yet human
flesh
but
spirit
A dreamer
and
A realist
a bit of all the
places I’ve been
of all the people I’ve known
I know the earth like most people know their town
Hello becomes — good-bye
Postcards take the place of flesh, and
Anyone who said they knew me, would be a fool
So I lay here with so many feelings
Thoughts race
And emotions flash over me.