by IRENE FOWLER, Contributor

“The earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water.”

– Genesis 1:2 (Good News Translation)

“The influence of teachers extends beyond the classroom, well into the future. It is they who shape and enrich the minds of the young, who touch their hearts and souls. It is they who shape a nation’s future.”

– F. Sionil Jose

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“Be as soft as possible, if something good and wise wants to shape you; be as hard as possible, if something bad and foolish wants to shape you.”

– Mehmet Murat ildan

To read Irene’s new poem “The Shapes of Life” click:

The Shapes of Life

by Irene Fowler

Draw a never-ending circle of light and kindness
A complete healing cycle; curing dark, insensate blindness
A glorious, golden orb and nascent flame
Putting to shame the cold, callous and inhumane.

**

Draw an ever-expanding, box-like square of love
Filled with goodness, treats and peaceful doves
Bedecked with tinsel, beribboned, and handled with care
Inviolable and secure; where treasures lay open and bared.

**

Draw an ascending, towering triangle
With sides of present and future humanity
A base rooted and forged in blessed eternity
And a glorious apex of integrity and dignity.

**

Draw a life-nurturing, delightful and calming pentagon
With planes of respect, fairness, care, honesty and godly reason
An endearing, amiable, non-threatening shape and model, of a new dawn
A virtuous, trusted, protective pavilion.

**

Draw an entertaining, pleasing and refreshing cube
Whether it’s a rolling dice, gift box or sugar lump
Everyday things that comfort us through life’s pesky bumps
Steak, cornbread, chocolate, books or a pack of chewing gum.

**

Draw an airborne, free-flying kite
Soaring in space, weightless and carefree
As man’s tortured spirit strives to be
This is surely our divinely appointed, triumphant destiny.

© 2022 by Irene Fowler