Reply to Oblivion: Poetry

by Donald Patrick Redheffer

Overview

Reply to Oblivion, Donald Patrick Redheffer’s new poetry collection, presents poems covering over two hundred subjects, including aging, wit, democracy, flattery, love, poetry, religion, and war. Every effort has been made to retain those forms that characterize unforgettable songs of the past. Although rhythm and rhyme are critical, meter has been manipulated for artistic impact. They aim for a place where sense and sound merge into the beautiful and true.

The poetry addresses issues of the head and the heart, exploring philosophy, government, and human nature. It revisits old ideas in an effort to make them live in a way not seen before. The poet’s mind wanders, not knowing where it will alight.

Milton and His Kind

Shelley, Keats and Tennyson
With voices made to last
Have been replaced by charlatans
Who cry — freedom from the past.

Freedom from excellence
Is the hallmark of their craft.
Great intellects are rarely found
In an artistic overdraft.

The minds who might thrill
The thoughtful and the wise
Are seldom seen in poetry
For the world has passed them by.

What passes for verse
Assaulting our mind
Is unworthy of a race
Spawning Milton and his kind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781450233583
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	06/30/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	156 KB

About the Author

Donald Patrick Redheffer was born in 1935 and is a graduate of DePaul University. Although a retired teacher of mathematics, his first loves are philosophy and poetry. He is the author of Musings of a Meandering Stream and Streams of Thought. A life-long resident of Chicago, where he now resides with Joselita Velasco.

Read an Excerpt

Reply to Oblivion

Poetry

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By Donald Patrick Redheffer

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Donald Patrick Redheffer
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-3357-6

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Chapter One

Absence 1. Absence is the saddest word In a world where love is true. Searing silence can be heard When one heart beats for two. Aging 2. Bodies may be drawn to Earth, While minds soar skyward in a grand rebirth. 3. Age seventy-five has been a time When words flow in endless rhyme; Challenged to surpass the self, Search the years for hidden wealth. 4. When someone offers you a seat, You know that life is slipping by. Age, no longer in retreat, Confronts you with a sigh. 5. Some get respect when they are old, No reason but for age. If the truth were to be told, None would dare engage. 6. We do not wish to return to youth. We do not wish to age. We know the treachery of truth From life at each new stage; No escape from the trauma Of life's endless drama. 7. Old age can be a time of reaping Or a time of death; Youth spent in thoughtful seeking Gives age a second breath. 8. Age reveals a human soul Unchanged in its pursuits; Finds many ways to reach goals Revealing ancient roots; No sign of that nobility We are yearning to set free. 9. Second childhood does exist, Is seen in many little ways. Trips to the past that persist In memory on bright summer days, When echoes of a child's cry Bring life full circle before we die. 10. A labor of love May come to the old, Soar far above A thousandfold. Years have been lost but life reveals Passion persists in precious zeal. 11. The old defend propriety, It defines who they are; Their youth has vanished From selective memoirs. No one is fooled by this ploy, Least of all the girl or boy Deep within, playing coy. 12. Old age is prone to wander Into futures not so fine; Tears flow for going To a place in time With loss and no lifeline. 13. When we are young Dreams are bright with light. Age creeps upon us, So does the endless night. The only way to cope: Find the weakness to believe, Restoring precious hope. 14. The sands leave the glass of time Bringing wisdom in their wake. Too bad we begin to see When death overtakes. If only one could reverse The folly of the years. Life would be full of love Though still end in tears. 15. The tragedy of the years Is not what age reveals; But the youthful wrinkles That age cannot conceal. Feelings that never die, Tied to a weakened frame; Sometimes seem out of place Where some see only shame. Age is not death in disguise But life with passion that abides; Resists to the very end With dreams and schemes to defend. 16. Tears come quickly to the eye When age looks back with doleful sigh. Mistakes were made with full remorse O'er life's unforgiving course. 17. We celebrate our dates of birth, Find mirth mixed with sorrow. Many years have gone to earth, Hope clings to the morrow. 18. The old have songs to sing, Passions never die. Behind the aging face one clings To hopes and dreams that electrify, To a life that will not say good-bye.

Agnosticism

19. The agnostic is proudly ignorant Of what cannot be known. Finds much of the ambivalent In what is clearly shown; Sees truth as a place to hold Questions yet to unfold.

20. The agnostic is a quiet fellow Unable to take sides. Some say he is yellow For certainties he denies.

Examining evidence Claiming all kinds of truth; Finds flaws in every argument, Alone and aloof.

America

21. War has become an antiseptic affair, Bodies are numbers, no need for despair. Our leaders call for more troops on the line, The war will be won in prime time.

22. The bankers rule the country With the power to buy Any objections That bravely defy The dollar's dominance In America's eye.

Anger

23. Anger is sincerity, Fearless in reply. Anger is transparency, No way to lie. 24. Anger must find a way To satisfy its primal force; Or anger grows to play A role that leads to remorse.

Answered Prayers

25. When dreams come true We feel great joy. We have arrived in every way. Time passes and a cruel decoy Appears in answered prayers. Desire proved unsound In life's go around.

Arrogance

26. Arrogance of dollar pride Sees worth in wealth, all sin aside. The poor detest this vulgar view, Till fortunes change and they ensue.

Art

27. Originality in art May startle and repel. Seen as an upstart Seeking a Nobel; May be a nonpareil. 28. Art that survives the season Must be found deep in thought. Follows trails that smack of treason Beyond conventions ever taught, Creativity's juggernaut.

29. Art addresses society, Looks deep into its soul. Art questions society When out of control. Art's authenticity The freedom to extol.

30. Abstract art cannot bear To look at the particular, The details of human life Are unspeakably popular. The artist retreats to a view One can easily misconstrue As revealing the subtly true. 31. The Artist sees immortality In those who come after. Finds this more reliable Than religion's hereafter. Two paths with one goal, Each searching for soul.

32. Energy seems to seethe, Challenging all that has been done. The artist only knows The compulsion to outrun.

Pausing to wonder, In pursuit of thoughts sublime. Will heights be reached That defy the wrath of time?

Beauty

33. No beauty exists alone Without someone to see. Beauty has a chaperone That defines its pedigree In thought from you and me.

34. We often see beauty Enveloping the soul. Surely such symmetry Must embrace a lovely whole Where only goodness is extolled.

Belief

35. Beliefs are in short supply When proof is required. Beliefs easily gratify When delivered by desire. Beliefs define who we are With the clarity of a memoir.

36. We learn from those who disagree With beliefs we hold dear. It first may seem a poison tree That dares to interfere With gospels of the heart. A closer view may find the new As brilliant as Descartes.

37. True belief subdues our thought With passion unconfined. Intolerance is overwrought By an opposing mind.

Belief can be beautiful, Reveal a noble soul, Or descend to the despicable Where goodness has no role.

Belief has found a reason To fight that endless night. Life is in season For belief holds on tight. 38. Beliefs abound to protect us from the dark; Thought's reservoir of hope that we impart To all who need the power of a prayer In a bleak, indifferent world that does not care.

Bigotry 39. Bigotry filters truth To purify its thought; No factual reproof Allows it to be taught.

It creates a special room Where life is well-defined; A comfortable cocoon Where folly is confined.

Biography

40. Autobiography is incomplete While biography is indiscreet.

Birth

41. Domestic plants and animals Are bred with special care; While human reproduction Is indiscreetly laissez-faire.

Books

42. Books full of wisdom Are rarely new, May clarify points Where you had no clue. May find words that never before Inspire a reader to fully explore.

43. Great books never end, For thoughts and feelings linger on. Words are found that portend The crossing of the Rubicon To a place where we may see Sights and insights that set us free.

44. Great books may live alone With few visitors at the door; May be a philosopher's stone To enrich and restore. 'Tis sad to see great works ignored.

45. A book mirrors who we are, Cannot change what we hold dear; If a mindless bigot looks inside A sage will not appear. Great books require subtle thought That readers cannot be taught.

Caution

46. Caution sees weak links in every chain, Surveys life's landscape seeking safe terrain. Finds sure things considered lame, Calculates every move till misfortune wins the game.

Censure

47. Ridicule leaves room for a reply, While laughter echoes from every side.

Chance

48. Chance is truly everywhere; We cannot escape its reach. Every part of who we are From genes and means do teach. Freedom to do this or that Lives within life's lariat.

49. The gifted find bad luck An opportunity. The fool finds good luck Unsatisfactory. Chance favors originality.

Change 50. Blessings never shine so bright As when they fade away. If only we had held on tight, We might have postponed that day When all we loved passed away.

51. Nature's principle is change; It's found on every shore. Love's passion is exchange Of vows forevermore. Love is the human race We are compelled to embrace.

Colliding Truths

52. Ideas may have merit Though on opposing sides. Knowledge is so tenuous Truths may collide.

Considering alternatives There is a balance fine. To entertain opposing views Is to glimpse the divine.

Compliment

53. Compliments can restore our sense of worth, Banish self-doubt in a grand rebirth.

Conclusions

54. Conclusions reach a point Where thought is out of steam; A place where we appoint Some reflections to redeem Our fragile self-esteem.

Conflict

55. Until we fight with ourselves, No chance of real thought. Conflict awakens yearnings For truth ever sought.

We may find defeat In the struggle to see through The biases of birth Which often subdue.

Contradictions

56. Contradictions are thought's lifeblood, Must thrive without dispute. Thinking must survive the flood Of creativity en route.

Cosmos

57. Astronomers search the cosmos For answers to it all; Find invisible matter, Many mysteries that enthrall.

Numbers show the way By predicting this or that But real understanding Defies a theocrat.

Even God is no answer To the universe we see For causes retreat To infinity.

Courage

58. Courage is amoral For its only foe is fear; Conquering the enemy Allows it to persevere. 59. Takes courage to embrace fear, To be free of its control. Cowardice is sincere, Not driven to play a role Where fear drives one to enroll.

Creativity

60. To achieve you must find your fire, Purpose beyond mere desire; Must reject what has been done, Let thought approach some distant sun.

61. Original minds find all existing thought Fair game-mere fodder for the new. Challenge everything that's taught, Creative webs of wisdom will ensue.

62. To accept things as they are Is comfortable indeed. To hold the door of truth ajar Lets doubt spread its seed. 63. Fancy lets our spirit fly, No telling where it will alight. Fantasies may supply Solutions to our daily plight. 64. Those who know facts and figures Are learned by degrees. They have embraced the rigor Of schoolroom credulity. The nonconforming thinker Prefers creativity. 65. We all have a creative soul That builds a world of our own; A very special porthole To visions we have sewn. 66. Some seek originality By being different than their peers, Always watching others To see if some come near. Perhaps they would be better off Looking in the mirror. 67. If we had our druthers We'd find originality, But there are always others Helping us to see; No way to disagree.

68. Creativity is the person Behind the mask we wear. The depth of the original Often found in despair.

We are touched deeply By pain that endures, Lingering in a broken heart That poetry secures.

Criticism

69. Fawning flattery reveals its face, Transparent lies of disgrace; Love dares to tell the truth, No holds barred in love's reproof. 70. Critics sustain us by their bark, Show us when we're wrong. Soon find their carping likened to a lark, A life-sustaining song.

71. The critic cannot challenge Culture's sentinel. Writing can be brilliant And fail to compel.

Nothing new in this scenario Is known in every age. The critic cannot see Beyond what's all the rage.

Crowds

72. When you are caught in a crowd Best to find a hiding place. There is momentum that beclouds The finest judgment of the race. The mind melds into a whole Where you can lose your soul.

Culture

73. Culture captures our very soul, Creates our world in fine detail. Few see beyond the appointed role Where freedom allows one to fail.

Custom

74. Unwritten laws reach far beyond the state; Custom rules with the finality of fate.

Deeds

75. Deeds define us for good or ill, Portraits drawn against our will.

76. Kindness alone does not define the man; Reasons abound upon which to stand.

77. Beautiful deeds untouched by gain, Beyond words or mark of Cain Show goodness among us still, Heartfelt joy of goodwill.

Definition 78. Definition strives to confine Thoughtfulness that will not rhyme. Brings order to an eager mind, Grasping for the sweet sublime. (Continues...)

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Excerpted from Reply to Oblivion by Donald Patrick Redheffer Copyright © 2010 by Donald Patrick Redheffer. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Also by Donald Patrick Redheffer....................xiv
Acknowledgments....................xv
Free Verse....................xvii
Milton and His Kind....................xix
Preface....................xxi
Prologue....................xxiii
Absence....................1
Aging....................1
Agnosticism....................4
America....................5
Anger....................5
Answered Prayers....................5
Arrogance....................6
Art....................6
Beauty....................7
Belief....................8
Bigotry....................9
Biography....................9
Birth....................9
Books....................9
Caution....................10
Censure....................10
Chance....................11
Change....................11
Colliding Truths....................12
Compliment....................12
Conclusions....................12
Conflict....................13
Contradictions....................13
Cosmos....................13
Courage....................14
Creativity....................14
Criticism....................16
Crowds....................16
Culture....................17
Custom....................17
Deeds....................17
Definition....................17
Delay....................18
Democracy....................18
Destiny....................19
Discontent....................19
Disillusionment....................19
Dissent....................19
Divinity....................20
Doubt and Faith....................20
Drinking....................20
Duty....................21
Eating....................22
Education....................22
Egypt....................23
Eloquence....................24
Emerson and Greatness....................24
Emotions....................24
Ends....................25
Endurance....................26
Enemies....................26
Enterprise....................26
Envy....................27
Epigram....................29
Equality....................29
Era....................31
Eternal Life....................31
Facts....................31
Failure....................31
Fairness....................32
Faith....................32
False Love....................32
Fame....................32
Family....................33
Fantasy....................33
Farewell....................35
Fate....................35
Father....................35
Fiction....................36
Flattery....................36
Followers....................36
Futility....................36
Genius....................37
Gifts....................37
Goals....................37
God....................38
Good-bye....................39
Government....................39
Greatness....................40
Guns....................40
Happiness....................40
Heart....................41
Heaven....................41
Home....................42
Hope....................42
Human Survival....................43
Humanity....................43
Humor....................44
Hypocrisy....................44
Illusions....................45
Image....................45
Immortality....................45
Impartiality....................45
Innocence....................46
Inspiration....................46
Insults....................46
Intelligence....................47
Interest....................47
Intuition....................48
Jurors....................48
Kindness....................49
Kisses....................49
Knowing and Wanting....................49
Knowledge....................50
Labor....................51
Language....................51
Language and Reality....................51
Law and Morality....................52
Leaders....................52
Liberty....................53
Lie....................53
Life and Death....................54
Listening....................56
Literature....................56
Loneliness....................57
Lost Love....................57
Love....................58
Love and Sex....................71
Majority....................72
Man and Machine....................72
Manners....................72
Marriage....................73
Maturity....................73
Mediocrity....................73
Melancholy....................74
Memory....................74
Money....................76
Morality and Immorality....................76
Motives....................76
Newton and Einstein....................77
Nobody....................77
Not to Know....................77
Ockham's Razor....................78
Originality....................78
Originality in Art....................79
Passion....................81
Paths....................81
Peace....................81
Perspective....................81
Persuasion....................82
Philosophy....................83
Pity....................85
Poetry....................85
Poetry and Prose....................89
Posterity....................89
Praise....................89
Pride....................90
Principles....................90
Progress....................90
Proof....................92
Prosperity....................92
Proverbs....................93
Puritans....................93
Quarrels....................93
Questions and Answers....................94
Quotations....................94
Reality....................94
Reason and Emotion....................95
Reason and Passion....................96
Religion....................97
Religion and Politics....................98
Religiosity....................98
Remorse....................98
Revenge....................98
Reverie....................99
Revolution....................99
Right and Wrong....................99
Satisfaction....................100
Scandal....................100
Science....................100
Science and Art....................101
Secrets....................101
Self....................101
Self-Criticism....................102
Self-Image....................102
Self-Knowledge....................102
Self-Love....................103
Self-Respect....................103
Selfishness....................103
Shame....................103
Sharing....................104
Sincerity....................104
Skepticism....................104
Skyscraper....................104
Sleep....................105
Smoker....................105
Solitude....................105
Sorrow....................106
Spiritual Death....................106
Status....................106
Stereotypes....................107
Stoicism....................107
Success....................107
Suffering....................108
Survival....................108
Sympathy....................109
Tact....................109
Tardiness....................110
Teaching....................110
Tears....................110
Technology....................111
Temperance....................111
Theater....................111
Thought....................112
Time....................112
Tolerance....................112
Trifles....................113
Truth and Lies....................113
Unitarians....................114
Vanity....................115
Vice....................116
Virtue....................116
Vows....................116
War....................117
Wealth....................122
Will....................122
Wisdom....................122
Wit....................123
Wonder....................124
Wooing....................124
Words....................124
Work....................125
Worship....................126
Worth....................126
Writing....................126
Wrongdoing....................129
Youth....................129
Epilogue....................131
About the Author....................133