John Evans

Dear Friends of the Fraternity,

Well, spring has sprung all about us here in Florida. Not that we see snow flying at any time, you understand, but there are seasonal changes here nonetheless. For one thing, algae becomes more of a problem in our swimming pools hereabouts with the onset of spring, and we must make more trips to get chemicals (and, oh, aren't the gasoline costs exorbitant?); the sap again starts flowing in deciduous trees, making the trimming of limbs more necessary to keep leaves out of the faces of passers-by on our sidewalks; the lawn grass and bushes around the house require more attention than in the winter, and mowing and more trimming become added chores; etc. etc. So I must make sure multivitamins and energy foods are at hand for the extra duties, you know. (Yes, I do all our yard work yet!) But always, friends, I'm sure you'll agree that wherever we are in this wide, wide world and round....

Our God has been so good to us; His blessings here explode!
"We're drinkin' from our saucers 'cause our cups have overflowed!"

You probably recall this as an adaptation of the humorously true and widely recognized couplet of some unknown but apt poet. David put it this way in his God-given style: "My cup runneth over!" (Psalm 23). Amen? Amen!

A real part of our blessings from God as poets are the good, good poems being wonderfully showered about us daily by so many of you at our web site. Right again? Yes. And as a critic trying to decide just whose poem should receive attention here In the Spotlight, I find myself each month in a constant quandary. There are just so many of them! For example, a truly beautiful poem for its artistry is Poet David John's "The Cross and Thorns,” David being from fair and oft-renowned England. This poem is surely outstanding for it's imagination, perfection of expression, and spiritual message. However, another artist and her exquisite poem has also come to my attention, and I speak of Poetess Karen Kelsay Davies and her "Lily of Gethsemane," she from Orange, California. Since our brother John has previously received plaudits from us here at the FOCP (He was our Poet of the Year for 2004, for instance), I think that I'll focus this time on the latter poetess and her poem, by your leave.

You'll notice that Sister Davies' "Lily of Gethsemane,” found to your right, has an unusual rhyme scheme of ABBA, not often discovered in our compositions. It appeals to me, as no doubt to you also. The poetic foot found throughout is iambic, you'll also note, there usually being four of these to each of the twenty-four lines in six quatrains. The only exceptions to this rule are in line eleven--where perhaps a remedy might be something like, "Thy prayers to God's good heav'n to go"-- and line twenty, where "all" could be omitted as breaking the pattern. (Perhaps our sister has an explanation for these divergencies, but she is the one to decide, and we don't here impose our will upon her, of course!) A thought provoking and inspiring metaphor is found in the first quatrain in the words, "... a lily I would be." In the same quatrain we also see this lily as having "Sprung up from tears dropped in the night," and it is excellent, poignantly exciting! In line ten "leaves would pillow soil below," contains another such fine figure, as does "I'd lift my cup," in line seventeen. All these figures are sooo good, you'd agree, I'm sure!

An appropriate spiritual message is always sought by our faithful poets, and Poetess Davies in "Lily of Gethsemane" has a good one for us: We would glorify our lovely Lord Jesus, who in Gethsemane as throughout His life, gave Himself without stint for us, His church. We all want to be that "pure disciple," as the sister's lily is set forth in figure here to be.

I'll not keep you longer, friends. Just you enjoy the beautiful poem to your right. And Sister Davies, you keep such excellent offerings coming into our web site, hear? Good!

God bless you all.

John Evans,
Jacksonville , Florida , USA
joevans@comcast.net

P.S. Many of you may not know that each and every day at the E-Word Today web site our FOCP's poems and poets are featured in a "poem of the day." David John did not know about this use, and he probably has been featured there more than any of us. Check it out, hear? JE