What I Can Do

I can think of many things
I can speak with knowledge,
I can learn most anything
I can teach when you listen.

I can observe through my eyes
I can hear the softest notes
I can touch what is there
I can teach these things to you.

I can comprehend complex problems
and solve them most of the time,
all these things I can do
and give them all to you.

When I try to think of God
I cannot speak nor comprehend,
nor even imagine
who God is.

I cannot speak
I cannot say the words,
I cannot imagine
or conjure up a thought.

I cannot teach;
you cannot listen.
Each of us is on our own
in knowing who God is.

Paul J. Wolf 3/3/11

A Prayer

When I want to pray
and have nothing to say,
sitting in an empty room
uneasy with nowhere to go;
my thoughts wander through the
forest of my life, leaving
footprints in the snow.

As a bed of crocuses gives color
to the black and white,
so a past filled with memories
gives passion to my life.

God’s blessings of special people
shaped where I should go
as I wandered though the forest
leaving footprints in the snow.

My persistence in pursuing
an education and degrees
like pine trees ever green
in that forest of memories.

The people who were there
when I needed them,
trail markers for me to follow
through the forest of my life.

When that trail was hard
causing pain and strife
I was blessed with loving people
helping me though that forest
which was my life.

Feeling God was with me
when I became the helper,
setting me on the path
that leads to a better life.

Then I know what my prayer
must be as I sit in that empty room.
Thank you God for all you’ve done,
without you I could never have traveled
through the forest
leaving footprints in the snow.

Paul J. Wolf 2/24/11

The Zoo

We went to the zoo the other day,
my Mama, my Grandpa and me.
I had never been to a zoo before,
I was excited about animals I might see.

We got to the zoo’s parking lot,
and I grabbed my Grandpa’s hand
as I was taught. I held it too,
til we got into the zoo.

Then we went into a little
house where they gave us maps
and told Mama where to make
bathroom stops.

First we went to the children’s zoo
to see the small animals
some in little cages, a small owl in a tall one.
There were a bunch of frogs,
a few little snakes, and the owl,
that was about all,
except for a furry little animal
asleep by a waterfall.

We walked by a woods
where wolves ran free.
There was a high fence
between those woods
and me. I was kinda scared.
If it wasn’t there,
we would have been eats
at a wolf-feast.

We saw some giraffes,
they were really tall
like they were walking
on stilts and they didn’t fall.

There was a white bear
which swam in a pond.
There were other bears too
but they were brown.


There were lions and tigers
and other big animals with
names I couldn’t pronounce.
Grandpa called them big cats.
I said, “ No Grandpa, they can’t be that
because they won’t fit on my lap.”

We saw monkeys in bunches
some with white beards
which looked like my
grandpa’s except they had more hair.
There were these great big monkeys
who sat and did nothing. Someone
called them gillas or something like that.

Then we ate lunch at the zoo
in a building with lots of things to choose.
I got a hamburger and some fries too,
as usual, Grandpa paid for our food.

We passed a wagon which sold
peanuts and popcorn.
Grandpa bought a large cup
of that good stuff.
He and I ate it as we walked
until Momma said, “That’s enough!”

We went to a farm in the zoo
and saw horses and cows
a pen full of goats which I could pet.
One of them followed me and tried
to eat the shirt on my back. The lady in charge
told me to give it a whack.

We came to the pen
where the seals swam,
it had large rocks
where the seals
could sun themselves.

It was the best fun
watching a man in the pen
play games with the seals
feeding them fish
when they did tricks.
The seals would swim
down to the bottom of the pond
turn in circles around and around
then come back up to eat again.

On the way out my grandpa
bought me a gift.
I chose a seal doll,
it was of soft stuff.

When we got to Mama’s car
and I was put into my seat
I snuggled down
holding my seal
and went to sleep
all the way home.

I have-ta say
I had a good day.


Paul J. Wolf 11/9/2010

Growth

When I was a child
in a small town
looking at the stars
in a darkened sky,
it excited me.
I didn’t know why.

As a young man
living on a farm,
I knew more about
those lights up there.
I expected it.
I didn’t think why.

When I moved to the city
I could never see the beauty
of those dots of light.
I knew they were there.
I didn’t care why.

Now that I am old
when I look to the sky
I see one or two dots of light.
I wonder why.

I know there are uncountable
planets, suns and galaxies,
an awe inspiring array,
more beautiful than I can imagine
I marvel why.

What minds human’s have
to see into space and pierce
the grandeur
of all the heavens above.

Of course there is no answer
it is a miracle to me.
It stops my heartbeat as I gaze
at those two little lights
knowing what is beyond
in the middle of the night. Paul J. Wolf 9/21/10

The Vagabond

The Vagabond

I am a vagabond spirit
knowing what I seek
traveling from place to place
desperately wanting peace.

My travels have sent me
where other spirits have not been
taking me from ecstasy
to the depths of despair
all in a youthful year.

My spirit followed a call to prayer
which ended after trying years,
and I was left
rudderless in an endless sea.

Then what seemed by chance
a course was given me
the work of helping others
guided my spirit through the waters
no longer lost, still searching for my peace.

Then I married, had a family
my spirit soared with worth
until illness took my wife
and left my spirit drifting in the sea.

So I floated, losing faith,
still wondering if my spirit would
find that special place
where peace could touch
my wandering spirit soul.

Again I was blessed with
my daughters love and my grandchild
I met another lady who
loved me and I loved her.
Yet I wandered still.

As I grew older and more unable
to live so many lives,
my spirit found the peace it sought
it was no special place.

I await the end
of my many journeys
treasuring all the turns
I took to find the peace
to satisfy my wandering soul.

Paul J. Wolf, 7/25/10

A Sunny Morning

When I wake up and there is sun,
things are bright throughout the house.
I feel like a gift has been given me
that particular day.

My thoughts are lively, my step is quick
my pains seem diminished,
the burdens dismissed
as I go about my daily tasks.

This doesn’t happen all the time
only when the sun does shine.

Paul J. Wolf, 7/5/10

Soul Search

I opened up my soul
to find the guts of it,
the thoughts and feelings
deep inside
its terrifying essence.

What I saw immediately
were memories of long ago,
shame and fear, but most of all
hurt from slights, rejections
from those I wished acceptance.

Then anger spread throughout my soul
like spores from some unearthly fungus
touching every part of me
pushing hate, energizing action.

Hate crawled in slowly
moving like a hunter
sneaking upon its prey
unseen until it kills.

I looked in horror
watching this unfold
seeing it as the damnation
of my sinful soul.

More memories poured out of me
of greed devouring my mind
focused on material
forgetting the spiritual.

Despair began to enter
as I cried out in my fear,
“there must be more to my soul
than what I see deep inside.”

Then memories of people
who loved me young and old
came forward in my soul.
Love evolved like a flower
blushing as it opens its petals.

Hope then entered slowly,
quietly calming my fear
ordering the memories
to focus on what is real to me.

Peace came to me quickly
when all this was seen,
I closed up my soul
to live with it.
It is everything I am.

Paul J. Wolf 5/20/10

It has been awhile

It has been awhile since I last entered poetry. I have been busy getting a children's book published on ebooks. The site is www.bobbiesebooks.com if you are interested. Look for Sissypus, the name of the story.

I have added a few poems I had written while doing this. Thank you all for being so patient with me.

Early Spring Outing

We took a walk one early spring day
when the crush of winter was sliding away,
me and my love down the village walk
enjoying the fresh air, each other’s talk.

Along the way we watched our steps
for doggie doo was in the way.
Slush covered areas of the concrete,
cars splashed it on us in the street,
it was enough to make us weep.

With all the dodging, being alert,
we sometimes had to step into the dirt,
which, of course, was gooey mud
covering our shoes, they were full of crud.

Still we got some exercise and fresh air
even though the odor wasn’t there
except for fumes from the exhaust
of those cars in the streets by us.

The snow so white at one time
was now black with sooty grime.
We came back home that lovely day
ready to be inside and stay.

Paul J. Wolf

Meditation

From my window on the fifth floor
while saying my morning prayer
I saw so many different sights
it flooded my thoughts with awe.

Across from me was a wood
filled with tall trees.
I felt the beauty of that site
the wonder of their growth
from a simple seed to such heights.

All around me was the proof
of man’s ingenuity.
An airplane flew overhead,
a train came roaring down the tracks,
cars were driven on the street
where factories stood by the side.

Above me was an endless sky
with galaxies I could not see
knowing from the books I read
how vast was space beyond
any imagined possibility.

I felt a God in all of this
the wonder of His Plan
how loving He was to include
me, in the grandeur of it all.

Paul J. Wolf 02/19/2010

January Thaw

The trees stand naked
each small twig exposed.
The woods are open
for all to see, an x-ray
of its bones.

There are deer running,
jumping over logs; a sight one
never sees when the trees
are clothed.

January thaw clears the snow
leaving the ground open
with its dead wood and vines,
imperfections one might see
that clothing covers over.

There is beauty in its bareness
with all its scars, trees fallen by wind
or split with lightning bolts, hollowed
by the rot of time; homes
for small animals who burrow there.

Enjoy it for it doesn’t last.
Winter brings a cover of snow again
and Spring brings the clothing back
covering up that beauty of yearly wear.

Paul J. Wolf

Voice

The Voice

In an ancient age,
in an ancient land,
Samuel heard God’s voice
waking him to listen
although he was not yet a man.

According to the story
God’s voice was sparkling clear
not a whisper or a clap of thunder,
but a conversation
as you and I might have here.

Not a lecture nor demand
but a simple telling
Samuel what would happen,
his destiny when he became a man.

How does this story apply to us?
If we listen with open mind and heart
will He tell us what he wants
as we grow older too?

The more I think about these questions
the more I become confused
feeling like a child lost
in a distant land.

Sometimes I think I understand
and I listen as best I can
but he leaves me
with my own thoughts
to struggle with the person I am.

P.J. Wolf

Relating

These are thoughts I had while driving through the Appalachian Mountains.

It is a marvel to see
the Appalachians in the Fall;
not just the many shades of red,
yellow and green,
but the thought of it all.

Hillsides at angles too steep to climb,
rock cliffs that fall straight down.
The trees dense with scrubs and vines,
vivid colors both high and low
it makes one wonder what's inside.

What if I could walk within those colors
beautiful to see, find a path
where a deer might run
or a stream that flows beneath.
Would I see flowers or bramble bush
bluebells or poison oak or both?

Would the walk be easy
like sauntering down a street,
or would I stumble and fall
from the roots that pull at your feet?

Would there be blue birds and squirrels
and rabbits running along, or would I be attacked
by rattlers and bears and perhaps large cats?

The forest is full of beauty;
part to cherish, part to fear.
I can admire that beauty
from afar, it is safer here.

Or would it be better
to walk under the trees,
taking a chance to experience
life in that atmosphere?

Would one gain confidence
in the forest, overcoming the fear,
eventually feeling comfortable
among the dangers there?

Paul J. Wolf 11/25/09

Emerging

While I was musing in my rocking chair, I started thinking about my childhood, living in a small city by the Mississippi River. In those days in that small city, one could look up at the stars and actually see them. Where I live now you can't do that. There is too much stuff in the air to let the lights of the stars shine through. But there were other things to do. Play was not organized by the adult world and children were left to their own to do whatever they could find to do.

Emerging

Lying on my back in the grass
wet from the night dew
looking at the Milky Way
wisps of lights up in the sky
wondering what they are.

A night hawk screams overhead,
bats dart after bugs I cannot see:
too young to think about it all
soon to be called into bed.

The morning sun is hot
bare feet on concrete
walking in grass as I can,
wondering what to do all day
while looking for my friends.

It's Summer, there is no school,
no homework or a time to study.
We have a few chores and the rest of the day
is ours to enjoy with our play.

Will we have enough players
for a ball game,
or we can get on our bikes to fish
on the banks of the Mississippi
where we can explore cast off
boats rotting on the shore.

Maybe we will ride into the woods
out of town to that old shack,
the one we found by Sugar Creek
across the railroad tracks.
Or ride to the ball bark
sneak in to watch the Gems play.

If we can't do any of that,
we can play mumbly peg
in the dirt by the street.
You know, I kind of wish
we were back in school

Paul Wolf 11/3/09

Holocaust Museum

Hi readers,

We went to the holocaust museum in Skokie,IL and this is my reflection on that visit.

Genocide

A boxcar sits alone
Empty
The door open for all to see.
An old car
made of rough, wooden boards and steel
Foreboding

Enter and the boards scream
sounds you never want to hear.
Ears are punctured with the sounds.
Captured

The boards stink
with the smell of human waste
sweat, urine, feces.
Overwhelming

The boards have faces
Crowded
Gaunt, with eyes terrified
wondering if they will die.
Pleading eyes, pointing eyes.

Empty

Paul Wolf, 10/6/09

What Do You Say?

What do you say to your God when you pray
not in a Church, or a Mosque or a Shul.
When you're at home or go out for a walk,
possibly dreaming on the side of a hill.
What do you say? "God, are you having a good day."

Do you talk to Him like a good friend
or in such awe you don't talk at all,
either way, what do you say?

What do you say when you feel blessed
everything going the right way.
You're healthy and strong in the midst of your family.
What do you say when you pray?
"God, it is truly a lovely day.

What do you say when things go black,
your soul is empty, you're all alone
sitting with Job on that hill of dung.
What do you say? "God, I curse your day."

When everthing is bleak, full of despair,
only then can thoughts enlighten your mind,
and echos like something you have never heard.
And so you know why you're alive.

Then you can say when you pray
to your God that day,
"I understand, I'll do my best
as well as I can.

Paul J. Wolf

The Water Mocassin

A Water Mocassin slithered through a pond
deadly as it approached its prey.
Down into the depths it swam to kill
eating all it came upon.
It seemed it would grow large and strong
destroyin all life in that small pond.

A young man came to the shore
to fish with his rod and reel.
The fish came to his bate,
along with that deadly snake
which attacked the young man
who took a hefty board
and bashed it on its head.

So the snake no longer lived
to feed upon the fish.
Life in the small pond
was spared that wondrous day.

However, there will always be
a fear wihin that pond.
Death can just as easily appear
some summer day when no one
is aware and consume the life
that is there.

Paul J. Wolf

Long Time

Dear Readers,

I know I haven't written any poetry lately or published any. I have had a bit of a battle with cancer. I have won round one and will start writing more in the near future. Give me a week or two more.

Paul

Struggle

I wrote this as a comment on stuggle. Struggle with belief systems, not a thesis on theology. As you can tell from my biograph, I am a person immersed in religion. So I write about it.

Through The Years

Through the years I wondered why
Jesus chose to die the way he did?
I know the reasons faith gives
about our sins and sacrifice,
salvation of the human race,
the way Romans punished crime.

God died that day upon the cross
in excruciating pain, a bloody death
Why would he choose to die that way?

I know by faith he rose from the dead
to spread his teachings throughout the earth
for centuries to come until the end
for all mankind to emulate
embracing death instead of fear.

Through the years I wondered why
so many people on this earth
have never heard of his death
or don't believe he died.
What of those people
in other univers,
will they be saved as well?

I have so many questions
about our life, death and
what happens at the end.
I don't know what to think
I am told to just believe.
It is hard as Thomas knows.

Through the years
I have strggled
with all this
doing the best I can.
I know the answer lies
in how I treat my fellow men,
who stand with me
before a loving God.

Paul Wolf 5/10/09

Waiting

If you have had the experience in the poem, "Medical Test", then you will have had the following experience.

The Phone Call

Have you ever felt death's shadow
sitting beside you,
trying to hold your hand
like a lover you reject.
Persistent.

You wait and wait
days and hours pass,
hoping it will disappear.
Knowing all along
a single call, the right words
will banish it to some other dark place.

You hope and hope that call will come.
Wait! It could be the message
that marries you to the frightful specter.
You don't know and you won't
until the phone rings.

Paul Wolf, 4/30/09