Clam Beach Sabbath

I don’t have access to the kind of math
that would make my finances work.
Perhaps I can’t afford it.

Despite the posture of my upside-down house,
I can’t seem to shake any “change” out of it.

But still, here I am
at the edge of the vast Pacific,
Where the lowering sun casts shadows of mountains
from molehills,
And my children dance with the sea,
And everything is alright.

©2009 Bob Mason

The picture is from the Sabbath day that inspired this poem.

Coffman's Recipe (for a church)

Mix lumbermen and refugees
Carpenters and redwood trees
Moment after moment seized
This is what you get.

Mix gingham smocks and home cooked meals
Faith and purpose forged in steel
Strudels pies potato peels
This is what you get.

Mix God and preacher on his knees
Hand that works and eye that sees
Solid heart that full believes
This is what you get.

Brick after brick
Board after board
Coin after coin
Bill after bill

Hour after hour

Day after day

Week after week . . .

And this is what you get.

©2008 Bob Mason

I wrote this on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the Fortuna Seventh-day Adventist Church where I grew up. I was asked to preach and included this in my sermon. The Coffman of the title is Pastor Carl Coffman who was the pastor who oversaw the building of this beautiful church a few years before I was born. I am pleased to have him as my Facebook friend.

The Secret of Unhappiness

Inward, inward, inward
Go inward, under-your-skinward.
Never look up
Don’t kiss and make up
Stare into your half-empty cup.

But do make up
What you must have
Can’t have
Should have
What you’ve got to have
To be OK . . . or better.

Give it a rest
Don’t look how you’re blessed,
Or unhappiness
Might elude you.

©2010 Bob Mason