“…friends…”

1983

2022

Friends

Gratitude, 

Friends “come alongside”*

Those hard places

Those places of joy

Walking along the way,

Mountains high, green fields, and hard fought valleys

Kindness, listening, letters, and Words to lift, lighten, and nudge 

They stay the storm,

This life’s moments “break over us”

Friends ride out crashing, surprising waves,

Beginning and ending

Highs and lows,

Spectacular and common times

With us 

Seasons of this fleeting life 

Older and gray, the passing years 

Thankful, preserving, the most

“Valuable of all possessions”

Important times, God times, grateful times with beautiful souls

Friends, 

Glimpse poetry by Joe Holuta

*Inspired by favorite reading writing of William Wilberforce

Love of my life

“…cousins…

Cousins

“Heart to heart,

Distance can’t keep them apart”

Joy ,Fun,Happiness,

Funny, “best of both family and friends”

Childhood that “can’t be lost 

Adults, remarkable, beyond happy,

filled with laughter,

“Spilling over in song”

Old days recalling youth, sunshiny days

Vacations, weddings bring joy,

Even the saddest times, cousins leave full

Cousins have a way

The texts that only you would understand 

Pictures that tell a story of the love 

Words to lift and strengthen 

A glance to reassure

Shelter the days and years that pass 

Gaining hope, friendships carry the weight

As seasons change and temples gray

As one who gathers proud recollections,

Looking back, family traditions, grace and love, and freedoms found.

“Life is fleeting, a vapor, like a breath,”

you give renewed life

Like a morning mist”, you rise together, refreshing, souls

A joy growing older,

A glance of eternity 

Permanence that this life can’t give,

Gladness with you.

Cousins, 

Glimpse poetry, by Joe Holuta

“A cousin is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.” 

– Marion C. Garretty 

“Cousins are connected heart to heart, distance and time can’t break them apart.” 

“Cousins are both family and friends—they are the best of both worlds.” – Anonymous

“ . ..the Eternal has done remarkable things for us.We were beyond happy, . Our mouths were filled with laughter;our tongues were spilling over into song.The word went out  from nation to nation:“The Eternal has done remarkable things for them.” Psalm 126:1-3 VOICE 

"...His shadow is a cooling shade to you..."

His Shadow is a Cooling Shade to You.

I look up, we all look up to the hills

Even the strongest of frames looks 

When the mountains need moving

Or the valleys are deep and wide

Giving thought to brevity of life, fragile, and fleeting

Mountains, majestic grandeur Backdrop 

Mise-en-scène, with blue sky, grassy field and mountain lakes

Channeling the unfolding, and defining boundaries 

Life converging, colliding  

Eternal who created the mountains and the fields 

Provider of help in times of need

Never sleeping, never drifting,

Shade and safety in the brightest light

And coldest night

Keeper in life’s evils

First breath given 

to last breath breathed 

Breathless you leave us 

Awesome in works to Far corners 

And to distant seas 

His Shadow is a Cooling Shade to You, 

Glimpse poetry by Joe Holuta

Inspired by Psalm 121, VOICE

“… Across the Tender Ache of the Miles…”

Across the Tender Ache of the Miles

Driving north, heartbeats for the one that lives across the miles

Summer breeze, the tender ache gently fades

Wonderment, the glorious wonder of the days of summer spent together

“You” are acquainted with what I’m carrying

Year after year we see her grow 

The love grows too

Character and beauty 

“daughters ..like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace.”

The distance now between, the span, like the Grand Canyon carving

As we look closely, no surprise, 

layers of rock far beneath the earth 

reveals one season or layer at a time 

Each deeper layer reveals more 

the preservation, displays a history of careful design.

You will someday stand together 

loved ones realizing the passage of time, 

you will know joy, peace, and delight 

Seeing the carving of lives, the revealing of God's plan 

amidst the turns of life's journey,

the preservation, 

and will then know the plans he had for you and those you love.

Help beyond my own strength

To live miles, hundreds of miles, thousands of miles-

Far it seems like Londyn to DC,

Those we love and hold dear- family, 

Distance like a canyon so wide and deep 

I cannot cross at my own doing.

Grace,

to live each day with hope and faith

to the next great memory and time Together 

God’s grace will sustain 

Across the tender ache of the miles. 

Across the Tender Ache of the Miles,

Glimpse poetry, by Joe Holuta

“… Thoughts on anyone’s 40th birthday…”

Thoughts on anyone’s 40th birthday

They say you chose the path that made all the difference

when the two ways crossed

On this day

It’s easy to look back on those things that weren’t that glamorous in life

or what you wanted to do 

were unable to do 

our dreams that were not fulfilled

But today you will take the path covered in green

Vibrant and alive

It’s never been about the well-worn path 

because you always made your way in the most beautiful or bleak places

Graciously you screen the 40th birthday wishes dinned into the ear 

Green may your paths be

Forever green your spirit and drive and personality dear

Green may your outlook be and finances and dream vacations

 -even on a plane or train

High above all cares and clouds

Green may be the grass under your feet as you keep walking in only the steps you can provide

and only the joy and success you can succeed

Smiles radiate when you’re around

Bringing light and laughter to the hardest day

The Arc-he designs is as broad as the night sky and spans far as the most distant star 

And resounds with song greater than all night sounds, 

greater than sounds of passing trains, and traffic and a cricket singing

We stand tall this most beautiful day our 40th birthday

Eye to Eye confidence as we look in the mirror

Grateful for another day sincerely we say

The Path of green scene as a reflection in our eye 

And on the path first light on the ferns that pave the way

Determined as a butterfly 

broken wing not a care

gathering the sweetest of times

on a sunny day

Thoughts on anyone’s 40th birthday, 

Glimpse poetry by Joe Holuta

"...Last days at the beach..."

Last days at the beach

Last days at the beach and you can hear the crashing waves on the shore,

Seashells reach to catch the morning sunshine 

Vacationers walking somewhere, briskly, as if they always walk, to a destined point

People must leave and new arrive, this circle,

Hard to leave when volumes of memories collide on the sands and sky

and salty days that you hoped would never end

Last day at the beach, struggling umbrella in the wind 

To stay firm and not turn inside out in the gusts of ocean winds

Dreaming of years to come, full and circle again 

The years come and years go, and joy returns and then goes to the sea again 

but the building of family happens

You don’t always consider it as it’s happening, and then it’s there in your hearts

The smiling faces, the laughter, glow sticks on the beach, tie-dye shirts reflect unique souls, sandy toes, and crazy crab bites at the inlet, 

Children cartwheeling like sand pipers on the sandbars,

Castles, turtles on the sand, shells everywhere in buckets, piles of everything on the walkway to the beach house, forever shower running, 

Towels partly draped over sun filled railings,

Seafood glorious, one crazy crab 

Sounds of Ford mustangs, cobras and Shelbys cruising north ocean drive

Sea oats dancing protected on the sand dunes 

Family photos, seem hard to get, not a minute to spare,

Kids - where is that smile, and look please at the camera 

but the memories of this capture and then looking back, 

Eye open wide, light and shadow blend the days 

Spending much time together words can get short, but a quick repair 

Refreshing times with family two houses down, 

smiles and laughter in this space called life

Like coming in from the humid, salty air, to coolness inside 

Shelter and remembering 

(Last days at the beach, Glimpse poetry by Joe Holuta)

*****

“For His unfailing love is great, and it is intended for us, and His faithfulness to His promises knows no end. Praise the Eternal! Give thanks to the Eternal because He is always good. He never ceases to be loving and kind.”

Psalm 117:2-118:1VOICE

My Soul Sings

Song by Jonathan David Helser and Melissa Helser

Praise Him, sons and daughters

Praise Him in the highs and the lows

Sing in the joy and the sorrow

When you sing, Heaven comes close

Heaven's so close

Hallelujah, my soul sings to You

Hallelujah, my soul sings to You

Praise Him, my inmost being

Praise Him, oh my soul

Sing, sing of all He promised

When you sing, Heaven comes close

Heaven's so close

https://open.spotify.com/track/6vD5E5SONpCYyu9EXtEUIJ?si=rvmcgUueT0SmMVc3k9apPQ