Poetry by Ron G. Wallace

I've been writing poetry and songs since a young boy - for 40 years. It has been primarily recreational but I have written on various subjects upon request. My education is K-12 and one year of business college - and did not involve any specialized focus on poetry. I have had just a few poems published but did not pursue it very diligently. Ron g. Wallace

CHAPLAIN

He stood upon
The battlefields
Of history.
The memory
Of a million wars
Haunting his solitude,
And the faces
Of a multitude,
Disrupting his reverie.

He looked upon
Forgotten graves
Where men were laid;
Where now displayed
The lost and wasted lives
Of Mankind's very best;
And there he wept
For Mankind, thus possessed;
And there he prayed.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 6-15-96

CHOICES

I saw stretched out upon the grass
Mankind in sinful state.
Before them stood a shaky fence
With a very narrow gate.

On one side, Satan domineered
With deception, fear and hate.
On the other side, stood Jesus,
Reaching out to small and great.

They began to move so slowly
Along the narrow grade
Until two groups now stood distinct,
The choices clearly made.

But then upon the shaky fence
A daring soul I spied.
Who smugly said, "I like it here-
I choose not either side.

The Lord then gathered up his own,
(To heaven they return).
While the grass and the shaky fence,
Caught fire and began to burn.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 5-26-98

DAY OF THE LORD

Suddenly
The land is cloaked with dark
So very thick;
The hand of God
So quick
Has covered sun and moon,
And choked
The light's last spark.
And then like light'ning
Cross the blackened sky,
The Sun of Man arrives
And blinds the tribes of earth
With awesome fright,
While calling His elect
From all the world
To gather at His side.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 9-18-96

STILL WE SING

They ring
Throughout the years,
The songs of faith
Sung by our Christian peers.
And though the fears and spears
Of persecution's hate,
Continue to assail,
And oppression's sword
Will ever bring travail,
Yet still we sing.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 6-24-96

WITHOUT GOD

God is not dead,
Man is dead to God.
His soul unfed,
By choice he roams
So starved instead.
Thus travels blind
To all the truths divine
And lives in dread.

God's not asleep,
It's man who slumbers;
Entrenched so deep
In sin and apathy
Which he must reap,
As law fulfilled.
And thus in pain he will
Forever weep.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 8-9-96

THE COUNSEL OF A FRIEND

        Proverbs 27:9

How sweet the perfumed fragrance rare,
That permeates my very soul;
That soothes my doubts 'bout all my care;
And steers me clear from every snare.
This counsel of a friend so dear,
To ever comfort and console;
To vanquish every subtle fear,
And fill me with his special cheer.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 6/4/96

DEATH

I do not fear
The valley of the shadow,
Nor the gateway at its end;
The door that brings me
Face to face,
With my eternal Friend.
"To be absent from the body,
Is present with the Lord,"
The threat of death is shallow,
The taste of death, reward.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 6/5/96

THE PROMISE

Displayed
For all the heavenly host
To see.
Our aid
The Son of Man and God
Was He.
Now laid
Upon the wooden cross,
The tree.
He paid
The debt of sin for you
And me.

He rose,
The Father's perfect plan,
Complete.
The foes,
With Calvary's vict'ry,
Defeat.
The throes
Of death's oppressive hold,
To cheat.
Now flows
To all, The Promise, pure
And sweet.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 5-23-96

DEPRAVITY

Entrapped in darkness
Hopeless and despairing,
With everyone in need,
And no one even caring.
Strapped by sin's harness,
Of bitterness and strife;
Propelled by hate and greed,
Every moment of their life.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 6-10-96

SAVIOR

"It is enough," He said,
Now "let us go from here."
Gethsemene
Is beckoning -
The kiss of death is near.

'Cross the river Kidron,
The garden where he prayed,
With bended knee
His agony -
Upon the Father laid.

Still dark, the soldiers came,
Disciple in their midst;
To apprehend
His guiltless friend -
Whom the betrayer kissed.

Secured and led away
To face the courts of man,
Falsely accused,
Beaten and bruised -
"Prophesy if you can."

Satan, Jews and Romans
Joined hands in infamy.
In shameless pride
They crucified -
And claimed the victory.

But there on Calv'ry's cross
A greater vic'try won;
The sins of man,
Placed on The Man -
Our Savior, God the Son.

Then He cried, "It's finished."
Sins heavy debt was paid.
He bowed his head,
The Son was dead -
God's justice thus displayed.

Three days and nights he lay
Within the sealed tomb;
The Spirit's call
As proof to all -
The grave did not consume.

Seated now in heaven
In honor at the Throne.
Till in vic'try
And great glory -
He comes to claim His own.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 6-30-96

HOW BAD

How bad can it get?
Do you know the pain
That Jesus knew
When He was slain?
Do you feel each blow
That was bestowed
Upon the Savior
By the guard;
And the disregard,
When spurned by His own,
And rejected
As untrue?

Let us not, therefore,
Lose heart,
For though our body
Falls apart,
Each day our soul
Is strengthened
And made whole.

How bad can it get?
Do you feel the whole
Of mankind's sin
Upon your soul?
Do you feel each nail
That impaled
The sinless Savior
On the tree,
And the agony
When God turned away
And judged Him
For you?

Let us not, therefore,
Despair,
For though our sorrows
Seem unfair,
God's wondrous grace
Provides for
Every care.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 5/29/96

TEMPTATION

The pressures of the enemy
Are in array around me.
The pleasures of life's vanity
At every point surround me.
Yet in the midst of all this mist,
There is a light that guides me,
And thus from failure's flailing fist
It is God's truth that hides me.

Within this life of strain and strife,
It seeks to brutalize me,
And in this night of pain and fright,
It works to neutralize me.
But even though this mighty foe
prowls ever to devour me,
I surely know God's gracious flow
Is ever there to shower me.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 2-1-95

PRAYER

Just beyond
The blackness of enshrouded night
Shines forth
The refreshing promise of daylight.
And as that blanket of darkness
Drifts away,
The golden sun heralds
A brand new day.

So it is,
With troubles and cares of life.
The sorrow;
The blackness of fear and strife,
Through PRAYER, quickly fades away
And is gone;
As new strength and hope
Come with the dawn.

Ron g. Wallace
Copyright 5-23-96