JUDGES CHAPTER FOUR

¹ Now after Ehud died, the Israelites

Again did evil in God’s eyes, ² so God

Sold them into the hands of Jabin, king

Of Canaan, who ruled Hazor. Sisera

Who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim, ran

His army, ³ and who had nine hundred iron

Chariots and for twenty years he had

Oppressed the Israelites, but finally

They begged the Lord for help.

⁴ Deborah, a prophetess, Lappidoth’s wife,

Led Israel then, ⁵ and she held court under

The Deborah Palm between both Ramah and

Bethel in Ephraim’s hill country, and

The Israelites came up to her to have

 Their arguments decided. ⁶ She sent for

Barak son of Abinoam from

Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him,

“The LORD, the God of Israel, commands

You: ‘Go, and take with you ten thousand men

Of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead

The passage to Mount Tabor. ⁷ I will lure

Sisera, Jabin’s army commander,

With his own chariots and troops down to

The Kishon River and hand him to you.’”

⁸ Barak said to her, “If you go with me,

I will go; but if you don’t go with me,

I won’t go.” ⁹ “Very well,” said Deborah, “I

Will go with you, but due to how you are

Going about this, you will not receive

The honor, for God will hand Sisera

Off to a woman.” Deborah thus went with

               Barak to Kedesh, ¹⁰ where he summoned forth

Both Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand

Men followed him, and Deborah went with him.

¹¹ Now Kenite Heber had left other Kenites,

Descended from the brother-in-law of

Moses named Hobab, and he pitched his tent

By the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.

¹² When they told Sisera that Barak son

Of Abinoam had gone to Mount Tabor,

¹³ Sisera gathered his nine hundred iron

Chariots and his men, from Harosheth

Haggoyim to the Kishon River, ¹⁴ then

Deborah told Barak, “Go! This is the day

The LORD has given Sisera to your

Hands. Has not God gone up ahead of you?”

Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by

Ten thousand men, ¹⁵ and at Barak’s advance,

God routed Sisera, his chariots

And army, by the sword, and Sisera

Got off his chariot and fled on foot.

¹⁶ Barak pursued the chariots and army

As far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All

Sisera’s troops were killed by sword; not one

Remained, ¹⁷ but Sisera ran to the tent

Of Jael, wife of Kenite Heber, for

The king of Hazor, Jabin, and the clan

Of Kenite Heber had affinity.

¹⁸ Jael went out, met Sisera, and said

To him, “Come in, my lord, come right in. Don’t

Be scared,” so he went in her tent, and she

               Put over him a covering. ¹⁹ He said,

“I’m thirsty. Please give me some water.” She

Opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink,

And covered him. ²⁰ “Stand in the doorway of

The tent,” he told her. “If somebody comes

By and asks you, ‘Is someone here?’ say ‘No.’”

²¹ But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent

Peg and a hammer and went quietly

Jael and Sisera

By Artemisia Gentileschi

To him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted.

She drove the peg right through his temple to

The ground: he died. ²² Barak came by as he

Chased Sisera, and Jael went out from

The tent to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will

Show you the man you’re looking for,” so he

Went in with her, and there lay Sisera,

 The tent peg through his temple—dead. ²³ On that

Day God crushed Jabin, king of Canaanites,

Before the Israelites. ²⁴ And so the hand

Of Israelites grew stronger and more forceful

Toward Jabin, king of Canaanites,

‘Til they destroyed him like he was a blight.

Burning Man
A burning man
Is not a cross–
To come to burn
Is faithless dross.
~Day Williams

The Road Taken Back

I took a trail that split in two
Down at a crossroads, so to speak:
One had more green, and one, more blue,
Yet neither trail gave me a clue,
So I took one leading to a creek

And on the way I smelled the flowers,
Rubbed smooth petals between my thumb
And fingers, and could have stayed for hours
If sun-stopping had been in my power,
So for birds I left a trail of crumbs,

Then I returned and took the second trail,
Where bright rose petals blew in wind,
And back of each flower and without fail
Were weeds that covered scattered nails,
Warning not to venture too far in.

As I belonged on neither path
And always knew the long way back,
And though the earth is full and vast,
My heart of hearts did know the task:
To head for home, where nothing lacked.

Two forest trails went far away
From home and loves and street and fence,
And sorry that I could not stay
I took the road over rocks and clay
To home, which has made the difference.

~Day Williams

“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”
Benjamin Franklin: “A Republic, if you can keep it.” (1787)

The Constitution

In this land’s law, the Constitution is
Supreme, the highest law, authority
To which state courts and constitutions are
Subordinate, north, south, and sea to sea.

When We the People formed this government,
We emphasized the people’s right to rule,
Not Kings and Queens, with ways we could amend
The Constitution, the foundation, tool

In People’s hands not to be lightly changed,
A tool requiring constant vigilance
To keep the Union and establish Justice,
Keep peace at home, provide for our defense,

Promote the common Welfare, and secure
Liberty’s Blessings to ourselves and our
Posterity; and as no man is pure,
We formed three branches to check and balance power.

Stand for free speech, free press, the right to teach
Your child of lovingkindness and God’s kingdom;
The right to use your guns, so Tyranny
Won’t march you to a grave as a naked thing.

The power structure can’t infringe on rights
Of people to petition Government
To redress grievances, or to assemble
Peaceably to declare their discontent.

You can’t be forced to house a soldier, or,
If you are jailed, to pay excessive bail,
Or to relinquish worship of the Lord,
Or to lose work because you read in Braille.

Don’t let the government inside your home
Unless police have warrants in their hands;
You need not testify against your own
Self; Government must pay to take your lands.

You have the right to have a lawyer plea
Your case, protect your rights, and keep you free;
You have the rights to jury trial and
To counsel even if you can’t pay fees.

The warden cannot punish you with cruel,
Strange punishment–you’re not his chump or fool,
And you retain your right to worship God
And freely speak, within a prison’s rules.

The Feds must honor rights of fifty States
To legislate for citizens as they
Deem best, and people and the States retain
More rights than what the Bill of Rights contains.

The Government must honor equal rights
And Law’s due process for the citizens,
And courts interpret laws with oversight,
Enforcing rights of women, children, and men.

Keep this Republic, which is based upon
The Holy Bible and the Constitution,
And disregard connivers, cranks and cons
Who peddle hollow claims of new solutions.

The Founders knew about deceitful hearts,
How men and women mean well but go wrong,
And they relied on people to give thanks,
Seek wisdom, and obey the Lord, who’s strong.

~Day Williams

How to Make a Poem

Of many ways to make a poem, let
Me tell you one: First, you ignore the phones
(A habit you acquire when you’re in debt);
And second, you write letters to your foes

And tell them how their hatred helped you grow
And bloom; third, you wiggle thumbs and toes
Behind a light and draw the silhouettes
On walls which run with beads of jogger sweat.

You are not done. You rip your four-room heart
From chest and focus through a microscope
To know for whom it beats, and why, and where.

For forty days behold great works of art.
Then take a pen or pencil hooked to hope
And faith and love, and write about your cares.

~Day Williams

Youtube Shrink

I’m here for free, your youtube shrink
Expert in modern doublethink
You drive your people to the brink
Your armor has a host of chinks

You didn’t sing all words to a song
You’re neurologically wrong
My manual says you meet each prong
And you’re demented as King Kong

I am the shrink
In one look I know
That you can’t think
And have to go

Criteria in DSM
Says you are ill in your brain stem
See specialists in businessmen
Then take a trip to Bethlehem

I went for th’other candidate
Because you harbor too much hate
CNN tells me you’re third-rate
And you have too much body weight

I am the shrink
In one look I know
That you can’t think
And have to go

Political views make no diff
I can interpret hieroglyphs
I recommend you take a skiff
To Grand Canyon and jump off a cliff

And when you’re gone I’ll diagnose
Your family from feet to nose
I’ll judge your son by highs and lows
I’ll judge your wife by model clothes

I am the shrink
In one look I know
That you can’t think
And have to go

~Day Williams

Ephesians Chapter Six

¹ Children, obey your parents in the Lord,

For this is right The first commandment with

A promise is this: ² “Honor both your father

And mother, ³ that it may go well with you

And that you may enjoy long life on earth.”

⁴ Fathers, do not exasperate your children;

Instead, raise them up in the training and

Instruction of the Lord. ⁵ You slaves,

Obey your earthly masters with respect

And fear, and with sincerity of heart,

Just as you would obey Christ. ⁶ Work hard

For them not only when your masters are

Watching, but also when they aren’t; work hard

With gladness all the time as slaves of Christ,

Not slaves of men, ⁷ and do the will of God

With all your hearts ⁸ because you know that for

The good things which a man may do, the Lord

Will bless him, whether he is slave or free.

⁹ And masters, treat your slaves in the same way.

Don’t threaten them; remember that you too

Are slaves of Christ, who has no favorites.

¹⁰ Lastly, be strong in God and his great power

¹¹ Put on all of the armor of the Lord

So you can take your stand against the devil’s

Schemes, ¹² for we do not wrestle flesh and blood,

But wrestle principalities and powers,

Rulers of darkness in this world, and we

Wrestle the wicked spirits in high realms.

¹³ So put on all the armor of the Lord,

So when the day of evil comes, you’ll stand

Your ground, and after you’ve done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Therefore stand firm, your waist buckled ‘round with

The belt of truth, and having on the breastplate

Of righteousness, ¹⁵ and your feet fitted with

The preparation of the gospel of

Peace; ¹⁶ above all, take up the shield of faith

To smother all the flaming arrows of

The evil one, ¹⁷ and take the helmet of

Salvation and the Spirit’s sword, which is

The word of God, ¹⁸ and pray always with all

Prayers and requests while in the Spirit.

With this in mind, remain alert and keep

On praying constantly for all the saints.

¹⁹ Pray for me, too, and ask the Lord to give

Me the right words as I speak boldly of

The mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I

Am an ambassador in chains. Pray that

I will declare it boldly, as I should.

²¹ So that you also may know how we are,

Tychicus, a beloved brother and

A faithful servant in the Lord, will tell

You everything. ²² I’m sending him to you

For this specific purpose, so that you

May know how we are getting on, and so

He may encourage you. ²³ May God give peace

To you, my brothers, with His love in faith

From God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁴ May God’s grace and His blessing be on all

Who love our Lord Jesus Christ and his call.

S.D.G.

***

California Cove

                you kings, be wise;

Be warned, you earthly rulers.

~Psalm 2:10

I.
From New York, Texas, and D.C.
The weaving spiders come
To heap up fame and wealth and might
And pluck the precious plums.

They spend some hours with employees
They pull the boys’ pants down
The Manly Coven thrills to cooks
Who profit from the clowns

And Doctor Octopus plays chess
In evening’s afterglow
As Thomas Paine stands in sun’s light
Outside California Cove

II.
The Wicked Witch, her dreams are sleazy
“Bring my hammer and my toy,”
She joins her girlfriend in a basement
Where she keeps her golden boys

A jet brings Wild Bill Hickok
With coke from railroad tracks:
“These women are my property
The rest of you, go back”

And the lawyers from the swamp
Have bought a porn star’s trove;
Foundations skim donations
At California Cove

III.

Throughout the day the finches stay
And sing in leafy trees
While men come near, their conscience seared,
And party in the breeze

No self-control, no righteous goals,
No trust in God at all
They trust in flesh from birth to death,
Ignoring heaven’s call.

They revel in the stink and sin
For two weeks on the go
Where spiders weave and men deceive
At California Cove

IV.

Underground rooms are busy
Prince Charming spurns his bride
The Madames travel from North Beach

To view the homicides

Miss Fuddy Duddy, she knows too much
Time for her to go
They’ll cover the hit with a plane crash
Nobody will ever know

Monk Rasputin, who romps with maids,
Ruined Chicago’s homes
He’ll lead the rituals
At California Cove

V.
Powermongers give talks
Beside a tree-lined lake
And they pretend that they don’t care
What titles they may take

Their eyes transfixed by symbols
From ancient Babylon
They phrase their buzz words expertly
Nodding to the Ku Klux Klan

But their disguises aren’t so good
Down at the bordello
Where videos are made and stored
At California Cove

VI.
Freddy Krueger scared the limo
That drove along Elm Street
Beside a grassy knoll
Where nightmares took their seats

And Caesar, guard on his right side,
Shot the peace candidate
Who would have stopped a foreign war
Where profits come from hate

Weaving spiders fondly recall
Cave Men from long ago
Who fixed and tricked the sleeping giant
At California Cove

VII.
Jason  Bourne, self-assigned his task,
Arranges knives and guns,
No matter why, the bullet flies,
He’ll notch another one.

Director Jay, on public pay,
Dislikes a journalist,
He calls a pal and pays his way,
“That meddler won’t  be missed.”

Twisted men meet and scratch their rears
They fight their vertigo
By acting like they have no fears
At California Cove.

VIII.
Down trails, by trees, up forest tracks
Cave men hunt dangerous game
No deputy can find the bodies
And no one is to blame

Hog farmers come to clean the mess
The Cave Men leave behind
They’ll never tell the coppers
On what the pigs have dined

And by Washington’s Monument
The narcissists run moles
Who spy on Paine and Jefferson
At California Cove

IX.
Now Cassius, looking long and lean,
Phoned his bookie for a bet
A high-placed man would die that night,
A hardship he won’t regret

He forges 302s for Brutus
Persuading him to join
The pool of high-stakes players
With shiny Power Points

He wears fine suits and flashes smiles
As in a puppet show
You wouldn’t know his savage weeks
At California Cove

X.
Now by the guarded entrance gate
Protesters carry signs,
A fat head sticks out from a limo
And in a high voice whines,

“Nurse Ratched will repair your head,
You nonconformist freaks,
She’ll shock your brain ‘til you comply
And you can’t even squeak”

The limo speeds inside the place
As though a racer drove
For fun and games and care in flames
At California Cove

XI.

“We’ll rule the world,” the Prince intones
“Peasants will bow and scrape,
And that is sweet, for we’re elite
And they descend from apes.

We’ll poison food and medicine,
Their air not fit to breathe,
Reduce their numbers from thick to thin,
Take fillings from their teeth

We’ll have more room to roam and hunt
We’ll make our own Utopia”
To loud applause from makers of laws
At California Cove.

XII.
A songbird formed his whole career
By turning on his land
He sided with the enemies,

Gave them his helping hand

The songbird plans his funeral
As though he will soon die
But Grandpa knows he lied again
He’ll fake his death and fly

An orb or planet deep in space,
An isle off Mexico,
Nowhere to hide when he’s allied
With California Cove

XIII.
In strides the smiling oil man
And he conducts a dance
He rests inside an ivy coffin
And takes the kids for romance

He stores his conscience in a vault
Buried in an ocean trench
He tramps across the forest camp
To a girl he calls his wench

And Dr. Szell says open wide
He’ll probe for what you know
And if it hurts, why, tell the men
At California Cove

XIV.
Rick Blaine rides to the airport in fog
With Ilsa as time goes by
He makes a heart-break tarmac deal
A patriot would buy

And Rocky’s ready for a fight
With clowns who harm his kids
And he will pound Count Dracula
‘Til his jawbone falls to bits

In subterfuge and trickery
The hungry ply their trade
The prostitutes have more morals
Than Cave Men who make AIDS.

XV.
Before the panic and debris
Lucky Larry nibbled toast
He checked fine print on policies
Assured to claim the most

Put options placed for profits max
In their overflowing cups
Godfathers took a front-row seat
To watch the nukes blow up

Goldfinger envies them so much
He will attend the Owl Show
To participate in sacrifice
At California Cove.

XVI.
As innocents are shot to death
Sheriff Hoyt says stand down
He takes his orders from half-high,
From Wendy and the clowns.

His handler, hideous harridan,
Runs spies in her domain
Wendy sells her country for a kiss
And tries to blackmail Tom Paine

A body on a beach tells tales
About the lawns she mows
Don’t double-cross that horrid boss
At California Cove

XVII.
Dr. Downer creates diseases
So he can sell the cure
And puts the profits through a laundry
While he goes on a tour

Harry Lime promotes disorders
And bigger DSM’s
He will sell you pills through your doc
So he can buy more gems

He claims they’ll solve your problems
And keep you status quo
If you will buy his merchandise
At California Cove

XVIII.
Cleopatra has sailed her barge
Downriver to the sea
While Antony professes love
He’s down on his knees

She smiles and checks computer files
That tell her all she needs
She’ll scare him with the dirt she has
And satisfy her greed

Her bank accounts are empty
Funds disappeared in holes
But she’ll replenish them with work
From California Cove.

XIX.
Too bad a minion in the crew
Has had enough of this
He hands the queen some poisoned wine
And seals it with a kiss

And she bestows her shameless smirk
And downs the wine with flair
And says, “I’ll never be arrested–
Nobody would dare!”

And as she chokes and gasps
Her terror and panic grow:
“I should have told the truth
About California Cove.”

XX.
The pirate-profiteers hoist flags
Along the river bank:
“We’re only here for gold, you louts,
When tough, we’ll break ranks.”

Some ask them for their balance sheet
They plunge into a funk:
“If you invade our privacy
We’ll put you in a trunk.”

The Cave Men greet confusing men
Who play their puppet shows
And keep Tom Paine in heavy chains
At California Cove

XXI.
Darth Vader types the false flag scripts
His lackies carry out
And he eliminates the fools
Who harbor righteous doubts

Storm troopers come in force to drag
Off those who have switched sides
“You must remain in Darth’s plantation
Or we will tan your hide.”

The humble people in their fog
Don’t know which way to go
So Cave Men sneer and keep control
At California Cove.

XXII.
Bonnie and Clyde’s machine guns
Have rusted in a heap
While they formed a foundation
To pillage sleeping sheep

“Honor? Integrity?
Those are for little folks.
We’re masters of the world,”
A Naked Cave man spoke.

Funny how planes smoke and crash
When people get too close
Funny about the accidents
From California Cove.

XXIII.
Hannibal Lector  has escaped

To grab a tasty bite
At Jimmy’s pizzeria
Where news anchors alight

Gordon Gekko works the phones
He’s shorted casino stock
Travis Bickle, wearing suit and tie,
Works with him round the clock

The Joker says he’ll bomb a building
To punish those in the know
And Dr. Downer joins him
At California Cove.

XXIV.
Norman Bates runs in the shower stall
A butcher knife in hand
And Ellen Ripley slams his groin
Up through his thyroid gland

And Atticus is standing up,
A prosecutor now,
With his unsealed indictments
He’ll drive the justice plow

The Power Boys, like cornered rats,
Will bite to overthrow
The people’s choice and champ
At California Cove

XXV.
Benedict Arnold in crosshairs
Behaves like he’s on meth
In the sewers, swamps, and cesspools
The songbird fakes his death

Potter the banker owns the town
Foreclosing on each one
Robin Hood shoots him with arrows
Because he owns no gun

The Cave Men party through the night
The Robber Barons gloat
Rape victims have nowhere to go
At California Cove

XXVI.
Tom Paine has started a storm
Ben Franklin flies a kite
The villagers wake up, clear-eyed,
The dawning of the light

And Harry Callahan has chased
The crooks from pole to pole
And when he cocks his forty-four
He knows they’ve sold their souls.

The moon is blood, the stars go out,
Hawaiian lava flows
And not a soul has worshiped God
At California Cove

XXVII.

And Pilate in his power place
Questions the renegade:
“Why are you here? You aren’t King Lear,
You would not share your name”

“I am the Light,” the man replied,
And Pilate’s face turned white,
“I will not leave those who believe,
But your heart isn’t right”

And Pilate said, “You’re innocent”

Washes his hands in a bowl
“Your pain begins for mankind’s sins
At California Cove.”

XXVIII.

The billionaire without a care
Gave up his playboy style
To serve a land he understands
In a time of shadow trials

He set in place many an ace
To trump the kings and queens
Who undermine the green felt lines
With their card-count machine

With God the lead, he will indeed
Incarcerate the foes
Whose whines and cries won’t save their lives
At California Cove

~Day Williams

Poet, lawyer, social and political commentator

S.D.G.

Wait until someone puts these words to music and sings them.

***

Grateful Dead, Desolation Row 

Tools

” data-hasqtip=”5″>Hebrews 9:14:

How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

***

(Psalm 141:2)
I’ll Lift My Hands
I’ll lift my hands
As sacrifice
In evening to
You, Jesus Christ.
#Gospel #Psalm #poetry

Death Has Died
The Son of God
Was crucified
And rose again,
So Death has died.
#Gospel #Jesus #poetry

(Psalm 20:1)
May God Reply
May God reply
To you when you
Are in distress
And feeling blue.
#Psalm #poetry

***

Sonnet 99

John, baptize me at River Jordan’s bank,
Pour Jesus’ cleansing water on my head.
May He, through Love, make white my sins so black
And I’ll be born again and by Him fed

For I have sunk as low as man can go
And only He can lift me up again
To walk the plan he set me long ago
Before I was conceived in lands of men.

My destiny, O Lord, is in thy hands;
To you I have entrusted heart and soul.
You are the God of gods who reigns forevermore . . .

Release me, Lord, from mortal flesh’s bands
And wash me, cleanse my spirit, make me whole,
Lord, let us work together at the core.

Sonnet 100 (Peter)

Sorrow and joy were mixed at suppertime:
He washed my feet but said that I’d betray
Him. “Never,” I said, “that would be a crime.”
We’d been together from the start, the day

He called me from the nets. “You will, three times,
Before the cock crows,” he went on. “Come pray
Inside Gethsemane with me.” Now I’m
A zealous man, but God formed me from clay.

He had to wake me when the torch lights came.
I drew my sword, slashed off an ear, he healed
It, soldiers took him. Down the trail I crept

To fireside warmth. Three times they asked – no game–
And I denied three times. Long gone, that meal.
The cock crew. I went out and wept and wept.

~Day Williams

12 Things That Prove Taylor Swift Is In The Illuminati

You knew she was trouble.

https://canadafreepress.com/article/whats-happened-to-the-emdrudge-report-em#Comments

Much modern art (movies, paintings, literature) consists of a pathetic, futile attempt to replace God with something else.