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Best Poems From
HERBERT NEHRLICH
(04 October 1943)
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753.
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A Starry Night
It was as if the skies
had kissed this Mother Earth
so that her sparkling eyes
gave rise to precious birth.
A breeze drifts through the fields,
tall stalks sway softly, bright.
The dark of forests yields
a clear and star-lit night.
My soul daring to roam
flew up on gentle wings,
past castles of strange kings,
pretending to go home.
As Heaven was my goal,
when clinging to its back,
in clouds I lost my soul
and God found, it was black.
Now, hurled down to the ground,
condemned, forever banished,
there was a moon-lit sound
and all the stars had vanished.
Today I sleep in heather,
in meadows during nights,
and pray for stormy weather
to douse those star-lit nights.
Herbert Nehrlich
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754.
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A Stroll
Two horses and a cow were walking
about the Christmas season talking.
Says horse named Clyde 'I am so big
I'll break the biggest baddest twig
off of the tallest Christmas tree',
said Mama cow, ' just wait for me,
I swing, while walking my big udder
and make for poor folks lots of butter.'
The horse called Percheron, or Ed
walked slowly, like a horse that's dead.
But due to bulk and awesome size
he had, for Christmas a surprise.
By rubbing up against a tree
he would commit some blasphemy.
He'd gobble up a thousand nuts
dropped them in front of peasants' huts.
They walked until the melting snow
made water, letting flowers grow.
And only then did they sleep over
right near a field of lovely clover.
Before they left for other lands
they walked around the barren sands
and dropped what they'd accumulated
which is by gardners highly rated.
Before the year was nearly done
when snow was pestering the sun
the harvest had received the nod
from no one other than their God.
Herbert Nehrlich
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755.
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A Surgeon's Sonnet and a Response
By Surgeon Dr.Wai Pui Ng
Too soon the curtain of this stage will rise
Well trained am I and in this role well versed
In readiness again I don my guise
Yet fear and trembling parch my throat with thirst
My face assumes a self assured masque
The company does not suspect I feign
I force myself to focus on the task
I must find strength to play my part again.
In spite of every effort tried last night
That blackest of all curtains dark did fall
Today we must continue in the fight
Returning to the spotlights of the hall.
One last attempt to calm my trembling heart
Then off I go to play my fateful part.
My Response:
Dear doctor, do not let Queen Sadness rule,
you did preside and lent your well-honed skills.
The God who guarded you while still in school
is also master of the people's ills.
You are a friend, I know it from your words,
you did not walk away without a glance.
And I suspect that two small hummingbirds
disguised as tears fell to your chest to dance.
Without compassion man is just a fool
who loves the emptiness inside stale air
and uses all his talents like a mule;
a great conformist but without a care.
Yes you must go and carry still your torch
and let it burn so brightly as to light,
when during leisure you rest on your porch
your strength renews for any future fight.
If, for some time you feel an aching heart
it will renew the fibres of your soul,
rejoice my friend, this science is an art
it is immersion that will make you whole.
Herbert Nehrlich
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756.
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A Thief Born Early
Two boys, both blond and blue of eye
were playing at the Lorelei.
As foreign ships passed near the cliff
bold flags in morning frost were stiff.
The elder brother, to annoy
had brought with him his latest toy.
A fire engine, painted red
(at night it parked beneath his bed) ,
had been reward for A's and B's
and from his belt hung silver keys.
You'd wind the spring to set the stage
and soon the motor would engage,
the truck went wild, with bells and whistles
and raced through grass and forest thistles.
The boy, whose birthday was outstanding,
at first was timid, then demanding.
Though younger by a year and some
he suddenly was overcome
by hot desire for the toy,
which did not please the older boy.
He grabbed and pulled the object free
inserted then the silver key
and launched the vehicle with skill
in the direction of a hill.
Meanwhile, the victim (his own brother) ,
was calling loudly for his mother,
who, hearing cries of desperation
abandoned her accustomed station,
which was the stove, needless to say.
She cooked and let the children play.
The mother saw the boys ascending
the cliff to where the path was ending,
and from the windswept, rocky top
the fire engine flew non-stop
to raging waters far below
the robber yelled 'Oh What A Show! '
A conference was soon convened,
and grandpa, who disliked a fiend,
explained the logic of the law
which, in the end, the young boy saw.
And when the engine was retrieved
both boys and mother were relieved.
A dent below the driver's door
was quickly fixed. They found no more
in damages, the truck was tough.
Built in Berlin, which says enough.
As grandpa who was still a teacher
and had been acting like a preacher,
explained to two bewildered boys
about the ownership of toys.
It soon sank in that what is mine
cannot be dropped into the Rhine
by other boys who may be strong.
Thus, taking things is always wrong.
Unless the item of desire
is given freely, or for hire.
The victim now put in the key
and turned it quickly, just to see
if damages had, during flight
occurred to structures deep inside.
If anything, the truck drove faster,
had gone unscathed through the disaster.
The boys grew up and soon forgot
the incident, or did they not?
So often, when a lesson's learned
an inner quality is earned.
And now and then a thief is cured
at once, and you can be assured
that little boys grow into men,
remembering, just now and then,
those dramas of their early days
when parents showed them rules and ways.
Don't ask me whether it be fact
that, what the older brother lacked
stems from the drama near the Rhine?
In sweet revenge, he took what's mine.
Herbert Nehrlich
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