Courage has a crimson coat by Nancy Byrd Turner

COURAGE HAS A CRIMSON COAT

Courage has a crimson coat
Trimmed with trappings bold,
Knowledge dons a dress of note,
Fame's is cloth of gold.
Far they ride and far they roam,
Much they do and dare.
Gray-gowned Patience sits at home,
And weaves the stuff they wear.

This treasure was found by Joshua and the scribbles were his too - love em both, and Josh too!

Seasons of mists by John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the ground, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
  --John Keats http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Keats

Immunity Against Storms;

The rage batters against the door to be let in,

It's slave wind whips and stings at the doormat, trying to make believe the doormat does not exist, or that it is abused; slave wind slices at the mat with it's wicked fingernails, trying to tear it to shreds as it attempt to claw it's way in. 

The raging storm questions at the windows with rattles of doubt and taunting threats of entry and of stealing away of the peace it believes is fake. 

But inside the weary family is warmed, cuddling close together.

Their foundation is strong and secure,

Nothing can take them away from God's love.

And after the storm there is a still deeper tranquility.

Loganlea Station’s Umbrella Caterpillar:

By Joy Murray

The gloom of the day was expressed by the rain,

the tears of the sky who was feeling much pain.

The train chugged in slowly with a creaking and groaning,

to stop at the place for the people’s farewelling.



Up popped all the brollies as each person stepped off,

Like segments of caterpillar growing – poff... poff..

They snuggled in close, to stay as dry as was possible,

And shuffled in line like a caterpillar flexible.



Down the ramp and over the back of the zebra they crossed,

As the cars and the bicycles for the creature had stopped.

Trudging wearily the colourful wet creature got smaller and smaller,

as it passed the hospital which seemed to get taller and taller.



The Uni got greedy, a few segments it ate up,

By the time it got to TAFE it was almost out of luck.

Still struggling together, the bright creature arrived,

All dripping and wet - it had barely survived!

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Brollie is slang for umbrella.
Uni is an Australian word for university.
TAFE is a technical college, pollytechnicon, pollytech, technicon etc in Australia.
Poff is my own make up word for the sound of umbrella’s popping up in the rain.

Here is Loganlea Station, close to where my daughter goes to TAFE



Photograph from http://qroti.com/placeinfo/qld/rail/loganlea/

John Piper's poems

This one is one of my favourites: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Poems/ByDate/2285_Waiting_for_My_Husband_After_the_Bridge_Collapsed/

You can find them all at http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Poems/ByDate/