The Unfinished Grave, a Poem

The Unfinished Grave 

The chainsaws roared

As the pruners in yellow dayglow vests 

And orange hard hats

Ripped at the old oak

Over and over

And over.

The prince of trees was cut

Into sections and tossed into the truck,

And was driven away with a rumble 

And grey exhaust.

The lonely stump remained.

Its raw, flat surface is the only memorial

Like an unspoken eulogy. 

As if it says,

"I was once proud and strong.

I was not allowed to grow old,

To whither,

And return my strength to the soil.

The men 

With the chainsaws, hard hats, and truck keys

Did not say sorry." 

© Adron Dozat 2025

I Hear The Dawn, A Poem by A. E. Dozat

I Hear The Dawn 

My eyes squint against the white

Crunch of snow

As I travel amongst 

Trees stripped by the seasons

And

Bushes wind-trimmed to unnatural shapes.

The dawn seems too far away

But knowing it is my future

Changes everything, 

Making all the mundane  

Small treasures of my day.

Each step speaks a whispered syllable;

The words of God are all around us

(At least 

For him who has ears to hear).

But they are easily 

Stolen by ravens *

And buried by squirrels

And squandered 

As the setting sun

Casts the sky in colors

Of the day's quiet dimming.

With each step, 

I slip toward my sleep-

Once, for all, and lasting.

Were it not for my confidence

In the promises of  

Him Who is Dawn,

I would run through the night

Screaming.

(c) Adron Dozat 2/11/2022

*The parable of the sower, "As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up."  Matthew 13:4 

You Choose What Could Not Live, A Poem

You Choose What Could Not Live
A Poem about the Dream

You were once a lost bird
Fleeing the broken chimes
Of the whirring engines.
I called for you in the dark.
I was willing
To light the lamp
That would show you the way
To the meadows of home.
But
You fell prey to
The believer of lies
Whose spider bite
Defiled the pictures of
The icons on the
Cathedral walls.
I longed to command
Winged angels to rescue you.
But holy laws
Chained them away
Less they cross
The ice-filled winds that
Separate human hearts.
So you fell forever
In the metal red rain
Where no flower grows.



Thank you for visiting and reading my poem. I hope you enjoyed it and that it gives you something to think about.  

Please see the sidebar for my best-loved poems, I am sure you will enjoy them too.

I do not like to write dark sad poems, there are enough of those around already.  In this poem, I attempt to express the sad despair of watching someone you love make bad choices and become ruined.  It was inspired by the life of my brother whose drug addiction led to his death by overdose. No one would ever wish bad things to happen to other people and we try to reach out and help them. But sometimes you can do nothing but watch them fall. We must not indulge in survivor's guilt but remember the choices were there's. 

(c) Adron 2/15/2020

Deliverance, A Poem of the Free Thinker

Deliverance,
A Poem of the Free Thinker

We need a new
Declaration
Of independence;
Not as a country
To become
Independent
From a tyrant,
Or as a people
To become
Independent
From a nation.
But we need
To become
Independent
Individually;
Independent
Of institutions,
Independent
Of the government,
Independent
Of big business,
Independent
Of the media.
If others wish
To become slaves
To those things
It is their choice,
But as Aesop's dog said,
"A collar is
Too high a price
For
A food dish."

(c) Adron 7/1/2018

THE FALLING ONES, a Poem of the Fields

This is a short poem with an obvious meaning on the surface but if you take the time you may see something underneath.

THE FALLING ONES,
A Poem of the Fields

The flowers weep
Fragile and delicate
Tears of beauty
Which fills the soil
With the soft sighs
Of petals fading.
So, they end their
Holy moment
In sacrifice
To birth the seeds
That will drift
On indifferent winds
And die
On some distant soil,
In the hope
That eternal skies
Will again look
Upon a land
Embraced by fields
Of life.

(c) Adron Dozat

Author's note
I like to write poetry about God, life and the blessings He gives. This poem is still about God but in an indirect way since it is about His creation.
(c) A.E. Dozat 5/16/18

DRAWING LINES, A POEM OF DESTINATION

DRAWING LINES,
A Poem of Destination

Black lines overhead
Divide the blue
With unseen power.
These lines do not
Draw a picture
But stretch beyond
Our vision
To places of others.
We send our lines
Away on pages
Full of words
Made of letters
Which are lines
Bent
Like the ones
In our palms.
All these lines
Are
Like a grid
That leads us
Across the map,
We follow them
Until
Our lines cross
On
The globe of our lives,
And that intersection
Changes us from
Lines to forms.

(c) Adron 5/2/18

RINGS, A POEM OF ENABLING THE IMAGE

Rings,
A Poem Of Enabling The Image

The gray sky
Gave its substance
And its image grew
On the earth
Where the blue light above
Lay on rings
Growing in the puddle
Like soulless blossoms
As helpless raindrops
Sacrifice their volume
To the water reflections.
The circles
Expand
With perfect symmetry
And merge-
Passing
Through each other
To reach the boundaries
Of the sudden edge
And ripple back
To slow smoothness.
The last sky drop falls
Into a fading ring
As
The cloud passes;
And looking down
At the fallen sky-water
We find our faces.

(c) Adron 3/24/18

THE ROBBER OF KINGS, A POEM ABOUT THE HUMBLE ONES

The Robber of Kings,
A Poem About The Humble Ones

The grounds of palaces
Are forbidden places
With high stone walls
And blackened bars,
Hiding the gardens within;
Patrolled by the elite
Of Cesar's guard,
Who secure them
By penalty of trespass.
They keep the courtyards pure
For the privileged few, and
The wealthy princes and kings.
With swords and lances
They
Protect the roses from
The thief, the vandal
And the common citizen.
The sparrow
Lands on the flagstones
Without regard to the dangers,
In spite of arrest,
Defying
All punishment
And she steals
The fallen crumb
From the guard's
Lunch.

Thank you for taking the time to stop and read my poem, I hope it blessed your day. To see more like it see the favorites in the sidebar. 

(c) Adron 3/17/18

SECRET LIVES, A POEM OF THRALL

Secret Lives,
A Poem of Thrall

We all have secret lives
Shared with our hidden selves.
We walk with our other
Among the trees
Where we
Would be perfect,
And our world too.
But bony wolves shadow
Our hope
And spider webs tangle
Our dreams.
We pretend
The darkness is not there
And that our gardens
Withstand the summer heat.
Still,
We vacation there
Hoping this sun will not set
And for those moments
We are free,
If only in our minds.
But He Who is Reality
Calls us to leave
Our self-addiction
He knows our secrets
And He would rescue us.


Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Matthew 11:28, NIV.

 (c) Adron 2/24/18

He Makes Us Worthy,  A Poem of The Companion

Shadows
Stand between us
And the light
Like stone towers
Forbidding us
To pass,
But
We are pilgrims
Small and alone
Traveling with an
Unseen brother.
We are Gypsies
Making music
In a foreign land.
Our voices
Bring the words
Of a far tongue
And the message
Of His light. 

He became one of us
So He could bring us home.

(c) Adron 12/25/17

INK, A POEM ABOUT REFLECTION

* * * * *

INK,
A Poem About Reflection

Once I had words,
They came to me
From some inner land.
I dreamed
They would become
A garden of hope
For you.
They were like a river's flow;
Forceful, fluid, and penetrating
Until they soaked the pages
Leaving me illegible.
The words I would
Have given to you
Became stuck to the tabletop
Where they looked
Small and sad.
I left them
For the waitress
To wash away
With blue window cleaner.
Even after they were purged
I could hear them say
That
It is vain to write words
If you are not willing to be them.



Thank you for visiting my blog and reading my poem, I hope it gives you something to think about and was a blessing to your day. To find more like it use the search box above or see the favorites in the Sidebar.

To see my books of poems visit my website, A.E. Dozat.com.

(c) Adron 11/9/17

WHERE ROCKS GROW, A POEM OF NEED

I hope you enjoy this short poem, it has several metaphors and you may find more than one meaning in it.

* * * * *

Where Rocks Grow,
A Poem of Need

I pulled up the flowers
And emptied my garden
Of spring's beauty
Because I found meaning
In the stones.
Stones are faithful,
They are patient
And are always there.
You can count on them
In every season
And any weather.
But the logic of rocks
Failed my soul
Which longed for beauty-
Though frail and weak
And lives but briefly.
Now I cast seeds
Among the rocks
On each sunny day,
So I may see
Seasonal beauty
Or else something
In me
May turn to stone.


Adron

* * * 

To find and enjoy beauty is an honest need of the human soul. Let us take time to appreciate the gift of beauty that God has put in the world around us.  Of course, we can appreciate the beauty of stones too!

You can see the sidebar for my most popular or use the search box above.

* * * * * 

Thank you for visiting this blog. I hope these thoughts are helpful for you.

You can find more like this in the most helpful post list on the left sidebar.

(c) Adron 10/22/17

THE PERPETUATE MAN, A POEM OF CONQUEST

The Perpetuate Man,
A Poem Of Conquest

A vision unfought for
Becomes darkened
Waters
Rushing down the streets
To plunge
Through the iron grate
And die in the sewers.
The one who surrenders
Becomes like
Pages scattered
Unread,
Whose virtues were
Summarily sentenced
As unworthy.
But the man
Who pumps the bellows
Through the night
And resurrects the flame
Of vision
Is the one that
Spectators call a fool-
Yet he is the man
Who knows
Each failure
Empowers triumph.


Thank you for visiting and reading my poem. I hope you enjoyed it and that it blessed your day. 

You can see the sidebar for my most popular or use the searchbox above.

(c) Adron 10/11/2017

GEOMETRIC INCLINATIONS A POEM ABOUT MISCONCLUSIONS

A short poem that causes you to think about our relationships to ourselves and the greater world around us.

* * * * *

Geometric Inclinations
 A Poem About Misconclusions

Squares fill our lives
With sharp corners
We fit them together
And like building blocks
We constructed ourselves.
But those squares are
A grid of enslavement
And a cycle of exploitation,
So
We have become a currency
Traded
Squandered
And spent
By soulless mechanisms.
We welcomed this net
At first
Because we wanted more
For the squares were filled
With pretty glitter
And we did not know
That they made us less.

Thank you for visiting and reading my poem. I hope you enjoyed it and that it blessed your day.

Please see the sidebar for my best-loved poems, I am sure you will enjoy them too.

To see my books of poems visit my website, A.E. Dozat.com.

(c) Adron 9/23/17

THE LONG SHADOWS, A POEM OF REGRET AND RESOLUTION

* * * * *

The Long Shadows,
 A Poem of Regrets And Refusal

In my heart is a place
Made of thousands of stones
Mined from my choices.
Crows
Rob my assurance
By taking a stone
And leaving behind
The words, "What if."
All those "What ifs"
Grow like vines.
Once they were just
Harmless words,
Now they list things like
Locked dungeon doors,
Forks in the road,
And words said- or not.
They built a high wall
Between who I am
And who I might be.
Give them no credit
They are no more than
Dried leaves
That flutter about
On the summer wind.
We must leave the
"What ifs,"
Let them go like moths.

This is the kind of poem I like to write, there are teasers of imagery, it has a line of reasoning that may be slightly flawed, and makes a decent positive point.

Thank you for visiting and reading my poem. I hope you enjoyed it and that it blessed your day.

(c) Adron 8/29/17

TAKING KNOWLEDGE, A Poem of Psalm 32:5

TAKING KNOWLEDGE,
A Poem of Psalm 32:5

We want to be known
And yet we are afraid
Of being known.
We are made
In the image
God who is
Intimate
So we must be made
To be known
By such a God
And to know
Him-Who-Is-Light.
But we are flawed
With darkness within.
We fear rejection
Shame and ridicule.
God knows us
He loves us
God is willing to forgive
The worst things
We have ever done.
But the unforgivable
Thing
Is to not take
Forgiveness.

I acknowledged my sin to you, I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave,
Psalm 32:5

TAKING KNOWLEDGE,
A Poem of Psalm 32:5

Thank you for visiting and reading my poem. I hope you enjoyed it and that it blessed your day. (c) Adron 8/13/17

THE PETTY DRAMA, A POEM OF THE TICKET HOLDER

This little poem uses metaphor to make a point about the way we live our lives.  I hope it gives you something to think about.

THE PETTY DRAMA
A Poem of the Ticket Holder

Ours is a city
Full of actors
Living on the stage
Of our little lives.
We rehearse dramas
Before the mirror,
And write our lines
As we say them.
We have forgotten
Our own names
While we portray
Fictional characters.
We live for reviews
Written by
Faceless critics.
We are unaware that
Only one ticket is sold
To the lifetime
Performance
And He
Who Is Audience
Watches from above.
He waits for us
In hopes that we
Return to the script.

Thank you for visiting and reading my poem. I hope you enjoyed it and that it blessed your day.

(c) Adron 8/4/17

FOUND BY FAMILY, A POEM OF THE ADOPTER

FOUND BY FAMILY,
 A POEM OF THE ADOPTER

You can watch
A flock of birds overhead
And envy not the flight
But their family.
You can see a deer
Grooming its fawn
And envy the mother's
Gentlest love.
You can watch a wolf
Teach his pup to hunt
And envy the father
Who leads his son.
But to see your own
Family photo
Brings heartache
For what you never had.
Christ left his place
In heaven and came here
To die
So your salvation is complete
And his death
Validates your adoption
By blood into his royal family.
Our own kin of earth's dust
May disappoint
But not your loving Father
In heaven
His love will never
Disappoint you.
He will never
Leave you nor forsake you.



Thank you for visiting and reading my poem. I hope you enjoyed it and that it blessed your day. Please see the sidebar for my best-loved poems, I am sure you will enjoy them too.

(c) Adron 7/6/17

FROM THE SHADOWS A POEM OF INVITATION

Here is a short poem of hope and faith.

* * * * *

FROM THE SHADOWS
A POEM OF INVITATION

So many of us
Live in worlds
Beyond reach in places
Of shadow
That we have become
Like the creatures
That live at the bottom of the sea-
Dwelling in darkness
And misshapen.
But He Who Is Light
Sees you down there.
He calls out to you
In your darkness.
He invites you
To come to beauty,
To leave the deep place
Of cold silence,
And join Him
In the sun swept meadows,
Watched over
By Him the Good Shepherd.



"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28.

(c) Adron 6/18/17

DISCOVERY, A POEM OF PLACE

This short freestyle poem is like a short sentimental story of adventure. 

I hope you enjoy it. 

* * * * *

DISCOVERY
A POEM OF PLACE

Our sails rode highways
In a blue sky
Below a golden sun
And brought us
To ancient structures
Of a forgotten purpose.
We explored their
Northern culture seeing
What we never saw before
But the image I saved
Was when
The wine
Cast its rose color on your face-
Bringing you
From the shadows.
We walked the streets
Of that city
Beyond the border
And waited for the sunset-
For we had no other home
Than each other.


(c) Adron Dozat

Many free-verse or freestyle poems have a structure of some sort, maybe in rhythm or phraseology, but this was written without intentional constraints since I was hoping for a feeling of spontaneity. Nevertheless, I rewrote it many times to get it just right.

(c) A. E. Dozat 6/6/17