I Prefer Autumn

Blackwater Falls State Park, West Virginia

I prefer Autumn's gilded colors to the rusted hues of Fall.

Autumn comes with clear-cut steps, not halting as if stalled.

Fall has not the force to quick-end Summer's heat,

So leaves grow tired and brown and hang in sad defeat.

But Autumn, ah! crisp air of Autumn's voice,

Hale hints of ice and snow

           of rain and hail and wintry blow—

But spangled as the hills and vales rejoice

In red and orange and riotous yellowy spray,

That breath not taken by the cold and frost

Should be taken at the sight of nature glossed

          and garbed and decked in such array.

      

      But Fall, ungraced by art or artistry,

      Should honor Autumn—and her majesty.

                                        ©2024   D. Benning 

Cass, West Virginia

Иерусалим — Jerusalem

 

On October 7, 2024, Alex Shevchenko wrote:

The song "Jerusalem" sung by different Christian groups today was written by me and my brother when we were children. At that moment I was 16 and my brother Vladimir was 14 years old. I attach a link to the Russian version, which my brother Vladimir performs.

Jerusalem - Alexander Shevchenko: https://youtu.be/fIvYvygoJtE

But this morning I received a link to the Ukrainian version of this song, performed by Oksana Polishchuk. In my opinion, this is incredible! Thank you, Oksana, for a great performance, as well as Svitlana Kasyanchik for your wonderful translation into Ukrainian!

Holy Jerusalem (in Ukrainian) - Oksana Polishchuk: https://youtu.be/FOYT-zqf45I

See the bottom for the metrical translation & lead sheet

-------------------------------------------------------

Word-for-word translation:

Куплет 1:

Пройдут года и постепенно,

Proydut goda i postepenno,

Will pass the years and gradually

Всё унесут путём своим.

Vso unesut putom svoim.

All [they] will carry away by way [of] their own.

Но там вдали, в красе нетленной,

No tam vdali, v krase netlennoy,

But there [we] see, in beauty imperishable,

Стоит святой, святой Иерусалим.

Stoit svyatoy, svyatoy Iyerusalim.

Stands holy, holy Jerusalem.

​

Куплет 2:

Вокруг него сад зеленеет,

Vokrug nego sad zeleneyet,

Around him the garden greens (is greening)

Поёт там псалмы херувим.

Poyot tam psalmy kheruvim.

Sings there psalms a cherubim

И все жемчужные аллеи,

I vse zhemchuzhnyye allei,

And all the pearly alleys (or lanes)

Ведут в святой, святой Иерусалим.

Vedut v svyatoy, svyatoy Iyerusalim.

Lead to holy, holy Jerusalem.

​

      Припев:

      К тебе стремлюсь душой, хочу, хочу домой.

      K tebe stremlyus' dushoy, khochu, khochu domoy.

      For you longs [my] soul, I want, I desire to go home

      И быть всегда с тобой, Иерусалим!

      I byt' vsegda s toboy, Iyerusalim!

      And to be always with you, Jerusalem!

      Забуду всю печаль, земли ничуть не жаль,

      Zabudu vsyu pechal', zemli nichut' ne zhal',

      I will forget all the sorrow, earth not a bit I desire

      Уйду в святую даль, Иерусалим - 2 раза.

      Uydu v svyatuyu dal', Iyerusalim - 2 raza.

      I will go to the holy distance, Jerusalem!  — 2 times

​

Куплет 3:

Душой, поющей аллилуйя,

Dushoy, poyushchey alliluyya,

With [my] soul, singing alleluia,

Покинув мир, расставшись с ним.

Pokinuv mir, rasstavshis' s nim.

Having left the world, having parted with it

По вечной милости войду я,

Po vechnoy milosti voydu ya,

By eternal mercies will enter I, 

Навек в святой, святой Иерусалим!

Navek v svyatoy, svyatoy Iyerusalim!

Forever into holy, holy Jerusalem

Припев

--------------------------------------------------------------------

English Translation to fit the meter of the music:

1.

See how the years slip by so gradually

And everything swept by with them,

But there we'll see in timeless beauty

Eternal holy, pure Jerusalem!

2.

Around it is the garden springing

Oh, hear the psalms of cherubim!

And all the pearly streets are leading

Straight up to holy, pure Jerusalem!

      Chorus

      For You my soul cries out! 

      For home I long and shout!

      To be with You always, Jerusalem!

      Forgetting sorrow-filled years, and earthly toils and fears,

      I'll go to holy, pure Jerusalem!

3.

And with my soul still singing glory,

And having left the world, and then

Eternal Mercies bid me enter

Forever holy, pure Jerusalem!

Chorus

BACK TO INDEX

 

Just a Little While

 

                              Just a little while,

                                   all these cares will pass;

                              Just a little while—

                                   we know this earth won't last;

                              Just a little while,

                                   then loved ones we will meet;

                              For in a little while,

                                   we'll sit at Jesus' feet.

The Watchers 4: The Ghost Within, p.147

Across the Water

 

Photo by Steve Dale, Nov 2023

            Across the water,

               I see the bright lights beckoning,

               Dazzling, colorful, happy, and alluring.

            Yet I'm only here,

               Not there.

            Here is dark and cold and lonely;

               But there is a comfort in its familiarity,

               A kind of solace begot by consistency,

               Fraught with insistence

                       Pressing in all the time.

            Yet, I see the lights across the water.

               How can I get there?

               It's too cold and far to swim.

               No boat have I, no friend, no aide.

            Yet across the water,

               bright lights beckon with bold beacon.

               Who will bring me to that welcoming, warm abode?

               Is there a path, a trail, a road

                   so my angst might weaken?

               A course to bring me there

                      —Across the water?

            Yet still I sit in silence,

               staring across the water.

                       Wondering.

The Quiet Dignity of Appalachia

 

Photo by The Appalachian Project
Phelps, Kentucky

        There is a quiet dignity about the mountains of Appalachia.  An old, settled sort of grandness that comes with age and maturity.  Other mountains may be younger with sharper peaks and deeper valleys, but Appalachia doesn't have to show off.  She's not a youngster trying to make a name for herself.  She has the quiet dignity of an elegant majesty much like an old lace doily draped over a family heirloom table.   And just as in your grandmother's old parlor, there comes a stillness in the Appalachian hills.  The stillness oozes from every creek, every rivulet, and every stone in each and every holler.  And all the more so when nature pulls the grey blanket of fog over herself to settle down for a well earned early winter rest.