Funny Little Things Those Thoughts

(Here's a poem I wrote for a talk I gave at church today, inspired by a pamphlet I read as a teenager written by Elder Boyd K. Packer:)

Funny little things those thoughts
Tiny little actors that play
On that stage buried in our head
Performing whatever we will them too
A drama of deep significance
Or a play of light demeanor
An adventure of high excitement
Or a romance of sweet endearing
Whatever we want
They are happy to perform
But beware!
Under the cover of internal privacy
They are all too happy
To do darker things
Things we would not want others to see
A silly pipe dream built of pride
A horror composed of mean retribution
Or a silky scene
Of personally crafted pornography
Dark excitement to entice and arouse
But leading only to heartache
And quiet despair
The only limit
Accompanying this amazing gift of mind
Is that which we impose
That which we allow
For without that self control
The wise choice of script that we provide
These innocent-seeming actors
Pave the way
For the road to baser actions
First patterned in our minds
Rehearsed
And then carried out
But only to our ruin and sorrow
Let us instead
Be the wise master of our mind
Build corrals of true principles
Teach our actors
Scripts we would not be ashamed to show
In the light to those we love
And thus allow
True strength of character
Unburdened by quiet shame
Built on the foundations of happiness
Allowing the Holy Spirit to flow
Leading up
The straight and narrow path
To our Heavenly Home

John Thompson
March 15, 2009

Things to Shun

(A lyric maybe?)

Expectation
Extrapolation
Confuses the reality
Humiliation
Degradation
Leaves their muddy mark

And I see
The distant smoke
A life surrendered
To degeneracy
And I feel
The dragon’s breath
A dragging down
To despondency

Exaggeration
Misinformation
Blinds us to the light
Capitulation
Acceptation
Binds us to the night

And I touch
The velvet glove
A silky grasp
Of dependency
And I sense
The pleasing pull
A warming choke
Of complacency

Demarcation
Segregation
Divides us from ourselves
Confrontation
Escalation
Rises to a fiery flame

And I hear
The warning sounds
Blaring loud
The emergency
But I know
The time is past
And there can be
No transcendency

All in a moment
A life is gone
Though curiously
A shell remains
A brilliant flash
The spirit’s fled
Leaving behind
Dead eyes staring

John Thompson
February 9, 2009

Dancer

Beautiful dancer
Graceful movement
Clothed in softness
Unspoken words
Expressed in form
Feelings
Flowing from motion
Your eyes
Speak freely
In gentleness
Your heart
Sings melodies of rhythm
In heartbeat time
Your spirit
Touches deeply
The souls of all who see
I am more
Because of you

John Thompson
November 20, 2008

Sweet Friend

Eyes soft and tender
Walks gently
Through fields of Spring
The lovely flowers
Along her way
They can’t compare
But still
They turn to her
As she passes
Her warm smile
Shines on them
And they open
A little wider
And life it…
Seems a little brighter…
A little kinder…
Just when
She is here

John Thompson
November 15, 2008

Hadeel

Arabian Princess
Guarded by a thousand horsemen
Beloved by her people
She sees into their hearts
And judges fairly
In mercy and love
But often
Before the dawn is near to break
She rises early
To watch the morning stars
A dove flies silently across the sky
Going wherever it will
A tear glistens
In one of her large brown eyes
And tracks gently down her cheek
A diamond sparkle in the starlight
That falls silently to the golden sand
Seen by no one

John Thompson
November 7, 2008

Dear Love

Your presence lingers
A sweet flower aroma in your wake
As if I could feel your touch
Your soft caress
Your voice echoes like music in my dreams
I think on our times
Hours passing like moments.
Adventures in distant places
Comfortable presence
Even amidst mundane chores
Thoughts of the future that could be
The sweet joy that is now
With a wish I can summon your image before my eyes
Feminine grace and beauty
Bathed in brilliance and light
But it can't compare to the realness of having you here

If only you were real

John Thompson
October 31, 2008

Alive

Alive
Heartbeats ticking
Breath in
Breath out
A whispery sigh
While blood flows quietly
And synapses fire
Twinkles of memory
Passing by
Goosebumps follow
Lips curl up
Oh-oh
Something’s growing
Time to go
Goodbye

John Thompson
October 6, 2008