A Poem In My Pocket ...

Lisa of A Light That Shines Again, 100 Years In America, and Small-leaved Shamrock posted a challenge to other genealogy bloggers to post their favorite poem today, in tribute to April being the National Poetry Month. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of poetry; I'm more of a fan of short stories. (It could be either that the poems I had to read in school were unappealing to me, or it just could be that I like to write short stories.) So, I really don't have a "favorite poem," but I happen to like Psalm 96 (I guess Psalms counts as poems), and used part of it as a beginning to a short story:

Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all people.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the nations,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, "The Lord reigns."
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;
they will sing before the Lord, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his truth. (Psalm 96:1-13 NIV Version)

I'm not exactly sure as to why I like this psalm, but this song does remind me of contemporary Christian songs of today, so maybe that is why. (Anyhow, I only used the first stanza in the story, but that's for another time.) Of course, I have written poems before in school, but I don't believe they are any good. I did write an allegorical and historical poem about the history of Boston (and Massachusetts in general) last year for a class, but it is extremely long. Plus, I feel embarrassed to post it. Either way, this post is long enough as it is.