Post No. 048: For My Family, Part 6 — A Haiku-Style Poem For My Father On 86th His Birthday

(Image from Masons Attic)

Thank You for Teaching Me
(A Haiku-Style Poem With Multiple Stanzas)

Thank you for teaching
me to be responsible
for all things in life!

Thank you for teaching
me to be accountable
for mending my strife!

Thank you for teaching
me to be independent
in all things I do!

Thank you for teaching
me to be one who teaches
others—just like you!

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: I reread the "Conversations with God" series of books [which I reread from just shortly after June 5th, 2016 to exactly September 12th, 2016]...

...And I was rereading "Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Book 1," when I read the quote below on page 114, which reminded me of how my father, who passed away in 2018, raised us kids—while our mother was dealing with a lot of physical and psychological issues, which she experienced her entire life. Here is that quote:

"My pay—the payoff you get when you 'work for' Me—provides a great deal more than spiritual comfort. Physical comfort, too, can be yours. Yet the ironic part about all this is that, once you experience the kind of spiritual comfort My payoff provides, the last thing you’ll find yourself worrying about is physical comfort.

Even the physical comfort of members of your family will no longer be a concern to you—for once you rise to a level of God consciousness you will understand that you are not responsible for any other human soul, and that while it is commendable to wish every soul to live in comfort, each soul must choose—is choosing—its own destiny this instant.

Clearly, it is not the highest action to deliberately abuse or destroy another. Clearly, it is equally inappropriate to neglect the needs of those you have caused to be dependent on you.

Your job is to render them independent; to teach them as quickly and completely as possible how to get along without you."

And I felt so inspired by the quote above, that I wrote this poem on July 6th, 2016 (ten days before my father's 86th birthday), which started out as a classic Haiku-style poem, but ended up being "a multiple-stanza Haiku-style poem," as I explained more of what I meant about this feeling.

I should mention that this poem was written for—and posted on—Facebook, way back when I was actually on Facebook, which I haven't been for years...

And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Portland, Oregon.

However, even though this poem was not written in Salt Lake City, Utah, I still have this poem labeled under "My Utah Writing," since the topic of this poem is based upon my family, who live predominantly in Utah.

-Paulee

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 048 was edited on September 19th, 2023.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

My poems that are Haiku in their style—within which one stanza is composed of three lines, where each line has words containing five syllables, seven syllables and five syllables, respectively—are a lot more like Senryū poems in that the topic of these poems is typically about people, rather than the topic of these poems being about nature, as is usually the case in classic Haiku poems. And that is why I call these types of poems "Haiku-style." –Paul Whiting [September 19th, 2023]

Post No. 047: For My Family, Part 5 — My Mother's Passing Away

(Image from Cannon Mortuary)

But To Praise Her
(Or, "My Mother's Passing Away")

I come not to bury Claudia,
but to praise her! I come
not to weep for her passing,
but to rejoice for her living!

Hear me now, Oh Mourners:
There is nothing to grieve—
and everything to believe!
For, there is no death; there
is only ever-changing life.

Let all those listen who have
ears to hear: "Elvis has left
the building—and just because
he called it home, does not
mean that he was Graceland."

Thus, the Claudia whom we
knew is not the Claudia who is
now; she has shed her clothing
and stepped unadorned into
the waters of All Knowing.

She is there with her family.
She is there with her friends.
She is there with all those
who have gone before her
and she is basking in The Sun.

She has played her part.
She has spoken her lines.
She has now exited the stage
and removed her costume.
The play is over and she is
off to her next performance.

For, we are not our bodies—
we are our souls. We are
not the characters we play
in this theater we call life.
We are the actors who
bring our characters to life.

So, join me in celebrating
a life lived to its fullest in
the face of many challenges;
a truly beautiful voice in
an often-chaotic opera.

Let her brush strokes speak for
themselves; let them show what
she went through—again and
again—to pick up her palette and
her brush and to paint that canvas.

I am proud to call her mother!
I am proud to call her friend!
I am so grateful for the dance
she that danced with us and
I can't wait to see her again!

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: My mother passed away in 2004 and her funeral was held at Cannon Mortuary in Salt Lake City, Utah (the image of which is illustrating this poem). And I wrote this poem and I read it at her funeral, because I was trying to convey the idea that all of life is eternal and just because "the actor has left the stage" does not mean that you will never see them again...

And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Salt Lake City, Utah.

-Paulee

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 047 was edited on September 19th, 2023.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

Post No. 046: For My Family, Part 4 — Upon Your Half Century

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Upon Your Half Century

Warmed by the vanilla light
of your favorite
lamp,
you sit
submerged into the world
of another
renowned personality,
or distant country,
or nearly forgotten
civilization.

How impassioned you are
to absorb
all knowledge!
If only all
those books could be read
intravenously,
or via osmosis,
or even digestively
as that magazine
so erroneously suggests.

But, alas,
until Radio Shack can install
a "Ronco Read-O-Matic"
discretely
upon your person,
you will
have to be
content spending
the second half of
your century under that
Itty Bitty Book Lite,
where age may
mistake you
for a timeless scholar.

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: I wrote this poem for my mother's 50th birthday!

You see, my mother, who passed away in 2004, was an avid reader. And she would spend hours reading newspapers, magazines and books by the light of her Itty Bitty Book Light! And her favorite reading material, specifically, was biographies and autobiographies. Plus, reading helped my mother to escape the stress of life because she dealt with a lot of physical and psychological health issues her entire life.

So, her scholarly side is what inspired this poem!

And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Salt Lake City, Utah.

-Paulee

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 046 was edited on February 10th, 2024.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

Post No. 045: For My Family, Part 3 — I Am So Sorry For Your Loss

(Image from Pinterest)

I Am So Sorry
For Your Loss

I am so sorry for your loss.
I am so sorry for your grief.
I am so sorry for your sadness.
I am so sorry for your pain.

I hope that grieving will heal your loss.
I hope that crying will heal your grief.
I hope that love will heal your sadness.
I hope that peace will heal your pain.

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: My cousin's son passed away and I wrote this poem as a way to offer her my condolences.

I should mention that this poem was written for—and posted on—Facebook, way back when I was actually on Facebook, which I haven't been for years...

And this poem was also published on my "Small All White in the Forest" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message that I am trying to convey through "Small All White in the Forest."

This poem was written in Portland, Oregon.

However, even though this poem was not written in Salt Lake City, Utah I still have this poem labeled under "My Utah Writing," since the topic of this poem is based upon my family, who live predominantly in Utah.

-Paulee

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 045 was edited on September 19th, 2023.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

Post No. 044: For My Family, Part 2 — Calling All Angels

(Image from Wikipedia)

Calling All Angels

When everything is gone, which
you thought could never be taken;
And the beliefs, which you guarded
like children, have up and left you;

And your world of certainty has
spiraled into an abyss of unknowns;
And you feel so alone, because no one
could possibly know your pain;

Remember, that you are never alone,
although you may be on your own!
You are positively surrounded by souls
who touch your life every day.

You have known them since childhood,
or—perhaps—since this morning.
These are your Angels, who are forever
calling you to where love is.

Your Angels come to you in more ways
than you can possibly imagine.
They come to remind you where love
does—and even does not—exist!

They come to confront you in your
fear and hold you in your love.
For, it is only when a fear is faced
that love can be held in its place.

To your Angels, you too are an Angel—
and are here to remind them, as well.
For, we are not Angels who have fallen,
but Angels who have forgotten.

And we have chosen this Earth as
the realm to remember who we are.
So remember, you are always in the
presence of Angels—for you are one!

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

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My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: I wrote this poem for my uncle who was experiencing a really difficult time in his life! He had gone through a really painful divorced from his second wife and he was lonely and suicidal. So, I wrote a poem for him to express the idea that we are all 'Angels' and, therefore, you are never truly alone "although you may be on your own."

By the way, I also did a rewrite of this poem that I wrote for 'Everyday Heroes' which is titled, "An Everyday Hero Lies In You," plus, I did another rewrite of this poem that I wrote for United States Military Personnel which is titled, "The Soldiers Of The Cross," both of which are published on this blog. (Please see "Calling All Angels-Style Poem" in labels for the poems.)

And this poem was also published on my "Three Dark Horses" and "Small All White in the Forest" blogs (please see the hyperlinks below for the blogs), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message I am trying to convey through "Three Dark Horses" and "Small All White in the Forest." Plus, I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message I am trying to convey through my new "The Oneness Of God" spiritual practice!

This poem was written in Salt Lake City, Utah.

-Paulee

https://threedarkhorses.blogspot.com

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

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The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is now: 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: "If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the Lifeline network is available 24/7 across the United States." Dial 988

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This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 044 was edited on April 20th, 2026.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]

Post No. 043: For My Family, Part 1 — The Candles Of The Sun

(Image from Hot Wallpaper)

The Candles Of The Sun

Come winter, come spring,
Come summer, or autumn,
In sunlight, in moonlight,
In downpour, or flurry,

When the fat lady sings,
Or the barrel's at bottom,
Though what's left isn't right,
Though our sanity may scurry,

Through the anguish of pain,
Through the anguish of bliss,
When the truth tears us apart
And then makes us whole,

After all we have gained,
After those we still miss,
Despite the love in our hearts
We sometimes don't show,

We are family forever.
We are kindred. We are one.
No distance can divide us—
We are the candles of the sun!

-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"

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My Writing About The Candles Of The Sun: Come winter, come spring, come summer, or autumn, in sunlight, in moonlight, in downpour, or flurry, when the fat lady sings, or the barrel's at bottom, though what's left isn't right, though our sanity may scurry, through the anguish of pain, through the anguish of bliss, when the truth tears us apart and then makes us whole, after all we have gained, after those we still miss, despite the love in our hearts we sometimes don't show, we are family forever. We are kindred. We are one. No distance can divide us—we are the candles of the sun! –Paul Whiting (written date unknown, then turned into 'my writing' on September 19th, 2023)

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My Writing Notes:

The reason that I wrote this poem can be summed up with the following statement: I used to give poems as Christmas gifts! And I wrote this poem for my family for Christmas one year—although I don't remember which year it was.

You see, gift giving at Christmas was always really stressful for me, because I was usually poor, so that is why I would write heartfelt poems, like greeting cards, that were holiday-like enough to be used as Christmas gifts and I would give them in photo frames that I bought from the dollar store.

Eventually, however, my immediate family (that is, my two brothers and two sisters-in-law, my sister and brother-in-law, and my parents) decided to stop exchanging gifts amongst the adults, but to still keep giving gifts to the grandchildren, which made Christmas a lot less stressful!

And this poem was also published on my "Three Dark Horses" and "Small All White in the Forest" blogs (please see the hyperlinks below for the blogs), since I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message I am trying to convey through "Three Dark Horses" and "Small All White in the Forest." Plus, I feel that the message in this poem applies to the message I am trying to convey through my new "The Oneness Of God" spiritual practice!

This poem was written in Salt Lake City, Utah.

-Paulee

https://threedarkhorses.blogspot.com

https://smallallwhiteintheforest.blogspot.com

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This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 043 was edited on April 26th, 2026.

"Poetry is using the fewest words possible in order to describe all that is possible to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]