Tongue Taming



The tongue is a small body part,
Yet loves boasting of such great things;
And tends in showing of the true heart,
No matter what consequence brings.

How great a forest set ablaze,
Developing from a small flame;
As the fire spreading it strays,
Just as the tongue that will proclaim.

Because the tongue becomes a fire,
In a world of iniquity;
As it shows the true desire,
That the heart and mind will decree.

For the tongue is causing a stain,
Sets fire to the course of life;
From the signals sent from the brain,
That toils acquired from strife.

For every kind of beast and bird,
Of reptile and sea creature;
Are tamed when a person is heard,
And they would act as the teacher.

But no human can tame the tongue,
Restless evil full of poison;
Out of the mouth what it has flung,
Can cause one to go to prison.

With it we can bless our Lord,
With it we curse our brother;
For many times it is ignored,
What we would say to another.

From the mouth comes blessing and curse,
These things should not be ought so;
If not chastised it becomes worse,
Without discipline causes woe.

A spring pours not sweet and bitter,
Same as water from a fountain;
Although the tongue spews out litter,
Think before speaking for certain.

A fig tree does not bear olives,
A grapevine does not produce figs;
The Lord assures what the plant gives,
The proper fruit grows on the twigs

Copyright © 2021 Richard Newton Sherrer

About this poem

The Power of the Tongue James 3:5-12

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Written on October 01, 2021

Submitted by richards.77936 on September 30, 2021

Modified on March 23, 2023

1:18 min read
55

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IEIE JKJK LELE MNMN EKEK OPOP E
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 1,359
Words 260
Stanzas 11
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1

Richard Newton Sherrer

I was born and raised on a farm in Pennsylvania. It was a small family farm that was handed down through 8 generations of Sherrer men until my father; Newton just could not make a living from it any longer. He thought that I would make a better living away from the farm. So, I decided to join the Air Force in 1969 upon graduating from high school. I gained quite a bit of experience and insight on life while in the service. Even though I was only stationed on the east coast of the US, my Air Force career took me to Germany and Korea. After 20 years wearing of the blue uniform, I decided going in a different direction and found myself becoming very diverse in many different fields. Something still seemed missing to me after being separated from the service for about 10 years. The Air Force was a way of life for me, but really missed life in Korea. I found myself changing careers again. Poetry was an interest of his since my days in high school. With returning to the Lord, I felt motivated to write of my Christian beliefs. I started looking at Bible verses and reflecting on my own personal experiences. The Bible was found to be as true today as to when the various books were written. I could see much of what the Bible is teaching us as valid as every in modern time. It felt only natural to me on using his personal experience based on Bible verses and see much of my own life written in the Scriptures. God inspires me what to write about though. I do not claim to be an expert on God or the Bible. I am just a Christian who has become enlightened to write poetic verses from the Holy Scriptures. more…

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