top of page
Please take the time to read and enjoy my poetry! It is my ongoing project and I am looking forward to translating my poems into Turkish, Portuguese, and French. JFB
Life is an SAT Test
The Spanish Poet Aleixandre said that life Is a chess game between life and death As I grow older it is more of a chess game Between time...
JF Bierlein
Jan 18, 20231 min read
We are all Venn Diagrams.
Do you remember Venn Diagrams? All these interconnected, overlapping circles, Two wedding rings make a Venn diagram. A Venn diagram can...
JF Bierlein
Jan 17, 20231 min read
The Grain in the Wood.
We rasp and sand the wood From this friction comes out the grain The true character of the wood-- Its real beauty and uniqueness. That’s...
JF Bierlein
Jan 13, 20231 min read
Humility is self love.
Humility is not about counting yourself as nothing Or unworthy of the love or admiration of others. On the contrary, It is knowing and...
JF Bierlein
Jan 12, 20231 min read
Take a moment to breathe: The beautiful. haunting Armenian Duduk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw_0lE0G3NA I hope that this brings beauty to your day and offers you a moment of peaceful reflection.
JF Bierlein
Jan 12, 20231 min read
Clean Joke of the Week
A man went to see the doctor. The doctor said, "Sir, you must stop drinking brake fluid. It is simply not good for you." The patient: ...
JF Bierlein
Jan 11, 20231 min read
Turkish Music to Revive Your Soul/Türk müziği ruhunuzu canlandıracak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7j5FtSda4Y
JF Bierlein
Jan 11, 20231 min read
Beautify your day: Stop and Breathe--En Aranjuez Con Mi Amor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq2BZnym9Tk Shut your eyes, breathe, close the laptop, amd just enjoy. This is a portion of Rodrigo's...
JF Bierlein
Jan 11, 20231 min read
I am the intruder.
We watch animals and think. That they may watch us and think better thoughts than we That they cannot express to us. We're too dumb to...
JF Bierlein
Jan 10, 20232 min read
Jedwab (Healing Hands)
This is dedicated to Dr. Nancy A. Lee, MD, a caring and wonderful doctor who deserves to have a poem and then some :) She is the great...
JF Bierlein
Jan 8, 20231 min read
The Mitzvah (and a bonus!)
The Hebrew word “mitzvah” is used to describe divine commandments, But to “do a mitzvah” means to do a kind and unselfish act. Let us say...
hcdjfb
Jan 8, 20231 min read
Beautify your day: a calm moment to make this day sweeter
The other day I shared a piece of music that I find beautifies my day and this morning i am sharing another. Claude Debussy's Claire de...
JF Bierlein
Jan 8, 20231 min read
The Best Clean Joke I Heard This Week.
This man was at the lunch after his friend's funeral and people were offering tributes. He turned to the widow and said, "Do you mind if...
JF Bierlein
Jan 7, 20231 min read
The Clover of Memory
Dried Clover I found a book in the used bookstore that intrigued me It was a little history book that was printed in 1890. It had that...
JF Bierlein
Jan 7, 20231 min read
To Comfort the Bereaved
How do you comfort a friend? You can listen, but what more can you do? It is unfair to them to say, “I understand.” Even if you went...
JF Bierlein
Jan 6, 20231 min read
Yaşamaya Dair/About Living by Nazim Hikmet
This wonderful poem was sent to me by my very good friend Seda Sürel from Istanbul. It is a poem by the Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet and...
JF Bierlein
Jan 6, 20234 min read
Beautify your day
Just pause a minute, maybe even close your eyes and enjoy this: it is a serene and beautiful piece of music, Mussorgsky's "Dawn on the...
hcdjfb
Jan 6, 20231 min read
A very happy landmark
No poem, but some really happy news. I did my annual checkup and I am now nice and healthy 10 years after my cancer. I like to say that...
JF Bierlein
Jan 6, 20231 min read
Drinking at the Spring
When I was a boy, I remember how a spring Gushed cool, clear water out of a rock There was a red stain on the rocks where the water came...
JF Bierlein
Jan 5, 20231 min read
Planting Trees
I am planning to plant even more fruit trees. “Why,” you may well ask, “is an old man planting trees?” The unspoken is, “Hey, the trees...
JF Bierlein
Jan 4, 20231 min read
bottom of page