Silence Does Not Gloat:
Proverbs 24:17-18

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It's time's silent agony
That rattles my pains
on memories’ window.

Viewed through the smoke-etched glass,
Eating the fresh
Maraschino cherries
topping the drink,
Alternating savory sips
That soften the pain
Then asking the server
To fill it again

A sliver of the sun’s glinting rays reflects
the hourglass sands of antiquated thoughts
long past.

Machete voices echo choices like noises
Playing ping pong
inside a tombed head.

But, despite a suntanned
and rum-sweetened glow,
Pain shares the heat of a scarlet-cheeked soul

I welcome a night's sleep
That slays the dimmed day
And I can breathe those dreams
in Kodak sunnyscape,
Where there's a window always open
and I can feel
life’s breezes’ blowing,
Inhaling and exhaling
The breath of freedom

A colored past can not
toil for those treasures
That are sprouted into fertile words that lay
hidden in the mind’s eventual harvests.

Tomorrow's are begun
Hung on words nurtured and strung
by the planting of today's seedling songs.....
And all the symphonies'
Melodic notes are reaped
And the lyrics are born

They will come
To blossom upon
Winds of wise words-
Blown to silence the secrets of many day's sadness

It is God's power
That lifts up my will
And gives me these dreams
To lift up the sash
on the sunnyscape sill,

Tossing away the bad
and the leftover madness.

by Clara Mae Gregory


Author's note: This was created from a former collaborative work that I tried once. But reflecting back, I do not want to do this kind of writing. I am in the processes of editing, revision and tossing. I have thrown away huge amounts of stuff I wrote....I'm just not attached to it or the past.

I eliminated the collaborator's lines and reworked my own. It is a completely changed piece and has meaning for those with eyes to see.

There is of course, a biblical focus and real life experiences that influenced these poems and changes. My goal is to improve the writings or eliminate them.

The main Bible verses warning against "gloating" are Proverbs 24:17-18:

"Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them".

Proverbs 24:17-18: Tells believers not to be happy when an adversary suffers, because God sees the malicious joy in your heart and is displeased.
Obadiah 1:12: Warns against gloating over a brother or neighbor in the day of their misfortune or ruin.
Job 31:29: States that rejoicing at the destruction of one who hated you is a sin.

We should behave instead by God's paradigm

Humble attitude: God wants people to show mercy instead of taking malicious pleasure in the pain of others.

Trust in God: Leaving justice to God means you do not need to celebrate payback or a rival's failure.

09/17/2026

Posted on 09/17/2026
Copyright © 2026 Clara Mae Gregory