Archive for December 2024

Mamma, Gramma Called You

Mama, Gramma called you

We shared the good times, and the chew

She talked with you for hours …

And how was Jimmy blue

How the price of ham and eggs had climbed

Near straight through the roof

I couldn’t bear to tell her

That I wasn’t you

You see the big white fluffy Chickens

Shoo, shew and shoe

Jimmy brought them home one day

He said “No-one wants them Mama”

It’s true”

They set on Grammas table

“Look an egg!” said Jimmy blue

Gramma said, They can stay right here

They have a home now

They do!

Mama, Gramma called you

We shared the good times and the chew

She spoke with you for hours

And how was Jimmy blue

Reminisced, in younger ages

Latticed cherry pies in stages

Survival times made way for tears

Washed away by red print pages

Mama, Gramma called you

We shared the good times and the chew

She talked with with you for hours

She said “I love you“

Words and music

By Kelly Sampson Griswold

Momma’s Kitchen

Can the mere sight of a color make you cry
Brightly bursting yellow crystals ... in my eye
Each time I see sunlight peering through the sky
The sunshine in her kitchen tells my why
-
Pot roast cooking, on the stove therein 
Potatoes, carrots, cabbage on the boil
We all knew it was time to come on in 
Her heart bell rang and she opened up the foil
-
Memories of the olden days
With songs I'm singing still
I’m filling up with Jesus love
And I always will
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Looking up as redemption draweth nigh
Sunshine over shadow carries me
I’ll be with you in a little while, you see
Just a few more rising suns…for me
-
Memories of the olden days
With songs I'm singing still
I’m filling up with Jesus love
And I always will
Words by Kelly Sampson Griswold

Cool Memories

I was just a wee little girl.  The MDC skating rink in Allston opened and I wanted so badly to go skating; but I had no skates. I'd have skated on anything just to squish between my sisters Deborah and Penny.  I just wanted be with them. "Please, please! "let me go!" I prayed and begged to the Lord.  My childish voice carried all the way to Jesus' heart. It reached up above the frosty air and sat upon on a cloud; resting softly on the face of the smiling moon. The next morning, a messenger from heaven came to the door. She was holding a bag, filled with all kinds of skates.  My mother was very thankful.  I dove into the bag and found a pair.  I strapped them on and made em fit!  Soon I'd be gliding; and I was going to the ice skating rink! I was proud sitting in my seat in the car with my wonderful sisters. We were heading to the rink!  Once there, I shot out onto the ice, like a firecracker; or so in my dreams! My own voice echoed trills from the bottom up ... But I was flying and feeling at one with the world in my mind; alternating with hanging on for dear life! I was doing everything I could think of to balance myself, and to keep from falling! A couple of feet gained ... then flat on my back ... Repeat. I rang a silent bell to myself ... May it always ring in my mind that I was allowed to go skating! - Whenever I am tempted to give up ... I say thank you Lord; for I had a chance to go! I got back up ... and I went! I'll always remember a kind baritone voice of a really tall angel, with big black gloves on, scooping me up, lifting me off the ice.  Rounding off the icy bend, I felt like a tetherball. I remember the flying, much more than the dangling skates, and the falls. This kind man picked me up and he set me down, over and over, on those skates again. He cared... I was thankful to God for making a way for me to go skating, when there seemed to be no way.  I'm thankful for kind people, skates to wear, and the opportunity to dance that flying jig. 
- 
Kelly Sampson Griswold

The Sweater

I wanted to give you a sweater 
To keep you warm on those cold cold days 
I wanted to give you a letter 
To tell you how kind you had been
-
Somehow it got lost in the river raging 
The current swiftly moved on 
Still and so clearly, I would remember 
The colors, so bright and nuanced 
-
But I’ll always love you
I’ll always love you 
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A time and a place for the knowing 
Left to the One who knows all 
A never so endless departing 
Lost in a songs eschalon
In the sweater a deep deep pocket 
In the letter a locket on land 
Waiting for that special moment 
Away from all pestilence 
-
To be found once again 
on one cool, still, broke morn 
Opaque in the sun, on the sand 
Like hope’s warm inviting 
Pure shaking hand 
I wanted to see your heart mend 
Like hope’s warm inviting 
Pure shaking hand 
I wanted to see your heart mend 
-
Words and Music 
By Kelly Sampson Griswold

His Beacon Over Me

Lining rooftops, high in rows 
Like dominoes, falling icicles 
Past my own sight, dim and low 
Peddling lightning on bicycle 
- 
And I'm gonna stay... In love 
Mercy, mercy me 
I'm gonna stay... in love 
His beacon over me
- 
I don't want to cry ... no more 
Faith revived and energized 
I've died a million times for fear 
Tired of being ... Paralyzed 
-
And I'm gonna stay... In love 
Mercy, mercy me 
I'm gonna stay... in love 
His beacon over me
- 
 Baseball cards, in rhythm song 
Wound up tight, elastic drum 
Inside spokes, the harp plays on 
Easing, soothing, childlike hum 
- 
And I'm gonna stay... In love 
Mercy, mercy me 
I'm gonna stay... in love 
His beacon over me
- 
Safe in sight, in God's mind eye 
Beyond my routes, capacity 
Angels on my shoulders high 
With Jesus setting my soul free 
- 
And I'm gonna stay ... In love 
Mercy me mercy me 
I'm gonna stay in love 
His beacon over me 
- 
Words and Music by Kelly Sampson Griswold

All In His Time

God is mightier, He is more
Than the flak that is hurled at you
The love you give in the name of Jesus
Will quench it with the truth
-
He surely comes at the perfect time
No act beyond His will . . .
For we are His and He is ours
All is calm, in Him, peace be still
-
Though diverse pains maybe daunting
We need not fear for loss
For Gods word dwells within us
Look to Christ upon the cross
-
He surely comes in the nick of time
No act beyond His will . . .
For we are His and He is ours
All is calm, in Him, peace be still
-
All in Him we must put our trust
Watch the opposition fall
Where His truth abides, His victory rides
All in His time, peace be still . . .
-
Words and music by Kelly Sampson Griswold