• Submit Poetry
  • Support SCP
  • About Us
  • Members
  • Join
Saturday, September 5, 2026
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books
No Result
View All Result
Society of Classical Poets
No Result
View All Result
Home Poetry Beauty

‘The Bivocational Burden’ by Guy Warner

August 1, 2021
in Beauty, Poetry
A A
10
poems 'The Bivocational Burden' by Guy Warner

.

an excerpt

When battle rages hot, the charge will sound.
An army must not let itself break ranks,
Although they see the cannon all around.
To my Commander humbly I give thanks,
For I see not the field as He, in view
Of all the strikes and counterstrikes that come.
My eyes catch only sludge and sun and steel
From where my muddy boots wear thin. So who
Am I to question You? Let me be dumb!
Your wisdom, more than all of this, is real.

.

.

Guy Warner is a pastor in Birmingham, AL. He received his M.Div. from Liberty University. His other poetry can be found on SometimesPoetry.org.

ShareTweetPin
The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.
Read Our Comments Policy Here

RandomPoems

Poetry

Prayer Flags

September 12, 2012

By Aubrey Henderson You battle with our demons in the dark. You wake up screaming from your troubled dreams. Memories...

‘Rain and Snow on Christmas Day’: A Poem by Lauren V. Leon
Poetry

‘Rain and Snow on Christmas Day’: A Poem by Lauren V. Leon

January 22, 2026

  Rain and Snow on Christmas Day In songs of old and times of yore, _'Tis Snow that rules the...

Next Post
‘Incense’ by Adam Sedia

'Incense' by Adam Sedia

‘Philosopher’ by Leo Yankevich

'Three by Heraclitus' and Other Poetry by E.M. Schorb

‘China’s Twisted Gymnastics’ by Bethany Mootsey

'China’s Twisted Gymnastics' by Bethany Mootsey

Comments 10

  1. Joe Tessitore says:
    5 years ago

    Amen.

    Reply
  2. 從趾山 says:
    5 years ago

    Let me be dumb!
    Your wisdom, more than all of this, is real.

    Reply
  3. Brian Yapko says:
    5 years ago

    This is very beautiful and meaningful. Thank you for sharing this poem of deep faith.

    Reply
    • Guy Warner says:
      5 years ago

      Thank you! It is part of a long prayer of gratitude after coming through a tough time

      Reply
  4. Cynthia Erlandson says:
    5 years ago

    This is well crafted, as well as encouraging.

    Reply
    • Guy Warner says:
      5 years ago

      I appreciate that. It was a long time coming, a reflection on a real low point. God is good

      Reply
  5. C.B. Anderson says:
    5 years ago

    A very nice poem, Guy. And your nonce form was convincingly instantiated. I could be wrong, but I think you have expressed a new idea here on the field where doubt, faith and knowledge play out their differences.

    Reply
    • Guy Warner says:
      5 years ago

      I appreciate that, thank you. As life goes on and we learn more, it builds our faith, which enables us to overcome future doubts. Not always a fun process but an important one!

      Reply
  6. Guy Warner says:
    5 years ago

    This is an excerpt from a longer poem, which you can see here: https://sometimespoetry.org/2021/07/28/the-bivocational-burden/

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Mike Bryant says:
      5 years ago

      Love your poetry. I have a feeling that bivocationalism is a post modern problem. As long as you follow the crowd, instead of God’s word, you can have it all.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


  1. C.B. Anderson on ‘A Potpourri of Aphoristic Verses’ by C.B. AndersonSeptember 5, 2026

    And clothes , James, make the man, Which only kicks the can Much farther down the road, To where our…

  2. Ernesto P. Santiago on The Society of Classical Poets 2026 Haiku CompetitionSeptember 5, 2026

    a white-clad autumn whispering through the calm storm: my lover, not mine

  3. jd on ‘Morning Glory’: A Poem by T.M. MooreSeptember 5, 2026

    I loved this poem when I first read it and I still do. One of the things I like best…

  4. Paul Freeman on ‘Chaucer Announces His Desire to Retire’: A Poem by Paul A. FreemanSeptember 5, 2026

    Thanks, MJ. Appreciated. Able was I ere I saw Elba. Another use for 'ere', in the sentence above that reads…

  5. James A. Tweedie on ‘A Potpourri of Aphoristic Verses’ by C.B. AndersonSeptember 5, 2026

    As a P.S. I prefer to rhyme "potpourri" with "hot glory".

Subscribe to Daily Poems

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,635 other subscribers

Recent Poems

  • ‘Victory’: A Poem by Jonathan Graver
  • ‘The Cristero Centennial’: A Poem by Margaret Coats
  • ‘A Potpourri of Aphoristic Verses’ by C.B. Anderson
  • ‘The Estuary’: A Poem by Jeff Eardley
  • ‘A World Without the Wednesday Child’: A Poem by Kimberly Fore
  • The 2026 Society of Classical Poets International Poetry Competition
  • The 2026 SCP International High School Poetry Competition
  • ‘Realistic Reflections’ and Other Poetry by Anna J. Arredondo
  • ‘China Made’: A Poem by Theresa Werba
  • ‘The Savage Moon’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko
  • Poetry Book Review: Love Found, Yearned For, and Lost by James A. Tweedie
  • ‘When Opportunity Knocks’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson
  • ‘Legend of the Griffin’: A Poem by Iryna Hall
  • ‘Government Issue’ and Other Poems by Joseph S. Salemi
  • ‘Chaucer Announces His Desire to Retire’: A Poem by Paul A. Freeman
  • ‘Advantages of Restaurants’ and Other Poems by Russel Winick
  • ‘Bone China’: A Poem by Mary Gardner
  • ‘On the Death of One Too Young to Die’: A Poem by Jeffrey Essmann
  • ‘This Too Shall Pass’ and Other Poetry by Justin Dasher
  • ‘Humdrum and Harum-Scarum’: A Lecture on Free Verse, by Robert Bridges (1922)
  • ‘Unrest On the Floodplain’: A Poem by Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano
  • ‘Latitude and Loss’: A Poem by Martin Briggs
  • ‘Act III’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson
  • ‘God’s Funeral’: A Poem by James Sale
  • ‘Star Festival’: A Poem by Margaret Coats
  • ‘Song of the Frog Princess’: A Poem by Scharlie Meeuws
  • ‘The Odyssey: Nolan and Solot Compared’: An Essay by Michael Curtis
  • ‘Solitude’ and Other Poems by Mary Jane Myers
  • ‘The River Not Taken’ and Other Poetry by Brian Yapko
  • ‘Totentanz’: A Poem by James A. Tweedie

Categories

  • Acrostic
  • Alexandroid
  • Alliterative
  • Art
  • Best Poems
  • Blank Verse
  • Chant Royal
  • Classical Poets Live
  • Clerihew
  • Covid-19
  • Deconstructing Communism
  • Educational
  • Epic
  • Epigrams and Proverbs
  • Essays
    • Interviews with Poets
    • Poetry Reviews
  • Featured
  • From the Society
  • Great Poets
    • Dante Alighieri
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Homer
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Robert Frost
    • William Blake
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
  • Human Rights in China
  • Limerick
  • Love Poems
  • Music
  • Pantoum
  • Performing Arts
  • Poetry
    • Beauty
    • Children's Poems
    • Culture
    • Ekphrastic
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Humor
    • Riddles
  • Poetry Challenge
  • Poetry Contests
  • Poetry Forms
    • Curtal Sonnet
    • Haiku
  • Poetry Readings
  • Rhupunt
  • Rondeau
  • Rondeau Redoublé
  • Rondel
  • Rubaiyat
  • Sapphic Verse
  • Satire
  • Science
  • Sestina
  • Shape Poems
  • Short Stories
  • Song Lyrics
  • Sonnet
  • Symposium
  • Terrorism
  • Terza Rima
  • The Environment
  • Translation
  • Triolet
  • Video
  • Villanelle

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • Submit Poetry
  • Become a Member
  • Members List
  • Support the Society
  • Advertisement Placement
  • Comments Policy
  • Terms of Use

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Poems
    • Beauty
    • Culture
    • Satire
    • Humor
    • Children’s
    • Art
    • Ekphrastic
    • Epic
    • Epigrams and Proverbs
    • Human Rights in China
    • Music
    • Performing Arts
    • Riddles
    • Science
    • Song Lyrics
    • The Environment
    • The Raven
    • Found Poems
    • High School Poets
    • Terrorism
    • Covid-19
  • Poetry Forms
    • Sonnet
    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Villanelle
    • Rondeau
    • Pantoum
    • Sestina
    • Triolet
    • Acrostic
    • Alexandroid
    • Alliterative
    • Blank Verse
    • Chant Royal
    • Clerihew
    • Rhupunt
    • Rondeau Redoublé
    • Rondel
    • Rubaiyat
    • Sapphic Verse
    • Shape Poems
    • Terza Rima
  • Great Poets
    • Geoffrey Chaucer
    • Emily Dickinson
    • Homer
    • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    • Dante Alighieri
    • John Keats
    • John Milton
    • Edgar Allan Poe
    • William Shakespeare
    • William Wordsworth
    • William Blake
    • Robert Frost
  • Love Poems
  • Contests
  • SCP Academy
    • Educational
    • Teaching Classical Poetry—A Guide for Educators
    • Poetry Forms
    • The SCP Journal
    • Books

© 2025 SCP. WebDesign by CODEC Prime.