Smile

This is just so unlike us,

Hide and seek, but I wonder

When I’ve got nothing but

My aching soul,

Heart hiding something,

Will you find me,

Bring me back to life

And throw a stranger

An unexpected smile?

Hold On

When your dreams all fail,

And it’s always nothing,

I will hold on.

Frame by frame, full speed ahead,

And if I tell you

My heart said “This time, no”,

Have you got it in you?

When your love goes to waste,

You still have all of me

And you and I will be alright

And ghosts will flicker from view.

Wait

Some days, when I’m awfully low,

I would leave crisp note footprints

Across my lifeline, broken tragedy,

The most beautiful light

Could put right what I got wrong

And I’ve just got to wait it out.

Go

(Currently been playing around with song found poems, where I jump around from song to song and use lyrics, putting in some of my own words to pull it all together.)

I have made mistakes,

Running through speeding cars

With a real flare for excuses

But everything’s just wonderful.

With my hope torn apart,

I’m young again,

Too young to bear the weight

Of your cruel lies.

The moment I said it,

The swelling rage in your eyes

I try to see clearer,

So I’ll say goodnight and go.

Sand

I was a pile of sand on the beach,

Formless, unidentifiable along the seashore

But the Creator walked by, stopped down

And lovingly molded me by His design.

I was beautiful, admired by every passerby

But I looked to them for my worth,

Sought gain and happiness and I changed,

Bits crumbling off and others added on.

The Creator let the waves wash over me

And all I had become was torn down

And I helplessly lay scattered by the sea,

Ugly, gritty sand, not worth glancing at.

The Creator looked across the empty beach

And smiled at the broken, humbled sand,

And He shaped me into something new.

Pure Lamb

I was faithless,

Chasing desires and dreams

Selfishly, seeking my own

And yet you, pure lamb,

Walked down the street

Among my dark sins

Towards the stone altar

That my name was

Deeply carved into

And you died for me

While I lay in ashes

Of stubborn disobedience.

And you took my

Hand as I wept

And you, now risen,

And I, now redeemed,

Danced together with joy.

Fearful Waters

The waters seem so foreboding,

Threatening to come crashing down

And flatten me in the sinking sand

But then my eyes were opened

To the reality behind the mirrors.

The waters put on a brave front

But the truth was completely opposite;

To the core, the waters tremble

With the greatest fear of God.

Not strong as it would tell me,

Not clever as it tries to appear

And so I need not fear it.

My Father is stronger than

The cowardly, slinking waves.

Shoots

The sweet rays of sunlight

Usher in the hope of spring

But like a deer, cautious,

I stand at the edge

Of a field, peeping shoots,

Newborn dreams gasping for

The light to shine upon

Them, to grow freely, thrive,

But I must cast shadows

Upon these new hopeful green

Shoots; they must not grow.

Pilgrimage

 The ways of the world had grown empty to me and an insatiable hunger gnawed at my soul. Every once comforting item now held nothing but memories, bitter to the touch. And so, lest my soul burst from despair and frustration, I sold all I owned and began a pilgrimage across the land. To where, I did not quite know.

I left behind the tropical splendors that were only empty promises, left the riches and glamour. No more wine attempted and failed to quench my thirst, nor did food of a king pass my lips. Vanity city became a place in the back of my mind like a forgotten nightmare.

 With the driving desperation, I walked to the deadly desert, where no one else dared dwell. The hot, sinking sands burned my bare feet but I did not cry. The sun beat down without mercy upon my uncovered head and still, I pressed onwards.

 And I saw the oasis in the distance and ran, heart leaping….and then it shattered when I saw the dried up patch. The oasis, its’ waters promising sweet revival, was as decrepit and decayed as the condition of my heart. Three days, I sat there in hope of rain but it did no come and I moved on.

 Deeper into the heart of the wild wastelands, feet torn and bleeding, I continued. Shifting sand gave way to rocks and dangerous thorns. The sky clouded overhead but still, no rain fell and the air was too hot, pressing on my lungs. Doubts began to crowd into my mind and still, I knew the answer must lie here somewhere.

 And then I lay there, fallen because of the weight of my restlessness. Unable to move, I stared up at the sky with unblinking eyes and watched the clouds slowly float by. The rain did not come. Parched mouth opened slowly, gasping for air, water, life, any hint of the answers I sought but all that escaped was a whimper.

 And suddenly, with a mighty crash and a crack, the skies tore open and the rains fell upon my rotting body. Wave after wave of love washed over me, stripping away my sorrows, mistakes, every dark mark and for the first time in months, I could breathe. My pilgrimage was complete and I was washed clean, a new creation, ready to face the world once more.

By A Withered Plant

 Have I no right as one chosen to be saved? I was special, a great man chosen for great deeds. Yet to filth, I was sent, to the murderers of my ancestors. Stories passed down from dying grandfathers to starving children about deeds so vile done by Them. The slaughterers of my grandmother and sisters, to Them I was sent.

 They deserved to die a thousand times over, not be given words of peace. They were my enemies. Would any sane man travel for months through dangerous climes into the seat of depravity, where death was the most likely outcome? I was noble, above the darkness; how could I let myself be tainted?

 I wanted justice for the evil done against us! I wanted revenge, an entire nation burned by fire from the mighty heavens. Yet I was sent to bring forgiveness; utterly incomprehensible.

 And why should I suffer so, burning within with the sorrow of my people and the all consuming anger? It isn’t fair! I who remained pure, treated so unjustly, driven to desire death. They do not deserve grace. I do, by the blood that runs in my veins.

 But why, then, would I go through such things? Through a supernatural storm, then eaten by a vile beast of the sea but not finished, and though I then repented and did my duty, They were still not destroyed, as they so deserved. No, They repented and grace was poured upon them! Now they rejoice in their redeemed city while I rot all day in the sun by a withered plant.

 But now night falls and I…I see it now. As the night sky opens up, the depths of the starry expanse, and the wind turns from warm to cold, I see. Overwhelmed by the greatness, the magnitude of the universe and the Creator, I see how horribly small and meaningless my anger is. I see what a fool I’ve been, a selfish, self-righteous fool. I saw nothing beyond my bitter and angry self. Perhaps it is time to leave the withered plant and truly repent.

In Your Shadow

My Holy Father,

All of creation

Cannot completely

Explain or define

You; incomprehensible,

That I so small

Would be loved

By one so great,

Powerful, beautiful.

Let me dwell in

Your tent forever,

For I desire

No other home.

Keep me in your

Shadow forever, my

Place of safety.

Let me see

Your beauty, once,

Before I pass

The veil from

Earth to heaven.

Rehealing

Time wears down the pain

And the wound fades from

A stab wound to bruised

Flesh still sensitive to touch.

But a mere whispered word

Or a memory uncovered

Tears away Time’s good work

And the wound bleeds again,

Even after all this time.

Yet with every tearing away

And new wave of pain,

I do heal and grow

And perhaps one day soon,

The wound will be gone,

Merely an unpleasant memory.

Exodus

The miracles you did

Back in Egypt were great

And you let me cross

On dry land, amazing,

But now I am thirsty

And the sun burns down

On this land You led

Me to, a scorching desert

Without hope of rain.

Like my ancestors, I

Am no better as I

Raise my weak fist

In anger; have you left?

Dragged me to the desert

To die of hunger, eaten

By the scavenging vultures?

And then I am ashamed,

For you brought them out

And the desert was safest,

A doorway to greater things.

So I sit by the waters

Of Marah and wait silently

For your strength, your hope

In the cold, dark nights

And your joy after forty

Years of disobedient unbelief. 

Forgiven

In that chamber of whispers

Trembling before the golden throne

As the events, so many,

Of my life of dust

Is shown before all gathered,

Frame by broken frame, dark

Thoughts running alongside

And though light paradoxes

Along the stains of sin,

I know it’s not enough

To escape the biting flames

And so how sweet your

Voice as you declare me

Forgiven, my dark debt paid

And you take me through

The glorious gates of heaven.

The Greatest Day

The greatest day, such lovely joy

When the rotted bones of the dead

Burst through the ground in glory,

New flesh free of burning scars

And the exhaustion of cruel time,

Elders turned back into children

As the joy of the Father

Calls to the faithful sleepers.

With wings of sweet hope,

Bodies long lost are made new

For a new home, new reality,

The only true reality, shadowless,

Without tears and every deep sorrow,

To the throne room, congregating

To praise Him all as one.

Another Door

You just weren’t fast enough

The door closed in your face

And to turn around now

Would only be detrimental,

So the only thing to do

Is wait for another door

To unlock and open up.

Song of the Caged Bird

Free my heart, my soul,

Bound by chains I cannot break.

I lie on stone so cold, wings

Weakly dropping, feathers fall

Lost to the wind; I cry

Loudly, cage swaying.

Open up and free me,

Let me fly once more,

I cannot breathe,

The darkness closing in,

Open up the small door

To let the sunshine

Upon my face; hear the

Song of the caged bird.

Skeletal wing frame,

Flap in desperation.

I continue to sink down

Into the darkness cold,

A spiral from a high

Place into hands warm,

And I am healed,

Reborn from the ashes

Of my empty past.