Category: Poetry


Fall Musings

The leaves crunch satisfactorily under my feet
As I plod steadily on in the chill wind,
Under the multihued grays in the sky overhead.
Fall moves forward in its relentless way
While I muse silently, slowly, ceaselessly…

Somehow, I want my mountains to move,
My crooked ways straight, my rough places smooth.
Some moments I am confident in my faith.
Some moments I tremble at the thought of tomorrow.
Some moments I wish the world could simply stop,
And let me catch my breath.

I cannot figure my way out or around or through.
I can only trod resolutely and blindly forward like Fall.
Every moment holds its own joy, its own grief, and
An unexplained fulfillment, a knowing that I can walk on
Through the demise of my little world surrounding me,
The restructuring of all I hold dear to my heart.

Each step brings its own inward satisfaction.
When the wind swirls wildly around me, and
The leaves fly uncontrollably chaotic,
Something in me still stands solidly
Reveling in the wildness of the turmoil,
Firmly rooted in His purposes.

In an odd way, I love the melancholy clouds overhead.
They transform the sky into a moving canvas
Painting itself into different images moment by moment.
So, I stand, staring upwards in awe and remember
The Master Painter designs in the skies,
And in my own heart as well.

I turn my attention earthward and trudge on knowing
It is Creator’s plan, ultimately for His glory,
That, regardless of cost or difficulty, I travel trustingly
Toward whatever goal He sets.

Just Because!

I lift up Christ, the coming King
…Just because I can.
I will give thanks in everything
…Just because I can.
In spite of all I choose to praise Him
…Just because I can.
I worship, glorify and raise Him
…Just because I can.

And just because I’m able to,
I’ll sing to Jesus all day through.
I’ll walk through fire and through the flood,
For He redeemed me with His blood.
He holds my life within His hand
…All just because He can.

So, I’ll forgive and I’ll forget
…Just because I can.
I’ll release my last regret
…Just because I can.
I will walk on despite defeat
…Just because I can.
Holy Spirit guides my feet
…Just because He can.

And just because He’s able to,
He keeps me close, remaining true.
Though loss and grief keep hounding me,
His Spirit teaches me to be
His precious child within His hand.
It’s just because I am!

Leaving The Nest

Feeling way out on a cliff’s edge here…
The ground looks so far away and
I’m not so sure about this flying business.
“push, push�
“nudge, nudge�

Quit shoving already!!!
The net a few feet down just disappeared.
Sooo… I’m trying to decide if
I should jump and take my chances
(Crashing onto the ground is really painful!) or if
I should wait until [mother bird] decides it’s time
For me to be pushed.
If I wait, I may crash anyway, but
There’s a chance she’ll fly down and catch me
Before I hit the ground… or maybe
If I shove off now,
I’ll actually learn how to fly with these »«
Weak things someone called wings.
Up here, they just keep getting in the way.
I don’t know……………
“nudge, nudge�
“push, push�

Sooner or later, I have to give up my
Comfortable nest and
“push, nudge�
Trust the One who made me to
Know “nudge�
What “push�
He’s “SHOVE�
Do………. ing……………….

No Boxes Allowed

The possibilities are endless they say.
Start here; move over there; then
Swing around and end up someplace else entirely.
Somehow it all ends up uniquely suited
For the person willing to expand his vision—
No boxes allowed here.
The vast expanses of the universe are
Teeming with unused, unspent ideas just
Waiting for someone to snatch them.
I’ve caught a few of them myself
When occasion demands a different viewpoint.

I have to admit…
It’s odd coming at a problem from the side
Rather than front or back,
But perspective, it turns out,
Needs changing from time to time and
Cardboard walls need tearing down,
Or punching out as the case may be,
Because obscured vision kills hope
Faster than you can say, “Help!�

Look around again.
Get out of mental ruts and
Make a new path in the wilderness.
Fill up the valleys! Flatten the hills!
Reshape everything in your thought life
Until the idea makes some sense
Or a way around the problem is found.
Resolution does not always come easily,
But it does come—sometimes in “impossible� ways.
With persistent pursuit of improvement,
Vision expands exponentially!

When I Stand

When time is done and I shall stand alone
Before my judge on God Almighty’s throne,
No questions asked or answered, He will know
Each detail of the time I spent below.
By grace I stand within His righteousness,
But He will test my heart’s own faithfulness.
Did I love Him, keeping His commands,
And listen when His Spirit said to stand?
Or did I turn away from His sweet voice
To serve myself by making my own choice?
No matter what He sees when I stand there,
His judgment stands and no one else can share.
By Jesus’ blood my sins have been atoned,
And mercy tempers justice from His throne.

The Puddle

There, I went and did it without even realizing it.
I forgot myself again.
I got so bogged down with all the stuff of life,
My thoughts swirled in meaningless, overlapping circles.
Words flying this way and that in some
Mixed jumble of complete and utter nonsense
Until I sat down, let loose the wildness inside,
And set my pen free without agenda.
No trying to make something happen…
No forcing myself into predetermined structure…
No frustrated, half-done slips of something…
Just me rambling around in a muddle,
Content to stir things into nothingness,
So I can finally, finally relax and let loose
With grinning drivel.
Somehow that helps more than all the exercises
I could ever put my mind through.
The mental picture is priceless, too.
Imagine me at five years old
Stamping in a puddle in the parking lot
Till all the water is splashed out and
The puddle is gone.
That’s me now, stamping around in my brain
Till all the cohesion scatters into little droplets and
The forced, frustrating bits of thought are gone!
Releasing it all relieves the burden.
I do not have to do anything but sit, stare,
Type idiocy and see where it takes me.

TO DIE IS GAIN

On this tough path, you want to run
Against the flow, O foolish one.
But what you think you want, you know
Leads only through a rougher road.
For willful longing brings much pain.
(To live is Christ, to die is gain.)
So let this go and lay it down.
Take up the cross, and turn around.
It’s time to listen to His voice,
To die to self, to live His choice.
Although this way leads through the fire,
God can change your heart’s desire,
Conform you to the image of
His One and Only Son of Love.

On this tough path, you want to run
Against the flow, O foolish one.
But what you think you want, you know
Leads only through a rougher road.
For willful longing brings much pain.
(To live is Christ, to die is gain.)
So let this go and lay it down.
Take up the cross, and turn around.
It’s time to listen to His voice,
To die to self, to live His choice.
Although this way leads through the fire,
God can change your heart’s desire,
Conform you to the image of
His One and Only Son of Love.

POEM

Posit an idea
Throw out a thought
Turn it about
Toss it up
Let the light hit it every which way
Watch it
Catch it
Smell it
Push it away
Pull it close
Embrace it, eyes closed
Massage it
Spread it out
Fill it in
Color it one shade
Change it to another
Tear it apart
Shove it together
Put it in order
Bind it into form
Hold it aloft
Examine it critically
Accept it
Offer it to someone else
Let it go
No ποιημα (“workmanship”) is complete
Until it is given away

Posit an idea
Throw out a thought
Turn it about
Toss it up
Let the light hit it every which way
Watch it
Catch it
Smell it
Embrace it, eyes closed
Push it away
Pull it close
Massage it
Spread it out
Fill it in
Color it one shade
Change it to another
Tear it apart
Shove it together
Put it in order
Bind it into form
Hold it aloft
Examine it critically
Accept it
Offer it to someone else
Let it go
No π
οιημα (“workmanship”) is complete
Until it is given away

Misunderstanding

[Note from the author: issue resolved. ~CCC]

Friends are well-meaning, caring, and kind in their own ways.
Trouble is…their ways aren’t always my ways and vice versa.

The expectations feel so high sometimes
I go sliding right down to the bottom of my toes,
Wondering if I’ll be able to pick myself up again.
I mean, I can’t stand uncertainty.
Worse…I can’t stand outright animosity!
Today I was wondering where all the boundaries went…
The ones that say, “this close, but no closer, please.�
Her undercurrent of anger went all over me like glitter on glue
And I dissolved with this uncomfortable familiarity—
Feeling like I’d been chewed up and spit out.
Shaking and crying are not my favorite way to deal…

Somehow, I let her feelings matter more than mine
And I felt so very, very small.
I am who I am, and I thought she knew me—
At least better than her words told me she did.
Obviously, she doesn’t, and that hurts
More than all the anger did.
I know. I know.
What person knows everything about another?
Still, when it comes to this one issue…
Years down the road, she doesn’t know me in this?
I must have been fooling myself all this time.

This interchange was not between friends,
Not today anyway.
This conversation was between two strangers.
The failure at understanding was mutual.
Maybe some time when she feels like calling
At some unspecified future point…
Maybe we will be old friends meeting again.
Today’s exchange will slink into the background,
Smoothed over and ignored in an effort to reconnect.
Or maybe this time, on top of the other times that
Were “smoothed over and ignored� will become
The crooked piece of track that derails us.
I rather hope not, though.
Perhaps we can talk this one out and
Come to understand each other better…
As friends do.

Coherence

Clarity sparkles like the sun glinting off the water.
Thoughts flow smoothly along
Following the light toward a definite goal,
(It all makes so much sense!)
Till vision takes shape, and words
Start falling into place one by one or
Sometimes phrases at a time…

My story unfolds itself into a comfortable couch.
Here I lie, feet up and reclined, listening
To the relaxed rumble of coherence turning
Chaos into logic, making sense out of nonsense.
Peace by pieces is settling inside me
Filling my soul with reminders of His goodness.