Poems, Personal Stories, and Observations

Love Keeps Fighting

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In the driest dirt, in the poorest soil,
Love keeps fighting an endless war.
Amidst abuse, and toil, and war
The battle rages forevermore.
In countless houses, in countless homes
The struggle goes on, the end unknown.

Will love win out, will fighting cease?
Will kindness, gentleness increase?
Will patience gain a new foothold?
Will holding tongues show that you’re bold?

The real struggle is in your heart –
Will pride and selfishness depart?
Will wanting your own way soon end?
Will you on Jesus’ love depend?

So ask yourself at each new day –
What can I do to end the fray?
When disagreements sure must loom –
Must listen to the other’s tune.

The fight again is in your heart –
It’s not that differences don’t start,
But how we handle different tunes;
Will there be harmony or ruin?

(Memorial Day, 2015)

Blues assignment

[For a Music assignment, we had to write some Blues lyrics, so here are mine.
Hope you can imagine it to a blues rhythm. I was imagining myself as a young
woman again, not knowing how to deal with aggressive men.]

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[Parentheses indicate speech]

I’m leavin’ the city, gonna find me a country home,
(You know) I’m leavin’ the city, gonna find me a country home,
You know the city ain’t so pretty; it’s just got me down.

You know, it just got too crowded; people all around.
You know, it just got too crowded; people all around.
No place for a girl to breathe, and they all clownin’ around.

‘Course when I got to the country, things were just as bad.
‘Course when I got to the country, things were just as bad.
What’s a girl to do? — all the men are mad.

Well, I’m back in the city; nowhere else to go (don’t seem to be).
Well, I’m back in the city; nowhere else to go (right now).
Just ask God to take control; and I’ll be heaven bound.

[To my childhood friend, Martha]

Muddy puddles
And balls of clay.
Rain-slick streets
And friends at play.

We wandered ‘hoods,
And built big forts.
We played in sprinklers
In polka-dot shorts.

We drank from hoses;
We played hula-hoop.
We ate salty seaweed
On the neighbor’s stoop.

We dreamed big dreams
Of solving mysteries,
We made up rhymes
With hickory-dickory.

We played recorder,
A kind of flute.
We sat on doormats
Made of jute.

On Halloween,
We made a haul.
A load of sugar,
Ten pounds in all.

We played outside,
‘Til it was dark.
We’d stay all day
At the neighborhood park.

We played mah-jong
And shared our tomes.
Your encyclopedia
You always loaned.

I don’t know where
That world has gone.
But as time travels,
It’s just begun.

Motivations

[Here I am imagining (sometimes about myself) the deeper motivations people
have for their actions, the motivations that we might not be aware of.]

When I turned my face away from you,
Maybe I just didn’t want you to see me cry.

When I didn’t speak,
Maybe I was afraid I would yell at you.

When I laughed loudly and annoyingly,
Maybe I needed attention.

When I hurt you with my words,
Maybe I hadn’t dealt with my own hurt.

When I seemed to ignore your pain,
Maybe I hadn’t let God heal my pain.

When I got violent,
Maybe I was extremely frustrated,
And no one had ever taught me how to deal with it.
No one was there to guide me,
To help me find better ways to deal with anger.

When you listened to me,
I began to heal.

When I asked your forgiveness,
I began to heal.

Did You Ever?

Did you ever prod a sea anemone?
Well, that’s me.
If you come too close,
I scrunch inside;
I hide.

Did you ever touch a little snail?
That’s sometimes me.
At slightest touch,
I scrunch inside;
I hide.

Did you ever see a flower in early morn?
Sometimes that’s me.
I open wide
To the morning sun.
I’m having fun.

Did you ever hear a songbird sing?
That could be me.
I tell the world
Of all my gladness,
My springtime madness.

Did you ever feel the softest breeze?
That can be me.
I’m whispering
My love to you
And friendship true.

The Storm

A burst of tears fell,
Like rain after the threatening clouds.
There had been rumblings and flashings —
Groanings —
Like a woman giving birth.

I smiled at you,
But you did not smile back.
I gave you a flower,
But it fell unsniffed to the ground.

And You Say …

As I went I went for my neighborhood walk, I saw a mom sitting in her car …

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The mom daily waiting in the car
To pick up her kids from school.
The dad going camping with his son,
Even though the dad hates camping.
And you say there’s no such thing as love?

The mom or dad who cooks dinner
After a long day of work.
The kid who makes dinner
After his mom and dad’s
Long day of work.
And you say there’s no such thing as love?

The wife who bites her tongue
Instead of nagging her husband.
The husband who hugs his wife
After her emotional outburst.
And you say there’s no such thing as love?

The therapist who listens to
Rants, raves and painful memories.
The confessor who listens,
As heinous sins are forgiven.
And you say there’s no such thing as love?

The waves lapping on the shore,
The wind moaning at the door,
The flower with dew afresh,
The wild and bounteous wilderness –
And you say there’s no such thing as love?

Yes, there’s illness, pain and sorrow,
But there’s always a tomorrow.
Yes, sometimes our hearts are broken,
But much grace — by the same token.

A baby born in a stable bare,
A healing voice in the still, cool air,
The God-Man dying for our sins,
The God-Man living once again.
And you say there’s no such thing as love?

Longing for Home

Where is the place
I can call home?

At ocean shores,
Or mountains high,
In grassy plains,
Or deserts nigh?

Near rushing streams,
By forests green,
Or just in dreams
Will I be free?

Will I find rest
Upon a path
Strewn with my tears,
Or might I laugh?

In God I must
Seek out my rest.
And then at last
Will end my quest.

Even if …

Even if you don’t perceive it, God is working. Even if you don’t feel it, God is working. Just because we have limited perception, doesn’t mean that God isn’t working. You can trust Him. You can believe Him. You can hope in Him. You are part of His plan, and “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion.” (Philippians 1:6) Keep on hoping.

How much the ocean lifts my soul,
And fills my lungs with freshness full,
Clears cobwebs from a cluttered mind,
Breathes in new life, leaves cares behind.

In symphony the waves do roar,
They crash upon the sandy shore,
Wash, scour and sift the detritus,
And leave essential things for us.

Oh ocean, like my God so good,
Please cleanse my heart, if that you could.
Remove all bitterness and strife
And grant me peace for all my life.