Stirring the soup of this so-called life, seasons swirl in my mind,
glimpses of who I have been, swimming in my consciousness
stirring within me a stew of questions, tiny bits bubbling up
swirling in my brain’s broth, one question rising…
as the scales fall from my eyes-
who am I, now?
The Boat
I am leaving the shore, in my mind.
I’m getting into the boat with you…
I have no idea where we’re going
but I trust that you do.
I’ll face the storm by your side
behind your cloak, I will hide,
far from the shore of all I fear
into the unknown, far and wide.
I don’t deny that I’m afraid
as I look out at this tumultuous sea,
but I’ve fixed my gaze upon your face,
wherever you lead is where I’ll be.
I’ll stay close, as you know,
from this boat I dare not go,
let the battles of men rage on,
with you, alone, Lord
my heart is calm.
Though the stars fall to the earth like hail,
sun and moon from the sky disappear
your love for me will never fail,
forever, I am in your care.
Maybe God wants to show us how to live again
Stop us in our tracks and say, “Hey!”
“You think you’re living but you in fact are
dead
dying
dead to one another and dead to me”
Maybe God wants to show us how to live again
so, He has done what we could not and pulled
the plug on our perpetual motion
our “I’m so busy” and “I’ve got plans”
and “Look at me”
“Here I am”
Maybe God is peeling back the layer of blindness
to show us what matters most is not what we thought
at all
We have missed the mark by such a longshot
yet persevered
in our dysfunctional foolishness
for so long
we have forgotten who we are
annihilated our foundations
become delusional
Maybe God has finally shouted, “Enough!”
from the heavens loud enough for us to hear
and maybe this time we should
listen
A Note for National Poetry Month: Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read my poem today. I wrote this poem this morning, and it came to me, as words often do, as I sat down for some quiet time of reading, prayer and contemplation. Honestly this time is nothing fancy, or formal – I am just trying to listen for God in a noisy world, and allow Him to speak to my heart, first and foremost. There are times I share the words that dance between us with others or on the blog as he leads, but the majority of time these words are bits and pieces – parts of a larger whole. It’s different when I sit down to construct a poem. Either way, my writing cannot help but reveal my heart, and God’s heart in me. I don’t set out to say something…just to listen, and hear what comes. Poetry writing to me is not an academic pursuit but a gift God uses to connect with me and I am grateful for it. I do try to learn a bit as I go, but mostly I just accept and appreciate this intimacy with my Lord, and share as He leads.
On my part, for this poem, I wanted to do something I rarely, if ever do- limit or omit punctuation. Since most of my poems are written long-hand in my journal, in a scribbly mess, I work with the form and structure as I transfer the words from paper to my laptop. This is where I experiment and am still learning. This where I think I like Walt Whitman’s style of changing poems over time. I continue to revise some poems long after they have been written or published. I don’t always do this but I do enjoy doing so. Another small note about this poem is the title, which started “Reminder” but I felt “Maybe” was a better choice, then finally “Listen”. Let me know if you agree. Titles can present there own challenge and distraction.
I recently submitted three poems for a local event in which two of the pieces had been written within a poetry group I regularly attended and one was a poem that just came to me, written this March. I was surprised to see the one I wrote spontaneously apart from the group is the one that was chosen to be published and exhibited. Interestingly it was the one with no input from others and minimal revision. Most likely it was just the best fit for the theme of the event but, it was an encouragement to me nonetheless. Poetry is a persnickety creature for sure. But for me, it’s a love language reflecting my relationship with God and a pathway that helps me capture things I experience, and express what is hard for me to understand. Really it is something I refer to as my personal journey of humanity and grace. My dream is to put together a small collection of these pieces which reflect the journey best and share them with those who appreciate them. By the grace of God, it will be done!
Meanwhile share with me your favorite poet, poem or poetry collection in the comments , please! I am always open to suggestions as I am still learning but so enjoy learning of “new to me poets” and poetry. However, I recently discovered I don’t enjoy the majority of work from a very famous, well-loved and exalted poet. I’ll share that another time…I will tell you the poet whose work I love most and resonate with best and most consistently (at this time) is Mary Oliver’s. Also Lisa Starr – RI Poet Laureate Emeritus.
Happy National Poetry Month!
