Lent Acrostic

Leaving behind everything
Extraneous, focusing on my
Need, my desire for you, and

The amazing sacrifices You made for me.

Acrostic Prayer 2

Abba Father, my Daddy God,
Believe me when I say that I
Care for you—
Desperately, longingly, feeling
Empty without You.
Forgive me, though, in Your
Grace—such infinite grace!—for I
Have not loved you as You deserve.
I give you gratitude, adoration, friendship; but
Jesus, it is nothing compared to what you have given me!
Keep working on me, I plead,
Love me still, even when I don’t love You.
Make me more than what I am—and
Nothing less than what You need me to be.
Open my eyes to see you more clearly,
Put your will in place of mine, and
Quiet my anxious spirit.
Really deep down, I know whatever You
Say is for the best really is, but
Trusting can be hard.
Understand me then, as only You can,
Very patiently,
Waiting for me to grow—even though I am so slow! The
Xanadu of Your Presence is my desire, for
Your love, Daddy, has no night and no
Zenith: it continues forever, unfading.  Thank You so much for Your wonderful love!

Acrostic Prayer

Abba Father, thanks for sending your son, the
Babe of Bethlehem, to become the
Christ of Calvary, taking away my
Debt of sin,
Eternally, so that I could be Your
Forgiven child.  Please keep me
Grateful for your love, and
Happy to be in the light of my
Immanent God, my precious
Jesus.  He is the one who
Keeps my heart and
Loves me with the
Most perfect love,
Nullifying the sinfulness
Of my being.
Purify my heart,
Quiet my anxious spirit,
Restore me,
Saving me from my sin, my own
Tempestuous, cheating heart, filling the
Unfillable, infinite
Void in my soul, making Your
Will into mine,
eXonerating me as only
You can.  Make me into a
Zealot for your kingdom. Amen.

Etheree: Better Things I Could Do

I
know it
doesn't make
sense.  But I can't
seem to stop myself.
Pulled in, pulled under, pulled
inexorably closer
to that which only brings regret
in the long run, when all is said, done.
I do so like to waste time reading fics.

"Clair de Lune" Haiku Tryptych

Listen: "Clair de Lune"
Melodies rippling upwards
In this timeless tune
 
The notes wash over me
My worries ebb, all that's left
Moonlight on the sea
 
The waves are shushing
There's change, movement; but no storm
Growth without rushing

Untitled Poem

I couldn't decide what to call this one.  If you'd like to help, feel free to make as many suggestions as you like. Please leave your title suggestions in the comments section.  And as always, please feel free to content on the poem's structure and/or comment as well.  I love feedback.

Untitled 2-24-2012

Pictures are worth
A thousand words each
Or at least
That's what they say
But how
Can you measure in words
Something so powerful
It can steal them away?

Poem: 18 Weeks

Okay, third day in and I'm 'cheating' already...

But after a long day of work, I just want to sit down and kick my feet up.  Well, I could do that and write, too, I guess, but I'm just not feeling very much in a creative mood at the moment.  So I'm going to give you a poem I wrote about a year ago for a friend of mine after she miscarried. 

And for those of you who have not read a lot of my poetry yet... yes, I did write it in first person.  But no, it's not about me.  But when I'm empathizing with someone, trying to share their feelings and perspective, I often jump into first person when writing their experiences.  It just means that when I was writing the poem, I was trying to look through that person's eyes, feel with their heart, relive their painful memories with them.

18 weeks

The first six weeks

I didn't know
And in just twelve weeks
We've grown so close
That the thought
Of life without you
Leaves me now bereft

Just last week I saw you
Sucking your thumb
In a 3-D ultrasound
Just last week I began to feel you
As you moved around

And now I'm left with pain,
Pain
More pain flooding in
My empty arms
And empty belly
Are longing for you again

My abdomen is sore
My back aches quite a lot
But my grieving heart is broken
Because of where you are not
The drugs may dull the pain
But the heartache won't subside
How can I deal with the wounds on my soul
Since my baby died?

Hurricane

Getting an early start today with some finishing touches on another song I was making up in the shower last night.  Here you go:

Hurricane

Verse:

This life all around me
Tries to sweep me away
Away from the river
Of Your healing grace

Battered by the storm
Blinded by the rain
I still hear Your voice
Calling my name

I'm stepping in
I'm breathing out
Giving up fear
Giving up doubt

Chorus:
I give You my heart
I give You my soul
I give You my mind
Put my will under Your control

I give You my life
I give You my soul
Take every broken piece
And make me whole

Bridge:
You're the only one I trust
Enough to order me
Because I know Your love
Would never let You hurt me

Chorus:
I give You my heart
I give You my soul
I give You my mind
Put my will under Your control

I give You my life
I give You my soul
Take every broken piece
And make me whole

Verse:
Make me only Yours
Hold me in Your arms
I am only Yours
Draw me closer

Make me only Yours
Until we become one
Your heartbeat in my chest
Draw me closer

New Goal: Poetry for a Year

So, everyone else was thinking about new goals about two months ago.  I just got around to it when I was trying to decide how I could be more faithful in my blogging.  I came to the conclusion that it might help if I were to set a goal for myself  And so, today marks the first day of Poetry for a Year.  I shall attempt to post a poem that I have written every day for a year... and not only that, I shall try to WRITE a new poem to post each day for that year.  I can't guarantee that'll always happen-- but since I have several dozen old poems, I will try to fill in the days I don't write with older poems.

This does not, however, mean that the other blog posts will stop.  They'll probably just become farther spread apart.

And so, without further ado, the first of the short poems-- just a rhyming couplet this time, which I made up as I was singing in the shower last night:

Your every wound

Is beautiful to me

Your unending love

Is all that I see

Have a good night, and I'll see you all tomorrow!

How Many Kings-- the Easter Version

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted something.  But I have something good for you to make up for the long wait: a newly rewritten version of Downhere's "How Many Kings".  I've been singing this song over and over the past few days, and couldn't help thinking that as much as the verses are Christmasy, the feeling of the song is decidedly Easter-y.  So I wrote some new verses.  The black text is mine; the red is from the original.  (If you haven't heard the original yet, you can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTYe9sWYKdo)

HOW MANY KINGS

We've been waiting for a king to save us

A conquering hero, only the bravest
A  Savior for us all

Follow the star to a place unexpected
Would you believe after all we’ve projected
A child in a manger

Lowly and small, the weakest of all
Unlikeliest hero, wrapped in his mothers shawl
Just a child
Is this who we’ve waited for?

CHORUS:

How many kings stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least of these?
How many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

 A carpenter's son and not a rich man

He hangs out with sinners, touches lepers' hands
He teaches crazy things

He claims to be a king, but has no throne

He doesn't even have a home of his own
A poor wanderer
Is this who we've waited for?

CHORUS:

How many kings stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least of these?
How many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

The governor said He had not sinned

Yet he still let the people condemn
The suffering servant

Despised and rejected and beaten, he died
With a crown of thorns and a spear in His side
Do you believe?
Is this who we've waited for?

CHORUS:
How many kings stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least of these?
How many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

BRIDGE:
Only One did that for me
All for me
All for you
All for me
All for you

CHORUS:
How many kings stepped down from their thrones?
How many lords have abandoned their homes?
How many greats have become the least of these?
How many gods have poured out their hearts
To romance a world that is torn all apart?
How many fathers gave up their sons for me?

CHORUS 2:

How many teachers taught love through their lives
By dying to save those who others despise?
Chose to be tortured and then hung on a tree?
And how many innocents chose the cross
Accepted the pain and the scars for the lost?
How many people gave up their lives for me?

Only One did that for me