Poeming

Poetry is hands quaking, love,
Nerves jittering, minds fishing
For the perfect words,
The most eloquent phrases,
Attempting to prise loose
Every superfluous jot
From lines while feeling
What lies written on the pages
Is already fine, best to be got.

Though brief, it indeed be
Each poem is an act
Courageous and beautiful,
A dream passed into the real
Sealed in feeling to reveal
Excellencies before hidden
In minds laboring alone
Delivering honest meaning
Investing in and ushering
Others beyond, perhaps home.

Thus, Begin

Sometimes you must lose
To learn to win graciously.
Sometimes your heart breaks,
To make room for love again.
Suffering can teach you
How to live more freely.
Disappointment gives a chance
For an increased appreciation of joy.
When you hit the bottom
Your energy renews for the climb.
When you are left empty, alone,
You discover your faithful friends.
When everything is gone, nothing left,
You reach for God and find Him there.
If your happiness disappears, with delight,
Jesus can restore your pleasure, full-measure.
If you need more than you are able
God can provide fulfillment plentifully.
Nothing is over unless you quit
Winners like you, keep going, getting up.

Eschew/Renew

We sketch our lives in
Invisible ink on these walls
Of air, earth, fire, flesh;
We pass like roses, beauty,
Only present a short while.
Our hands busy, selves,
Creating foundations for
Futures never ours,
Generations we offer
Our best gifts, accomplishments.
Now, we sing against
Doubt, fear, insecurity –
Fighting shadow blight
Where the fruit will flourish, brave,
In gardens of delight, saved
From degradations,
We erase with consistent
Labor over years
Paying in earnest, never
Letting faith, hope, slip away.
Love, our guiding light
Though we fade in brightest glare,
Almost completely
Unknown, contributing hearts
To lives, we wish to see free.
Words cannot bring
Every dream into being,
But speaking, a tool,
Purpose-built to encourage
Change within lives reached, inspired.
Plentiful, we, examples
Scattered over time, what minds
Mend, creating more sublime,
Love, part an art, taught hands-on
Driving history toward grace
Still, counting every life, face,
A precious gift to embrace,
With confidence, each person
Has meaning, purpose, reason,
Position in time and space.

Heart/Soul

Relentlessly Engage

To undertake what you
Were meant for every day
Takes belief, courage, strength –
Somehow you conquer shadows,
Trust yourself to make meaning.
Nothing about success comes easy
It is a fight that often gains no
Gratitude and has no surety.
Each day matters because
Changing the world is individual,
Also joint, an endeavor like
Forests growing trees which
Requires energy, patience, time,
Though progress may be slow
And usually go unnoted, benefits
Become evident for all living things.
What you do assists many people
You may never know or see directly;
Keep being, doing, going for the best
Because love has significance,
Living is a grace beautifully shared
Encouraging many of whom
Need constant examples to aid
In avoiding personal defeat.