Means

I have been meaning
To explain who I am, may be,
Is not always who
Strictly I mean as defined
By this voice, words, these two feet.

My eyes carry clues,
But even they lack evidence
Because the heart-beat
In my chest and the preserve
Of my mind go further, deep.

What you see is not
Often what you get, riches
Are hidden in doubt
Covered in terrible fear
Holding back, choking on tears.

I cannot stand here
Yet, I do, as I believe
I must. Why? Because
Someone should do what it takes
To wake the community,

Convey mentally ill
Can live without most restraints
Doing possible
Like anyone, though made harder,
Complications, divergent ways,

Creativity
Finds a flowing flood falls fast
Dipped body whole
Going within and without
Never giving up or in,

The voice louder, in
Color brighter, some wilder,
Linked like all others,
Human, as someone newborn,
Those long-lived; loved thoroughly,

The same/different,
Untamed, giving, love alive,
God placed – no mistake,
Painting history’s pages
With sharing, reach, making much.

Gratitude List

I am thankful:
1. I have been waking earlier.
2. I am enjoying my corded keyboard and mouse.
3. I have recently finished several books.
4. I created art this morning.
5. I appreciate that I have a home.

Prompt
Think about your life and the human condition and pick an instance that appeals from which to create a written or artistic work.

Edges Off { Haiku }

We have only this
To spur us onward, great love,
Plus, beneath us, dust.

A heart gains passion,
For what exists eternal,
Beyond its knowledge.

Light up the moment
With incandescent joy, love,
A fire set above.

All my needs I bring
To Jesus Christ, my sovereign King
Who rules all present.

Sometimes one laughs like
Tears never existed, though
The trails track one’s face.

Prompt: Above are haiku, follow the rule of syllables 5 – 7 – 5 in your lines and write some too.

Grace Notes

Hope screams
In its dreams
Wide awake,
Feeling all things,
No choice
To remake
History; unraveling,
Quitting forever
Disavowed.

We
Are met
With
All
The choices
Of
Abandon
Given God’s
Abundance.

Why fear?
Stand firm
In surety
Of sovereign
Grace
Provided
For faith’s
Boldness
Always.

Crossing temporal
Bridges
Aiming for delight
Hidden
In hope’s fight
To eliminate
Darkness,
Though stormclouds,
Thunder
Roar,
Roll.

All work present on this site, unless otherwise noted, belongs:
© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

We Create

When creating seems impossible, sometimes it is good to bide our time and do things that fill the well. Other times we have to jump in and make do with what comes. Pushing ourselves will not necessarily lessen our work’s quality, but it might get us back to flow.

We may not feel like cooking, but we will do it so we can eat. Our art will never appear without our exerting effort. Even if inspiration seems to desert us, we have agile minds, which can imagine even when the streams we commonly rely on have run dry.

We must do, or we fall into habits that include accepting creative blocks. There comes a moment we recognize a stop only exists as we allow it.

Breaking Through

The cold moves over
Me like a breath of wind brought
In with the opening
Of a door unexpected
And I chill a little thrill.

Night has in its fists
All the light it took away
At the sun’s setting
It seems to whisper Winter
Has no patience to further wait.

I laugh that ready
Chortle that calls another
Game to begin here
For this too is my season
Breathing it, I brace with health.

One essential point to keep foremost in mind is that we are not guaranteed time. What we want to do we must be busy about doing. Finding a reason is easy if we wish to leave some evidence of our lives on Earth. We are capable of much more than we often believe. Only we can do what we can do.

If you must, borrow
A smile from a friend, stranger,
Then bend creation.

Here’s hoping everyone finds themselves with the mindset to create. It is so vital; in fact, it can change reality.

Wave upon wave drives
Crashing to shore swallowing –
Ejecting, found more.

Short Riff

God help me, I’m broken –
Again I wanted, but found,
My presence was bound
To things which I wished
Less remembered, oft-forgotten.

_____________________________________

You will not recall
What happened on such a day;
Rain gets in the way.

_____________________________________

No one understands
Walking these many long miles
When pain arises.

_____________________________________

The library is
Spurned, all books now there returned;
Hands for paper yearn.

______________________________________

The number hidden
In our soul, how long we have –
So, love we must share,
Mete out kind encouragement,
And needful inspiration.

______________________________________

I have a longer piece in my journal which goes beyond the first bit. Unlikely, it, the public shall see. I hide, to save the heart of being me.

If you have not read the Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine lately, you should check it out. Relentless by Dean Koontz which came out some years ago is also worth reading.

One day I will return to reviewing books I have read this year. This list grows long.

As a prompt: Use these words in your composition – concert, guitar, mug, closed window, ghost, fairing, shower, ultimately, lake, tetradactyl.

I am thankful, sometimes when it all falls apart, God puts it back together better.