Mixed Verses

This story of yours
Does much good for everyone
Who needing it comes.

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What we remember
Is the love, care, support we
Find in another;
Relationships matter much more
Than all we acquire or do.

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Sometimes what you name
Things carries much less meaning,
Than reality.

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When the shadow falls
A monster of bloody hands
Seizing every plan
Wresting hope from us, away,
Injuring with cuts, deeply,
Words rationed, kept back,
No mending, wounds keep bleeding,
Hidden depths, no light.

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Living in real-time
Is a challenge every day
Minutes go astray,
Even when trying these hours
The current causes swift drift.
Gauging the passage
Is only possible with
Instrumentation,
Because wild passions engage
Moments become variable.

I wrote all these in bits in my journal. I like them, so I decided to share. Most are haiku or tanka, with some variants on those forms.

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.

Guitar Riff

Music became life
On a full-size bed where dance
Was called by my brother
On his electric blue Fender
With white highlights and magic.
I was just little
He was my hero, and is,
Though we had our downs,
He has gone ahead, but I
Think of him often and all
The talent carried
In someone I could see, touch,
Have play songs for me,
I guess he jams with those who
He could play in such detail.
I still love the sound
Of music turned up a bit loud
My dancing is less
Beautiful and precise, but
The songs bring me back to life.

Non-Abatable

The faces we love
Fade into phase states we wish
Could still be ignored,
But our aching hearts cannot
Deny time passes, a storm.
Every day we vow
We will remain strong, no tears,
But memory prods
At us, pushing emotion
Beyond reasonable limits.
Believing we were
Through strident protests, prayers,
To stay the Lord’s hand;
Knowing He controlled each death
We thought God might longer spare.
Cries, tears, squalls befall,
We again wonder more than
Is our given right,
Why, oh why, go they forward
Leave us wallowing, deep night?

Sometimes I am shaken to the core.

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.